PROFILES IN INNOVATION
One on One continues
to discourage that. But they need to understand that in some career paths in the military the most senior rank is colonel. Or the most senior rank might be a one-star general. Or a one-star admiral. So just making sure people really understand the consequences of their choices and understand what it may mean in terms of those opportuni- ties is important. USBE: What are the fields that will lead to the top military positions of the future? Gen. Lyles: One of our report’s recommendations is that all of the services open up their thought process relative to what qualifies a person to be a four-star, as an example. And to look in greater detail at leadership charac- teristics, other things that a person has done, and not just that a person filled a certain niche. One area we do think is going to be more prevalent in the future is the technical career fields in every aspect. We think that is going to become more of a factor in the future than it even is today. USBE: As you know, our country is in the midst of a wrenching fiscal debate. One of the things you hear mentioned often is the defense budget and how it has grown so much and as a consequence it should be cut sub- stantially. What do you think would be the result of the deep cuts some people are talking about? Gen. Lyles: I hope we don’t make the kinds of cuts that would essentially do away with the seed corn that we are going to need to maintain our techno- logical superiority and leadership for the future. Those kinds of cuts would be very, very drastic and would hurt not only our military and national security posture, but I think they would hurt our country generally in the future. I’d be the first to tell you that there are still opportunities to make some smart cuts and trims.
8 USBE&IT I WINTER 2011
USBE: Often when people talk about cutting military spending they say the country’s military budget is larger than the next 17 nation’s combined. Does that state overstate the situation? Gen. Lyles: It slightly overstates the military edge and, more impor- tantly, it ignores what obligations and expectations are forced upon the United States for worldwide commitments in any number of areas. It is not just war fighting. It is whenever there is a tragedy, a natural disaster of some type, famine, need for evacuating people. The first place that everybody in the world, I think, looks toward for bring- ing that support and help is the United States. And where does the United States turn? It turns to the military. Our size is greater than most countries. But more importantly, what is expected of us is far greater. USBE: I read where you were involved NASA. From where you sit, what does the future of the U.S. space program look like? Gen. Lyles: Today, the NASA budget is being challenged. But there is still an opportunity for the United States to maintain its leadership where it has leadership in space. Perhaps, not take any further steps back to where we lost leadership in space. Whatever we do has to be done in a fiscally responsi- ble way. I think there are some oppor- tunities to do things, but we have to do them in a more measured manner. USBE: What is the next frontier
in space for the United States? Gen. Lyles: Right now it is taking advantage of what we have today. For example, the international space station. We just literally with the conclusion of the space shuttle finished building the space station to the point where it is now legitimately a national laboratory with tremendous capabilities up there to do research in
science and technology. So to me, the next frontier is to take advantage of what we already have. We should do the kind of research and development that it was meant to do so we can learn more not just about the cosmos, but about doing things here on earth more effectively. USBE: To you harbor any
regrets about withdrawing from con- tention to be NASA administrator? Gen. Lyles: No. I was asked by
the White House a couple times in 2009 when President Obama came on board to consider running NASA. I did have some concerns about my family and financial gains I had earned by serv- ing on boards and other things that I would have had to give up. So I made the right decision by my family, in all honesty. But, more importantly, I think the current leader is the perfect guy for it. Charlie Bolden, besides being a former astronaut who flew four times in space, is just a natural leader who came from the Marine Corps. I think the absolute perfect person is running this organization. USBE: Why did you join the Air
Force and the military at all? Gen. Lyles: When I went to How-
ard University, ROTC was mandatory in the first two years of college for males. I was in Air Force ROTC and I was very much interested in the space race and all the space activities that were going on. So I entered ROTC formally as a junior and a senior and got a ROTC scholarship, in addition to my other scholarships at Howard. So it was a natural segue. In all honesty, I only planned to spend four years—my ROTC commitment time, but I ended up with lots of great opportunities, lots of great mentors, lots of great assign- ments in the research, development, science and technology area, and the next thing I knew, it was 35 and a half years later.
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