The Insider

Streamlining Plans
By Christopher J. Castelli
April 21, 2011 at 5:21 PM

Tired of reading lengthy, uninformative program strategies and systems engineering plans, Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's No. 2 acquisition official, has just issued new guidance that streamlines the templates for these key documents.

"The revised documents are intended to be shorter while providing the information necessary to support effective program planning and management decisions," he writes in an April 20 memo to the military departments and the defense agencies. The Defense Department has completely revamped the document formats to emphasize data and minimize descriptions, he notes. DOD also plans to issue new guidance on the format for life-cycle sustainment plans, which are now being separated from acquisition strategies. Further, the memo delegates to the services approval authority for other key documents such as corrosion prevention control plans.

Adieu Accessions Command
By John Liang
April 20, 2011 at 8:10 PM

The Army plans to inactivate the service's Accessions Command by the end of fiscal year 2012 "as part of the Department of Defense and Army efficiency reviews," according to a Pentagon statement released this afternoon. Further:

The decision is a result of a comprehensive study to develop appropriate options for the alignment of Accessions Command and other commands that fulfill human resource functions. The decision will streamline the Army’s accessioning process and produce savings by de-layering the command structure without increasing the risk to the Army.

In his memorandum to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of the Army John McHugh outlined five decisions which include inactivating Army Accessions Command, realigning Army Recruiting Command and Cadet Command under the Army Training and Doctrine Command, and continuing to align Human Resources Command under the deputy chief of staff, G-1.

Over the next year to 18 months this inactivation is expected to create economic savings through manpower reductions, including the elimination of two general officer and 65 other military positions, approximately 130 civilian positions, and 290 contractor man-years.

This action is not related to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure reduction-in-force notices being given to the residual U.S. Army Armor Center and School civilian employees at Fort Knox, Ky.

Within 60 days of the April 19, 2011, directive, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower & Reserve Affairs (ASA M&RA), Thomas Lamont, will present McHugh a phased implementation plan addressing issues associated with the inactivation of Accessions Command. The realignment calls for the establishment of an Army Marketing and Research Group (for national and corporate marketing and research) as a field operating agency to ASA M&RA in the Military District of Washington.

Additionally, the Accessions Support Brigade will be retained and aligned to the Army Marketing and Research Group as a direct reporting unit. It will remain at Fort Knox.

Accessions Command was activated at Fort Monroe, Va., on Feb. 15, 2002. It was originally chartered to better align accessioning and initial entry training by subordinating Recruiting Command, Cadet Command and initial entry training (IET) organizations under a single headquarters. The IET organizations were removed from Accessions Command after a few years.

Industrial Strength
By John Liang
April 19, 2011 at 9:42 PM

It's official. The old website for DOD's industrial policy office has been changed to reflect its new status as the manufacturing and industrial base policy office (http://www.acq.osd.mil/mibp/).

As Inside the Pentagon reported in January:

The Pentagon is facing a slew of new reporting and planning requirements and a call to renew its focus on acquiring services and building up its workforce as part of a recently signed law designed to reform the Defense Department's acquisition system.

Dubbed the "IMPROVE Acquisition Act," the new law calls on the department to periodically assess the performance of the elements of its acquisition systems, strengthen its IT acquisition workforce and review internal acquisition guidelines and federal acquisition regulations. . . .

The law also creates a deputy assistant secretary of defense for manufacturing and industrial base policy to serve as the principal adviser on industrial base issues under the department's acquisition chief, and provides the position with a fund. The congressional source noted that historically there has been an official performing these duties, but the law creates the deputy assistant secretary of defense post.

And a message on the renamed website states:

To encourage industry's innovative response to the needs of our Service members, the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has recommended a number of changes that will impact how the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Office of Industrial Policy is organized and funded.

First, the NDAA establishes the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy to reflect the expanded duties of the Industrial Policy office. The inclusion of "manufacturing" in the title ensures the linkage between "industry" and "manufacturing" is firmly established and effectively coordinated.

Reporting to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, the Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy will expand its current mission to include managing a new Industrial Base Fund used to:

*   support the monitoring and assessment of the industrial base

*   address critical issues in the industrial base related to urgent operational needs

*   support efforts to expand the industrial base

*   address supply chain vulnerabilities

Responsibility for the Defense Manufacturing Technology Program (ManTech) is also being moved into our new office. ManTech, whose mission is to develop technologies and processes that ensure the affordable and timely production and sustainment of defense systems, is currently overseen by the Directorate of Research in the office of the Director, Defense Research and Engineering.

To increase the Department's access to innovation and the benefits of competition, the 2011 NDAA also requires the Department to establish a program to expand the industrial base by identifying firms that are non-traditional suppliers. The program will include outreach regarding opportunities to obtain contracts and subcontracts to firms of all sizes in the vicinity of DoD installations. The program will also include an ongoing review of the industrial base, including the identification of markets of importance to the DoD in which firms that are not traditional suppliers can make a significant contribution.

It will be the Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy Office’s mission to inject a new spirit of innovation into the Department to ensure our Service members are the beneficiaries of the best American industry can provide.

RAND Retirement
By Christopher J. Castelli
April 19, 2011 at 8:19 PM

James Thomson, the president and CEO of the nonprofit RAND Corp. for more than two decades, announced today he will step down this fall.

Thomson, 66, was named RAND’s fourth president in 1989 and became the organization's longest-serving chief. Since the start of his tenure, RAND's annual budget has grown from $91 million to more than $250 million and its staff has grown from 1,050 to more than 1,700 people in offices across the world, according to the organization.

In the nonprofit's statement on the change, former Pentagon acquisition executive Paul Kaminski, chairman of the RAND board of trustees, praised Thomson's leadership and legacy. Kaminski is slated to lead a committee to search for Thomson’s successor.

O'Reilly Salutes Altwegg
By John Liang
April 19, 2011 at 5:05 PM

Retired Rear Adm. David Altwegg, the former Missile Defense Agency executive director, died last night, according to an internal email sent today by MDA Director Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly:

It is with great sadness that I am notifying you that Dave Altwegg passed away last night.  Dave's life was a testament to patriotism, dedication, leadership, mentorship and compassionate caring who inspired all of those that had the great fortune to serve with and know him.  Dave's every action, every day, showed he truly cared for the men, women and mission of the US Navy, MDA, and our Nation.  For the 64 years he served our country proudly.  His legacy of dedication, commitment, loyalty, excellence, achievement and exuberance for life will endure with this Agency.  I know you share in grief and fond memories with his wife, daughter and grandchildren -- please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Dave's plan was for an interment at Arlington cemetery.  It will most likely be a month or two before the interment occurs - we will keep everyone informed on all funeral arrangements.

Altwegg, a 1952 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, retired from federal service last February, according to an MDA statement released at the time:

A member of the Senior Executive Service since 1987, he has been assigned to MDA since 2002. As the MDA Executive Director he is the highest ranking civilian within the Agency, providing oversight, leadership, direction and guidance to all MDA functional staff, ensuring the effective integration and organization of all MDA functions required to develop and sustain an effective Ballistic Missile Defense System program. He also serves as a key interface to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Military Services and the Congress.

A retired Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy, Mr. Altwegg was appointed to the Senior Executive Service on January 15, 1987. He served in various positions of increasing responsibility in the U.S. Navy, leading the development of complex combat systems, and culminating with his appointment as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Theater Combat Systems. He reported to MDA in August 2002 and served as the Deputy for Program Integration and as the Deputy for Agency Operations before assuming his current position as MDA’s Executive Director. He is the senior advisor to the MDA Director on all issues relating to the Agency's policy and management activities, including responsibility for an approximate annual budget of more than $8 billion.

As a Naval Officer, his five command tours include USS MAHAN (DLG-11); USS HORNE (DLG-30); Naval Ship Weapon Systems Engineering Station, Port Hueneme, Calif.; Pacific Missile Test Center at Pt. Mugu, Calif. and Cruiser Destroyer Group TWO. After more than 38 years in uniform, Rear Admiral Altwegg retired from military service on November 1, 1985, having earned distinct honors including the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V”, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with one bronze star, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, and the Vietnamese Naval Advisory Award, Second Class with rosette. He is also authorized to wear the China Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal with two stars, and the United Nations Service Medal.

In what was to be his final briefing on the agency's annual budget, Altwegg in February 2010 blasted the agency's defense contractors for an across-the-board failure to maintain quality control when building missile defense systems, Inside Missile Defense reported:

"I'm not going to name names today, but I'm going to tell you, we continue to be disappointed in the quality that we are receiving from our prime contractors and their subs," MDA Executive Director and retired Rear Adm. David Altwegg told reporters during a Feb. 1 briefing on his agency's fiscal year 2011 budget request. "Very, very disappointed."

Altwegg said it wasn't just quality design issues, "but more in quality of products delivered. Which then results in re-work, and then . . . because most of these contracts are cost contracts, it costs the taxpayer more."

While declining to specifically identify any firms, "I am excusing no one from this conversation," he said, adding: "We have problems with all of our primes."

Officials from the Government Accountability Office will visit the agency this month to discuss quality issues, the retired rear admiral said.

The root cause of the problem, according to Altwegg, stems from a "lack of attention to detail. Missilery is all about detail." He cited a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System test in December where the target missile, which deployed in the air from a cargo aircraft via a drag chute, failed to ignite and plunged into the ocean.

"The failure review board disclosed a big-time quality problem" with that target system, Altwegg said.

When asked when the quality issues began to be problematic, he responded: "It's been a continuing effort in our programs."

Sidewinder Sale
By John Liang
April 19, 2011 at 3:29 PM

The Pentagon is seeking congressional permission for a $251 million foreign military sale of Sidewinder missiles and related equipment to the United Arab Emirates. According to a Defense Security Cooperation Agency statement:

The Government of the United Arab Emirates has requested a possible sale of 218 AIM-9X-2 SIDEWINDER Block II Tactical Missiles, 40 CATM-9X-2 Captive Air Training Missiles (CATMs), 18 AIM-9X-2 WGU-51/B Tactical Guidance Units, 8 CATM-9X-2 WGU-51/B Guidance Units, 8 Dummy Air Training Missiles, containers, support and test equipment, spare and repair parts, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor engineering and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics support. The estimated cost is $251 million.

This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that has been and continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.

The proposed sale of the weapons will allow the United Arab Emirates to deploy aircraft to materially assist the U.S. in overseas contingency operations. The weapons will strengthen the effectiveness and interoperability of a potential coalition partner, reduce the dependence on U.S. forces in the region, and enhance any coalition operations the U.S. may undertake. The United Arab Emirates will have no difficulty absorbing these missiles into its armed forces.

The proposed sale of this weapon system will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

The prime contractor will be the Raytheon Missiles Systems Company in Tucson, Arizona. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.

Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives to the UAE.

There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.

The sidewinder deal is the latest in a string of proposed transactions announced in the past year with the UAE, including sales of Patriot missile systems, Apache helicopters and Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS).

Under Review
By Tony Bertuca
April 18, 2011 at 3:38 PM

President Barack Obama said last week that he would direct Defense Secretary Robert Gates to find $400 billion in spending cuts to help reduce the nation's deficit. Accompanying  that drill, he said, would be “a fundamental review of America's missions, capabilities and our role in a changing world.”

For the Army's brand new chief of staff, it appears the work has already begun.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, who was sworn-in as the Army's 37th chief on April 11, wrote on his Facebook wall over the weekend that the service was beginning a “comprehensive review” of its “missions, roles, and capabilities as directed by the Secretary of Defense

The Obama administration's goal is to decrease defense spending by $400 billion by 2023. While the Army's contributions to the cuts remain unknown, Dempsey sought to frame the effort as “an opportunity to 'see ourselves,' to articulate what is core in our profession, and to determine what capabilities we simply must provide for the nation.”

Mission Cuts?
By Christopher J. Castelli
April 15, 2011 at 8:25 PM

The Defense Department might eliminate some of its missions during the Obama administration’s upcoming round of defense cuts, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos said today at a conference sponsored by the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis and Tufts University's Fletcher School. Amos said missions deemed unreasonable or unaffordable might be targeted, but he had no guess what those might be. He also said DOD might cut the capacity to do different missions simultaneously.

Earlier this week, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said President Obama's call Wednesday for a new review to find more savings in the defense budget would require careful attention to "managing risk" and determining which missions "the country is willing to have the military forgo."

Army Energy
By John Liang
April 15, 2011 at 5:06 PM

A senior Army official is pledging to boost the service's use of legal contract authorities to increase energy efficiencies or renewable energy use at its facilities, seeking advice from the White House Office of Management and Budget as well as government auditors about ways to better leverage the use of these authorities, Defense Environment Alert reports this week. Specifically:

The move follows findings released by the Defense Department that the military failed to meet key energy mandates last year, largely due to demands placed on the Army to move troops and to complete the base closure process.

The push to use more energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs), enhanced use leasing (EULs) and other third-party financing mechanisms available to it comes as the Army is gearing up to announce several installations that are expected to become so-called net-zero energy bases by 2020.

The Army wants to leverage private sector investments such as through ESPCs, especially at net-zero bases, to optimize the tight budgets it is now seeing, Army Assistant Secretary for Installations, Energy and the Environment Katherine Hammack said March 30 at an Association of Climate Change Officials (ACCO) forum in Washington.

Congress has given the military several authorities to leverage private sector investments in energy technology, she said, but of the 183 installations her office oversees, only 60 are using ESPCs, only 30 are using utility energy service contracts (UESCs) and only seven are using EULs. "These are underutilized authorities," she said, noting that is because sometimes "installations don't understand them, or they do not have the resources." Hammack also plans to increase the use of power purchase agreements, another type of contract authority that can be used to purchase or sell renewable energy-generated electricity.

She committed to increase the staffing and focus on leveraging these authorities "so that we can at least double if not increase quite a bit more our public-private partnerships and relationships."

Inside the Army reported on Monday that the service's operational energy strategy is focused on integrating innovative technologies capable of driving efficiency rather than fuel restrictions that might hamper the service's operations. Specifically:

While the service has yet to publish key guidance that would address specifics, Inside the Army has obtained an abstract of the Army's operational energy initial capabilities document (ICD) that reveals several newly created metrics to evaluate operationally based performance energy goals.

The new metrics include evaluations of "increased mobility" to measure the time required to relocate or deploy based on distance and force size, "increased mission focus" to determine the man-hours dedicated to a primary mission, "extended endurance" to track the hours or miles between energy resupply, "increased availability and resilience" to determine the number of alternative energy sources available, and the "reduction of the fully burdened cost" of energy.

The ICD also "draws upon a newly developed operational energy concept of operations or 'CONOP' for context that covers the range of military operations, from combat to humanitarian assistance" and addresses "urgent gaps" including power source duration, energy management processes, high-efficiency energy conversion and distribution systems, common power sources for soldier systems, reduced energy demand, energy interoperable interfaces and widely dispersed power generation, according to the abstract.

Katherine Hammack, the Army's assistant secretary for installations, energy and environment, told reporters April 5 that her office expected the ICD and CONOP to be published within 60 days, but noted that the service's operational energy strategy was focused less on regulating use and more on technological solutions that make installations, dismounted soldiers and vehicles more energy-efficient.

"We cannot tell soldiers that they have a fuel budget and, therefore, they cannot meet their mission requirements," she said. "We are not going to say that we are going to reduce our operational energy use overall by 20 percent because we don't know what missions we will be involved in. When we look at operational energy improvements, we're looking at it as a technology-based improvement. That is a generator that is more efficient, it is better management of a power grid so that you have fewer generators and those that you have are more highly loaded. It is tents that are better insulated and use less energy. It is lighting that is more efficient, it is leveraging solar energy and other renewable resources so that you use less energy."

MEADS Spending
By John Liang
April 14, 2011 at 3:18 PM

Spending $800 million to wind down the U.S. contribution to the Medium Extended Area Defense System over the next two fiscal years "simply makes no sense," House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee Chairman Michael Turner (R-OH) said this morning.

"We must ensure that missile defense dollars are not squandered," Turner told attendees of a National Defense University Foundation breakfast on Capitol Hill. "The budget request contains approximately $400 million in 2012 and another $400 million next year for the Medium Extended Area Defense System (MEADS) . . . that the department does not plan to continue beyond design and development due to cost and schedule overruns.

"I understand the government's contract termination obligations, but spending $800 million on a program that is not going forward into production simply makes no sense," he continued. "And these resources could be reallocated to other missile defense priorities."

When asked later on in the session what dollar amount would make more sense to him, Turner responded:

I think that there needs to be a significant effort on the part of DOD to negotiate a closure of the program that does not have that amount spent -- the $800 million. What we basically have is, DOD coming and saying that there's no wiggle room, that it's a set amount of cost, and that certainly cannot be. There are a number of programs and tradeoffs; there are areas where we can find savings, so our goal is going to be to apply pressure on the Department of Defense to get some savings and reductions in that amount, and we're going to be trying to accomplish that in our mark for the subcommittee. I think everyone wants to see the program wind down responsibly, but at the same time just not waste money, and the sticker price for winding it down cannot be the last answer.

Other lawmakers, however, think the United States should stop spending money on the program immediately, as Inside the Army reported on Monday:

Senior acquisition officials from the United States, Germany and Italy last week approved a plan to bring the development of the Medium Extended Air Defense System to an end within two years following the U.S. decision in February to quit the program, according to U.S. government and industry officials.

Endorsement of the national armament directors, or NADs, comes after the lower-level MEADS board of directors approved the "Increment 1" plan in March, as Inside the Army reported last month (ITA, March 28, p1).

The April 6 decision on the sidelines of a NATO Conference of National Armament Directors in Brussels follows a series of animated congressional hearings in Washington, where some lawmakers believe the United States should stop spending money on the program immediately. According to the terms of a 2004 memorandum of understanding, the remaining U.S. obligation is roughly $800 million over two more years.

Much of the frustration among lawmakers, led by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), is rooted in an assessment by Army Secretary John McHugh, who questioned Defense Department plans to finish the MEADS development phase and salvage whatever technology may come of it without fielding. "The $800 million proof of concept that you mentioned, we're not convinced is viable," McHugh told Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) during a March 3 House Armed Services Committee hearing.

In a March 31 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, McHugh said there would be "some value" in providing "goodwill" to Germany and Italy by staying in the program for another two years. He also acknowledged the benefits a "technology package" to be obtained in the end, but told Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) he was unsure what it would consist of.

Scuds In Ukraine
By John Liang
April 13, 2011 at 11:02 PM

The United States has helped the Ukraine in eliminating the latter country's Scud missile inventory, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said today. According to the transcript of today's press briefing, Toner said:

The project was concluded on April 11th, 2011. Over 185 Scud missile airframes and 50 transporter erector launchers were destroyed or demilitarized. Support equipment was also eliminated, including refueling trucks, warhead transport vans, command and control trucks, and other items associated with the Scud system. In addition, 1,441 tons of Scud missile liquid oxidizer fuel that posed an environmental and safety threat to Ukraine's population is also being eliminated.

Gates Reacts
By Dan Dupont
April 13, 2011 at 8:53 PM

Geoff Morrell, the spokesman for Defense Secretary Robert Gates, has issued a formal statement on Gates' behalf in reaction to the president's speech today. The full statement:

Secretary Gates believes the Department of Defense cannot be exempt from efforts to bring federal deficit spending under control. However, it is important that any reduction in funding be shaped by strategy and policy choices and not be a budget math exercise. The President's direction gets the sequence right by conducting a comprehensive review first and only then making decisions on specific funding options.

The President acknowledged that the Department of Defense has been at the forefront in paring back unneeded, duplicative and obsolete programs and administrative overhead. He wants us to continue this effort with the goal of significant additional savings over the coming decade. By the same token, the Secretary has been clear that further significant defense cuts cannot be accomplished without reducing force structure and military capability. The comprehensive review of missions, capabilities, and America's role in the world will identify alternatives for the President's consideration. The Secretary believes that this process must be about managing risk associated with future threats and national security challenges and identifying missions that the country is willing to have the military forgo.

POTUS Military Review
By Jason Sherman
April 13, 2011 at 6:30 PM

President Obama today announced plans for a sweeping assessment of the U.S. defense enterprise aimed at identifying where to cut hundreds of billions of dollars, part of a four-pronged effort to get the federal government's economic house in order.

In an address this afternoon, Obama quoted Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen's oft-repeated warning: “The greatest long-term threat to America's security is America's debt.”

Acknowledging Defense Secretary Robert Gates' efforts over the last year to wring $178 billion in savings for the Defense Department over the next five years, the president said: “I believe we can do that again.”

We need not only to eliminate waste and improve efficiency and effectiveness, but we're going to have to conduct a fundamental review of America's missions, capabilities, and our role in a changing world.

I intend to work with Secretary Gates and the Joint Chiefs on this review. And I will make specific decisions about spending after it is complete.

By The Numbers
By Christopher J. Castelli
April 12, 2011 at 11:32 PM

The Defense Department is “still going through the details” of House appropriators’ 459-page continuing resolution (H.R. 1473) for fiscal year 2011, DOD spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said late Tuesday. The legislation would appropriate about $513 billion for defense, approximately $17.4 billion for military construction and roughly $157.8 billion for the Overseas Contingency Operations account, he said.

The spending deal would rescind $2 billion from Pentagon weapons procurement accounts, InsideDefense.com reports.

Funding Iron Dome
By John Liang
April 12, 2011 at 6:48 PM

Looks like proponents of the Israeli Iron Dome rocket defense program, recently said to have proved itself in combat, can rest easy. House lawmakers, in their version of the bill that will fund the Defense Department during the final six months of fiscal year 2011, included the full $205 million for Iron Dome requested by the Obama administration.

According to the FY-11 appropriations bill, released early this morning by the House Rules Committee, lawmakers have allocated slightly more than $415 million for Israeli cooperative programs. Other than the $205 million for Iron Dome, $84.7 million "shall be for the Short Range Ballistic Missile Defense (SRBMD) program, including cruise missile defense research and development under the SRBMD program." Further, nearly $59 million "shall be available for an upper-tier component to the Israeli Missile Defense Architecture," the bill states.

Additionally, $66.4 million "shall be for the Arrow System Improvement Program including development of a long range, ground and airborne, detection suite, of which $12 million shall be for producing Arrow missile components in the United States and Arrow missile components in Israel to meet Israel’s defense requirements, consistent with each nation's laws, regulations and procedures: Provided further, That funds made available under this provision for production of missiles and missile components may be transferred to appropriations available for the procurement of weapons and equipment, to be merged with and to be available for the same time period and the same purposes as the appropriation to which transferred: Provided further, That the transfer authority provided under this provision is in addition to any other transfer authority contained in this Act."