The Insider

Allen Out
By Christopher J. Castelli
February 19, 2013 at 6:33 PM

President Obama today accepted Gen. John Allen's request to retire. In a statement, Obama cited "health issues" within Allen's family as the reason for the general's retirement. Allen's exit means he will no longer be the White House's nominee to lead U.S. European Command. Last year, his nomination was put on ice after reports he corresponded with a woman tied to the scandal that ousted then-CIA Director David Petraeus. Allen, formerly the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, was later cleared of wrongdoing.

Here is Obama's statement:

Today, I met with General John Allen and accepted his request to retire from the military so that he can address health issues within his family. I told General Allen that he has my deep, personal appreciation for his extraordinary service over the last 19 months in Afghanistan, as well as his decades of service in the United States Marine Corps. General Allen presided over the significant growth in the size and capability of Afghan National Security Forces, the further degradation of al Qaeda and their extremist allies, and the ongoing transition to Afghan security responsibility across the country. He worked tirelessly to strengthen our coalition through his leadership of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and to improve our relations with the Afghan government. Above all, he cares deeply for the men and women in uniform who serve our nation – as well as their families – and I am grateful for the sacrifices made by his family in supporting him during his service. John Allen is one of America’s finest military leaders, a true patriot, and a man I have come to respect greatly. I wish him and his family the very best as they begin this new chapter, and we will carry forward the extraordinary work that General Allen led in Afghanistan.

JLENS Case
By Jen Judson
February 19, 2013 at 6:20 PM

The Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System has shown in recent tests that it can detect and track tactical ballistic missiles during the ascent phase, according to the JLENS program director for prime contractor Raytheon, which conducted the testing.

In a series of four tests that began on Dec. 6, JLENS' X-band radar tracked ripple-fired tactical ballistic missile surrogates and missiles that were fired separately. "We went four-for-four tracking for tactical ballistic targets," Raytheon's Mark Rose told reporters in a teleconference today. "This was a pretty significant addition to the abilities of JLENS."

The system -- consisting of a tethered surveillance aerostat and a tethered aerostat with a fire-control radar -- is also capable of tracking cruise missiles, cars, boats, helicopters, trucks and trains, according to Rose.

The first day's testing probed JLENS' ability to track ripple-fired TBM threats launched within a few seconds of each other from a tactically representative range, Rose said. The radar "picked them up at the ascent phase and very quickly determined the launch point of where they were," he added. On the second day, officials tested the radar's ability to pick up and track separate TBM surrogates fired roughly an hour apart, according to Rose.

Raytheon sees real-world implications from the results. "There are thousands of targets out there from rogue nations to other organizations that have a variety of ballistic missiles," Rose said, adding, "there is clearly a threat to our national security from these things."

Referring to Desert Storm, Rose said if JLENS had been used at the time, it would have been able to track Scud missiles, determine their launch points and even track the trucks used to launch the missiles as they moved to other locations.

For additional coverage of the JLENS program, check out Inside the Army's recent stories:

JLENS Finds A Home At Aberdeen; Will Observe DC Region

JLENS Operations In CONUS-Based Location To Be Competed

JLENS' Second Developmental Test Deemed 'Successful' By Contractor

Pleading Their Case
By Megan Eckstein
February 19, 2013 at 3:46 PM

Two House Armed Services subcommittee chairmen are urging the House Appropriations Committee to protect certain military programs they see as vital to national security from the effects of operating under a continuing resolution and impending cuts from sequestration.

"We believe the most effective means of minimizing these significant reductions would be to pass the Department of defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2013," seapower and projection forces subcommittee Chairman Randy Forbes (R-VA) wrote in a Feb. 15 letter to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young (R-FL). Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA), the chairman of the readiness subcommittee, also signed the letter.

"Absent this, we would recommend that specific anomalies and transfer authorities be included in a yearlong Continuing Resolution Act to reduce the harmful impacts of a Continuing Resolution based on Fiscal Year 20132 appropriations," Forbes and Wittman write.

Specifically, Forbes and Wittman want:

· Fully funding Navy modernization and maintenance programs to sustain existing fleet readiness levels;

· Completing the refueling and overhaul of the Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71);

· Providing for the refueling and overhaul of the Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72);

· Providing new authority to begin construction of the John F. Kennedy (CVN-79);

· Ensuring multiyear procurement and quantity increases for the Virginia class of nuclear attack submarines and the Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers;

· Completing delivery of the amphibious assault ship America (LHA-6);

· Allowing for the continued operation of the Moored Training Ship;

· Providing for a quantity increase in the procurement of the P-8A Poseidon aircraft.

If these actions are taken, the Navy would have "adequate latitude to continue ship availabilities that are temporarily on hold in the third and fourth quarters of 2013," according to the letter.

Profit Policy
By John Liang
February 15, 2013 at 8:41 PM

The Defense Department plans to host a public meeting to "obtain the views of experts and interested parties in Government and the private sector regarding the profit guidelines in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement," according to a notice published in today's Federal Register.

The meeting will take place at the General Services Administration's Central Office Auditorium on March 20 and begin at 1 p.m., the notice states, adding:

DoD is interested in opening a dialogue with experts and interested parties in Government and the private sector about the requirements of section 804 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013. Section 804, Department of Defense Policy on Contractor Profits, included a requirement for DoD to review its profit policy guidelines in order to identify any modifications to such guidelines that are necessary to ensure an appropriate link between contractor profit and contractor performance. The law also stated that, in conducting the review, the Secretary shall obtain the views of experts and interested parties in Government and the private sector.

Sequestration Deadline
By John Liang
February 15, 2013 at 5:21 PM

Just two weeks remain until the March 1 sequestration deadline. Here's some of our coverage from Tuesday's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the effects of the yearlong continuing resolution and sequestration on the military budget:

Senate Hearing Puts Spotlight On Potential Casualties Of Sequestration
(Inside the Pentagon, Feb. 14)

CRS: Readiness Accounts May Be Cut By Half Of What Chiefs Say Is Needed
(Inside the Pentagon, Feb. 14)

Carter: Giving DOD Transfer Authority No Substitute For Avoiding Sequestration
(DefenseAlert, Feb. 13)

More to come in next week's Inside the Army and Inside the Navy.

The Senate Appropriations Committee also had a related hearing this week. In her opening statement, new committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) said:

The sequester was never intended to happen. It was designed as a tool to force a grand bargain on reforms to the tax code and reforms to mandatory spending, along with strategic, targeted cuts to reduce spending and get more value for the dollar. Those reforms have not happened. Instead, we play the politics of delay, lurching from deadline to deadline. No one thinks that this kind of 'ultimatum politics' is good for the fragile economy, creating good jobs, and promoting efficiencies in government.

In addition to the identical prepared testimony Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter had submitted to the House and Senate Armed Services committees, Mikulski included as part of the materials for her hearing a letter sent by outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Monday, which outlines the specific effects sequestration would have on the Pentagon.

Hagel Vote Delayed
By Christopher J. Castelli
February 14, 2013 at 11:41 PM

GOP senators today delayed a vote on the nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) to be defense secretary. The vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination produced 58 yeas and 40 nays. The result was divided mostly along party lines. To end debate on the nomination, 60 yeas would have been required.

The White House slammed Republicans for not proceeding with the vote this afternoon.

"Today, Senate Republicans put political posturing ahead of our nation’s security," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a statement. "For the first time in American history, Senate Republicans filibustered a nominee for secretary of defense -- a member of their own party, a decorated combat veteran, and the right leader for our troops."

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) also issued a statement: "Today's vote is a vote to continue the debate over Chuck Hagel. It is premature to close off debate on a nominee who hasn't responded to reasonable requests for information and to a White House who continues to stonewall."

Missile Matters
By John Liang
February 14, 2013 at 5:12 PM

This week's successful shoot-down of a ballistic missile target by a Standard Missile-3 Block 1A interceptor in the Pacific Ocean has boosted the confidence of the missile's builder in the development of the next-generation SM-3 Block 1B missile.

"The Block 1B is very common to the Block 1A, so from the booster system and the flyout systems -- both first stage, second stage and third stage -- they are exactly alike, so it builds more confidence . . . as we evolve the SM-3 system," according to Raytheon's SM-3 Program Director Mitch Stevison. As InsideDefense.com reported yesterday:

"We push technology where we have to -- we have a very rapid and evolving threat out there in this world, and we push technology to deal with that threat, but we don't push technology in areas where we have a very good understanding and characterization of the system," Stevison said. "So from that aspect, every SM-3 flight that we do builds confidence on the next block evolution that we are doing.

"So for the 1B missile, we'll learn from this test, even the engagement endgame pieces of what we do, we will pull the data from this test, and use it to continue to build robust sensor discrimination algorithms in the future," he continued. "So yes, the short answer is it's very, very important, we use all the data from Block 1A to build upon to ensure that we will have more robustness in the Block 1B missile, as we now transition it from a development program into a production program."

The fourth-generation version of that missile meant for deployment in Europe -- and still under development -- doesn't inspire much confidence in the Government Accountability Office, though. In a report released on Monday, GAO states:

While [the Missile Defense Agency's] initial assumption was the missile was to be land-based, the program is now requiring the SM-3 Block IIB to be ship and land compatible. However, if the SM-3 Block IIB is sea based and uses a liquid propellant, there are significant safety risks and unknown but likely significant cost implications. Navy has stated that the program may develop concepts with liquid propellants, but it has not made a final decision regarding whether it will overturn its 1988 ban on liquid propellants on ships and allow a sea-based SM-3 Block IIB to use liquid propellants.

To some extent, this progression has been driven by the early decision to narrow solutions to an Aegis-based missile without the benefit of a robust analysis of other alternatives. While this does not mean the SM-3 Block IIB is not a viable choice, we have previously reported that without fully exploring alternatives, programs may not achieve an optimal concept for the war fighter, are at risk for cost increases, and can face schedule delays or technology maturity challenges.

Read the full GAO report.

'Getting Close'
By Christopher J. Castelli
February 13, 2013 at 10:35 PM

The Defense Department is "getting close" to finalizing all of its resource management decisions for the fiscal year 2014 budget cycle, Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale told InsideDefense.com today after testifying for hours before the House Armed Service Committee during a sequestration hearing. Hale declined to comment further on the status of the budget decisions.

As InsideDefense.com recently reported, DOD has set an "aggressive" schedule for the completion of its FY-14 budget request, directing the services and defense agencies submit detailed spending plans in time for an expected release date in "mid-March." DOD guidance issued earlier this month cites a "notional" date of March 25 for the delivery of most budget justification material to Congress, but the memo notes the schedule is subject to change.

LCS Deploying
By Megan Eckstein
February 13, 2013 at 8:43 PM

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert told reporters today that even though several deployments have or will soon be cut to save what's left of the service's operations and maintenance fund for the remainder of the year, the first overseas deployment of a Littoral Combat Ship will not be on the chopping block.

Greenert testified before the House Armed Services Committee on the effect of the continuing resolution and the possibility of sequestration.

Asked what the United States' allies should think of the canceled deployments of ships and air wings to the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in light of North Korea's nuclear test earlier this week, Greenert said:

"One of my key tenets is to operate forward -- a key piece of that are things like Forward Deployed Naval Force, forward-stationing ships. We have 40 ships out in the Asia Pacific. They don't depend on the rotational deployment. Of the 50 we have out there, 40 are out there all the time. That's very reassuring, especially to the Northeast Asia and to a certain extent Southeast Asia. We'll go forward with the deployment of the Freedom to Singapore, we're going to do that, we're committed to that. We'll obviously sustain the ships that are in Japan and we'll work very hard, Asia is very important."

Defense Forum
By John Liang
February 13, 2013 at 7:40 PM

U.S., Australian and Japanese officials met Tuesday in Washington for the fifth "Security and Defense Cooperation Forum" plenary session, according to a State Department press release issued this afternoon:

The meeting included discussions on trilateral political-military and defense cooperation in areas such as humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, regional capacity development, and maritime security, among other issues. The officials also exchanged views on the state of regional security affairs.

The three delegations discussed the recent North Korean nuclear test. They agreed that this highly provocative act was a clear violation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1718, 1874, and 2087, as well as North Korea’s own commitments under the September 19, 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks. The three delegations further affirmed that North Korea’s actions undermine regional security, increase the risks of proliferation, and further isolate it from the international community.

The SDCF is a regular cooperative dialogue between Australia, Japan, and the United States, and has been held since 2007. Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Shapiro and Assistant Secretary of Defense Mark Lippert co-chaired the forum.

Defense secretaries and ministers from Australia, Japan, and the United States have met twice on the margins of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. They plan to do so again in May 2013.

NPT Speech
By John Liang
February 13, 2013 at 4:49 PM

Acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller gave a speech this week on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty at the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel.

"The road ahead can seem daunting," she said. "Some states continue to forsake their freely taken and legally binding obligations. Proliferation is aided by the speed and anonymity provided by the information age. Conflicts around the globe make cooperation difficult or dangerous. Even in the face of these challenges, it is incumbent upon us to find ways to strengthen nonproliferation norms, bolster compliance and quickly adapt to ever-changing circumstances and security needs."

Gottemoeller also touched on "some new tools" that could aid the United States and other NPT adherents in curbing the spread of nuclear weapons:

The United States is and has always been committed to innovation, and the arms control and nonproliferation arenas are no exception. To respond to the challenges we face, we are thinking about creative ways to use technologies -- including open source technologies -- to tackle long-standing verification and monitoring problems. We hope that other states will join us in this endeavor.

View the full text of her speech.

Panel Backs Hagel
By John Liang
February 12, 2013 at 10:05 PM

The Senate Armed Services Committee just voted along party lines to confirm former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) as the next defense secretary.

No date has yet been set for the full Senate to debate Hagel's nomination.

Subcommittee Appropriators
By John Liang
February 12, 2013 at 9:18 PM

The Senate Appropriations Committee today released the names of the subcommittee members for the 113th Congress. Here are the defense subcommittee members, according to the statement:

Democratic Members

Senator Dick Durbin (Chairman) (IL)

Senator Patrick Leahy (VT)

Senator Tom Harkin (IA)

Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA)

Senator Barbara Mikulski (MD)

Senator Patty Murray (WA)

Senator Tim Johnson (SD)

Senator Jack Reed (RI)

Senator Mary Landrieu (LA)

Senator Mark Pryor (AR)

Republican Members

Senator Thad Cochran (Ranking) (MS)

Senator Mitch McConnell (KY)

Senator Richard Shelby (AL)

Senator Lamar Alexander (TN)

Senator Susan Collins (ME)

Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK)

Senator Lindsey Graham (SC)

Senator Daniel Coats (IN)

Senator Roy Blunt (MO)

BRAC Attack?
By Tony Bertuca
February 12, 2013 at 7:20 PM

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno said today that the Army would have to begin closing bases if it is made to bear the full brunt of sequestration.

"If they implement the size of the cuts we have now, they have to do a BRAC because it becomes inefficient if we don't, especially for the Army," Odierno told a group of reporters after a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the potential effects of sequestration.

"BRAC" is the acronym for the Base Realignment and Closure Commission process known to drive fear into the hearts of lawmakers across Capitol Hill, especially if their districts are home to large bases or maintenance depots.

"We have billions of dollars of impact on surrounding communities," he said. "As we cut forces, as we reduce programs, it will impact all of the small businesses that surround all of our installations. I think if we have to execute full sequestration, and the fact that we're going to take out significant structure in the guard, the reserve and out active component, then we're going to have to look at a BRAC."

Odierno has not been cavalier in his use of the "B word" thus far, but used it today to ratchet up the pressure on Congress to come to a deal to avoid sequestration.

"I am disappointed so far in what's happening," he remarked about Washington's failure to come to a compromise. "I think for a lot of reasons, people have just not paid enough attention. I'm concerned that we haven't taken action and I'm concerned that there's really no discussion going on."

Strategic Sustainability
By John Liang
February 12, 2013 at 4:47 PM

The Defense Department's installations and environment office this week released its "Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan," originally submitted to the White House Council on Environmental Quality in September 2012.

The plan "lays out our goals and sustainability performance expectations over the next decade, establishing the path by which the Department will enhance technologies and practices that further the sustainability goals of the Nation." It also includes as an appendix a "Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap" that provides an overview of the steps DOD "will take to ensure the sustainability of its operations and infrastructure under climate change."

The Pentagon's installations and environment office will be accepting public comments on the roadmap until April 9, according to the office's website.