| December 3, 2014 |
THE EARLY BIRD BRIEF |
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TODAY'S TOP 5
1. Reports: Ash Carter Tapped as Next Defense Secretary
(Defense News) Ashton Carter, the former deputy defense secretary, will be nominated to be the next defense secretary to replace Chuck Hagel, sources have told CNN and The Associated Press.
2. NDAA deal hits troops' pay, housing allowances
(Military Times) Troops will see a 1 percent pay raise, slowed growth in their housing allowance and a $3 increase in most prescription co-pays as part of a military budget deal expected to be finalized this week.
3. The Military's Report Card
(Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., in The Huffington Post ) One year ago, a sexual assault survivor in the U.S. military faced a daunting landscape.
4. Air Force: Hagel departure won't slow nuke reforms
(Associated Press) The Air Force's top official predicted Tuesday that Chuck Hagel's surprise resignation as Pentagon chief will not steal momentum from his plan, announced only 18 days ago, to make top-to-bottom changes in how the nuclear Air Force is operated and managed.
5. Hagel refused to hold off resignation announcement in spite of White House wishes
(CNN) CNN has learned the White House wanted Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to wait until this week to resign, so it would have a new nominee in place by then. But Hagel refused to wait, deciding if the White House was going to push him out, he wanted to make his resignation known as quickly as possible.
ASHTON CARTER
For Ash Carter, Bipartisan Support and GOP Warnings of a Bumpy Tenure
(Defense News) Bipartisan support emerged Tuesday for the White House to nominate Ash Carter as defense secretary, but Republican members said he could face a rough road.
Pentagon Won't Confirm Ashton Carter is Next Defense Secretary
(DoDBuzz) Rear Adm. John Kirby, the lead Pentagon spokesman, said Tuesday he could not confirm the multiple reports that former Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter would be President Obama's nomination to be the next defense secretary.
Obama's New Look Pentagon Trio of Carter, Work, Kendall Excites Defense Industry
(Defense One) President Barack Obama's expected nomination of Ashton Carter to become the next defense secretary would give the Pentagon a strong, top tier team steeped in business, acquisition and budget issues.
Likely Pentagon nominee earned stripes quiet way
(Associated Press) No household name, Ashton Carter has earned his stripes in the national security trenches the quiet way. For decades he has toiled as a defense thinker and strategist, nuclear expert, three-time Pentagon executive, budget guru and academician.
Fake 'Ashton Carter' riles the national security world
(Military Times) The Twitterverse exploded on Tuesday morning when a fake Twitter account purportedly belonging to Ashton Carter, the presumptive nominee to become the Pentagon's next chief, falsely claimed that he had landed the job.
ISLAMIC STATE
Lawmakers question Turkey's efforts to stop foreign ISIS fighters
(The Hill) House lawmakers pressed administration officials on Tuesday over whether Turkey is doing enough to stem the flow of foreign fighters joining the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Coalition success seen in Islamic State's cutoff of cellphone service in Mosul
(McClatchy) A covert campaign of spying by residents and Iraqi intelligence agents hunting for top leaders of the Islamic State has forced the group to suspend cellphone service in areas it controls - a move Kurdish and Iraqi officials say will do little to stop the program but will further infuriate people living under the extremists' rule.
Iraq official: Arrested woman not IS leader's wife
(Associated Press) An Iraqi official is denying that a woman detained in Lebanon is a wife of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group.
Recent Iran airstrikes in Iraq help drive Islamic State from 2 towns
(Los Angeles Times) Iranian warplanes have launched several airstrikes in recent days against Islamic State militants in eastern Iraq, U.S. and Iranian officials said Tuesday, the latest sign that America's longtime adversary is conducting a parallel but largely unacknowledged military campaign in the conflict.
Iraq, Kurds Agree On Deal Over Oil Exports, Budget
(National Public Radio) Iraq's government and Kurdish regional authorities have announced a deal that could end a dispute between them over oil exports and the budget.
I/ITSEC 2014
At I/ITSEC, A Call for Consolidation
(Defense News) The government services industry is bloated and ripe for consolidation, warned a top industry executive Tuesday. Anthony Smeraglinolo, president and CEO of Engility Corp., made his remarks as the industry keynote at the I/ITSEC show
Milley: Keep Pushing Simulation Technology
(Defense News) The top general at US Army Forces Command on Tuesday called on experts in training and simulation to push forward with innovations and training options even during a time of tight budgets, saying their technologies are essential as global threats evolve.
Boeing Official: T-X Design Won't Be Unveiled Soon
(Defense News) Boeing continues to develop a custom-designed solution for the US Air Force's T-X trainer replacement program with an eye on contract award in 2017 - but a company official indicated Monday that a preview of what that may look like is still a ways away.
Study Reveals Mental Cues, Conditions That Affect Performance
(Defense News) The story of the rock band that insisted on having all brown MandMs candy removed from a snack they requested while on the road is not necessarily a story of demanding prima donnas.
Engility CEO: Consolidation Likely in Government Services Market
(Defense News) The government services industry is bloated and ripe for consolidation, warned a top industry executive Tuesday.
Virtual Trainer Lets Troops Move in Simulated World
(Defense News) A virtual reality system first developed for gamers can now give ground troops a training platform that lets them run, jump and move around in virtual battle training scenarios.
INDUSTRY
Bill would cap Russian engines on U.S. satellite launches
(Reuters) A compromise defense policy bill in Congress would bar the purchase of more Russian-made rocket engines to launch U.S. military satellites, clearing the way for competitive bids for 14 future launches, senior congressional aides said on Tuesday.
SOCOM to issue $175 comms contract
(C4ISR & Networks) The IDIQ will replace several sole-source contracts
U.S. Defense Executives Warn Against Shutting Out Foreign Competitors
(National Defense) The Pentagon for decades has been a reliable buyer of "Made in America" weapons technology. While that should please U.S. companies, defense CEOs are warning that protectionist policies over time will backfire by thwarting innovation and by making U.S. companies less competitive in the cutthroat international arms market.
Cloud providers wonder what DoD's strategy shift holds for them
(C4ISR & Networks) The Defense Department-wide push toward enterprise IT poses major implications for the cloud computing market as military organizations join forces on technology and acquisition.
Russian Air Force To Acquire New Aircraft, Helos, Bolster Arctic Presence
(Defense News) Russia's Ministry of Defense has unveiled plans to acquire more than 150 new aircraft and helicopters in 2015 as part of plans to bolster and modernize the country's Air Force.
Super Tucano Counter-Insurgency Plane Makes Inroads Into Africa
(Defense Industry Daily) Ghana sits directly south of Burkina Faso, between the Ivory Coast and Togo. Until recently lauded as a model of development among its sub-Saharan peers, the country has been facing rising inflation and public deficits as of late. A mounting backlog of unpaid wages to defense and security contractors has been piling up. Piracy has also been booming in the Gulf of Guinea, with an oil tanker gone missing for a week off the coast of Ghana in June 2014.
Turkey Announces Plans for $5B Extra for Procurement
(Defense News) The Turkish government has announced a plan to raise about $5 billion for defense procurement through a conscription exemption fee.
India approves Punj Lloyd bid to expand defence activities
(IHS Jane's 360) Indian engineering group Punj Lloyd has secured approval from the Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to expand its activities in the defence sector, the FIPB announced on 1 December.
Former Israeli DM Still Promotes Lavi 27 Years Since Cancellation
(Defense News) A three-time former Israeli defense minister and principal driver behind the long-defunct US-Israel Lavi program insists it is not too late to revive the Israeli-designed fighter to compete against the French Rafale in India.
CONGRESS
Shutdown-Avoiding 'Cromnibus' Emerges in House - With Reid's Endorsement
(Defense News) A plan is emerging on Capitol Hill to avoid a government shutdown while also passing a full 2015 Pentagon spending measure, and a key senator is on board.
Military sex assault reform bill revived
(Military Times) A disparate group of senators took to the podium Tuesday to support a renewed push by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., to overhaul the military's legal procedures regarding sexual assault.
Dem senator: White House not cooperating on AUMF
(The Hill) Congress is not likely to vote on a measure that would grant authority for the president's use of force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) during the lame-duck session, a senior Democratic senator said on Tuesday.
Forbes 'Incredibly Optimistic' On NDAA, Sequester - Not SecDef
(Breaking Defense) In an era of partisan bitterness and gloom, Rep. Randy Forbes is feeling good. "Maybe I'm just too optimistic," the chairman of the House subcommittee on seapower told me over the phone on his drive back to Washington last night. But after some positive feedback from GOP leadership, he said, "I'm incredibly optimistic" that Congress will not only manage to pass the annual National Defense Authorization Act - which it's done for 52 straight years - but also to address the defense cuts known as sequestration. "If we can have the debate, we can win the debate," he said.
Years in, Congress still stalled on sequestration fixes
(Military Times) Lawmakers said Tuesday's House Armed Services Committee hearing on long-term defense strategy planning was a perfect goodbye for departing chairman Rep. Buck McKeon, given his big-picture focus on the military's future.
McCain urges FBI to end Petraeus probe
(The Hill) Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is pressing the Justice Department to wrap up its two-year investigation into former CIA Director David Petraeus.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Pentagon rushes new transport isolation units for Ebola
(USA Today) The Pentagon is rushing the development of an isolation system for U.S. troops who may have been infected by or exposed to Ebola while stationed in West Africa to treat the more than 15,000 people with the virus, a newly released Pentagon document shows.
What Happens When Spies Can Eavesdrop on Any Conversation?
(Defense One) On Nov. 17, the U.S. announced a new challenge called Automatic Speech recognition in Reverberant Environments, giving it the acronym ASpIRE. The challenge comes from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, and the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency, or IARPA. It speaks to a major opportunity for intelligence collection in the years ahead, teaching machines to scan the ever-expanding world of recorded speech. To do that, researchers will need to take a decades' old technology, computerized speech recognition, and re-invent it from scratch.
Defense Acquisition Reformers Propose Streamlining Authority, Empowering the Workforce
(Government Executive) With new chairmen on deck at both the House and Senate Armed Services panels, the National Defense Industrial Association on Tuesday released detailed recommendations for streamlining the Pentagon's weapons buying process to curb waste, upgrade the acquisition workforce and take better advantage of industry innovation.
VIDEO: IEDs test new network systems
(C4ISR & Networks) To truly test new communications systems under field conditions, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division took on a "peer competitor" at the Network Integration Evaluation 15.1.
New counterintelligence agency gets first director
(Federal Times) The newest agency in the intelligence community is picking up steam.
ARMY
Pacific tours will include Australia, Thailand and more
(Army Times) After the success of this year's Pacific Pathway, the Army plans to send soldiers on at least two more Pacific Pathways in 2015.
Charges: Woman raped, held against her will by fellow soldier
(KOMO News; Seattle) A woman was raped and held against her will in her own bedroom for hours by a jealous fellow soldier Saturday in a Lakewood apartment building, according to charges filed Monday in Pierce County Superior Court.
Missouri National Guard scaling back in Ferguson
(Army Times) Amid improving conditions in and around Ferguson, Missouri, the National Guard will scale back operations in the St. Louis area, Gov. Jay Nixon announced.
ACLU: Army to recognize legal names of transgender veterans
(Associated Press) The U.S. Army has agreed to "fully recognize" the new legal names of two transgender military veterans, the American Civil Liberties Union said Tuesday.
Video: Watch vet confront military faker at the mall
(Army Times) The Black Friday shopper in Army camo and a Ranger tab caught the attention of Ryan Berk almost immediately. Berk, a former enlisted infantryman and combat vet, smelled a potential faker.
Bucks congressman alerts U.S. Attorney's Office to viral video by Holland veteran
(Courier Times; Bucks County, Pa.) In a letter to U.S. Attorney Zane Memeger on Monday, Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick , R-8, Middletown, says the video, which has generated more than 1.5 million views since after it was filmed at the Oxford Valley Mall on Black Friday, could "possibly" contain evidence of a federal crime.
NAVY
The new cold war: Putin's forces target U.S. Navy and allies
(Navy Times) On Feb. 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin watched the 2014 Winter Olympics, one of his signature achievements, come to a close from the stands of the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi in an epic display of Russian culture.
Defense Bill Punts on Navy Plan to Mothball Cruisers, Adds Money for 12th LPD, Growlers
(USNI News) The compromise 2015 defense bill between the House and the Senate will allow the Navy to move ahead with putting two Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers in mothballs but stops short of endorsing the service's plan to layup half of the cruiser force, according to a Tuesday background briefing to reporters from House and Senate staffers.
Budget turmoil a threat to Navy's plan to shorten deployments
(Stars & Stripes) The biggest challenge for the 4,900 sailors here isn't the mission of supporting airstrikes against Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria; it's coping with an unusually long deployment.
U.S. sailors see life and death in Ebola blood tests
(USA Today) Ebola-infected blood arrives each day with a knock on the door.
Naval Academy experiencing lower attrition
(Associated Press) The academy superintendent, Vice Adm. Ted Carter, said Monday this year's freshmen class only lost 9 students out of 1,091 during plebe summer. That's the lowest ever.
Navy hype video says that Midshipmen 'give a ship'
(USA Today) In this video, which I'm pretty sure is a parody video made by some Navy Midshipmen ahead of Navy's game against Army, says that Navy will win the game because they "give a ship."
AIR FORCE
Compromise NDAA Blocks A-10 Retirement, OKs White House's Syrian Rebels Plan
(Defense News) House and Senate negotiators have agreed on a Pentagon policy measure that blocks A-10 retirements and greenlights plans to arm Syrian rebels, a measure that should hit the House floor this week.
Air Force identifies pilot killed in Middle East crash
(Air Force Times) The Air Force has identified the F-16 pilot killed earlier this week in a crash in the Middle East as Capt. William Dubois.
Defense Department IG investigating AFA's handling of athlete misconduct probe
(Colorado Springs Gazette) The Defense Department's Inspector General is probing how the Air Force Academy handled an investigation into misconduct by members of the football team, the Pentagon has confirmed.
Missing airman based in Guam identified as Indiana native
(Indianapolis Star) Air Force officials have identified the airman who went missing Monday from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam as 24-year-old Alec Dye of Mooresville.
Former AF chief prosecutor: Let lawyers, not bosses, handle sex crime cases
(Air Force Times) Former Air Force chief prosecutor-turned-victims advocate Col. Don Christensen joins a group of bipartisan lawmakers on Capitol Hill this morning to pledge his support for a law that would give attorneys - rather than commanders - the authority to pursue sex crime cases.
Greensburg airman killed in Japan motorcycle crash knew early on he wanted to fly
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) Quincy Jackson decided in the ninth grade that he wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force, following the lead of several family members who had served in the military.
Nuke missileer 1st to be charged in drug probe
(Associated Press) The Air Force is court-martialing a nuclear missile launch officer on drug and obstruction-of-justice charges stemming from a criminal investigation that led to the disclosure last winter of a separate exam-cheating scandal that implicated nearly 100 nuclear officers.
Army, Air Force planes 'make contact' near Fort Bragg
(Army Times) An Army C-27J plane and an Air Force C-130H "made contact" while in flight Monday near Fort Bragg, North Carolina, officials said Tuesday.
MARINE CORPS
Head of Hawaii-based helo squadron relieved of command
(Marine Corps Times) The commanding officer of a Hawaii-based helicopter squadron was removed from his position on Monday.
Marine and son charged with stealing from Toys for Tots
(WLKY; Louisville, Ken.) A Marine and his son, tasked with collecting money and toys for needy children, are charged with stealing from them.
Iraq vet vows to break congressional mold
(Politico) When Seth Moulton, the veteran of four tours of duty in the Iraq war and three Harvard degrees, launched his upstart campaign against nine-term Democratic incumbent congressman John Tierney in Massachusetts' 6th District, he made a lot of familiar promises - he wasn't going to become a Washington fixture; he was running to do things rather than be somebody; he wanted to shake up the system.
Welcome aboard: Kim Kardashian visits with Marines at sea
(Battle Rattle) Channeling pin-ups of old, reality television bombshell Kim Kardashian paid Marines and sailors aboard the amphibious transport dock ship San Diego a visit just days before Thanksgiving.
AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN
NATO backs U.S.-led training force for Afghanistan
(Reuters) NATO foreign ministers agreed on Tuesday to launch a new training mission for Afghanistan next year, replacing combat troops who pull out by the end of the year after 13 years of war.
US airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan target Pakistani Taliban
(Long War Journal) The US has targeted senior leaders of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, including the group's emir, in three airstrikes in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar over the past nine days. Mullah Fazlullah, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, survived one of the airstrikes. Two of the airstrikes took place in areas where senior al Qaeda leaders have been targeted and killed over the past year.
Pakistan could have 200 nuclear weapons by 2020'
(Deutsche Welle) While many states are downsizing their nuclear stockpiles, Asia is witnessing a buildup. Pakistan, located in a region "most at risk of a breakdown," has the fastest-growing nuclear program, as Gregory Koblentz tells DW.
MIDDLE EAST
Report: Iran Hackers Infiltrated Airlines, Energy, Defense Firms
(Defense News) An Iranian hacker group has breached airlines, energy companies, defense firms and even the US Navy-Marine Corps Intranet, according to the US cyber security firm Cylance.
Netanyahu fires 2 ministers, calls for early elections he's likely to win
(McClatchy) After months of acrimony within his government, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired two centrist ministers Tuesday, accusing them of plotting to topple him.
Egyptian court sentences 188 people to death
(Associated Press) An Egyptian court sentenced 188 people to death Tuesday pending the opinion of the country's top religious authority, the latest mass death sentence handed down by the country's judicial system despite widespread international criticism.
EUROPE
Nimble New NATO Force to Take Form Next Year
(New York Times) NATO will establish a prototype of a new rapid response force next year as it strives to improve its ability to deter a Russian attack, the alliance said on Tuesday.
Norwegian F-16's Near Collision With Russian MiG-31 Caught on Tape
(Foreign Policy) "What the hell!" That was the reaction of a Norwegian fighter pilot as a Russian MiG-31 unexpectedly passed in front of his F-16.
One Year After Defying Putin, Ukraine Is Choking on Its Own Red Tape
(Bloomberg) Thirteen floors above a snow-covered complex on the outskirts of Kiev, in a half-built high-rise, Egor Popov wondered aloud when the warren of dusty rooms would be ready for move-in: maybe next year, probably not.
Falling oil prices hit Russia much harder than Western sanctions
(Washington Post) Plummeting oil prices are doing to the Kremlin what sanctions could not: forcing a grim rethinking of Russia's economic future.
ASIA-PACIFIC
Incoming U.S. Pacific commander says N. Korea 'most dangerous threat'
(Yonhap News Agency) The incoming U.S. Pacific commander said Tuesday that North Korea is "our most volatile and dangerous threat" as it pursues nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, vowing to fight and defeat the communist nation if deterrence fails.
Inside North Korea's elite cyberwarfare unit
(CNBC) As Sony Pictures looks for a possible North Korea link to a cyberattack, there's a nagging question. Does the poor country even have advanced technology capabilities to infiltrate a large corporation?
Taiwan's president to resign from party leadership
(Washington Post) Taiwan's president announced Tuesday that he will step down as chairman of the ruling party, which suffered heavy losses in local elections last week.
AFRICA
Militants Divide Kenya Miners by Religion, Then Begin Killing
(New York Times) The Kenyan miners were marched off in the predawn dark on Tuesday, some barefoot, others shirtless.
Kenyan Leader Replaces Top Security Officials After Attacks
(Bloomberg) Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta replaced two of his top security chiefs after Islamist militants killed at least 64 people in the north of the country in the past two weeks in attacks that targeted non-Muslims.
Bomb blast hits UN convoy in Mogadishu; 3 dead
(Associated Press) A Somali police officer says a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a U.N. convoy near Mogadishu's airport, killing three people.
New Concerns Over Response to Ebola Crisis
(New York Times) Doctors Without Borders, the medical charity that was among the first to react early and aggressively to the Ebola crisis in West Africa, expressed new concern on Tuesday about what it called a slow and uneven international response that portends further setbacks.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
It's Not a (Totally) Poisoned Chalice
(Retired Navy Adm. James Stavridis in Foreign Policy) Some "presidential" suggestions for Ash Carter on taking the Pentagon's top job.
American Grand Strategy or Grand Illusion?
(Joseph Sarkisian in Cicero Magazine) Let's face it: Whether you want to blame the current administration, unforeseen or misunderstood challenges, or a bumbling 400-member National Security Council, U.S. grand strategy has not been coherent since the Cold War.
The Islamic State is a Hybrid Threat: Why Does That Matter?
(Retired Navy Capt. Scott Jasper and Scott Moreland in Small Wars Journal) The Islamic State (IS), also known as ISIS or ISIL, has garnered international condemnation for its brutal military and genocidal campaigns under ethnic and religious auspices. Their 'shock and awe' style in Syria and Iraq caught the region and the world by surprise. Since the summer, US warplanes have conducted nearly 870 strikes on militant targets in those countries.[i] However the resignation of the US Secretary of Defense is indicative of the difficulty in articulating strategies to defeat this extremist movement. The administration is looking for a chance to reset its foreign policy and approach to the war.[ii] Understanding how the Islamic State fits the profile of a hybrid threat is integral to the development of unified strategies to counter them.
What's the Plan? The Afghan National Security Forces
(Jason H. Campbell in War on the Rocks) It has been a trying year for the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) as they bore the brunt of the drawdown of coalition forces. As of October 2014, the Afghan National Army (ANA) had conducted over four times more independent missions than it had through the same time in the year prior. This resulted in casualty rates one senior coalition official described to our group as "unsustainable." Still, the year is broadly viewed as a positive one by those in Afghanistan as national elections took place with fewer disruptions than anticipated, and insurgents were unable to hold territory despite attempts to do so. Going forward, as the coalition continues its drawdown, the challenge will be to build on these successes. As a senior NATO official declared over dinner one evening, "Now we are focused on building confidence within the ANSF to convince them that they can do this."
How Do You Answer The Question, 'Did You Ever Kill Anyone?'
(Don Gomez in Task & Purpose) If someone asks you if you ever killed someone in combat, you are supposed to be offended. But, are you really?
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