Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The Most Important Pentagon Story You're Not Reading About

C-27J, China's Apache, drones, sequester  budget woes, - whatever you're worrying about - none is of more importance than this.
The Pentagon is considering reorganizing its internal think tank, an organization credited with helping the US win the Cold War, according to defense sources.

The office has been around since 1973, and is the ultimate rarity in Washington, where senior officials come and go like the seasons. Andrew Marshall, who is over 90 years old, was its boss on Day 1 and continues to be its boss.

But now as the Pentagon looks to build itself for the decade ahead, a period with fewer spending cash, the revered office could be reorganized or, as some have suggested, eliminated.
Marshall is a national treasure who cannot be replaced - but his legacy has a lot of good people who can keep it going.

I am going to keep this short; Office of Net Assessment (ONA) is one of the few places where I am in full alignment with Senator Levin (D-MI),
Asked if he thinks closing the Net Assessment shop is a good idea, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin’s eyes grew large as he replied: “No!”

“It doesn’t strike me as a good idea,” the Michigan Democrat said. “But I would at least consider their argument. I’m sure before they do it, they’ll talk to me about it.”
We need to talk, and think, very carefully.

If you only knew what they saw years before anyone else. There are people who want to kill the office - some for all the wrong reasons. It would be an insane loss if we let this well hidden - as it should be - national asset leave.

Here's an UNCLAS freebee from 2002.

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