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- Christian, thank you so much
for being here today.
- Yeah, thank you for having me, Hope.
- So tell me all about this amazing
military monument that's now up
in front of the Lincoln Memorial in D.C.
- Yeah, happy to.
So obviously we know this year
is America's 250th birthday,
and USAA knew we wanted to do something big
to celebrate that, and what better place
than our nation's capital.
So that's where we came up with the idea
of the National Military Monument.
It went up on July 28th there on the National Mall
right in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
And what it is, it's two giant U.S. flags,
each one about 18-feet-tall,
more than 50-feet-wide,
and displayed on that flag its digital display
of 41 million service members
who have served our country
since the Revolutionary War.
So you see the monument behind me,
those names show up in that digital display
and the stripes of the flag,
and every 45 seconds names will fade out,
a new set of names will fade in.
It takes, believe it or not, an entire week,
just about seven days to cycle
through all 41 million names
through that monument.
And obviously we know people
are gonna to want to come to the monument,
want to see their name.
So what we also did was on the side of the monument,
you see a big digital display.
You can go up to that,
and from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM,
we've got our USAA ambassadors,
we've got our military affairs representatives there
helping people out.
You can give them a name, they'll pull it up,
and you can display up to three names at a time
on the side of that monument
and take your picture with whether it's your own name,
if you served, whether it's your loved ones.
One of the really cool aspects
is people are doing it, you know,
who come from a generation of service
where they'll have a grandparent,
a parent, and even their own name.
It's really beautiful.
- Hmm, 41 million names, that is a daunting number.
When did work start gathering all of those names,
collecting them all,
and what did the involved process of that look like?
- Yeah, so it was several months,
and I like to refer to it as a labor of love.
What people may not realize
is that there really is no one
comprehensive public list
of every single U.S. service member
who's ever served.
So the team at USAA had to do a lot of digging,
had to work through all kinds of resources,
public records, military records,
working through veteran service organizations
just to compile as a complete list as possible.
You know, there's obviously obstacles
that have gotten in the way.
You know, some people are familiar
with the massive fire in 1973
that destroyed more than 14 million military records.
You know, a lot of those have been replaced
and it's still an ongoing process,
but we wanted to get as close
to that 41 million as possible.
So we feel really strongly
about the list that we have.
We're upwards right around
that 41 million number,
but we know there's still some people missing.
That's why we also wanted to make this
what we call a living monument.
So you can go to USAA.com/monument250
and there's a little database there.
You can search a name,
and A, it'll tell you if it's already included
in the monument, and if for whatever reason,
it could be privacy concerns, security concerns,
depending on what your role in the military,
it could be just missing records,
but you can submit a request
and then our team will take that,
do some vetting and digging on the back end.
And then, you know, for the most part,
that process takes about a week or so.
But since the monument launched on July 28th,
we've already added more than 200,000 names
to that database.
- 200,000?
- Yes, ma'am. - And those are
individual people coming and saying,
"Hey, this name needs to be added."
- Correct, yeah, it's people saying that,
"Hey, you know, I served or my loved one served,
a family member or friend
that's not currently part of the monument."
And so again, we'll do some vetting.
Unfortunately, we can't just take people
at their word.
You know, we want to do our due diligence.
So that happens on the back end.
And then once we're able to verify that,
that name gets added.
- Do you have anyone who's in touch with USAA?
I mean, this seems like
a really valuable resource
to maintain going forward to say,
"Here's as comprehensive as we know,
a list of anyone who's ever served."
What's going to happen with this resource
after the monument comes down?
- Yeah, that is a great question
and something that we've talked about
a lot on our end,
and it is something that we want to view
as a gift back to the country
of being able to provide the government
with this list afterwards
and just a great resource to have
so that you know, there is an extensive and ongoing list
of the 41 million members who have served.
- And I heard that the very last name
at the tail end of the list
is the Unknown Soldier.
Can you talk about the significance of that?
- Sure, absolutely.
So there's 41 million names.
It starts off, the very first one
is George Washington
because it starts off chronologically
from the Revolutionary War,
and then it goes through the time periods
over the last 250 years.
But to your point, the last one is the Unknown Soldier,
because we know there are service members out there
that there's just no record of,
and we want to honor them, remember them,
just like we do all the other 41 million.
So yeah, it does end with the Unknown Soldier
for that very reason,
just to pay respect and honor
to those service members.
- So this monument went up at the end of July.
I know you've spent some time
out there personally
and there have been USAA reps out there
every single day.
Can you talk about the responses
and how people are interacting
with the monument,
what kind of interests you've seen,
what kind of you particularly are coming away
with having spent time there?
- Yeah, so as you mentioned,
the monument went up at the end of July
and you know, it's a public space.
We had to go through some special permitting
with the National Park Service.
So actually it was only supposed to be up
initially through this coming weekend, August 23rd.
Because of that response that you mentioned,
it's just been overwhelmingly positive,
you know, especially on the weekends,
there's lines of people that are willing
to wait in line two, three,
even up to four hours to see their name
or loved one's name up on the monument.
And because of that amazing response,
we actually were able to work
with the National Park Service.
We've extended it, so now it'll be up
through Veterans Day.
So through November 12th this year,
the day after Veterans Day,
the public still has an opportunity
to come out, see the monument.
One thing that was really important
in being able to make that announcement
is the fact that now it'll be up next month
through the 25th anniversary of September 11th.
- Mm-hmm! - So we know
there's a whole generation of service members
who were just inspired to serve after 9/11,
and there's currently not a spot there in D.C.,
a memorial or a monument to recognize,
to honor those service members.
And so that just meant a lot to us
to be able to have a place like this
that'll be up, you know, through the 25th anniversary
that those service members,
their families, their friends
can come look up their loved ones' names,
and also for our active-duty service members.
You know, you mentioned what kind of response,
and I was fortunate enough
and humbled enough to be there this last week,
and it's just awe-inspiring and humbling.
You know, you see people come up
and they're smiling, they're happy,
they're laughing, and you know,
one of our ambassadors will pull up a name,
and whether it's a loved one,
you know, maybe a friend, maybe someone who they lost,
and just the wave of emotion.
You know, you see people
literally just break down in tears,
and it's not just one or two,
I mean, it's happening constantly
throughout the day.
You know, you see 41 million, and that may sound
like such a large abstract number,
but behind every single one of those names
is a story, is a family,
it's a story of sacrifice,
and it really just truly shows you
how much that means to these people
as they walk up and encounter that.
You know, my very first day out there,
I was sitting on a bench
just right in front of the Lincoln Memorial,
just watching the monument,
watching people pass,
and there was a teenager, a teenage boy
that came, sat down next to me,
took out his phone,
and I can kind of overhear his conversation,
and I heard him calling his grandfather.
He's like, "Grandpa, grandpa,
I'm at this monument in D.C.
I just pulled up your name.
I'm going to send you a picture."
And he was just so excited to be able
to share that moment with his grandfather.
So it's just moments like that
that really you know, show us how important
this monument is for everyone.
- So this will eventually come down
when the timeframe runs out.
What will happen to the components,
and could we see this monument go up again
somewhere else in the future?
- So that's a great question.
You know, as I said, originally it was scheduled
through August 23rd.
Those plans changed just because
of the overwhelming support for the monument.
We were able to extend it through Veterans Day.
Conversations are already underway on what next, you know?
We keep hearing from the public
that they want it up longer,
they want it to travel across the country,
they want it up in different locations.
All of that is still to be determined.
You know, we're having discussions of it,
but because the outpouring of support
has been so overwhelming, you know,
I'm pretty sure you haven't seen
the last of the monument,
but more to come on what that means.
- Well, this is just fascinating.
I am excited to be in D.C.
in the next couple weeks
and hopefully get to see it for myself.
Thank you so much for your time this morning.
- Oh, absolutely, my pleasure.
And really, the pictures don't do it justice.
I really, if at all possible,
make your way out there, see it in person.
It's awe-inspiring.
But thank you so much for having me on, Hope.
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Don't go away.
(air whooshes) (lively music)
Welcome back to "Defense News Weekly."
Up next, more from our recent webcast
on scaling missile production.
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- Wanted to drill down for a little bit
on what government can do
to be an excellent partner
and work to make all these efforts a success.
Wanted to start drilling down
on the aspect of cultural change.
It doesn't matter how you scale
production of exquisite missiles.
If you're using them to take out drones
that are orders of magnitude cheaper,
that's still not what they want.
So from whatever vantage point you have,
what do you think it will start taking
to turn that cultural ship and develop
a greater comfort level
with affordable munitions, less overkill,
and maybe a different way of thinking
about how you use these munitions?
And do you see evidence
that that's beginning to happen?
Wanted to start this one with Dr. Matisek.
- Yeah, so regarding shot doctrine
and thinking through air defense,
the Ukrainians have had over four years
of experience with this
and also using Patriot missiles
against Russian missiles and drones,
which have primarily been like the Shahed drones
they've been dealing with.
And the fact that the Ukrainians
sent advisors to the Middle East
to help out with air defense,
the problem was, from what they saw,
this was openly reported,
the fact that the Ukrainians were shocked
to see some militaries in the region
shooting over a dozen Patriot missiles
against one Shahed drone.
And there's also plenty of videos
that came out online in Israel
of over a dozen interceptors
being used against one missile.
And so this cat-and-mouse game
of how many missiles to commit,
what type of layered air defense you have,
not to mention your adversary has a vote
in terms of how they use a missile,
adding decoys, multiple warheads,
how they maneuver, if they're hypersonic or not,
it really is becoming a compounding problem.
And so, you know, I know again,
today's about the Patriot missile,
but it's also about what other types
of air defenses you can layer in.
Now, the nice thing is I did hear
that the latest announcement is the fact
that we're still making the PAC-3 MSEs,
but now we're going to be making PAC-3 ACEs,
which are about half the cost.
So I think a PAC-3 MSE is about 4.2 million,
whereas the new PAC-3 ACE
is going to be closer to $2 million.
That is a great step in that direction,
not to mention the fact
that there's going to be,
over the coming months and years,
contracts going out that allow these missiles
to be made elsewhere in the world.
So again, that diversifies like the supply chain,
the making these missiles,
but also ensures you don't have
a bunch of different bottlenecks
in the production of these,
not to mention you just, again,
increase the number of sub-component suppliers
so you can actually make these in scale
so that you can, you know,
use these as fast as you make them in war.
And that's the most important aspect I think right now
is being able to produce munitions
as fast as you use them in war.
And at least that's my big takeaway
for this panel, I think.
- I'm happy to jump in,
but I'll yield (indistinct) to go first.
- Okay, Jason Meredith, then Jason Reynolds.
- Yeah, thank you, Hope.
I think you asked a number of questions
in your one question there,
so I'll try and hit a couple of them,
but I think there's a couple of things.
Number one, there is evidence
that the U.S. government is looking at
how they approach the processes
of purchasing and qualifying
and even how they source the missile systems
that are out there today,
partly to address some of the issues
that Dr. Matisek addressed in his paper
of looking at longer-term multi-year purchases.
You can see that in what's been done
with Lockheed and with other companies
trying to provide additional stability
for the companies to understand
and forecast better.
That helps from a staffing standpoint,
it helps from a capitalization standpoint,
not only for the OEMs,
but as those OEMs flow down contracts
to their suppliers,
as I think Jeff mentioned earlier,
that's critical.
And it's maybe even more critical
the further you go down in the tiers
of the supply chain
where some of those suppliers may,
you know, PAC-3 or other missile systems
may only be a small portion of their business,
maybe even as low as 10 to 15%.
And so having that understanding
and being able to plan that
into their factory forecast
is very, very important.
The other part of it that you see
is that the government is recognizing
that having exquisite missile systems
is not always the answer.
And I think even what Lockheed is doing
with looking at providing lower-cost solutions
for PAC-3 is an indicator
that industry is starting to respond
to what the government is saying
of looking at what are innovative solutions
to be able to provide maybe a capability
that doesn't have all of the,
I'll call it bells and whistles
for the time being,
but has capability to address the target sets
that the military is dealing with,
that those warfighters are seeing
day to day in the field. (air whooshes)
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Welcome back.
In this episode of "Money Minute,"
Jeanette Mack from Navy Federal Credit Union
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Have a look. (air whooshes)
- When it comes to your money,
there's a point where doing it yourself
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The question is:
How do you know when you've reached it?
A major life change can be an indicator.
Getting married, starting a family,
changing jobs, or getting an inheritance
can all impact your finances in a big way.
At that point, having expert guidance
can help you make smarter decisions.
Feeling overwhelmed is another signal.
If you're trying to balance saving,
investing, and paying off debt
and don't know where to focus,
it may be time to bring in someone
who can help you prioritize and build a plan.
Your investments might need a reset.
If your accounts are scattered,
your portfolio isn't well diversified,
or you're paying fees
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a financial advisor can help you simplify
and get everything aligned with your goals.
At the end of the day,
when your finances start to feel
more complicated than clear,
getting professional advice
can make all the difference.
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Welcome back to "Defense News Weekly."
Are you up to date
on healthcare and benefits news?
Our partners at the Military Officers Association of America
are here to help.
Have a look. (air whooshes)
- And now, headlines from the Uniformed Services Community
presented by the Military Officers Association of America.
According to a report
released by the Government Accountability Office,
the Pentagon falls short of its goal
to fund 90% of its barracks maintenance needs,
instead funding only 80%.
The report also indicates officials have not, quote,
"Fully determined the risks to its mission
and to the quality of life of its personnel
as a result of not meeting its funding goal," end quote.
It identifies challenges
in hiring maintenance workers,
especially in remote locations,
competition from the private sector,
and the effects of recent workforce reductions.
GAO issued 13 recommendations
to the Pentagon and the individual services
to identify risks to mission and quality of life
due to underfunding maintenance,
to determine critical shortages
in maintenance workforce across installations,
and to strengthen oversight
of maintenance programs.
To see the full report, visit gao.gov.
USAA announced their National Military Monument
located next to the Lincoln Memorial
in Washington, D.C.,
will be in place through Veterans Day this year.
The monument displays the names
of 41 million Americans
who have served in uniform
over the course of the nation's
250-year history that have been pulled
from several historical databases.
- This monument is absolutely incredible.
It has names of every single veteran
who have ever served in our country.
My husband's family and my family.
We have service members that go back
to the American Revolution,
and they are all represented here
on this display.
- I'm looking up eight names today.
So three in my immediate family.
I've got two brother-in-laws that served,
and then for a friend of mine,
I'm looking up two names.
- And yourself as well. - And myself as well, yes.
- [Interviewer] How did it feel to see the names of them?
- It's exciting.
I mean, you realize that your name and your service
has been etched in history for quite some time.
And the way it looks on the memorial
gives the impression
that it's actually etched and sewn,
so it looks more realistic
than you would imagine in person.
- I've never seen anything like this
for a monument,
that it doesn't just honor those
who were fallen or lost in our wars,
but you know, everyone who has served
and honoring the service of every single person
who has dedicated themselves to our country.
And I think that's what's really incredible
about this monument.
- As a congressional summer recess winds down
and legislators return to Washington,
MOAA leaders sat down to discuss
the Take Care of America's Veterans Act,
to examine some misconceptions
about the bill and to outline why this legislation
is a positive development
for veterans, service members, and their families.
- It's incredibly unique, right?
Over 60 pieces of legislation
covering all kinds of things,
MOAA priorities from before,
but 60 pieces of legislation
that have over time had various levels
of bipartisan support, bicameral support,
but each individual bill on its own
has never really made it across the finish line
despite its support.
And so now you have this opportunity
where they're all in one bill,
over 60 things in one bill,
and so MOAA took its time to look at it.
As you said, it is incredibly packed
with really, really great things
for the veteran community,
for the survivor community, for families,
things like the Richard Star Act,
taking care of those combat-wounded folks
that we all have been, you know,
all across the community
have been advocating for
for over nine years, right?
All these things are in one package.
So when you look at all that,
even though it took us some time,
it is a unique point in time,
it is a unique opportunity
to take care of so many great things
for veterans across the community.
So when MOAA looked at that, of course,
at the end, after all of our analysis,
we said, "How do you not support this?
How do you not get behind
the amount of goodness that we can do
for the entire veteran community?"
- The main point of contention
in the veterans community
is how the bill is paid for
and whether codifying changes
to the VA's disability rating schedule
sets a harmful precedent.
- First of all, if it was only one or two
of these 60 kinds of pieces of legislation,
MOAA would never have said,
"Yes, let's make a change
and let's allow this pay-for to happen
in these changes in disability ratings."
But we're not talking about one or two things.
We're talking about over 60 things
that are lumped together.
We normally wouldn't like the Congress
directing how disability changes take place.
Let that work go on
in the medical community and the VA.
But in this case, given all those facts
and the opportunity for us
to direct those changes and make sure
that if these sort of inevitable changes from the VA
are going to take place,
we can capture those savings
and put them back in the veteran community,
that's what made the pay-for, you know,
a little bit more palatable for us.
Not as a continuing thing, not as a precedence.
- The folks who have decided
not to support this bill have said
that this is taking away benefits
from future veterans.
- When you look at what they're advocating
for, what they're saying is,
"We don't want to see a precedence."
We don't want to see a precedence either.
But you don't make decisions
in a legislative environment
waiting for two things to happen.
One, that it's going to be perfect.
Nothing's ever perfect.
So you don't wait for perfect to happen
if you want to see things get done in Washington.
The second part of that discussion
is the future veteran argument,
I don't really buy
because what I say is not doing something,
inaction to make it better for them
is not helping them either, right?
And so this idea that you're closing
the door to future veterans,
I think is a false argument.
The argument should be
that you're making opportunity
for future veterans to get things
that they currently wouldn't have,
and their families and their survivors
to get things that they currently wouldn't have.
But if you do nothing,
if all you do is fight the TCAVA bill
and you have inaction, they don't get anything.
I guarantee you they don't get anything.
- To see the full conversation
and to catch up on news from around
the Uniformed Services Community,
visit MOAA.org. (air whooshes)
- [Announcer] Well, that's all the time we have
for this episode.
We'll see you next week. (lively music)