Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) believes Congress should undertake serious reforms to defense spending to maintain a sustainable fiscal path that preserves American power. To that end, over the past five months, CVA has produced five “case studies” that examine various examples of defense cuts and reforms, with an eye towards identifying what makes for smart, strategic, and effective defense reforms. In our fifth and final installment of the “Defend and Reform” series, we turn our focus to the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS), perhaps one of the most controversial systems in an era of increased fiscal responsibility, and a telling example of dysfunction in Congressional priority-setting and executive branch procurement. The development of this missile system is a textbook example of political turf battles that result in legislator fighting for earmarks without regard for strategic needs.