The Insider

FYI: FMS
By John Liang
December 12, 2012 at 1:00 PM

The Pentagon this week announced slightly more than $1 billion in proposed foreign military sales to Israel and Japan.

According to a pair of Dec. 10 Defense Security Cooperation Agency statements, DOD has notified Congress of a proposed $647 million sale to Israel of 6,900 Joint Direct Attack Munitions tail kits and associated equipment as well as a proposed $421 million sale of Aegis Combat System upgrades to two Japanese destroyers.

On the specifics of the JDAM sale to Israel, DSCA states:

The Government of Israel has requested a possible sale of 6,900 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) tail kits (which include 3,450 JDAM Anti-Jam KMU-556 (GBU-31) for MK-84 warheads; 1,725 KMU-557 (GBU-31) for BLU-109 warheads and 1,725 KMU-572 (GBU-38) for MK-82 warheads); 3,450 MK-84 2000 lb General Purpose Bombs; 1,725 MK-82 500 lb General Purpose Bombs; 1,725 BLU-109 Bombs; 3,450 GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs; 11,500 FMU-139 Fuses; 11,500 FMU-143 Fuses; and 11,500 FMU-152 Fuses. Also included are spare and repair parts, support equipment, personnel training and training equipment, publications and technical documentation, U.S. Government and contractor engineering and technical support, and other related elements of program support. The estimated cost is $647 million.

The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives.

The proposed sale of munitions will enable Israel to maintain operational capability of its existing systems. Israel, which already has these munitions in its inventory, will have no difficulty absorbing these additional munitions into its armed forces.

And as for the Aegis Combat System sale to Japan:

The Government of Japan has requested a possible sale for the upgrade of previously provided AEGIS Combat Systems as part of the modernization of two Atago Class Ships (DDG-177 ATAGO and DDG-178 ASHIGARA) with Integrated Air Missile Defense capability. The modifications/replacements consist of the following components: J6 AEGIS Weapon System Computer Program, 2 Multi-Mission Signal Processors for existing AN/SPY-1D(V) radar, 2 Common Processor Systems, 2 ship sets Common Display Systems (44 OJ-827(V)1 Tri Screen Display Consoles, 8 Display Processor Cabinets, 2 Video Wall Screen and Projector Systems, 46 Flat Panel Displays, and 2 Distributed Video Systems), 2 ship sets AN/SPQ-15 Digital Video Distribution Systems, 2 ship sets Operational Readiness Test Systems hosted in AEGIS Weapon Systems computing infrastructure, Ballistic Missile Defense (Mission Planner Blade server processors hosted in CPS, and 2 Kill Assessment Systems/Weapon Data Recording Cabinets), Vertical Launching System MK41 upgrade to Baseline 7 (24 Motor Control Panels MK 448 Mod 1, 48 Programmable Power4 Supplies MK 179 Mod 0, and 24 Launch Sequencers MK 5 Mod 1, 4 Fiber Optic Distribution Boxes, and 24 Single Module Junction Boxes), 4 Launch Control Units MK 235 Mod 7 with Global Positioning System Integrator, 2 ship sets Gun Weapon Systems MK 34, and 2 ship sets MK 20 Electro-Optical Sensor Systems. Also included: software updates, ordnance alterations and engineering changes, spare and repair parts, support equipment, tools and test equipment, technical data and publications, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics support. The estimated cost is $421 million.

School Days
By John Liang
December 11, 2012 at 4:37 PM

Pentagon procurement officials working on programs valued at $1 billion or higher are now required to take part in a "Service Acquisition Workshop or an equivalent program, as provided by the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) or other appropriate provider," according to a new Defense Department memo.

The Dec. 6 memo, issued by Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy Director Richard Ginman, states that unless it is waived, "this training is required before a service acquisition strategy will be approved by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Ginman adds that officials should also think about applying the requirement to efforts valued at more than $100 million. Further:

The SAW, as offered by DAU, is an interactive, centrally-funded course that applies performance-based techniques to services acquisitions. During a SAW, the DAU staff travels to the site of the multi-functional team to facilitate a four day workshop tailored to a given requirements set. Participants learn how to use the Acquisition Requirements Roadmap Tool (ARRT) to define and refine requirements in order to create an initial draft of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) and the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP). This process has proven to significantly improve the quality of requirement documents while: reducing costs, increasing the likelihood of effective competition, and shortening acquisition lead times.

View the full memo.

Info Ops
By John Liang
December 10, 2012 at 4:43 PM

The Pentagon recently issued an updated doctrine statement on information operations.

The Nov. 27 document "provides joint doctrine for the planning, preparation, execution, and assessment of information operations across the range of military operations." According to a summary of changes to the prior doctrine, published in February 2006, the updated document:

* Identifies the information environment as the aggregate of individuals, organizations, and systems that collect, process, disseminate or act on information.

* Defines information-related capabilities (IRCs) as tools, techniques or activities employed within a dimension of the information environment, which can be used to achieve a specific end(s).

* Introduces the information-influence relational framework as a model illustrating the use of means and ways, through the applications of IRCs, to achieve an end(s) through influence of a target audience (TA).

* Defines TA as an individual or group selected for influence.

* Describes information operations (IO) as the integrated employment, during military operations, of IRCs in concert with other lines of operation, to influence, disrupt, corrupt, or usurp the decision making of adversaries and potential adversaries while protecting our own.

* Designates the IO staff as the combatant command focal point for IO and the IO cell as the planning element responsible for integration and synchronization of IRCs to achieve national or combatant commander objectives against adversaries or potential adversaries.

* Emphasizes IO must be integrated into all steps of the joint operation planning process.

* Articulates that it is vital to integrate multinational partners into joint IO planning, in order to gain agreement on an integrated and achievable IO strategy.

Launch Time
By Gabe Starosta
December 7, 2012 at 10:19 PM

The United Launch Alliance announced this afternoon that it has identified the problem experienced by its Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle rocket booster during an October Air Force launch, and ULA says it is confident there is no risk that a launch planned for Tuesday will go awry.

In a statement from ULA spokeswoman Jessica Rye, issued after 5 p.m. today, the company said a fuel leak in the upper-stage engine of the Delta IV rocket booster used in October was to blame for the lower-than-expected thrust experienced during launch. The Air Force and ULA plan to send the service's X-37B spaceplane, also known as OTV-3, into orbit on Tuesday using an Atlas V booster, which uses a variant of the same RL-10 upper-stage engine. All "crossover" risks, though, have been taken care of, Rye said.

"The ULA investigation has concluded that a fuel leak occurred in a specific area of the interior of the thrust chamber, and that this leak started during the first engine start sequence," according to the statement. "Although the investigation into the flight data anomaly continues, all credible crossover implications from the Delta anomaly for the OTV-3 Atlas vehicle and engine system have been thoroughly addressed and mitigated, culminating in the flight clearance decision for the OTV-3 launch."

Inside the Air Force attended the Oct. 4 launch of a Global Positioning System satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. The flawed launch triggered a formal accident investigation board from Air Force Space Command, only the second space-driven AIB in the last decade, as ITAF reported in the weeks following the event.

AFSAB Meeting
By John Liang
December 7, 2012 at 3:33 PM

The Air Force Scientific Advisory Board will hold its quarterly meeting next month, according to a Federal Register notice posted this morning.

The Jan. 15-16 meeting will take place at the SAFTAS Conference and Innovation Center in Arlington, VA. Parts of the Jan. 15 session will be open to the public, according to the notice, which further states:

The purpose of this Air Force Scientific Advisory Board quarterly meeting is to introduce the FY13 SAB study topics tasked by the Secretary of the Air Force: countering electro-optical and infrared targeting system threats to our aircraft, disaggregation of satellite mission applications, and communicating in a contested environment. The SAB will receive presentations that address relevant subjects to these studies and the SAB mission. This board meeting will also include the publication status of the FY12 studies, the latest updates on the ongoing study outbriefs, as well as discussion of the SAB's review of Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) science and technology investments. The remaining FY13 Board schedule will also be discussed.

The board also recently revamped its website. Future quarterly meetings will take place on the following dates:

Spring
Apr 9-12, 2013
Location: Barksdale AFB, LA
Apr 8 - Study Chairs brief EXCOM

Summer
June 17-28, 2013
Location: Crystal City, VA

Fall
Sep 23-24, 2013
Location: Crystal City, VA
Sep 25 - New Member Training

View InsideDefense.com's compilation of the latest AFSAB reports.

CENTCOM Nominee
By Christopher J. Castelli
December 6, 2012 at 6:28 PM

President Obama intends to nominate Gen. Lloyd Austin as the next commander of U.S. Central Command, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a statement. Austin is the vice chief of staff of the Army. If confirmed by the Senate, he would succeed Gen. James Mattis as CENTCOM's chief. Here's Panetta's full statement:

"I am pleased to announce that President Obama intends to nominate Gen. Lloyd Austin as the next commander of U.S. Central Command.

"Lloyd Austin, who currently serves as vice chief of staff of the Army, is one of the military's most seasoned combat leaders - with extensive experience in the CENTCOM area of responsibility. Gen. Austin led the 3rd Infantry Division from the front in the opening months of the Iraq war, earning a Silver Star for valor. He later commanded the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan, led Multi-National Corps-Iraq from February 2008 until April 2009, and then commanded U.S. Forces-Iraq from September 2010 through the completion of the mission in December 2011.

"During his final deployment to Iraq, Gen. Austin led our military efforts at a particularly important time, overseeing the drawdown of U.S. forces and equipment while simultaneously helping to ensure that hard-fought security gains were preserved and that Iraqis could secure and govern themselves. Lloyd would bring an important combination of strategic thinking, regional knowledge and proven judgment to one of the most critical posts in the department.

"Gen. Austin is in the mold of the extraordinary CENTCOM commander he would succeed, Gen. James Mattis. Jim has a distinguished record as a combatant commander, having also led the former Joint Forces Command from 2007-2010. I will have much more to say about Jim Mattis, who I believe will go down as one of the most celebrated battlefield leaders and strategic military thinkers of our time. He has been an exemplary leader of U.S. Central Command at a critical time for America's vital interests in the Middle East and South Asia. He has helped build regional security cooperation, advanced the cause of security and stability, and ensured that our forces are postured and prepared for any contingency in the region. I have relied on Jim every day I have served as secretary, and am profoundly grateful for his service to me and to the nation.

"Americans are safer because one of our nation's great warriors, Jim Mattis, is standing watch over this volatile and important part of the world. I am grateful that we have found another warrior and patriot, Lloyd Austin, to carry his legacy forward and to command thousands of troops who are willing to fight and to die to defend our nation."

Strategic Sourcing
By John Liang
December 6, 2012 at 3:08 PM

With the majority of federal government spending being driven by a few large components -- chief among them the Defense Department -- "these agencies are critical to the implementation and success of government-wide strategic sourcing efforts," a new memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget states. "Many of these agencies have experience with strategic sourcing efforts, and some of them currently manage government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) that could be adapted to support strategic sourcing efforts."

Consequently, OMB has established the Strategic Sourcing Leadership Council (SSLC), according to the Dec. 5 memo. Chaired by the federal procurement policy administrator, the council consists of representatives from the Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs departments as well as the General Services Administration, NASA "and other agencies as designated by the administrator," the memo reads.

Specific to the Pentagon, the memo states:

DOD's participation on the SSLC includes representatives from the Office of the Secretary of Defense; from each of the Departments of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force; and from the Defense Logistics Agency. In addition, because small businesses playa vital role in Federal contracting, the SSLC includes a representative from the Small Business Administration.

The SSLC shall, in consultation with the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, the Chief Financial Officers Council, the Chief Information Officers Council, the Performance Improvement Council, and other interagency councils as necessary, lead the government's efforts to increase the use of government-wide management and sourcing of goods and services. The SSLC will meet regularly to provide long-term leadership of the government's strategic sourcing efforts as well as to take actions that save taxpayer dollars now.

A Government Accountability Office report issued in September found that "improved and expanded use" of strategic sourcing "could save billions in annual procurement costs." As InsideDefense.com reported:

The report -- dated Sept. 20 -- states that GAO reviewed strategic sourcing efforts at four agencies -- the Defense, Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs and Energy departments -- "that were among the 10 agencies with the highest fiscal year 2011 procurement obligations."

With regard to the Pentagon, GAO "reviewed the efforts of four component agencies -- Air Force, Army, Navy, and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) -- which accounted for 88 percent of DOD spending in fiscal year 2011, as well as department-wide efforts managed by DOD's Program Acquisition and Strategic Sourcing (PASS) office, which is within DOD's Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) organization and reports to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (AT&L)," the report states.

In this week's memo, OMB wants the SSLC to submit by March 2013 "a set of recommendations for management strategies for specific goods and services -- including several IT commodities identified through the PortfolioStat process -- that would ensure that the Federal government receives the most favorable offer possible." At a minimum, OMB wants the recommendations to:

* identify at least five products and/or services for which new government-wide acquisition vehicles or management approaches should be developed and made mandatory, to the maximum extent practicable, for the SSLC agencies;

* for these identified commodities and solutions, provide a supporting spend analysis, estimate savings opportunities, and define metrics for tracking progress;

* identify existing contract vehicles and relevant contract renewal dates that could be used to develop transition strategies to the new solutions;

* identify agencies that should serve as "executive agents" to lead the development of each of these new solutions (with the assistance of interagency teams comprised of agency experts);

* propose plans and management strategies to maximize the use of each strategic sourcing effort;

* propose vendor management or other strategies that could be used to reduce the variability in the prices paid for similar goods and services, where the development of new government-wide vehicles may not be immediately feasible; and

* propose other savings strategies that could be implemented, such as adapting existing vehicles (e.g., Multiple Award Schedules, GWACs, and Multi-agency Contracts) to ensure that certain characteristics of strategic sourcing are followed.

To view the full OMB memo, click here.

Sequestration Data Call
By Christopher J. Castelli
December 6, 2012 at 1:58 PM

The Office of the Management and Budget’s new guidance on sequestration directs the Defense Department and other federal agencies to provide more information and analysis needed to update the estimates in the 400-page Sequestration Transparency Act (STA) report that OMB issued in September and to “finalize calculations of the spending reductions that would be required,” according to an OMB spokeswoman. The updates are needed in light of the current continuing resolution and other developments since September, she said.

The September report detailed preliminary estimates of sequestration’s potential impact on more than 1,200 budget accounts, including initial determinations of the exempt and non-exempt status of those accounts. OMB’s new guidance to federal agencies, issued earlier this week, is technical in nature, the spokeswoman noted. “For example, we requested the sequestrable federal administrative expenses in otherwise exempt mandatory accounts,” she said.

The Pentagon is consulting with OMB and has been instructed to pursue internal planning on sequestration, DOD Press Secretary George Little said Wednesday. "We are at the very start of this process," he said. "We don't have all of the details firmed up. Naturally we hope very much that sequestration will be avoided, and that we don't enter that phase in early January 2013. We do not want to go off the fiscal cliff, but in consultation with OMB, we think that it is prudent at this stage . . . to begin at least some limited internal planning."

“The administration remains focused on reaching agreement as we’ve been discussing on a balanced deficit reduction plan that avoids sequestration,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Wednesday. “Leaders of both parties have pledged to work together in the coming weeks, and we are confident, as I just said, that we can reach an agreement. However, with less than one month left before a potential sequestration order would have to be issued, the Office of Management and Budget must take certain steps to ensure the administration is ready to issue such an order should Congress fail to act.”

The guidance is not a change in the administration’s commitment to reach an agreement and avoid sequestration, Carney said. “OMB is simply ensuring that the administration is prepared, should it become necessary to issue such an order,” he said. “OMB will continue to consult with agencies and will provide additional guidance as needed. This is just acting responsibly because of the potential for this happening.”

ECSS 'Mismanagement'
By John Liang
December 5, 2012 at 9:38 PM

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) and Ranking Member John McCain (R-AZ) are pressing the Air Force for more information on what they call the "mismanagement" that led to the service's termination of the billion-dollar Expeditionary Combat Support System program.

"From what we know to date, this case appears to be one of the most egregious examples of mismanagement in recent memory," the senators write in a letter sent today to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. "We believe that the public and the taxpayers deserve a clear explanation of how the Air Force came to spend more than $1 billion without receiving any significant military capability, who will be held accountable, and what steps the Department is taking to ensure that this will not happen again."

The Air Force's decision to cancel ECSS was a key piece in the service's plan to reach financial auditability by 2017, Inside the Air Force reported last month:

ECSS, led by prime contractor CSC until the company's contract was canceled earlier this year, was designed as a next-generation logistics program that could consolidate hundreds of legacy software systems and streamline supply chain management and many other functions. The program has failed to deliver those capabilities, though, and service spokesman Ed Gulick announced the program's termination in a Nov. 8 statement.

"The Air Force has concluded the ECSS program is no longer a viable option for meeting the FY-17 Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) statutory requirements," the statement reads. "Therefore, we are canceling the program and moving forward with other options in order to meet both requirements. As our acquisition and logistics leadership worked through the 3rd program restructure in the last 3 years, it became apparent the Air Force will be better served by developing an entirely new strategy versus revamping the ECSS system of record again.

"The scope of ECSS continues to decrease even as the costs continue to increase and the schedule continues to lengthen," Gulick continued.

Delays and cost overruns became a fact of life for ECSS in recent years. The Air Force says $1.03 billion has been spent on the program since 2005, with no significant military capability to show for it. Acting Air Force Under Secretary Jamie Morin told Congress earlier this year he was "personally appalled at the limited capabilities that program has produced relative to that amount of investment."

In their letter today, Levin and McCain state they want answers to the following questions:

1. What has the Air Force gained from the $1 billion it has spent on this program and what capabilities, if any, will be salvaged from the program?

2. What were the root causes of the failure of the ECSS program and why did it take so long for senior management to recognize these problems and cancel the program?

3. Why were previous efforts to restructure the ECSS program ineffective, and why did it take so long for senior management to recognize that they had been ineffective?

4. What changes will the Department make in the way that it manages its procurement of its other enterprise resource planning (ERP) programs to avoid similar problems in the future? In particular, what steps will the Department take to ensure: (1) appropriate software selection; (2) adequate government ERP program management skills; (3) consistency in ERP acquisition processes; and (4) an infrastructure able to support ERP performance needs?

5. What role did ineffective business process re-engineering (BPR) have in the problems the Air Force experienced with ECSS and how is this issue being addressed for future ERP programs?

6. What steps will the Department take to ensure that the prime contractor’s failure to perform as required is appropriately considered as past performance in connection with future DOD contract award decisions?

7. What steps has the Department taken to review its other ERP programs in light of this experience and to ensure that they are not suffering from problems similar to those experienced by ECSS?

8. What options is the Air Force looking at to replace ECSS and how much are these options likely to cost? When will a comprehensive plan be in place?

9. In the absence of ECSS, how does the Air Force intend to meet the original objectives of ECSS and meet the 2014 and 2017 audit-readiness deadlines?

10. If the Air Force is planning to rely on legacy systems as part of its mitigation approach, what steps is the Department taking to identify and assess these legacy systems to determine what modifications (including manual workarounds) will need to be implemented and when will the Department have a timeline in place for implementing these corrective actions?

'Thelma And Louise'
By John Liang
December 5, 2012 at 8:27 PM

Traditionally, attendees of the Aerospace Industries Association's annual year-end luncheon are treated to a detailed overview of aerospace and defense revenues for the past year as well as a projection of the upcoming one.

That wasn't the case this time.

AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey devoted most of her speech to the looming threat of sequestration, warning that the aerospace and defense industry is "getting closer to a 'Thelma and Louise' moment, when we careen off into the void."

Blakey added that "the time for real work, real negotiation and a real solution" to sequestration "is now."

Conferring
By John Liang
December 5, 2012 at 3:23 PM

After the Senate passed the fiscal year 2013 defense authorization bill yesterday, all of the members of the Armed Services Committee were, as is customary, designated as the conferees who will meet with their House counterparts to hammer out a compromise bill for the president to sign.

A list of House conferees has not yet been released.

View yesterday's floor debate.

Senate Passes Defense Bill
By John Liang
December 4, 2012 at 10:37 PM

The full Senate late this afternoon passed the fiscal year 2013 defense authorization bill by a 98-0 vote.

To view the past week's floor debate, which includes the amendments the senators considered, see below (today's floor debate will be added tomorrow morning):

Senate 12/3/2012 Floor Debate On The FY-13 Defense Policy Bill

Senate 11/30/2012 Floor Debate On The FY-13 Defense Policy Bill

Senate 11/29/2012 Floor Debate On The FY-13 Defense Policy Bill

Panetta on MEADS
By Sebastian Sprenger
December 4, 2012 at 5:35 PM

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last week moved quickly to notify lawmakers about what he called a successful Nov. 29 test of the Medium Extended Air Defense System. MEADS is on the chopping block in the Senate's defense authorization bill that's being debated on the chamber's floor now.

"In light of this solid success and the need to archive data that will allow the United States and our partners, Germany and Italy, to capitalize on the demonstrated capabilities, we should provide the final year of funding to complete the PoC [proof of concept] development and testing against ballistic missiles," Panetta writes in a Nov. 30 letter to the chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services committees.

"The Army is already considering ways to link the knowledge gained from the tri-national MEADS PoC program to its future air and missile defense development plans," Panetta adds.

At stake is the administration's fiscal year 2013 request of roughly $400 million. That sum would fund the final year of development work plus an intercept test against a tactical ballistic missile a year from now.

Contract Launch
By Courtney Albon
December 4, 2012 at 3:37 PM

The Air Force on Monday awarded a $900 million contract to three companies for its Rocket Systems Launch Program.

Lockheed Martin, Orbital Sciences, and Space Exploration Technologies won the deal for RSLP, which will support ballistic missile testing and sub-orbital space launch initiatives. According to the contract announcement, work will take place in Utah, Arizona and California and is expected to conclude in November 2017.

RSLP, part of the Space and Missile Systems Center's Space Development and Test Wing, grew from the Advanced Ballistic Reentry Systems program, which was established in 1963 to manage reentry vehicle research and to reactivate ICBM assets.

The program also supports the Missile Defense Agency by launching inactive ICBMs to be used as targets during flight tests, and there are plans for RSLP to support additional tests for NASA, according to an Air Force fact sheet. The service considers RSLP to be a cost-effective launch option for small space vehicles and has to date conducted eight space missions using Minuteman and Peacekeeper rocket motors.

The Air Force notes in its fact sheet that “the program's primary goal is to be the provider of choice by offering highly reliable and cost-effective launch services in support of DOD and other government agencies.”

Cooperative Threat Reduction
By John Liang
December 3, 2012 at 10:48 PM

Acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller today called the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program "a model for how an interagency team should operate."

Speaking at a forum on the CTR program at the National Defense University, Gottemoeller said when the effort "was first beginning to take off" in the early 1990s, "it was during that period that we first understood that we had to have a profoundly interagency effort in order to advance these programs and get them cemented in place." Further:

You can imagine the challenge in terms of dealing with very disparate countries who were going through extremely complicated political, security and economic transitions themselves, but our own national government was not really organized at the time to work in this way together, and so a pattern . . . of working [together] was established way back at the outset of these programs in 1992, 1993 and going forward, because it was absolutely necessary to hang together, otherwise we never would have been able to, I think, put the pieces together and work successfully with our Congress which was extraordinarily important [as was] the continuing engagement of Sen. [Sam] Nunn and Sen. [Richard] Lugar was very beneficial from that point of view.

But that's a . . . tradition . . . that was well established and continues to this day, so when I said, we're synced up among State, Energy and Defense -- and by the way, very much with the national security staff in the White House leading the way -- it is because it is a well-established tradition that has proven its worth, and we know that as we face new challenges going forward, we're absolutely going to have to have priorities set, and a clear vision as a national government as to how we want to proceed.

So I would say it's based on sound experience and it's also based on our now very real recognition of the challenges that ensue from trying to continue to advance these very, well, productive but in many ways innovative programs. At every point along the way, you are innovating your interactions with your governments, figuring out how to work the particular challenges of individual projects, and you're also innovating and thinking about how to get the resources of our national government to work most effectively together, and oh by the way, I see many individuals here from our national laboratories as well, who are always very important in both the creative aspects in thinking about how a project should be formulated but also in terms of their implementation.