I wonder how much the inability of Congress to pass a real budget is at play here- the continuing resolutions that have kept the government limping along are severely restricted in what they can fund.
> embedding high-potential active-duty, reserve, and civilian members of the Department of Defense inside the top venture capital firms and defense-focused startups around the country.
People working at "public" companies who don't work for the company, but for the government; helping ensure the alignment of the company's goals to those of the Government.
.. and this is seen as desirable, tragic that its not being continued, and not fascist at all?
Few (if any?) venture capital firms or startups are public. Instead, they are privately held and funded.
"Defense-focused startups" will naturally have the government as a primary customer. Having actual members on hand in an advisory role makes a lot of sense- they can head off early missteps (i.e. hardware designs that would never pass review), have connections to others who might be worth partnering with, etc.
I did work for such a defense oriented startup 10-ish years ago, and they arguably had a better (software) product than what was currently being used. Everyone at a lower level that saw it said as much. The problem was that there was so much red tape in the procurement process- along with bumping up against internal politics over the existing software- that they had to pivot to more commercial applications of the idea before they ran out of funding.
Having a more direct line and better support from someone on the inside, whose job was to identify the value and make sure they got a fair shot, would have been a huge boon. They contemplating hiring a company that literally does nothing but help other companies navigate the procurement process and red tape, but decided it was time to pivot.
On the other hand, the situation we have now with much of the military-industrial complex is also utterly broken and corrupt. Some few companies live for military contracts (think Lockheed Martin) and will do anything to keep the money flowing their way.
Spreading out the influence of said money whenever possible to a broader selection of companies is a good thing. That's no easy task, though, and the network of influence isn't something you're going to break up easily.
I cannot see how the "public/private partnership" programs, here or anywhere else, are not going to be focused on spreading that network. Perhaps I'm unduly pessimistic.
Most of what needs breaking up is in the old guard money printing circles between military and established contractors. As with any oligopoly, step one is getting fresh blood in the mix.
Few more dystopian phrases than "military-civil fusion." I'll remember the ending of this program when someone asks me to say something nice about Biden.
