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sigsour · February 14th, 2008, 19:02

I know I would be pretty scared in Iraq wondering whether my gun is going to work when it comes down to the wire.

Let's consider a special forces unit. They have a budget of say $1M. The procurer is closer to the soldier - there is less bureaucracy so the needs of the soldier can be communicated effectively to the procurer. All of a sudden the unit decides to spend $X of their budgets to get say the 416. Did their budgets change all of a sudden? No, but it was worth it to spend that amount of their budgets getting the 416 as opposed to something else. The next year they also have a $1M budget. Do they spend that money buying a whole new rifle? No - they use that budget for something else. The point is - given the fixed budget they have, it was WORTH it to the special forces to spend that budget the one time to upgrade the rifle rather than spend it on some other fancy stuff.

Now the regular army also has a budget. If they had less bureaucracy, it's conceivable they could just prioritize their guns - what could be more important? Better armoured Humvees maybe? Once they upgrade their guns however, like the above scenario - they don't have to spend that money again - and the maintenance dollars are likely to actually get reduced over time.

The needs of the infantryman is likely to be very similar to the special forces guy however, and if the special forces guy thinks its worth spending a portion of their budget on reliable rifles - then I bet that's the case with infantrymen.

Just take a look at the death toll. What's the proportion of deaths amongst special forces versus regular infantry? Regular infantry are killed chiefly in two ways: road bombs and through small arms fire. Okay so the road bombs is out of scope of this discussion, but small arms fire can be avoided the best through better rifles as the special forces have concluded also. When you're going door to door, street by street - all you have is the rifle. You ain't got no tank or mortar fire to help you.

I am of the philosophy that prevention is better than the cure. Better to get the equipment right the first time, than waste dollars later fighting fires.

February 14th, 2008, 19:02	#103
sigsour Trader rating Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Calgary	I know I would be pretty scared in Iraq wondering whether my gun is going to work when it comes down to the wire. Let's consider a special forces unit. They have a budget of say $1M. The procurer is closer to the soldier - there is less bureaucracy so the needs of the soldier can be communicated effectively to the procurer. All of a sudden the unit decides to spend $X of their budgets to get say the 416. Did their budgets change all of a sudden? No, but it was worth it to spend that amount of their budgets getting the 416 as opposed to something else. The next year they also have a $1M budget. Do they spend that money buying a whole new rifle? No - they use that budget for something else. The point is - given the fixed budget they have, it was WORTH it to the special forces to spend that budget the one time to upgrade the rifle rather than spend it on some other fancy stuff. Now the regular army also has a budget. If they had less bureaucracy, it's conceivable they could just prioritize their guns - what could be more important? Better armoured Humvees maybe? Once they upgrade their guns however, like the above scenario - they don't have to spend that money again - and the maintenance dollars are likely to actually get reduced over time. The needs of the infantryman is likely to be very similar to the special forces guy however, and if the special forces guy thinks its worth spending a portion of their budget on reliable rifles - then I bet that's the case with infantrymen. Just take a look at the death toll. What's the proportion of deaths amongst special forces versus regular infantry? Regular infantry are killed chiefly in two ways: road bombs and through small arms fire. Okay so the road bombs is out of scope of this discussion, but small arms fire can be avoided the best through better rifles as the special forces have concluded also. When you're going door to door, street by street - all you have is the rifle. You ain't got no tank or mortar fire to help you. I am of the philosophy that prevention is better than the cure. Better to get the equipment right the first time, than waste dollars later fighting fires. __________________