Please excuse me if I show my ignorance on some issues as I'm not in the military. I have had various dealings with military personel in my work and count several as good friends. From reading the various threads on this and other websites I do see some similarities with what has happened to various other government agencies in recent years including the county council that I used to work for. I left that job because of political interference, the ignorence of modern management in the public sector, their blind adherance to the political doctrine of the time and their attitude towards anyone who had the temerity to question them or show anything other than total belief in the "new" ways of working. Experience, logic and pure common sence were frowned upon and you were told that "this is old fasioned and not modern thinking at all" etc etc.
Was I correct to assume that this was pure political indoctrination, management for managements sake? You're either with us or without us, what an approach that was. I'm not certain who is out there to give the leadership of this country the reality check that it needs without the bloody nose that it's going to get. Something has to happen to help all government agencies achieve more bang for the buck.....I hate using management terms but there you go (it is responsible for one of the best moral boosting games ever invented....bull51t-b1ng0) So much money is being wasted on talk isn't it.
I assume that many of you have been forced to attend seminas on new methods of work. To gather into little individual groups at these seminas, separated from like minded colleagues with people who support the new proposals, usually frorm the companies that have most to gain from the changes so all can appear to be acting as one. It's like having friendship forced upon you. I used to get fed up of being talked down too. At the next semina management assumes that you have rattified the "agreed ideas" from the last one when all you in fact did was to point out the pitfalls of the proposals and tried hard to find anything that would be of any use and not downright stupid. At least the management theory boxs were ticked, ie you were part of the consultation process.
The result of the charade is that building works on public buildings are still being carried out by the same contractors, good local ones that can be trusted but now there's a big fat middle man in the form of a large term contractor who knows how to exploit the system. Two thirds of the work is being done for 25% more money and the end user has no faith in the authority any more as the administration is pathetic.
I'll stop now....you must be getting bored!
All I can say is that we do support you, that logic must prevail, the ignorant, incompetant and those that are nothing but politically motivated should stand aside now to enable the professionals to do their work (that doesn't include bean-counters either!).
More people, better training using "old fasioned principles" as appropriate, new and more modern equipment in the numbers that are required.
A government that expects its' armed forces to be doing what you are doing without giving you the necessary means of doing it should not be a government at all.
(Sorry that I've gone on a bit.....my first post.)