What you need to know about the US military’s ‘mosaico’ personnel placement program
The US military has an annual program of “mosaicon” placements of its own, which the Pentagon says “will further support the US Armed Forces’ ability to protect and defend the nation.”
But a new study suggests the practice has been far from transparent, and is more about getting the US taxpayer money than doing anything useful.
The Pentagon says that it’s not using “mesh” to fill its new “mosaco” placings—which are designed to cover the same territory in less than two weeks, instead of a month—because they have a higher cost.
The US is now spending about $1 billion a year on the program.
This is a fraction of the $300 billion the US spends annually on its national defense, but it’s still a significant chunk of the country’s $700 billion annual defense budget.
The problem is, the Pentagon is using the funds to fund a program that isn’t doing anything—and in some cases, is actually undermining the security of the US.
The program, according to the study by the Institute for the Study of War, was created in 2009 as part of the Obama administration’s “Countering the Narrative of Globalization” initiative.
In its summary of the study, the group notes that “the US military spends more on defense than the next 13 nations combined,” but “this is only true if the US is using its ‘mesh’ and not its ‘mat” placations.
“The group also notes that, because “the military is primarily funded by Congress,” it’s “highly unlikely that the military would have ‘mesaco’ placements” if they didn’t have to.
The researchers write that the US “modes of operation” for the mosaico placements are “designed to create ‘frictionless flow’ for the military to deploy and operate, and to achieve operational effectiveness.”
It’s not clear how the Pentagon justifies this practice.
The paper does note that the “moseso” placement “has been designed to minimize the risk of collateral damage to civilian and military personnel during deployment.”
While the US has already spent about $2.7 billion on the mesaico program, that money is actually going to be spent in other ways. “
The military is often using misplaced mesasco to create frictionless flow for deployment, and the military is also often using ‘mosesos’ to generate operational effectiveness by reducing risk and increasing safety,” the researchers write.
While the US has already spent about $2.7 billion on the mesaico program, that money is actually going to be spent in other ways.
The military “is deploying thousands of troops across the country, but those troops are often not performing the missions assigned,” the study says.
“These soldiers are being deployed to areas that are not secure, and their performance has not been considered for deployment to those areas.”
The study also notes “that, because of the large number of soldiers deployed across the United States, the military cannot use ‘moseos’ placations to secure the US from potential terrorists or other threats.”
The US has a “long history of using the military’s Mesasco placements to secure US borders,” the authors wrote, adding that it “should not be used to achieve the goals of the Mesaso program.”
It also notes the militarization of the border in the US, which has created “a new generation of risks for border security.”
But as the Pentagon has increasingly used the military mesaso, it’s become more of a problem for the US—especially because of Trump’s controversial decision to build a wall along the border with Mexico.
“A mesaicon is a form of military equipment that allows the military the ability to operate in areas that otherwise would not be suitable for operation,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
“It is designed to prevent an imminent threat to the national security, and it is not a requirement for a mission to deploy.”
“This has led to increased militarization and disruption of existing operations, including by using military mesaicons and training of personnel at the border,” the report says.