Our current bureaucratic processes are insufficiently responsive to the department＇s needs for new equipment. We will prioritize speed of delivery， continuous adaptation and frequent modular upgrades.
We must shed outdated management and acquisition practices， while adopting American industry＇s best practices. Our management structure and process are not engraved in stone. They are a means to an end， empowering our warfighters with the knowledge， equipment and support needed to fight and win.
If the current structures inhibit our pursuit of lethality， I expect the service secretaries and agency heads to consolidate， eliminate or restructure to achieve the mission.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Shanahan is leading this third line of effort：to leverage the scale of our operations， driving better deals for equipping our troops.
This national defense strategy will guide all our actions， aligning the department＇s three lines of effort to gain synergies. But we recognize no strategy can long survive without necessary funding and the stable， predictable budgets required to defend America in the modern age.
Failure to modernize our military risks leaving us with a force that could dominate the last war， but be irrelevant to tomorrow＇s security. Let me be clear：As hard as the last 16 years have been on our military， no enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of the U.S. military than the combined impact of the Budget Control Act＇s defense spending cuts， worsened by us operating， 9 of the last 10 years， under continuing resolutions， wasting copious amounts of precious taxpayer dollars.
Today， as our competitive edge over our foes erodes due to budgetary confusion， even with storm clouds gathering， America＇s military， as I speak， is operating under yet another continuing resolution.
For too long， we have asked our military to stoically carry a ＂success at any cost＂ attitude as they work tirelessly to accomplish the mission with now inadequate and misaligned resources， simply because the Congress could not maintain regular order.
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