Pentagon wasted $28 million on uniforms for Afghan soldiers, report says

[Suzanimal]

Why are we even buying Afgan uniforms?:confused:


WASHINGTON — The Pentagon wasted as much as $28 million over the past decade buying uniforms for the Afghan army with a woodland camouflage pattern appropriate for a tiny fraction of that war-torn country, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

The Afghan Defense Minister picked the pricey, privately owned “forest” color pattern over free camouflage schemes owned by the U.S. government, according to an advance copy of the report due out on Wednesday. The scathing, 17-page study notes that “forests cover only 2.1% of Afghanistan’s total land area.”

“My concern is what if the minister of defense liked purple, or liked pink?” John Sopko, the special inspector general, told USA TODAY in an interview. “Are we going to buy pink uniforms for soldiers and not ask questions? That’s insane. This is just simply stupid on its face. We wasted $28 million of taxpayers’ money in the name of fashion, because the defense minister thought that that pattern was pretty. So if he thought pink or chartreuse was it, would we have done that?”

...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/06/21/pentagon-blew-28-million-uniforms-afghan-soldiers-report-says/413219001/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[UWDude]

Why are we even buying Afgan uniforms?:confused:


So they Afghans can dress up in them and shoot Americans.

[phill4paul]

Why are we even buying Afgan uniforms?:confused:


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/06/21/pentagon-blew-28-million-uniforms-afghan-soldiers-report-says/413219001/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

It didn't even cost you a Franzia box in labor. Can I get a FOIA about the Afghan soldiers that kill our troops and what they are wearing?

[nikcers]

Why are we even buying Afgan uniforms?:confused:
We have to give them a military uniform and guns so when we destroy their country we can say they had a fighting chance.

[timosman]

Chump change.

[otherone]

Was it an American contractor? Who's name is on the check?

[oyarde]

How many uniforms did 28 million get ? How much would the desert color cost ?

[Pericles]

Why are we even buying Afgan uniforms?:confused:


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/06/21/pentagon-blew-28-million-uniforms-afghan-soldiers-report-says/413219001/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

That story is what we get when people who know less than nothing about military matters decide to voice an opinion about what happened.

More probable course of events. US decides to change uniform pattern in 2004. That results in a number of uniforms in the old pattern in inventory. Somebody decides to build, uniform and equip an Afghan Army at US taxpayer expense.
Hey, why not give them our left over uniforms?" becomes a thought because it will be cheaper than buying all new gear two years from now, because an immediate solution is available.

Note: for Afghan deployments the US then changed back to a pattern with more brown and green in it similar to the old pattern given to the Afghans.

[bunklocoempire]

Was it an American contractor? Who's name is on the check?

HyperStealth Biotechnology Corp.?

:confused:


About HyperStealth Biotechnology Corp. (http://www.hyperstealth.com/aboutus.html)

First established in March 1999, HyperStealth has developed the world’s first Passive Negative Ion Generator Patent#: CA 2,282,155 International Patent Classification (IPC) H01T 23/00.

In 2002 Guy Cramer, President/CEO of HyperStealth and the inventor of the Passive Negative Ion Generator, began to develop new military camouflage based on mathematical fractals (feedback loops) taking camouflage into an area of science that had been proposed by the experts but none were able to design.

In 2003 Guy Cramer, was commissioned by King Abdullah II of Jordan to develop a digital camouflage pattern that surpassed current U.S. issued uniforms. The King has approved this KA2 pattern for Jordanian Armed Forces and Police and 390,000 uniforms have since been manufactured for Jordan.

In 2005, HyperStealth Corp., began to manufacture military uniforms with the Cramer's fractal patterns. The company is currently prototyping a uniform with Cramer’s Passive Negative Ion Generator into the manufactured uniforms for Military Forces only. This concept includes notions of improving troop alertness, endurance, balance and reaction time.

In 2009 the Afghanistan National Army (through a U.S. Government contract) began using HyperStealth’s Afghan Forest pattern with 1.1 million uniforms to be issued in this camouflage.

In 2009 Hyperstealth was awarded the solicitation to develop three versions of Urban Patterns for consideration by the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) for CUEPAT (Canadian Urban Environment Pattern), these patterns were completed in early 2010 and formally presented in Ottawa and West Point Military Academy in June 2010.

In March 2010, Hyperstealth completed the CUEPAT (Canadian Urban Pattern) development for the Canadian Forces: Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC).

Recently Hyperstealth announced “Smartcamo”; an intelligent textile which changes its color to match the background of the wearer in almost all environments. Further application of Smartcamo onto ground vehicles is expected to precede any wide scale uniform program as power and processors are one limiting factor for the individual soldier application.

Cramer also announced “Quantum Stealth” (Light Bending material) non-powered adaptive camouflage which portrays what is behind the user in-front of the user bending the light around the target. The cost is inexpensive, very lightweight and there are no power requirements.

Cramer has developed over 12,000 patterns which are all under international copyright.

HyperStealth developed the Kingdom of Jordan's advanced KA2™ digital pattern, Chile's Fractical™ Pattern, UAE Destex™ Pattern, Slovakian Digital Thunder™ and Cloudcam™ aircraft patterns, India's O8™ pattern, Afghanistan National Army (ANA); Spec4ce Afghan Forest Pattern, Afghanistan Civil Police (ANCOP); Spec4ce Sierra, Special Forces SOPAT™ and Camopat™ patterns, W.L. Gore & Associates (Gore-Tex®) Optifade™ Big Game Open Country, Optifade Big Game Forest and Optifade European Forest, 3M® Consealment™ Camouflage printed vinyl and numerous other countries camouflage patterns still within trials.

HyperStealth is referenced in the NATO Programme for Security through Science.

Over 4,500,000 uniforms and 3000+ military vehicles use HyperStealth® Camouflage patterns

"HyperStealth" is a registered Trademark of HyperStealth Biotechnology Corp.

"Passive Negative Ion Generator", "Making the Best Better" are trademarks of HyperStealth® Biotechnology Corp., All Rights Reserved

SpecAm is a trademark of HyperStealth Biotechnology Corp., All Rights Reserved

This page and information © Copyright 1999-2013, HyperStealth® Biotechnology Corp., All Rights Reserved.

[TheTexan]

I'm fine with this as long as the uniform has a clearly visible US flag on it to indicate that the afghan army is basically our army

[TheTexan]

Given how much they help to protect our poppy fields over there, its the least we can do

[Danke]

Given how much they help to protect our poppy fields over there, its the least we can do

Shouldn't it come out of CIA funds then?

[Anti Federalist]

So they Afghans can dress up in them and shoot Americans.

That was my first thought when I read this...FFS.

http://reactiongifs.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/barney-stinson-kill-myself-boring-suicide-neil-patrick-harris-How-I-Met-Your-Mother.gif

[enhanced_deficit]

Wastage happens and should be cutailed but we can't put a price tag on freedom.

[TheTexan]

Why does anyone even care? $28 million is like 0.005 % of our military budget.

If it was wasted (and not saying it was), it's basically like losing a penny. Not worth even a second thought.

[phill4paul]

That story is what we get when people who know less than nothing about military matters decide to voice an opinion about what happened.

More probable course of events. US decides to change uniform pattern in 2004. That results in a number of uniforms in the old pattern in inventory. Somebody decides to build, uniform and equip an Afghan Army at US taxpayer expense.
Hey, why not give them our left over uniforms?" becomes a thought because it will be cheaper than buying all new gear two years from now, because an immediate solution is available.

Note: for Afghan deployments the US then changed back to a pattern with more brown and green in it similar to the old pattern given to the Afghans.

I'd take a half dozen pairs of those BDU's but they didn't ask me. :(

[Occam's Banana]

Why are we even buying Afgan uniforms?:confused:

Well. how else are we gonna be able to tell the "good" gjuys from the "bad" gjuys?


“Are we going to buy pink uniforms for soldiers and not ask questions? That’s insane. This is just simply stupid on its face. We wasted $28 million of taxpayers’ money in the name of fashion, because the defense minister thought that that pattern was pretty. So if he thought pink or chartreuse was it, would we have done that?”

As opposed to what? Wasting it on yet more bombs to be used in the longest aggressive, non-defensive war in American history?

Talk about insane stupidity ... (chartreuse cammies don't even come close ...)

[bunklocoempire]

Make clothes, not war?

[Cleaner44]

Without government, who would buy the uniforms?

[enhanced_deficit]

Make clothes, not war?

I'm sure it was well intended comment. But reality on the ground is that making clothes can go only so far in stimulating economy and cannot create the kind of well paying jobs that $100 billions weapons sales to warring mideast dictators woud.