TODAY’S TOP 5
1. The Choice
(Washington Post) The problem of sexual assault in the military is well known. What is less well understood is the extent to which the Pentagon has officially embraced secrecy and anonymity as a means of dealing with the problem, which has been especially rampant during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
2. Exclusive: Key General Splits With Obama Over Ukraine
(The Daily Beast) The commander of NATO is insisting that the West do more to protect Ukraine from a possible Russian invasion. But the Obama administration has other plans.
3. Commentary: Defense Civilian Layoffs Won’t be Pleasant, But They Are Necessary
(Rep. Ken Calvert in Government Executive) President Obama’s fiscal year 2015 budget would reduce the U.S. Army end strength to pre-World War II levels and would come on top of a reduced Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. Our uniformed personnel continue to absorb cuts while the secretary of Defense ignores a significant portion of his budget that has continued to grow without restraint – the Defense Department’s civilian workforce.
4. In New Officers’ Careers, Peace Is No Dividend
(New York Times) The end of the war in Iraq and the winding down of the war in Afghanistan mean that the graduates of the West Point class of 2014 will have a more difficult time advancing in a military in which combat experience, particularly since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has been crucial to promotion. They are also very likely to find themselves in the awkward position of leading men and women who have been to war — more than two million American men and women have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan — when they themselves have not.
5. US Army Explores Sea-Basing Helos
(Defense News) The US Army is considering certifying some of its attack helicopters to operate from ships — a mission historically conducted by the Marine Corps — as the service looks to broaden the role it would play in an Asia-Pacific battle.
DEFENSE NEWS WITH VAGO MURADIAN
Forbes on Defense Spending
Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.), chairman of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Panel, on the Obama administration's budget request.
Expeditionary Force 21
Lt. Gen. Kenneth Gluck, commander of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Development Command, on returning the USMC to sea.
LCS Wargame
Rear Adm. Thomas Rowden, director of Navy Surface Warfare, on a littoral combat ship wargame to the determine ship’s merits.
Vago's Notebook
The U.S. Marine Corps needs the right gear for its initiative to re-orinet the Corps to its naval roots.
INDUSTRY
U.S. Navy looks to leverage submarine work to keep costs down
(Reuters) The U.S. Navy hopes to save money and time by leveraging industry investments as it replaces its Ohio-class nuclear-armed submarines with the Virginia-class attack submarines now built by General Dynamics Corp and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc
Study Raises Red Flags on California Aerospace Industry
(National Defense Magazine) A combination of unfriendly tax policies, military budget cuts and cutthroat competition is wreaking havoc on California’s storied aerospace industry, a new study cautions.
Much support, few facts about study to redevelop Avondale Shipyard
(The Times-Picayune; New Orleans) The announcement that Huntington Ingalls Industries and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners have agreed to conduct a six-month study to determine a new use for Avondale Shipyard came with much fanfare Friday, but little actual information.
UK May Waive Rivet Joint Certification Requirements
(Defense News) Britain may waive its normal aircraft certification process to approve Royal Air Force operation of the RC-135W Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft, the Military Aviation Authority (MAA) said in its 2013 annual report.
First Look: Dassault Flying Formation
(Aviation Week) Aviation Week readers have been given an exclusive first look at the formation flight of the nEUROn unmanned combat air vehicle with a Rafale fighter and a Falcon 7X business jet, filmed and photographed by two chase planes.
Canada Overhauls Requirements For SAR Aircraft Replacement
(Defense News) The Royal Canadian Air Force has jettisoned years of work on the purchase of a new fixed-wing search-and-rescue (FWSAR) aircraft fleet, but insists it will be ready in the coming months to accept proposals from bidders.
Czechs plan new light helicopter purchase
(IHS Jane's 360) The Army of the Czech Republic (ACR) announced plans on 9 April to acquire up to 16 new light, multi-purpose helicopters between 2016 and 2020.
Australia Likely To Order More F-35s
(Aviation Week) Australia is likely to commit to buying 58 more Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightnings this month, setting aside the alternative of consolidating its combat aircraft squadrons on the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The decision will increase the country's total commitment to 72 F-35s and expand the Royal Australian Air Force's fast-jet fleet, counting a separate order for 12 EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft as additional to, not part of, the fighter force renewal.
Turkish Company Hopes To Build New Anka Engine, Win Exports
(Defense News) Turkish national engine specialist Tusas Turkish Engine Industries (TEI), which agreed to produce prototype engines for the country’s first indigenous UAV, has entered a partnership with GE Aviation and now anticipates export sales.
CONGRESS
Congress Takes Another Stab at Fixing Pentagon Procurement
(National Defense Magazine) Congressional oversight committees have asked industry groups to help pinpoint specific trouble spots in the military procurement system. Frustrated by decades of failed reform efforts, lawmakers are taking a different tack and, instead of piling on new rules, they are first investigating why current laws and regulations have not worked as intended. They also are scrutinizing overhead costs as one of the root causes of soaring weapon prices.
Rep. Tom Petri will not seek re-election
(USA Today) The move follows an investigation by the Gannett Washington Bureau that found he has repeatedly advocated for a defense contractor in which he owns hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of stock, a potential conflict of interest.
US Lawmakers Press Lew, Kerry to Block Funds for Russian Helos
(Defense News) Over three dozen US lawmakers are urging senior Obama administration officials to slap sanctions on the Russian firm that has been supplying helicopters to the Afghan military.
John McCain: U.S. should arm Ukraine, impose more sanctions on Russia (With Video)
(CBS' Face the Nation) With rising tension in the eastern part of Ukraine, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said it is imperative that the U.S. act more forcefully to prevent further Russian encroachment on the region by providing more arms to the Ukrainians and imposing further sanctions on the Russian economy.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Inside the FBI’s secret relationship with the military’s special operations
(Washington Post) With the war in Afghanistan ending, FBI officials have become more willing to discuss a little-known alliance between the bureau and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) that allowed agents to participate in hundreds of raids in Iraq and Afghanistan.
U.S. Sikhs say military's ban on long hair and beards keeps them out
(Los Angeles Times) Raised on his father's and grandfather's tales of military service in India, Amitoj Chhabra wanted nothing more than to follow in their footsteps and join the U.S. Air Force.
Isle lab moves to ID sailors from USS Oklahoma
(Honolulu Star-Advertiser) The embattled Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command says it's getting closer to gaining Pentagon approval to disinter and identify for return to families nearly 400 crew members of the battleship USS Oklahoma buried as "unknowns" at Punchbowl cemetery.
Rock star, top defense officials reward Military Children of the Year
(Military Times) After Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey donned a bandana to sing Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” with singer-songwriter Bret Michaels, the senior leaders from each of the services took the stage to introduce the real stars of the show — the five military children from each of the service branches who are recipients of Operation Homefront’s 2014 Military Child of the Year awards.
ARMY
Fast and Light: US Army Overhauls Its Gear Strategy
(Defense News) The US Army is putting the finishing touches on a bold new strategy for how it prepositions stocks of critical equipment around the globe, how it uses those stocks to speed deployments — and who pays for it.
Soldiers stuck in backlogged disability system can't go forward, can't go back (With Video)
(Tacoma News Tribune) Sgt. Chris Peden is stuck. The Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier is spending his last months in the Army too damaged to be the gung-ho paratrooper of his first Iraq deployment but not ill enough to be cut loose from his enlistment with his Stryker brigade.
Family Gathers to Say Goodbye to Mulberry Man Killed in Fort Hood Attack
(The Ledger; Lakeland, Fla.) An honor guard stood by as family members surrounded the casket of Army Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Ferguson on Friday on the tarmac at Tampa International Airport after his body arrived from Houston.
Mourners gather for funeral of Ill. soldier killed at Fort Hood
(Chicago Tribune) Mourners gathered in Rolla, Missouri on Saturday for the funeral of an Iraq war veteran killed in a shooting rampage at the Fort Hood Army base earlier this month.
Victims of 1st Fort Hood attack hope for more benefits
(USA Today) Army Staff Sgt. Shawn Manning watched in horror as a shooting spree again unfolded at his former Fort Hood army post.
Miss Kansas shoots into new career
(The Wichita Eagle) Vail has received attention for openly speaking of her love of hunting, firearms and her career in the Kansas Army National Guard. She gained more national attention when she announced she would not cover her tattoos in the Miss America competition in Atlantic City last September.
May will be big month for officers to move up
(Army Times) May will be a banner month for officer promotions with nearly 2,100 first lieutenants of the basic and special branches pinning on the silver tracks of captain.
NAVY
Navy Leaders: Fleet Size Could Fall to 240 Ships Without Budget Relief
(U.S. Naval Institute) Without relief from automatic budget cuts and money from sources other than its shipbuilding account to pay for the Ohio-class Replacement program (ORP), the Navy could find itself sending only four new ships in almost all classes to the fleet sometime in the 2020s.
Railgun tests from ship set for '16
(Navy Times) The Navy will display electromagnetic railgun prototypes on the joint high speed vessel Millinocket in San Diego later this summer, and a manually loaded, single-shot live-fire demonstration aboard the vessel is scheduled for 2016.
Few answers known weeks after Navy base shooting
(Virginian-Pilot; Norfolk) t’s been three weeks since Jeffrey Tyrone Savage drove a tractor-trailer cab onto Norfolk Naval Station, parked near the end of a pier and boarded a destroyer. When a sailor on deck tried to stop him, Savage took her gun and then killed a sailor who’d come to help.
‘Throw A Frag Grenade’ Into Acquisition Or ‘Do No Harm:’ Navy Struggles With Innovation
(Breaking Defense) It’s easy to call for innovation. It’s hard to do. At this week’s Sea-Air-Space conference here, just 10 miles down the Potomac from the Pentagon, admirals and junior officers alike wrestled with the right balance between speed and safety, between it taking hours to 3-D print a new design and many months to certify it, between the dueling imperatives of Moore’s Law and “first do no harm.”
Interview: Zumwalt Commander Capt. James Kirk
(U.S. Naval Institute) USNI News contributor Cmdr. Daniel Dolan, interviewed the commander of Zumwalt (DDG-1000), Capt. James Kirk, on 31 March. The ship—first in a class of three next-generation destroyers—is among the most expensive surface ships the U.S. Navy is building. The ship features a slew of new systems and the smallest crew yet for a ship her size. Dolan asked Kirk about the ship’s handling, the hull, some of the history of her namesake, and brought questions from members of the Naval War College staff ahead of the ship’s christening on Saturday at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine.
Out of fuel, out of time and one chance to land
(Virginian-Pilot; Norfolk) At nearly 350 mph, the Super Hornet hurtled over the warm waters of the North Arabian Sea last April. The pilot had made some tough decisions that day; several hadn't gone his way. Now he was out of options. He had one chance to land.
Navy Logistics Ship Joins Search for Airliner
(Seapower) The 7th Fleet supply ship USNS Cesar Chavez on April 10 joined an international task force led by the Australian Defence Force searching for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 off the Western Coast of Australia.
AIR FORCE
Unit Effectiveness Inspections going AF-wide
(Air Force Times) Airmen can expect more short-notice reviews and a constant focus on readiness under the new Unit Effectiveness Inspection program scheduled to be in place throughout the Air Force by summer.
Military dog that saved patrol retires with honors
(Associated Press) Staff Sgt. Shannon Hutto thought his bomb sniffing dog Eddie was just being lazy when he wouldn't move from a certain spot one hot day in Afghanistan in 2012.
Improved warmups to become standard issue in October
(Air Force Times) The Air Force’s announcement in 2009 that improved PT warmups would soon be available was welcome news to airmen who complained about the “swish” and discomfort of the standard-issue baggy warmups they had been wearing since 2005.
Special tactics airmen become test subjects for high-tech injury study
(Northwest Florida Daily News; Fort Walton Beach) Last summer, the University of Pittsburgh embarked on a $3-million three-year study of the special tactics community at Hurlburt Field.
Airmen shave their heads to support fallen pilot's ailing son
(Air Force Times) More than 400 airmen have shaved their heads in support of 5-year-old Brayden, whose father, 2nd Lt. David Mitchell, died in a pilot training mission just before the boy was born in 2008.
Navy phone project called waste
(Honolulu Star-Advertiser) An individual identifying himself as a Navy Region Hawaii federal employee sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono and media outlets Friday in which he said almost $5 million in taxpayer money is being wasted converting the Hickam Air Force Base phone system to AT&T.
3 airmen convicted of sex offenses in February
(Air Force Times) Two airmen were convicted of sexual assault and a third of sexual harassment at courts-martial in February, the Air Force said. All three received discharges as part of their sentences.
MARINE CORPS
Sgt. Maj. Barrett writes open letter to Marines following backlash
(Marine Corps Times) Following backlash from his statements in front of the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on personnel April 9, Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Mike Barrett is working to clarify his position in a written letter to Marines.
Charges possible for Camp Lejeune shooting
(The Daily News; Jacksonville, N.C.) Charges against a Camp Lejeune Marine sentry accused of fatally shooting a fellow Marine on guard duty this week are “forthcoming,” according to investigators.
Spouse calls out Barrett on Hill testimony
(Marine Corps Times) Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Mike Barrett made it clear that he believed a Military Times report took out of context controversial remarks he made to a Senate Armed Services Committee panel, particularly his statement that budget tightening on pay and benefits “will raise discipline.” But he said he realized he needed to clarify his meaning after reading an open letter from a Marine spouse who saw his remarks and had to ask more questions.
Family of Amir Hekmati releases statement on Facebook
(Flint Journal) The family of Amir Hekmati has taken to Facebook after finding out the Flint native has been secretly retried and convicted in an Iranian revolutionary court.
Corps wants crisis response unit in western Africa
(Marine Corps Times) A move to relocate the Marine Corps’ crisis response unit from Europe to a nation in western Africa may be completed within the next two years, Marine Corps brass said last week.
Marine Forces Japan Commander Raises Concerns on Amphibious Ship Numbers, Readiness
(National Defense Magazine) Lt. Gen. John Wissler, commanding general of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, said the Marine Corps would be able to perform a lone mission in the Asia-Pacific region. “Will we be able to do it in multiple places simultaneously, or on a scale that would allow us the rapid kind of build up that we would want? No."
SMMC says tobacco ban is a 'shameful idea'
(Marine Corps Times) The sergeant major of the Marine Corps will fight for Marines’ right to buy and use tobacco products on base, despite Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s full support of a review of the product’s use and sales aboard military installations.
How one Iraqi boy dodged extremists and came to serve in the US military
(Stars and Stripes) While his fellow Marine recruits cried and urinated in their trousers in the face of Parris Island’s tough-as-nails drill instructors, Pvt. Mansure had never been more thrilled.
Marines to set sail around South America
(Marine Corps Times) Marines will help test a new Navy amphibious assault ship’s capabilities on its maiden transit from the ship yard in Mississippi all the way around South America to its new home in the Pacific — and they’ll make several stops to engage with military partners along the way.
COAST GUARD
Official seeks larger counter-drug fleet
(Navy Times) The Coast Guard aims to seize 40 percent of the estimated 890 metric tons of cocaine moving between South America and the U.S. every year, but it would take more than a dozen additional ships to close in on that goal.
Investigators testify in Kodiak double murder case
(Associated Press) A Coast Guard investigator testified Thursday that the suspect in a double homicide at a Kodiak Island communication station would have had time to commit the crime and drive home within a period when security cameras spotted his pickup on the road.
VETERANS
Combat vets battle an enemy within: Addiction
(Philadelphia Inquirer) The first time Pearson Crosby went to the methadone clinic at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center in early 2013, he asked his father to go with him.
Large numbers of vets with PTSD live near military bases
(McClatchy) Data compiled by the Department of Veterans Affairs and analyzed by McClatchy show that hundreds of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and live near Fort Hood, while thousands more reside near the nation’s other military installations.
Pierce County denies request for inquest in shooting death of ex-JBLM soldier
(Tacoma News Tribune)Pierce County will not conduct an inquest into the officer-involved shooting death of a former Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier and Afghanistan war veteran who was killed last month at his University Place apartment.
Why Are So Many Older Veterans Committing Suicide?
(National Journal) Nearly 70 percent of all veterans who commit suicide are age 50 or older, according to the Veterans Affairs Department. This is double the suicide rate for the same age group in the nonveteran community.
White House unveils expanded support for military, vets' caregivers
(Military Times) The White House continued its focus on veterans and military families by announcing new programs Friday to expand support and services available to those who care for injured or ill troops.
AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN
No Candidate Seen Winning Outright Majority in Afghan Election
(Wall Street Journal) A partial vote count Afghanistan's election commission released Sunday suggested that no candidate will have gained an outright majority in the April 5 presidential race, likely requiring a second round.
Afghan officials confirms former Taliban leader missing in UAE
(Khaama Press) The ministry of foreign affairs of Afghanistan confirmed that the former senior Taliban leader Agha Jan Mutasim has gone missing in United Arab Emirates.
Pakistan: Next round of Taliban talks coming soon
(Associated Press) The next round of direct peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban will take place in the coming days, the country's interior minister said Sunday, denying reports that the negotiations were deadlocked.
MIDDLE EAST
Opposition Accuses Syrian Regime of Attacks With Lethal Chlorine Gas
(Wall Street Journal) Activist groups also said one child died and 50 people were injured by exploding canisters filled with chlorine gas dropped from regime helicopters in neighboring Hama and Idlib provinces on Friday and Saturday.
The big test facing Iraq
(Christian Science Monitor) Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq's foreign minister, looks out the cockpit window of a military helicopter at the thin blue waterway below – the site of one of the fiercest battles in modern history. The Russian-made chopper, part of Iraq's tiny Air Force, winds its way along the Shatt al-Arab waterway, on the border with Iran, which has shaped the two countries' tumultuous past.
Warmer US-Iran Ties Would Not Undermine Saudis
(Defense News) Although Saudi Arabia is skeptical of a US-Iranian rapprochement and the kingdom faces lost oil revenue if sanctions are dropped against Tehran, it will remain a regional heavyweight, experts said.
In Jordan Town, Syria War Inspires Jihadist Dreams
(New York Times) Here in the hometown of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who gained infamy for his bloody reign as the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq during the early years of the American occupation there, the increasingly sectarian war in Syria has ignited militants, inspiring the largest jihadist mobilization the city has ever seen.
Pakistani, Iranian Navies Conduct Joint Exercises
(Defense News) The Pakistani and Iranian navies have engaged in a four-day joint naval exercise east of the Straits of Hormuz this week in an effort to improve security cooperation between the two neighbors.
Iran calls off plan to send warships to Atlantic
(Associated Press) Iran's semi-official Fars news agency is reporting that the country has temporarily called off a plan to dispatch warships to the Atlantic Ocean.
IRGC up-arms Tondar FACs
(IHS Jane's 360) Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy (IRGCN) has refitted its Tondar fast attack craft (FACs) with Ghader anti-ship missiles, local media quoted Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, the IRGCN's deputy commander, as saying on 7 April.
EUROPE
NATO Weighs East Europe Deployments
(Defense News) Interim air, land and sea deployments, a review and exercises, and an increase in the readiness level of the NATO Response Force are among the range of options that NATO’s supreme allied commander could present this month to reassure Eastern European nations amid the crisis in Ukraine.
Ukraine Forces Storm a Town, Defying Russia
(New York Times) The Ukrainian government on Sunday for the first time sent its security services to confront armed pro-Russian militants in the country’s east, defying warnings from Russia. Commandos engaged in gunfights with men who had set up roadblocks and stormed a Ukrainian police station in Slovyansk, and at least one officer was killed, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukraine: "Large-Scale" Military Operation Planned in East
(Wall Street Journal) Ukraine's government is planning a "large-scale antiterrorist operation," involving military units, against pro-Russian separatists who have occupied several towns in the country's east, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said Sunday.
Russia appears to be behind Ukraine violence, U.S. envoy to U.N. says
(Los Angeles Times) The outbreak of violence in eastern Ukraine appears to have been provoked by Moscow, the American ambassador to the United Nations said Sunday.
Ukraine’s Last Ship
(U.S. Naval Institute) The flagship of the Ukrainian sea service now sits parked in a commercial port in the picturesque seaside town of Odessa, more known for its nightclubs than its military infrastructure. Next to it floats a handful of tiny coastal boats sporting Ukraine’s colors, blue and yellow. This is all that’s left of Ukraine’s navy.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Don't chop the Air Force – Look to the Reserves
(Janine Davidson and Margaret Harrell in The Hill) The Air Force's latest budget plan proposes to cut 25,000 airmen, including 21,000 from the active duty and 4,000 from the reserves. These cuts represent not only a loss to our nation from the investment in costly military training, but also an increased risk from losing the ability to 'surge' these skilled airmen in a future crisis. The recommendations made by the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force (NCSAF) offer an alternative — and less risky — way forward.
Our Army’s uncivil war
(James Carafano in The Washington Times) After battling Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, al Qaeda, the Taliban, forest fires, hurricanes and floods, America's Army is now fighting itself. This battle of brothers, however, is over how to downsize in the face of cuts imposed by the Obama administration.
The Seven Lessons of Counterinsurgency 101 in Ukraine
(Retired Adm. James Stavridis in Foreign Policy) Ukraine hangs at a precarious moment, twisting in an uncertain wind. Russian troops are still massed along the eastern border, and President Vladimir Putin seems intent on keeping his options open: Will he choose invasion, destabilization, or negotiation? The most likely path forward seems to be a Russian attempt to destabilize Ukraine through a covert campaign. The United States and its NATO allies should lean in to help the Kiev regime prepare to conduct counterinsurgency operations, given what appears to be obvious Russian support to violent separatists.
The seductive allure of wars we’re not winning
(Andrew Bacevich in The Washington Post) For better or worse, ours is today a warlike nation that depends on volunteers to fill the ranks of its armed forces. Young men and women have a variety of motives for signing up. No doubt some do so for high-minded, even idealistic reasons. For many, however, more pragmatic considerations figure: a job with salary and benefits, a chance to escape from a humdrum or dispiriting existence. In all likelihood, few volunteers know what they are getting into, particularly in wartime. Fully disclosing what service in a distant war zone might entail is not a high priority for recruiters trying to fill their monthly quota of warm and willing bodies.
Nukes Are Not the Answer To Containing Russia
(Tom Collina in Breaking Defense) It is no surprise that Russia’s takeover of Crimea is being met with calls by some to build up U.S. nuclear forces and accelerate missile defense deployments in Europe. But cooler heads will realize that such throwbacks to the Cold War past are not the answer.
Walang komento:
Mag-post ng isang Komento