Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bu-cs!kwe
From: kwe@bu-cs.BU.EDU (kwe@bu-it.bu.edu (Kent W. England))
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: U.S. Air Force Award of the ULANA Contract
Message-ID: <25257@bu-cs.BU.EDU>
Date: 6 Oct 88 17:09:13 GMT
References: <8809271246.AA01355@ulana.b.mitre.org.> <25188@bu-cs.BU.EDU> <1988Oct4.164454.16174@utzoo.uucp> <705@tetra.NOSC.MIL>
Reply-To: kwe@buit13.bu.edu (Kent England)
Followup-To: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Organization: Boston Univ. Information Tech. Dept.
Lines: 45

In article <705@tetra.NOSC.MIL> 
budden@tetra.nosc.mil.UUCP (Rex A. Buddenberg) writes:
>
>Kent and Henry,
>
>It would indeed be nice to accost the vendors, checkbook in hand.
>Unfortunately, government, and military especially, procurement
>just doesn't work that way.  First of all, you have to understand
>that, between wars, and sometimes during them, the bean counters
>are in charge.  The little guy behind four locked and guarded
>Pentagon doors is not a little man staring at a big red button.
>Rather, it is a little guy with green eyeshaes and a helluvalot
>of large tomes telling you why you can't buy the button, much
>less press it.  Unfortunately, whenever someone tries to beat
>the system, often as not with the taxpayers best interests in mind,
>a scandal somehow erupts and congress gives the little guy some more
>rules to tell you how you can't do things.
>

	I do understand government and military procurement.  From
1979 to 1986 I was in the engineering consulting business working for
consulting firms that had contracts with the Navy, primarily.  I
worked on ballistic missile guidance and shipboard navigation systems
accuracy analysis and toward the end, on military tactical data
communications systems, like JTIDS.  I understand the business from
the small business setaside end of the table.  You know, where the dogs
gather to pick up the crumbs from the mouths of the Big Guys.

	Those that run things are the procurement types.  It's a
frustrating business working on scraps from the setasides, and that's
one of the reasons I got out.  I don't mean to disparage you or anyone
else, I'm talking about my personal views.  I'm having more fun on the
Internet than I ever would have figuring out how close to the Russian
silo a D5 missile can get.  :-)

	I really only meant to point out how nice InterOp was for
someone who doesn't have the weight of the Pentagon behind him.  I
really don't imagine that the Air Force will ever be able to operate
like a small, competitive enterprise like GM or IBM.  I know the facts
of life and that most everyone involved does his best to see that
useful work gets done in spite of the system of doing business.  So,
for those of you still on the inside, good luck, have fun, and do a
good job; I meant no disparagement to anyone working for or inside the
government procurement system.  I was poking at the "complex" Eisenhower
talked about when he left the Presidency.