Pentagon wastes $125 billion of YOUR money, virtually providing a boss for every person

Ratio of troops to support staff is near 1 to 1.

The Pentagon is hoping you don't find out about their $125 billion in wasted administrative funds. That money is just a fraction of what it costs to support just over 1 million personnel to keep an army of just 1.3 million troops in the field.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California network) -- The military is as small as it's been since 1940, at just 1.3 million members. Despite its shrinking size, the Pentagon also maintains another million members including uniformed personnel, civilians and contractors to support that force. That's a ratio approaching 1:1.

The ratio of troops to support personnel and the costs spent to maintain them is like the virtual equivalent of hiring a boss for each soldier in arms.

With so much being spent on overhead, the Pentagon made a wise decision. They audited their own finances and made plans to reinvest the money into upgrades for their combat forces.

The study produced a report which was issued in January 2015.   The report outlined a plan to save $125 billion over the next five years, assuming the Pentagon allowed attrition in its bureaucratic workforce. Through retirements and by using more competitively priced contractors, the Pentagon would free up the money and be able to redirect it to combat units or upgrading the nuclear arsenal.

The problem is what happened next, nothing. The study was buried and the data in the study was classified to prevent the release of the details. A summary of the report was removed from the Pentagon website.

The reason for the secrecy is the Pentagon was afraid that a cost-conscious public would demand the defense budget be slashed to save the money and they would not be able to spend the money on upgrades.

However, despite burying the results and getting away with their cover up for nearly two years, the Pentagon still hasn't implemented the cuts or redirected money to upgrade its forces. The bureaucracy and bloat remains.

Fortunately, there are three new developments coming quickly.

Congress is aware of the report and is demanding answers and a plan. It is likely the Defense Department will be slashed, perhaps as much as $113 billion over the next four years in accord with the 2011 Budget Control Act.

Second, the likely new Defense Secretary, General James Mattis, is a non-nonsense scholarly man who doesn't shy away from speaking his mind or fighting. He will likely whip the bureaucracy into better shape.

Finally, President-elect Trump has already said he wants to boost the military, but he is also cost conscious. Trump is expected to drive a plan that improves the military's capability, while also promoting efficiency and cutting waste.

The Pentagon says it is already adopting some of the study's recommendations, a smart move ahead of scrutiny and change of the guard.

Every dollar the Pentagon spends must first be taken from the paycheck of someone who works.

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