The Insider

President Obama will renominate Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. James Winnefeld to continue serving in their positions for second two-year terms, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters today.

"They're the right two leaders," Hagel said. "And the four months I've been here, they have been immensely helpful to me in every way. So I'm very proud of the president's announcement, and I'm very pleased that, with concurrence through the United States Senate, I will have the opportunity to work with these two distinguished leaders of our country for another two years, and I think America's very fortunate to have Gen. Dempsey and Adm. Winnefeld."

In a separate statement, Obama said he was proud to renominate the two "superb" senior officers. "These two distinguished military leaders have earned my trust and that of the American people," Obama said. "I am inspired by their dedicated service to our great nation and the example they set for our women and men in uniform. I urge the Senate to re-confirm these outstanding officers as swiftly as possible."

Senate authorizers want the Army secretary to provide them with a report on the service's Installation Command's long-term management plan for the Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific, according to the Senate Armed Services Committee's report accompanying its mark of the fiscal year 2014 defense authorization bill released June 24.

"Given the unique and important nature of test facilities at the Atoll and its remoteness," the committee wants a report no later than April 30, 2014 if the provision becomes law.

The committee acknowledged that the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command had signed a Memorandum of Understanding to have the service's Installation Command maintain infrastructure at the Kwajalein Atoll, noting, "the committee is pleased with bringing the expertise of the Installation Command to help manage certain aspects of the Atoll's infrastructure."

The program manager for the Naval Enterprise Networks office has been "relieved of his duties" due to an "improper relationship and unprofessional behavior," according to a Navy statement.

Enterprise Information Systems Program Executive Officer Victor Gavin relieved NEN program manager Navy Capt. Shawn Hendricks yesterday "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to lead," the statement reads.

Deputy Program Manager Philip Anderson will temporarily take over until Hendricks' replacement is identified, according to the service. Hendricks has been reassigned to Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command's Washington, DC, office while his case is processed.

The Naval Enterprise Networks Program Office manages the acquisition life cycle of the Navy's enterprise-wide information technology networks. "NEN's portfolio includes the legacy Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI), the OCONUS Navy Enterprise Network (ONE-Net) and the Next Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN) contracting vehicle," the statement reads.

The Pentagon announced this week that the Navy had once again raised the NMCI program's contract ceiling by about $680 million, from $4.9 billion to $5.6 billion. As InsideDefense.com reported yesterday:

The modification adds an option to the Navy's contract with Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Services, extending the period of performance by two months, from April 2014 to June 2014, according to the contract announcement.

"The [continuity of services contract] ensures that the scope of NMCI IT services and performance levels delivered are sustained until the Next-Generation Enterprise Network is satisfactorily providing the replacement services," the statement reads.

This option would only be exercised if the government has not transitioned to the Next-Generation Enterprise Network. The estimated award date of the NGEN contracts for transport and enterprise services is this summer, and the NMCI contract ends on April 30, 2014.

The Pentagon recently released an updated doctrine document on the Defense Transportation System.

The June 6 document "provides joint doctrine for the planning, command and control, and employment of resources within the Defense Transportation System."

Changes to the document since it was last published in March 2003 include the following:

* Adds language on United States Transportation Command's (USTRANSCOM's) role as the Department of Defense (DOD) Distribution Process Owner.

* Introduces the Integrated Data Environment/Global Transportation Network Convergence as the designated DOD system for in-transit visibility.

* Reflects the correct name of USTRANSCOM's Army Service Component Command, the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, and its new status as a major subordinate command of the US Army Materiel Command.

* Refines USTRANSCOM's roles and responsibilities for DOD Military Customs and Border Clearance Program (CBCP).

* Adds language on the Department of Homeland Security and its relationship to DOD.

* Expands descriptions of sealift transportation resource.

* Adds a section under land resources on continental US commercial resources.

* Adds a section under land resources on Defense Transportation Coordination Initiative.

* Expands a section under land resources on outside the continental US common-user land transportation.

* Expands the geographic combatant commander’s responsibilities in the theater resources section.

* Expands the description of each of the Service’s assets in the pre-positioning and forward stocking section.

* Adds a section addressing automated identification technology.

* Defines USTRANSCOM's responsibilities for DOD Military CBCP.

Cooperation with Russia on missile defense remains a “priority” for the Obama administration, according to Frank Rose, the deputy assistant secretary of state for space and defense policy. During a remarks at the Capitol Hill Club this morning, Rose said the U.S. government hopes to convince Russia through said cooperation that American plans for interceptor sites in Eastern Europe pose no threat to Moscow's nuclear deterrent.

Rose's speech offered few clues about what exactly cooperation would entail. In fact, in addressing U.S. opposition to previous Russian proposals that would effectively erode Washington's decision-making authority, Rose spent more time discussing roadblocks than common ground.

Russian officials have proposed dividing up the defense of NATO countries between the two former Cold War enemies, a prospect that Rose said is incompatible with NATO's bedrock policy of a common defense. Rose also rejected what he said are "legal guarantees" demanded by Russia about some of America's missile defense capabilities and how they would be used.

The emerging Senate Armed Services Committee's fiscal year 2014 defense authorization bill seems to dovetail nicely with the Obama administration's decision-making calculus on the issue. One the one hand, a committee statement on the bill said it would be "in the national security interest to pursue efforts at missile defense cooperation with Russia that would enhance our security, particularly against missile threats from Iran." On the other hand, the same section reads that the bill would “prohibit” the transfer of  "sensitive missile defense information" that could compromise U.S. national security to the Russians.

A bilateral protocol for the new U.S.-Russian follow-on agreement to the cooperative threat reduction program, announced by President Obama earlier this week, reveals the kind of compromise Moscow and Washington leaders have struck on the previously thorny issue of liabilities.

According to the document, released by the State Department today, American personnel engaged in nonproliferation work under the new agreement are immune from prosecution by Russian authorities unless the Russians believe that those individuals willingly caused an accident "with intent to cause personal injury, loss of life, or damage."

In such a case, officials from both countries will hold "prompt consultations and attempt to achieve a mutual understanding" within 90 days of Russian notification. If a mutual understanding cannot be reached, immunity clauses covering the accused individuals would no longer apply, according to the protocol.

The protocol is applied "provisionally" beginning on June 17, 2013 and will enter into force once both countries have completed the necessary “internal procedures,” the document reads.

The National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force plans to hold a meeting next week, according to a notice published in this morning's Federal Register:

Purpose of Meeting: The members of the Commission will hear testimony from individual witnesses and then will discuss the information presented at the hearings.

Agenda: Consultants, representatives from defense think tanks, and leadership from the National Governors Association are invited to speak at the public hearing and are asked to address matters pertaining to the U.S. Air Force, the Air National Guard, and the U.S. Air Force Reserve such as their study results and recommendations. These witnesses are also asked to address the evaluation factors under consideration by the Commission for a U.S. Air Force structure that -- (a) Meets current and anticipated requirements of the combatant commands; (b) achieves an appropriate balance between the regular and reserve components of the Air Force, taking advantage of the unique strengths and capabilities of each; (c) ensures that the regular and reserve components of the Air Force have the capacity needed to support current and anticipated homeland defense and disaster assistance missions in the United States; (d) provides for sufficient numbers of regular members of the Air Force to provide a base of trained personnel from which the personnel of the reserve components of the Air Force could be recruited; (e) maintains a peacetime rotation force to support operational tempo goals of 1:2 for regular members of the Air Forces and 1:5 for members of the reserve components of the Air Force; and (f) maximizes and appropriately balances affordability, efficiency, effectiveness, capability, and readiness. Individual Commissioners will also report their activities, information collection, and analyses to the full Commission.

The meeting will take place on June 26 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., according to the notice.

The expected changes to the service's force structure has lawmakers understandably worried. Inside the Air Force reported last week that a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee had drawn up an amendment to the panel's fiscal year 2014 defense authorization bill that would freeze some force structure changes proposed by the Air Force and already approved by Congress until next summer:

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services airland subcommittee, described the amendment during the subcommittee's brief mark-up session this morning. The amendment would prevent the "transfer, conveyance or divestment" of any Air Force intra-theater airlift assets until 120 days after the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force submits its report to Congress.

That report is due next February, meaning that Wicker's proposal would stop the transfer or other adjustment of the service's C-130 and C-27 aircraft fleets until around June 2014.

Wicker voiced his displeasure with the way Congress approved the Air Force's total force plan (TFP), a revision to the service's original FY-13 budget request that recommended retiring hundreds of aircraft, during a House-Senate conference last year over the FY-13 Defense Authorization Act. The TFP reduced the number of aircraft recommended for retirement and attempted to bring new missions to units losing aircraft but still centered on doing away with or re-basing many legacy intra-theater aircraft.

"I remain deeply concerned about the fiscal year 2013 defense authorization conference decision made behind closed doors and without consultation of all conferees that enabled the Air Force to begin implementation of its total force plan," he said. "I'm convinced that some elements of the TFP were shortsighted and may adversely impact our intra-theater airlift capability."