I disagree with this previous premise: In finance, you should never assume incompetence over malice. It very rarely works out that way. Malicious incompetence maybe.

I suspect it's informed more by confirmation bias fed by the news cycle than actual facts. And Misty likely the rule of thumb featuring incompetence still holds.

I have very good reason to believe otherwise, but I do prefer your view of the world if given a choice. It’s a happier path to stay on until you find it no longer fits your experience.

Kinda like the billions of dollars that the DOD “can’t” account for.

You ever try to get the DOD to hand you a few million dollars? There’s a bit of paperwork involved.

Accounting is not hit or miss, and it’s not exactly an unexplored frontier. Its a pretty safe bet that when a well funded, fully staffed organization “can’t” account for some amount of money, it’s because someone along that path wanted it to be that way, or was negligent in such a way that it is equivalent to intent.

To clarify, I’m not maligning the DOD here. It’s just their way of saying “you don’t need to know.” Overall, the DOD is a great business partner, and I would recommend anyone with relevant high quality services to look into contracting with them. Aside from the relatively stringent paperwork requirements, they are responsive, diligent, and pleasant to work with.