'Smartest guy in the room': Pentagon R&D chief under fire after controversial firings

摘要

Key lawmakers are closely examining the behavior and decisionmaking of the Defense Department's technology chief, spurred by high-profile personnel departures from his office.Mike Griffin earlier this month, according to government sources, orchestrated early departures within days of each other for former Strategic Capabilities Office Director Chris Shank and former Space Development Agency Director Fred Kennedy.The moves, more than a dozen current and former government officials tell Inside Defense, are in line with a well-known pattern of controversial decision-making, turf fighting and abrasive behavior.But the abrupt exits have alarmed officials at the Defense Department and on Capitol Hill, particularly because Shank and Kennedy were Griffin's personal friends and hand-picked for their jobs.Monica Matoush, a spokeswoman for the Democratic majority on the House Armed Services Committee, said the actions of Griffin, who the Senate confirmed as the first-ever under secretary of defense for research and engineering in February 2018, have begun to worry lawmakers."The current state of affairs is both unsettling and perplexing," she said.Other House and Senate staffers confirmed lawmakers' concerns about Griffin are bipartisan.Griffin's office declined to provide comment for this story.Committee members, Matoush said, are especially worried about the fledgling SDA, an organization that has been called a top Pentagon priority, but is now ～ like much of DOD ～ without a permanent leader."Dr. Griffin recently briefed several members about his plans for SDA and how it would bring much needed order and focus to the space acquisition process," Matoush said. "The members were complimentary of his discussion points and the way forward, but these recent actions are cause for growing concern, given there are now critical vacancies to fill in this important mission space. We hope to hear soon the plan to get SDA back on the rails and ensure there are no obstacles to its success."