NDIA has never forgotten its roots.

• Author: Ashworth, Sid
• Position: Chair's Perspective

* One hundred years ago, on April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I--known then as the "Great War." As we consider this centennial milestone, it is worth reflecting on how the war shaped the defense industry we know today.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Although the U.S. sought to avoid the war, Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare and increased aggression pushed President Woodrow Wilson and Congress to enter what they hoped would be the "war to end all wars." Unfortunately, U.S. military forces were ill-equipped, and the nascent defense industry was not prepared to meet their needs.

The military's industrial deficiency was a well-known problem. In 1916, a year prior to entering the war, Congress established the Kernan Board to assess American industry's ability to produce military materiel. The board concluded the U.S. military was poorly equipped, especially compared to all the other countries fighting in the war, and the American industrial base was not capable of transitioning to production levels required to support the war.

One of the board members was Benedict Crowell, a prominent figure in the engineering and mining industry who had been recently appointed a major in the Officer Reserve Corps. After the United States entered the war, Crowell was appointed assistant secretary of war and director of munitions and was instrumental in creating a wartime industry capable of producing mass quantities of munitions. He transformed uncoordinated local industries into an efficient manufacturing base able to supply the equipment and materiel needed for the war.

When the war ended, Benedict Crowell founded the Army Ordnance Association--the first association to emphasize the relationship and importance of private industry to national defense. His early work building a national defense industry was codified in the National Defense Act of 1920, which directed the Army to prepare for wartime mobilization before war was declared. This shift led to the decentralization of the contracting and procurement process, and increased coordination between military leaders and heads of business and industry.

Benedict Crowell served as the president of the association for 25 years. He also continued to serve in the Reserves and eventually retired as brigadier general in 1946. Thanks to his leadership, the association succeeded in creating an environment for cooperation and planning between the government and industry.

For example, the association...