Yeah, this seems like pretty typical misuse of government money. Even if these radios are an effective investment why wouldn't they spend a couple million more and train the employees responsible for using them? It's pretty ridiculous in my opinion.
Because the official who gets credit for the bullet-point on some report doesn't gain anything from the training. The incentive is only to be able to brag about having led the initiative on communication in their department.
(100% cynical conjecture; I'm sure the reality is much more nuanced)
