Your tax dollars at work: $4 billion a year for the Navy's phone bill

[Zen-like Todd]

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/003283.html

Someone needs to introduce them to skype.

And you thought your phone bill was high. The Navy is paying about $4 billion a year for calls, according to Defense News. And not surprisingly, there is a whole lot of padding in that tab.

A check of telephone bills in the Jacksonville, Fla., area “found that when we have a digital receipt for a phone bill in the area…we are being overcharged 30 percent,” deputy chief of naval operations Vice Adm. Mark Edwards told a group of military-industrial insiders at a recent conference.

Telephone service with no digital receipt showed overcharges of 18 percent, he added.

The Navy’s top IT official said he wasn’t accusing telephone companies, but he just might not let it slide. “What I’m saying is: It’s my money and I want it back. And we’re going to get it back,” he said, to some chuckles.

By recouping 30 percent of the $4 billion tab over the five-year defense plan, “we could build another carrier, just on the phone bill,” noted Edwards, a former ship and carrier battle group commander. “It won’t be quite that easy, but we’re working it.”
And it might not end there. Edwards wants the Navy to change course by replacing traditional landlines for VOIP, or “voice over IP,” communications, he said. “It would save us over 24 percent the first year” and 24 percent the second year, he estimated.

And just think, that's only one branch.

[Midnight Judges]

There is a lot of waste in defense. Somebody could clean house if they wanted to, but people don't seem to want to. Tip 'o the iceberg.

[HOF44]

At least someone's asking for it back now.

[The Evil Genius]

Damn. This puts it in context.

By recouping 30 percent of the $4 billion tab over the five-year defense plan, “we could build another carrier, just on the phone bill,” noted Edwards,

[Joe Sick]

By recouping 30 percent of the $4 billion tab over the five-year defense plan, “we could build another carrier, just on the phone bill,” noted Edwards

Maybe they can finally get to work on rightfully honoring our 42nd president with the newest Carrier in the fleet: The USS Clinton!

[Zen-like Todd]

Maybe they can finally get to work on rightfully honoring our 42nd president with the newest Carrier in the fleet: The USS Clinton!

I believe that's going to be a dirigible, not a carrier.

[Buford]

seriously, I want them to use that loot to build the George W. Bush.

A Carrier that never actually leaves American waters for Military Reasons.....maybe goes around in circles a few times, starts some **** with Canada and Mexico from afar. Then springs a leak, and comes home to talk about how much ass they kicked.

[Destino]

Nobody does anything because you can't generate enough outrage. No politician wants to point the finger at.. ahem "our proud men and women in uniform"... even if the military is losing massive chunks of money.

[Bang]

This just illustrates what a large problem is in this country.
People look at politicians and blame them all the time, but when you see this kind of waste, when you see how much waste of the Iraq budget is going to contractors doing absolute shoddy work,, the real criminals in this country are We the People.
People blame Government waste on the government, or Navy in this case. But shouldn't they be able to expect that the phone company is not going to rip them off simply because they know they can?
Are there no institutions left in this country with any ethics or morals at all?
It's absolutely atrocious when you think about it. Nothing more than common stealing.

~Bang

[dreamingwolf]

I would wager the same type of thing goes on all over the government and not just in the military, and its not that the politicians dont want to our men in uniform(not sure why you put the ahem in there, was that a dig or something?) they dont want to point the finger at the governemnt or themselves either.

[Bang]

I would wager the same type of thing goes on all over the government and not just in the military, and its not that the politicians dont want to our men in uniform(not sure why you put the ahem in there, was that a dig or something?) they dont want to point the finger at the governemnt or themselves either.

But the Navy should not have the finger pointed at them in this case. Yes, they could be a bit more conscious of where their money goes, but they are the victims in this case. It's the phone companies who stole the money, not the Navy.

~Bang

[Destino]

But the Navy should not have the finger pointed at them in this case. Yes, they could be a bit more conscious of where their money goes, but they are the victims in this case. It's the phone companies who stole the money, not the Navy.

~Bang

That's true but the reason this happens less in the private sector is because of good accounting practices.

[The Evil Genius]

seriously, I want them to use that loot to build the George W. Bush.

A Carrier that never actually leaves American waters for Military Reasons.....maybe goes around in circles a few times, starts some **** with Canada and Mexico from afar. Then springs a leak, and comes home to talk about how much ass they kicked.

The problem is, it might go missing for 8-10 months while in service. Of course, it would be okay since that's what all the reserve ships did.

[Joe Sick]

General question: are VOIP systems more or less "secure"? Seems like that would save a good amount of money, but not sure how the encryption or whatever would hold up...

[tizzod]

I did an audit once of a local Canadian security company that provided security to the US Embassy. They were robbing the Embassy blind. Charging the absolute maximum allowed by contract every month, and no one worked anywhere near those hours. Turns out they owed the Embassy 30 grand or something ridiculous. In a year!

That's just one measly instance. Multiply it by a thousand and then take in the big projects. It's mind boggling how much money is going to waste. There's no serious oversight of it.