What I Want To Be When I Grow Up
Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the one career move we all should have made was to become a defense contractor, specifically a no-bid defense contractor. Back in the pre 9/11 days, the Pentagon spent $50 billion dollars a year in no-bid contracts; 2010, $140 billion. Wired’s Danger Room blog writes that the percentage of total dollars of competed contracts keeps on falling. Now, there are some good reasons why non-competitive contracts need to be awarded, but when a practice gets so out-rightly abused, the policy will soon fail.
The consequence, according to those investigative agencies and commissions: wasted dollars, lower quality goods and services, and in some cases, outright fraud.
I notice that you never have a problem with no bid entitlements. The problem is not no-bid contracts. The problem is that we are losing our manufacturing base and there is no competion here for more and more work. Of course no bid contracting is not good, but it is the policies that are undermining our manufacturing base that need to be examined and examined yesterday.
“I notice that you never have a problem with no bid entitlements.” Can the utter bankruptcy of wingnut “thinking” be made any more plain than it is by Closeted David?
As a defense employee, you will usually need a security clearance, which is almost impossible for civilians to get unless you are ex-military or have some very highly sought-after skill. Miltary retirees retire in middle age on government pensions and cycle right into these jobs. This is another way in which the military seeps into our culture, economy, and politics.
I wish there were some meaning to the phase “no bid entitlements” or that no one would be dumb enough to construct such a meaningless phrase.
Actually, Puck, it is not “almost impossible” for non-veterans to get security clearances. Don’t know where you got your information, but it’s not valid. And there are thousands of DOD jobs that do not require any type of security clearance except a basic background investigation.
Except that the government will not request the investigation until it makes you an offer. So there is a built-in preference for applicants who already possess the required clearance, which means the labor pool for those jobs is ex-military.
Where are you getting your information?
I get my information from my agency, which does 98% of all background and clearance investigations for the Federal government. You are mistaken in your belief that you must be ex-military in order to land a job with DOD.