Moving the Girls Out
The US Navy belatedly embraces 5GW
It’s always easy to tell when an organization finally gets serious about something, because the first thing they do is eject the women in charge:
Eight months after her appointment as the Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Robotic and Autonomous Systems in December 2025, Rebecca J. Gassler was removed from the position on Wednesday, per a Navy release.
In addition to the removal, the service announced the establishment of the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Robotic and Autonomous Systems, aimed at correcting “years of fragmented requirements, resourcing, and acquisition practices that dispersed accountability, complicated industry engagement, and slowed delivery to the warfighter,” the memo states.
Christopher Miller was selected to serve as the acting DRPM RAS and will concurrently take over Gassler’s previous role as Portfolio Acquisition Executive RAS. He will report directly to William Toti, who is performing the duties of the under secretary of the Navy.
This is interesting to me because it indicates that more than a year after the little drone-and-pony show at the White House, the US military has finally grasped the reality that 5GW > 3GW and that no amount of posturing can substitute for the combination of drones and the ability to manufacture large numbers of them.
The US military was so far behind the state of the military art that it still thought of Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Robotic and Autonomous Systems as being the perfect sort of makework job to park a diversity executive. But now that Iran has demonstrated that an effective drone force can negate the combined power of the USAF and the USN, everyone understands that this might be one of the most important responsibilities in the Navy.
I doubt it will make much difference, to be honest, because having a more decisive male decision-maker in the position isn’t much of a substitute for an effective mass-productive industrial sector. But the replacement of Ms Gassler is an indication that someone in authority now understands the strategic importance of robotic and autonomous systems.
The US military industrial complex is a giant graft machine designed to loot the treasury. Only occasionally does it deliver a weapon that actually works and even then, only a few because the costs are so high.
The Gulf states have reportedly ordered over 5,000 Patriot missiles to replace all of those used during the two months or thereabouts of the hot war against Iran. And at the moment, the US produces 650 a year. Gonna be a long wait.
Meanwhile, Russia is reportedly building 1200 drones a day of all types.
And just like that the navy is mandating the new mRNA flu shot. Female coded armed services cannot be fixed.