Military Review English Edition January-February 2015 | Page 13

DEFENSE ENTERPRISE

clean sheet of paper and assess which technologies
business—encouraging fresh thinking that is
and systems DOD ought to develop over the next
focused on threats and challenges to our military
three to five years and onward.
superiority, not simply adapting plans that are
We know technology is not a panacea, which
already on the books.
is why the Defense Innovation Initiative also will
The panel must also face a new challenge headexplore and develop new operational concepts,
on: the fact that many, if not most, of the technoloincluding new approaches to warfighting, and how
gies we seek to take advantage of today are no lonwe balance DOD’s investments between platforms
ger in the domain of DOD development pipelines,
and payloads.
or those of traditional defense contractors. It is well
In some ways, this will entail exploring creative
known that DOD no longer has exclusive access to
methods of using capabilities we already have to
the most cutting-edge technology, or the ability to
better achieve our strategic objectives. One examspur—or control—the development of new techple of this would be the Army broadening its role
nologies the way we once did. To better understand
in our rebalance to the Asia-Pacific by leveraging
commercial technology trends that will help us
its current suite of long-range precision-guided
leap ahead of our competitors, we will actively seek
missiles, rockets, artillery, and air defense systems.
proposals from the private sector, including from
These capabilities could provide multiple benefits,
firms and academic institutions outside DOD’s
such as hardening the defenses of U.S. installations; traditional orbit.
enabling greater mobility of Navy Aegis destroyers
and other joint force assets; and helping ensure the
Reforming the Defense Enterprise
free flow of commerce.
Successfully investing in these long-term priThe initiative’s other lines of effort will focus
orities requires the foundation of a sound, resilon new approaches to war-gaming and profesient, and accountable defense enterprise—because
sional military education—work that has already
ensuring the health and vitality of DOD as an
begun. In addition, they will focus on our most
institution is critical to our ability to prepare for
important asset—our people—by pursuing not only the future.
time-honored leadership development practices but
As the world in which we operate changes, we
also emerging opportunities to re-imagine how we
must change too. We must revitalize, renew, and
develop managers and leaders.
when necessary, reform. T