US Navy To Eliminate Two Navy Combat Camera Units. Why?
Something seems rather odd with the recent decision to eliminate two US Navy combat camera units as reported at Navy Times.
“The Navy will eliminate it’s two combat camera units by Oct. 1 in an effort to cut costs and eliminate billets, Navy Times has learned.”
“… the communities they served have found alternative ways to meet their needs.”
“Between the two combat camera units, one of which is based in Norfolk and one in San Diego, the cuts will eliminate four active-duty officer, 50 active-duty enlisted and 31 reserve enlisted billets.”
What seems odd with this decision:
For years I have heard that combat camera persons were not being given up to date digital cameras. Cameras also seemed hard to get in the soldiers hands to use. The training for operating digital cameras appeared, to me, to be inadequate.
Is this a case of making a unit look like it can be done away by not providing the training and tools? The rational that this cutback “is an effort to cut costs” seems suspicious when you realize that the US spends more on defense than the next eight countries added together. This is obviously a priorities issue as outlined in The Balance’s article: U.S. Military Budget: Components, Challenges, Growth. Why Military Spending Is Bigger Than You Think.
As priorities go, procurement and modernization of weapons system does feed the vastly influential corporate beast.