AUGUSTA, Maine - Members of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee are criticizing the Pentagon for suppressing a study done by an independent group that found some $125 billion in bureaucratic waste in the military.
The study, by the Defense Business Board, an independent group of business executives set up to advise the military, found many examples of higher than necessary costs. For example, the military hires more than a million civilian contractors to do support functions for the 1.3 million troops on active duty.
Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who serves on the committee, says there are better uses for the money.
"One-hundred-twenty-five billion worth of savings identified over five years - that would be enough to fund the nuclear modernization program," King said. "Do we need to take seriously - because we are taking about increasing the defense budget, but how about talking about using the dollars we have more effectively?”
King says it is upsetting that the military sought to bury the report that was published by the Washington Post. He says the Pentagon needs to be held accountable.
