The article argues that recent executive overreach and politicization have severely undermined established norms of U.S. civil-military relations. To restore professional standards, the incoming Congress must actively exercise its oversight powers, moving beyond mere criticism to demanding transparency in defense policy and personnel decisions. Key reforms include enforcing meritocratic promotion processes, requiring documented justification for senior officer removals, and preventing the partisan use of the military. These actions are crucial for bolstering public trust and ensuring the military remains a nonpartisan instrument of civilian control.
A Portfolio Assessment Approach to Inform Resource Allocation Decisions
English Summary
This report details a structured Portfolio Assessment Approach designed to improve resource allocation decisions within large military organizations, specifically addressing the challenges of cross-cutting portfolios like IT or energy infrastructure. The core finding is that standard budgeting processes often fail to adequately fund these critical, multi-mission assets because their strategic value is difficult to quantify and defend. The proposed methodology systematically evaluates investments against five criteria—including criticality, urgency, and alignment with strategy—to ensure funding decisions are traceable and defensible. Implementing this framework allows decision-makers to better prioritize resources, identify investment overlaps, and accurately articulate mission risk when making complex resource trade-offs.
中文摘要
本報告詳述了一種結構化的投資組合評估方法（Portfolio Assessment Approach），旨在改善大型軍事組織的資源配置決策，特別是針對資訊技術或能源基礎設施等跨領域（cross-cutting）的資產。核心發現指出，標準的預算編列流程往往難以充分為這些關鍵、多任務型資產提供資金支持，原因在於其戰略價值難以量化和辯護。本報告提出的方法論系統性地根據五個標準——包括關鍵性（criticality）、緊急性（urgency）以及與戰略的契合度（alignment with strategy）——來評估投資，確保資金決策具有可追溯性和可辯護性。實施此框架能使決策者更好地優先分配資源、識別投資重疊區域，並在進行複雜的資源取捨時，準確地闡明任務風險。
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