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sprint113 t1_j5p0vsa wrote

Reply to comment by GaryHart2024 in In an HBCU first, Howard awarded $90 million military research contract by Maxcactus

Yup. Don't know exactly what this DOD contract entails, but remember that the DOD is both one of the largest employers in the US as well as one of the largest healthcare providers. A place I worked at once had a DOD grant for researching ways to improve detection and treatment of breast cancers.

Edit: saw the non-paywall link, looks like it will be for AI systems

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faggressive t1_j5pz6ib wrote

Also the largest workforce training program as well (not including colleges.) They have accredited universities and colleges too though.

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Amori_A_Splooge t1_j5r2u9c wrote

I have an aunt that works at National Cancer Institute at NIH. In the partial shutdown (2019?) her entire lab was operating as business as usual because dod and milcon/VA approps had been signed into law and her lab's entire operating budget was DOD funds.

DOD's non-defebse funding a absolutely dwarfs other cabinet agencies entire budgets.

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EstablishmentFull797 t1_j5rndkj wrote

Do you think maybe the department of defense having more funding for “non-defense” purposes than other entire agencies is part of the problem?

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Amori_A_Splooge t1_j5rydk7 wrote

Yes and no. A lot of it is the function that the National Defense Authorization Act has passed some 65+ years in a row in Congress and you won't find another authorization bill that is likely going to pass every year. So if you want something to be done, get DoD to do it in the NDAA. Then again, DoD should pay for medical research for diseases, illnesses, and injuries that are prevalent in military members veterans (This is also budgetary blackhole, of endless ways to spend money, but the dollars are very significant in terms of making an impact for these specific diseases. As a result you get research lists like that of the appropriately named Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program. As others have pointed out, there are also a lot of controls on DoD dollars in terms of Buy American provisions, so money is [generally] going into DoD for procurement or research tends to stay in American companies or American institutions.

Is it too much. Possibly, but it's not all bombs and bullets.

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