WASHINGTON Since taking over as US Secretary of Defense in early 2015, Ash Carter has prioritized the idea of "innovation" – a nebulous term that has launched a number of individual efforts to bring new technology into the building, upgrade old systems, and change how the Pentagon operates.

With the Obama administration winding to a close and Carter's time as secretary expected to end shortly thereafter, getting all those innovation programs together in order to discover what worked and what didn't seems like a good move.

But according to Gen. Paul Selva, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, while there are quarterly meetings for program updates no one at the top level has actually put together a group to take a look at the "lessons learned" from all the innovation initiatives.

Selva made that comment at an Aug. 25 event, held at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, after an audience member asked him what lessons the Pentagon had learned about how to encourage innovation support from Congress, whether by pushing for new special acquisition authorities or other mechanisms.

"I love the idea lessons learned, we haven’t gone that far yet," Selva said in response.

Instead, Selva said, the Pentagon has relied on quarterly meetings, led by himself, Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work, and Stephanie O’Sullivan, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence.

"We get together and meet and look at the progress that been made, over the course of the last quarter, with the staff. So we bring in folks from [the Acquisitions, Technology & Logistics office], we bring in technology experts, we bring in operational expertise from the Joint Staff, as well as from the Director of National Intelligence," Selva explained. "And we try to assess whether or not we’re making progress along a set of initiatives --some of which you’re familiar with, and some of which you’re not -- to make sure you don’t stall out."

The good news for those who want a wider dive into how the Pentagon’s push for innovation is going is that Selva apparently lives by the ideas he espouses about taking new ideas from outside the Pentagon and applying them to challenges inside the building.

"To do a broad lessons learned look, we have not done it yet," Selva told the questioner. "It’s a great idea. If you don’t mind, we’re going to steal it, take it back, and we’ll get to work on it."

About Aaron Mehta

Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.

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