Mahoney's confirmation hearing set for next week

The Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled to convene on Sept. 11 to hold a nomination hearing for Marine Corps Gen. Christopher Mahoney, who has been tapped to serve as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

If confirmed, Mahoney, who currently serves as assistant Marine Corps commandant, would succeed Adm. Christopher Grady.

As vice chairman, Mahoney would co-chair the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, which -- for now -- governs the process for validating and prioritizing what the military needs.

The job is set to be transformed, however, as the Pentagon recently announced the disestablishment of the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System.

If confirmed, Mahoney would co-chair a new Requirements and Resourcing Alignment Board (RRAB) that is slated to be stood up over the next 120 days and is intended to link military requirements to the Pentagon budget process, choose “Key Operational Problems” (KOPs), and decide which will be resourced. The RRAB will also have the power to recommend canceling or redirecting service-specific programs.

Meanwhile, under the new regime the JROC will no longer validate service-level requirements, except when required by law. Instead, the JROC will focus on ranking the new KOPs representing the biggest warfighting gaps tied to the National Defense Strategy and the Joint Warfighting Concept.

Last week, Grady, noting the dissolution of JCIDS, said DOD is moving with haste toward its latest round of acquisition reforms.

“There is good momentum in the building to get after that,” he said. “JCIDS was in significant need of reform. The answer was: Let’s just get rid of it and think of different ways to do the business.”