{"id":2390529,"date":"2025-01-15T10:50:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T15:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-pete-hegseth-can-end-the-defense-contractor-gravy-train\/"},"modified":"2025-01-15T10:57:29","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T15:57:29","slug":"how-pete-hegseth-can-end-the-defense-contractor-gravy-train","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-pete-hegseth-can-end-the-defense-contractor-gravy-train\/","title":{"rendered":"How Pete Hegseth Can End The Defense Contractor Gravy Train"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-pete-hegseth-can-end-the-defense-contractor-gravy-train%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2390529&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article\u200b discusses a notable \u200bexchange during the confirmation hearings for Defense Secretary, where Senator Elizabeth Warren confronted Pete Hegseth regarding\u200b his past writings \u200dadvocating that military \u200dgenerals should refrain from working in\u200d the\u2062 defense industry for ten years after their service.\u200c Hegseth skillfully deflected Warren&#8217;s \u2063challenge by pointing out that he\u200b is\u200b not a general, \u2062leading to \u200dlaughter among attendees.The author, a retired Army officer,\u2062 reflects on \u200cthe broader implications of such\u200d interactions, particularly concerning the troubling &#8220;revolving \u200ddoor&#8221; between military leadership and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joe-hoft-from-tgp-presents-at-transform-washington-on-january-6-web-conference-video\/\" title=\"Joe Hoft from TGP Presents at \u201cTransform Washington on January 6\u201d Web conference (VIDEO)\">military-industrial complex<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He argues that while Hegseth faces important \u2064challenges in addressing \u2064various issues within the Department of\u200c Defense\u2014such as \u200ccost \u2064overruns, delays in weapon development, \u2062and reliance on contractors\u2014there is also a critical\u2062 cultural aspect that needs to change. The author shares his own experiences, highlighting a \u200dprevailing expectation among military officers \u2063that attaining flag rank equates to lucrative opportunities\u2063 within the \u200cdefense contracting sector post-retirement. This mindset\u2062 creates a problematic culture\u200c that \u200cnormalizes financial \u2064gain from service,contrasting \u200bsharply with ethical considerations.<\/p>\n<p>Through personal anecdotes, the author \u2064conveys his concern about this ingrained belief, emphasizing the need for a\u200c cultural shift \u2063to mitigate the adverse effects of the military-industrial complex on the defense \u200destablishment.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Amid the Democrat senatorial clown show of Tuesday&rsquo;s secretary of defense confirmation hearings, one confrontation between Pete Hegseth and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., resonated particularly strongly with me as a retired Army officer. <\/p>\n<p>It was when Warren challenged Hegseth with his past writings that &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/video\/2025\/01\/14\/sen_warren_to_hegseth_when_you_leave_this_job_will_you_not_work_for_the_defense_industry_for_10_years.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">generals should be banned from working for the defense industry for 10 years<\/a>.&rdquo; Warren tried to put Hegseth in a twist by asserting that he would not follow his own rule, but Hegseth defused the situation masterfully by replying, &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/video\/2025\/01\/14\/sen_warren_to_hegseth_when_you_leave_this_job_will_you_not_work_for_the_defense_industry_for_10_years.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">I&rsquo;m not a general, senator.<\/a>&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Laughter ensued, but this exchange had me thinking deeply about one of the primary issues I believe plagues the Department of Defense in 2025, that being the revolving door between our military&rsquo;s senior ranks and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cyZoUfNsUl8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">military-industrial complex<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It is generally understood that one of Hegseth&rsquo;s biggest challenges will be to unwind the most pernicious effects of the military-industrial complex, from cost overruns, to decades-long delays in weapons development, to reliance on in-theater contractor support, to mismatches between requirements and capabilities, to every other vice of the world of defense acquisition. Hegseth faces the Herculean task of cleaning out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.perseus.tufts.edu\/Herakles\/stables.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Augean Stables<\/a> at the Pentagon, but there is also a little-known and related cultural paradigm Hegseth must shatter if he is to succeed in this arena.<\/p>\n<p>My personal experiences inform this analysis.&nbsp;I retired from the Army as a full colonel. My career was a mix of peacetime and wartime assignments, often in tactical units that deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, but also serving repeatedly in the fearsome budget wars of the Pentagon and Congress. After an incredibly fulfilling military career, I decided I wanted to move in an entirely different direction, and I went to law school after retirement, becoming a corporate lawyer (I know, what was I thinking?!). I left the military and the defense industry completely behind me and never looked back. Nevertheless, I had many friends who stayed in service and made flag rank, and I kept in touch with most of them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>My service taught me an extremely important lesson. There is a cultural expectation in our modern military that if you make flag rank (i.e., a general or an admiral, depending on your service) you have hit the jackpot, and that pinning on those stars of flag rank automatically means you have joined the defense contractor &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/gravy%2520train\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">gravy train<\/a>.&rdquo; Upon your retirement from active duty, you will be entertaining dozens of lucrative offers from defense contractors, making you wealthy with limitless financial opportunities. I know this because I have had these conversations with those same friends, and there was even a time in my military career when I did not find that sentiment offensive because such enrichment was culturally considered normal, just, and fair. After all, you spent all those years sacrificing for your country, why shouldn&rsquo;t you be able to cash in on your success?<\/p>\n<p>As a civilian lawyer, I have had these same friends call me upon retirement, asking for advice on sitting on boards of directors, negotiating employment or consulting contracts, receiving stock options, etc. &mdash; all the perks of being on the gravy train of defense contracting. My friends and former comrades in arms were so excited &mdash; FINALLY, they were getting the reward they thought they had earned and were fully entitled to.<\/p>\n<p>I now know there is something deeply wrong with this. In fact, I first detected this cultural rot when I was serving in the Army staff as a colonel and &mdash; after the statutory cooling-off period &mdash; a former general officer boss tried to sell his new company&rsquo;s wares to me. He even expected me to call him &ldquo;sir.&rdquo; I am not exaggerating when I say this nauseated me, but such is the military-industrial complex.<\/p>\n<p>Let me reiterate what I said above. THIS IS A CULTURAL ISSUE. The mindset of the modern, senior U.S. military officer (and increasingly, very senior NCOs) is that obtaining a lucrative defense sector job post-retirement is a reasonable, normal, and expected perk, and there is literally nothing wrong with it, legally or ethically.<\/p>\n<p>NOBODY SEES A PROBLEM WITH THIS. That is the problem.<\/p>\n<p>There are, of course, formal <a href=\"https:\/\/home.army.mil\/johnson\/9215\/5992\/6757\/DOD_Info_Paper_-_Post_Govt_Employment_Rules_for_Senior_Employees.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Department of Defense ethics rules<\/a> that seek to limit the effects of the revolving door. However, these rules are fungible and waivable and subject to the whims of Department of Defense lawyers (who are often sympathetic to their former bosses because, hey, the gravy train applies to lawyers too). The idea of &ldquo;selling to your former agency&rdquo; is subject to interpretation, and &ldquo;cooling-off periods&rdquo; allow for rather rapid reintegration into the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">military-industrial complex roller coaster<\/a>. No, what I speak of here is much less a legal issue than a fundamental cultural issue.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth needs to break this cultural paradigm that actively encourages the wasteful expenditure of taxpayer dollars as a reward for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/legal-group-demands-navy-investigate-active-duty-drag-queen-for-allegedly-violating-military-protocol\/\" title=\"Legal group wants Navy to investigate active-duty drag queen for breaking military rules.\">senior military service<\/a>. Somehow, we need to make it unseemly and highly distasteful for very senior officers to trade on their military honors for riches in a corrupt system of defense procurement. This practice needs to be widely seen as a form of legal prostitution &mdash; legal, yes, but would you bring your new girlfriend home to Mother?<\/p>\n<p>That cultural mind shift will be a fundamental issue in solving the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/purdue-university-backtracks-on-mandatory-white-privilege-class-for-music-students-after-outcry\/\" title=\"Purdue University Backtracks On Mandatory \u2018White Privilege\u2019 Class For Music Students After Outcry\">seemingly intractable problem<\/a> of the military-industrial complex. Something has to give, and it begins and ends with making the habit of trading service for dollars a shameful one.<\/p>\n<p>At this point, I am certain innumerable readers are internally protesting that military experience is an essential element of the defense industry and a fundamental requirement in procuring weapons systems that are effective on the modern battlefield. I completely agree with this sentiment. Only former warriors can tell civilian engineers what does and does not work in combat. <\/p>\n<p>But we do not need generals and admirals to do this. Former <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Uniformed_services_pay_grades_of_the_United_States\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">O-4s, O-5s, and E-7s<\/a> can do this work. In fact, those more junior officers and NCOs are better qualified than flag officers because most flag officers are generationally removed from the realities of the tactical modern battlefield. Instead, those flag officers are recruited solely for their influence, their ability to persuade former subordinates, and their iPhone contact lists &mdash; not because of their technical, tactical, or managerial skills. This is influence-peddling, plain and simple, and it is no different than the habits of the worst <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/K_Street_(Washington,_D.C.)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">K Street<\/a> lobbyists.<\/p>\n<p>I sincerely hope Pete Hegseth is confirmed as secretary of defense. I believe he is the pugnacious, &ldquo;dirty boots&rdquo; warrior-outsider that the corrupt defense establishment desperately needs. One of his greatest challenges will be to reform defense procurement systems, and a key component of that reform will be to shift our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/plan-to-rename-confederate-base-names-moves-forward\/\" title=\"Plan To Rename Confederate Base Names Moves Forward\">senior military leaders<\/a> away from the desirability of the post-retirement, defense contractor gravy train.<\/p>\n<p>Let&rsquo;s make the Department of Defense great again, and that starts with making the habit of trading senior military honors for dollars shameful.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Cynical Publius is the nom de plume of a retired U.S. Army colonel and practicing attorney. The Federalist verifies the identity of its pseudonymous authors. You can follow Cynical Publius on X at <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CynicalPublius\">@CynicalPublius<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Warren confronted Hegseth about his past stance on generals&#8217; defense industry roles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3355,"featured_media":2390530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/hegseth-warren-1.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[48545,36155,48546,44930,38235],"class_list":["post-2390529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-defense-contractors","tag-government-accountability","tag-military-spending","tag-pete-hegseth","tag-policy-reform"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/hegseth-warren-1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3355"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2390529"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2390538,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390529\/revisions\/2390538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2390530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2390529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2390529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2390529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}