The Insider

InsideDefense.com reported on Friday about a new white paper issued by the Army, the Marine Corps and U.S. Special Operations Command that argues the United States is likely to fight another war in the next two decades, and victory will be impossible without the use of "capable" American ground forces:

The paper, signed by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos and SOCOM chief Adm. William McRaven, labels Iran and North Korea "adversaries." It mentions unrest in Syria and throughout the Middle East, tension in Africa and challenges stemming from China's rise. InsideDefense.com obtained an advance copy of the document, which the Army is due to formally release next week.

Navy and Air Force capabilities have been highlighted in the Pentagon's Air-Sea Battle initiative, aimed at countering anti-access and area-denial weapons developed by China, but the white paper on "strategic landpower" warns that long-range weapons alone cannot win wars. The paper comes amid the Defense Department's Strategic Choices and Management Review, through which high-level DOD officials are assessing how to handle potential looming budget cuts, including the likelihood of shrinking ground forces.

After a decade of war, the nation is "rebalancing its national security strategy to focus on engagement and preventing war," the senior officers write. "Some in the defense community interpret this rebalancing to mean that future conflicts can be prevented or won primarily with standoff technologies and weapons. If warfare were merely a contest of technologies that might be sufficient. However, armed conflict is a clash of interests between or among organized groups, each attempting to impose their will on the opposition."

We now have the white paper.

Read the rest of the story.

The impact of sequestration on the Missile Defense Agency's programs and workforce "is significant," according to MDA Director Vice Adm. James Syring.

Testifying yesterday at a House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee hearing, Syring said in his prepared testimony:

We will see limitations in our ability to deliver future homeland defense capabilities. To mitigate some of the effects of sequestration cuts, I will be working with the Department to submit an Above Threshold Reprogramming request as part of the Department’s larger request this year.

Asked by subcommittee Ranking Member James Cooper (D-TN) to elaborate, Syring said:

There is an impact to the work I do in the work force of sequestration, as those cuts came down. And what we've done as part of our reprogramming request that will be submitted to the department is offer a better way and better method to take some of those cuts to mitigate and keep my highest priority issues fully funded and on schedule. So I'll share those details with you once I'm allowed to submit them via the comptroller, once they're approved. But I can assure you that what I've offered is a better use and better way to spread the cuts and preserve my top priorities for homeland regional and regional defense.

Syring is scheduled to testify this afternoon before the Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee.

InsideDefense.com last week obtained a draft copy of the reprogramming request, which states that the Pentagon plans to ask Congress for permission to shift nearly $159.8 million for various missile defense activities, including the Ground-based Midcourse Defense and Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense programs. As InsideDefense.com reported:

If approved by Congress, most of the reprogrammed money would support the highly anticipated GMD intercept test slated for later this calendar year.

The draft document could undergo changes before it is approved by the Pentagon and sent to Congress, where the four defense oversight committees will have a say before any funding shifts can be made. A single "no" from any of the committees' members is enough to halt a funding transfer.

According to the draft reprogramming request, the Defense Department wants nearly $31 million for GMD flight-testing. "The Department is committed to increasing the defense of the Homeland from missile attack," the document states, adding: "This commitment requires a successful return to flight-testing of the GMD program."

View the full story here.

Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI), John McCain (R-AZ), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) have introduced legislation aimed at countering cyber theft of U.S. technologies by foreign companies and governments.

The "Deter Cyber Theft Act" would combat "the theft of valuable intellectual property from U.S. companies, which invest billions every year in research and development, only to be targeted by foreign countries and companies that illegally access valuable data and then use it to compete against American companies and workers," according to a joint statement released by the four senators.

The proposed bill "would require the Director of National Intelligence to compile an annual report on foreign economic and industrial espionage," the statement reads, including:

*    A list of foreign countries that engage in economic or industrial espionage in cyberspace against U.S. firms or individuals, including a priority watch list of the worst offenders;

*    A list of U.S. technologies or proprietary information targeted by such espionage, and, to the extent possible, a list of such information that has been stolen;

*    A list of items produced using such stolen information;

*    A list of foreign companies, including state-owned firms, that benefit from such theft;

*    Details of the espionage activities of foreign countries; and

*    Actions taken by the DNI and other federal agencies to combat industrial or economic espionage in cyberspace.

The president would also be required "to block import of products containing stolen U.S. technology; products made by state-owned enterprises of nations on the DNI's priority watch list that are similar to items identified in the DNI's report as stolen or targeted U.S. technology; or made by a company the DNI identifies as having benefited from theft of U.S. technology or proprietary information," according to the statement.

The Joint Staff is in the preliminary stages of ironing out its doctrine for security force assistance.

On April 29, the Joint Staff released a "pre-doctrinal publication that presents generally agreed to fundamental guidance for joint forces conducting SFA. It is considered a part of the initiation stage of the joint doctrine development process. Once extant and validated best practices and procedures are common across the operating forces, appropriate principles and guidance are incorporated into existing joint doctrine hierarchy or, if required, a new joint publication (JP)."

The "Joint Doctrine Note" further states:

Despite the importance of its national mission, SFA does not have a dedicated JP and existing joint doctrine makes only occasional references to it. To address this joint doctrinal gap, J-7 developed the following JDN for the joint force's consideration. Although this JDN has not been through the joint doctrine development system as described in Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 5120.02C, Joint Doctrine Development System, it draws on both contemporary and historical experiences to describe the documented best practices currently in use across the joint force. It also connects SFA to United States national strategy and policy guidance, discusses organization and planning for SFA, and provides considerations for conducting SFA activities.

The document notes that the guidance contained in it "is not authoritative. If conflicts arise between the contents of this JDN and the contents of a [Joint Publication], the JP will take precedence for the activities of joint forces unless the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, normally in coordination with the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has provided more current and specific guidance."

Inside the Pentagon earlier this year obtained a report to Congress that found more permanent and aligned authorities would better enable special operations forces to establish long-term relationships with foreign partners and prevent management challenges. As ITP reported in March:

In the Jan. 30 report, Michael Sheehan, the assistant secretary of defense for special operations/low-intensity conflict, states more permanent authorities would allow for long-term planning and commitment to foreign partners for counterterrorism assistance, unconventional warfare and irregular warfare missions. These relationships could help the United States shift the mission lead to partners and obtain more force flexibility.

Partner trust and consistency in training could degrade without this, Sheehan writes in the report, obtained by Inside the Pentagon. The temporary nature of many of the authorities also prevents the development of mature administrative processes, Sheehan notes.

"In order to encourage our foreign partners to share the burden of global responsibility, as is called for in the 2012 defense guidance, SOF [special operations forces] will seek to develop lasting relationships with foreign SOF and to build their special operations capabilities that are developed and sustained best through persistent engagement," Sheehan writes. "However, many of the existing authorities that could support such relationship building are temporary."

Additionally:

Looking forward, special operations forces need to increasingly focus on security force assistance, strengthening partnerships and "enabling foreign internal defense capabilities in order to identify, deter and defeat national security threats," Sheehan writes.

The fiscal year 2012 Defense Authorization Act called for this report to lay out details on the future authorities special operations forces would need to conduct counterterrorism, unconventional warfare and irregular warfare missions.

No legislative changes are called for in the report. "As optimal legislative changes are identified through careful analysis at a later date, the department will work through proper processes to request those authorities," the report states.

This report comes on the heels of special operations forces spending the past decade heavily engaged in counterterrorism operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other regions in hopes of disrupting, dismantling and defeating al Qaeda and its affiliates. This demand for special operations forces in Afghanistan is supposed to decline over the next decade, Sheehan writes, noting that these units will enhance focus on security assistance activities to help deny safe haven to terrorists and other insurgent groups.

The Defense Science Board plans to meet in closed session later this month, according to a notice posted in today's Federal Register:

At this meeting, the Board will discuss interim finding[s] and recommendations resulting from ongoing Task Force activities. The Board will also discuss plans for future consideration of scientific and technical aspects of specific strategies, tactics, and policies as they may affect the U.S. national defense posture and homeland security.

While the notice did not go into further detail about the May 22-23 meeting at the Pentagon, here's our coverage of some of the studies the board is working on:

Kendall Commissions New Look At Future Electronic Warfare Needs (Dec. 10, 2012)

The Pentagon's acquisition executive has chartered a sweeping assessment of future electronic warfare needs to account for the complex nature of the modern electromagnetic spectrum, which has become increasingly crowded by sophisticated commercial and civil technology and critical to U.S. national security.

Kendall Commissions Study Of Technologies To Ensure Superiority In 2030 (March 20, 2012)

The Pentagon's acquisition executive has commissioned a study of emerging technologies that will be pivotal over the next two decades to the development and fielding of the "next generation of dominant military capabilities," an assessment that could influence research and development spending as soon as fiscal year 2014.

The Marine Corps helicopter squadron responsible for carrying the president has received its first MV-22 Osprey at Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA, according to a service statement.

Marine Helicopter Squadron One will be assigned a total of 12 Ospreys at Quantico. The MV-22s will conduct presidential support missions, carrying presidential support staff and news media representatives traveling with the president. However, Ospreys are not slated to carry the president.

V-22 fight operations at HMX-1 began on April 26, but flights carrying presidential support staff and media representatives will not begin until later this year.