WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, made the following opening statement, as prepared for delivery, at the Full Committee's hearing entitled, "Promoting DoD’s Culture of Innovation." For testimony and other information and to watch the hearing click here.
Today, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, made the following opening statement, as prepared for delivery, at the Full Committee's hearing entitled, "Promoting DoD's Culture of Innovation." For testimony and other information and to watch the hearing click here.
"For the last three National Defense Authorization Acts, reform, especially acquisition reform, has been a major priority. The purpose has been to get more value for the taxpayers out of the money spent, but even more importantly to make the Department more agile in dealing with the variety of security challenges we face.
As Secretary Mattis has testified, our technological position has eroded in recent years compared with our leading adversaries. We confront threats that do not conform to our traditional notions of warfare. And the historical evidence indicates that we may well be a victim of our own success.
As one writer put it when looking at the interwar years, 'the losers were forced by events to reexamine everything. Military losers are intellectual radicals; the winners, complacent in victory, feel the need for self-examination far less. Thus, for the French, the lesson of World War I was that offensive warfare could not succeed.'
The answer is that the Department of Defense must work to be more innovative in technology, in policies, and in thought. One of the many books offering advice to businesses sums it up with a chapter title that is, 'Innovate or die.' That has been the goal of the reforms of recent years and of the reform proposals for the FY'19 NDAA that I am releasing today.
We are privileged to have two witnesses who are superbly qualified to help guide our efforts as well as the Department in the quest to develop a culture of innovation. One of the reforms we enacted two years ago was to create an Undersecretary for Research and Engineering to be the primary driver of innovation in the Department.
Dr. Michael Griffin was confirmed in that position about two months ago and among things is formerly the Administrator of NASA.
Dr. Eric Schmidt is the Chairman of the Defense Innovation Board and formerly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Google and its parent Alphabet, where he remains a technical advisor. He is here, however, only in his capacity with the Defense Innovation Board."
