20 million on firewood?

[Forever_frost]

Really?

Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz: ‘The U.S. Military Is Spending $20 Million for Firewood’

Posted on September 14, 2012 at 12:04am by Jason Howerton Jason Howerton
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During a House Oversight Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) revealed that the U.S. military is currently spending about $20 million on firewood. That’s right, firewood.

“It mentions in your report that the U.S. military is spending $20 million for firewood. Is there any justification for $20 million in Aghan firewood?” Chaffetz asks John F. Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

“Mr. Chairman that was one of the more interesting comments my auditor told me is that — you are absolutely correct we are paying…approximately $20 million a year for firewood,” Sopko confirmed. “And when my auditors asked for documentation on what we spent on firewood, we were basically told quote unquote ‘we don’t have, the records we just spend the money.’”

Watch part of the hearing titled “SIGAR Report: Document Destruction and Millions of Dollars Unaccounted for at the Department of Defense. Part II” below:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/gop-rep-grills-govt-official-at-congressional-hearing-is-there-any-justification-for-20-million-in-aghan-firewood/

[Vertnut]

How about just use the whole country as firewood?

[ceyko]

Yeah, don't get that one.

[juiceweezl]

Here's the problem. If I spend $20 million on something frivolous like that at my job, I'll be staying home the rest of the week...and the following week, and the following week. You get the idea. When it happens in the government...someone will get promoted.

[347Mike]

How is it an oversight?

Any company I've been with has multiple levels of approval before any large purchases. Who the hell looks at a 20 mil po for firewood and says yeah that looks good....

[Downs]

So they are buying Firewood in Afghanistan.............where it's fucking cold in the mountains and there probably isn't a whole abundance of power to provide heating. How many FOBs are we running in the country, and how many personel are there without power or heat? Would you rather our guys go out of the wire to chop down firewood or pay the locals to do it.

[slow06]

So they are buying Firewood in Afghanistan.............where it's fucking cold in the mountains and there probably isn't a whole abundance of power to provide heating. How many FOBs are we running in the country, and how many personel are there without power or heat? Would you rather our guys go out of the wire to chop down firewood or pay the locals to do it.

I don't think anybody has a problem with keeping our soldiers above 32 degrees, but when you spend $20,000,000 on wood, people kinda want receipts or something. Its the overall number that is the issue, not the purpose.

[HarrisonTX]

How about just use the whole country as firewood?

HA

[Forever_frost]

We have our own generators to keep us warm, we have poly pro and so forth. This is just a payout to the local governments to make them play nice.

[KBScobravert]

We have our own generators to keep us warm, we have poly pro and so forth. This is just a payout to the local governments to make them play nice.

This.

Between the Chigo units and Whilms heaters they keep it toasty all around the country. I never saw wood being burned except in barrels near guard posts.

Someone still has some explaining to do for all that FUO money though.

[jw33]

Don't question military expenses.

[cyclonescott]

Imagine if there were some politician who would actually put a stop to this kind of out of control spending. If there was, people would just call him crazy.

[Forever_frost]

Imagine if that politician actually held an executive level anything before wanting to run the country

[Big A]

Here's the problem. If I spend $20 million on something frivolous like that at my job, I'll be staying home the rest of the week...and the following week, and the following week. You get the idea. When it happens in the government...someone will get promoted.

I don't think that "we" simply cut a $20MM check, it's likely a combination of many purchases over several years.

I see it all the time with my government customers that have de-centralzed purchasing, though not to that extent. Most recently I have the dept. of Corrections wondering where they are going to get funding for an upcoming $7MM software renewal. It's grown to that number because the agency is so large, with 40k employees spread over a bunch of different departments, that nobody knows exactly who is buying what, or when.

That's just one single renewal out of many, so multiply that to the size of the US military, and you get $20MM being spent on firewood.

I'm not saying that it is right, I'm just not at all surprised. Their corporate counterparts do a much better job at inventory and book keeping.