The Insider

Stockpile Stewardship
By John Liang
June 17, 2010 at 5:00 AM

The National Nuclear Security Administration will be submitting to Congress by the end of this month a plan for transforming the U.S. nuclear weapons complex "into a modern, efficient and responsive 21st century Nuclear Security Enterprise," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said this morning at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. Specifically:

This Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan provides the multi-decade investment strategy needed to extend the life of key nuclear weapon systems, rebuild and modernize our facilities, and provide for necessary physical and intellectual infrastructure.

InsideDefense.com reported in April that Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter had asked the Defense Science Board to assess U.S. nuclear treaty monitoring and verification technologies:

"During the coming years, the United States is expected to engage in a series of treaty negotiations on nuclear weapons and nuclear forces," Carter writes in an April 26 terms-of-reference memo. "In addition, the rapid growth in nuclear power worldwide will likely stress the implementation practices of existing material control agreements, as well as poise more nations with the ability to acquire nuclear weapons of their own.

"Monitoring and verification measures are an integral part of all the existing, modified or new agreements," Carter's memo continues. "Potential requirements for new or expanded monitoring and verification requirements place a renewed focus -- after almost two decades of limited investment -- on the adequacy of the nation's technical tools to support monitoring and verification, both as part of the cooperative verification regimes of the treaties and through national intelligence."

Consequently, Carter wants a DSB task force to study the future of nonproliferation and arms control agreements "and the environments in which they might be implemented (for example, the level of transparency and cooperation that will be desired/required in post-Cold War arms control agreements, including treaties among nuclear states in addition to the United States and Russia)." Additionally, the task force should predict "the demands and challenges placed on existing agreements enforced by the International Atomic Energy Agency with the growth in nuclear power over the next 15 to 20 years, and assess the adequacy of current practices and resources to maintain confidence that inspected nations remain nonproliferators."

Carter also calls on the board to study the possibility of adapting current technologies from other applications like ISR systems used in finding improvised explosive devices; stockpile stewardship; nuclear forensics and attribution; nuclear weapons effects; and nuclear defense and interdiction programs.

Nomination Hearing
By John Liang
June 17, 2010 at 5:00 AM

The Senate Armed Services Committee plans to hold a hearing next week to consider the nominations of Army Gen. Raymond Odierno to become head of U.S. Joint Forces Command and Army Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin to become the commander of U.S. Forces in Iraq.

Odierno, the current commander of U.S. Forces in Iraq, was nominated for his next post by President Obama on May 24. Austin, who was nominated to replace Odierno on May 18, is serving as Joint Staff director, according to a Pentagon statement.

More Ships, Please
By Zachary M. Peterson
June 16, 2010 at 5:00 AM

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway was preaching to the choir this morning when he addressed the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus. In his speech, Conway again reiterated the requirement for 38 amphibious vessels to carry Marines and equipment, but noted that budget constraints holding the fleet size at 33 ships were acceptable. However, anything lower than a 33-amphib fleet is “untenable,” Conway argued, according to a statement issued today by the shipbuilding caucus.

The four-star general added the “value of the amphibious fleet cannot be questioned,” the statement says.

Conway said funding for aircraft carriers, submarines, and surface ships are higher on the Navy’s priority list than amphibious ships, the statement adds. "In order to elevate the importance of maintaining a strong amphibious fleet, the Marine Corps continues to emphasize the flexibility of the amphibious platforms and their contribution to forcible entry and maintaining a presence off shore."

The Marine Corps focuses on the number of ships needed, not the dollars required to build those ships, according to the statement.

The Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus is co-chaired by Reps. Gene Taylor (D-MS), the chairman of the House Armed Services seapower and expeditionary forces subcommittee, and Rob Wittman (R-VA).

Clock Watching
By Carlo Muñoz
June 16, 2010 at 5:00 AM

Time is running out for the Defense Department, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

With U.S. and coalition forces gearing up for what promises to be a difficult and bloody year ahead in Afghanistan, Gates appealed to lawmakers approve nearly $200 million in wartime funding. "I am becoming increasingly concerned about the lack of progress on the supplemental," he told members of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee today.

While the Senate has approved a version of the $192 million spending package, which would finance combat operations through the remaining fiscal year and into FY-11, the House version continues to languish in committee. Prior to today's hearing, Gates said he had hoped to have a wartime spending bill in place before Memorial Day.

Now, Gates has set a hard deadline of July 4 for passage of the Overseas Contingency Operations bill.

Should lawmakers fail to meet that extended deadline, DOD decisionmakers will "begin to have to do stupid things" via "disruptive plans and disruptive actions" just to keep U.S. forces ready to fight in Afghanistan.

Such rhetoric is nothing new, as Gates has expressed the same sort of urgency regarding passage of previous wartime spending bills. But with U.S. forces preparing for an large-scale counterinsurgency offensive in Southern Afghanistan, the stakes are a little higher this time around.

"Such planning is disruptive, especially in a time of war, and I ask you help in avoiding this action," he said.

Getting Together
By John Liang
June 15, 2010 at 5:00 AM

The North American Aerospace Defense Command and the Russian Air Force later on this summer plan to conduct a cooperative air defense exercise focused on combating terrorism, according to a NORAD statement issued this afternoon:

This exercise will take place in Russian and U.S. airspace to include Western Alaska and Eastern Russia in early August 2010. The scenario will involve both Russian and U.S. aircraft monitoring an international flight seized by terrorists.

The U.S. and Russian militaries have invited media representatives to observe the exercise either from the Alaskan NORAD Region Command Center at Elmendorf Air Force Base, AK, or from the Russian Federation Air Force Control Center in Moscow, according to the statement.

House Call
By Jason Sherman
June 15, 2010 at 5:00 AM

The Pentagon's acquisition executive and comptroller are directing the Defense Department to comply with a new law requiring full and open competition for earmarks awarded by House members to for-profit entities, a statutory requirement more strict than it is for earmarks sponsored by senators.

The 2010 defense appropriations act -- section 8121, to be exact -- requires the Pentagon to sift through 99 pages of congressional earmarks and sort out which are intended for “for-profit” entities and which are to be directed to non-profits, such as universities.

Aston Carter, the acquisition executive, and Robert Hale, the Pentagon comptroller, lay it out in a June 7 memo:

Effective immediately, comptroller, contracting and program/project management personnel should work collaboratively to identify the applicable “for-profit” earmarks sponsored solely by members of the House of Representatives and ensure . . . compliance (with the new law).

Sweep Check
By John Liang
June 14, 2010 at 5:00 AM

The Pentagon inspector general just came out with a report on the Defense Department's program to process excess equipment in supporting the Iraq drawdown.

The effort, named "Operation Clean Sweep" and begun in October 2009 under Fragmentary Order 0436, "defines the roles, responsibilities, and procedures necessary for processing excess equipment in support of the Iraq drawdown," according to the IG report. In its audit, the IG did the following:

We evaluated DOD's plans for Operation Clean Sweep to determine whether roles, responsibilities, and lines of reporting were well defined and documented; the plans comprehensively addressed equipment accountability, visibility, and disposition; and whether realistic milestones were established. We also determined whether Operation Clean Sweep was effectively implemented in accordance with those plans.

While the IG commends the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) (ESC) and the Mobile Redistribution Teams (MRT) for processing and re-establishing "accountability for about $768 million of excess equipment from Oct. 2009 to April 10, 2010 . . . not all units supported the MRT mission, limiting the effectiveness of Operation Clean Sweep," the report states. Specifically:

During our site visits to four Forward Operating Bases, we identified units that denied the MRTs access to their excess equipment, did not comply with FRAGO requirements to sort their excess equipment before the MRT’s arrival, and did not provide adequate logistical support to the MRTs. This occurred because FRAGO 1022 did not require mandatory participation in Operation Clean Sweep and the MRT’s mission and goals were not communicated to all units and commanders. During our audit, U.S. Forces–Iraq and 13th ESC issued two FRAGOs which addressed our communication concerns; however, neither required mandatory participation in Operation Clean Sweep.

Mandatory participation is key to Operation Clean Sweep effectiveness. When units pack and ship excess equipment without MRT assistance, the risk of injury to personnel at the receiving activity is increased and the accountability and visibility of the equipment is delayed. We identified containers at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, that were not packed and shipped by the MRTs, which were poorly packed and contained items such as weapons and hazardous material. In addition, those items were not brought to record until reaching Camp Arifjan, delaying the accountability and visibility of equipment that might be needed elsewhere, including Afghanistan.

Consequently, the IG recommends the following:

We recommend the Commander, U.S. Forces–Iraq, revise and reissue FRAGO 0436 to require mandatory participation in Operation Clean Sweep.

We recommend that the Director, U.S. Forces–Iraq, Joint Staff Logistics Directorate issue FRAGOs directing participation in Operation Clean Sweep to those units not participating.

We recommend the Commander, 13th ESC, revise and reissue FRAGO 0094 to remove the option to decline participation in Operation Clean Sweep and to also report unit participation data to the Director, U.S. Forces–Iraq, Joint Staff Logistics Directorate.

On the Chart
By Dan Dupont
June 14, 2010 at 5:00 AM

It's technically known as the "integrated life-cycle chart," but it's probably enough to call it, simply, The Chart. It's supposed to outline everything you could ever want to know about the Pentagon acquisition process.

And it's been updated:

The update to the online Integrated Life Cycle Chart (aka horse blanket, wall chart, IFC) is complete. The new chart is called the Integrated Defense AT&L Life Cycle Management Chart (ILC). The new Web-based ILC interface replaces the PDF file (v5.3.4) that had been the interim interface since the wall chart was updated in the summer of 2009. The new ILC reflects changes from the 5000.02 and the new Defense Acquisition Guidebook (DAG). Note that the recently released budget guidance, of 9 Apr 2010, is not reflected in the ILC; however, a statement informing users of the recent changes has been posted on the ILC site. The chart now links to ACQuipedia articles rather than ILC-specific templates.

It's quite handy. Check it out here.

Caucus Call
By Dan Dupont
June 11, 2010 at 5:00 AM

The National Guard Caucus is making a push for more money in the defense bill "to help the National Guard and Reserves address critical equipment shortfalls." According to a statement issued today by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Kit Bond (R-MO), the co-chairs of the caucus, a request for $870 million more in the fiscal year 2011 defense appropriations bill was sent to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Vice Chairman Thad Cochran (R-MS).

Leahy said, “We are asking the Guard and Reserves to take on more challenges than ever. Vermont has deployed more than 1300 soldiers of the Vermont National Guard to Afghanistan, where they are performing with skill and courage. Congress now has the responsibility to make sure they are supplied with what they need to continue these missions. The Guard and Reserves have never let us down, and we must not let our Guard and Reserves down. These carefully targeted funds will go a long way toward making sure that the men and women of the National Guard have the equipment they need.”

Bond said, “Since the 9/11 attacks, our Guard and Reserve troops have been called to serve in unprecedented ways – from providing emergency flood and hurricane response, to securing our borders, to fighting terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Bond. “Unfortunately, right now our citizen-warriors don’t have the equipment they need to continue their expanded mission to keep Americans safe here at home and abroad. I urge my colleagues to support these funds to help address this equipment shortfall and send a message to the Pentagon that we won’t allow our Guard and Reserve troops to continue to be short changed.”

Bond and Leahy have asked for added funds for the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account, to be included in the Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2011. The increased funding would go toward equipment needed for both domestic and overseas missions.

As to where the Guard is short:

The Army National Guard, for example, faces a $5.2 billion shortfall in its truck inventory and needs at least $200 million for new Blackhawk helicopters for medical evacuation missions. The Air National Guard faces a steep future shortfall in modern fighter jets and transportation and cargo aircraft. An element of the Leahy-Bond request would help modernize aging Air Guard fighter and transportation aircraft fleets for use in the years to come. The funds they request can also help defray operational costs the Guard and Reserves may incur while providing support to civilian agencies during disaster relief missions here at home.

Czech Mates
By John Liang
June 10, 2010 at 5:00 AM

Defense Secretary Robert Gates signed a science and technology cooperation agreement with his counterpart from the Czech Republic today. According to the American Forces Press Service:

In a ceremony held at the U.S. mission to NATO, Gates and Czech Defense Minister Martin Bartak signed documents that provide the legal framework for engagement and cooperation in a variety of science and technology projects, including research, development, testing and evaluation.

“I see this agreement as a manifestation of our relationship with the Czech Republic and our view of the Czech Republic as a valued ally,” Gates said at the signing ceremony.

The memorandum of understanding means the two countries have agreed on a general framework that will be followed by separate agreements on specific projects. Asked after the ceremony if those future projects include missile defense, Gates said today’s memorandum does not include any specific initiatives, but that missile defense could be a future project.

Bartak noted that the agreement covers more than defense-related research and development. It proves, he said, that cooperation between the United States and the Czech Republic is ongoing, and will continue.

InsideDefense.com reported in April that the Pentagon's Joint Staff had begun a new "Joint Capability Mix" study to look at the Obama administration's "phased adaptive approach" to missile defense in Europe and its implications for the Defense Department's weapons, sensors and systems requirements.

The Obama administration last fall scrapped plans for a ground-based ballistic missile defense system championed by the Bush White House. That plan envisioned interceptors stationed in Poland and a radar site located in the Czech Republic. The Pentagon's new plan, dubbed the "phased adaptive approach," is to field a network of ship-based BMD capabilities in Europe within a few years and introduce land-based interceptors later this decade.

According to Navy Rear Adm. Archer Macy, director of the Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense Organization, the "Joint Capability Mix III" study is scheduled for completion by April of next year.

"With the advent of the phased adaptive approach (PAA) for missile defense, we are embarking on a new round of analysis to understand the implications of that decision on our needs for sensors, weapons and systems," Macy told the Senate Armed Services Committee April 20. "The PAA concept will be applied in the different areas of responsibility of the combatant commanders, and each will have their own needs for how to accomplish their ballistic missile defense responsibilities. In order to integrate these needs across the department, we are the initial stages of conducting the next round of analysis in this area with Joint Capability Mix III."

The previous Joint Capability Mix study, JCM II, was conducted in 2007 to examine theater upper-tier missile defense requirements. That study concluded that combatant commanders would need nearly twice as many interceptors as the 96 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors and 133 Standard Missile-3 interceptors that were then planned.

The new study "will be, if you will, a repeat, where we look at scenarios across . . . three regions, compare them against the COCOMs' warfighting plans, and then understand what are the implications," Macy told the committee.

Cyber Law
By John Liang
June 9, 2010 at 5:00 AM

Three senators will unveil a bill tomorrow that would modernize the government's ability to safeguard computer networks from attack.

Sens. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Thomas Carper (D-DE) will hold a press conference to introduce the "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010," according to a joint statement issued today.

The proposed law "will modernize the government's ability to safeguard the nation's cyber networks from attack and bring government and industry together to set national cyber security priorities and improve national cyber security defenses," the statement reads.

Missile Lock
By John Liang
June 9, 2010 at 5:00 AM

The Missile Defense Agency has officially begun the process of developing a next-generation Standard Missile-3.

The SM-3 is the cornerstone of the Obama administration's proposed "phased adaptive approach" to defend Europe against a ballistic missile attack from Iran.

According to a Federal Business Opportunities notice issued this afternoon:

This is a pre-solicitation notice for the Missile Defense Agency’s next generation STANDARD Missile-3 missile defense interceptor. The Agency intends to issue a solicitation for concept definition and program planning. The STANDARD Missile – 3 Block IIB, or SM-3 IIB, will optimize early battlespace engagements, increase defended area, and provide early intercept capability against an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) from forward based locations using the Aegis weapon system infrastructure and Mk 41 Vertical Launching System. The concept definition and program planning phase, beginning in fiscal year 2011, will include extensive trade studies to define missile concepts, benchmark performance, anchor technology assessments, define a viable development plan, and identify risks and mitigation strategies. We will select up to three contractors for this phase that have demonstrated experience in kill vehicle development, booster development, missile development integration and test, and missile production.

Inside the Navy reported last month that the service is anticipating burgeoning demand in the coming decades for Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense assets and expects to fund installations for nearly 60 cruisers and destroyers through fiscal year 2024, with all new-build DDG-51s getting the systems, according to an April report the Navy submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Specifically:

The report, required by the FY-10 Defense Authorization Act and submitted by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, states that the Navy and the Missile Defense Agency plan to implement the Aegis modernization program -- which includes the latest version of Aegis BMD -- on all 62 original DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and nine Baseline IV CG-47 Ticonderoga-class cruisers. Officials are also considering adding BMD capability to the six Baseline III cruisers.

Beginning with DDG-113, the Navy will also install the system on all new-build Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, a program the sea service restarted in the wake of the truncation of the DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer program. The report states that no new-construction Aegis ships would be needed beyond those in the Navy’s 30-year shipbuilding plan.

“Based on threat analysis and current indications from CCDRs ((combatant commanders)), Navy and MDA concluded that CCDR requirements for surface combatants with Aegis BMD will outpace capacity through approximately 2018, assuming standard six-month deployment lengths,” Mabus wrote. “Accordingly, the president’s budget for 2011 includes funding for additional capacity and capability of surface combatants with Aegis BMD to bridge the gap between available Aegis BMD inventory and CCDR requirements.”

The Navy is experiencing a surge in demand for its Aegis BMD-equipped ships due to President Obama’s “phased adaptive approach” to missile defense in Europe that heavily relies on Aegis BMD ships in the first phase until ground sites can be installed. Rear Adm. Archer Macy, director of the Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense Organization, told the Senate Armed Services Committee April 20 that the Navy would be increasing Aegis BMD installations to the point where the service would have 38 ships over the Future Years Defense Plan, which is reflected in Mabus’ report.

By next month, the Navy will have 21 Aegis BMD-capable ships -- 16 destroyers and five cruisers. All but one of the ships will have Aegis BMD baseline 3.6.1, the initial version of the system that is integrated with the Aegis Combat System and provides an exo-atmospheric engagement capability against short-, medium- and some intermediate-range ballistic missiles with the SM-3 Block IA missile, as well as the SM-2 Block IV missile to engage short-range ballistic missiles in the terminal phase, according to the report.

Topping Off
By John Liang
June 8, 2010 at 5:00 AM

A top Air Force official late last month told an energy forum that the service needs to find ways to measure progress in meeting energy goals, and is also reviewing its organizational structure for handling energy issues -- labeling both of these as key priorities on the energy front.

As Inside the Air Force reported May 28:

The service will spend about $6.7 billion on aviation fuel and $1.4 billion on installation support this year, Air Force Under Secretary Erin Conaton said. She was confirmed by the Senate on March 4. The White House has stated that American dependence on fossil fuels is a national security issue so officials must decrease demand and diversify the sources of supply, she said.

“All of us in government are charged with being good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” she said during a May 27 energy conference in Washington. “We need to be able to demonstrate to ourselves, to the Congress and to the American people that our energy dollars are being spent in the most effective manner possible.”

In its issue released today, sister publication Defense Environment Alert fleshed out Conaton's remarks:

Conaton in follow-on remarks commended the service's December 2009 strategic energy plan, whose three pillars are lowering energy demand, increasing supply and changing culture. But she said the military still needs "a bit more detail on how we're going to measure progress over time. One of the questions I keep asking, not just on energy but across the board, is: how do we know how we're doing?" she said at a media availability following her speech. Conaton was confirmed by the Senate for the No. 2 Air Force slot March 4. She noted that metrics are important to considering return on investment for energy-related projects.

"Over the long-term, we need to develop force-planning tools that help us understand how energy performance contributes to force effectiveness, capability and operational risk," she said.

Conaton also signaled the plan to consider if the Air Force's organizational structure is well-suited to addressing operational energy issues. "We have a fantastic emphasis on installations energy, and as DOD is taking a closer look on the operational side, I think we are too, trying to take a look at: is the organization that we currently have at the staff level the most effective?" she said at the media availability. While she said she takes her job as the Air Force's senior energy official "really seriously," many issues come across her plate every day, and she wants to make sure the Air Force has officials who are constantly focused on meeting the service's energy goals. "So we're in the process of taking a look at what the best way is to do that," she said.

She particularly pinpointed the Air Force's operational uses of energy, as opposed to facilities' energy consumption, as posing "greater challenges in reducing demand" and finding ways to measure progress. "We've taken the first steps in reducing fossil fuel usage by almost 9 percent since 2005," she said during her speech. "But we have more steps to take and we need ways of measuring progress as we go, not just in aggregate terms, after the fact."

Eye on Korea
By Sebastian Sprenger
June 8, 2010 at 5:00 AM

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) today expressed hope China would come around and help "calm any passions" on the Korean peninsula following the alleged torpedoing of a South Korean vessel by the North. Some sort of retaliation following the incident, which killed 46 sailors, is sure to come from Seoul -- perhaps in the form of sanctions or "something more physical," Skelton told reporters in Washington this morning.

"Cool heads seem to be prevailing right now. But this has the potential to really get out of hand," he said.

Sea Battle
By Christopher J. Castelli
June 7, 2010 at 5:00 AM

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) today released a letter from the Pentagon stating the department's opposition to House legislation that would add mention of the Marine Corps to name of the Navy Department and the title of the Navy secretary.

The House Armed Services Committee's fiscal year 2011 defense authorization bill includes the provision, which is the brainchild of Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC). In recent years, House authorizers have repeatedly tried and failed to enact the proposal, which has never survived the conference process with the Senate Armed Services Committee. The May 26 letter from DOD General Counsel Jeh Johnson is the latest shot across the legislation's bow.

"In our view, the renaming of the Department is unnecessary, would incur additional expense of several hundred thousand dollars a year over the next several years (according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate) and would not enhance the standing or reputation of the Marine Corps," Johnson writes. "A re-designation could be viewed as more than symbolic, and could easily be misinterpreted as a step away from the heritage and tradition of a strong Navy and Marine Corps team." The Navy and Marine Corps have been one team led by one secretary since Benjamin Stoddert was named the first Navy secretary by President Adams in 1798, Johnson notes.