The Insider

By Thomas Duffy
October 16, 2009 at 5:00 AM

According to the White House budget office, Defense Department costs for fiscal year 2009 ran .7 percent below what had been projected during a mid-session review last August. In a joint statement issued this afternoon, Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag and Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner tallied up government spending for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30:

Department of Defense -- Outlays for the Department of Defense (DOD) were $637 billion, $4.4 billion, or 0.7 percent, less than estimated in the ((mid-session review)). There is no single explanation for the differences between projected and actual outlays, but several examples illustrate the types of variance seen in accounts. For example, DOD spent $1.5 billion less than projected for the Air Force to purchase aircraft, in part because prior year supplemental appropriations provided more money than could be used to buy C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, exceeding production capacity. Other examples of lower-than-projected outlays include the contracts to purchase heavy- and medium-wheeled vehicles, where contracts were delayed or protested, slowing outlays by more than $1 billion. In some instances supplemental funds caused higher-than-expected outlays for the purchase of major defense systems, such as for the Navy's purchase of aircraft. In this instance, the purchase of planes had an outlay surge in the second year after appropriations (resulting in an outlay rate $1.3 billion higher than projected).

By Christopher J. Castelli
October 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The Congressional Budget Office should check into the cost of Gen. Stanley McChrystal's proposal for increasing the number of troops in Afghanistan by 40,000, Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX) said yesterday at a House Budget Committee hearing.

"So have you personally analyzed in any way some of the other estimates that every soldier or serviceman or woman we have in Afghanistan, it costs about $1 million?" Edwards asked Matthew Goldberg, CBO's acting assistant director for national security.

Goldberg noted CBO has focused mostly on Iraq, which has been the bigger operation until now, and that CBO has not distinguished the cost per service member between the two theaters. "If we were to receive a request to look specifically at Afghanistan, we would attempt to make those distinctions and refining estimates," he added.

Edwards faulted Republicans for not seeking such information. "That seems completely inconsistent with their newfound focus on trying to reduce the deficit that, in my opinion, many of them helped create with their irresponsible budgets of tax cuts during a time of war and defense build-up,” he charged.

Meanwhile, the BBC reported last night that the White House is poised to approve McChrystal's troop request. The BBC's Mark Urban discussed the story on Charlie Rose last night. The White House is dismissing the report.

By Christopher J. Castelli
October 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn and Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale are scheduled to testify next week on Capitol Hill about "defense costs and long-term fiscal challenges," the House Budget Committee announced yesterday.

The hearing is slated for Wednesday, Oct. 21.

"Additional witnesses may be announced," the committee notes.

By Christopher J. Castelli
October 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The Obama administration's nominees for top Pentagon jobs overseeing budget and acquisition issues will testify at a Senate confirmation hearing next week.

Christine Fox, the nominee to lead the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CA&PE) shop, and Frank Kendall, the nominee for the Pentagon's No. 2 acquisition job, will be among the witnesses at the Oct. 22 hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Fox recently stepped down as president of the Center for Naval Analyses.

Kendall, who would be the deputy to Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter, has served most recently as a managing partner at Renaissance Strategic Advisors.

Also testifying will be Gladys Commons, the nominee to be the Navy's comptroller and Terry Yonkers, who is in line to become assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations and environment.

By John Liang
October 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM

President Obama has nominated Clifford Stanley to become the next under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, the White House announced today. According to Stanley's bio, as released by the administration:

Dr. Clifford L. Stanley recently served as the President of Scholarship America, the nation’s largest nonprofit, private-sector scholarship organization. As President, Dr. Stanley provided leadership for over 50,000 volunteers in 42 states with a full-time staff of 160 men and women. Prior to assuming this position, Dr. Stanley served on the senior leadership team of the University of Pennsylvania as Executive Vice President. In that capacity, he served as Chief Operating Officer and was responsible to the president for the non-academic functions of the university, such as business, finance, facilities maintenance, and campus security. In 2002, Dr. Stanley retired from the United States Marine Corps with the rank of Major General. During his distinguished 33-year career, he served in a range of leadership positions including Deputy Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command, where he was responsible for all doctrine, organization, training and education in the U.S. Marine Corps; Commanding General of the Marine Corps Base at Quantico, Virginia; Commanding General, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center; and Director of Public Affairs, Marine Corps Headquarters. Dr. Stanley earned his Doctorate of Education Degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education and holds a Masters degree in Counseling from The Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelors degree in Psychology from South Carolina State University.

By Christopher J. Castelli
October 14, 2009 at 5:00 AM

This morning, after receiving the presidential daily briefing in the Oval Office, President Obama will discuss Afghanistan and Pakistan with his national security team in the Situation Room.

Here’s the list of expected participants, as released by the White House:

Vice President Biden
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (via videoconference)
Defense Secretary Robert Gates
Amb. Susan Rice, Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations
Amb. Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew
Adm. Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Gen. David Petraeus, U.S. Central Command
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, U.S. Commander in Afghanistan (via videoconference)
Retired Adm. Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence
CIA Director Leon Panetta
Karl Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (via videoconference)
Anne Patterson, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (via videoconference)
Retired Gen. James Jones, National Security Adviser
Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Adviser
John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security
Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, Special Assistant to the President for Afghanistan and Pakistan

By Sebastian Sprenger
October 14, 2009 at 5:00 AM

With the Obama administration recently presiding over its first fiscal year close-out, officials want to make sure work on the FY-09 financial statements goes as quickly as it did in previous years.

The statutory deadline for the paperwork is five months after the fiscal year ends. But during the past four years it took agencies only 45 days to complete the work.

"It is my expectation that federal agencies will continue to meet this accelerated time table, and I hereby request that federal agencies treat 45 days after the end of the fiscal year as a deadline for submitting year-end financial statements," Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag wrote in a memo yesterday.

Of course, not all financial statements are equal. The Defense Department -- partly because of its sheer vastness, officials say -- has been trying to get its numbers in order for years.

DOD's latest moves toward clean audits are summarized in the periodically updated Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness Plan. The latest version, from March, said auditors considered 45 percent of DOD's $3.8 trillion in assets and liabilities deserving of a "complete" rating.

By John Liang
October 14, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The commander of the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, ND, has been relieved of command "due to loss of confidence in his ability to command," according to an Air Force announcement released today:

Col. Christopher B. Ayres was removed by Maj. Gen. Roger W. Burg, commander of 20th Air Force. Col. Ayres assumed command in May 2008.

He was not relieved for any alleged misconduct or wrongdoing. Recent incidents during his command, including a vehicle rollover accident involving a Payload Transporter on Aug. 31, 2009, contributed to the loss of confidence.

“We must uphold the highest standards within the nuclear enterprise,” said Gen. C. Robert Kehler, commander of Air Force Space Command, who approved of the decision. “We must have complete confidence in our leadership as we continue the revitalization of the nuclear enterprise.”

Ayres' firing is not the only bad publicity the base has had to endure in recent years, what with an August 2007 mishap where an Air Force B-52 bomber was inadvertently loaded with live nuclear weapons slated for long-term storage during a flight from Minot AFB to Barksdale AFB, LA. That event led to the resignations of then-Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley.

By Christopher J. Castelli
October 13, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is scheduled to meet with President Obama and Vice President Biden late this afternoon in the Oval Office, according to the White House.

The meeting is closed to the press. No agenda items disclosed, but Afghanistan is sure to come up. As The Washington Post reported on its Web site yesterday:

President Obama announced in March that he would be sending 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. But in an unannounced move, the White House has also authorized -- and the Pentagon is deploying -- at least 13,000 troops beyond that number, according to defense officials.

The additional troops are primarily support forces, including engineers, medical personnel, intelligence experts and military police. Their deployment has received little mention by officials at the Pentagon and the White House, who have spoken more publicly about the combat troops who have been sent to Afghanistan.

The deployment of the support troops to Afghanistan brings the total increase approved by Obama to 34,000. The buildup has raised the number of U.S. troops deployed to the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan above the peak during the Iraq "surge" that President George W. Bush ordered, officials said.

By Marjorie Censer
October 9, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The Army chief of staff has approved the service's latest equipping strategy, describing the "ends, ways, and means the Army will use to achieve equipping balance by Fiscal Year 2011," according to a Sept. 29 memo from Lt. Gen. Stephen Speakes, deputy chief of staff for programs (G-8). The memo, obtained by Inside the Army, notes that the strategy intends to "ensure Soldiers have the right amount and type of modernized equipment to meet their mission requirements -- whether in combat, training for combat, operating as part of the generating force, or conducting Homeland Defense and Defense Support to Civilian Agencies missions."

The 12-page equipping strategy, also obtained by ITA, lays out the methods by which the Army properly equips its troops. It also details challenges ahead, such as the increasingly uncertain budget environment.

"Affordability and Risk will be critical issues as the Army looks to move through Balance and into Enduring Readiness, while fielding the new Ground Combat Vehicle and continuing to Reset and recapitalize," the strategy reads. "There must be explicit decision criteria in equipping decisions at all levels."

By Jason Sherman
October 9, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The Congressional Budget Office believes the Pentagon can shave $6 billion from the price tag of repairing war-torn equipment by adjusting the pace of U.S. troops withdrawals from Iraq.

In an Oct. 7 letter to Rep. John Tierney (D-MA), the non-partisan CBO outlines four alternatives for how the Pentagon might remove equipment and forces from Iraq and still meet the Obama administration's commitment to be gone by the end of 2011. Tierney is chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform national security and foreign affairs subcommittee.

Current plans will require $41 billion to reconstitute war-torn equipment, which CBO believes can be pared back to as little as $35 billion by beginning to withdraw slightly more than four brigades a month beginning this month through next June. The administration plans to sustain current force levels of 128,000 troops in Iraq through the December elections, and in February begin withdrawing three brigades a month through August 2010.

By Christopher J. Castelli
October 8, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The fiscal year 2010 defense authorization conference agreement unveiled yesterday scolds the Defense Department -- and senior uniformed officials in particular -- for not being responsive enough to lawmakers' queries.

Conferees stopped short of adopting a House provision that would have directed members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to provide advice to Congress upon request, but they also unloaded on top military officials for repeatedly failing to provide information and documents in a timely manner as required by law.

Citing Senate confirmation hearings, the legislation counsels the services' top admirals and generals to remember what they agreed to:

In particular, the conferees remind these officers of their affirmative answers to the following questions: Do you agree to provide documents, including copies of electronic forms of communication, in a timely manner when requested by a duly constituted committee, or to consult with the committee regarding the basis for any good faith delay or denial in providing such documents? Do you agree, when asked, to give your personal views, even if those views differ from the administration in power?

By John Liang
October 8, 2009 at 5:00 AM

With Congress a full week into fiscal year 2010, House lawmakers have yet to officially designate who will negotiate the FY-10 defense appropriations bill.

Traditionally the members of the subcommittees of both chambers are the conferees. On Oct. 6, the Senate Appropriations Committee appointed Sens. Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Robert Byrd (D-WV), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Arlen Specter (D-PA), Ranking Member Thad Cochran (R-MS), Kit Bond (R-MO), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Robert Bennett (R-UT) and Sam Brownback (R-KS).

A House staffer tells InsideDefense.com that the conference meetings could begin next week, with the two chambers voting on the final compromise bill the following week.

By Christopher J. Castelli
October 7, 2009 at 5:00 AM

This afternoon, President Obama plans to meet again with his national security team on Afghanistan and Pakistan. Here’s the White House’s roster for today’s Situation Room session:

* Vice President Biden
* Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
* Defense Secretary Robert Gates
* Amb. Susan Rice, Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations
* Amb. Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
* Adm. Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
* Gen. David Petraeus, U.S. Central Command
* Gen. Stanley McChrystal, U.S. Commander in Afghanistan (via videoconference)
* Retired Adm. Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence
* CIA Director Leon Panetta
* Karl Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (via videoconference)
* Anne Patterson, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (via videoconference)
* Retired Gen. James Jones, National Security Adviser
* Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Adviser
* John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security

By Sebastian Sprenger
October 7, 2009 at 5:00 AM

One of the ways to accelerate the growth of the Afghan National Security Forces is to simply extend the recruits' training days. That is one of the recommendations from the former head of the Iraqi army training effort that Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the head of NATO forces in Afghanistan, chose to include in his Aug. 30 Afghanistan assessment to Pentagon leaders.

But along with introducing perhaps 60- or 72-hour work weeks, the mindset in the corridors of Kabul's ministries must change, retired Army Lt. Gen. James Dubik argued in a July 16 memo to McChrystal.

"Given what our nation has already invested in blood and treasure and how that investment has and is growing, I believe a full-court, strategic press is necessary in two areas," Dubik's memo states.

"Part of the 'growth' necessary in the Afghan ministries concerns understanding that they will have to begin to carry out more of the financial burden -- within the ((country's)) actual means. All cannot come from the donor coffers much longer. This will be a huge psychological shift. At the right time over the next year, we should consider beginning to develop small steps in this regard to overcome the current inertia and build a foundation for the future."

Dubik also called for "increased intensity" within Afghanistan's security ministries and training centers. The Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan "is not in a 'business as usual' position, yet I sense some of our Afghan partners are," he wrote.

As for police forces training, in particular, Dubik recommended the creation of one or more Kabul Police Academy "extension colleges" to help generate graduates more quickly.