March 15, 2025 (EIRNS)—U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered the disestablishment of the Office of Net Assessment (ONA) “and the development of a plan to rebuild it in alignment with the Department’s strategic priorities,” according to a Pentagon statement issued on March 13. “This decision ensures that our resources are focused on the most pressing national security challenges while maintaining accountability and efficiency.”
The ONA was established in 1973 by RAND ideologue Andrew Marshall as an internal Pentagon “think tank” dedicated to “pioneering” new ways to fight future wars. Marshall’s influence often depended on how enamored the incumbent secretary of defense was with his ideas. He was the darling of Donald Rumsfeld, but often ignored by others. In the early 2000s, noted the New York Times, Rumsfeld relied heavily on Marshall to develop ways of fighting that relied on speed, precision munitions and rapidly improving surveillance capabilities to quickly defeat adversaries. Indeed, Marshall’s office was the key architect of Rumsfeld’s so-called Revolution in Military Affairs. What the Times doesn’t say is that Marshall’s RMA concepts proved disastrous in Iraq starting with the U.S. invasion in 2003.
Marshall, who died in 2019, was also obsessed with war with China, which the ONA apparently continued with after his 2015 retirement.
