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My daughter-in-law's father sent me this. Seemed to apply especially well to contracting officers and other officiials under (or beside) Druyun.
Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water.
After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result - all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.
After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana.
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Mmmmmmmm?
10/18/2004 01:52:15 PM
The "official" Air Force position seems to be a defensive protest that only one person was responsible for the massive frauds perpitrated by Darleen Druyun. Many of the government agencies involved, both in the Executive Branch and in the Legislative, publically attribute all illegal activities to this single individual in a ritual handwashing.
That is widely viewed as ludicrous, as Senator John McCain told General Gregory Martin, current Commander of Air Force Materiel Command, under which the Robins comander directly works. The General tried to tap dance away from culpability in an open hearing for his confirmation to head the military in the Pacific theater. An AP story dated October 8th entitled
" General Not Mad At McCain" described General Martin and Senator McCain's face off over Martin's invovement.
In a telephone interview from his Air Force Materiel Command headquarters at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, Martin said he played no part in the Boeing contract negotiations. His name has appeared on some internal e-mails related to the tanker plan...
It was noted during the Martin confirmation hearing that Ms. Druyun did closely work with General Martin during 1988-1989. Around this time the responsibility for the C-130 AMP program, was abruptly shifted to Wright Patterson, after Druyun had assurred Robins that the program would be based in Middle Georgia. Druyun's written admission that another unbiased evaluator would not have awarded the $4 Billion program to Boeing sparked protests by Lockheed Martin and BAE. Some speculated years ago that Robins' loss of the program stemed from who Darleen could intimidate. Martin would have approved that responsibility transfer.
... Martin said he had seen no inappropriate behavior during the year or so they worked together in the Pentagon. McCain responded, "General, I'm questioning your qualifications for command."...
In the same article, McCain's ire was aimed at Martin and what he viewed as stonewalling regarding Martin and others' correspondence about the refueling tanker program
"I will strongly object to your nomination leaving this committee until we get all of the e-mails and all of the answers, of which I have very many," McCain told Martin, whose wife, Wendy, and brother, Steve, were in the audience and were introduced at the start of the hearing. ...
With those words from McCain, Martin said, he realized that his nomination was probably doomed.
... 'I had absolutely nothing to do with it,' said Martin, who hours after the hearing announced he was withdrawing his nomination to head U.S. Pacific Command."
We would wonder how such blatant acts were missed by so many!?
In another protest that is perhaps much too much, Lockheed complained about the award of the modification program to Boeing.
Tom Jurkowsky, a Lockheed spokesman, said ... "We have to find a remedy for an injustice caused by Ms. Druyun through her chicanery," .
The amusing part of this is that although Boeing got lots of "gifts" from Druyun in the past few years, Lockheed was a past beneficiary of her summary decisions as well. In a smaller but parallel move Druyun had made a "stealth" award of the C-5 avionics modification, without competition.
See the Air Force Magazine announcement in April 1999. In another case, over the objections and cost analysis results of Sacramento ALC managers, Druyun directed the sole source contracting of F-117 sustainment to Lockheed. In that situation she had the SPM and deputy fired for not following her verbal direction. This was brought to several Congressional committee staff through copies of letters sent to Druyun's superior (who just happens to work for Boeing!) It would seem that Lockheed "doth protest too much" given their previous "gifts"! It also seems that Daleen had developed a disdain for Lockheed. I wonder why?
Some other links of interest:
10/18/2004 11:50:01 AM
Gene Rector has done us a service by starting the ball rolling October 17, 2004. I hope Bobby Harnage gets a copy of today's Macon Telegraph.
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE - This month's courtroom confessions by a former top-ranking Air Force civilian official are casting a dark cloud over a system that awards contracts worth billions of taxpayer dollars a year - and could affect future work and hundreds of jobs at Robins Air Force Base.
This story is a good start in educating our area about a woman wielding power far beyond reasonable limits, and in doing so, she stole much economic growth from Mid Georgia. Two situations were highlighted in the story. First and most important is the damage to the reputations of many contracting personnel who looked up to Darleen and must have understood the rules being broken. This includes local people since many of these actions were common knowledge around the base. Second were the recent contracts she "tilted" in favor of Boeing, but which excluded Robins from bidding work at more competitive prices than by contract.
General Rick Goddard:
"We've grown a generation of young acquisition officers who have been tainted by Darleen's mode of operation - a culture that believes that was the right way to do business," he said. "They must understand their responsibility to run an absolutely flawless, above-board system so there are no questions when the onion is peeled away."
The
"Darleen way" that is mentioned is simply a culture of ignoring rules, regulations and law as a day to day activity. Throughout Goddard's tenure, and in fact through his predecessor Ron Smith's, Darleen ran completely amok, breaking both precedent and law. She taught contracting personnel by example about a power based process of contracting, exacting money, careers and mission assignment retributions against any blocking her way. Early in Darleen's heyday she verbally directed a few general officers to do something illegal, that was make progress payments not earned by contract provisions. Three senior officers were forced to retire for following her direction. Unbelievably the Air Force , DoD and Congress were unable to exact even a portion of the punishment levied on the military officers. This was in 1993 and the contract was for the C-17 development!
The "tainting" of contracting people that needs to be attacked from the Mid Georgia viewpoint is the majority of "Acquisition" personnel's ingrained assumptions, that assigning work to depots is a last alternative to contracting out. Many of the jobs she directed to contracts should have been assigned to Robins!
"Ron Smith, also a retired Air Force major general and former local center commander, said"
"he would be surprised if a number of contracts are recompeted. 'It would almost be mind-boggling,' he said. 'We're already down the road with millions - probably billions - of taxpayer dollars invested. ....'We need to find out what happened, correct it and look forward not backward.' ... 'I was not a Darleen fan,' he said, 'but I was shocked with all of this. The whole thing baffles me. Maybe she did all of those things just because she could. It's sad ... really, really sad.'
I am baffled how senior officials deny knowing of the abuses and I'm remindedof the kids who blame others when something is broken. Smith accurately predicted
"... the fallout will paint with a very broad brush."
and much of that fallout will be on the "Heads of Contracting", mostly senior civilians, and those with the authority to approve contracts, senior military.
In addition to the military officers and the senior civilians who knew better, but still supported Darleen's acts, Congress is definitely to blame. I personally explained some of Darleen's improper acts to then Congressman Chambliss face to face. I provided documents to his staff however:
"Clyde Taylor, military assistant to Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said Chambliss 'will press for some answers the next time he meets with the Air Force secretary."
I would hope so and I would hope he threatens Mr. Roche (who is hardly blameless himself) that if Robins is not provided recompense - heads will roll.
I completely agree with General Goddard that:
"It's going to be political"
And political cover with career ending threats were the weapons Darleen held in her hand to get by with all that she did. She did the bidding of contractors with her politician "Godfathers" watching from the shadows. If she was attacked as the "hitwoman" they would help get her out of hot water. These are the people who must really be losing sleep, that perhaps Darleen might not want to buy her way out of another few months of jail by implicating them.
10/17/2004 03:37:58 PM
