Chance Favors Only the Prepared Mind: The Proper Role for U.S. Department of Defense Science and Engineering Workforce

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is entering a period of great complexity and high uncertainty. In such times it is prudent to return to fundamental principles. One key principle that should be kept in mind is that warfare is not a matter to be left to the free market. In the cases of national defense and warfare, societies have traditionally declared a government monopoly. In the United States, that monopoly is currently vested in the DOD. In this capacity, the DOD is responsible, subject to policy guidance from elected and appointed officials, for charting the future direction for the nation regarding national defense. While the DOD will receive both solicited and unsolicited advice as it undertakes this task, it bears the full responsibility for the task. The quality of the undertaking will only be as good as the people employed by DOD.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 2013
Accession Number
ADA622191

Entities

People

  • Timothy P. Coffey

Organizations

  • National Defense University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Commerce
  • Economics
  • Employment
  • Engineering
  • Globalization
  • Governments
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • Jet Propulsion
  • Market Economy
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Security
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Test Facilities
  • United States

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Economics
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.