Despite concerns about the weather, the Army 250th anniversary parade will be held
President Donald Trump’s controversial military parade kicked off 30 minutes early to avoid the bad weather.
When explaining the Army’s struggle to cut the deficit to repair its own cannon in a recent podcast interview, the service’s top official described the issue as “SO (expletive) infuriating.”
Secretary of War Dan Driscoll supported a 3D printed copy of the FOB-sized parts used in the wheel wells of the powerful M777 Howitzer Cannon.
“This part is now backordered until mid-2027 if you want to get it from the manufacturer,” Driscoll said on a September 25 episode of the Shawn Ryan Show. Soldiers have discovered that they can print 3D for around $2, he added, but historically they have been forced to use manufacturer parts.
Driscoll said 80% of the famous 101st Airborne division’s how shellguns are currently in operation due to the issue of getting some or similar through official channels.
This issue stems from a restrictive contract, and contracts Pentagon signs with a defense company that mostly provides contractors with the right to maintain and operate weapons systems for sale to the military.
But that struggle will soon change after the Trump administration declared support for a bipartisan Senate proposal that would disgrace the military’s “right to repair” by requiring contractors to share the parts, tools and information needed to maintain equipment.
Provisions written by Progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren, D. Massachusetts, former Navy Seals and Senator R-Montana are included in the Senate’s Holdings Policy Bill for the 2026 fiscal year.
“It’s time for service members to strengthen their troops by repairing their equipment, saving billions of dollars in taxpayer dollars and doing repairs faster,” the senator said in an exclusive joint statement to USA Today. “We fought hard for this common sense solution because we believe our service members are better than our broken status quo.”
Manufacturers have historically opposed laws on the opposite side, including those focused on non-military markets. They argue that the law can compromise intellectual property and trade secrets, but Watchdog groups and experts argue that intellectual property concerns are exaggerated.
However, the military leadership has not supported this issue and continues to highlight the issue of proper repair.
Navy Secretary John Phelan explained in June that in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee that the events of the war with China would make it difficult for the navy to run equipment on the other side of the world.
Phelan said he visited the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft airline and discovered that the crew were not permitted to repair the ship’s galley or its elevator oven. In some extreme cases, the military is flying contractor repair technicians and shipping them to sea for serious repairs.
Meanwhile, Driscoll ignored many repair restrictions and ordered the Army to do whatever it takes to get critical equipment back online, such as the 101st Airborne Division’s Howitzers.
“You have actions that seek all this benefit from (contractors), which is reasonable, but you can’t maintain the equipment,” he said. “So what we said was, “f —–it, we’re just going to do the right thing.”
