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submitted 1 year ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

Pentagon has the worst IT helpdesk in the US government::DoD is dead last for tech support, equipment, communication, and function, say staff

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You'd think the DoD's astronomical budget would cover this.

[-] lilShalom@lemmy.basedcount.com 54 points 1 year ago

From what I've seen, a lot of the money goes to multiple layers of mid-level managers who don't actually do anything.

[-] TheWoozy@lemmy.world 36 points 1 year ago

They are there to document in excruciating detail how their budget is NOT being misspent, because we can't abide waste and mismanagement!

[-] Blamemeta@lemm.ee 16 points 1 year ago

This is the one. Has anyone here seen the dod acquisitions chart?

Heres a copy: https://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/2010/09/atl_wall_chart.jpg

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

Holy fuck, it's like notes with strings on a cork board except even more insanely complex.

[-] 3ntranced@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

See, reading it over it seems to make sense, everything is double checked and reviewed by others to error proof, and all flows in a understandable direction.

The problem is how vague what is involved in each of these steps and how the funding is distributed. Like how many people are we paying to operate each point? How many redundancies are caught up within the burocracy of it all and siphoning off to various slush funds?

The only way to successfully operate this method they layout is if every single step performs their function, but at a 'federal' level that's like asking a cow to lay an egg.

[-] SinningStromgald@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago

Someone has to manage managements managers that manage the managers managers.

[-] photonic_sorcerer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Not even that, theres lots of DoD employees (non-managers) that get paid pretty well just to sit on their asses and do not much of anything all day. It's the biggest social welfare program in the US.

[-] PalmTreeIsBestTree@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I thought that was the TSA

[-] HurlingDurling@lemm.ee 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The problem is two fold, the first is that any change in process or procedure has to be approved by a committee that probably has nothing to do with IT at all; and the second is that the DoD is full of higher ranking officers that if you have a 3 day turn around for a repair -- for example, they will threaten your very existence unless they are not done immediately.

The only solution I can think off is that the IT has to be removed from the DoD, and assigned its own budget and director.

[-] Astroturfed@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Think about how many warlords we could bribe to protect American corporate interests in countries we aren't supposed to be involved in instead of new functions IT. Those American friendly dictators aren't going to arm and install themselves.

[-] Kes@lemmy.blahaj.zone 25 points 1 year ago

If there's one place I'd expect to have trouble hiring, it's the Pentagon's IT team. They regularly deal with the most sensitive information about the US military, and need to have clearance to see all of it. That gives them an incredibly slim hiring pool, so it's no surprise their IT team sucks

[-] postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

Also: hiring tech people but no weed allowed

[-] jackoneill@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

Yeah the overlap in the Venn diagram for good engineers that don’t do any federally illegal drugs is fucking TINY

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

I'm guessing not too many people join the army or the air force to do IT support.

[-] Sanctus@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago
[-] linearchaos@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

I did IT support for DOD as a contractor years ago. I wasn't at the Pentagon, but from where I was, It's primarily a funding problem, with a bit of corruption sitting in the purchasing side.

I can fix a lot of s*** on the cheap, but when they continually buy hardware below minimum spec for software there's only so much you can do.

[-] Sanctus@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Wait so its just like my job now? Buying refurbished shit that was just okay five years ago and wondering why the infrastructure has weird quirks all the time? Maybe my sanity is a little too whittled for that.

[-] tabularasa@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Nice to see we are spending our $766 billion on the right things. 😒

[-] beard_hunter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 year ago

They can neither confirm nor deny this ...

[-] const_void@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago

Can they not afford overhead lighting in their data center? That would be step one.

Its pretty obvious for security reasons...

[-] trashgirlfriend@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

The next time the Chinese attack us by submitting tech support tickets we got them by the balls.

[-] Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg 7 points 1 year ago

You say that, but most of the time when somebody gets hacked it's operator error and not a programming issue (i.e. the account was given to the person via social engineering not by the person defeating the authentication system).

[-] trashgirlfriend@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I'm sure the people at the pentagon are aware of it as an attack vector and I am also fairly sure their mitigation plan isn't "just make it really shitty and slow lmao"

[-] sudo@lemmy.today 1 points 1 year ago

It works for kitboga

[-] postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

I'd like to help you, but forst tell me who played 3rd base for the losers of the 1968 world series game 4?

And who won the heosman trophy in 1974?

Can't have the enemies breeching our electronic perimeter.

[-] sturmblast@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

they could pay me a bunch of money I'll come and improve the situation

[-] ameliawilliams@leminal.space 0 points 1 year ago

Edward Snowden managed to exfiltrate millions of documents because he was in help desk.

this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
245 points (98.8% liked)

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