'Willingness to Fail' Among Most Urgent Needs To Prepare for Future Fights

U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC) officials are identifying and addressing the most pressing matters when it comes to getting ready for potential conflicts. 

To better prepare for the future, individuals in industry must be more willing to partner with defense officials to take risks, push the boundaries and possibly fail, said Lt. Gen. James Glynn, commander, MARFORPAC. Accomplishing this uncomfortable but necessary goal can lead to private and public sector developers providing warfighters with revolutionary capabilities to stay ahead of adversaries. 

“You all know enough about what we need to do that you’re coming out with really good stuff,” Glynn told industry officials during his keynote address at TechNet Indo-Pacific 2025 in Honolulu. “And I’ll tell you what we need: what we need is when you come with it, don’t come with one [prototype] with the intention to take it home with you and all the data that was collected while we conducted an exercise together. Come with five [prototypes]. Take one or two home, and leave three with us, and we’ll continue to work on it. We’ll give you access to all the data that’s coming off of it, and we’ll do everything we can to break it with the goal of making it better. Because in this dynamic moment, we have to be ready to fight tonight.” 

Furthermore, some technologies that warfighters use ended up being different from what leaders envisioned at the genesis of the product’s construction. In certain instances, crews create the most effective capabilities by combining what they already possess instead of developers producing the perfect new product, according to Glynn. 

“If you look back over the course of the last five years and where we are now, you’ll see that the Joint Fires Network was not the Joint Fires Network,” Glynn said. “[The Joint Fires Network] is the amalgamation of some prototypes that folks saw opportunity in and put together.” 

Glynn identified other spaces that industry and defense personnel must address to win the future fight. He said they must fill technological voids in a swift manner and build and foster relationships across the sectors. 

“We have to move at speed,” Glynn added. “So, what’s my biggest concern? Your ability to provide those prototypes [and] your trust to leave those prototypes and our ability to continue to turn prototypes into programs of record to deliver on the timelines that we believe we need, and you know the time. We’re working in weeks and months, not years, out here in the Indo-Pacific. 

Finally, industry individuals must reflect on and present to military leaders the capabilities that they have access to right now, rather than waiting for that aforementioned perfect product, Glynn said. This proactive and now-not-later mindset can help the force gain and maintain advantages over their opponents.  

“Think about the solutions that you can offer,” Glynn said. “Think about how your innovations can make a real difference in the contested space that I’ve described, because it’s not a futuristic contested space. It’s the environment we find ourselves operating in today.” 

“We’re not looking for theoretical road maps,” Glynn added. “We get a lot of visitors from industry with a lot of theoretical road maps toward what’s in the realm of possibility. We seek partners who can help us put these capabilities into action. Nothing wilts faster than the laurels that are rested upon. If you have solutions [that] you can deliver now, MARFORPAC might be your customer. We’re happy to hear what you have to offer. Our adversaries are not waiting, [and] neither can we.” 

TechNet Indo-Pacific is organized by AFCEA International and AFCEA Hawaii. SIGNAL Media is the official media of AFCEA International.