Roundup Of Submarine Blogs

Continuing the tradition started by bothenook, Nereus at Right Ascension of Aries has posted a roundup of submarine bloggers who had interesting posts this month. It's a good way to keep track of who's saying what in the sub-blogosphere.

After you're done checking out what the bubbleheads have to say, check out this story of potential waste of GWOT funds by Air Force Generals. Excerpts:

The Air Force's top leadership sought for three years to spend counterterrorism funds on "comfort capsules" to be installed on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders around the world, with at least four top generals involved in design details such as the color of the capsules' carpet and leather chairs, according to internal e-mails and budget documents...
...Air Force documents spell out how each of the capsules is to be "aesthetically pleasing and furnished to reflect the rank of the senior leaders using the capsule," with beds, a couch, a table, a 37-inch flat-screen monitor with stereo speakers, and a full-length mirror...
...A military officer familiar with the program, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about it, likewise said that its extravagance has provoked widespread contempt among lower-ranking Air Force personnel. "This whole program is an embarrassment," the officer said, particularly because transport seating for troops en route to the battlefield is in his view generally shoddy...
...Air Force documents about the SLICC, dated June 8, 2006, emphasize the need to install "aesthetically pleasing wall treatments/coverings" -- in addition to the monitor, footrests and a DVD player. The beds, according to one document, must be able to support a man with "no more than 50% compression of the mattress material." The seats are to swivel such that "the longitudinal axis of the seat is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft" regardless of where the capsules are facing, the document specified...

What impressed me most is the reported resistance to the proposed wastage by field-grade officers who tried to convince their Generals that this was a public relations disaster in the making (in addition to just being wrong).

What's the biggest waste of money that you've ever seen to satisfy a senior officer's desire for his/her luxury and/or convenience?