Joint Chiefs of Staff Distinguished Speaker Lecture, Remarks by Thomas J. Donohue

On: Joint Chiefs of Staff Distinguished Speaker Lecture
To: U.S. Military, Pentagon
From: Thomas J. Donohue
Date: October 19, 2004

The Pentagon
October 19, 2004

Thank you, General Myers. I'm pleased to have this opportunity to continue the dialogue between the Chamber and the U.S. military.

We've had General Myers over to the Chamber to speak to our board of directors, and I'm grateful that he has afforded me this opportunity to speak to America's future military leaders.

[Tom, introduce Major Jason Barrett]

A strong relationship between business and the military has always been important, but today it is perhaps even more critical than ever. I'd even go so far as to say that our nation cannot prevail or prosper without it.

In 1961, during his farewell speech, President Dwight Eisenhower cautioned the country about the growing influence of the military-industrial complex.

If he were alive today, President Eisenhower might say something very different, given today's global environment.

He might say that the global war against terrorism and the fight against isolationism here at home cannot be won without a strong military-business partnership.

I'd like to take this opportunity to discuss that partnership…how we learn from each other…how we help one another… and how we can work together to meet common challenges.

Any discussion about the relationship between the military and the private sector must begin with recognition of our mutual dependence.

Without a strong economy propelled by a vibrant private sector, we would not have a strong military. That's because a growing economy pays all the bills in our society.

On the other hand, a strong military is the foundation of a strong economy. Our businesses compete and succeed in the global economy only because the military protects our free enterprise system and ensures the safe passage of goods around the world.

This is why the Chamber has been a strong, steady supporter of appropriate increases in defense funding – especially for the development of new systems and technologies, and to improve the pay and conditions for our men and women in uniform.

Now our partnership is becoming more critical than ever before, given the advancing integration of the worldwide economy and the changing nature of the threats we face across the globe.

Predictability is a luxury we no longer enjoy. For the military, predictability went away with the end of the Cold War. For business, it ended with the rise of the global economy.

Remember when the domestic automobile industry used to be owned by the Big Three in Detroit? Now heavy competition is coming from Germany, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, and other places.

We both have to change the way we organize and do things to be successful in this new environment.

In both the military and in business, we talk about the need for "transformation."

Today's successful businesses are transforming to beat the global competition by flattening their organizations, decentralizing, leveraging their information technology, and outsourcing both domestically and internationally those operations that can be done better and more efficiently by someone else.

The military is transforming into a more flexible and mobile force capable of meeting multiple threats from multiple parts of the world.

As different as we are, I believe there is much we can learn from one another as we struggle to adapt to a changing global environment

In fact, there is a long history of the military and the private sector sharing advances in science, technology, and health care.

For example, some of the great advances in trauma care were developed out of necessity in the rice paddies of the jungles in Vietnam. These advances were brought back home and have saved countless lives.

The space program is another great example of discoveries having multiple applications, including commercial and military.

And let's not forget that the Internet has its origins in the Department of Defense.

This process of collaboration and sharing is more vital than ever going forward.

Beyond sharing management techniques and technology, the military and business share the same goals.

In ways they never have before, American business and the military are working in concert to bring stability, democracy, and free enterprise to developing countries and places affected by terrorism and war.

We see examples of this every day in Iraq and Afghanistan, where U.S. civilian contractors are working side by side with U.S. uniformed troops to keep the peace, develop democratic institutions, and rebuild schools, roads, and power plants.

In the end, we know that it takes more than troops and weapons to establish peaceful democracies. It takes hope and opportunity that only free enterprise and a strong private sector can provide.

That is why the U.S. Chamber and General Jim Jones, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe and Commander of the United States European Command, teamed up to lead a delegation of U.S. business leaders to Afghanistan earlier this year.

The Chamber and General Jones understand that while military force was needed to boot out the totalitarian regime in that country, hold elections, and maintain peace, the ability of the Afghan people to start their own enterprises, develop a flourishing private sector, and trade with other countries is what will sustain them in the future.

The same is in Iraq and in other struggling societies.

The Chamber has a program called the Center for International Private Enterprise that works to support free markets, entrepreneurship, and business development in emerging markets.

Since 1983, CIPE has supported more than 800 local initiatives in more than 90 developing countries to organize business associations and involve businessmen and businesswomen in policy advocacy, institutional reform, and responsible governance.

So the U.S. business community is, with the military, making a difference in the world's most troubled places. It is, like the military, transforming itself to meet new global realities.

However, I see several challenges that will significantly test our nation's economic and military strength in the future.

One is the issue of manpower. Our country faces a fundamental shortage of working-age people that will become worse as our population grows older.

Business and the military will compete more fiercely for the same shrinking pool of talent. Where will tomorrow's soldiers and tomorrow's workers come from?

They will come from better efforts to reach minority and female populations – and for the business community, disabled populations.

Some of the disabled veterans coming home from Iraq – no longer capable of performing their military jobs - are great candidates for private sector jobs.

Also, reform of our immigration rules is a must in answering the looming labor shortage crisis.

We are a nation of immigrants. Instances of heroic immigrants fighting in Iraq or securing our homeland are as numerous as the day is long. So are instances of immigrants starting businesses and creating jobs.

We must resist the post-9/11 impulse to close our borders and instead take additional steps to open America to immigrants – and to recognize the 10 million or so undocumented ones who are working and paying taxes.

The military has a good system – it allows active-duty immigrants to apply for U.S. citizenship without waiting the three years normally required for enlisted personnel.

Similarly, the United States should provide some type of legal status for undocumented workers who are already contributing to our economy.

Another common challenge related to manpower concerns the National Guard and Reserve. I assure you that the Chamber strongly supports the Guard and Reserve.

But we think the current pace of military mobilizations, an antiquated mobilization system, and inadequate communications channels between the military and private sector have added significant— and largely unnecessary—stress to the employer community—especially small and mid sized firms.

The system would work better for all if we created a national database of all members of the reserve component, which would allow for more targeted mobilizations based on skills needed for the mission at hand.

This would lead to reduced training costs and would enable the military to plan better for the future.

The system would also benefit from a stronger commitment to hard and fast mobilization and demobilization dates and just better overall communication between the private sector and the Department of Defense.

Our transportation system and logistics capabilities pose another major challenge to business and the military.

As head of the American Trucking Associations for 13 years and as a director of the railroad company Union Pacific Corporation, I've spent a big part of my professional life working on transportation and logistics issues.

What greatly concerns me is the fact that our transportation system—our roads, seaports, and airports—are outdated and underfunded, threatening our just-in-time economy and our ability to move troops, weapons and supplies quickly and efficiently.

And we must all be concerned about the survivability of commercial aviation, which is vital not only to our economy and way of life, but to the military's ability to move personnel across the country and around the world.

The Chamber is leading the effort to ensure that Congress fully funds the surface and air transportation trust funds and that the review process for new transportation projects is streamlined to reduce interminable construction delays.

And, we are working with industry and government leaders to find solutions for the tremendous problems facing our airlines.

A challenge related to transportation is the post-9/11 need to increase security at our borders, institutions, and infrastructure while remaining a mobile, open, and free society that operates globally in a just-in-time fashion.

Business and the military are right at the center of this balancing act. Resolution of these issues will take time, patience, resources, and new ways of looking at this challenge.

And while business will never compromise on genuine, effective security, we will oppose those approaches that won't work or would slow down our global economy.

We must understand that we're part of an integrated international economy in which labor, capital, parts and products move freely around the globe—and end up in countries that are most open to them.

The mounting attack on global free enterprise is another major challenge.

Opponents cast global trade as the cause of poor labor conditions, poverty, and pollution. The facts state otherwise. We know that global trade has lifted millions out of poverty, improved standards of living, and produced a cleaner planet.

It also increases understanding between different peoples and cultures. I've heard it said before that when goods cross borders, armies don't.

Now that could certainly be argued, but what can't is that engagement of the global economy creates greater economic opportunity, which helps create greater stability.

Corporations, government institutions and the military share a responsibility to more effectively articulate the fundamental values of a free global trading system.

And they must join in helping developing societies build the capacities they need to participate and share in the benefits of global economic growth.

Finally, the ongoing war on terror is a war we must wage together.

More than any other conflict in our history, it requires the involvement of all the major institutions in our society. But two in particular must take a lead role – the military and business.

The interests, capabilities, challenges and opportunities of the U.S. military and business community are more closely aligned than ever—and they must be if we are to be successful in this war.

A safer, more secure and prosperous America requires a growing partnership between the military and the private sector that shares information, best practices, and resources, but most importantly, a vision for freedom and free enterprise here and around the world.

Ladies and gentlemen, I assure you that the Chamber is committed to that partnership and pledges to work with you in any way possible to make it stronger.

I realize I've raised a lot of issues here. Hopefully, this has stimulated your thinking. Thank you again for inviting me and now, let's have some good discussion!