Outgoing U.S. Secretary of Defense Blasts Expensive Programs

Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller speaks to reporters on a government aircraft en route to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Jan. 14, 2021 DOD PHOTO BY LISA FERDINANDO 

Defense One: ‘A Piece of...’ Outgoing SecDef Blasts Expensive Programs 

DOD’s biggest challenge is overcoming the “mindset of the Cold War” 

Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, who came into the job on Dec. 9 just after the firing of former secretary Mark Esper, already “cannot wait to leave this job.” Miller, a tall, plain-spoken person who previously served as director of the Counterterrorism Center, is fond of colorful, extemporaneous language and freewheeling engagements with troops. He is not fond of the way the Defense Department buys things and he doesn’t mind saying so. 

Asked about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, Miller recounted a conversation he had with a pilot. “I said, ‘What are you flying?’ [He] said ‘F-35.’ I was like, ‘That’s a piece of....’” Miller said the pilot went on to describe the F-35 as an “unbelievable aircraft,” as have other pilots who have flown it. 

Miller, however, sees the F-35 as an example of what’s wrong with the way the Pentagon buys things — and indeed of DOD’s biggest challenge. 

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WNU Editor: Will President-elect Biden's Secretary of Defense nominee address the issues that outgoing Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller is pointing out in the above post? I doubt it. In the meantime, the incoming Biden administration have refused a transitional office for Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller's .... Biden transition team denies outgoing acting defense secretary transitional office space (CNN).

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