On Monday, General James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sent a message to the defense industry: Major cutbacks are on the way for missile-defense programs. Now the defense firms are launching a counter-strike to defend against budget cuts.
The Washington Post's Dana Hedgpeth has a great piece describing how executives from Boeing and Lockheed Martin held briefings yesterday to tout their missile-defense programs. Northrop booked a room at the National Press Club; Boeing hosted a cheese-and-crackers reception at the Willard Hotel in downtown Washington.
And more importantly, Boeing busted out the swag. "Boeing gave out trinkets bearing the logo of its missile defense programs, including a box of mints, a bag of blue and white jelly beans and a magnetic dart board that reads 'Right on Target' with a fireball explosion in the background," notes Hedgpeth.
Hey, defense industry: Don't forget to mention that missile defense can kill toxic assets, boost Wall Street and create jobs. And next time, bring better swag, like this Boeing Airborne Laser laser pointer. You're welcome.
A brief aside on the vice chairman's speech: We reported that Cartwright said, "Ballistic missiles are about as passé as e-mail." Reuters heard the same thing. But American Forces Press Service quotes Cartwright as saying "Ballistic missiles are about as passé as sea mail." (Emphasis mine.)
So what did he say? Cartwright is known as a bit of a tech fanatic, so it makes sense to me that he would describe e-mail as passé in the era of IM and Twitter. After all, this is the same guy who wore a patch on his flight suit that read "100 blogs" when he was head of U.S. Strategic Command. But some commenters insist he said "sea mail."
Go to the Pentagon Channel and judge for yourself. Cartwright's "e-mail/sea mail" remark is at about the 10:30 mark.
[PHOTO: Nathan Hodge]
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