FORT BELVOIR, Va. –
Making changes comes with risk, but there may be more risks associated with maintaining the status quo, the military deputy for the Defense Innovation Unit said during a Warfighter Talk at the Defense Logistics Agency’s headquarters last month.
“I think there's a law of risk, which is certainly like the law of conservation of energy, and that is that risk can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transferred,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Joseph Kunkel said.
From the work being done at the Pentagon and DIU, to the logistics work at DLA, he said there are bureaucratic risks that agencies are hesitant to take.
“Just realize whenever we are not taking bureaucratic risk, that risk is being transferred somewhere else in the enterprise, and typically that risk is being transferred to an operator that doesn’t have the capabilities they need to win in a fight,” Kunkel said during his talk May 15. “If you’re not taking the bureaucratic risk, there’s an operator that’s taking a risk somewhere.”
He compared the current state of the Air Force to the end of the Vietnam War from the late 1970s into the 1980s. Weapons were not being used for their intended purpose, and with looming threats from the Soviet Union, the Air Force didn’t have what it needed to win that fight, he said.
Leadership at the Pentagon wanted to reshape the Air Force, take risks and build new capabilities, he said.
“We developed all these amazing things, F-22s, F-35s, B-2s, all that stuff was conceived in the early ’80s when we were looking at the Soviet Union as a threat,” Kunkel said, noting how much these weapon systems overpowered adversaries in Operation Desert Storm.
“It's my thought that every fight we've had for the last 30 years, we've stepped into those fights with swagger, like we knew we were going to win,” he said.
The nation’s current enemies, however, are getting tougher, Kunkel said.
“We’ve been challenged by someone that can fight back,” he said. “I would ask, is this a Pearl Harbor moment?”
He continued to ask if the military should keep fighting the way it has been for the last 30 years or is it time to embrace a different strategy with new weapons systems.
“For change agents like me, I’m like, we’re way past the Pearl Harbor moment,” he continued. “We know what it takes to win in China, and it's a fundamentally different Air Force. It's a fundamentally different Navy. It’s fundamentally different expectations out of our Army. It's a fundamentally different Marine Corps.”
Kunkel shared the story of the Air Force selecting the design for the advanced tactical fighter YF-22, which was announced in 1990. After years of designs and work, he said he was selected for the first cadre for the F-22 as the Air Force stood up the Pacific fleet — in 2007.
“It doesn’t make any sense that it takes us that long to field capabilities,” he said. “It was conceived in the Reagan years, and we were doing initial conversion 20 years later. And what’s really interesting is here we are in 2026, and that’s still our frontline fighter. We are not moving fast enough.”
The DIU is working to advance defense technology at the same rate as commercial technology by bringing these entrants into the defense market, he said.
Defense acquisition needs to be more accepting of commercial entrants and be less specific on requirements, he added. An increase in commercial capabilities to the military market will help increase the defense industrial base.
“When I think about the capabilities that are going to be required for the future, the ability to adapt capabilities and then scale them in real time is going to be critical,” he said.
As part of DIU’s new leadership, Kunkel said his new mantra is: “It doesn’t count until it’s fielded forward. It doesn’t count until it’s sitting in the hands of a warfighter.”
The DIU is looking to create closer connections with the military services and combatant commands to identify their problems and match them to commercial solutions, he added.
A recording of the event is available to DLA employees on the Campaign of Learning page (a DLA Common Access Card is required).