The Crusader Background The Army focused on building the XM 2001 Crusader self-propelled howitzer from 1987 to 2002 in order to improve its 155mm self-propelled artillery capabilities (Bruner & Bowman, 2002, p 1). Since the Crusader was developed starting in the late 1980s, the system was intended to combat the artillery firepower of the Soviet Union. Among the tasks the weapon system would perform were “direct-fire maneuver forces, such as tanks and infantry, with immediate, heavy, and indirect fires at a distance” (Bruner & Bowman, 2002, p. 1). The Army originally planned to equip its units with 1,138 Crusaders starting in fiscal year 2008 (Bruner & Bowman, 2002, p. 2). The program was revised in 1999 to build 480 vehicles at a total cost of $11 billion. United Defense, which is based in Fridley, Minnesota, would build the Crusader. United Defense would use a newly built facility in Oklahoma near the Army's field artillery headquarters at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Additionally, United Defense reportedly used subcontractors in the states of California, Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Virginia to produce the Crusader (Bruner & Bowman, 2002, p. 2). The Crusader would also create jobs in the state of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. The states of California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are considered politically powerful or swing states. Furthermore, the production of military hardware becomes a very narrow issue. Michigan is the home state of Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, and California has two senior senators: Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. Minnesota and Virginia had then notified the Senate Armed Services... halfway through the document... drawn up by the chain of command. As previously stated, Rumsfeld's willingness to bypass military leadership and his suggestion that General Shelton turn over military advice to the president to him demonstrated to career military personnel and civilians that Rumsfeld was not interested in their input. Therefore, to make one's opinions count, it was necessary to go around Rumsfeld. The talking points memo was a way to get around Rumsfeld. Career military and civilian leaders likely felt they had to bypass the chain of command to get their opinions heard by Congress. However, Congress knew that the military disagreed with the military's civilian leadership. Shinseki had previously testified before Congress, in his opinion, the army needed the crusader. Both Rumsfeld and the military leadership are to blame for the controversy over the memorandum's talking points.