NDIA Changes Leadership, but Its Mission Remains the Same.

• Author: Skibbie, Larry
• Position: National Defense Industrial Association - Brief Article

To paraphrase a great American, this month marks my final roll call with NDIA and our many wonderful members. After 14 years of service to NDIA, and ADPA before it, the time has come for a new leader to pick up the reins and continue the association's forward momentum.

During my tenure, we have evolved from being a small organization, primarily focused on the Army (our ADPA and Ordnance Corps heritage) to a broad association--with involvement by all the military services, as well as the Defense Department and several Executive Branch agencies. Throughout, we have maintained our focus on the industrial base and our role of advocating its importance to the nation.

The industrial base--and the challenges it presents--continues to change dramatically as a result of the globalization of the world's economies and the advancements in military technologies. Nevertheless, NDIA is well positioned to address these challenges, because of the unique nature of our structure--working with all the services, covering all industry sectors, and with a membership that represents both government and industry.

NDIA's committees and chapters also are unique in that they allow a wide range of defense technology and business communities, spread throughout the United States, to do the things communities need to do--to meet, to discuss and take positions on issues and then to act upon them. The goal, ultimately, is to stress the need to preserve and strengthen the defense industrial capacity of the United States.

But even though NDIA is well situated to perform these roles, we believe strongly that we have our work cut out for us.

A 15-year-long period of decline in defense research, development and procurement spending continues to take its toll on the defense industry. The fact of life is that patriotism alone is not enough for the industry to make its payrolls or provide competitive returns to investors. The result of the downturn has been a dramatic contraction in the number of companies involved in defense.

If we were sure that the downturn had reached its low point, then perhaps our concern might be lessened. Unfortunately, the administration now...