This is a key question and impacts innovation in the military.  The problem centers on two overlapping frameworks: military rules and federal patent law. Each branch of the armed forces has policies, like Army Regulation 27-60 and Air Force Instruction 51-301, regarding reporting inventions made by service members while on duty. Nearly always, the government claims ownership or more than a free of charge license to inventions related to military work.

Over it all is the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951, which establishes a federal right to impose secrecy orders on patent applications considered crucial to national security. Based on Patent and Trademark Office information, over 5,000 secrecy orders^[1] will be in effect yearly, many regarding defense technologies. When an order is enforced, inventors may be barred from disclosing or profiting from their work - sometimes indefinitely.

For military inventors, this might mean a device they developed in a motor pool, a prison, or perhaps a forward operating base finds its way to some classified program without compensation or recognition.

Pressure Mounted on Capitol Hill

The problem has refocused Pentagon attention as it looks at emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and cyber tools - places where junior enlisted soldiers and Guard members often bring crucial civil expertise. Members of the House Armed Services and Judiciary Committees have received testimony by military personnel and veterans that the military bureaucracy took their inventions with no acknowledgment.

One proposal considered would require the Department of War to establish a uniform inventor recognition program much like federal employee awards which assures official credit and sometimes cash for service members. Another would require yearly reporting on secrecy orders impacting service member inventions so it would be clear how frequently troops ideas are categorized from reach.

Supporters point out such reforms would be fair and would foster innovation from the ranks. "If we would like soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen to think creatively about resolving issues, they must understand their work will not simply go right into a black box," one congressional adviser told Military.com  

Risks & Counterarguments

The Pentagon has typically resisted letting inventions loose due to national security and intellectual property concerns. Officials worry permitting way too many rights to individual inventors could bog down procurement programs or expose sensitive capabilities. The Defense Department also cites existing award programs, including the Military Outstanding Invention Awards given yearly by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering, as evidence troops are recognized.

Critics counter that those programs are little known and seldom reach top innovators. They assert that with no adequate safeguards and rewards the military risks losing a wellspring of ideas at a moment when peer rivals like China are investing heavily in defense innovation^[2].

In both chambers, lawmakers have questioned whether those rules discourage innovation. With the Pentagon frequently investing in solutions including artificial intelligence^[3], autonomous systems and cyber tools, some fear troops may be not as likely to share ideas if incentives were eliminated.

Some proposals floated in recent hearings consist of requiring the War Department to establish a formal recognition program for troop inventors and requiring greater transparency regarding secrecy orders impacting service member patents. Advocates say such reforms would be fair to the inventors and might increase military readiness by permitting more first line innovation.

From the motor pool to the plane line, American service members invent. But the system governing their inventions hasn't kept pace with contemporary defense technology. Congress has a choice now: Keep the existing system, where recognition is intermittent and patents usually fade into secrecy, or update the rules to give service members credit and compensation when their ideas help the nation defend.

The answer might determine if the next big device or process invented in uniform ever sees daylight - and if the military will continue to reap the benefits of the ingenuity of those closest to the struggle.

Related Topics: Military Headlines^[3] Department of Defense - DoD^[4] Aircraft^[5] China^[6]

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he has directed the Defense Department to use “all available funds” to ensure U.S. troops are paid^[1] Wednesday despite the government shutdown^[2], a short-term fix that will not apply to the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have been furloughed.

Trump said in a social media post that he was acting because “our Brave Troops will miss the paychecks they are rightfully due on October 15th.”

The Republican president's directive removes one of the pressure points that could have forced Congress into action, likely ensuring that the shutdown — now in its 11th day and counting — extends into a third week and possibly beyond. But no similar action seems forthcoming for federal employees also working without pay while thousands are now being laid off^[3] during the lapse in government operations. The White House budget office started the layoffs on Friday.

Trump blamed Democrats and said he was exercising his authority as commander in chief to direct Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “to use all available funds to get our Troops PAID on October 15th.” The Republican president added, "We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS.”

U.S service members were in danger of not receiving their next paycheck on Wednesday after the government shut down on Oct. 1, the start of the federal budget cycle. The U.S. has about 1.3 million active-duty service members, and the prospect of troops going without pay has been a focal point when lawmakers on Capitol Hill have discussed the shutdown’s negative impact.

Trump did not say where he's getting the money, but a spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget said Pentagon research and development funds would be tapped.

The Pentagon said it identified about $8 billion of unobligated research development testing and evaluation funds from the last fiscal year that will be used to issue the mid-month paychecks, “in the event the funding lapse continues past October 15th.”

Federal workers typically receive back pay after a shutdown ends, as now required by a law that Trump signed during his first term. He recently floated the idea of not making up the lost salaries.

It was unclear if the president’s directive applies to the U.S. Coast Guard, which is a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces but is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security during peacetime.

The nation’s third shutdown in 12 years^[4] has again raised anxiety levels among service members and their families as those in uniform are working without pay. While they would receive back pay once the impasse ends, many military families live paycheck to paycheck.

During previous shutdowns, Congress passed legislation^[5] to ensure that troops kept earning their salaries, but discussion of taking a similar step by lawmakers appeared to have fizzled out.

Asked earlier this week if he would support a bill to pay the troops, Trump said, “that probably will happen.”

“We’ll take care of it,” he said Wednesday. “Our military is always going to be taken care of.”

The shutdown began on Oct. 1 after Democrats rejected a short-term funding fix and demanded that the bill include an extension of federal subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The expiration of those subsidies at the end of the year will result in monthly cost increases for millions of people.

Trump and Republican leaders have said they are open to negotiations on the health subsidies, but insist the government must reopen first.

Both sides appear dug in on their positions, making it unclear when, or how, the shutdown ends.

___

Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.