The Insider

Looks like the United States isn't the only country that will miss a deadline to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile. According to today's issue of Defense Environment Alert:

Russia has conceded it will miss by three years a legally binding deadline of 2012 for destroying its massive stockpile of chemical weapons, the top official overseeing compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), an international treaty on chemical weapons destruction, announced late last month.

Russia joins the United States in conceding the deadline will not be met by the two countries possessing the largest stockpiles, but the treaty's overseer believes the key goal of getting the stockpiles destroyed is not in jeopardy.

The Russian Federation -- which is the largest possessor state of chemical weapons with a declared stockpile of 40,000 metric tons -- recently indicated it will not meet the CWC's April 12, 2012, destruction deadline, according to Global Green USA, an environmental organization that monitors weapons' destruction campaigns. Rogelio Pfirter, director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) -- the entity that oversees compliance with the treaty -- made the announcement in The Hague at the beginning of the 61st OPCW Executive Council meeting, held June 29-July 2.

"((G))iven the excellent track record and firm commitment to the implementation of the Convention consistently shown by the Russian Federation and by the United States of America, the key goal of achieving the total and irreversible destruction of their declared stockpiles is, in my view, not in question," Pfirter stated, according to a June 29 Global Green press release. "Indeed, both these countries have consistently shown their resolve to abide by their commitments under the Convention and I for one have no doubt that they will continue to stay on track."

Russia's announcement signals "a more realistic schedule for destruction," says Paul Walker, director of the security and sustainability program with Global Green, in the press release. "By extending the planning schedule from 2012 to 2015, Russia is recognizing that it's more important to meet safety and security requirements rather than deadlines." He says so far Russia has destroyed almost half of its stockpile.

The United States in 2006 signaled it would not be able to meet the 2012 deadline either, and in 2007, DOD formally certified a plan to stretch out the cost and schedule for destroying weapons at two of its sites, citing tightening annual budgets. Now, the United States has shortened that a little, expecting to finish in 2021, while Congress passed legislation in recent years calling for the United States to complete destruction by 2017.

The United States has eliminated 74 percent of its 28,600 metric tons of chemical weapons, according to Global Green.

Ukrainian aircraft maker Antonov has entered an agreement with California-based U.S. Aerospace to compete in the Air Force's KC-X next-generation tanker competition, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The July 1 filing, states the two companies have entered an agreement for “((p))articipation in the KC-X Tanker Modernization Program for the U.S. Air Force.”

“We anticipate bidding three models of aircraft, the AN-124-KC, AN-122-KC and AN-112-KC,” the notice states.

The team, in the filing, states that it notified the Pentagon of its intention to bid on July 1.

“The airframes will be built by Antonov in Ukraine, with final assembly in the United States,” the notice states. “We believe that we will be able to offer a superior ((aircraft)) at a significantly lower price than other potential bidders.”

Boeing and EADS are both expected to submit tanker bids, which are due on July 9. The Antonov-U.S. Aerospace filing and word that they would compete in the tanker competition was fist reported by Defense News this morning.

It will be wheels up on July 4 -- destination: Afghanistan -- for Pentagon Acquisition Executive Ashton Carter, according to his spokeswoman, Cheryl Irwin. This will be his third trip to that theater, and one that will focus in part on his role as the Pentagon's chief civilian logistician, Irwin explained in an e-mail.

He will look at a number of things including the logistics aspect of moving equipment from Iraq to Afghanistan.

The Government Accountability Office wants the Pentagon's Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization to improve its review and approval processes for developing counter-IED initiatives, according to a report released today. Specifically:

JIEDDO has developed various output performance measures, it has not yet developed a means for reliably measuring the overall effectiveness of its efforts and investments to combat IEDs. Federal internal control standards require that organizations, such as JIEDDO, establish performance measures that compare the results of a program with its intended purpose. GAO recognizes that developing outcome measures that address JIEDDO’s overall effect is difficult, but JIEDDO has not developed or followed through with a consistent process or plan to gather appropriate data and evaluate the fundamental effectiveness of the individual initiatives it has fielded. Some other limiting factors, according to JIEDDO officials, are that warfighters operating in theater face competing priorities that interfere with collecting data, and available data may not be consistently recorded and maintained. However, in the absence of a consistent process or plan for evaluating and collecting data from individual initiatives, JIEDDO will not be well-positioned to determine robust performance metrics and procedures to assess whether it is achieving DOD’s counter-IED mission.

JIEDDO has a review and approval process for developing counter-IED initiatives; however, it has not fully adhered to this process. Of the 56 initiatives GAO reviewed, JIEDDO excluded 26 from this process, and for the 30 that did go through the process, 22 did not show that they followed all of the required steps of the process. According to DOD’s directive, all of JIEDDO’s counter-IED initiatives are to go through this process, but JIEDDO’s instruction designates non-counter-IED initiatives as overhead, and specifies that overhead will not go through this process. However, neither DOD’s directive nor JIEDDO’s instruction specifically define what constitutes a counter-IED initiative and what should be considered overhead. As a result, GAO found some initiatives designated as overhead which at the time were similar to others then designated as meeting an immediate counter-IED need or later given that designation. With respect to the 22 initiatives that did not follow all required process steps, some of their required documentation needed to confirm approval decisions was incomplete or missing. Without following the requirements of the process, DOD lacks the transparency and accountability of funds spent by JIEDDO.

GAO identified several significant internal control system weaknesses that have been present at JIEDDO since GAO’s first review in 2007. Beyond those identified in this report, those weaknesses extend to other areas such as financial and human capital management. Although JIEDDO has taken some steps in the past to address these weaknesses, those efforts have not been successful. According to federal standards, internal control is a major part of managing an organization. Some underlying reasons for JIEDDO’s lack of progress in addressing these weaknesses include a lack of sustained management attention in following through with corrective actions; challenges with retention and expertise of personnel; and a lack of sufficient acquisition expertise with breadth and depth to understand the programs.

Consequently, JIEDDO should do the following, according to GAO:

GAO recommends JIEDDO take actions to improve (1) its processes for assessing effectiveness of counter-IED initiatives, (2) adherence to its initiative review and approval process, and (3) its overall internal control system. GAO also recommends DOD monitor JIEDDO’s progress in improving its internal controls. DOD concurred with these recommendations.

President Obama has nominated Marine Maj. Gen. Robert Schmidle, currently the assistant deputy commandant for programs and resources, for a third star and a new assignment as the deputy commander of U.S. Cyber Command. Maj. Gen. John Wissler, the deputy commander of the II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, NC, has also been nominated for the rank of lieutenant general and a new post as the deputy commandant for programs and resources. The announcements were made in a statement issued this afternoon by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Gen. David Petraeus, nominated by President Obama to take over as commander of all coalition forces in Afghanistan following last week's resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, is testifying this morning before the Senate Armed Services Committee. In answers submitted to the committee before the nomination hearing, Petraeus provides a brief assessment of the enemy he will be facing if he takes over the Afghanistan command:

It is difficult to arrive at quantitative estimates of Taliban manpower. Even though the increase in ISAF ((International Security Assistance Force)) strength in 2010 caused some concern for insurgent leaders, they continue to show an ability to adapt and respond to ISAF changes, and the size and intensity of the insurgency has increased in proportion to ISAF’s expansion. The Taliban’s increasing ability to project its influence in Regional Command-South, Regional Command-Southwest and Regional Command-East and to create instability in Regional Command-West and Regional Command-North indicate the Taliban suffer no shortage of manpower. They likely believe they will be able to maintain their current strength and possibly grow.

Petraeus told the committee that if he is confirmed, he will do his own assessment of the Afghan security forces to judge whether their size needs to be increased. That review will be done within 90 to 120 days, he said.

An assessment of the Afghan forces is being done by the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan, Petraeus said. "While the exact numbers needed are still being determined, I am not willing to say that the currently approved strength of 305,600 will prove sufficient," he added.

The White House yesterday unveiled a new National Space Policy, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon -- in response -- is gearing up for a new strategy formulation assignment, this one focused on U.S. military needs far beyond the atmosphere.

Together with other departments and agencies, the Department of Defense will take a number of steps to support the new National Space Policy, and will work with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to develop a strategy document to address specific national security requirements for outer space. We will look to leverage growing international and commercial expertise to enhance U.S. capabilities and reduce vulnerabilities.

During the last two decades the U.S. military has become reliant on satellites orbiting the planet for precision in executing essential tasks including navigation, striking targets and collecting intelligence.

Once dominated by the United States, outer space is now a domain other actors seek to influence, Gates said.

Today, space is increasingly contested as our systems face threats of disruption and attack, increasingly competitive as more states, private firms, and others develop space-based capabilities, and increasingly congested with orbital debris.

In articulating U.S. military outer space requirements, the secretary stressed the Defense Department will “pursue activities consistent with the inherent right of self-defense, deepen cooperation with allies and friends, and work with all nations toward the responsible and peaceful shared presence in space.”