BC
I don't know if you've read the thread I referenced but if not, have a quick gallop through. I think you'll find you, Tuc and me are violently agreeing. Others too. It all boils down to money, or rather the lack of it in my view.
Tuc has a good point about the waste - and he knows better than I the scale of it (not small!). The dreadful decision making and searching for money that isn't there that goes on -which is wasteful of cash in itself - is horrific.
However, my bottom line is that no system can be made perfect. You have to accept there will be some bad decisions, waste, etc - and scale for it with hard cash. Government won't like that and DPA isn't likely to go public and admit it either, but the headlines speak for themselves.
Without a serious boost in defence expenditure the ridiculous situations we witness daily in news reports and see with our own professional experiences, won't stop. Nothing will improve and people will continue to die needlessly.
It beggars belief that MOD had the temerity to try to argue priorities between body armour and fuel tank foam. It's just such a breathtakingly stupid position to hold on paper, let alone use as an argument in public.
Tuc's right in that there ought to be some internal 'career opportunities' for some on the inside at DPA - but far more of the folks there are battling valiantly and doing a good job in dreadful circumstances.
I wonder about the roles and responsibilities of their starships in this too. When did any of them come out and say 'up with this we will not put'. And as for politicians....so many in high office set such debased exaples of reason, trust and humanity it amazes me they wonder why we hold them in such low esteem and get turned off at the mention of politics.