Pentagon Surpluses

“Embarrassment of Riches” (editorial, Feb. 6) touches on the enormous surplus caches of military material stored in warehouses around the world and suggests, in earlier times, material buildups were solved by frequent troop movements where excess equipment was left behind. However, pointing to Pentagon purchasing officers as the source of the problem misses the mark. Purchasing officers in the Department of Defense, as in civilian businesses, merely try to efficiently execute procurements ordered by others.

Our embarrassment of riches stems from the military-industrial-congressional complex which is motivated by promotion in rank, profits from research and development, and production, and votes and support from constituents. This complex, often working in tandem, conceives, develops, funds and manages weapon systems, which are often duplicative, invariably expensive, frequently technically overly ambitious, but always adding to the mountains of military hardware and spare parts. Sharing in the blame is the Administration’s inadequate definition of military missions. Meanwhile the defense budget burden continues.

RICHARD L. BATTELLE, Pasadena