This members-only briefing has been edited for length and clarity.
The Cipher Brief: General, I thought we’d start off my asking what has struck you the most over the past couple of months since the pandemic hit, considering everything from the military's ability to combat something like this, to some of the changes that you're seeing in the private sector?
General Votel: That's a great question. In any response, whether it's to a pandemic or anything else, speed is really of the utmost importance. Being able to act quickly preserves the greatest number of options and opportunities to address the situation. Speed is a critical observation out of this. So is coordination, collaboration, and communication between government partners and the private sector. I would also include civic organizations that are trying to do good in all of our communities. Having good communication and coordination mechanisms between all of them is very, very important.
With respect specifically to the pandemic, we’re also seeing what I would describe as more functional areas where we are learning some lessons or relearning lessons in some cases where we're going to have to pay more attention. I'm talking about things like our surge capacity, our ability to get people, planning, expertise, physical space, supplies, and equipment to the right spot at the right time is really critical.
Gen. Joseph Votel (Ret.), CEO & President, Business Executives for National Security
Former Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command
Everybody has become very familiar with the idea of supply chain management. Most Americans now understand exactly the importance of this. And not only is it about reducing our dependence on overseas supplies, but it's also about our ability to actually mobilize products and services and get them to the right places at the right time. It's about people getting to the right places and it’s about our ability to surge healthcare and then being able to sustain that over time, whether it's relying on the military, or perhaps looking at how we develop capability within our own communities.
And then finally, the financial system. Certainly, it's getting money to those who need it, as we're seeing through programs like the Payroll Protection Program. But it's also about making sure that we have plans to preserve our economy, and make sure we can continue to move forward economically at the same time that we address everything else. There are a number of observations that come out of this. And a number of them, come from my experience as a military officer.
I'd like to talk about both of those topics because I feel like they're so important. And you just touched on something that is critical here. We're seeing a society respond to a crisis without military leadership. You don't have that sort of rhythm of understanding of how to deal with things, who does what, being able to communicate as quickly as you need to and strategize. And so, we've seen sort of this piecemeal response. And some of it coming from the private sector, that has really stepped up in this case. Let me just stick with the military aspect for a minute, and then I really want to dive into private sector issues.
If you ask what I think the impact on the military is going to be longer term, because of COVID-19, I think the good thing about the military is it's a learning organization. It has great leadership, and it's got good processes in place. And they have lessons learned mechanisms in place to adapt and learn as you go along. I think the first thing up front is, we should recognize that the military, the Department of Defense is really a learning organization. And they're going to drive from that. I think the key observations from my perspective of course are that this is going to put even more of a premium on protecting the force.
I know a lot of people will ask, how do you balance protecting the force versus preserving our interests and the missions that we're assigned to? And in my view, it really is about protecting the force. We can't preserve interests, we can't pursue missions, if we don't have a healthy force. We really must pay very, very close attention to that. I have every belief that our current leadership is certainly doing that.
There are going to be institutional impacts. We've seen in some instances that basic military training will be interrupted with this. It's impacted the movement of forces around the world, and families and others. So that's going to have an impact. I think there are going to continue to be things like this that we're going to have to deal with. And of course, it's going to present challenges with some of our operating methods.
Gen. Joseph Votel (Ret.), CEO & President, Business Executives for National Security
Former Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command
It's going to be important for our leaders on the military side to look at what's happening on the business side. As we watch businesses come back to work, as restaurants, other venues, and things come back to life after this shutdown, we're going to learn things. And it definitely behooves the military to take advantage of some of the things that we're learning out of the business community.
But there are also going to be impacts operationally. The pandemic has the opportunity to add to the underlying tensions that already reside in many of the regions where we operate. And of course, these are areas where we have ongoing operations, areas where there are massive numbers of refugees, and limited infrastructure. The ability to respond is already challenged. And this has the potential to make things even more complex in some of those areas where we're currently operating.
The Cipher Brief: How do SOF capabilities support our ability to compete against China and Russia, particularly in so called gray zone activities? Does SOF or a military in general have the proper authorities to be effective against great power competitors in the gray zone?
General Votel: That's a great question. And I really believe, yes, SOF, Special Operations Forces are a key component in this. And in these areas where we are competing, the great thing that I think SOF does - and I witnessed this when I was in the community, and certainly while I was most recently at CENTCOM - is that they have the ability to come in and build relationships. And they are extraordinarily influential. If you look across an area like the Middle East for example, a lot of these militaries are still having difficulty developing modern capabilities.
But many of them have developed very good special operations forces. I could point to the Afghan forces as an example. Their special operations forces are quite good. The counter-terrorism service in Iraq was a force that was almost uniquely developed by our special forces elements out there and this was the core of the Iraqi army that they built upon, as that helped them prevail against ISIS. I think this is very, very important. And SOF has the ability to work in small numbers, with a small footprint, to have a big impact on that.
That is something that our partners want out there. When we can do that, they will come to us. They will be more influenced by us. And they’ll be more focused on being aligned with our common interests than they will with somebody else. I think it's a great way to maintain great influence out there in areas where we don't want to concentrate a lot of large forces. SOF forces can come in and have an outsized impact. And I think this is a really, really important role that SOF plays in this idea of great power competition.
The Cipher Brief: Given your experience working with business executives in a non-partisan effort to address national security, do you see openings for new thinking about global collective or shared security architecture that both preserves national interests, but also watches out for global security and citizens' well beings in a better way?
General Votel: Yes. We've got within BENS, a number of members who have unique expertise in all of these areas. Some of our council work is looking at the 5G challenge and how we optimize that for the country and how we make it an effective capability for us. As we look at things like 5G or AI, I think the business community really has a lot to say so that its use is also done in accordance with the law, and with ethics, and the things that we all hold very, very dear. This is a specific area that BENS has been focused on for some time, on trying to inform these types of technologies and their implementation in the national security architecture.
The Cipher Brief: Who do you think stands to gain the most out of this as you look long term? Who stands to be the winner in all of this in terms of geopolitical power?
General Votel: How you gain influence in this geopolitically is by being part of the solution. This could be an opportunity for the United States as we finish dealing with it here in the homeland. And I think the president has commented on this, and certainly there has been a lot of writing on this in that the most effective responses to situations like this have been under the leadership of the United States.
Gen. Joseph Votel (Ret.), CEO & President, Business Executives for National Security
Former Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command
We have an opportunity here to exert our own leadership and pull together those countries that share concerns. My point is that the people who will gain on this are the people who are trying to address it internationally and be seen as influential, and helpful in providing a long-term solution. Certainly, countries like China will try to take advantage of this where they can. But this is still an opportunity for the United States as well.
The Cipher Brief: There's been a dramatic uptick in cyber activity during the coronavirus crisis. Recently, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a warning to actors who were reportedly planning to attack critical infrastructure during this crisis. What are your thoughts on how the U.S. is prepared to respond? And what do you believe are a range of appropriate responses to cyber threats during this pandemic?
General Votel: I think there is no doubt that there are certain actors out there who are going to take advantage of the chaos, of the complexity of this situation that we and others are dealing with. And they're going to try to pursue their own objectives, malign as they may be, in this area. We have to expect that that is going to happen. I think the warning by the Secretary of State is a very appropriate one. Our response has to be is strong and decisive in terms of this.
We have our own cyber capabilities to address those types of things and we should address them very, very vigorously. They are taking advantage of these situations. This is as bad as people who are hoarding supplies and trying to drive up prices on things when people really need those things. This has to be addressed very, very effectively.
I have a lot of confidence in our cyber capabilities. Having had an opportunity to see them in an operational military environment, I think we became quite adept at integrating them into the activities that we were conducting. And I have every confidence within the authorities and legalities that are in place and that we can leverage them to help protect the country. I think it's extraordinarily important. One of the lessons learned that will come out of this is cyber security. This is everybody's issue. It's protecting your businesses, and protecting your data, protecting your customers, protecting your ability to communicate. I think this will be an area where we are learning and relearning. We're not going to want to take risks in this particular area. Particularly given what we've just been through.
The Cipher Brief: How do we bring to bear the hugely successful U.S. innovation engine within the private sector to address urgent and immediate technology, and other needs during national emergencies? How do we get the best from the private sector to work for the entire country?
General Votel: I think this is absolutely vital. In the early days of this pandemic, BENS had a number of members around the country and a number out in Silicon Valley who came up on the net very quickly to identify great ideas whether it had to do with modeling, or innovative testing methods and other development-focused ideas. We definitely need to leverage that.
I think what we'll continue to learn out of this, is the government needs to be able to not just look to the industrial base that we rely on - the defense industrial base so to speak - but it also needs to be able to see down into the smaller innovative startup operations. This is really where a lot of great innovation takes place, with people in small organizations. Getting that innovation projected up to decision makers and others so they can see what's going on is important, so we can support it, guide it, and use it.
This really goes back to the whole acquisition process and making sure we have a better way of seeing what's happening out there. Our system, as opposed to China's, is a bottom-up system. Our national security benefits from the innovation and the ideas that come from businesses across the country and we see the application on the national security side. So, we need to make sure our system recognizes that.
I think there are some great things that are taking place out there. If you look at the services, the Air Force has AFWERX and the special operations community has SOFWERX and these are really focused on innovation and creating a way to reach into this very quickly. I think this is extraordinarily important and it's an area where we have made progress, but we haven't made enough, and we need to continue to push into this. This is the idea behind the DIU initiative of the Department of Defense, which set up an office in Silicon Valley and it’s why the army located the Futures Command down in the Austin, Texas area because it's around people that are doing this kind of stuff. It's why we have relationships with great academic institutions up in the Northeast, because these are the people who are thinking about this kind of stuff. We have to make sure that we have a very solid connection between the private enterprise and the government and that's what BENS is all about. We're about that particular relationship and we have to continue to work this more.
The Cipher Brief: Do you have any closing thoughts to leave us with, General? What ideas do you have in how we can more efficiently push forward some of the lessons learned, and the opportunities to be more efficient when it comes to the public and private sectors breaking down some of the barriers that have kept them from having a closer relationship in the past, and moving forward?
General Votel: I'm sure there'll be a lot of analysis after the pandemic and opportunities to place blame on certain quarters. That's not really our interest, or my interest frankly. This horrible pandemic has created a platform for us to get better in my view. And it isn't about necessarily preparing for the last pandemic. It's preparing for the next national emergency. It's really important as we come out of this and return to business and return to our new normal that we look at how we create a better model and a better structure for how we respond to national crises like this in the future. We need to do a better job of linking the government to the private sector and to our civic organizations. It is imperative that we try to learn from this and try to devise the very best model that we can for how we respond next time. Undoubtedly, we'll deal with something like this in the future. It may not be quite as bad, but it'll require a national response.
This is a topic we’re already talking about, and we will continue to be working on it for the coming days and weeks and hope to play our role and a big role in helping us move forward from this situation.
The Cipher Brief: We appreciate that. General Joseph Votel, thank you so much for being with us today.
General Votel: Great to be with you. Thanks for what you're doing.
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