The Insider

Military officials traditionally like to keep things vague when they discuss exercises. An announcement today by U.S. Joint Forces Command -- about a mission rehearsal exercise aimed at readying a new joint task force headquarters for operations in the Horn of Africa -- is no exception.

According to the announcement, the task force members, about to move into one of the world's most volatile regions, are going to tackle issues like this:

"The problem sets may include a non-evacuation operation that may occur in a developing context like the Horn of Africa, a scenario that would require forces to retrieve U.S. and third-party nationals out of a particular situation or a humanitarian assistance disaster relief problem set such as flooding in the Horn of Africa."

Capisce?

President-elect Barack Obama announced key Pentagon appointments this afternoon, nominating William J. Lynn to be deputy defense secretary, Robert Hale to be the comptroller, Michèle Flournoy to be the under secretary for policy and Jeh Charles Johnson to be general counsel. In a statement, Obama said:

“I am confident that these distinguished individuals have the expertise and commitment needed to help me implement a sustainable national security strategy that combats 21st century threats and keeps the American people safe. They share with me the utmost respect for our brave men and women in uniform, and will work day and night to support our troops, strengthen our military, and advance our capacity to carry out 21st century missions. Together with Secretary Gates and our military, we will work to responsibly end the war in Iraq, defeat al Qaeda and the Taliban, and renew America’s strength and standing in the world. I am honored that they have joined me in this mission, and I trust that they will serve the American people well.”

Here are the biographies of the nominees sent along with the announcement:

William J. Lynn III, Deputy Secretary of Defense

Lynn brings decades of experience and expertise in reforming government spending and making the tough choices necessary to ensure that American tax dollars are spent wisely. Lynn served as the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) from 1997 to 2001. In that position, he was the chief financial officer for the Department of Defense and the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense for all budgetary and fiscal matters. From 1993 to 1997, Lynn was the director of program analysis and evaluation in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he oversaw all aspects of the DoD’s strategic planning process. Lynn was awarded three DoD medals for distinguished public service, the Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and awards from the Army, Navy and Air Force. He also received the 2000 Distinguished Federal Leadership Award from the Association of Government Accountants for his efforts to improve defense accounting practices. Lynn currently serves as senior vice president of Government Operations and Strategy at Raytheon Company. Before entering the DoD in 1993, Lynn served for six years on the staff of Senator Edward Kennedy as liaison to the Senate Armed Services Committee. He has also been a Senior Fellow at the National Defense University, on the professional staff at the Institute for Defense Analyses and served as the executive director of the Defense Organization Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Lynn has a law degree from Cornell Law School and a Master’s in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. He is married with a daughter.

Robert F. Hale, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)

Hale currently serves as the Executive Director of the American Society of Military Comptrollers (ASMC). From 1994 to 2001 Mr. Hale was appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller). He was responsible for the Air Force budget and all aspects of Air Force financial management. He also spearheaded creation of the first-ever certification program for defense financial managers. Hale served for twelve years as head of the defense unit of the Congressional Budget Office. Early in his career, Hale served on active duty as a Navy officer and worked for the Center for Naval Analyses. Robert Hale holds a BS with honors from Stanford University as well as an MS from Stanford and an MBA from George Washington University. He is also a Fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration. Mr. Hale has served on the Defense Business Board and recently completed service on a Congressionally-mandated Task Force on the Future of Military Health Care. He is a former National President of the American Society of Military Comptrollers and is a Certified Defense Financial Manager with acquisition specialty.

Michèle Flournoy, Under Secretary of Defense (Policy)

In January 2007, Flournoy cofounded and was named president of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a venture dedicated to advancing a strong, centrist national security strategy. Prior to joining CNAS, she was a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she worked on a broad range of defense policy and international security issues. Previously, she was a distinguished research professor at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University (NDU), where she founded and led the university’s Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) working group, which was chartered by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop intellectual capital in preparation for the Department of Defense’s 2001 QDR. Prior to joining NDU, she was dual-hatted as principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and threat reduction and deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy. In that capacity, she oversaw three policy offices in the Office of the Secretary of Defense: Strategy; Requirements, Plans, and Counterproliferation; and Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasian Affairs. Flournoy was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in 1996, the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service in 1998, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award in 2000. In addition to several edited volumes and reports, she has authored dozens of articles on international security issues. Flournoy holds a B.A. in social studies from Harvard University and an M.Litt. in international relations from Balliol College, Oxford University, where she was a Newton-Tatum scholar.

Jeh Charles Johnson, General Counsel

Johnson is a partner in the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, based in New York City. Johnson's career has been a mixture of successful private law practice (as an experienced trial lawyer) and distinguished public service (as a federal prosecutor and presidential appointee). At age 47, he was elected a Fellow in the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers. Johnson's career as a trial lawyer began in 1989-91, as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted public corruption cases. He served three years as a federal prosecutor. In 1998, Johnson left Paul, Weiss for 27 months when President Clinton appointed him General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force, following nomination and confirmation by the United States Senate. While in that position, Johnson was awarded the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service. In 2007-08, Johnson served as a foreign policy advisor to President-elect Obama’s campaign. Johnson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a graduate of Morehouse College and Columbia Law School.

The Hill is reporting something we've been hearing, too -- Robert Hale for Pentagon comptroller:

Hale, who is currently the executive director of the American Society of Military Comptrollers (ASMC), is expected to be named comptroller of the Pentagon, where he’d head the office that manages the world’s largest military budget, according to sources familiar with the Obama transition team selection process.

Hale is a former Air Force comptroller.

His bio is here.

Because of the unprecedented challenges facing President-elect Obama, the outgoing administration is facilitating “a different kind of transition,” according to Stephen Hadley, President Bush's national security adviser.

Speaking at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event in Washington yesterday, Hadley said the transition “is very much a mutual effort by the outgoing team and the incoming team.”

The Bush national security team has prepared a document that summarizes the 40 key issues of the administration, including the team's strategy on each issue, what has been accomplished and the remaining work to be done.

“Why do we do this?” Hadley asked. “The new team doesn't need to read them -- certainly, doesn't need to follow the policies in them -- but what we thought was important, in this different kind of transition, ((was)) for them to know what they have to work with -- what kind of policies ((are)) in place, what kind of relationships are in place and what kind of tools they have available. And what we, at least, think are the challenges that are going to hit them quickly.”

In addition, the Bush team has prepared a series of briefing memorandums and “view-graph briefings” on relevant issues and is planning joint briefings for the outgoing and incoming National Security Council teams.

“Both sides, with the direction of both President Bush and President-elect Obama -- ((are)) trying to make this a very different transition, because we're in a very different time,” Hadley added.

The Wall Street Journal is the latest to note that Bill Lynn is likely to be the next deputy defense secretary. (We told you that before Christmas.)

Actually, the paper's "Washington Wire" says a bit more than that:

The Obama administration is expected to announce that it has offered the No. 2 job at the Pentagon to William Lynn, currently and executive at defense contractor Raytheon Co., according to people familiar with the situation.

According to these people, Lynn plans on accepting the post. He had been considered one of the front runners in recent weeks. Lynn, 55 years old, is a former comptroller of the Pentagon, a background that will come in handy as the defense budget comes under pressure. At Raytheon, Lynn is charged with heading the defense contractor’s Washington operations.

The proposed relocation of thousands of Marines and other military personnel to the Pacific island of Guam is raising tensions between the military and Environmental Protection Agency over who will pay for efforts to avoid negative environmental consequences as a result of the influx, sister publication Defense Environment Alert's Stuart Parker reports this week:

Local lawmakers are also worried that the military has not properly considered the implications of the repositioning program, with inadequate resources being dedicated to new infrastructure, including waste disposal.

Sources with the DOD Joint Guam Program Office (JGPO), which oversees the buildup, confirm they are now in talks with EPA over funding issues after EPA Region IX official Eric Manzanilla wrote by e-mail to JGPO head Gen. David Bice Nov. 13 warning that other government agencies would not be able to compensate if DOD fails to adequately fund activities to offset the impacts resulting from the increase in personnel and infrastructure. DOD says it is addressing some land issues related to the buildup, but does not specify what commitments it may make to offset environmental impacts.

Manzanilla, Communities and Ecosystems Director with Region IX, told Bice “we believe it is very unlikely that the government of Guam or other federal agencies will acquire all the resources to adequately address impacts that go beyond the military’s fencelines in Guam.”

Significant infrastructure-related impacts are expected from the massive buildup, with particular effects on the island’s drinking water supply and waste handling, sources say.

“Guam and the other U.S. Pacific Territories lag behind the rest of the nation in many socio-economic parameters, including environmental infrastructure,” Manzanilla says in the e-mail, warning of the possible emergence of “two Guams,” one military and adequately provided-for, and the other civilian and lacking resources.

In his e-mail, Manzanilla invites Bice to participate in a high level meeting to discuss funding infrastructure upgrades on the island. A spokesperson for JGPO could not confirm Bice’s commitment to such a meeting, but issued the following statement: “the Department of Defense is working with EPA, as well as other federal regulatory agencies such as U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services and ((the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)), to address environmental issues associated with the military realignment.”

. . .

In a Dec. 19 letter to Defense Environment Alert responding to questions on the military buildup, Guam Senator Judith Paulette Guthertz (D) cites anticipated problems resulting from the environmental impacts of the military buildup, primarily pointing to fresh water supply and waste issues. Guthertz will chair the new Committee on the Military Buildup and Homeland Security in the Guam Legislature, which was to begin its session on Jan. 5.

“The military’s buildup plans primarily concern northern Guam where our aquifer, a water lens ((reservoir)) below ground level, is located. One of our concerns in the north is the possible negative impact on our water supply through ground contamination,” says Gutherz.

A Government Accountability Office report released last September found that the Defense Department had developed a basic framework for the military buildup on Guam but had not issued the congressionally required master plan that was initially due.

A separate GAO report released in May calls on the Navy to plan ahead for voyage repair capabilities in Guam that will be impacted by the cadre of vessels the service aims to locate there by 2012.

While the Air Force was perhaps the most vocal of the services about plans to fight in cyberspace, others also are gearing up for the fight online. The Army, for example, is doing some intense soul-searching about what changes are needed to ensure soldiers can keep the upper hand in future cyber-fights. After a period of introspection, we're told, Army officials plan to start work on a field manual for cyberspace as part of the service's "3" series. The designation indicates the document will have an operational focus.

In a blog entry on the Combined Arms Center Web site, Army Lt. Col. Chip Bircher gave a good overview last month of the ground service's general thinking in the cyberspace realm. Bircher is the deputy director, futures, in an organization called the U.S. Army Computer Network Operations & Electronic Warfare Proponent.

We talked to Bircher's boss, Col. Wayne Parks, in November, and he told us service officials had begun deliberations about a dedicated force structure for cyberwarfare.

In his blog post, Bircher cites the cyber attacks on Estonia (2007) and in Georgia last summer -- both were allegedly carried out by Russians -- as examples of the types of clashes U.S. forces might face in the near future.

"Cyber attacks prior to the introduction of conventional Russian military forces ((into Georgia)) were in many respects analogous to deep strikes against key infrastructure which set the conditions for a successful Russian ground invasion," he wrote.

This stark assessment of Russian military cyberwar power during the spat with the former Soviet republic is noteworthy, by the way. So far, experts have concluded the cyber attacks were merely aimed at defacing Georgian government Web sites and that there was no link to military action on the ground.