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| Secretary Of The Army Dan Driscoll: Army unveils modernization plan because, ‘No lobbyist ever won a war' | |
| 2025-05-21 | |
| [FoxNews] Army pledges to prioritize drone capabilities, AI-driven systems and combat readiness over 'parochial interests' Since becoming secretary, I have been alarmed to find that our Army is at risk of falling behind other major powers across the globe, including China. Why? For decades, antiquated processes and bureaucratic bloat shackled our innovation and modernization efforts. If we continue business as usual our national security will be at risk. The gap between the Army we have and the Army we need is growing fast. Our soldiers are innovative, resourceful and capable – they are our nation’s best. But they are being held back by lobbyists and complacent stakeholders who prioritized parochial interests over our soldiers’ lethality and readiness. No lobbyist ever took a hill. No lobbyist ever won a war. Our soldiers deserve better. And our nation deserves better. That’s why Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently directed the Army to accelerate change. We got to work immediately. The Army Transformation Initiative (ATI) is how we break free from entrenched government bureaucracy, enable our soldiers and outpace our adversaries. This is the way forward: 1. Get battle-winning gear to the front lines Our soldiers must out-survive and outfight the enemy on the battlefield. Today, they need drone and counter-drone capabilities, AI-driven decision-making and lethal, battle-ready tanks and attack aircraft. We have been slow to put these tools in our soldiers’ hands, not for lack of vision, but because of outdated acquisitions practices. That ends now. Our mission is clear: cut red tape so we can quickly equip troops with the best capabilities available. 2. Out-innovate the enemy We will channel America’s bold and innovative spirit, not just in words, but in action. We will fuel market competition, back industry-led research and development, and streamline the process by placing users, testers and developers shoulder-to-shoulder in the field. We will embrace change and fight system inertia, keeping us agile, lethal and one step ahead of our enemies. 3. Unloading what we don’t need For far too long, our hands have been tied by parochial interests propped up by swarms of lobbyists. We have been forced to buy gear that we no longer want or need. With ATI, we’ll ensure that we use American taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars effectively. If a capability no longer benefits our soldiers and does not make our Army more lethal, we will not buy it. 4. Efficiency over bureaucracy We are transforming the Army from the ground up, not just upgrading our processes and equipment. We are building an organization that will drive process improvements, leading to better products and better outcomes for soldiers. As a start, we will consolidate organizations within the Army to eliminate redundancies and reduce bureaucratic overhead. 5. Getting soldiers out from behind desks We will refocus resources on our fighting formations by cutting overhead, starting within the Army headquarters. We will get our soldiers back where they belong: training to dominate the battlefield and win wars. Our soldiers and the American people deserve an Army that is equipped to fight and win anywhere, anytime, against any adversary. Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, that’s exactly what the Army Transformation Initiative will deliver.
…in 45 days. So far, only one Cabinet Secretary has shown any urgency, and only in the past few days. I pray I’m missing something, but sources inside every relevant department say otherwise. There’s no indication @SecDuffy , @KristiNoem , or @SecDef are prioritizing this effort. Reports from inside DOT are disturbing: they’re 20 years behind on their mandated shipyard survey to Congress. DOT should be the lead agency on this—but they’re failing. Trump’s pick to lead @DOTMARAD —known for shaking things up had his nomination pulled by Duffy days before confirmation. No explanation, but rumors swirl about ties to Project 2025 and the anti-Jones Act Heritage Foundation. The replacement is a strong candidate on paper, but shipbuilding is his weak spot and he has deep ties to @Maersk , which prioritizes Chinese shipyards. No Deputy Administrator at MARAD has been named. DOT also hasn’t filled the critical Assistant Secretary role for policy and planning. The acting head of MARAD is a West Point classmate of Mark Esper—yes, the same Esper who helped auction off the Army’s watercraft fleet. Sources claim he’s undermining both Trump’s and Esper’s maritime goals. Lobbyists hold major sway at MARAD, making the General Counsel role crucial. A well-known, pro-Trump maritime executive with a stellar résumé applied, he was sidelined by Duffy. Instead, a woman with zero shipbuilding experience was installed this week. Initial reports about her are terrible. Several of the most capable Trump loyalists at MARAD who held the line during the Buttigieg years have resigned in frustration. On the Navy side, there’s no serious effort underway to reorganize the 83,000-person shipbuilding & repair enterprise. The critical SUPSHIP AGM role is still up in the air. No admirals have been fired. No CNO appointed. The acting CNO is offering nothing but bureaucratic word salad. The Secretary of the Navy remains verbally committed but no action plan has been released. Sources say he’s overwhelmed with internal crises & not getting enough support from the admirals and SES Not one admiral has publicly endorsed shipbuilding as a national priority. At USCG, a culling of admirals is underway & DHS is quietly investigating but the rot runs deeper than expected. Until that’s fixed, real shipbuilding effort is impossible. Meanwhile, the individual making the most shipbuilding waves in DC? A former Obama donor who runs a CIA-linked registry exposed by @DataRepublican . Trump promised a dedicated shipbuilding office during his state of the union speech. This idea was nixed along with shipbuilding desks at OMB, NEC, and a new White House office. Instead, Waltz expanded his NSC maritime team but progress stalled as Waltz fell out of favor. A leaked memo lists staffers to be purged this week & two of them work on maritime. Interim Director Rubio has barely been seen or heard from at NSC. Nothing’s moving. At State, the maritime team is small, and slow. No one with real, hands-on experience building commercial ships at world-class yards has been hired. Finally, after a promising bipartisan start, several top maritime leaders are breaking ranks publicly voicing concern about last-minute changes made to the bill and there are rumors that Mark Kelly’s strong anti-Trump rhetoric could sink the effort. The clock is ticking. We started drifting without power when the dedicated WH shipbuilding office idea was nixed then lights went out Duffy pulled the nomination for MARAD. Now the ship is taking on water. Silver lining? Trump & JD are, by all accounts, more interested in shipbuilding lately, not less. They just seem to be too trusting that Hegseth, Duffy and Noem are following commander’s intent. | |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #3 Time to weed out the careerists and really start holding people accountable. F* the staff report, it is not a substitute for making the hard decisions. If you don't want to make the decision, retire. Keep your f*ing fingers out of the process. Build for today not waiting for something that may or may not come along in time. If you can not settle the designs, fire those who are delaying it. Since becoming secretary, I have been alarmed to find that our Army is at risk of falling behind other major powers across the globe, including China No you are not falling behind other 'major' powers. All those other powers are regional. They don't project far from their borders. The Chinese are salivating over Taiwan not Alaska. The Russians are tied up in the Ukraine. The Euros are lame unless Putin's on their border. The Iranians need to keep their reliable Revolutionary Guards at home to keep the population in awe. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2025-05-21 17:10 |
| #2 McCrystal, you uncultured swine, martial arts is not just a physical ability but also a mind set. A mind set you don't get by playing candy crush in between diabetes shots and DEI streaming videos. Even the Starship Troopers movie, intended to be a parody of the book, acknowledges this. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2025-05-21 16:26 |
| #1 McChrystal slams Pentagon focus on anti-DEI and 'biceps' as a distraction |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2025-05-21 10:32 |