Decluttering the US Military

I’m still finding my proverbial feet on this platform, so posting here is a process. Not that I mind. I like figuring things out.

At the time of writing, I am in the middle of a major decluttering. So much sheer rubbish has accumulated over the past 13 years, and a lot of the rest is “good stuff,” but gathering dust. It’s not worth putting those items up for sale, but I still wipe them down, box them up, and designate them to “free to a good home”/donate. Yes, I bought and paid for them myself – and some items were expensive – but right now they are in my way and are best sent to serve new masters.

The same applies to most of the equipment that the USA has sent to Ukraine over the past two years. None of those machines are new, although some versions may still be in use. What basically happened was that the US Government decided to look at what they had in their storage sheds (big garages, by any other definition!) that was still in
decent working order, but in the way, and would be best sent to someone (in this case another country!) who would appreciate it and use it to their full advantage. Was it cheap to purchase that equipment in the first place? Hell, no! But the money was spent decades ago, and the depreciation on the equipment over the years has made it cheap now, if not totally worthless. (From a bookkeeping perspective!)

So, the only thing that the USA is spending “real money” on is getting the equipment shipped. And that money stays in the USA for the most part. The “billions” pertain to the depreciation and writing off the old equipment. It’s still more cost-effective to send the stuff all the way to Ukraine than to keep it in storage indefinitely, PLUS the US Military now has more space for new toys. (Isn’t that what we tell ourselves when we clean out our own cupboards?)

I really can’t understand what the big fuss is about. Some people are simply led by their noses by leaders who don’t have a clue how accounting works. What a real shame for American Education.