Because so many members of Pentagon leadership are now held in an acting capacity, setting policy goals will be extremely difficult. Bob Hale, senior executive adviser at Booz Allen Hamilton, says that work will get done, but the current state of affairs is a setback.
“They will get the day-to-day work done with the help of a strong career force and of course, the military. What I think is hard is implementing any kind of change or proposing any kind of change because they just don’t have the stature and don’t know how long they’re going to be there,” Hale said. “If the president is reelected maybe he will keep some of the people. But if he is not reelected they will be there for a very short period of time. In my experience, I spent 12 years as a political appointee in DoD, you need 3-4 years to get anything done and actually see it through. Unless he is reelected and retained, they won’t have it.”
