The Philadelphia Inquirer quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Matthew Kroenig on the nomination of Ashton Carter as secretary of defense:
The technocratic job of buying weapons and overseeing budgets is unglamorous but important, said Matthew Kroenig, an associate professor at Georgetown University and former special adviser at the Pentagon.
“It has a huge budget, and because the acquisition timelines are so long, basically, what you’re doing is building the future of the U.S. military,” Kroenig said. “Budgeting decisions [Carter] was making a couple years ago are going to affect the military we have in 2025.”
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While he has long had a role as an adviser, more people than ever before will now be watching.
“At a very different level,” Kroenig said, “the spotlight will be on him.”