The Next 250 Years

July 4 is America's birthday. For me, it's also a day to think about stewardship. About what we inherit from those who came before us and what we owe those who will come after. 

Two hundred and fifty years ago, a group of ordinary people made an extraordinary decision. They declared that a free people could govern themselves. That liberty was worth defending. Preserving that ideal would become the work of every generation that followed. 

America has always adapted to meet the challenges of each era without losing sight of what mattered most. We built what the moment required while remaining true to the values that made those efforts worth undertaking in the first place. 

Railroads that crossed a continent. Shipyards that helped secure victory. Factories that became the Arsenal of Democracy. Airfields, satellites, semiconductors. The internet. 

This is the story of America’s last 250 years. It must also be the story of our next 250.

Today, we inherit a different set of tools and a different set of challenges. 

Technology is evolving at a pace unmatched in modern history. The Founders could not have imagined autonomous systems or artificial intelligence. Earlier generations never faced a world where technology moved faster than the institutions responsible for fielding such technology. 

New capabilities now emerge in months instead of decades, and the pace of change is reshaping conflict in real time. 

Our adversaries are adapting quickly. 

Our challenge is to ensure America adapts even faster. 

For those of us who work in defense technology, this responsibility extends beyond building products. 

It is about protection. 

It means giving our service members every possible advantage. It also means strengthening our ability to deter conflict, standing alongside our allies, and ultimately preserving the liberty and ideals that make all of it worth defending. 

Technology is not an end in itself. It is one of the ways we fulfill that responsibility. 

Every capability we develop should make those who wear the uniform safer, more effective, and better prepared to accomplish their mission. Every production line we build strengthens our nation's industrial capacity, so we can build what we need, when we need it. Every engineer, technician, machinist, and software developer who chooses this work helps strengthen something far larger than any one company. 

This is stewardship. 

One of my greatest privileges is working alongside veterans who have already dedicated part of their lives to serving this country. 

Many no longer wear the uniform each day, but they never stopped serving. 

Instead, they bring their firsthand experience to the design, manufacturing, and delivery of technologies that will equip the next generation of warfighters. 

Watch the full Duty to Scale video on YouTube

Watching that transition reminds me that there are many ways to continue serving your country. 

America has always relied on people willing to build alongside those willing to serve: the workers who filled factories during World War II, the scientists who advanced aerospace and communications, the engineers who pioneered computing, and the manufacturers who ensured our military had what it needed when it mattered most. 

As we celebrate America's 250th birthday, it is worth remembering that independence was not a single event frozen in history. It has been renewed by every generation since. 

The tools will change, the threats will change, and technology will continue to evolve in ways we cannot fully predict. But our obligation remains remarkably consistent: leave the nation stronger than we found it. 

If, 250 years from now, Americans look back on our generation and conclude that we met our moment—that we built wisely, strengthened our industrial base, and equipped those who defend our freedoms with the capabilities they deserved—that will be a legacy worthy of the generations who came before us. 

That's the work before us. 

Happy Independence Day.