Bad Idea: Excluding Qualified Leaders from Pentagon Service Because of Defense Industry Experience
Bad Ideas in National Security Series
December 1, 2020 — Thomas Spoehr
As a new administration forms, its early priority will be to identify qualified individuals to serve in national security positions, including in the Pentagon. The Plum Book, the guide to all the political appointee positions in the federal government, lists 239 political jobs in the Department of Defense (DoD), 53 of which require Senate confirmation.
These 239 Pentagon positions are among the most difficult in government. The hours are long, the pressures to keep America safe loom large, and the learning curve is enormous, especially for newcomers to national security. Just getting to the starting point for appointment to one of these positions requires the completion of mounds of disclosure forms, divestment of personal financial positions, and an often-grueling confirmation process and hearing. The reward? Confirmed individuals can look forward to being paid a fraction of what a talented executive makes in private industry.
https://defense360.csis.org/bad-idea-excluding-qualified-leaders-from-pentagon-service-because-of-defense-industry-experience/
