Afghan uniform boondoggle?

[Slater]

What the hell, it still looks better than the USAF's current uniform:

"The Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A) is the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) organization responsible for overseeing efforts to train and equip the Afghan forces. As part of that effort, CSTC-A oversaw the design of a new uniform for the conventional ANA forces and the selection of the proprietary camouflage pattern used. Though the pattern was selected without determining whether it was appropriate to or effective in the Afghan environment, DOD has spent approximately $93.81 million procuring uniforms for the ANA’s conventional forces."


https://www.sigar.mil/interactive-re...ent/index.html

[SteyrAUG]

I would rather buy every homeless kid a sandwich then spend 93 million on uniforms for Afghans. First off, aren't they the same people who make the worlds best rugs? Are you telling me Vietnam era mamasan's could knock out in country tiger stripe but nobody over there can make uniforms for their own people? Why are we paying for this crap exactly?

And is there a reason we simply aren't dumping the remainder of our chocolate chip stuff on them? I go into army / navy stores and see BDU's "Made in Pakistan", why exactly aren't they making stuff there?

[HardToHandle]

Well, Soldiersystems has been talking about this report with some depth for days.

http://soldiersystems.net/2017/06/22...lage-uniforms/

So some IG accountant is trying to make a name calling out a $28 million contract that was actually successfully fielded and met an identified need? Yawn... There were hundreds of millions in other more questionable spending.

The whole inpropriate woodland color way criticism is BS on the face. Wasn't the main Taliban threat in the Korengal and Far East when the uniform was selected? That was that place full of trees I.e, a woodland environment. The classic M81/woodland BDU pattern would have been great and cheap, but the Soldier Systems story explains how limited the savings would have been.

And to Slater's point, the camo selected was better on its face than the primary combat camo of three of the U.S. Armed Services fielded in a similar time period. The Army and Navy are DXing the camo patterns that were barely a decade old.

[TomMcC]

I would rather buy every homeless kid a sandwich then spend 93 million on uniforms for Afghans. First off, aren't they the same people who make the worlds best rugs? Are you telling me Vietnam era mamasan's could knock out in country tiger stripe but nobody over there can make uniforms for their own people? Why are we paying for this crap exactly?

And is there a reason we simply aren't dumping the remainder of our chocolate chip stuff on them? I go into army / navy stores and see BDU's "Made in Pakistan", why exactly aren't they making stuff there?

Next thing you know we'll be sending them $93 mil in toilet paper and another $93 mil in tampons.

Isn't most of A-stan desertie anyway?

[Defaultmp3]

Isn't most of A-stan desertie anyway?

Korengal Valley:




Afghanistan has quite the varied terrain.

[TomMcC]

Korengal Valley:


Afghanistan has quite the varied terrain.

Thanks, guess I hadn't seen enough pictures of it.

[SteyrAUG]

Next thing you know we'll be sending them $93 mil in toilet paper and another $93 mil in tampons.

Isn't most of A-stan desertie anyway?

It's all kind of shit. Not even sure why uniforms are being bothered with. Plenty of guys in uniform are playing for the other team anyway. They'd probably all be better off dressing like the locals and looking like some half assed militia.

We don't seem to have positive control of anything, we don't seem to be doing anything meaningful beyond presenting our enemies with some US soldiers to shoot at, perhaps it's time to cut bait and unass. Seems to be an endless money pit with no meaningful returns, especially in light of the recent attacks on US forces by members of the Afghan military.

It would probably require a genuine cooperative effort with Russia to truly bring the entire country under control and that would mean a lot of irony.

[Slater]

The US and Russia have both tried (with very different methods, of course). Hell, let China have a crack at it. Of course, they use flamethrowers against their own home -grown Islamic militants in certain cases so their bedside manner may be open to question.

[TAZ]

The US and Russia have both tried (with very different methods, of course). Hell, let China have a crack at it. Of course, they use flamethrowers against their own home -grown Islamic militants in certain cases so their bedside manner may be open to question.

The Russians used a lot of nasty tools on their own to keep folks in line and failed in Asscrackistan. I'm 100% ok with letting China sink a couple of trillion an thousands if it's youth there.

I'd rather use $93MM tax dollars to make a giant bonfire at a coke fueled transgender LGBQTDJIRSCHURD gang bang than spend another cent on that shithole.

[SomeOtherGuy]

Step 1: Bomb the whole territory until it's nothing but a giant gravel pit.
Step 2: Issue ACUs.
Step 3: Issue floral couches to fill in gaps as needed.