Re: Army IMA's follow-up memo

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

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The Army's original memo on installation management cutbacks, released
earlier this week by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility,
illustrates the political risk of centralizing administrative functions
to improve efficiency. The associated consolidated budget become a
target - in fact, a sitting duck - when purse strings are tight.

The problem, in this case, is that many of the impacted activities,
though routine, are a necessary part of maintaining the Army's
infrastructure efficiently and safely, as well as protecting the
environment. I liken the original proposal to losing weight by cutting
off one's arm. You meet the measurable objective, but not the underlying goal.

I do NOT have inside knowledge of this, but I suspect that the purpose
of Aadland's memo - as well as the reason someone leaked it - was to let
Army bean-counters know exactly how painful it would be to slice off
that arm.

As our readers know, there are continuing debates over the sufficiency
of the Defense Department's environmental programs. But I believe that
it is likely that the Aadland memo was an effort by those responsible
for installation management, including environmental compliance, to stay
near the status quo, rather than to abandon environmental, safety, and
other objectives.

It's ironic that environmental compliance, with its outside
constituency, brought attention to other risky cutbacks before any
serious damage was done.

Lenny
-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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