Caine Says Super Intelligence Is a Strategic Priority

During a fireside chat at the National Defense Transportation Association and U.S. Transportation Command's fall meeting in Grapevine, Texas, yesterday, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said super intelligence is one of his strategic priorities.

"I have sort of three strategic priorities right now, separate from [others]. No. 1 is making sure that we have a budget. … No. 2 is [super intelligence], and No. 3 is ongoing operations. That's how much emphasis — potential, I think — SI has in transitioning the way that we fight our wars in the future, and it extends across all of the joint functions," Caine told Air Force Gen. Randall Reed, Transcom's commander, who moderated the discussion.

Caine said using SI effectively will be essential for the joint force to win in tactical engagements with the enemy, logistics and sustainment, and command and control by protecting the functions the military needs to be victorious and dominate on the battlefields of the future.

"When I think of SI, …it's going to be a game changer as we move forward, and the number of things that are going to go back and forth between an adversary and the United States — both kinetic things [like] missiles and rockets and bombs — and non-kinetic things in the cyber domain are going to be significant," Caine said.

He emphasized training leaders, systems and models to support future commanders' decision-making while maintaining appropriate human involvement and balancing the opportunities and risks associated with SI.

"It's going to be an important part of our future, [and] we need to lean in; the joint force — the Joint Staff — [is] doing that now," Caine said.

The chairman added that, if what's past is prologue, the private sector will lead the way in using super intelligence capabilities.

"And we need to match them at the same speed and tempo," he said.