Ash Carter on a Lifetime of Leadership in the Pentagon

YOU HAVE GOT THIS NEW BOOK OUT AND IT'S REALLY LOOKING AT LEADERSHIP AND PARTICULARLY CONCENTRATING ON YOUR TIME AT THE PENTAGON.

YOU MAKE A BLANKET DECLARATION, SO WE ALL KNOW WHERE YOU STAND, I LOVE THIS PENTAGON, I LOVE THIS ORGANIZATION WARTS AND ALL.

WHY DO YOU FEEL THE NEED TO SAY THAT AND WHAT ARE THE WARTS?

IT'S 240 YEARS OLD.

SO IT'S GOT TRADITIONS AND PEOPLE TEND TO THINK OF THE PLACE AS STODGY.

AND THERE IS A CERTAIN PART OF TRADITION THAT'S REALLY GOOD, BUT ALSO THE PENTAGON ISN'T SOMETHING I WAS PROUD OF, AND THIS IS NOT A WART, A LEARNING ORGANIZATION.

LET ME GIVE YOU A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES.

COUNTER INSURGENCY AND COUNTER IED.

OBVIOUSLY, WE WERE CAUGHT FLATFOOTED ON THEM INITIALLY AND WE HAD TO LEARN HOW TO DO BETTER.

WE GOT REALLY EXCELLENT AT IT.

IT DOES HAVE WARTS.

THERE ARE SOME WAYS IN WHICH WE ARE STILL HAVEN'T MADE THE TRANSITIONS STRATEGICALLY WHERE WE NEED TO GO FROM THE ERA OF OUR PREOCCUPATION WITH COUNTERTERRORISM AND COUNTER INSURGENCY TO OUR, THE NEED TO FOCUS ON CHINA AND RUSSIA AND THE HIGH END.

WE HAVEN'T YET LINKED OURSELVES TO THE TECH COMMUNITY COMPLETELY, WHICH IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF OUR FUTURE, AND CONTINUING TO BE THE MOST TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED MILITARY IN THE WORLD.

WE HAVEN'T DIPPED INTO ALL OF THE POOLS OF TALENT THAT WE NEED AND ALL VOLUNTEERS.

YOU MAY NOT KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT A LARGE NUMBER OF OUR COU RECRUITS COME FROM SIX STATES IN THE UNITED STATES.

THAT MEANS THAT THERE ARE 44 STATES WHERE WE HAVEN'T GOT ENOUGH PRESENCE YET.

SO THERE ARE A WHOLE LOT OF THINGS, AND THIS IS ONE OF THE THINGS I DESCRIBED IN THE BOOK.

THERE ARE A LOT OF MANAGERIAL ISSUES.

YOU THINK ABOUT THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE BEING IN THE SITUATION ROOM OR HELPING THE PRESIDENT MAKE DECISIONS.

THAT'S A PIECE OF THE JOB, BUT IT'S JUST A PIECE OF THE JOB.

YOU ARE RUNNING THE LARGEST ORGANIZATION IN THE WORLD, AND YOU ARE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE NOT ONLY OF TODAY, BUT OF TOMORROW.

I HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT I LEAVE TO MY SUCCESSOR THE EXCELLENCE THAT I RECEIVED FROM MY PREDECESSORS.

SO YOU ARE WORKING AGAINST THAT FUTURE ALL THE TIME.

I WONDER, YOU ARE A THEORETICAL PHYSICIST, I BELIEVE, BY TRAINING AND BACKGROUND.

YES.

SO YOU ARE THOROUGHLY STEEPED IN THE FACT-BASED WORLD.

AND I GUESS YOU MAKE YOUR DECISIONS ON FACTS AND EVIDENCE.

HOW DIFFICULT IS IT, BECAUSE YOU WRITE ABOUT THIS IN YOUR BOOK, YOU TALK ABOUT HOW VERY DIFFICULT IT IS TO MAKE INFORMED AND FACT-BASED DECISIONS ON MATTERS OF POLICY IN THESE HIGHLY EMOTIONAL, AS YOU CALL THEM, VITRIOLIC POLITICAL TIMES.

WHAT ARE THE KEY ISSUES THAT YOU SEE?

WELL, YOU'VE GOT TO MAKE IT CLEAR TO ALL YOUR SUBORDINATES, YOU HAVE TO SET AN EXAMPLE