by David Galland, Managing Editor, The Casey Report A couple weeks ago, the family and I watched Dirty Jobs, an altogether entertaining show from the Discovery Channel. In the episode we watched the host, Mike Rowe, serve as a mechanic in the military. There were a couple of things that caught my eye.
The first was that, using nothing more than a cleverly arranged array of blocks and tackle, five members of the mechanics group were able to easily muscle a well-stuck 5-ton Humvee from deep sand. We humans are, indeed, a creative and intelligent species.
The second thing was the strict adherence to protocol, with everyone acting almost robotic in their issuance of commands and responses, and surgical in their use of equipment. Even so, this slavish adherence to “the book” is understandable, given that the soldiers operate in extremely difficult, dangerous, and often chaotic circumstances.
Therefore, I had to raise an eyebrow the next day. when BBC reported that of $9 billion allocated to the U.S. military to be used in Iraq reconstruction projects, fully $8.7 billion has gone missing. Proving, once again, that no matter how well plans are laid or how tightly “management” might think they are controlling things, gaps in process can open up that are wide enough to drive a Humvee through – a Humvee full of cash, in this particular case. (more)
No comments:
Post a Comment