"Don't blame the procurers or the loggies......."
Good post Jungly. Spot on. Too many requirements are articulated, and hence funding dictated, without support specialist input. As approx 70% of through life costs are in the In-Service Support phase, if you get it wrong up front, it's always wrong. The recent move in DPA to be more strict and trade out performance (not just time and cost) is a direct result of what you describe.