The Insider

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz recently announced that Brig. Gen. Clyde Moore, a career test pilot, will be the next deputy director of the Joint Strike Fighter program office. And, if trends continue, Moore will take over top slot in two years.

Moore will take the job this spring, when Marine Corps Brig. Gen. David Heinz takes over the head position, currently held by Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles Davis. As a multiservice outfit, the JSF office gets a new leader every two years -- either an Air Force general officer or a Navy or Marine Corps officer. Typically, the deputy ascends to the director's slot after two years.

Moore is the director of special programs at the Pentagon's weapons-buying shop. In the late 1990s, he was an F-22A test pilot and the director of the Raptor's combine test force and the chief of the jet's test and evaluation division.

He, like Davis, also has had a career as an experimental test pilot for the F-15 Eagle, the F-16 Viper and the T-38 Talon. Though they operated out of different bases, many of Moore's assignments came just after Davis moved to a different post.

Once reassigned, Davis will become the commander of the Air Force's Air Armament Center and the program executive office for weapons at Air Force Materiel Command, Eglin Air Force Base, FL.

President-elect Barack Obama's Defense Department transition team has largely completed its work and left the Pentagon, according to a DOD official.

The transition team -- headed by John White, former deputy defense secretary, and Michele Flournoy, who Obama is nominating to be the under secretary for policy -- has prepared a report for the incoming administration that surveys the current state of affairs in the military bureaucracy and includes options for charting a new course for the Defense Department, according to a source who has seen the document.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden and Sen. Lindsey Graham arrived in Iraq this morning, according to a statement released by Biden's Senate office.

The duo started the day in Basra, where they met with head of the Iraqi Army in Basra. They also met with several community leaders, as well as members of the Basra provincial reconstruction team. The duo then flew to Baghdad, where they were briefed by Gen. Raymond Odierno, the head of Multi-National Force-Iraq, and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker.

Biden and Graham then held meetings with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Iraqi Vice President Adil Abdul-Madi and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq Barham Salih.

The duo wrapped up the day by having dinner with U.S. troops and several members of the Delaware National Guard’s 261st Signal Brigade, including Biden’s son, Capt. Beau Biden. After dinner, the delegation visited the Iraq headquarters of the 261st Brigade.

President-elect Obama today reiterated his support for nominating Leon Panetta as head of the CIA, despite doubts in the blogosphere and among pundits. At the press conference where he officially announced Panetta as his choice (as well as retired Adm. Dennis Blair to become director of national intelligence), Obama said:

Let me be clear: in Leon Panetta, the Agency will have a director who has my complete trust and substantial clout. He will be a strong manager and a strong advocate for the CIA. He knows how to focus resources where they are needed, and he has a proven track record of building consensus and working on a bipartisan basis with Congress. I am confident that he will strengthen the CIA’s capability to protect the American people as it continues to adapt to our reformed intelligence community.

In addition to Blair and Panetta, the president-elect also announced other intel community appointments:

I will also rely on the talent and expertise of several distinguished public servants with substantial intelligence experience. The current DNI, Mike McConnell, will continue to offer his counsel through my Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. The National Counter-Terrorism Center -- the hub of our efforts to prevent attacks and root out terrorist networks -- will continue to benefit from the leadership of Michael Leiter. And I'm pleased to announce that John Brennan -- a close advisor, CIA veteran and former leader of the National Counter-Terrorism Center -- will be my Homeland Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor for Counterterrorism, serving with the rank of Assistant to the President. John has the experience, vision and integrity to advance America's security.

The demands on the intelligence community are huge and growing. To have a successful and sustainable national security strategy, I have made it clear that we will need to deploy and balance all elements of American power -- our military, diplomacy, homeland security, economic might and moral suasion. Good intelligence work is necessary to support each of these endeavors.

Right now, there are men and women working around the world to bear this burden. We may never know their names, but we will always honor their sacrifice. The task for the team that I have assembled is to guide, support, and integrate their efforts so that we protect our security and safeguard the values that all of us have pledged to uphold. Thank you.

Military officials traditionally like to keep things vague when they discuss exercises. An announcement today by U.S. Joint Forces Command -- about a mission rehearsal exercise aimed at readying a new joint task force headquarters for operations in the Horn of Africa -- is no exception.

According to the announcement, the task force members, about to move into one of the world's most volatile regions, are going to tackle issues like this:

"The problem sets may include a non-evacuation operation that may occur in a developing context like the Horn of Africa, a scenario that would require forces to retrieve U.S. and third-party nationals out of a particular situation or a humanitarian assistance disaster relief problem set such as flooding in the Horn of Africa."

Capisce?

President-elect Barack Obama announced key Pentagon appointments this afternoon, nominating William J. Lynn to be deputy defense secretary, Robert Hale to be the comptroller, Michèle Flournoy to be the under secretary for policy and Jeh Charles Johnson to be general counsel. In a statement, Obama said:

“I am confident that these distinguished individuals have the expertise and commitment needed to help me implement a sustainable national security strategy that combats 21st century threats and keeps the American people safe. They share with me the utmost respect for our brave men and women in uniform, and will work day and night to support our troops, strengthen our military, and advance our capacity to carry out 21st century missions. Together with Secretary Gates and our military, we will work to responsibly end the war in Iraq, defeat al Qaeda and the Taliban, and renew America’s strength and standing in the world. I am honored that they have joined me in this mission, and I trust that they will serve the American people well.”

Here are the biographies of the nominees sent along with the announcement:

William J. Lynn III, Deputy Secretary of Defense

Lynn brings decades of experience and expertise in reforming government spending and making the tough choices necessary to ensure that American tax dollars are spent wisely. Lynn served as the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) from 1997 to 2001. In that position, he was the chief financial officer for the Department of Defense and the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense for all budgetary and fiscal matters. From 1993 to 1997, Lynn was the director of program analysis and evaluation in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he oversaw all aspects of the DoD’s strategic planning process. Lynn was awarded three DoD medals for distinguished public service, the Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and awards from the Army, Navy and Air Force. He also received the 2000 Distinguished Federal Leadership Award from the Association of Government Accountants for his efforts to improve defense accounting practices. Lynn currently serves as senior vice president of Government Operations and Strategy at Raytheon Company. Before entering the DoD in 1993, Lynn served for six years on the staff of Senator Edward Kennedy as liaison to the Senate Armed Services Committee. He has also been a Senior Fellow at the National Defense University, on the professional staff at the Institute for Defense Analyses and served as the executive director of the Defense Organization Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Lynn has a law degree from Cornell Law School and a Master’s in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. He is married with a daughter.

Robert F. Hale, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)

Hale currently serves as the Executive Director of the American Society of Military Comptrollers (ASMC). From 1994 to 2001 Mr. Hale was appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller). He was responsible for the Air Force budget and all aspects of Air Force financial management. He also spearheaded creation of the first-ever certification program for defense financial managers. Hale served for twelve years as head of the defense unit of the Congressional Budget Office. Early in his career, Hale served on active duty as a Navy officer and worked for the Center for Naval Analyses. Robert Hale holds a BS with honors from Stanford University as well as an MS from Stanford and an MBA from George Washington University. He is also a Fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration. Mr. Hale has served on the Defense Business Board and recently completed service on a Congressionally-mandated Task Force on the Future of Military Health Care. He is a former National President of the American Society of Military Comptrollers and is a Certified Defense Financial Manager with acquisition specialty.

Michèle Flournoy, Under Secretary of Defense (Policy)

In January 2007, Flournoy cofounded and was named president of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a venture dedicated to advancing a strong, centrist national security strategy. Prior to joining CNAS, she was a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she worked on a broad range of defense policy and international security issues. Previously, she was a distinguished research professor at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University (NDU), where she founded and led the university’s Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) working group, which was chartered by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop intellectual capital in preparation for the Department of Defense’s 2001 QDR. Prior to joining NDU, she was dual-hatted as principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and threat reduction and deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy. In that capacity, she oversaw three policy offices in the Office of the Secretary of Defense: Strategy; Requirements, Plans, and Counterproliferation; and Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasian Affairs. Flournoy was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in 1996, the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service in 1998, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award in 2000. In addition to several edited volumes and reports, she has authored dozens of articles on international security issues. Flournoy holds a B.A. in social studies from Harvard University and an M.Litt. in international relations from Balliol College, Oxford University, where she was a Newton-Tatum scholar.

Jeh Charles Johnson, General Counsel

Johnson is a partner in the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, based in New York City. Johnson's career has been a mixture of successful private law practice (as an experienced trial lawyer) and distinguished public service (as a federal prosecutor and presidential appointee). At age 47, he was elected a Fellow in the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers. Johnson's career as a trial lawyer began in 1989-91, as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted public corruption cases. He served three years as a federal prosecutor. In 1998, Johnson left Paul, Weiss for 27 months when President Clinton appointed him General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force, following nomination and confirmation by the United States Senate. While in that position, Johnson was awarded the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service. In 2007-08, Johnson served as a foreign policy advisor to President-elect Obama’s campaign. Johnson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a graduate of Morehouse College and Columbia Law School.

The Hill is reporting something we've been hearing, too -- Robert Hale for Pentagon comptroller:

Hale, who is currently the executive director of the American Society of Military Comptrollers (ASMC), is expected to be named comptroller of the Pentagon, where he’d head the office that manages the world’s largest military budget, according to sources familiar with the Obama transition team selection process.

Hale is a former Air Force comptroller.

His bio is here.