Follow us on social

The US military is embedding its officers in corporate America

The US military is embedding its officers in corporate America

A new report exposes a largely unknown fellowship that gives major arms companies outsized influence in defense policy

Reporting | Military Industrial Complex

The government should do more business with McKinsey & Co. — one of the world’s largest consulting firms — says a Pentagon presentation: “Leverage [the] consulting firm’s expertise and objectivity – outsourcing is a positive action.” While this might sound like a talking point from lobbyists, it actually came from an active-duty naval commander who spent almost a full year working at McKinsey & Co. with you, the taxpayer, footing the bill.

It’s no secret that major defense companies spend millions to influence the U.S. government in hopes of securing contracts, favorable treatment, and higher profits. What’s less known is that the military has a program that subsidizes these efforts. A new Quincy Institute report I co-authored with Ben Freeman, director of QI’s Democratizing Foreign Policy program, provides the first ever in-depth look into a Pentagon program that gives big businesses a unique avenue for influencing senior military policymakers.

Each year, the Pentagon sends military officers to work for major corporations through the Secretary of Defense Executive Fellows (SDEF) program. The intention is for fellows to gather insights about how these companies are organized and then present their findings to high-ranking military officials, along with recommendations for reforms that the military should consider. In practice, however, the reforms suggested to the Pentagon represent a free opportunity for the large contractors hosting fellows to push the government towards adopting corporate-friendly policies.

Since its creation in 1995, the largest beneficiaries of the SDEF program have been some of the nation’s largest defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin, RTX (formerly Raytheon), and Boeing. These companies receive nearly a free year of labor from their military fellows, direct insight into the activities of both the government and their competitors, and a unique method through which they can push self-interested suggestions upon their largest customer: the Department of Defense (DOD).

It is no coincidence that many of these suggestions are proposals that would benefit companies involved in the program.

SDEF recommendations to the government are packed full of glaring conflicts of interest. For example, the contractor-dominated program advised the Pentagon to hire more contractors, subsidize them directly, reduce oversight and transparency, and give contractors more political power so that they can “Help craft National Security Strategy.”

We documented numerous examples of fellows making policy recommendations that would specifically benefit the company they worked for. Fellows at companies who export billions in weapons each year called for the government to loosen arms trade regulations. A fellow at a railroad company suggested that the DOD consider using railroads more, a fellow at a machinery rental company suggested the DOD rent more machinery, and a fellow at a private utility suggested the DOD continue buying energy from private utilities. In perhaps the most glaring example, one fellow had company officials craft some of his recommendations, including suggestions to modify outsourcing rules and make it easier for the firm to work with DOD. That firm was Enron, and the recommendations were made just six months before the company imploded.

Many of the participating companies have not been shy about using the program to advance their agendas with the government. At least 18 companies participating in the SDEF program have assigned their fellows to work in public sector contracting and “government relations” positions, essentially using them to develop closer relationships with the military. One fellow at a biopharmaceutical company was assigned the task of “Exploiting DoD value from [the] biotech sector;” naturally, they recommended that the DOD invest more in biotech.

The effects of the program do not end here; it also appears to encourage a revolving door between industry and government. Looking at a large sample of former SDEF fellows, we found that 43% have worked for a government contractor since leaving the program. Comparing this sample to a study of all Pentagon officials done by the Government Accountability Office, former SDEF fellows appear to pass through the revolving door to work for large government contractors at more than twice the rate of other DOD personnel.

In some cases, fellows even go on to work for the exact same companies where they had been assigned, essentially using this government program as a launching pad for a lucrative career in the private sector.

Revolving door practices threaten the integrity of the government by creating an open invitation for corruption and unethical behavior. Still, the SDEF program shows no signs of recognizing this as a problem. In fact, the SDEF once advised that it should be easier for military officials to pass back and forth between the military and private industry, despite the tremendous accountability problems such a reform would produce.

The SDEF program is based on the idea that national interests and corporate interests are closely aligned. It aims to, according to an SDEF PowerPoint presentation, “Treat corporate sponsors as potential extensions to the [national] security apparatus,” arguing that powerful companies help to create a “safe and secure world.” They therefore believe that the military should not only partner with industry, but should actively “promote industry.”

Yet the behavior of the companies participating in the SDEF program makes it clear that the national interest often takes a back seat to the firm’s interests, namely its profits. When given the opportunity, firms will push for policy reforms that have little to do with an effective defense strategy, but everything to do with their bottom line. Allowing big businesses such a privileged opportunity to influence military policymakers serves to benefit shareholders and executives, not the American people.

The DOD should reconsider the SDEF program as it currently exists, either by reforming the way it functions, downsizing it, or eliminating it entirely. Until then, it will continue to serve as a corporate handout and a tool for the military-industrial complex to maintain its grip on U.S. defense policy.

The director of the SDEF program did not respond to multiple requests for comment.


alienant via shutterstock.com

Reporting | Military Industrial Complex
US Marines
Top image credit: U.S. Marines with Force Reconnaissance Platoon, Maritime Raid Force, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, prepare to clear a room during a limited scale raid exercise at Sam Hill Airfield, Queensland, Australia, June 21, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alora Finigan)

Cartels are bad but they're not 'terrorists.' This is mission creep.

Military Industrial Complex

There is a dangerous pattern on display by the Trump administration. The president and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth seem to hold the threat and use of military force as their go-to method of solving America’s problems and asserting state power.

The president’s reported authorization for the Pentagon to use U.S. military warfighting capacity to combat drug cartels — a domain that should remain within the realm of law enforcement — represents a significant escalation. This presents a concerning evolution and has serious implications for civil liberties — especially given the administration’s parallel moves with the deployment of troops to the southern border, the use of federal forces to quell protests in California, and the recent deployment of armed National Guard to the streets of our nation’s capital.

keep readingShow less
Howard Lutnick
Top photo credit: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on CNBC, 8/26/25 (CNBC screengrab)

Is nationalizing the defense industry such a bad idea?

Military Industrial Complex

The U.S. arms industry is highly consolidated, specialized, and dependent on government contracts. Indeed, the largest U.S. military contractors are already effectively extensions of the state — and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is right to point that out.

His suggestion in a recent media appearance to partially nationalize the likes of Lockheed Martin is hardly novel. The economist John Kenneth Galbraith argued for the nationalization of the largest military contractors in 1969. More recently, various academics and policy analysts have advocated for partial or full nationalization of military firms in publications including The Nation, The American Conservative, The Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), and The Seattle Journal for Social Justice.

keep readingShow less
Modi Trump
Top image credit: White House, February 2025

Trump's India problem could become a Global South crisis

Asia-Pacific

As President Trump’s second term kicked off, all signs pointed to a continued upswing in U.S.-India relations. At a White House press conference in February, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of his vision to “Make India Great Again” and how the United States under Trump would play a central role. “When it’s MAGA plus MIGA, it becomes a mega partnership for prosperity,” Modi said.

During Trump’s first term, the two populist leaders hosted rallies for each other in their respective countries and cultivated close personal ties. Aside from the Trump-Modi bromance, U.S.-Indian relations have been on a positive trajectory for over two decades, driven in part by mutual suspicion of China. But six months into his second term, Trump has taken several actions that have led to a dramatic downturn in U.S.-India relations, with India-China relations suddenly on the rise.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.