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Institutional
Affiliations
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA): Board of Advisers (5)
Government
Service
Defense Policy Board: Member (2)
National Reconnaissance Office Advisory Panel: Member (1)
National Defense Panel: Member (6)
Defense Science Board: Task force member (6)
Rumsfeld Space Commission: Member until 2001 (1)
Joint Chiefs of Staff: Vice Chairman, 1990-1994 (5)
Commander in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet: 1987-1991 (5)
Corporate
Connections/Business Interests
Litton Industries: Board of Directors (1)
Boeing:
Paid consultant (9)
Alliant
Techsystems Inc.: Board of Directors (3)
Technology
Strategies & Alliances Corp.: President (2)
Getronics
Government Systems: Board of Directors (1)
LLC and Geobiotics, Inc.: Board of Directors (1)
GSE Systems, Inc.: Board of Directors (5)
Standard Missile Co.: Board of Directors (5)
Texas Instruments: Advisory Board (5)
ManTech International: Advisory Board (3)
Northrop Grumman Corporation: Advisory Board (3)
MITRE Corporation: Board of Trustees (3)
DigitalNet Government Solutions: Board Member (3)
Education
University of Oregon: B.A. (6)
George Washington University: M.A. (6)
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Highlights
& Quotes
The
career of David Jeremiah, a former Navy admiral who serves on the
Defense Policy Board (DPB), is an archetypal example of the sort
of influence waged by the U.S. military-industrial complex. At that
same time that he has been serving the U.S. military and government
in a variety of advisory capacities (he has also advised the Defense
Science Board and was a member of the controverisal 2000 Donald
Rumsfeld-chaired Space Commission, which advocated weaponizing
space to preempt a "space Pearl Harbor"), Jeremiah has
been advising a mind-boggling array of defense contractors, including
Northrop Grumman, the MITRE Corporation, the Standard Missile Company,
and the missile defense contractor Alliant Techsystems.
According
to Bill Hartung of the World Policy Institute, Jeremiah has also
worked as a paid conslutant to Boeing, a fact that didn't keep the
retired admiral from working behind the scenes to push through a
controversial Air Force plan to bail out the contractor by giving
it a sweetheart deal to lease refueling tankers. According to The
Hill (Sept 3, 2003) under the deal, which led to investigations
by Sen. John McCain and the Senate Finance Committee, "The
Air Force would lease 100 modified 767 tankers for a cost of $16
billion. With an option to buy, the deal could run to $21 billion.
Total costs to the service could total at least $30 billion when
replacing the infrastructure that now houses the current refueling
fleet of KC-135Es is factored in. The cost of leasing versus buying
has been the chief complaint of opponents. In August, the Congressional
Budget Office estimated that buying the planes outright would save
the service more than $5 billion." (4)
The
Hill also reported that the Senate Commerce Committee had obtained
memos detailing the behind-the-scenes lobbying effort that went
into pushing the deal through. "For example, retired Gen. Ronald
Fogleman, a former Air Force chief of staff, and retired Adm. David
Jeremiah, a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are
listed as consultants in the effort. A Jan. 23 internal Boeing e-mail
describes both as 'engaging on [Office of the Secretary of Defense]
circles,' and notes that each is a member of the Defense Policy
Board, which advises the Pentagon on defense policies." (4)
According
to the Washington Post (October 27, 2003), Jeremiah denied playing
any role in pressuring officials when he was queried about the e-mails.
Richard
Perle, Jeremiah's Defense Policy Board colleague and neocon bigwig,
is also knee deep in the Boeing scandal. Soon after his Trireme
investment firm received millions of dollars in cash from the aerospace
giant, Perle began advocating in op-ed pieces that failure to push
through the leasing deal could jeopardize U.S. security. Commenting
on this situation, Bill Hartung remarked: "Does it bother [Donald]
Rumsfeld that two of Perle's colleagues on the Defense Policy Board,
retired Adm. David Jeremiah and retired Air Force Gen. Ronald Fogelman,
have simultaneously been working as paid consultants to Boeing [and]
promoting the lease deal?" (9)
While
Jeremiah isn't busy wheeling and dealing, he somehow finds time
to advise the neoconservative Jewish Institute for National Security
Affairs (JINSA), an influential advocacy group that connects retired
U.S. brass to their counterparts in Israel as part of its lobbying
efforts to promote arms deals and a pro-Likud stance in the Palestinian
territories.
Jeremiah also seems to have had a colorful career in the Navy. According to JINSA, "In October 1985 [Jeremiah] directed the capture of the Achille Lauro hijackers and in April 1986 led combat operations against Libya in the Gulf of Sidra." (5) Soon after these operations, Jeremiah was appointed Commander in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, a position that he held until 1991. He retired from the military in 1994 after 34 years of service.
In
the same year that he retired from the Navy, Jeremiah became president
of Technology Strategies and Alliances, which describes itself as
"a veteran-owned strategic advisory and management consulting
firm located just outside Washington, D.C. TSA specializes in providing
strategic planning and support services to organizations associated
with advanced technology, communications, infrastructure, logistics,
aerospace, and defense. … A cadre of former Government, Industry
and Military senior executives leads TSA's staff. They understand
the challenges faced by organizations that are overwhelmed by current
projects and crises." (7) Another of those "cadre"
is John
S. Foster, a longtime member of the U.S. weapons complex who
like Jeremiah seems to excel at putting government connections at
the service of industry. (8)
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