1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

I am writing to express serious concern about the Army's recent direct commissioning of four technology executives as lieutenant colonels with no prior military service and no recusal requirements from business dealings with the Department of Defense. This arrangement creates glaring conflicts of interest that demand immediate congressional oversight. The Army commissioned Shyam Sankar of Palantir, Andrew Bosworth of Meta, Kevin Weil of OpenAI, and Bob McGrew of Thinking Machines Lab into a new formation called Detachment 201. These executives will undergo only two weeks of accelerated training before receiving their commissions. Most troubling is the timing of major defense contracts surrounding these appointments. Meta announced a deal with defense contractor Anduril worth potentially millions just before Bosworth was sworn in. OpenAI secured a $200 million defense contract within days of his commissioning. Palantir already holds a $759 million Army contract for AI development. Army spokesperson Steve Warren claims these officers are not making acquisition decisions, yet there is virtually no systemic oversight on conflicts of interest. When Military.com interviewed nearly two dozen Army and Pentagon officials, defense analysts, and Capitol Hill aides, nearly all raised red flags about this rollout. One Capitol Hill national security adviser stated bluntly that when it is not obvious what rich executives get out of something, that is what should worry us. Sankar sold $367.9 million in Palantir stock last year alone, making his pledge to donate roughly $10,000 in officer pay seem trivial by comparison. Several officials warned that any future Pentagon deals involving these companies could be tainted by perceptions of favoritism. I urge you to demand transparency on this program, require strict recusal protocols for these officers, and establish clear oversight mechanisms to prevent conflicts of interest. The integrity of defense procurement depends on it.