Once again, Barack Obama is showing his lack of serious concern for the military.
Instead of court martialing Bowe Bergdahl, who presumably went AWOL in
Afghanistan, Obama traded five high-level Taliban terrorists from
Guantanamo Bay, for his release.
The President used military pay and pensions as a political football
during recent budget debates.
Thanks to Obama's opposition to reform,
the Veterans Administration is overwhelmed with an endless backup of
paperwork to process --while veterans die on secret waiting lists at
government run hospitals.
Time and again, regardless of what the American people want, Obama stays true to his leftist ideology.
One issue less publicized -- but of great importance to our men and
women in uniform -- involves the shipment of service members’ vehicles
throughout the world. For many servicemen and women, stationed in a
distant state or a country like Germany or Italy, shipping their car or
truck allows them to save money and take care of their families on a
limited income. This is a service that America should be providing to
our brave service members.
To perform this important job, the Obama Pentagon awarded a contract
to International Auto Logistics (IAL). It is a company that was set up
in 2012 for the sole purpose of bidding on the contract (IAL didn't even
have an office headquarters when they won it!).
Just two months into the contract, there are already complaints of
malfunctioning systems and outright incompetence creating needless
hurdles for our enlisted men and women. With reports of full voicemail
boxes at some IAL locations and non-working phone lines at others, IAL
is almost impossible to reach. Wait times at some of IAL’s drop off
locations takes more than five hours.
Of the over 6,300 cars accepted for shipment by IAL since May, fewer
than 2,300 have gone anywhere. Since IAL hasn't set up enough storage
space to properly secure these 4,000 vehicles, many are just sitting in
unsecured locations like hotel parking lots and vacant fields. Over
1,300 of these vehicles are waiting shipment at a single port in Europe,
with no telling when they will be sent to their final destination.
Just like at the VA, IAL is largely reliant on paper files. This
creates disorganization and is preventing service members from knowing
when and where their vehicles are being sent. If they’re among the lucky
few whose cars are actually in transit, tracking them is impossible.
Cars have turned up in Hawaii, which were supposed to be shipped to Guam
and Korea. One service member cancelled his family vacation when his
car turned up in Los Angeles instead of Seattle. Another has been trying
for weeks to find the car he dropped off in Alaska in May.
This company has become a nightmare: they are cutting corners and
losing cars, and our troops and their families are suffering.
In a bizarre twist, the chairman of IAL’s corporate parent IAP Group,
Park Sang-Kwon,
is also the CEO of a car company with production facilities in North
Korea. Not only is he an informal spokesman for Kim Jong-Un, but here he
is with the
North Korean leader on "Victory Day" and is
honorary citizen of the DPRK.
Is the Obama Administration aware of this information, which is easily
accessible on Google? Republican Senator David Vitter of Louisiana has
already asked the Pentagon to look into IAL, and it is time for more
conservatives to support that effort.
It is becoming clear that this contract needs to be stopped and the
bidding process should be reevaluated. Our brave enlisted members are
willing to put their lives on the line and ask very little in return.
During their transitions in the service, not losing their cars and
trucks seems like the least we can do.
