Military Industrial Complex ( Mic )

On 26 July 1950, President Harry Truman approved a multi-million dollar military assistance package designed to help the French defeat a strong communist movement in French Indochina. The package included $15 million worth of military equipment and a small number of American military advisors assigned to supervise the flow of tanks, plans, artillery, and other equipment.1 By 1954, the United States government had provided 80% of the war supplies used by the French in Indochina which equated to about $3 billion.2 This marked the beginning of the United States involvement in Southeast Asia and the expansion of the military-industrial complex in America. This paper will explore the role the American military-industrial complex played as part

On January 17, 1961 President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his farewell address to the nation, his final public speech as President of the United States. As such it was his last opportunity to address the nation, on any subject of his choice, with the authority, prestige and preeminence that comes with the office of President of the United States. His choice, what he termed the Military Industrial Complex, was perhaps something that at the time did not register in the mind of the average American as a priority when placed along the topics of the Communism, the Cold War and nuclear war. Yet, as it turns out the issue regarding the Military Industrial Complex and Eisenhower's warnings about it have outlasted the fears of the mid 20th century.

However, Eisenhower is worried that the military is expanding at an alarming rate and its power may be misused and bring about the wrong intentions. He supports his claim of its quickening growth and investment, stating that “three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment,” and how “we annually spend on military security more than the net income of all US corporations.” This use of numbers and statistics grabs the attention of Americans and makes his claim appear more factual. This device allows for Eisenhower

By slow stages, large and sustained military expenditures produced an enduring Military-Industrial Complex with the self-serving consequences suggested by the World War II economy and, more seriously, with the potential for perpetuating the forces of modern warfare which had provided for the initial growth of such a complex (90).

Observers do not need to look far for the signs of a military-industrial complex that has become too powerful and involved in politics. The Army has repeatedly attempted to halt the production and spending on new tanks. The Air Force has spent almost $400 billion on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, nearly double the initial estimate. If the relationship between civilian and military leaders is to be mended, leadership decisions must not be influenced by the military-industrial

At the start of Why We Fight we are presented with President Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell address or his warning. “We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations...we yet realize that America 's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength. (Eisenhower, 1961) Eisenhower states that we should be proud of our great country; however he warns us of the “military-industrial complex” that we will create and how it has now set its foot in American warfare. He urged that we build a strong national defense and create a diplomacy with the USSR. (Jarecki, 2006) His prophecy of this vast military-industrial complex was true.

"Today's Military-Industrial Complex." U.S. News Digital Weekly 3.2 (2011): 13. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

We have to really watch what the media puts out there due to the power they have gained. But in the late 1800’s when our technology was not the greatest, Americans did not know what war really looked like. But as the war went on we started getting black and white photos of what was going on over seas. The pictures they brought back looked as if everything was okay, made the men look strong and brave, the photos almost looked scripted, but Americans did not know that it is what they believed war was like. They could not see the brutality of war, people dyeing left and right, blood stained cloths and battle fields, that is the truth of war. Due to the fact of them going to war they came home heroes and were treated great, people praised them for their

Dams sector is a vital part of the nation’s infrastructure and offers a wide range of economic, environmental, and social benefits. The asset composed are hydropower generation facilities, navigation locks, levees, dikes, hurricane barriers, mine tailings, industrial waste impoundments, and other similar water retention and water control facilities. Defense industrial base sector, includes domestic and foreign entities, with production assets located in many countries. This sector is the worldwide industrial complex that makes possible research and development, as well as design, delivery, production, and maintenance of military weapons systems, subsystems, and components or parts, to meet U.S. military requirements. With more than 100,000 defense industrial companies and their subcontractors who carry out under contract to the department of defense, and government-owned/ contractor-operated and government owned/government-operated facilities. Critical manufacturing emergency service sector, as direct attack on or disruption of certain elements of the manufacturing industry could disrupt essential functions at the national level

During the 1950s and 1960s, partnerships between universities and the American defense establishment flourished. Throughout those two decades, academic institutions and military institutions cooperated in many forms; via Federal Contract Research Centers, academically-oriented consulting corporations, military-funded science programs, and informal linkages. These organizations – notable ones include MIT’s Draper Laboratories, the Stanford Research Institute, MIT’s Center for International Studies, and American University’s Special Operations Research Office – worked at the intersection of two social fields: one academic and the other military.

The pentagon’s budget fluctuates constantly year to year with either an increase or decrease in the budget. There are many factors involved in this process, including both presidential requests and lawmakers physically determining and proportioning a budget. The president own principals fall under high party affiliations and own personal views, shaping how decisions are made. A republican, more conservative president may proportion an increase in the budget for national security measures, while a Democrat, more liberal president, may decrease the budget seeing a better allocation of money to another cause. The president has an impact on bureaucrats and lawmakers that allows him to try and change the budget. However, Bureaucrats and lawmakers

The current session and all the discussions about the very old Power Games, Gen Odierno’s brief and Chuck Spinney’s Statement take me inside the political process of Washington along with the discussion of the changes over the past decade and in the present network, and then explain how all different parts fit together in the current acquisition process. To understand the way Government works, it is necessary to understand the power games of Washington politics. All these articles and reports dissected and analyzed how political networks influence big power players starting from lobbyists to the highest-ranking government officials and influence the relationship between the Pentagon and the Congress. Some of the key points that were

In Eisenhower's Farewell Address, his final public speech to America, he wanted to leave them with some advice and wise words of wisdom from there soon to be ex president. He emphasized his point to not use the potential influence of the military. He stated that “Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.” He said that we “must avoid the impulse to live only for today” which he is meaning that we need to look into the future and realize the importance to keep our nation safe. To keep the economy safe for our following generations. In this speech he coined the phrase Military-industrial complex, which became a huge thing

The United States Congress, comprised of the House of Representatives and the Senate, composes the Legislative Branch of the federal government of the United States. Congress is supposed to be extremely effective at enacting legislation dealing with major national issues, both at the domestic level and the foreign level. However, in recent years, members of Congress with differing views have not been able to find middle ground and enact much-needed legislation, although they often did in the past. This inaction, or congressional gridlock, has existed for a while but has become an extremely prevalent issue in recent years. In fact, according to a paper by Sarah Binder, a researcher at the Brookings Institution, the frequency of legislative

The military technology industry is a constantly evolving field that aims to produce the latest and greatest devices to be used to defend our country. There is a lot pressure to create the next best thing, as the nation with the better equipment will have the upper hand in war. When we create technology to defend ourselves from the tech of another force, our technology is making us safer. The main reason behind this is if our military proves to have the latest and greatest in weapons and surveillance technology, then there will be less of a risk of a target attack from others. The only issue with this is that there is an endless cycle of the need for improvement. This is because nations are constantly making tech improvements in response to