By Liv Smith, Staff Writer
On Tuesday, Nov. 11, Gettysburg College hosted Dr. Thomas G. Mahnken in Glatfelter 301 to discuss his time working in the Pentagon, where he created defense policies, and later in his career, reviewed defense strategies for Congress.
The event was organized by Gettysburg College’s Political Science Department as well as the Alexander Hamilton Society (AHS).
Mahnken was introduced by Naveen Wineland ‘27, who led part of the discussion with questions about Mahnken’s career.
Mahnken is the President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CBSA), as well as a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for policy planning from 2006-2009. Additionally, Mahnken has served on numerous different national defense reviews and served in the Navy Reserve as an officer for 24 years.
After being introduced, Mahnken thanked the Alexander Hamilton Society, stating, “I have been with the Alexander Hamilton Society since the beginning, and what was just kind of an idea that a number of people had has really grown and blossomed in amazing ways.”
He then discussed how AHS played a role in distinguishing the role of America in the world, and how the role of America determines the federal defense strategy. Mahnken asked broadly, as a theme of the discussion, “What is the role of the United States in the world?” and furthered this by outlining the framework that determines the role and strategy of the country.
“The first part of that framework is us, a global power, and we have historically been involved across multiple theaters. Second is that we face multiple adversaries, and those include China, Russia, North Korea and Iran,” Mahnken explained. “But what I would observe in those adversaries is they are not just active in their backyards, in their home theaters, but they’re active across theaters, and increasingly collaborating with one another.”
Mahnken furthered this discussion by explaining why he viewed this as an important part of the United States defense strategy, and how the country should deal with that, saying, “There would seem to be an imbalance between our ends, which are global threats we face, and our means.”
Following this discussion, Wineland posed questions regarding Mahnken’s career, first asking how Mahnken’s military service influenced his decisions when working at the Pentagon.
Mahnken answered by explaining that he was strongly drawn to a sense of service, and he gained a lot of experience dealing with individuals from various, wide-ranging backgrounds, as well as leadership skills and responsibilities that had “very real consequences,” which then largely influenced his decision-making as a policymaker.
The second question Wineland asked concerned how Mahnken’s decisions in policymaking had changed from his time at the Pentagon to when he reviewed several defense strategies in 2020 and 2022 for Congress.
One of the points Mahnken made in response was the “strategy of rigorous prioritization versus the world. Another tension that’s existed is the tension between assumptions about defense budgets and strategy.”
The third question that Wineland asked regarded what Mahnken thought was not talked about enough when discussing defense strategy.
To this, Mahnken first responded with, “one thing has to do with the way the private industry works versus the way the government works.” Additionally, his time at CBSA, according to Mahnken, informed him that “too many people in government do not appreciate basic laws of supply and demand, how the free enterprise system works, how publicly traded companies, most defense companies, are publicly traded and how they operate.”
Another point Mahnken made regarded the United States’ need to understand geographic settings better, as well as the rapid development of technology, as these realizations would produce more efficient defense planning. Mahnken states, “We should not imagine that we can do all sorts of things without knowledge of geography, physics, engineering, and economics.”
Following his response, the floor was opened to attendees to ask their own questions.
