Ash Carter, the 25th Secretary of Defense, died at his home in Boston late last year.
Yesterday in Washington, the Special Competition Research Project hosted the Ash Carter Exchange on Innovation and National Security. At this forum, a number of experts discussed ways to advance cooperation in the pursuit of national security.
The day-long event was rounded out by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, who provided insight into Mr. Carter’s influence over national security and the Department of Defense.
“I have had the privilege of working very closely with Secretary Carter many times over the years and have learned that he was a great patriot, a true patriot, and a great American. I can prove it,” Millie said. “When I think of Ash Carter, the first thing that comes to my mind is his humanity. He was easy-going, affable, and approachable.” He was positive, cheerful, and a particularly good communicator. ”
Mr. Austin further said Mr. Carter was a dedicated public servant.
“Ash Carter’s decisions were always motivated by the consideration and safety of men and women in uniform,” Millie said. “He had an incredible talent for abolishing bureaucracy and accelerating bureaucracy to improve the lives of our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines.”
One example, he said, is the mine-resistant ambush protection vehicle used in Afghanistan and Iraq. At the time, the idea was conceived by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, but it was Carter, then Under Secretary of Defense for Procurement, Technology, and Logistics, who pushed it to the finish line.
“I witnessed it,” Millie said. “His actions, Ash Carter’s actions, saved American lives on the battlefield, including my own.”
The Ash Carter Exchange on Innovation and National Security will be held for the first time this year. Carter’s wife, Stephanie, helped organize the event. According to the event’s website, the purpose of the exchange was to bring together “innovation pioneers and champions” to “advance cooperation in the pursuit of national security.”
Millie said these efforts were something Carter himself was good at.
“Perhaps his greatest achievement is the sense of urgency with which the U.S. military adopts new technologies, accepts risks, and thinks of creative solutions to our problems,” Millie said. “Secretary Carter was forward-thinking and always talked about generative AI. [artificial intelligence] …he was the rare person who could understand and speak both science and new technology policy. ”
Milley said Carter’s pursuit of vision and innovation has reshaped the direction of the U.S. military, making it more agile and nimble.
“I believe Ash Carter instinctively understood that we were in the midst of the greatest radical change in the nature of warfare in the history of mankind,” Millie said. “And he also knew the stakes were very high. Ultimately, it was to prevent great power wars and maintain the rules-based international order that has kept great powers at peace for the past 80 years. .”
Today, Mr. Milley said Mr. Carter understands better than anyone that both China and Russia seek to disrupt the world order to advance their own interests.
“Both China and Russia have the means to threaten our interests and our way of life,” Milley said. “But we must bear in mind that war with either is neither imminent nor inevitable, and we must continue to deter war between great powers. That was the central purpose of Ash Carter’s professional life, and that was what drove Ash Carter.”
Today, Milley said the United States will continue to deter great power wars by being prepared and showing the world its readiness. That was one of Carter’s “first principles,” he said.
“What Ash Carter recognized was preparing for the future, also known as modernization,” Millie said. “And he understood that we were at a turning point in human history, experiencing a fundamental change in the nature of war.”
Although the nature of warfare is always the same, the desire of one nation to impose its will on another nation, the methods of warfare have changed and will change in the future.
For example, in World War II, Nazi Germany was the first to successfully combine and exploit new technologies such as aircraft, wheeled vehicles, tracked vehicles, and radio.
“They took these technologies and combined them with the methods of war, the German methods of war, the methods of war, which allowed them to conquer Europe in … 18 months,” Millie said. said Mr.
The United States, the Soviet Union, and allies against Nazi Germany eventually caught up, Millie said. However, the Nazis had an early advantage because of their early mastery of the technology.
“We are in a moment of comparison today,” Millie said. “And Ash Carter was one of the few who recognized that early on. He knew we had to prepare.” We have to prepare now and in the future. ”
The challenge now is finding the right combination of technology integrated with the right training, doctrine and organizational structure. Some of the technologies, such as secure communications, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing and 3D printing, were all picked up early by Carter, Milley said.
“Our military was directed years ago by Secretary Ash Carter to develop those technologies,” Milley said. “And they’re coming to fruition today. We’re seeing it in the Army with multi-domain task forces and long-range fire. We’re seeing it in the Marine Corps with littoral regiments. We’re seeing it in the Navy.” The Fifth Fleet in the Central Military District is testing unmanned sea and underground ships, and we’re seeing it in the Air Force.”
According to Millie, these concepts were all started by Ash Carter. And the challenge for the U.S. military today is to take new technologies and blend them into methods of warfare that give America a tactical and strategic advantage over its adversaries.
“We are doing this to prevent war, and to achieve this, we must work seamlessly with the Joint Force,” he said. “On the first day of the next war, we must travel through time and space in a fully integrated, high-tech and rapidly changing environment. [while] Invisible and always in motion.and [if we] Then we might win. But more importantly, to do so would deter the enemy if they knew about it. ”
To move that effort forward, Milley said the Pentagon is launching the third version of the joint warfare concept. The first version was drafted by Carter.
Millie also called on event attendees to recommit to Carter’s vision of a merit-based and top-notch military.
“Everyone in this room right now, everyone watching this, and all of us in uniform have to recommit to Ash Carter’s vision,” Millie said. “We must always remember to take oath to the Constitution. Ash Carter never let us forget that.”
Carter understands that differences such as race, religion, gender and social status don’t matter to America and the U.S. military, Millie said.
“It was your dedication and talent that mattered,” Millie said. “What matters is that you are American. What Ash Carter cared about was your strengths, your skills, your knowledge, your attributes. He understood it and he did it. And he knew you would be judged by the content.” “It’s your character trait. He was passionate about the idea of America. Ash Carter was someone we should all emulate.” What he represented was the idea of what we should be recommitting to, which is America, and that’s what Ash Carter had as his North Star, and it will always be our North Star. There should be. ”
