As a board member, he established a relationship with the steel industry and was almost immediately appointed Assistant Secretary of War and Director of Munitions.

In July 2024, NDIA signed a letter to members of both the House Committee on Armed Services and the Senate Committee on Armed Services opposing Section 828 of S. 4628, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, entitled "Requirement for Contractors to Provide Reasonable Access to Repair Materials".

[4] The proposed Section 828 raised concerns for NDIA that include "no carve-outs or limitations to protect sensitive trade secret information" and impacts on "the economics of a dealer distribution model by effectively eliminating dealer margins ... [impacting] ... small and medium-sized businesses",[4] amongst other issues.

National Defense has been published under a series of different titles since 1940:[6] Additional variations during the above periods: NDIA has 29 chapters located throughout the United States.

[7] NDIA consists of subject-specific divisions that aim to promote defense and national security through access, influence, and education.