The Insider

U.S. military forces operating in the war zone in and around Afghanistan generate an estimated 750 metric tons of hazardous trash every year, and the Pentagon is considering a new approach to getting rid of it, according to notice posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website last month.

The amount of hazardous trash is just one little nugget of news buried in the May 18 request for information issued by the Defense Logistics Agency. Another is exactly where the prospective trash collectors would have to pick up the DOD waste: Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and, yes, Pakistan.

Of course, there aren't officially any bases in Pakistan. But the FBO notice says quite explicitly that the place of performance for any contract would be “U.S. military installations” located in the four countries.

American bases in the countries north of Afghanistan are somewhat well-documented. The Pentagon relies on the governments there, many of them oppressive, to allow for the shipment of war supplies through their countries. But the FBO notices mention of Pakistan led us to ask DLA for more information.

“The wording of the FedBizOpps notice incorrectly infers that Pakistan may be a location where wastes are generated,” spokeswoman Michelle McCaskill wrote in an emailed response. “The notice itself is not an acquisition action but is part of an effort to gain a broad understanding of regional commercial disposal or recycling opportunities. The mention of Pakistan was because it is one of the nations in the region which potentially might be a site for compliant disposal of wastes if a contract was let and if the contractor obtained the necessary clearances and permits and met customs requirements.”

DLA officials are pretty clear about the unique circumstances of their new disposal idea. The RFI simply served to identify the feasibility of an actual contract, “given the potential concerns and difficulties expected to be encountered by contractors when performing such a project in this area of operations,” the document reads.

Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) is open to examining deeper defense cuts as the fiscal year 2012 defense policy bill makes its way through Congress, his spokeswoman tells us.

Levin used a telephone press conference with reporters last week to air frustration about the Obama administration, lamenting what he said was a lack of fiscal guidance for implementing the $400-billion savings target announced by the president in April.

In the end, the Senate Armed Services Committee's bill authorizes an FY-12 defense budget $6 billion below what the Obama administration requested in February.

Left unasked in the telephonic frenzy among reporters was the question whether Levin's bill would have advocated deeper cuts had the White House issued guidance to that effect.

Levin spokeswoman Tara Andringa sent us this response when we asked the question: “He is prepared to look for more cuts if they are required.”

On June 21, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will host Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto and Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa for a Security Consultative Committee (SCC) meeting, at the State Department, said Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan.

"As part of the SCC meeting, informally known as the 2+2 Ministerial, the ministers will release a comprehensive joint statement articulating common strategic objectives and efforts to enhance the U.S.-Japan alliance. Demonstrating the breadth and depth of the alliance, the officials will discuss a wide range of bilateral, regional, and global issues, including the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, Afghanistan, missile defense technology transfer, and realignment of our forces in Okinawa," Lapan said. "This is the first such meeting in four years, and builds upon the progress that the U.S.-Japan alliance has made over the past half-century."

During a teleconference call today on the Senate Armed Services Committee's mark-up of the fiscal year 2012 defense authorization bill, panel Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) was asked whether the conclusions of an as-yet-unpublished Defense Science Board report critical of the phased adaptive approach to European missile defense was reflected in the legislation.

His answer, in a word: "No."

Levin added that "there was nothing that -- as far as I know -- was explicitly reflective of it."

As InsideDefense.com reported on June 15:

The Pentagon's two-year-old plan to establish by 2020 the ability to shoot down Iranian ballistic missiles flying toward Europe or the U.S. eastern seaboard is "not credible," a lawmaker said today, citing the conclusion of an unpublished report from an influential Pentagon advisory board.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) told the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee today that findings of a Defense Science Board task force on the feasibility of early intercept ballistic missile defense raise question about a key element of the Obama administration's plan to defend Europe against medium- and short-range ballistic missiles.

"The report's unclassified conclusion is that the Missile Defense Agency's plans to achieve an early intercept capability as part of the Phased Adaptive Approach are simply not credible," Shelby said during a hearing on the Pentagon's fiscal year 2012 budget request. "Now it looks like the nation may be left with an inadequate defense in Europe and no boost-phase intercept capability."

During today's conference call, though, Levin said:

NATO made a decision. I think most people think it was the right decision -- it gives us much greater capability against the Iranian threat, which is really maybe the main purpose of it. We view that as the main threat. That's what that phased adaptive approach gives us much greater capability against, and there was no . . . indication that I've heard of any move away from that.

In what is likely his last press conference, outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates just announced that he would nominate Navy Adm. Jonathan Greenert to succeed the retiring Adm. Gary Roughead as the next chief of naval operations. According to Greenert's bio:

Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert is a native of Butler, Pa. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1975 and completed studies in nuclear power for service as a submarine officer.

His career as a submariner includes assignments aboard USS Flying Fish (SSN 673), USS Tautog (SSN 639), Submarine NR-1 and USS Michigan (SSBN 727 - Gold Crew), culminating in command of USS Honolulu (SSN 718) from March 1991 to July 1993.

Subsequent fleet command assignments include Commander, Submarine Squadron 11, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Marianas, Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet (August 2004 to September 2006) and Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command (September 2007 to July 2009).

Greenert has served in various fleet support and financial management positions, including deputy chief of naval operations for integration of capabilities and resources (N8); deputy commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet; chief of staff, U.S. 7th Fleet; head, Navy Programming Branch and director, Operations Division Navy Comptroller.

He is a recipient of various personal, and campaign awards including the Distinguished Service Medal (5 awards), Defense Superior Service Medal and Legion of Merit (4 awards). In 1992 he was awarded the Vice Admiral Stockdale Award for inspirational leadership. He considers those awards earned throughout his career associated with unit performance to be most satisfying and representative of naval service.

Lest anyone worry that the Czech Republic is no longer interested in cooperating with the United States on missile defense, Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan minutes ago tweeted:

Czech Republic not pulling out of the U.S. European missile shield plan. CR embraced [European Phased Adaptive Approach] at the 2010 Lisbon NATO Summit & reaffirmed 2day.

That reaffirmation, as Lapan calls it, came in a joint briefing in Prague earlier today with Deputy Defense Secretary Bill Lynn and his Czech counterpart Alexandr Vondra:

VONDRA: Regarding missile defense, we welcome the new developments.  We agreed in Lisbon that MD will be created under NATO, which, in fact, shifts the situation in the direction which we have always requested.  We really appreciate the U.S. involvement in the form of the Phased Adaptive Approach as a U.S. contribution to a complex European missile defense.  In this context we, of course, thanked them for the previous, pre-Lisbon U.S. offer and we stated that in the light of Lisbon and further developments the previous offer of our participation in the Shared Early Warning System will no longer be necessary and that we would seek other possibilities of the Czech Republic’s future involvement in the Allied System. . . .

LYNN: In terms of the Shared Early Warning there is no offer that was cancelled, I think that the offer that we made, as the minister described, was overtaken by events.  The Lisbon Summit has, I think, changed the nature of the missile defense framework in which we are operating and that the offer, while it was an interesting one and a good one, no longer fits either the missile defense framework or the Czech needs.

VONDRA: [Speaking Czech] I wouldn't say that the offer has been cancelled, because the offer was made in a certain historical context.  After the U.S. changed the original MD concept where the Czech Republic had its share, there came this well-meant offer.  We evaluated it and presented our opinion several times.  But in the meantime, there has been some development.  There came the Lisbon summit decision and there has been further progress on the NATO joint system -- I mean we got to a certain stage where it was superseded and where we have a whole spectrum of other fields where we can work hard to find a kind of cooperation between the U.S. and CR which will make practical sense.