FSTO said:
I was told yesterday by one of the civilians in our project that the reason why all Departments have to get their projects approved at TB is to slow down the spending of money. There is zero consideration toward capability and needs (this is why the status of water and housing at reserves are such a shyte show) its all about slowing down the flow of money.
In fact, all departments undergo an assessment of their ability to do things, on a scale of 1-4. The higher your score, the better you are. This is refreshed every few years.
Each project going forward is also assessed on a scale of 1-4 for complexity and risk. Normally, a project score at or below your departmental score means your minister can approve it. However, the TB ministers reserve the right to call forward files within your authority level.
The more shenanigans a department pulls, the lower their score, so the more often they will have to go forward to the TB ministers. For a while DND's score was down to 2, meaning lots of things were being pushed up. Add to that the fact that CAF compensation and benefits (less military judges) are set by the TB ministers and you end up with lots of files going to TB from DND.
Frequently DND files go astray when someone tries to channel a something to a preferred supplier, when there's rapid rotation in military project staff, when someone who knows nothing of the processes decides they can do things "faster", or when someone fails to do an adequate environmental scan. If you're buying small arms, you're very likely going through the Munitions Supply Program. Learn it and understand it, otherwise you'll waste a lot of time and effort and come back and redo the work.
Lots of external factors that cause problems as well, but Pogo Possum best described the fundamental problem with buying stuff for the CAF.