The head of the Defense Innovation Unit reportedly resigned this week, marking another change in a Pentagon leadership post.
The departure of DIU Director Doug Beck comes at a crucial moment for the Pentagon as it undertakes modernization efforts across the military, including in the fields of artificial intelligence, the deployment of small drones in huge numbers and the development of new missile defense technology for President Trump’s Golden Dome missile shield.
Mr. Beck will be replaced by Michael Dodd, the incoming assistant secretary of defense for critical technologies, according to the news outlet Defense News. Mr. Dodd will serve as acting deputy director of the DIU.
The DIU plays a central role in the adoption of cutting-edge technology across the Pentagon. The office, founded in 2015, focuses “exclusively on fielding and scaling commercial technology across the U.S. military at commercial speeds,” its website says.
The DIU has been deeply involved in the adoption of artificial intelligence applications across the Defense Department. It has also been at the forefront of the Pentagon’s $1 billion Replicator program, which aims to help the military acquire thousands of aerial and maritime drones along with the software needed to control them.
The departure of Mr. Beck came just days after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Kruse, who led the Defense Intelligence Agency. That agency produced a preliminary report assessing that the damage done by U.S. airstrikes on Iran in June set the Islamic Republic’s nuclear capabilities back only a few months.
Officials, including President Trump and Mr. Hegseth, dismissed the conclusions of that report and said the damage was much more substantial.
Mr. Kruse was the latest in a string of firings of generals and admirals across the Pentagon.
While Mr. Beck is not such an officer, his departure marks another key change. Before coming to the DIU, he was a vice president at Apple. He’s a captain in the Navy Reserve and served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.