US DEFENSE MANUFACTURING OUTSOURCED TO TURKEY…PLEASE READ
Click here: US Defense Manufacturing Sent To Turkey – Maggie’s Farm http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/archives/14620-US-Defense-Manufacturing-Sent-To-Turkey.html
Friday, June 4. 2010
US Defense Manufacturing Sent To Turkey
A reader of Maggie’s Farm manufactures spare parts for military applications. He emails, posted here with his permission, about our Defense Department preferring Turkish firms above his, “in a way that is rather unique in their dealings with other (NATO) countries.â€
By that I mean, Turkey is the only country that they give these orders to, besides maybe an occasional one to Canada. The reason I know this is that everyday I get emailed to me “notices of unsuccessful bid.
I have been dealing with DLA [Defense Logistics Agency] since I began my business in 1986. I broke every rule in the book in starting my business, with regard to undercapitalization. Somehow, (blessed be the Lord),  we made it this far and enjoy a good relationship with the gov’t as our primary customer (75%). 99% of what we make are spare parts for military applications- machine guns, tanks, apvs, land, maritime and a smattering of aircraft parts. There’s me (veteran), wife, son (veteran), 3 machinists and 2 welders (1 veteran). We’ve never received a dime of “stimulus” money, but it would be nice if the gov’t appreciated the value of having domestic sources and not give so damn much of what we quote to the Turks. Every day I get auction notices for small manufacturing companies going down the tubes. How stupid of us to unthinkingly paint ourselves into a corner for the day when we need stuff and countries like Turkey have us over a barrel. Much of what I make involves an investment of tooling. This enables us to supply parts more quickly in the future. How’s it going to be when we need crucial spare parts and the tooling is in Ankara, Turkey- then likely a hostile country?
I think what caught Bruce’s attention was the reference I made to a letter I got back through my congressman, Pat Tiberi, from the Director of Procurement of DLA. In that letter (which I still have)*, a response to my complaint about all the work that was going (and still is) to Turkey, I was given a wonderfully unvarnished bit of information; that under the “Buy American Act”, Turkey is a qualified country. Thank God for the occasional bit of honesty from a bureaucrat! No way you’d ever hear that from an elected official.
I hope you find this educational.
Cordially yours,
Steve Boggs
Boggs & Associates, Inc
Columbus OH 43227
614-237-0600
*Another line I remember was something like this- “Furthermore, it is DoD policy the the Buy American Act does not apply.” This blew the mind of a friend who practiced law specializing in federal contracts.
The US is aiding Turkey’s “final solution” for Israel.
BTW, Steve’s son is a two-tour veteran of Iraq.
Posted by Bruce Kesler at 16:42
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