December 21, 2001

The concept of "Joint" operations still has a long way to go according to new GAO studies and Pentagon reports. Each service tailors its purchased equipment to its own needs, paying lip service (if anything) to the idea of working with the other services. Civilian DoD officials note that the four armed services have contracted to buy $36 billion worth of equipment that cannot be used for joint operations as it will not work with equipment used by other services.--Stephen V Cole