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.

Lt. Col. Kyle Schriefer, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, and Ms. Gihan Oraby, principal deputy director of Army Research Lab, Development Command, listen and take notes while Paratroopers present their inventions during Innovation Drop Zone 4.0 at the Airborne Innovation Lab on Fort Bragg, North Carolina, April 15, 2025. The annual IDZ competition encourages and supports innovation aligned with the Division’s efforts. During the competition, five teams presented their problem statement, innovative solution, and prototypes. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Prim Hibbard, DVIDS).

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  

U.S. Airmen assigned to the 307th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron field test the Pylon Loading Fixture at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana Aug. 22, 2021. The PLF was invented by Master Sgt. John Slaughter, 307th Maintenance Group quality assurance chief inspector to create a safer and more efficient way to attach pylons to the B-52 Stratofortress (DVIDS).

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.

© Copyright 2025 Military.com. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rebroadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Military.com, please submit your request here[4].

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China Diplomats Dating Banned

Associated Press | By ERIC TUCKER

Published

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior adviser at the State Department and expert on Indian and South Asian affairs is accused by the Justice Department of printing out classified documents and storing more than 1,000 pages of highly sensitive government records in filing cabinets and trash bags at home.

Ashley Tellis, who has also worked as a contractor in the Defense Department’s Office of Net Assessment, was charged in federal court in Virginia with the unlawful retention of national defense information after FBI agents who searched his home over the weekend found what they said was a trove of records marked as classified at the secret and top secret levels.

He was ordered detained Tuesday pending a detention hearing next week. One of his lawyers, Deborah Curtis, told The Associated Press that “we look forward to the hearing, where we’ll be able to present evidence" but declined to comment further.

An FBI affidavit cites several instances over the last month in which Tellis is alleged to have printed on government computers, or asked a colleague to print, classified documents on topics including U.S. military aircraft capabilities. Surveillance video shows him on several occasions exiting the State Department and a Defense Department facility with a briefcase in which he was believed to have stashed the printed-out papers, according to court documents.

Tellis also met multiple times with Chinese government officials[1] in recent years, according to the affidavit. Tellis arrived to one 2022 dinner with a manila folder while the Chinese officials he was meeting with entered with a gift bag, the FBI says. The affidavit says Tellis did not appear to have the manila folder in his possession when he left the restaurant, but does not accuse him of providing any classified information during his meetings with the Chinese.

Tellis is a prominent foreign policy expert with a specialty in Indian and South Asian affairs. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace lists him as a senior fellow and the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs. He also served on the White House National Security Council staff under Republican President George W. Bush[2].

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This story has been corrected to reflect that Tellis is an expert on Indian and South Asian affairs, not Indian and South affairs.

Military Headlines[3] Department of Defense - DoD[4] Aircraft[5] China[6]

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President Donald Trump

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.

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US Qatar Pentagon

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is moving forward with plans to build a dedicated facility in Idaho to train pilots from Qatar, an important U.S. ally in the Middle East, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday.

Hegseth, who made the announcement during a visit by Qatar's defense minister, said the facility to be built at the Mountain Home Air Force Base would “host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase the lethality, interoperability.”

The arrangement is not unusual. Pentagon officials noted that similar facilities have been set up for other allies for decades, and the Idaho base already hosts a fighter squadron from Singapore.

But the news drew a sharp rebuke from close Trump ally and right-wing influencer Laura Loomer[1], who called the plan “an abomination” and accused the Qataris of being associated with Islamic terror organizations.

“No foreign country should have a military base on US soil. Especially Islamic countries,” Loomer wrote in one of several social media posts just hours after Hegseth's announcement.

Although Loomer holds no formal position within the Trump administration, her online complaints have a history of achieving results. Her criticisms have led to the firing of officials on the National Security Council[2], Dr. Vinay Prasad, the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine chief,[3] and Gen. Tim Haugh, the head of the National Security Agency[4].

Qatar would pay for the construction of the new facility, a defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide information not publicly released. When asked for more details, Hegseth’s office said it had nothing to offer beyond the secretary’s remarks.

The announcement comes just days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order[5] vowing to use all measures, including U.S. military action, to defend Qatar, which hosts the biggest U.S. military base[6] in the Middle East.

Loomer also criticized that decision, writing “I don’t want to die for Qatar. Do you?” on social media. However, she was not alone.

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board also questioned the pledge, writing that "this is a decision that can be and should have been debated.

“Instead it comes out of the blue — an executive order following no public debate,” the board wrote.

The small, gas-rich country played a key role[7] in negotiating the most recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas aimed at ending the war in Gaza, as well as in several other key negotiations. Doha, the capital of Qatar, came under surprise attack from Israel last month as members of Hamas were in the city last month to discuss a ceasefire.

Qatar also lavished a $400 million jumbo jet[8] on Trump for use as Air Force One.

However, the Qataris' connection with U.S. military aviation predates these more recent developments.

In 2020, the U.S. Air Force announced[9] it has signed a deal with Qatar for the sale of more than 35 F-15 fighter jets.

An Air Force environmental study, completed two years later, revealed that Mountain Home Air Force Base was proposing building a facility that would house 12 Qatari F-15 jets and about 300 additional Qatari and U.S. Air Force personnel.

While the U.S. military has a long history of training pilots for allied countries, the practice received scrutiny in 2019 following a deadly mass shooting at Pensacola Naval Air Station that killed three U.S. service members and wounded several others.

The shooter, Mohammad Saeed Al-Shamrani, was a Saudi Air Force officer who was training at the Pensacola base. The FBI said he was linked to the al-Qaida extremist group and had been in contact with it before the shooting.

In the wake of the shooting, the U.S. sent home[10] 21 other Saudi military students after an investigation revealed each had expressed jihadist or anti-American sentiments on social media pages or had “contact with child pornography,” including in internet chat rooms, according to officials at the time. However, the U.S. continued to train Saudi pilots.

Loomer referenced the incident in her social media posts on Friday. “Why are we trying to train more Muslims how to fly planes on US soil? Didn’t we already learn our lesson?,” she wrote on social media.

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