Over the arc of its history — which is not that long, in the scheme of things — the Defense Department tends not to change very much. It grows and spends and tends to get the things it wants, eventually, despite the occasional speed bumps thrown up by the people who run it. Louis Johnson scrapped the aircraft carrier USS United States, but the Navy soon got its big flattops. Robert McNamara tried to force the Air Force and Navy to accept a compromise neither really loved in the F-111 Aardvark, but both services eventually got the fighters they really wanted. No earthly power could stop the military-industrial-legislative complex from acquiring the V-22 Osprey. Etc.
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Update: Gates to Leave Pentagon at End of June, Officials Say -- FOX News
My Comment: A few weeks after Robert Gates is gone .... he will be forgotten until he starts to push a book (if he decides to write a book).