Incinerators vs Burn Pits.

       Well, the U.S. military is back in the news. It seems they bought two new incinerators for $5 million. They were to be used to replace burn pits to get rid of solid waste in Forward Operation Base Salerno, in Afghanistan. They were purchased from a Turkish firm and, as usual for military purchases, they went through rigorous specifications and inspection before delivery was accepted.
       Not surprisingly, the two units would not do the job they were designed to do. In fact they wouldn't work at all. There were significant deficiencies like "leaking hydraulic lines, missing pipe insulation and rusted housings on motors," according to an article in the Washington Post. These problems didn't bother the Corp of Engineers though. They were accepted even though the capacity of the incinerators of 16 tons per 24 hour period of operation didn't factor in that, because of the dangerous location of the camp, they were not allowed to be used at night.
       So now they sit, rusting in a makeshift dump in the camp. In the meantime a burn pit had to be dug, in order to burn all the solid waste. This is against military policy because of the potential danger to anyone who breathes the fumes and smoke. Which would include everyone in this camp. And don't ya just have to wonder what the solid waste they have to burn is?
       So let's take stock. There was a problem with using a burn pit, so two, under capacity, incinerators of inferior construction were purchased at a cost of $5 million to do a job they couldn't do. So they were thrown into a dump area and a hole was dug for a burn pit. Wouldn't it have been cheaper to just dig a burn pit and move everybody out of the camp a safe distance. Maybe set the burn pit up to appear like a resort spa for the Taliban?
       What I can't get over is why we spend so much money on items the end users don't want, can't use and for which nobody had the foresight to just ask the folks who will use the items what they actually needed. Oh, and wouldn't you think the Corp of Engineers would think to check to see if the damn things worked as advertised? I wonder if there was any warranty that came with these incinerators? I'd like my money back.