Think baseball and war fighting have nothing in common? Think again.
Washington Nationals general manager Ani Kilambi recently spoke on a panel alongside Navy Rear Adm. Adam Kijek at the Sea-Air-Space 2026 Conference at National Harbor in Maryland about just that.
Adm. Kijek, director of the Office of Warfighting Advantage, said the Navy is trying to do some of the same things the Nationals did as they rebuilt the organization.
“I think we’re both trying to be world-class organizations, bring in the best people and give them the best tools to win every single day,” he said. “We have to win on the battlefield every time, and you guys want to win on the field every time.”
The panel, held on April 21, explored what the Nationals and the Navy can learn from each other.
“We’re here talking about process improvement and data-informed decision-making and how we can use data to get better,” Adm. Kijek said.
Both Kilambi and Adm. Kijek noted their organizations, while vastly different, are complex and operate under pressure.
Kilambi noted that there are a number of parallels between playing baseball and war fighting.
“I think the biggest one is building a culture where data driven decision making is not only something that is talked about, but is something that is expected among all levels of leadership where people are interested in getting better, responsive to information they have access to and have this culture of self-improvement that rapidly changes how we the Washington Nationals operate and how the U.S. Navy operates,” he said.
Kilambi added that he learned a lot about how the Navy operates and what it is doing to maintain the systematic advantage the U.S. has had over the past several years.
“I think that’s where we, the Washington Nationals, want to go,” he said. “We want to be the envy of sports. The United States military, the United States Navy, embody that in their culture.”
The panel was part of the Nationals’ Frontline Forum series, which was developed in 2018 to offer military leadership a unique way to provide professional development opportunities to their units. Service members meet with Washington Nationals executives, discussing common challenges and hearing insights from the corporate world that they can apply throughout their military careers.
“I think we’re perfectly aligned with being professions who go after excellence and get after winning,” Kijek said.
Powered by the Navy League of the United States, Sea-Air-Space is the premier maritime exposition in the U.S., bringing together defense industry leaders and top military decision-makers from around the world to share the latest advancements in the maritime domain.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
