The Insider

MDA's New Deputy
By John Liang
September 17, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Not all the missile defense news out today has to do with Europe. The Pentagon just announced that Navy Capt. Randall Hendrickson has been selected for rear admiral (lower half) and would be assigned as deputy director of the Missile Defense Agency.

Hendrickson commanded the Aegis cruiser Lake Erie (CG-70) from 2006 to 2008. In 2007, the Lake Erie shot down an errant U.S. intelligence satellite. He also commanded the destroyer Ramage (DDG-61) from March 2002 to November 2003.

Hendrickson replaces Navy Rear Adm. Joseph Horn, who in July was reassigned as MDA's program director for Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense.

According to the Pentagon statement, Hendrickson is serving as head of theater missile defense (N865) in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.

Army Advice
By Kate Brannen
September 16, 2009 at 5:00 AM

While the Army briefs the Pentagon and Congress on its new modernization plans (now that FCS is no more), defense analysts around town are offering their advice on how the Army should prepare for the future.

Last month, Center for American Progress' Lawrence Korb and retired Lt. Gen. Joseph Yakovac discussed Army modernization at a Center for National Policy event. And CSBA's Todd Harrison gave a presentation on the funding challenges the Army faces.

Now, in a new paper, the Heritage Foundation's Mackenzie Eaglen chimes in.

She employs the buzzwords of the day: full spectrum and hybrid threats. She writes that for the Army to maintain "full-spectrum capabilities in an operating environment of hybrid threats," it will need to develop more dual-use and multirole platforms. The future force will likely consist of legacy and modern vehicles and equipment operating together, she writes, advising Army leaders to keep this in mind as they plan for the future.

Eaglen advises the Army to better articulate to Congress the future scenarios where medium-weight combat vehicles will prevail. She says this will also help "identify the specific capabilities needed for the revamped Army manned ground vehicle program."

She offers two possible future scenarios -- both Army interventions to prevent the invasion of a country. She describes the Army intervening in a Caucasus country and an intervention to stop a tank invasion in the Andean region of South America, describing both as potential hybrid conflicts.

"Many other contingencies are certainly possible, although the central question is to answer where Army modernization meets operational requirements in the Pentagon's concept of operations," writes Eaglen.

In her vision of hybrid conflict, "Army leaders should continue investing in land stealth, sophisticated active defense systems, an electro-optical countermeasures system and a fire-control system with a radar and laser range finder."

And, Eaglen writes, "many of the Future Combat Systems' elements should be preserved if not further refined first. "

Division of Labor
By Sebastian Sprenger
September 16, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The American Civil Liberties Union has cautioned a newly formed Defense Department advisory panel against making recommendations that would concentrate too much disaster response responsibilities in the hands of the military.

"(W)e ask the panel to refrain from assuming at the outset that choosing to use military forces to respond to domestic emergencies is automatically the best course of action," ACLU officials wrote in a Sept. 10 letter to DOD.

Pentagon officials recently published the missive as a public comment for the Sept. 15 inaugural meeting of the Advisory Panel on Department of Defense Capabilities for Support of Civil Authorities After Certain Incidents.

The congressionally mandated group is charged with assessing DOD's ability to help civil authorities cope with a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive (CBRNE) incident on American soil.

Rather than DOD, the Department of Homeland Security would be the "natural agency" to house a dedicated CBRNE response capability, the ACLU letter states.

Panel members should consider "alternatives for emergency CBRNE response that maintain the traditional dominance of civilian agencies in domestic operations and thereby leaving the military to focus on its own mission of fighting foreign enemies," ACLU officials argue in the letter.

Pass the Sugar
By John Liang
September 16, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Northrop Grumman's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ronald Sugar today announced he plans to retire next June, according to a company statement:

To facilitate an orderly transition process, Sugar will step down from the chairman and CEO positions and the company’s Board of Directors effective December 31, 2009. He will continue as an employee officer advising the company until his June 30, 2010 retirement date. Sugar will assume the title of chairman emeritus effective January 1, 2010.

Northrop's board of directors has elected Wesley Bush, the company's president and chief operating officer, to CEO and president, effective Jan. 1, 2010, according to the statement.

In another senior company personnel move, Northrop's board elected Lewis Coleman, currently lead independent director, to the role of non-executive chairman, effective Jan. 1, 2010, the statement reads.

Raptor Talk
By Christopher J. Castelli
September 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM

As some lawmakers mull changing the law to permit overseas sales of the Air Force's F-22A Raptor, U.S. Pacific Command chief Adm. Timothy Keating is steering clear of the debate.

At a breakfast with reporters in Washington this morning, Keating acknowledged Japanese officials are interested in acquiring the Raptor. But the admiral also reiterated the Obama administration's position that Lockheed Martin should build no more than 187 Raptors.

"To the best of my ability to determine, the Japanese would like to buy the F-22. We're not going to sell it to them," Keating said. "The president has made it really clear."

As InsideDefense.com reported last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee included a provision in its version of the fiscal year 2010 defense spending bill urging the Air Force to develop an exportable version of the Raptor. But House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI) -- who authored the legislation barring foreign sales of Raptors -- reaffirmed his position against international F-22A sales earlier this year.

Keating told reporters, "There is a law against exporting the F-22 and I don't see the law being changed. And the number is 187."

Irregular Thoughts
By Thomas Duffy
September 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM

More money and a change in attitude -- that's what is needed if the Defense Department is to truly accept irregular warfare as primary mission of the U.S. military, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen told the Senate Armed Services Committee this morning.

The committee held a hearing to consider Mullen's nomination for another term as chairman.

In answers to questions posed by the committee prior to the hearing, Mullen lays out why irregular warfare is having a hard time finding solid footing inside the Pentagon:

I believe there are two obstacles: resourcing and changing mindsets. Regarding resourcing, for example, we look forward to working with the Congress to fulfill Resource Management Decision 802’s intent to establish the National Program for Small Unit Excellence so that the Joint Irregular Warfare Center, led by US Joint Forces Command, is adequately funded to support the mission of the NPSUE.

While we have progressed, I believe we have more work to do in changing mindsets. We have made great strides within the Services to share capabilities, and we need to continue in that direction to ensure that all new capabilities we develop/program for are truly joint. Irregular Warfare capabilities must be joint and Services must work with each other to identify training and simulation tools that can provide cross-functionality. My staff as well as OSD continue to reach out to the interagency to support our common missions. We collaborate closely with the Departments of State and Homeland Security and are expanding our efforts with other agencies. The goal is to leverage and compliment each other’s capabilities and work together to build joint irregular warfare capabilities that are value added to all.

Mullen made the following suggestions to further institutionalize irregular warfare within DOD:

In my view, our progress in executing some of the Irregular Warfare anchor points illustrates the sort of changes needed. The most important considerations that could complement programmatic decisions in support of the further institutionalization of capabilities for irregular warfare are:

  • An outside review (e.g., Red Team) of USD-Policy developed Defense Planning Scenarios (DPS) to ensure the family of scenarios is appropriately balanced to address the future threat environment, specifically, hybrid, complex threats.
  • A DIA-led annual, unclassified, update on the IW/hybrid threat through direct collaboration with Joint Forces Command, J2; the Joint Irregular Warfare Center; the Defense Intelligence Agency; and the National Ground Intelligence Center.
  • An IA/hybrid wargame for the interagency, specifically, Department of State, to generate valuable insights and inspire a comprehensive perspective essential to meeting the complex security challenges we face.
  • Use our Professional Military Education Program as a strategic asset to improve synchronization across all military departments in education and training with our foreign partners.
CTBT Conference
By John Liang
September 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been designated to lead the U.S. delegation to the Sept. 24-25 Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in New York City. She will also deliver the U.S. "national statement," according to a White House press release:

Since 1999, this conference has been held every other year to provide a forum for discussions on how best to encourage states to sign and ratify this important nonproliferation treaty, especially those states listed in Annex II that are required to ratify the Treaty before it can enter into force.

While the United States sent a delegation to the initial conference in 1999, it has not attended the subsequent four conferences. Accordingly, U.S. participation in this year’s conference will reaffirm the strong commitment of the Obama Administration to support the CTBT and to work with other nations to map out a comprehensive diplomatic strategy to secure the Treaty’s entry into force. To advance the latter agenda, Under Secretary of State Ellen Tauscher will hold a series of bilateral sessions during the Conference. This commitment to realize the promise of the CTBT is part of the President's comprehensive agenda to prevent nuclear proliferation, and to pursue the ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons.

Attack Team
By Marcus Weisgerber
September 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Hawker Beechcraft and Lockheed Martin are expected to announce this afternoon that they have teamed to pitch the AT-6B for the Air Force’s light-attack/armed reconnaissance aircraft competition.

Lockheed’s Systems Integration division in Owego, NY, will install the mission system used in the digitized A-10C in Hawker Beechcraft’s AT-6B aircraft. The teaming arrangement comes as the service is reviewing responses to a capability request for information that was issued this summer.

The teaming arrangement will likely bolster the AT-6B proposal considering Lockheed has won a number of awards for its A-10 mission system -- which includes digital displays and hands on stick-and-throttle system.

Hawker Beechcraft flew its first AT-6B prototype earlier this summer. The company plans to install a larger engine in its second prototype aircraft, company officials said in interviews earlier this year.

Engine Noise
By Marcus Weisgerber
September 14, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said today the Pentagon still prefers a single engine manufacturer for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, despite a failure during a recent test of the Pratt & Whitney F135 prime power plant.

“It hasn’t caused us to change our view on the second engine,” Donley said of the test failure last week. He did note that the service has not received details on the incident, but added that the test was in the final stages when the engine failed.

The failure comes as Congress is putting the finishing touches on the Pentagon’s fiscal year 2010 budget, in which the administration did not request funding for the G.E.-Rolls-Royce alternative power plant.

Staying On
By Christopher J. Castelli
September 11, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The White House has announced Sean Stackley will continue serving as the Navy’s acquisition executive. The news is not a surprise: Defense industry sources anticipated Stackley would retain the post, which has the official title of assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition. Stackley, a former congressional staffer, was tapped for the position in the twilight of the Bush administration.

Here’s his bio, as released by the White House:

Since July 2008, Mr. Stackley has served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition. As the Navy’s Acquisition Executive, he is responsible for the development and procurement of Navy and Marine Corps platforms and warfare systems. Prior to his appointment, Stackley served as a Professional Staff Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he was responsible for overseeing Navy and Marine Corps programs, U.S. Transportation Command matters, and related policy for the Seapower Subcommittee. He began his career as a Surface Warfare Officer and has served in a range of Industrial, Fleet, Program Office, and Headquarters assignments in ship design and construction, maintenance, logistics, and acquisition policy. Stackley is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and also holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.

NORTHCOM Report Card
By John Liang
September 11, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The Government Accountability Office this week released a report finding that while U.S. Northern Command has made some progress in dealing with state governments when responding to emergencies, a good amount of work still needs to be done.

Specifically:

NORTHCOM faces challenges in involving states in the planning, conduct, and assessment of its exercises, such as adapting its exercise system and practices to involve other federal, state, local, and tribal agencies that do not have the same practices or level of planning resources. Inconsistencies with how NORTHCOM involves states in exercises are occurring in part because NORTHCOM officials lack experience dealing with states and do not have a consistent process for including states in exercises. Without such a process, NORTHCOM increases the risk that its exercises will not provide benefits for all participants, impact the seamless exercise of all levels of government, and potentially affect NORTHCOM’s ability to provide civil support capabilities.

Several lawmakers, in a joint statement released today, commented on GAO's report.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS):

NORTHCOM must work even harder to operate seamlessly with State, local, and tribal governments throughout the country. Anything less than total synergy and collaboration in our nation's disaster planning and exercise programs is unacceptable and avoidable. NORTHCOM has made progress over the years, but we shouldn't have to cross our fingers and hope the Command has strong relationships with an affected State, we should be able to count on it. The task of operating a military command for the United States is a difficult one that can be best achieved through strong partnerships with State National Guard Units and our State and local leaders.

Senate Guard Caucus Co-Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT):

It is concerning that GAO has determined that NORTHCOM, the lead command at the Department of Defense for national disaster planning, has not consistently involved states in large-scale disaster preparations. And perhaps even more troubling is that GAO concludes that NORTHCOM cannot ensure that it has met internal standards for planning and execution of joint exercises.

Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-CT):

NORTHCOM, like the Department of Homeland Security, is a new organization that has made great strides while navigating through difficult, uncharted waters. I am pleased that NORTHCOM has acknowledged the gaps in coordination that GAO found - which are certainly not unique to NORTHCOM - and I will be monitoring closely how they are resolved.

Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Ranking Member Susan Collins (R-ME):

Although NORTHCOM has made some progress in developing a comprehensive exercise program, this GAO report demonstrates that NORTHCOM needs to do more to collect and share lessons learned from those exercises and to ensure greater participation from other Federal, State, local, and tribal governments. I encourage General Renuart and DOD leadership to address these shortcomings in a timely fashion.

Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO):

This report underscores the need for NorthCom to coordinate with and support the state and local officials and Guardsmen who know their own backyards better than anyone else," said Bond, co-chair of the Senate Guard Caucus. "The citizen soldiers and airmen in the National Guard are not only highly trained for disaster mitigation and homeland defense, but also are members of the impacted communities which they serve.

Titan of Industrial Policy
By Jason Sherman
September 10, 2009 at 5:00 AM

It's official: Brett Lambert is the Pentagon's new industrial policy chief. The Defense Department yesterday announced the appointment -- which Inside the Pentagon last month reported was in the works -- along with a handful of other moves to fill key Pentagon posts, including:

James A. Hawkins, major general (retired), has been appointed to the senior executive service and is assigned as deputy director for strategic logistics, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington, D.C. Hawkins previously served in the U.S. Air Force with the commander, 18th Air Force at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

David A. Honey has been appointed to the senior executive service and is assigned as director for research, Office of the under secretary of defense (acquisition, technology, and logistics), Washington, D.C. Honey previously served with Information Systems Laboratories, Vienna, Va.

William J. McCarthy has been appointed to the senior executive service and is assigned as deputy director, net-centric and space systems, office of the director, Operational Test & Evaluation, Washington, D.C. McCarthy previously served with New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, N.M.

In addition, the Defense Department announced three senior officials are being reassigned to other top posts:

Christine Condon has been assigned as principal director to the deputy assistant secretary of defense (resources)/director, congressional review and analysis, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Networks and Information Integration), Washington, D.C. Condon previously served as the director, congressional review and analysis, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Networks and Information Integration), Washington, D.C.

Donald L. Damstetter has been assigned as deputy director, property, plant and equipment policy, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics), Washington, D.C. Damstetter previously served as the director, resources, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Special Operation/Low Intensity Conflict and Interdependent Capabilities), Washington, D.C.

Robert J. Newberry has been assigned as deputy assistant secretary of defense for prisoners of war/missing personnel affairs and director, defense POW and missing personnel office, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Washington, D.C. Newberry previously served as chief of staff, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.

Climate Change = National Security
By John Liang
September 9, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Yesterday, a bipartisan group of former senior government officials released a statement on the interconnectedness between climate change and national security:

Climate change is a national security issue. The longer we wait to act, the harder it will be to mitigate and respond to its impacts. U.S. leadership alone will not guarantee global cooperation. But if we fail to take action now, we will have little hope of influencing other countries to reduce their own contributions to climate change, or of forging a coordinated international response.

Here at home, we must cut our own carbon emissions, reduce our reliance on foreign oil, and develop and deploy clean, renewable energy sources that will generate economic growth. We must also help less developed countries adapt to the realities and consequences of a drastically changed climate. Doing so now will help avoid humanitarian disasters and political instability in the future that could ultimately threaten the security of the U.S. and our allies. But most importantly, we must transcend the political issues that divide us -- by party and by region -- to devise a unified American strategy that can endure and succeed.

We, the undersigned Republicans and Democrats, believe Congress working closely with the Administration must develop a clear, comprehensive, realistic and broadly bipartisan plan to address our role in the climate change crisis. WE MUST LEAD.

The former White House officials who put their names to it include national security advisers Samuel Berger, Anthony Lake, and Robert McFarlane; former Chief of Staff Kenneth Duberstein; former special counsel Ted Sorensen; and former CIA Director James Woolsey.

Former military officials: Former Defense Secretary William Perry; retired Vice Adm. Dennis McGinn, retired Adm. Joseph Prueher; and retired Gen. Charles Wald.

Former diplomats: Ambs. Warren Christopher; Donald McHenry; Thomas Pickering; George Schultz; John Whitehead; and Frank Wisner.

Former representatives and senators: Lee Hamilton (D-IN); Howard Baker (R-TN); John Danforth (R-MO); Slade Gorton (R-WA); Gary Hart (D-CO); Nancy Kassebaum-Baker (R-KS); Sam Nunn (D-GA); Warren Rudman (R-NH); and John Warner (R-VA); Tim Wirth (D-CO).

Other notable names: Rita Hauser, chair of the International Peace Institute; Richard Leone, president of the Century Foundation; former U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills; and former Govs. Thomas Kean (R-NJ) and Christine Todd Whitman (R-NJ).

Command Change
By Christopher J. Castelli
September 8, 2009 at 5:00 AM

French Air Force Gen. Stéphane Abrial will succeed U.S. Marine Gen. James Mattis as NATO's supreme allied commander transformation (SACT) tomorrow in a ceremony aboard the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in port at Naval Station Norfolk, VA.

The SACT is charged with being NATO’s leading agent for change -- driving, facilitating, and advocating continuous improvement of alliance capabilities to maintain and enhance the military relevance and effectiveness of NATO, according to the alliance.

The Virginian-Pilot reports Abrial is one of two French generals to assume top NATO commands since French President Nicolas Sarkozy brought France back into NATO’s military structure in March.

"Now we are part of the club, and there’s no reason for any kind of mutual suspicion. It's much better to be inside than outside," Abrial told the newspaper.

The Daily Press reports Abrial is no stranger to the United States: He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1974 and the U.S. Air War College in 1992.

Mattis assumed the NATO post and the top job at U.S. Joint Forces Command on Nov. 9, 2007, when he took over both roles from Air Force Gen. Lance Smith. Mattis is slated to continue as JFCOM's commander.

Policy Powwow
By Jason Sherman
September 8, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The recently reconfigured Defense Policy Board is set to meet this week to take up a classified agenda, according to knowledgeable sources. The two-day gathering, which begins Wednesday and culminates with the group presenting findings to the defense secretary on Thursday, comes as the military is managing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and as the Defense Department is hammering out a new 20-year blueprint for the entire military enterprise.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates will likely hear some new perspectives on national security challenges from the 11 new members appointed in July.

The board is chaired by John Hamre, president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and includes:

Richard Danzig, President Obama's national security adviser during the presidential campaign; former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel; journalist Robert Kaplan; John Nagl, director of the Center for New American Security; Rudy DeLeon, senior vice president at the Center for American Progress and a senior Pentagon official during the Clinton administration; Robert Gallucci, president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the former dean of Georgetown University's foreign service school; Andrew Krepinevich, president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and author of the recent book “7 Deadly Scenarios,” which recently impressed Gates; Steven Biddle, senior fellow for defense policy at the Council on Foreign Relations; Sarah Sewall, a human rights policy expert and a Harvard University professor; Wendy Sherman, a principal at the Albright Group who was a senior diplomat during the Clinton administration; Larry Welch, a retired Air Force general; David McCurdy, former Democratic Oklahoma congressman and co-author of 1982 landmark weapon system acquisition legislation; Frank Miller, a veteran Pentagon policy official; former defense secretaries Harold Brown, James Schlesinger and William Perry; former DOD official J.D. Crouch; Fred Ikle, the Pentagon's policy chief during the Reagan administration; Henry Kissinger, former President Richard Nixon's top diplomat; Marin Strmecki, senior vice president of the Smith Richardson Foundation; Vin Weber, a former Republican congressman from Minnesota; Vern Clark, retired admiral and former chief of naval operations; Jack Keane, retired general and former Army vice chief of staff; and Peter Pace, retired Marine Corps general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.