SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

Create a single unified military service. Merge all officer acadamies, merge all IT infrastructures, merge all accessions and recruiting, etc. Do everything we can to capitalize on economies of scale when it comes to one of the nation's largest employeers.

The military is now getting contracted out. The contractors are making a killing. You look at my job in the Air Force, 2F0X1, I have had several airmen seperate from the Air Force to do the exact same job in the middle east for $120,000+. These jobs, contracted out by the DoD. My current job stateside, is partially contracted out, they make more money then we do. If we cut these outrageous contractor jobs and let... more »

Being that about 50% of the annual budget is military spending, how about we start by cutting that piece in half. Let the rest of the world police itself. We have a military for the purpose of DEFENDING OUR COUNTRY, not the other questionable purposes for which it is being used.

The military ,every year moves hundreds of thousands of members just for career advancement.The taxpayer not only foots the bill for the expensive move but also in the 2-3 months of lost productivity Cut these permanent change of station moves by 2/3. Raise the time on station limit to 6 years before someone can move to another base.

Instead of cutting money to the military, quit paying extremely high retention bonuses. For a new person to enter the Navy, for example, there is a sign on bonus of at $2000 and some even get $25,000 depending on their ASVAB scores. After getting into the military, those with specialized rates are being given at most a $75,000 bonus. Most get a $25,000 bonus. If they joined the military as a volunteer and the job... more »

There is an ongoing problem in the USAF. Many of our "leaders" have failed to reach their projected rank MULTIPLE times. Some of them have been given 3 or 4 chances to pass their promotion test and continue to fail. Many finally make it after the upper management "pulls strings" for them. Sadly, most of these people are poor leaders as reflected in their inability to study, plan and pass their tests. Instead of thanking... more »

Many installations pride themselves on golf courses, fountains, parks and the amazing green grass they offer. Many bases are in areas where grass is NOT normal. Desert or mountain climates simply do not have the green grass offered in other lush places. Most installations spend millions on keeping the base green, putting down sod 4 or 5 times per year in the same places because it dies. The sod does not grow from the... more »

In most branches, they have decided that wearing the Service Dress or "blues" is mandatory at least one day per week. While this may seem like a good idea to a general who sits behind a desk, in an air conditioned office all day long... it is FAR from realistic for most the jobs handled in the military. The cost of the uniforms to be constantly replaced, cleaned and altered is a burden to the people who wear them. Worst... more »

The current budget model to fund operational units based on operational hours is flawed. While specifically addressing Coast Guard aviation, this concept applies across DHS and DOD. At a typical unit, funding is primarily based on number of flight hours that the unit will fly. The budget is split between operational costs and fuel costs. As an example for a single unit, $3M to operational costs and $7M to fuel costs,... more »

As the military continues to trudge on with our war on terror, the burden and cost are rising. The weapons systems we have been using are patched and re-patched to keep them working. Some weapons are from the Vietnam era and continue to fail. Whether it’s training or real combat, our troops deserve a weapon/platform they can rely on. The Army is on its THIRD attempt to replace the M4 with another system. There are many... more »

With the rise of unemployment and thousands of Americans living on the streets, I think the government could save costs by creating a program very similar to the CCC (Circa 1933-1944) that will use existing housing areas and create large centers whose sole purpose is to give homeless Americans of all ages a place to sleep, eat, learn and work. The centers will provide food, water, housing and medical care to help get... more »

Save lots of money by bringing all soldiers in Afganistan and Iraq home.

 

This action will probably increase our homeland security as well by not having other peoples mad at us.

Elect a leader that will support a balanced budget amendment, end the "Drug War" and bring home our troops including closing foreign military bases. Savings in the trillions of dollars.

The DHS/USCG spends huge amounts of money on providing hotel rooms for deploying the Deployable Operations Group MSST/MSRT units. If you take 50 members of just one unit and deploy them INCONUS and having two to a room that is 25 rooms that the Government has to pay for. If those 25 rooms are $100 dollars a night for a 30 day deployment the total is $75,000 and that is a rough easy number for one unit and there are 10... more »

Some reservists draw $1,500 for a single weekend - the equivelant of a mortgage payment for many Americans. Many of these senior people are in only administrative roles often duplicating others in nearby units. Particularly in the Office of Naval Intelligence reserve units. Most intelligence reserve units are not assigned in direct support of any actual missions; realign them to associate units so they draw resources... more »