Lt. Gen. Caine, Trump’s nominee for Joint Chiefs chairman, is gung-ho about commercial tech

Retired Lt. Gen. Dan ‘Razin’ Caine, who’s expected to soon become America’s top military officer, touted his business background at his confirmation hearing Tuesday and promised to bring an “entrepreneurial spirit” to the Pentagon as it pursues commercial technologies.

Caine, President Donald Trump’s pick to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is a former F-16 pilot who held a variety of roles throughout his 34-year military career, including with the active-duty Air Force and National Guard, the special operations community and the CIA.

But at Tuesday’s hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee, he also highlighted his private sector experience.

“I’ve been an entrepreneur and investor in the business sector while a citizen soldier in the National Guard,” Caine noted. “I’ve also had the privilege of serving alongside incredible business leaders, starting and scaling companies as an entrepreneur. And along the way, I learned what a different kind of grit looks like. Our American entrepreneurial spirit is a force multiplier, and my time as an entrepreneur has made me a better general officer and leader. And if confirmed, I’ll bring more of that spirit into the joint force.”

After his recent retirement from the military, Caine became chairman of the national security advisory board at Voyager Space, a venture partner at Shield Capital, an advisor for Thrive Capital and a venture partner at Ribbit Capital, according to his LinkedIn bio.

“I also may be the only officer ever nominated for this position with experience in the venture capital world, an experience I will draw on as the DoD looks to modernize its business systems and revitalize America’s Defense Industrial Base,” Caine wrote in his responses to advance policy questions from senators.

Caine’s confirmation process comes as the Pentagon is trying to buy more technologies from the commercial sector, including software and hardware, and bring more nontraditional companies into its acquisition fold. The department’s Silicon Valley-headquartered Defense Innovation Unit has been spearheading many of these efforts.

Caine told lawmakers that the U.S. commercial marketplace is “teaming with innovative solutions” for defending the nation. However, the biggest challenge is bringing them into the force.

“The Department must work to exploit these solutions via rapid prototyping programs, defense innovation organizations, and congressionally granted authorities,” he wrote.

The DOD needs to make investments that promote resilient supply chains, workforce readiness, closer collaboration with commercial industry, flexible acquisition, and support from international allies and partners, he suggested.

“The Joint Force should re-evaluate its interactions with industry and fight for access to the commercial space, leveraging organizations like the Defense Innovation Unit,” Caine wrote.

The Pentagon’s research and engineering directorate has been focusing on 14 “critical technology areas” as it pursues next-generation capabilities, including hypersonics, FutureG wireless technology, advanced materials, integrated network systems-of-systems, directed energy, integrated sensing and cyber, space technology, quantum science, trusted AI and autonomy, microelectronics, renewable energy generation and storage, advanced computing and software, human-machine interfaces, and biotechnology.

Caine noted that DOD also needs to spend more money on advanced manufacturing technology.

“Investments in advanced manufacturing will have impacts across the listed 14 critical technology areas and enable the United States to produce complex components and systems more quickly and cost effectively. If confirmed, I’ll work with [Defense] Secretary [Pete] Hegseth to refine the development and acquisition of these technologies in order to enable rapid employment to meet the needs of the Joint Warfighter to fulfill the Administration’s strategy,” he wrote.

If confirmed, he promised to work with Hegseth and his team to evaluate the budget for next-gen capabilities.

Caine told senators that there’s “room for improvement” in how investments in next-gen capabilities are synchronized across the department.

“There is a lot of good work going on, but I do have some concerns that innovation entities are actually colliding with each other in the incubation process. The DOD must have a greater level of collaboration between entities in order to maximize the return on the [U.S. government’s] invested capital,” he wrote.

He said he’s “encouraged” that there are new leaders coming into the department with substantive business backgrounds. Although he didn’t mention any by name, Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg, Navy Secretary John Phelan and other senior officials were wealthy businessmen and investors when they were tapped by Trump to serve on his national security team during his second term.

Pentagon leaders need to have an “entrepreneurial mindset” as they pursue reforms, Caine said.

Trump surprised many in February when he announced Caine, an unconventional pick, as his choice for chairman after firing Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown.

Caine is expected to garner enough votes to get confirmed. Republicans have a majority in the Senate with 53 GOP members. Apart from Hegseth, who narrowly won confirmation in January, Trump’s nominees for top Pentagon posts during his second term have been confirmed by comfortable margins during final voting.