The Insider

By Marjorie Censer
September 17, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The Senate yesterday voted to confirm John McHugh as Army secretary and Joseph Westphal as under secretary, according to press reports.

McHugh, the former ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, and Westphal appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee at a nomination hearing in late July. The committee favorably reported out their nominations days later.

McHugh succeeds Pete Geren, who has served as Army secretary since July 2007.

Westphal is on leave as a political science professor at the University of Maine. He previously served as chancellor of the University of Maine system and as assistant secretary of the Army for civil works beginning in 1998. In 2001, he briefly served as acting Army secretary.

By Marjorie Censer
September 17, 2009 at 5:00 AM

One analyst is predicting the Government Accountability Office will soon overturn the recent award of the Army's Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles contract to Oshkosh.

FMTV competitors Navistar and BAE Systems earlier this month filed protests with the GAO of an August award to Oshkosh worth $280.9 million for 2,568 FMTVs. According to Oshkosh, the order is expected to total 23,000 trucks and trailers. BAE Systems was the incumbent in the competition.

In a Sept. 17 "issue brief," Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute (who also runs a consulting shop) writes that the Army made "fundamental mistakes" by accepting a "wildly unrealistic cost estimate from Oshkosh without making any serious attempt to determine whether it was valid" and by rating the three offerors "equal in terms of risk and capability," even though BAE Systems was the incumbent.

And, Thompson writes, the service rated the offerors equal with regard to past performance, ignoring BAE's relevant past experience.

In combination, these missteps nearly guarantee that the protests lodged by the losing teams will be sustained when the Government Accountability Office rules on them later this year. But the truck award raises more far-reaching questions about the competence of Army source selections, because the errors were so egregious. Consider the issue of cost realism, a central concern in acquisition reform. Despite lack of facilities, workforce and relevant experience, Oshkosh bid 30 percent below what BAE is charging for building the same trucks today. BAE bid below its current asking price too, and but not that low -- even though it already has a production process in place. Army personnel accepted the bids at face value without any effort to independently verify them, and in fact made cost the sole determinant of the award.

Additionally, Thompson writes that capabilities and past performance were supposed to outweigh cost as factors in the competition, and rating Oshkosh as equal in production capability "seems preposterous on its face." In past performance, the Army "ignored a host of factors" in assuming Oshkosh could match BAE, including Oshkosh's high-priority contract to build Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicles.

"What this all adds up to is a procurement disaster in the making, a conclusion GAO analysts should have little difficulty reaching," Thompson concludes.

According to his biography, Thompson, chief operating officer at the Lexington Institute, also runs Source Associates, a "for-profit consultancy."

By Sebastian Sprenger
September 17, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Defense Department officials today announced the members of a newly created commission charged with evaluating the military's ability to help civil authorities respond to a domestic catastrophe involving weapons of mass destruction.

Chairman of the 12-member commission is retired Adm. Steven Abbot, who is the president and chief executive officer of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.

Also on the panel is retired Army Gen. Dennis Reimer, former Republican Congressmen George Nethercutt and James Greenwood, and former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating (R).

The other members are retired Vice Adm. James Metzger of Science Applications International Corp.; retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Ervin Rokke; the retired Army National Guard two-stars Dennis Celletti, Jerry Grizzle, Ronald Harrison and Raymond Rees; and James Carafano of the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Panel members held their inaugural meeting this week. They are expected to produce a report with recommendations for lawmakers and Pentagon leaders within a year.

By John Liang
September 17, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Not all the missile defense news out today has to do with Europe. The Pentagon just announced that Navy Capt. Randall Hendrickson has been selected for rear admiral (lower half) and would be assigned as deputy director of the Missile Defense Agency.

Hendrickson commanded the Aegis cruiser Lake Erie (CG-70) from 2006 to 2008. In 2007, the Lake Erie shot down an errant U.S. intelligence satellite. He also commanded the destroyer Ramage (DDG-61) from March 2002 to November 2003.

Hendrickson replaces Navy Rear Adm. Joseph Horn, who in July was reassigned as MDA's program director for Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense.

According to the Pentagon statement, Hendrickson is serving as head of theater missile defense (N865) in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.

By Kate Brannen
September 16, 2009 at 5:00 AM

While the Army briefs the Pentagon and Congress on its new modernization plans (now that FCS is no more), defense analysts around town are offering their advice on how the Army should prepare for the future.

Last month, Center for American Progress' Lawrence Korb and retired Lt. Gen. Joseph Yakovac discussed Army modernization at a Center for National Policy event. And CSBA's Todd Harrison gave a presentation on the funding challenges the Army faces.

Now, in a new paper, the Heritage Foundation's Mackenzie Eaglen chimes in.

She employs the buzzwords of the day: full spectrum and hybrid threats. She writes that for the Army to maintain "full-spectrum capabilities in an operating environment of hybrid threats," it will need to develop more dual-use and multirole platforms. The future force will likely consist of legacy and modern vehicles and equipment operating together, she writes, advising Army leaders to keep this in mind as they plan for the future.

Eaglen advises the Army to better articulate to Congress the future scenarios where medium-weight combat vehicles will prevail. She says this will also help "identify the specific capabilities needed for the revamped Army manned ground vehicle program."

She offers two possible future scenarios -- both Army interventions to prevent the invasion of a country. She describes the Army intervening in a Caucasus country and an intervention to stop a tank invasion in the Andean region of South America, describing both as potential hybrid conflicts.

"Many other contingencies are certainly possible, although the central question is to answer where Army modernization meets operational requirements in the Pentagon's concept of operations," writes Eaglen.

In her vision of hybrid conflict, "Army leaders should continue investing in land stealth, sophisticated active defense systems, an electro-optical countermeasures system and a fire-control system with a radar and laser range finder."

And, Eaglen writes, "many of the Future Combat Systems' elements should be preserved if not further refined first. "

By Sebastian Sprenger
September 16, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The American Civil Liberties Union has cautioned a newly formed Defense Department advisory panel against making recommendations that would concentrate too much disaster response responsibilities in the hands of the military.

"(W)e ask the panel to refrain from assuming at the outset that choosing to use military forces to respond to domestic emergencies is automatically the best course of action," ACLU officials wrote in a Sept. 10 letter to DOD.

Pentagon officials recently published the missive as a public comment for the Sept. 15 inaugural meeting of the Advisory Panel on Department of Defense Capabilities for Support of Civil Authorities After Certain Incidents.

The congressionally mandated group is charged with assessing DOD's ability to help civil authorities cope with a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive (CBRNE) incident on American soil.

Rather than DOD, the Department of Homeland Security would be the "natural agency" to house a dedicated CBRNE response capability, the ACLU letter states.

Panel members should consider "alternatives for emergency CBRNE response that maintain the traditional dominance of civilian agencies in domestic operations and thereby leaving the military to focus on its own mission of fighting foreign enemies," ACLU officials argue in the letter.

By John Liang
September 16, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Northrop Grumman's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ronald Sugar today announced he plans to retire next June, according to a company statement:

To facilitate an orderly transition process, Sugar will step down from the chairman and CEO positions and the company’s Board of Directors effective December 31, 2009. He will continue as an employee officer advising the company until his June 30, 2010 retirement date. Sugar will assume the title of chairman emeritus effective January 1, 2010.

Northrop's board of directors has elected Wesley Bush, the company's president and chief operating officer, to CEO and president, effective Jan. 1, 2010, according to the statement.

In another senior company personnel move, Northrop's board elected Lewis Coleman, currently lead independent director, to the role of non-executive chairman, effective Jan. 1, 2010, the statement reads.

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

As some lawmakers mull changing the law to permit overseas sales of the Air Force's F-22A Raptor, U.S. Pacific Command chief Adm. Timothy Keating is steering clear of the debate.

At a breakfast with reporters in Washington this morning, Keating acknowledged Japanese officials are interested in acquiring the Raptor. But the admiral also reiterated the Obama administration's position that Lockheed Martin should build no more than 187 Raptors.

"To the best of my ability to determine, the Japanese would like to buy the F-22. We're not going to sell it to them," Keating said. "The president has made it really clear."

As InsideDefense.com reported last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee included a provision in its version of the fiscal year 2010 defense spending bill urging the Air Force to develop an exportable version of the Raptor. But House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI) -- who authored the legislation barring foreign sales of Raptors -- reaffirmed his position against international F-22A sales earlier this year.

Keating told reporters, "There is a law against exporting the F-22 and I don't see the law being changed. And the number is 187."

By Thomas Duffy
September 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM

More money and a change in attitude -- that's what is needed if the Defense Department is to truly accept irregular warfare as primary mission of the U.S. military, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen told the Senate Armed Services Committee this morning.

The committee held a hearing to consider Mullen's nomination for another term as chairman.

In answers to questions posed by the committee prior to the hearing, Mullen lays out why irregular warfare is having a hard time finding solid footing inside the Pentagon:

I believe there are two obstacles: resourcing and changing mindsets. Regarding resourcing, for example, we look forward to working with the Congress to fulfill Resource Management Decision 802’s intent to establish the National Program for Small Unit Excellence so that the Joint Irregular Warfare Center, led by US Joint Forces Command, is adequately funded to support the mission of the NPSUE.

While we have progressed, I believe we have more work to do in changing mindsets. We have made great strides within the Services to share capabilities, and we need to continue in that direction to ensure that all new capabilities we develop/program for are truly joint. Irregular Warfare capabilities must be joint and Services must work with each other to identify training and simulation tools that can provide cross-functionality. My staff as well as OSD continue to reach out to the interagency to support our common missions. We collaborate closely with the Departments of State and Homeland Security and are expanding our efforts with other agencies. The goal is to leverage and compliment each other’s capabilities and work together to build joint irregular warfare capabilities that are value added to all.

Mullen made the following suggestions to further institutionalize irregular warfare within DOD:

In my view, our progress in executing some of the Irregular Warfare anchor points illustrates the sort of changes needed. The most important considerations that could complement programmatic decisions in support of the further institutionalization of capabilities for irregular warfare are:

  • An outside review (e.g., Red Team) of USD-Policy developed Defense Planning Scenarios (DPS) to ensure the family of scenarios is appropriately balanced to address the future threat environment, specifically, hybrid, complex threats.
  • A DIA-led annual, unclassified, update on the IW/hybrid threat through direct collaboration with Joint Forces Command, J2; the Joint Irregular Warfare Center; the Defense Intelligence Agency; and the National Ground Intelligence Center.
  • An IA/hybrid wargame for the interagency, specifically, Department of State, to generate valuable insights and inspire a comprehensive perspective essential to meeting the complex security challenges we face.
  • Use our Professional Military Education Program as a strategic asset to improve synchronization across all military departments in education and training with our foreign partners.
By John Liang
September 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been designated to lead the U.S. delegation to the Sept. 24-25 Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in New York City. She will also deliver the U.S. "national statement," according to a White House press release:

Since 1999, this conference has been held every other year to provide a forum for discussions on how best to encourage states to sign and ratify this important nonproliferation treaty, especially those states listed in Annex II that are required to ratify the Treaty before it can enter into force.

While the United States sent a delegation to the initial conference in 1999, it has not attended the subsequent four conferences. Accordingly, U.S. participation in this year’s conference will reaffirm the strong commitment of the Obama Administration to support the CTBT and to work with other nations to map out a comprehensive diplomatic strategy to secure the Treaty’s entry into force. To advance the latter agenda, Under Secretary of State Ellen Tauscher will hold a series of bilateral sessions during the Conference. This commitment to realize the promise of the CTBT is part of the President's comprehensive agenda to prevent nuclear proliferation, and to pursue the ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons.

By Marcus Weisgerber
September 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Hawker Beechcraft and Lockheed Martin are expected to announce this afternoon that they have teamed to pitch the AT-6B for the Air Force’s light-attack/armed reconnaissance aircraft competition.

Lockheed’s Systems Integration division in Owego, NY, will install the mission system used in the digitized A-10C in Hawker Beechcraft’s AT-6B aircraft. The teaming arrangement comes as the service is reviewing responses to a capability request for information that was issued this summer.

The teaming arrangement will likely bolster the AT-6B proposal considering Lockheed has won a number of awards for its A-10 mission system -- which includes digital displays and hands on stick-and-throttle system.

Hawker Beechcraft flew its first AT-6B prototype earlier this summer. The company plans to install a larger engine in its second prototype aircraft, company officials said in interviews earlier this year.

By Marcus Weisgerber
September 14, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said today the Pentagon still prefers a single engine manufacturer for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, despite a failure during a recent test of the Pratt & Whitney F135 prime power plant.

“It hasn’t caused us to change our view on the second engine,” Donley said of the test failure last week. He did note that the service has not received details on the incident, but added that the test was in the final stages when the engine failed.

The failure comes as Congress is putting the finishing touches on the Pentagon’s fiscal year 2010 budget, in which the administration did not request funding for the G.E.-Rolls-Royce alternative power plant.

By Christopher J. Castelli
September 11, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The White House has announced Sean Stackley will continue serving as the Navy’s acquisition executive. The news is not a surprise: Defense industry sources anticipated Stackley would retain the post, which has the official title of assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition. Stackley, a former congressional staffer, was tapped for the position in the twilight of the Bush administration.

Here’s his bio, as released by the White House:

Since July 2008, Mr. Stackley has served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition. As the Navy’s Acquisition Executive, he is responsible for the development and procurement of Navy and Marine Corps platforms and warfare systems. Prior to his appointment, Stackley served as a Professional Staff Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he was responsible for overseeing Navy and Marine Corps programs, U.S. Transportation Command matters, and related policy for the Seapower Subcommittee. He began his career as a Surface Warfare Officer and has served in a range of Industrial, Fleet, Program Office, and Headquarters assignments in ship design and construction, maintenance, logistics, and acquisition policy. Stackley is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and also holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.

By John Liang
September 11, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The Government Accountability Office this week released a report finding that while U.S. Northern Command has made some progress in dealing with state governments when responding to emergencies, a good amount of work still needs to be done.

Specifically:

NORTHCOM faces challenges in involving states in the planning, conduct, and assessment of its exercises, such as adapting its exercise system and practices to involve other federal, state, local, and tribal agencies that do not have the same practices or level of planning resources. Inconsistencies with how NORTHCOM involves states in exercises are occurring in part because NORTHCOM officials lack experience dealing with states and do not have a consistent process for including states in exercises. Without such a process, NORTHCOM increases the risk that its exercises will not provide benefits for all participants, impact the seamless exercise of all levels of government, and potentially affect NORTHCOM’s ability to provide civil support capabilities.

Several lawmakers, in a joint statement released today, commented on GAO's report.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS):

NORTHCOM must work even harder to operate seamlessly with State, local, and tribal governments throughout the country. Anything less than total synergy and collaboration in our nation's disaster planning and exercise programs is unacceptable and avoidable. NORTHCOM has made progress over the years, but we shouldn't have to cross our fingers and hope the Command has strong relationships with an affected State, we should be able to count on it. The task of operating a military command for the United States is a difficult one that can be best achieved through strong partnerships with State National Guard Units and our State and local leaders.

Senate Guard Caucus Co-Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT):

It is concerning that GAO has determined that NORTHCOM, the lead command at the Department of Defense for national disaster planning, has not consistently involved states in large-scale disaster preparations. And perhaps even more troubling is that GAO concludes that NORTHCOM cannot ensure that it has met internal standards for planning and execution of joint exercises.

Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-CT):

NORTHCOM, like the Department of Homeland Security, is a new organization that has made great strides while navigating through difficult, uncharted waters. I am pleased that NORTHCOM has acknowledged the gaps in coordination that GAO found - which are certainly not unique to NORTHCOM - and I will be monitoring closely how they are resolved.

Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Ranking Member Susan Collins (R-ME):

Although NORTHCOM has made some progress in developing a comprehensive exercise program, this GAO report demonstrates that NORTHCOM needs to do more to collect and share lessons learned from those exercises and to ensure greater participation from other Federal, State, local, and tribal governments. I encourage General Renuart and DOD leadership to address these shortcomings in a timely fashion.

Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO):

This report underscores the need for NorthCom to coordinate with and support the state and local officials and Guardsmen who know their own backyards better than anyone else," said Bond, co-chair of the Senate Guard Caucus. "The citizen soldiers and airmen in the National Guard are not only highly trained for disaster mitigation and homeland defense, but also are members of the impacted communities which they serve.

By Jason Sherman
September 10, 2009 at 5:00 AM

It's official: Brett Lambert is the Pentagon's new industrial policy chief. The Defense Department yesterday announced the appointment -- which Inside the Pentagon last month reported was in the works -- along with a handful of other moves to fill key Pentagon posts, including:

James A. Hawkins, major general (retired), has been appointed to the senior executive service and is assigned as deputy director for strategic logistics, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington, D.C. Hawkins previously served in the U.S. Air Force with the commander, 18th Air Force at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

David A. Honey has been appointed to the senior executive service and is assigned as director for research, Office of the under secretary of defense (acquisition, technology, and logistics), Washington, D.C. Honey previously served with Information Systems Laboratories, Vienna, Va.

William J. McCarthy has been appointed to the senior executive service and is assigned as deputy director, net-centric and space systems, office of the director, Operational Test & Evaluation, Washington, D.C. McCarthy previously served with New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, N.M.

In addition, the Defense Department announced three senior officials are being reassigned to other top posts:

Christine Condon has been assigned as principal director to the deputy assistant secretary of defense (resources)/director, congressional review and analysis, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Networks and Information Integration), Washington, D.C. Condon previously served as the director, congressional review and analysis, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Networks and Information Integration), Washington, D.C.

Donald L. Damstetter has been assigned as deputy director, property, plant and equipment policy, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics), Washington, D.C. Damstetter previously served as the director, resources, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Special Operation/Low Intensity Conflict and Interdependent Capabilities), Washington, D.C.

Robert J. Newberry has been assigned as deputy assistant secretary of defense for prisoners of war/missing personnel affairs and director, defense POW and missing personnel office, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Washington, D.C. Newberry previously served as chief of staff, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.