The Pentagon Is Building a Team of Tech-Savvy Soldiers
1–10 of 66 posts
Re: The Pentagon Is Building a Team of Tech-Savvy Soldiers
#2Great story that should trigger some thought in valley tech people.
There are smart people all over the place who are difficult to reach.
Re: The Pentagon Is Building a Team of Tech-Savvy Soldiers
#3> “The Army didn’t really know what to do with me,” he says. “So they sent me to Ranger School. I learned how to jump out of planes and carry rifles and stuff like that.”
GROAN What branch did you go, fuckwit? That's what the Army wanted to do with you.
Re: The Pentagon Is Building a Team of Tech-Savvy Soldiers
#43 orders of magnitude difference in cost... I think we’re having the wrong conversations about taxes in the US.
Re: The Pentagon Is Building a Team of Tech-Savvy Soldiers
#5I really enjoyed this article. The DDS is literally doing the same kind of things that the USDS is doing, but for military applications. Given the fact that the largest portion of our taxes goes towards defense spending, initiatives like create opportunities to allocate resources more efficiently, iterate with agility, and save a ton of money.
When you look at DoD contractors, there is obviously a motivation on their end to have larger contracts with inflated budgets and prolonged timelines - they're businesses. On the flip side, a government agency has none of those motivations - they just want to save lives as quickly and affordably as possible.
I am curious to see if these "lean" organizations will pop up in other parts of the federal/state/local governments. There are so many areas where better UX, logical efficiency, or inner-department communication could make people's lives easier or even save them:
- In PA you need to sign up for a tax ID separately from filing articles of incorporation. Why can't the Department of State and Department of revenue's system sync up to create a tax ID at the time of incorporation?
- Philadelphia's transit authority SEPTA has been rolling out a cashless fare system using RFID/NFC. It was supposed to be released in 2013 and still isn't complete. It cost $300 Million for Xerox to build which was twice as much as the initial budget. The kicker is their website used isn't even functional on mobile - it _literally_ uses nested tables for layout. A more efficient way to do this would be to use your phone for everything (using built in NFC) and an app to manage your fares.
Re: The Pentagon Is Building a Team of Tech-Savvy Soldiers
#6So I have a hard time believing the 100k price tag. They are not including everything here, which is typical. The government usually doesn't consider overhead costs because to the agency they are fixed. That's a multiple of 2-3. They're certainly depending on some existing developed technology which doesn't sound COTS to me, and I have no idea how much to value that at. Maybe another 100-500k unless it comes from a major prime in which case... 1M or more.
The biggest thing increasing development costs for these kinds of projects is the fact that it is SO hard for development teams to get real understanding and feedback from the actual guys using the equipment. It takes a near act of God in many cases to get as close as they did in this story. That's what gives you an actual usable product at the end of the R&D effort and what saves the most money.
Also I'd work for this team in a heartbeat. Sounds like fun even if I don't believe all their numbers.
Re: The Pentagon Is Building a Team of Tech-Savvy Soldiers
#7> “The Army didn’t really know what to do with me,” he says. “So they sent me to Ranger School. I learned how to jump out of planes and carry rifles and stuff like that.” GROAN What branch did you go, fuckwit? That's what the Army wanted to do with you.
Sure, that’s why they sent him to Ranger School. I think the point is that it wasn’t making the most of his skills.
Re: The Pentagon Is Building a Team of Tech-Savvy Soldiers
#8Never understood the underpaying of highly qualified people in the govt. Making a sacrifice for your country in a high powered / representative position is one thing, but the rank and file? Billions are spent on defense contracts and old software, but when bringing on teams of people to revamp the system, they want these people to take more than a 50% pay cut. D.C. is an expensive place to live as well. If you think something is crucial for the country to advance and survive, don't be cheap about it.
Re: The Pentagon Is Building a Team of Tech-Savvy Soldiers
#9I really enjoyed this article. The DDS is literally doing the same kind of things that the USDS is doing, but for military applications. Given the fact that the largest portion of our taxes goes towards defense spending, initiatives like create opportunities to allocate resources more efficiently, iterate with agility, and save a ton of money. When you look at DoD contractors, there is obviously a motivation on their…
The largest portion of our taxes does not go to defense spending. It goes to entitlements.
Re: The Pentagon Is Building a Team of Tech-Savvy Soldiers
#10Never understood the underpaying of highly qualified people in the govt. Making a sacrifice for your country in a high powered / representative position is one thing, but the rank and file? Billions are spent on defense contracts and old software, but when bringing on teams of people to revamp the system, they want these people to take more than a 50% pay cut. D.C. is an expensive place to live as well. If you think…
Eh, look at it as a filter for true believers. Mercenaries are dangerous, because they have a price.