The Nation - News from Feb. 21, 1985

The Pentagon buys weapons “in an environment that almost guarantees high cost,” retired Lt. Gen. James W. Stansberry, a former top Air Force procurement official, told the Senate Armed Services procurement task force. Stansberry said: “The system is overregulated, chokes on its own paper, is characterized by lack of decision and commitment, vacillation and change, inefficient production rates, and little motivation to modernize and reduce costs.”