Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) (1956)
nodeThe Blackmail Network
For 70 years, nearly every leader of a key Pentagon think tank was either a top general on the way out or a future cabinet official on the way up.
Who they are
The Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), a government-funded research center set up in 1956.
What they do
It acts as the Defense Department's in-house analysis shop, giving supposedly 'independent' advice on major weapons-buying decisions.
How it works
Its presidents form a striking chain — former Joint-Chiefs-level officers and future top officials, including a former JCS chairman, two former Air Force chiefs of staff, a future Director of National Intelligence, and a former STRATCOM commander — meaning the same people cycle between military command and the layer that validates weapons purchases.
Why it matters
The engine calls this the clearest documented case of the same class of officials moving through the revolving door between military leadership, procurement approval, and the contractors they later advise.
The engine's record — word for word
Report #87. Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) established 1956. Functions as the in-house systems-analysis arm of the Department of Defense, providing 'independent' analytical support to MDAP (Major Defense Acquisition Program) decisions. **President lineage:** James McCormack (1956-1959), Maxwell D. Taylor (1966-1969 — former Chairman JCS), Larry D. Welch (1990-2003 — former Chief of Staff USAF), Dennis C. Blair (2003-2007 — later Director of National Intelligence under Obama), David S.C. Chu (2009-2018), Norton A. Schwartz (2020-2025 — former Chief of Staff USAF), Charles Richard (2025- — former STRATCOM commander). **Engine framing:** IDA's president lineage is the tightest documented operator-class persistence example available — every IDA president of the last 70 years has been either a former JCS-level officer or future cabinet-level official. The IDA presidency is the load-bearing node where senior military officials transition into the think-tank layer that validates procurement decisions affecting the contractors those officials will subsequently advise.
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