Good morning! I want to thank Major General Frank McGinn and the entire team at NGAUS for inviting me to speak with you today. And, a special welcome to MG Hal Lamberton, MG (Ret) JB Burns, BG (Ret) Rob Taylor & MG (Ret) Gus Hargett—All legendary leaders for our National Guard! Welcome to all Adjutant Generals and Industry Partners!
Yesterday in Bath, Maine, Secretary Hegseth championed his Arsenal of Freedom, stating “When we unleash our companies, we win. When we compete, we win. When we innovate, we win. When we go fast, we win.” One of the NDS’s critical priorities is concentrating the Department’s efforts to “Supercharge the U.S. Defense Industrial Base.” As the Secretary also said yesterday, let’s “Go hard and go fast, and get these capabilities to the warfighters.”
I want to thank our partners in industry, for all you do for our National Defense and for our Soldiers, Airmen, and families of the National Guard. From developing the capabilities that strengthen our Sword and Shield, to providing scholarships to our families, you are out there supporting the warfighters. As the primary combat reserve forces for the Army (42%) and Air Force (30%), we provide critical, cost effective, experienced and ready capabilities for our nation’s defense. Together with you, our partners in industry, we will go fast and be good stewards of American lives & American resources.
A few weeks ago, in Brownsville, Texas, at SpaceX’s Starbase Plant, I was honored to join senior leadership from the Pentagon to hear Secretary of War Hegseth lay out his plan to revolutionize our Defense Industrial Base. As Elon Musk introduced the Secretary, he said, Starbase is like a Star Trek base, I try to make it like Starfleet Academy, because: “one day the science FICTION-----turns to science FACT.” My callsign is Spock, so you know that resonated with me.
Secretary Hegseth rolled out his vision in his Arsenal of Freedom speech in front of a group of innovators and supporters. Today, I see a similar group of innovators and industry leaders. America has always depended on our industry partners to build war winning capabilities that create debilitating dilemmas for America’s enemies and provide our warfighters with the overwhelmingly decisive advantage we need to fight and win and thereby deter wars.
The National Guard is not just a recipient of new technology but an active participant in its development and refinement. Because our Guardsmen are engaged in every aspect of warfighting and homeland defense, and because they bring in unique training and civilian skillsets from across 2500+ communities nationwide—we are uniquely able to find the kinds of solutions envisioned by SECWAR. However, to make that happen, we need you—our partners in industry so our adversaries never doubt our resolve, or our ability, to respond to any threat, anywhere, any time.
The Arsenal of Freedom relies on speed and bottom-up innovation. The National Guard is a leader in innovation through our people, who combine a warfighter mindset and extensive warfighting and homeland experience. This provides the military with a direct infusion of private-sector expertise and an entrepreneurial mindset.
We offer unique opportunities to the innovation ecosystem. For example, the Air National Guard & Air Force Reserve Test Center (AATC) in Arizona is a unique, efficient, and extraordinarily effective organization—integrating "80% solutions at 20% of the cost." Speeding war winning capability to the warfighter based on requirements identified in the most complex and demanding real-world and training environments informed by our warrior tacticians through our Weapons and Tactics Conference and other forums.
Championing innovation too—our ARCWERX program in Tucson, AZ, puts cross-functional groups together, fostering collaboration with Guardsmen, local universities, business owners and other partners—ARCWERX bridges the gap between the military and the civilian sector, allowing a seamless exchange of ideas and solutions.
Industry is not our only partner. The National Guard has a strong track record of partnering with academia to drive innovation. For example, The Oklahoma National Guard, in partnership with Oklahoma State University, is a leader in developing dual-use unmanned aerial systems and counter-UAS technology.
Our National Guard is at the intersection of the world & our communities with our SPP [State Partnership Program] and living and working across 2500+ communities nationwide. We can rapidly do the kind of “fail fast” prototyping outlined in the Arsenal of Freedom because of our diverse mission sets as well. And our formations bring incredible force multipliers. You might think an Army MP Company is one MOS, Military Occupational Specialty, but in the National Guard, in one MP company, you probably have 70 or 80 specialties…experts in cyber, business, teachers, builders, mechanics, etc…bringing cross-functional knowhow to every job.
ONCE new technologies are developed, the National Guard is an ideal testing ground. We are deployed worldwide, more than 20k today, giving us the opportunity to use—test new technology on the battlefield. Examples of this include testing advanced data systems on KC-135 tankers and the fielding of microvane drag reduction technology on Air National Guard C-17s.
Another example is our Open System Enclaves (OSE), which enhance connectivity and across multiple aircraft platforms including F-16, F-35, and F-15EX.
And because of our homeland missions, from Ballistic Missile Defense to Aerospace Control Alert, we are also able to see it all come together and how our systems operate with our partners across the joint force, in government (local, state, & federal) and in private industry. Warfight—Homeland!!!!
This "dual-use" nature makes investments in Guard modernization not only cost-effective and versatile—but just good business & Common Sense.
The Secretary’s Arsenal of Freedom pace-setting projects include a focus on artificial intelligence. The National Guard is actively modernizing its equipment and network infrastructure. Our 5-year IT strategic plan explicitly outlines the need to leverage industry and government partnerships for an AI-First Warfighting Force, enabled for decision superiority.
This includes fielding new radios, secure wireless technology, and cloud-based applications. Along with modernizing currently and proportionately with our Services, it enables the National Guard to execute our core role and provide war winning readiness, experience and capabilities to seamlessly integrate into joint force operations—Like MIDNIGHT HAMMER & ABSOLUTE RESOLVE. Partnerships are key!
The National Guard is at the intersection of thousands of partnerships: we are an indispensable part of our joint force (20% at <4% of the budget, partnered globally with 116 Nations, 60% of the nations around the world are part of the SPP program - Mexico and CA being one of our latest) and we partner locally and live and work across over 2,500 communities in the U.S. As we say, the NG is partnered, local to global, and we are synonymous with the NDS, Defend the Homeland, Deter China through strength not confrontation, Increase burden sharing with our Allies and Partners and Supercharge the Defense Industrial Base…that’s us!
To close—thank you for bringing your partnership to our team. Thank you for your disruptive mindset, your speed, your innovation and your determination to take the fight to America’s enemies, thereby deterring war in the first place, Peace Through Strength!
The National Guard is far from just a consumer of resources. We protect our nation’s resources by offering solution sets for our Services and Joint Force with experienced soldiers and airmen, who are innovative, and bring cost effective units and capabilities, Ready----for warfighting and responding within our Homeland.
Thank you for letting me share part of your day, and I look forward to your questions.