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Dunford Accepts Eisenhower Award, Calls for Industry, DOD Cooperation

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The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff accepted the Eisenhower Award May 10 from the National Defense Industrial Association on behalf of all service members and called on the organization to encourage members to cooperate with the Defense Department to ensure service members never fight in a fair fight.

Dwight D. Eisenhower sits at a desk with a member of the White House staff.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower meets with E. Frederic Morrow shortly after Morrow was appointed to the White House staff in 1955. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford accepted an award named for Eisenhower from the National Defense Industrial Association, May 10, 2019. Photo courtesy of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library
Dwight D. Eisenhower sits at a desk with a member of the White House staff.
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower meets with E. Frederic Morrow shortly after Morrow was appointed to the White House staff in 1955. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford accepted an award named for Eisenhower from the National Defense Industrial Association, May 10, 2019. Photo courtesy of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library
Photo By: Courtesy photo
VIRIN: 550205-A-QT978-0001

Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford noted that NDIA, which was founded in the wake of America’s woeful industrial performance in World War I, is marking its 100th anniversary this year.

Becoming the ‘Arsenal of Democracy’

American service members fought in France using French and British weapons. American airmen flew French Nieuport and SPAD aircraft. American divisions went into battle firing French heavy artillery. Some American doughboys carried British or French personal weapons. Advances were supported by soldiers and Marines firing French machine guns.

The situation was vastly different just 20 years later, when the United States had truly become the arsenal of democracy. Cooperation between the military and the government led to the production of nearly 300,000 aircraft of all types between 1941-45.

In that same period, the United States produced almost 88,000 tanks and armored vehicles. The country built combat ships, cargo ships, oilers, patrol craft and landing craft at an unprecedented rate. At the end of the war, the U.S. Pacific Fleet alone was larger than any other nation’s navy.

A crane lowers a ship’s mast into place.
The final piece of the new main mast of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington is installed during a refueling and complex overhaul at Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding, Va., March 15, 2019. Navy photo by Matt Hildreth, Huntington Ingalls Industries
A crane lowers a ship’s mast into place.
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The final piece of the new main mast of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington is installed during a refueling and complex overhaul at Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding, Va., March 15, 2019. Navy photo by Matt Hildreth, Huntington Ingalls Industries
Photo By: Courtesy photo
VIRIN: 190315-N-N0101-115

Since then, public-private cooperation has had its ups and downs, Dunford said. But, he added, American service members have had the equipment and supplies they needed to secure America’s status as a great power able to deter nuclear war, fulfill alliance commitments and maintain a competitive advantage over any potential adversary.

Interesting Times

Dunford said this is the most complex time he has seen in his 40-plus years of service. As an example of this complexity he described a recent day in his calendar. On May 3, he said, he held discussions on the situation in Venezuela. Then he dealt with specific “threat streams” emanating from Iran. That was followed by reports from North Korea about missile shots into the East China Sea.

The whole time, Dunford said, negotiations over Syria and discussions about Afghanistan were weighing heavily, and even those issues were tinged by concerns over the great power competition with China and Russia.

“The challenge for all of us … is to try to deal with all of those operations … today, while keeping an eye on tomorrow, and making sure we continue to have a competitive advantage,” the chairman said.

Marines stand with their arms folded as pilots prepare their aircraft for takeoff.
Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 stand by as pilots conduct preflight checks in F-35B Lightning II aircraft on the first day of Red Flag 17-3 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., July 10, 2017. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Lillian Stephens
Marines stand with their arms folded as pilots prepare their aircraft for takeoff.
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Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 stand by as pilots conduct preflight checks in F-35B Lightning II aircraft on the first day of Red Flag 17-3 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., July 10, 2017. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Lillian Stephens
Photo By: Sgt. Lillian Stephens
VIRIN: 170710-M-QU349-0020

Competitive Edge

But, Dunford said, America’s continued competitive advantage is not guaranteed. In fact, he said, it is being eroded. “When I talk about competitive advantage, I mean being able to project power when and where necessary to advance our national interests and being able to operate freely across all domains,” the chairman said.

Russia and China are building capabilities aimed at defeating America’s ability to project power, he said.

Maintaining America’s competitive advantage is a crucial element of its defense strategy, Dunford said.

This is where industry must step forward, he said. “Our ability to leverage industry here in the United States; our ability to maintain a technological edge over any potential adversary, is going to very much depend on the partnership between industry and the Department of Defense,” he said.

Patriotism vs. Profit

There are global industry partners “that don’t cooperate fully with the Department of Defense,” he said. “In their own minds they rationalize that their own ethos is not consistent with what we do.”

Dunford said he is addressing this directly because, “I have a hard time reconciling a company that is doing business in China, which indirectly — if not directly — supports the Chinese military.”

A Marine in uniform and a civilian sit behind microphones at a table.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford and Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan testify on the fiscal year 2020 defense budget request during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee in Washington, May 8, 2019. DOD photo by Lisa Ferdinando
A Marine in uniform and a civilian sit behind microphones at a table.
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Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford and Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan testify on the fiscal year 2020 defense budget request during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee in Washington, May 8, 2019. DOD photo by Lisa Ferdinando
Photo By: Lisa Ferdinando
VIRIN: 190508-D-BN624-0248

Any company of note in China has a base in the Chinese Communist Party, the chairman said. The Chinese will steal intellectual property from these companies, and that will benefit the Chinese military, he said.

“As we think about the future, we think about those individuals who benefit from our systems, who benefit from our values. I think there has to be some responsibility, some accountability in terms of who they do business with,” Dunford said.

These companies need to help the United States develop its technology to maintain the technological edge that will be crucial in the future, he said.

Companies need to understand what they are doing when they do business in countries that don’t hold democratic values, Dunford said.

“I understand … about quarterly earnings statements and bottom lines,” the chairman said. “But, just as I have to think about the close fight and the deep fight; what I am asking industry to do is think about the close fight and the deep fight. What may be convenient for you in the close fight, may be inconsistent with your interests in the deep fight as you start seeing a world that isn’t informed by U.S. leadership — that isn’t informed by U.S. values.”

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