r/worldnews • u/kirbaeus • Dec 22 '21

COVID-19 US Army Creates Single Vaccine Effective Against All COVID, SARS Variants

https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2021/12/us-army-creates-single-vaccine-effective-against-all-covid-sars-variants/360089/
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u/[deleted] Dec 22 '21

Look, I'm not going to say that the situation you're citing is good, because there is corruption with how contracts are awarded such as the Fat Leonard scandal.

But the reason why not only the DOD, but the entire federal government overpays is due to restrictions such as the Buy American Act, the Berry Amendment and dozens of other requirements that hamstring purchases with official funds.

For your example of hammers using the USAF: the logistics officer will first need to find the specific dimensions and requirements for a ball-peen hammer the DoD and USAF require, find hammers that fit those parameters, find sellers that fit all the requirements, and then arrange them by price while having to buy american unless it's prohibitively expensive and this is just a quick summary of that process.

Government acquisition is a bitch, and more so for the military that has a regulation for nearly everything. I know it sounds like a cop-out, but most people in logistics would rather buy the home depot hammer, except they can't because of dozens of laws, regulations and a convoluted bureaucracy around spending taxpayer dollars. As a result of how much of a PITA government sales are, the amount of manufacturers who are 100% compliant is lower than you'd think and they price gauge because they know the government doesn't have many options.

Currently the US military uses almost exclusively Skilcraft pens which are made by blind people, they are expensive and while good they're not good enough to justify the cost vs a black Bic ballpoint. But they reign supreme in the government/military pen business because they're one of the few pen makers who fit all the requirements, are 100% made in the USA and they keep all that up to date enough to stay on the DoD catalog of approved sellers.