<story><title>Military uniforms – Expense and stupidity too big to camouflage</title><url>http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21600700-expense-and-stupidity-too-big-camouflage-out-sight</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>pjc50</author><text>This is the &amp;quot;it doesn&amp;#x27;t matter if it actually works&amp;quot; factor rather than the &amp;quot;CDI&amp;quot; factor.&lt;p&gt;America is not fighting a war of national survival on a limited budget. It&amp;#x27;s fighting some wars of choice and maintaining a defence procurement industry on a seemingly unlimited budget. There is no way even the total failure of the war will personally affect the people doing the producement, and there is no need for them to economise because they can&amp;#x27;t run out of other people&amp;#x27;s money.&lt;p&gt;So, everyone involved is free to have endless meetings. Senior management can commission studies at great expense then ignore the result on a whim. They can engage in turf wars and internal empire building; after all, the real enemy is the people you&amp;#x27;re competing with for promotions.&lt;p&gt;The procurements that &lt;i&gt;have&lt;/i&gt; been successful are mostly those resulting from urgent operational requirements, when losing to insurgents with a tiny budget became embarrassing.&lt;p&gt;(The UK is not immune to this; we&amp;#x27;ve built an aircraft carrier that&amp;#x27;s supposed to use the F-35, which may not be available and we can&amp;#x27;t really afford)</text></comment>
<story><title>Military uniforms – Expense and stupidity too big to camouflage</title><url>http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21600700-expense-and-stupidity-too-big-camouflage-out-sight</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>chrisseaton</author><text>People are scathing about the USMC&amp;#x27;s desire to look distinctive, and about senior officers&amp;#x27; desire for soldiers to look good.&lt;p&gt;Obviously fashion shouldn&amp;#x27;t trump everything, but looking and feeling the part is a considerable part of the moral component of fighting power. I think denying that is denying some basic human psychology. Why do armies spend money on flags, dress uniforms, buglers, horses, mascot dogs, medals, bands and so on? It&amp;#x27;s because the ethos they create is a seriously important part of building a group of men who can operate together in extreme situations.&lt;p&gt;The USMC and other branches are worried about how their uniforms look and how distinctive they are because it&amp;#x27;s one essential part of preparing to fight a war.</text></comment>