Techno Wars: US Army Appoints Executives From Palantir, Meta And OpenAI As Lieutenant Colonels
"If we end up in a war in an Indo-Pacific conflict, we're going to need to tap more people like this," said Katherine Kuzminski, an expert at the Center for a New American Security.
On June 13th, the U.S. Army announced it was promoting four big-tech executives to Lieutenant Colonels, a senior rank that traditionally garners respect in the military. The project is called Detachment 201, named after HTTP code that refers to the creation of a resource.
According to a blog post on the Army’s website:
Det. 201 is an effort to recruit senior tech executives to serve part-time in the Army Reserve as senior advisors. In this role they will work on targeted projects to help guide rapid and scalable tech solutions to complex problems. By bringing private-sector know-how into uniform, Det. 201 is supercharging efforts like the Army Transformation Initiative, which aims to make the force leaner, smarter, and more lethal.
The four new Army Reserve Lt. Cols. are Shyam Sankar, Chief Technology Officer for Palantir; Andrew Bosworth, Chief Technology Officer of Meta; Kevin Weil, Chief Product Officer of OpenAI; and Bob McGrew, advisor at Thinking Machines Lab and former Chief Research Officer for OpenAI.
Their swearing-in is just the start of a bigger mission to inspire more tech pros to serve without leaving their careers, showing the next generation how to make a difference in uniform.
"They're not making acquisition decisions, they're not senior decision-makers," Steve Warren, an Army spokesperson, told reporters. "It's not in our interest to show any favoritism to a company -- that would be the exact opposite of what we're trying to do, right? What we want is competition. That's what we're looking for; these guys will help us think about that."
The conflict of interest immediately showed itself, as The Grayzone noted how Sankar, the Palantir executive, boasted himself as a bigshot in the tech space.
In an article published on the day that military officials revealed the creation of Detachment 201, Mumbai-born Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar revealed he was among the four members of the “nation’s business elite” selected for a “special corps” meant to “deploy their technical talents in service of the [US] government.”
“Later today, on the eve of the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday, I will raise my right hand, take an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and commission as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve’s newly formed Detachment 201: Executive Innovation Corps,” he boasted.
“A decade ago, it would’ve been unthinkable for so many tech heavyweights to openly align with the U.S. military. Equally, it would’ve been out of character for the military to enlist the support of the nation’s business elite— much less to create a special corps so they could deploy their technical talents in service of the government.”
The slippery slope was also exposed by Military.com, which ran a headline titled, “Tech Executives Commissioned as Senior Army Officers Won't Recuse Themselves from DoD Business Dealings.”
The outlet wrote:
Last year, Sankar sold Palantir stock amounting to $367.9 million and has made numerous other multimillion-dollar deals. None of the other executives, now Army Reserve officers, responded to requests for comment. None of them were made available for interviews.
While in regular formations, lieutenant colonel is a senior rank that garners respect. Inside the Pentagon, it's often the bare minimum rank to enter the room -- a relatively junior-grade officer in a sea of top brass and high-level civilian decision-makers. The law allows the military to direct commission up to the rank of colonel, but that would require Senate confirmation.
Military.com spoke with nearly two dozen Army and Pentagon officials -- from midgrade officers to senior brass -- as well as defense analysts and Capitol Hill aides. Across the board, there was strong support for the concept of pulling high-end civilian tech talent into uniform, particularly in a bureaucracy often faulted for its glacial pace of change.
"If we end up in a war in an Indo-Pacific conflict, we're going to need to tap more people like this," said Katherine Kuzminski, a national security personnel expert at the Center for a New American Security.
And the potential benefits go beyond Silicon Valley-style innovation.
"Tech is the hot new thing, but think about the logistics piece," Kuzminski added. "How do you capture that from UPS or FedEx? How do we feed our service members in a contested environment?"
Still, nearly all sources raised red flags about how the Army handled the rollout, calling it a self-inflicted optics nightmare. Service officials have insisted none of those executives will be involved in decision-making on government contracts, yet there is virtually no systemic oversight on that potential conflict of interest.
The decision to grant officer commissions to executives with no military background, without clear recusal from future defense business, sparked concerns of ethical lapses and blurred lines.
Several officials warned that any future Pentagon deals involving the companies could be tainted by perceptions of favoritism, potentially souring relationships with competing contractors and casting a shadow over future acquisitions.
Most officials interviewed see long-term promise for the Army, but the initiative is also emerging as a flashpoint - the latest sign of the service's growing relationship with Silicon Valley, a rapidly warming connection that's turning into a growing concern for lawmakers worried about big-tech influence and lobbying.
Much of the concern centers on what, exactly, wealthy tech executives already wielding outsized influence stand to gain from a formal relationship with the Army.
Service officials insist patriotism is the driving force. However, while the Pentagon has long tapped private-sector talent through advisory roles and consulting gigs, issuing uniforms marks a largely unprecedented step in the modern era.
While an executive role will likely have more influence than a reserve officer with no notable title, working directly with the Army would likely yield more networking opportunities within the Pentagon and constant direct contact with senior Army leaders.
"When it isn't obvious what rich guys get out of something, that's what worries me," one Capitol Hill national security adviser told Military.com on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
The old saying goes, all wars are banker wars. Now it can be also be said that modern wars are technocrat wars.
As both Military.com and The Grayzone noted, these appointments come at a time when these tech giants, none more so than Palantir, have really cozied themselves up with the Trump administration as the United States increasingly transitions into more technological warfare, cybersecurity, surveillance and data collection.
The GZ added:
Palantir is by far the S&P 500’s top performing stock of the year, thanks in large part to the gargantuan contracts it has raked in from the Trump administration. According to the company’s founder, Alex Karp, Palantir “is here to disrupt… and when it’s necessary, to scare enemies, and on occasion, kill them.”
Elsewhere, Karp has eagerly embraced the model of disaster capitalism, remarking, “bad times are very good for Palantir because we build products… that are built for danger.”
Ecclesiastes 10:5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler: [6] Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. [7] I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth. [19] A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.
What an absolute slap in the face and disgrace to anyone who wore the uniform and worked to obtain that rank, and to anyone who thought about joining the Armed Forces, and even worse yet that there will be people who will be taking orders from these people! But that’s the state of our military: no honor, no justice: just profits, racketeering, greed, and slaughter of the innocent.
There has been a longstanding saying in the military: “F- up, move up.” In other words, the more you screw up and the move failures you commit, the higher you can climb in rank. That’s how so many of ‘top brass’ got the ranks they got: they are the world’s great bootlickers and biggest monumental screw-ups.
For example, General Christopher Donahue was promoted to the rank of four-star general and confirmed by the Senate in December 2024. This is the same guy who oversaw the pitiful withdrawal from Afghanistan. So instead of reprimanding this bad behavior, the government rewards it. As if we didn’t have enough 4-star Generals…
Jeremiah 48:14 How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war?
I’ve covered a number of this current administration’s contracting of Palantir, OpenAI, xAI, Microsoft, Anduril, and others in previous reports. Of course, Palantir is literally building a digital prison surveillance state and actively collecting all of our data. And let’s not forget that Palantir’s Karp says the U.S. will fight World War III against Russia, China and Iran. These people have massive incentive to create continual conflict.
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[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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This is wrong on so many levels.
I think their appointment may have a connection with their ability to access, review, and discuss highly classified information. I wasn't aware that Congress has to approve Colonel and higher ranks so I found that information interesting. Yes, I suspect they couldn't be provided classified information without the military designation.
As I've mentioned on my substack and comment sections throughout Substack, the inordinate toll Israel has realized in Gaza has shown the world where the future of warfare is headed. They've literally exterminated a population. I've written on my substack and believe that future warfare, unfortunately, will involve the decimation of civilian populations. Areas will be ethnically cleansed while soldiers live in underground bunkers moving drones into striking positions and killing their targets. AI orchestrates the simultaneous maneuvering of tanks (ground forces); drones; aircraft bombings; instant identification and tracking of enemies; instant communication with military units; etc.
One striking example is that a tethered machine gun at an Israel check-point can be used to kill instantaneously when an approaching individual is biometrically identified as Hamas.
Israeli IDF commanders have credited their AI-driven systems (again...in my early substacks from last year when I began writing on Gaza) with the enormity of their "success" in Gaza or the complete obliteration of infrastructure.
If anyone looks at satellite photos, which I include in one article, we can see photos prior to Oct. 7, 2023 and afterwards. Israel has returned portions of Gaza to desert. Much of Gaza looks like Hiroshima.
Indeed, Israel, prior to entering Gaza just after Oct. 7, promised that Gaza would look like a nuclear bomb had destroyed them. They uttered this promise which Sy Hersch reported. They knew exactly what they were doing.
Bombings in Gaza have shown that AI can not only locate Hamas personnel in apartments; determine the number of people who will be blown up with the leader; and determine if the number of simultaneous civilian deaths fall within Israeli military parameters (up to 300 civilians if the leader is a senior Hamas leader--so neighbors both vertically and horizontally are blown up, too) but also that AI works better than IDF soldiers applying themselves 24/7.