Commandant Jones Makes Case that a Strong U.S. Economy Depends Upon a Strong U.S. Military

(Washington, D.C.): Marine Corps Commandant James L. Jones recently took
the case for
increased defense spending to a constituency that has been largely AWOL to date in the debate
about the present and future readiness of the U.S. military: Corporate America. Gen. Jones —
who is reportedly under active consideration by the incoming Bush-Cheney Administration to
replace Gen. Hugh Shelton as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — challenged industry
representatives present at a conference convened on 30 November by the Center for Naval
Analyses in Virginia, saying: “It is time for corporate America to understand that they have benn
getting a free ride for fifty years.”

Gen. Jones, the recipient of the Center for Security Policy’s 1999 “Keeper of the Flame”
award,
is to be commended for this important effort to enlist those who benefit most from the United
States’ military strength — and who are in the best position to carry the case for restoring that
strength to the American people and their elected representatives.

MARINE COMMANDANT URGES CORPORATE SUPPORT
FOR HIGHER
MILITARY SPENDING

by Frank Wolfe

Defense Daily

December 1, 2000

Marine Commandant Gen. James Jones yesterday urged American
companies that have global
interests to make the case for higher military spending, arguing that the U.S. military has
guaranteed such companies global access.

“It is time for corporate America to understand they have been getting a free ride for 50
years,”
Jones told a Center for Naval Analyses conference in Arlington, Va. In the
same speech, Jones
said that the upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) should be strategy, not resource,
driven, unlike the 1997 QDR. If the Pentagon outlines needed capabilities without regard to
budget considerations, the 2001 QDR could provide the impetus to boost defense spending.

“At the end of the day, if you want to be the most influential nation on earth, it will not
come for
one or two percent of our gross domestic product,” Jones said yesterday,
arguing that the next
administration should pursue a gradual increase in defense spending to “somewhere between
three and four and a half percent.”

After his speech, Jones expanded on his remarks on the military’s
guaranteeing of U.S. global
economic interests in a question and answer session with reporters.

“We’ve had this capability for so long I think it’s under appreciated.

I think CEOs of major corporations that are global in nature ought to articulate in any way
they
want, when they try to leverage their interests herein Washington, D.C., the importance of
forward engaged U.S. military presence to our economic prosperity,”
Jones said. “What is the
link between what the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard do for our economy?
To me, there is a direct link, but you never hear it articulated by the captains of industry.”

Such companies approach military leaders individually and say that military presence is
important, but those leaders are not part of the public discussion, Jones said.

“If we’re going to do what we have to do and get the investment I think we need, they have
to be
part of the dialogue that says this is important, that says, ‘My company does depend on having a
stable playing field in Europe or the (Persian) Gulf, Pacific Rim or South America. The only
people that guarantee that are the armed forces of the United States,'” Jones
said. “If that’s not
true, and I’m confident it is, and we think the world is just a great big marketplace and
everybody is going to welcome us with open arms all the time, then go ahead and take your
chances because sooner or later at the current level of investment, there are some things we’re
not going to be able to do and places we’re not going to be able to be, unless it’s a worst case
scenario.”