2017 Defense & Military
TopFor Military priorities Preparedness, Personnel And Policy
Gen. Carter F. Ham Dr. Thomas Mahnken Sen. Elizabeth Dole Gen. Philip Breedlove Col. Andrew O. Hall
A Special Report Prepared by The Washington Times Advocacy Department 2017 DEFENSE & MILITARY Top Priorities for Military Preparedness, Personnel and Policy Table of Contents
Priorities: Renewed capacity, capability, sustainability, respect . . . . 3 Keeping America’s waters safe: Why stealth technology is key . . . .. 14 Gen. Carter F. Ham Gregory E. Sancoff Getting Russia right ...... 3 America needs missile defenses ...... 15 Gen. Philip Breedlove Michaela Dodge National defense: The paramount issue ...... 4 Missile defense in the next four years ...... 16 Sen. James Talent Riki Ellison Time for an “information Manhattan Project” ...... 5 Fixing readiness doesn’t require a spending boost ...... 16 Maj. Gen. Bruce Lawlor Benjamin H. Friedman How the Trump administration can make doing business Fighting with (and without) our allies ...... 17 with DoD great again ...... 5 Jed Babbin Capt. Dale Lumme Military spouses — and a renewed call to Expanding tech advantages, ‘cyber resiliency’ ...... 6 hire our heroes ...... 17 Col. Andrew O. Hall Eric Eversole The military the country needs ...... 7 Remember the caregivers ...... 18 Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula Sen. Elizabeth Dole Rebuilding American military power ...... 7 Renew support for military families ...... 18 Dr. Thomas G. Mahnken Joyce Raezer t men ar Trump’s mission: Build a new American Army ...... 8 Hearing our forgotten men and women in the military ...... 19
y D e p Dr. Douglas Macgregor Elaine Donnelly c a oc Time for tough choices ...... 9 Today’s military families: Strong but overdeployed ...... 20 Andrew F. Krepinevich, Jr. Kathy Roth-Douquet and Michael O’Hanlon Trump administration: ‘America First’ and ‘Peace Through Strength’ Troop morale linked to upholding chaplains, national security policies ...... 10 religious ministries ...... 21 n T i mes A dv to Bill Gertz Dr. Wes Modder Military expansion: Big, modern, ready ...... 11 Put more ‘healing leashes’ into the hands of veterans ...... 22 Dakota L. Wood Capt. Jason Haag Swords or words: Which is mightier? ...... 11 Bring fiscal responsibility to defense spending ...... 22 Helle C. Dale Mark Lucas The Washi ng ARED BY Drones and autonomous systems: An emerging threat ...... 12 American Gold Star Mothers: Turning sorrow into service ...... 23 T P RE Robi Sen Candy Martin Grid-protecting CIPA: Enacted, but in time? ...... 13 POW/MIA priorities: Accountability for the missing,
CI A L RE PO R Ambassador R. James Woolsey and Dr. Peter Vincent Pry suicide prevention ...... 24 Rolling Thunder®, Inc. A S P E THE WASHINGTON TIMES THE WASHINGTON
F-35 sale to Taiwan — A test of Taiwan and Trump ...... 14 | John Pike
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Special Sections are multipage tabloid products that run in The Washington Times daily newspaper and are posted online and in PDF form onits website. Sponsors and advertisers collaborate with The Times’ advertising and marketing departments to highlight a variety of issues and events, such as The Power of Prayer, North Korea’s 15 • 2017 • February Wednesday Nuclear Threat, Gun Rights Policy Conference and Rolling Thunder Memorial Day Tribute to Veterans. Unless otherwise identified, Special Sections areprepared separately 2 ADVOCACY/SPECIAL SECTIONS and without involvement from the Times’ newsroom and editorial staff. Priorities: Renewed capacity, capability, sustainability, respect
President Donald Trump’s leadership is wreaks havoc with responsible budget work forces need attention, professional needed. execution and sows uncertainty in the development opportunities and adequate Today’s Army, while inarguably the ranks. compensation for their patriotic service. best army on the planet, is too small More than a decade of combat opera- Soldiers, civilians and their families, our and insufficiently modernized to meet tions in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere military communities and the defense the global demands placed on it. The have left the Army optimized for combat- industry need more than a decent pay- commander-in-chief and Congress have ting terrorism and conducting counterin- check and occasional pat on the back. the opportunity now to close troubling surgency operations, but with significant They need to feel respected. By Gen. Carter F. Ham gaps; regain critical combat and opera- ob No. 1 of our nation’s tional readiness; and to balance, size and commander-in-chief is, as the position of the Army to meet current and Preamble to the Constitution future strategic requirements. describes, providing for the Mr. Trump and Congress already common defense. have signaled their intent to reverse the This duty to the people downsizing of the Army. The president’s requires a trained, modernized proposal to add 60,000 Regular Army military force with sufficient capacity soldiers must, however, come fully Jto accomplish an ever-expanding set of funded for training and modernization, complex missions. pay and benefits. Adding more troops Defending critical infrastructure at without full support leads to what many home and abroad, responding on short call a “hollow force.” notice to humanitarian and natural disas- The single most effective measure ters, and building the military capacity to enhance military readiness, however,
of allies and partners are all important would be to restore adequate, stable, A S P E missions. But the no-fail mission, the predictable levels of funding for the
unwavering bond with the people of our Army and all of the military services. CI A L RE PO R nation, is to deter those who threaten Congress must remove budget caps pre- America, Americans and American venting growth in defense spending and gaps in capabilities against near-peer Gen. Carter F. Ham retired from the U.S. interests and, when deterrence fails, to repeal the threat of sequestration, the adversaries. Worrisome shortfalls exist in Army in 2013 after almost 38 years of defeat our enemies in battle wherever automatic cuts that occur when a bipar- air and missile defense, long-range fires, service in a career that spanned from T P RE and whenever it may occur. tisan budget agreement isn’t reached. as well as the lethality and survivability serving as an enlisted infantryman in the America’s Army, Navy, Air Force, As he was campaigning for our nation’s of Brigade Combat Teams. The Army is 82nd Airborne Division to serving as U.S. ARED BYi ng The Wash Marine Corps and Coast Guard — active, highest office, Mr. Trump called for the behind in fielding the next generation of Army Europe commanding general and National Guard and Reserve — must elimination of military sequestration, tactical vehicles and needs to improve as U.S. Africa Command commander. be manned, trained and modernized to and almost every member of Congress tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, artillery Commissioned in 1976 after graduating prevail across the full range of military has decried it as a strategically foolish systems and aviation assets. from John Carroll University in Cleve- activities. The commander-in-chief and way of doing business. The technological advantage once land, Ohio, where he was a distinguished the Congress bear shared responsibility That’s not all. The president’s enjoyed by the U.S. Army is quickly erod- military graduate, Gen. Ham has served for leading the way to make this possible. leadership is also needed to provide ing. We owe it to the men and women in Italy, Germany, Kuwait, Saudi Ara-
The Joint Chiefs, including Army budgetary stability by stopping the who voluntarily step forward to protect bia, Macedonia, Qatar, Iraq and 40 to n T i mes A dv Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley, have unfortunate and disruptive practice of us to do everything we can to ensure African countries. He became president warned that our armed forces are at a beginning each new fiscal year under they never engage in a fair fight. and CEO of the Association of the U.S. state of high risk in having sufficient emergency funding. Temporary funding Equipment isn’t our only concern. Army, an educational nonprofit based capacity, capability and sustainability provided through a continuing resolu- The Regular Army, Army National in Arlington, Virginia, on July 1, 2016. THE WASHINGTON TIMES
for major confrontations. This is where tion precludes the start of new projects, Guard, Army Reserve and Army civilian oc a c y D e p ar Getting Russia right t men | Vladimir Putin helped that debate at large — in the U.S. democratic sys- was a blatant violation of international Wednesday • February 15 • 2017 along… The preponderance of intelli- tem. Either way, Mr. Putin’s shot found law and agreed norms, and was done gence — as well as basic common sense its target. apparently without fear of reprisal. His — suggest that Russia did try to shape But our concerted focus on Russia’s disruption of the U.S. electoral process the outcome of our U.S. elections. interference in our election, as egregious demonstrates a different side of that It’s possible, as some suggest, that as it was, puts us at risk of focusing on same feeling of impunity. Mr. Putin truly wanted Mr. Trump to the wrong things. While we focus on the The second thing we should see in be his new sparring partner… perhaps tactical-level mechanics, Russia is play- Russia’s intervention is an extension because Mr. Putin sees himself in our ing an aggressive, long-term game with of its use of maskirovka — attempt- By Gen. Philip Breedlove new president, or perhaps because he strategic-level ends. ing to fool us into bickering amongst One great virtue of this electoral sees Mr. Trump as more pliable than The first thing we should learn from ourselves — while Russia continues to season, for all its divisiveness, was that his predecessors. And it’s also possible, Russia’s electoral intervention is that Mr. quietly unravel our confidence, and the it generated a robust debate about our as others suggest, that what Mr. Putin Putin feels even more emboldened, and world’s, in America’s strong democratic relationship with Russia. really wanted was to damage the faith of less constrained, than he has in the past. Of course, Russian President the American people — and the world His invasion and occupation of Ukraine » see BREEDLOVE | C4 3 National defense: The paramount issue
and space for the tools of “soft power” to For those who want a complete the meantime, there will be a risk gap work. American diplomacy, alliances and picture of the status of the armed forces, — a period in which adversaries will economic power are the primary ele- I recommend the Report of the National be tempted by both our current weak- ments of our national influence, but they Defense Panel, which was issued in ness, and the prospect of our growing are only effective to the extent America 2014. (http://www.usip.org/publica- strength, to aggress while there is still is militarily strong. tions/national-defense-panel-releases- time. The one indispensable element of assessment-of-2014-quadrennial-defense- Mr. Trump enters office with a life- superpower status is power, and the review) time of experience in negotiating and most defining and critical tool of power is hard power. Yet the foundation of our national security is cracking, largely because the budget sequester three years ago cut a trillion dollars from defense spending over 10 years. The defense budget is now at a level that cannot sustain American strength. By Sen. James Talent The Navy has fewer ships than at any time since before World War I; the Army cannot remember a time when is sinking to its pre-WWII size, and the an incoming administration faced Air Force is smaller, and flying older so many substantial threats to aircraft, than at any time since the incep- American national security. In tion of the service. All of the services 2014, former Secretary of State desperately need to recapitalize and Madeleine Albright said: “To put modernize their inventories of equip- it mildly, the world is a mess.” She ment, including major weapons systems. was right, and the world has gotten a lot In addition, the satellite architecture, Iworse since then. on which the civilian economy as well as Everywhere, the risks to the United the armed forces depend for communi- States are growing. From Europe to the cations, is aging and vulnerable, and the t men South China Sea, from North Korea to land-based leg of America’s nuclear triad ar the Middle East, America is threatened, — the Minutemen missiles in particular by great powers (Russia and China), by — are in crying need of modernization. y D e p c
a aggressive and unbalanced rogue states None of this is in serious dispute, and To his credit, President Trump an- maneuvering in the face of risk. He will
oc (North Korea and Iran, primarily), and the implications of it are as bad as they nounced during his campaign an aggres- need all his skill, and a good bit of luck, by subnational movements and in par- seem. Sometimes a problem seems dan- sive defense plan that, if executed, will to navigate the troubled waters that lie ticular the spreading danger of Islamic gerous and difficult, but further exami- rival the buildup of the Reagan years. ahead. jihadism. nation shows that it can be solved more To be sure, the new Pentagon leader- All of these risks require the urgent easily, and with less risk, than appeared ship may well decide — once it has time Sen. James Talent (R-MO) served in attention of the new administration. But on the surface. to engage in real force planning — that the House of Representatives (1993- n T i mes A dv to one issue transcends them all: the need That is not the case here. America is more than what the president proposed 2001) and U.S. Senate (2002-2007). to rebuild the American military. in danger, and there is no rabbit that can is necessary. But certainly nothing less He is senior fellow and director of the The armed forces of the United States be pulled out of a hat to make everything will suffice. National Security 2020 Project at the are the foundation of American national all right. It will take a lot more money, It will take the entirety of the presi- Marilyn Ware Center for Security Stud- security. They perform two broad func- spent a lot more wisely than money has dent’s first term for his defense plan to ies at American Enterprise Institute. tions: They directly deter armed aggres- been spent in the past, to rebuild Ameri- begin shifting the balance of global sion, and they provide credibility, time can defenses. power back in America’s direction. In The Washi ng ARED BY T P RE seek to break the rules of the interna- We need to be clear about our ex- BREEDLOVE tional order; it seeks to rewrite them. The relationship between pectations. We need to recognize — if From page C3 Russia sees itself as a great power, able the U.S. and Russia is as not always agree with — Russia’s view CI A L RE PO R to drive outcomes on the world stage bad as I’ve ever seen it, of the world. And we need to choose at will. And Russia has made it clear specific, meaningful, visible targets to A S P E THE WASHINGTON TIMES THE WASHINGTON tradition. Russia is no newcomer to the that it is willing to use military force to and it’s continuing to head achieve together.
| artful sleight of hand: One of several back up its claims and achieve its ends. in the wrong direction. Russia can choose to be a con- goals behind Russia’s military interven- The relationship between the U.S. But while it’s bad, it’s structive player on the world stage tion in Syria was to deflect the world’s and Russia is as bad as I’ve ever seen — a choice that the U.S. and our allies attention away from Russia’s unlawful it, and it’s continuing to head in the far from hopeless. should encourage and welcome. occupation of Ukraine. This was the wrong direction. But while it’s bad, it’s same idea in a different form. far from hopeless. Unfortunately, there are no short- USAF Gen. Philip M. Breedlove retired And the third, and by far the big- A Europe “whole, free, and at peace” cuts, no grand bargain that can lay a in 2016 as the Supreme Allied Com- gest, thing we should see in Russia’s — and, I would add, “prosperous” — is foundation for an acceptable, sustain- mander of Europe and Commander electoral meddling is firm confirma- good for European nations; good for able future relationship. US European Command with over tion, if confirmation were needed, that the U.S.; and also, ultimately, good for The best — the only — way to move 38 years of service, across which he we do not have a grand strategic part- Russia — for the security and stability toward that vision is through dialogue, served eight times in Europe at all ner in Russia today. Russia views our of its leadership, and for the prosper- candid dialogue that does not paper levels of operations and command.
15 • 2017 • February Wednesday interactions as zero-sum and believes ity, opportunity and well-being of its over past sins, but does leave the door He is a Distinguished Professor at that the best way to bolster itself is by people. That gives us all a common open to wide-ranging pragmatic coop- the Sam Nunn School of Interna- 4 degrading America. Russia doesn’t just goal to work toward. eration in the future. tional Affairs at Georgia Tech. Time for an ‘information Manhattan Project’
instead of focusing our intellectual us to re-establish Russia’s influence over Mr. Putin succeeds only if minority energy on dividing our enemies, we have the Caucasus and Central Asia, intimi- populations become so disaffected that focused it on dividing ourselves. For date and annex parts of Eastern Europe, civil violence becomes possible. It is a years, we’ve ignored the ideological fight re-emerge as a key player in the Middle struggle involving good governance and against our adversaries, refusing to lever- East, and position himself with Turkey to good public relations to convince people age our enormous advantages in manag- break apart the NATO Alliance. their voices will be heard, and much of ing political information to discredit our it is fought in the information dimension enemies’ beliefs. As a result, terrorist of war — a place where we hold clear ideology is spreading and bad actors are For years, we’ve ignored advantages if we but use them. We can rearranging the international order. the ideological fight deter Mr. Putin by driving up his costs, We say we’re winning against ISIS and against our adversaries, exposing his evil, uniting people against point to occasional drone kills and the him and creating a real risk of defeat. mess we call Syria. Perhaps so, but ISIS refusing to leverage our We should remember that the Soviet ideology has expanded into 31 countries enormous advantages empire collapsed not because of con- since “the dirty rats” declared a caliph- in managing political ventional military power, but because ate in June 2014. We allow it to grow by we made Soviet aggression too expen- remaining silent or denying the exis- information to discredit sive to pursue, and we demonstrated By Maj. Gen. Bruce Lawlor tence of Islam’s importance to its brutal our enemies’ beliefs. As a that freedom and free markets offered ideology. result, terrorist ideology more opportunity to more people than ar is politics by Even worse, we suggest that only is spreading and bad communism. other means, Muslims should talk about it, an intel- We have the infrastructure, the knowl- Clausewitz said. lectual idiocy akin to calling for dialogue actors are rearranging edge and the political skills to launch Its violence and about whether we should die and declin- the international order. unmatchable ideological and information death are reserved ing to participate in the conversation. campaigns against our adversaries, but for times when A recent poll shows that well above 90 It is a remarkable performance — ex- we aren’t ready to do so. It’s not a matter traditional politi- percent of Muslims abhor terrorist vio- panding Russian influence by calibrating of capacity or ability, it’s a matter of will. cal and diplomatic means have failed to lence. That is reassuring. Islam is indeed bad behavior to be just short of trigger- The U.S. military isn’t ready to create
Wprotect the nation. a religion of peace. ing a U.S. military response. He exploits this new American response to aggres- A S P E Our military establishment should But it’s also irrelevant because a small disaffected populations, using media to sion — but, then again, it wasn’t ready to
be ready to do two things: 1) destroy ter- but significant percentage of Muslims inflame their grievances and agents of build nuclear weapons, but it built them. CI A L RE PO R rorist networks, such as ISIS, and 2) win support ISIS and accept the killing. coercion to ignite partisan violence. Then It’s time for an information Manhattan high-intensity combat operations against Unfortunately, a small percentage of 1.6 he swoops in to grab territory under the Project to protect our nation. Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. billion Muslims is still a very big number. guise of restoring peace, or leaves the
Our capacity and ability to prosecute It’s about 38 million in the 11 countries instability to fester and adjusts it like a Retired Army Maj. Gen. Bruce M. Law- T P RE the second of these two tasks has been surveyed, out of 50 majority-Muslim rheostat to suit his needs. lor is a former member of the Homeland eroded by sequestration and the focus on countries worldwide. It’s a new form of warfare, one that Security Council and chief of staff of the ARED BYi ng The Wash counterterrorism operations. People are There is much work to be done by hides aggression in ambiguity. Mr. Putin Department of Homeland Security. He is concerned. people of all faiths to decrease these is winning because we have no response the author of the upcoming book, “When The reason for our angst is that we got numbers by arguing that any religious except military operations to stop his ag- Deadly Force is Involved: A Look at the the basics wrong. We worry about the belief accepting of violence and death is gression, and he has calculated correctly Legal Side of Stand Your Ground, Duty to military’s ability to wage war not because morally wrong. that we will not risk all-out war with Retreat, and Other Questions of Self-De- politics and diplomacy have failed, but On the bad actor front, Russian Russia where the threat is ambiguous. fense” (Rowman & Littlefield, March 2017). because they haven’t been used. President Vladimir Putin has outthought There are things we can do, short of
War is about whose idea wins, but us, outmaneuvered us, and outflanked sending in the Marines. to n T i mes A dv THE WASHINGTON TIMES
How the Trump administration can make oc a c doing business with DoD great again y D e p ar
programs, including initiatives such as private industry, and their business judg- and end-users. Unfortunately, the rela- t men Defense Innovation Unit Experimental ment is based on bureaucratic processes tionship between contracting officer and (DIUx). However, some of the founda- and certifications rather than profit and contractor is rarely described as team- | tional deterrents for the aerospace and loss. From determining if intellectual work. The lack of common understand- Wednesday • February 15 • 2017 defense industry doing business with property rights are valid to negotiating ing between the stakeholders creates DoD are widespread feelings that they the amount of profit a contractor should a combative relationship that drives are ignored, misunderstood, or their mes- receive, the government’s business judg- delays and increases costs, as each side sage is lost in translation. ment is sometimes arbitrarily skewed in is wary of the other’s intentions. A less- Industry knows it is in trouble when the government’s favor. than-standard commercial-sector profit By Capt. Dale Lumme a government civil servant says, “I un- Arguably, either by intent or because margin would make defense contractors derstand your need to make a profit.” If of decades of culture, there exists an less competitive in global capital markets, The incoming Trump administration you need to say it, then you really don’t inherent adversarial mentality with where defense firms compete with the has stated distinct priorities for making understand the imperatives business face. industry and a clear lack of understand- full spectrum of businesses. America great again. A top priority of The Federal Acquisition Regulation ing of why industry needs to prosper One simple solution to the challenge that journey is the ability of the Depart- (FAR) gives government contracting of- and make a profit in order to innovate, let of government’s lack of understanding ment of Defense (DoD) to entice innova- ficers “wide latitude to exercise business alone survive. is to require contracting officers to have tive companies to do business with the judgment.” Unfortunately, most contract- The FAR requires contracting officers government through a whole range of ing officers have little to no experience in to work together as a team with industry » see LUMME | C6 5 Expanding tech advantages, ‘cyber resiliency’
This anecdote, recounted by one of ready cyber force dedicated to offensive to maintain their vehicle. Today, that my officers, underscores a fundamental and defensive cyber operations. The same soldier must be integrated into a truth: Cyber, like all technology, is ulti- Army — alongside its sister services larger effort to verify digital systems, mately about people. — has devoted significant resources, understanding all the ways our enemies At that time, defense systems were be- starting with people. The skills required might try seek to disable them. Behind coming increasingly reliant on computers for those who establish, maintain and this soldier must be an interdisciplinary and digital networks. Yet few — if any — defend our networks are more than one team ready to investigate and inform the troops expected that an adversary might person could possibly provide. In just a Army of new and evolving threats and intentionally inflict misinformation as vulnerabilities. trivial as the wrong date into a weapon Leading this effort is the Army Cyber system. Moreover, finding such a glitch We are making Institute. We have established it with might be a matter of dumb luck. progress in recruiting Army officers of broad tactical expertise Today, our tanks, howitzers and cyber operators from and civilian researchers with expertise helicopters, even logistics management within the military across the academic spectrum. This al- By Col. Andrew O. Hall and delivery systems, are increasingly lows us to tailor support and research to digitized and networked. It is a certainty and civilian life with emerging policy and strategic concerns, epublic of Korea, 2002 that our soldiers must be ready for such the requisite skills ultimately yielding a more tactically — a new second lieuten- an attempt. capable Army. Our researchers are not ant on his first battalion This technology has spectacular — technical, but also looking just at today’s problems; they live-fire exercise watched battlefield effects: Our commanders are critical and creative. are asking what’s next and developing it quickly descend into better able to understand where their partnerships with academia and industry chaos. troops are and where the enemy is, and few short years, the Army has launched a to find solutions. The result is critical to One of the battalion’s provide the ability to avoid noncomba- dedicated career field for cyber sol- maintaining and expanding our techno- 18 cannons would not digitally link with tant protected sites, such as churches, diers, trained hundreds of these soldiers logical advantages and cyber resiliency. Rthe fire direction center — a critical hospitals and schools. Computers enable and civilians alike to high standards in Teamwork among formerly distinct shortcoming in combat. our weapons to shoot faster and more cyber operations, built 41 cyber mission specialists in signal, military intelligence For more than an hour, crewmembers accurately, increasingly able to destroy an force teams that are now operating and and special operations is accelerating and noncommissioned officers toiled in enemy while avoiding collateral damage defending our nation in cyberspace, and this effort. U.S. Army soldiers will still vain to troubleshoot while the discontent and adding a layer of protection for civil- integrated cyber operations into our have checklists, and technical glitches of waiting commanders became increas- ians. Digitization brings our troops food, traditional ground combat strategy. will still disrupt training exercises. But t men ingly vocal. fuel and ammunition faster and more We are making progress in reimagin- tomorrow’s soldiers will be better able to ar Finally the lieutenant, mostly out precisely, cutting the need for stockpiles ing how we recruit, educate and train defend our nation, both on the battlefield of boredom, thought to have a look for and shortening logistical trains. cyber operators with the requisite skills and in cyberspace, thanks to the research y D e p c
a himself. Yet with fantastic capabilities, technol- — technical, but also critical and creative. the Army Cyber Institute is conduct-
oc Pushing his way into the crowded ogy also brings unexpected vulnerabili- For example, in addition to their edu- ing in partnership with the Army Cyber crew compartment, he quickly realized ties. Determined adversaries may disrupt cation and training, the Army’s Cyber Command, the Army Cyber Center of he knew almost nothing about the system our systems and capabilities in ways we Leader Development Program brings Excellence, academia and industry. compared to the decades of experience had not imagined. Where once the only West Point and ROTC cadets outstanding immediately surrounding him. Yet per- way to defeat a tank on the battlefield opportunities outside the classroom. The Col. Andrew O. Hall is director of the Army haps that unfamiliarity led him to notice was by opposing physical force, now an result is an Army cyber force that will be Cyber Institute at West Point. A graduate n T i mes A dv to an almost trivial error: the date had been almost trivial error introduced into the able to operate and maintain our systems of West Point, he received his Ph.D. from incorrectly entered on the fire control system’s navigation computer or fire con- and understand the complexities of how the University of Maryland and is a U.S. computer. trol system might render it ineffective. our enemies may try to defeat us. Army cyber officer and veteran of numer- When the supervisor corrected the The Army Cyber Command, the In addition to new people, we’ve ous operational assignments. The views error — voila — the system worked Army Cyber Institute at West Point and launched a cultural shift across the expressed here are his own and do not nec- perfectly, and with great relief the the Army Cyber Center of Excellence Army. Even a few years ago, a soldier essarily reflect those of the Department of exercise resumed. have begun the work of developing a needed nothing more than a checklist Defense nor the Department of the Army. The Washi ng ARED BY T P RE the front lines of implementing acquisi- of the FAR that charges contracting of- a thriving business. LUMME tion policy are adhering to published ficers to negotiate acceptable terms with The taxpayers deserve a defense estab- guidance, statute and the spirit in which contractors in exchange for transferring lishment that is held to the same business From page C5
CI A L RE PO R those are written. This process would data rights to the government, they are standards as the rest of America. Requir- facilitate the teamwork between govern- first directed to consider alternatives ing private-sector experience for acquisi- A S P E THE WASHINGTON TIMES THE WASHINGTON relevant private-sector experience. Just ment and industry as envisioned in the — such as reverse engineering the con- tion professionals and allowing industry
| as the uniformed military is exploring FAR, and such a panel would be able to tractor’s product — or cherry-picking to retain its intellectual property would options to have service members take a observe general trends, weaknesses and relevant specs and using them to acquire increase the level of trust between indus- sabbatical to pursue private-sector expe- strengths, and be able to make broader, or develop functionally equivalent items. try and government and attract innovative rience, so should the civilian bureaucrats informed recommendations for system- Thus, the government clearly states companies to do business with DoD. in DoD. This simple step would gener- atic improvement. its intent to either reverse engineer your ate a richer acquisition work force that There is no magic bullet to make DoD product or provide some of your technical Retired Navy Capt. Dale Lumme is presi- is better equipped to exercise business the customer of choice for Silicon Valley. specifications to your competition. That dent of the Navy League of the United judgment appropriately. However, if DoD had contracting officers is not a business environment in which States, National Capital Council; maritime Another solution is to have con- and program managers with vast private- any vendor wants to operate. adviser at The Spectrum Group; immedi- tracting officer warrants approved and sector experience, they would see that Small innovative companies, whose ate past chairman of the National Mari- renewed by a joint panel of government many of the regulations they are required owners have invested their time, talent, time Policy Committee; and a member of and private-sector representatives. to adhere to fly in the face of commercial hearts and indeed their very own personal Veterans for Acquisition Accountability.
15 • 2017 • February Wednesday Such a venue would give industry and best practices and certainly defy the con- financial livelihoods, have learned quickly DoD acquisition leadership a tangible cept of teamwork. that doing business with the federal gov- 6 mechanism to ensure that the people on For example, in the very same section ernment bureaucracy is not conducive to The military the country needs
than one major conflict at a time. make it the “indispensable force” for U.S. industry, that’s not healthy for America’s In order to accomplish both of these military operations. We cannot fight as a air dominance capacity that the rest fundamental tenets, we need a set of nation — in any contingency — without of the services rely upon to effectively robust, capable and ready forces with the U.S. Air Force. It provides the global operate. a rotational base sufficient to sustain vigilance, global reach and global power So the Air Force requires serious operations. that all the combatant commands require recapitalization, but not just aircraft: The We currently cannot meet these goals. to succeed. Yet, among the services, the land-based nuclear missile force is over Making our military strong again should Air Force has been the hardest hit by 40 years old. Its intelligence, surveillance be defined as building sufficient forces resource neglect, and as a result, it is the and reconnaissance (ISR) forces have and capabilities to accomplish both. oldest, smallest and least ready it has been in great demand, and not just the Second, the new administration ever been in its history. vehicles and sensors, but the analysts needs to introduce a discussion of the This is a result of: 1) over 25 years of that turn all that ISR into knowledge. Our first-order principles and the priority of continuous combat; 2) budget-driven space forces provide the world a global resource allocation for the U.S. govern- manpower reductions of 40,000 over utility in the form of GPS and com- ment. It is vitally important to remember the last 10 years; 3) neglect of Air Force munications, and ISR satellites must be that the first responsibility of the United fighter procurement in the 1990s, where modernized to survive modern threats. States government is the security of the no new fighters were purchased; 4) an Then there is the growing demand for By Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula American people. As the Preamble of our excessively aged force of bombers, over cyber warriors, and the list goes on. Constitution states, the federal govern- half of which predate the Cuban Missile Recapitalizing our Air Force will ne of the first postings ment was established to “provide for the Crisis; 5) “advanced” training aircraft that be expensive, but the only thing more of the Trump White common defense,” and subsequently to were bought when John F. Kennedy was expensive than a first-rate Air Force is House was a link entitled “promote the general welfare.” president; and 6) sequestration that did a second-rate Air Force. With a first- “Making Our Military Recent decisions have confused this to our Air Force what our worst enemies rate Air Force, we deter conflict. With Strong Again.” The new prioritization, with the Budget Control could only hope to achieve — grounding a second-rate Air Force, we encourage administration faces an Act taxing defense spending at a rate over 20 percent of our combat air forces conflict and may lose. War is the most enormous challenge in greater than twice its percentage of the and destroying our traditional high levels costly and wasteful of endeavors, so it is fulfilling this objective. total federal budget. of readiness. best to achieve peace through strength,
OFirst, it has to put in context just what It is time to return to first principles Today, the Air Force operates a and that is what must be the first priority A S P E that statement means. I suggest the fol- and get our priorities straight. For too geriatric force of bombers over 50 years of the Trump administration.
lowing. There are two enduring tenets of many years, arbitrary spending limits old; trainers and helicopters over 40; and CI A L RE PO R our national security strategy that over have determined U.S. military force fighters over 30. During Desert Storm David A. Deptula, a retired Air Force Lt. the years have served the United States structure instead of our national security — where we won quickly and decisively General, planned the Desert Storm air well: one, that we will engage on every strategy determining it. Said another way, — we had 134 fighter squadrons. Today, campaign, orchestrated air operations over continent around the world to promote we have a growing strategy-resource we have 55 — a 60 percent reduction in Iraq and Afghanistan, directed Air Force T P RE peace and shape the security environ- mismatch. fighting forces. To put this more clearly, Intelligence, has flown over 3,000 flying ment to ensure stability; and two, in the Third, while all the services are under- today there are more World War II-era hours in fighter-type aircraft, and is now ARED BYi ng The Wash event we do need to fight, we will do so resourced, some need attention ahead P-51 fighters flying in the world than fifth- dean of the Air Force Association’s Mitch- in an expeditionary fashion, away from of others. The Air Force is an enterprise generation F-22s in the entire Air Force ell Institute for Aerospace Power Studies. U.S. territory, and be able to win more that provides capabilities that truly inventory. While great for the air show
Rebuilding American military power to n T i mes A dv
getting sequestration lifted. But a quick aircraft unable to fly. This, in turn, has increasingly beyond them. China is
infusion of cash alone will be insuf- harmed America’s credibility in the busy remaking the geography of the THE WASHINGTON TIMES
ficient to restore American credibility, eyes of its allies and its competitors. Western Pacific, but is also increasingly oc
defeat our adversaries and prepare for Beyond readiness, we face a grow- active in the Indian Ocean and Africa. a c
the future. ing need to modernize U.S. conven- Russia not only has used force against y D e p The U.S. military clearly requires tional and nuclear forces. The calculus Georgia and Ukraine and threatened
more resources if it is to continue to that has governed defense planning for other neighbors, but is also waging ar safeguard America’s national interests much of the Bush and Obama admin- a campaign in Syria. Moreover, both t men in an increasingly competitive inter- istrations was that we could afford to China and Russia have been investing national environment. Indeed, both take additional risk in preparing for in military capabilities that threaten | the congressionally mandated 2010 a high-intensity war in order to focus America’s long-standing dominance in Wednesday • February 15 • 2017 Quadrennial Defense Review Inde- on counterinsurgency. As former high-end conventional warfare. pendent Panel and the 2014 National Secretary of Defense Robert Gates In other words, the “wars of the Defense Panel achieved a bipartisan frequently put it, we needed to focus future” may no longer lie that far in consensus that the Department of De- on the wars of the present rather than the future. Moreover, they are likely to fense needed more resources to protect the possible wars of the future. differ considerably both from the great- American interests without undue risk. That risk calculation needs to power wars of the past, as well as the By Dr. Thomas G. Mahnken Seven years on from the first and three change. Whereas we have spent the campaigns that we have been waging The Trump administration has inher- from the second, the gap between our last 15 years focused on counterinsur- since the turn of the millennium. ited a military that, while engaged world- means and the ends they serve has gency, we are now in a period charac- That is not to say that battling radi- wide in defense of America’s interests, grown. As a result, the United States terized by the reality of great-power cal Islamism will not continue to be has been suffering from the combination faces greater risk. competition and the increasing pos- an important priority. However, the of high operational tempo and the cor- One source of risk is reduced readi- sibility of great-power conflict. capabilities that we need to wage that rosive effects of sequestration. ness caused by sequestration. This has China and Russia are acting aggres- One of its first priorities should be led to ships incapable of deploying and sively, both in their own regions and » see MAHNKEN | C8 7 Trump’s mission: Build a new American Army
But the key to victory — an accurate and — not just the last 15 — have severely power that operate on land the way the sobering self-assessment of one’s own eroded the U.S. armed forces’ military- Navy’s ships operate at sea. These forces strengths and weaknesses — is essen- technological edge and operational must have the mobility, survivability and tial. Marshall’s self-assessment was not flexibility — and in particular, those of firepower to prevail in an integrated, Joint realistic. The next 18 months of titanic the U.S. Army. ISR, EW and STRIKE-dominated battle battles, involving tens of millions of Today’s Army is accustomed to irreg- space. It’s not just a question of numbers. Soviet dead and wounded, as well as the ular warfare — the suppression of weak In wars of maneuver, quality trumps slow, costly Allied advance through Italy, insurgents who do not have armies, air quantity — but the Army is not orga- proved Brooke was right. forces or air defenses, let alone naval nized, trained or equipped to maneuver Inside the Washington beltway, there power — and military “train and advise” in the 21st century. is a lot of talk about “confronting Russia,” missions. If ordered to fight in Eastern When war comes, the right invest- “pushing back China” and “aggressively challenging” Iran. However, few, in or out of uniform, comprehend what these phrases mean. Even fewer understand that great powers may escalate, not back down — particularly if they have the By Dr. Douglas Macgregor luxury of fighting on their own geo- graphical doorsteps. n January 1943, President Franklin For example, an American military Delano Roosevelt and Prime Minis- intervention in southern Iran would ter Sir Winston Churchill, together seem relatively unchallenging, but a U.S. with their respective military advis- invasion of Iran would likely precipitate ers, met in Morocco at Casablanca Russian military intervention in north- to devise the strategy that would ern Iran, based on the model of China’s win World War II. To some, the 1950 intervention in North Korea. Casablanca Conference may seem like Both Moscow and Washington Iancient history, but the exchange between possess nuclear weapons, but short of Gen. George Marshall, U.S. Army chief of defending Russian or American soil, staff, and Gen. Sir Alan Brooke, chief of their use is highly unlikely, meaning the t men Britain’s Imperial General Staff, has much military contest would depend primarily ar to teach us. on the quality and composition of each Marshall opened the conference with side’s general purpose forces. y D e p c
a a protest against Britain’s endless opera- To sustain American ground forces
oc tions against the Italians and Germans thousands of miles from the continental in the Mediterranean. If the war was to United States, America’s Navy would be won, argued Marshall, France had contend with Russian submarines, as to be invaded in 1943, preferably before well as land-based Russian air and mis- Europe, the Near East or Northeast Asia, ments in human capital, technology and the end of autumn. Brooke, Churchill’s sile forces. For the first time in decades, the Army would send its vulnerable organization — made years, sometimes principal military adviser, disagreed. the American Air Force would confront airborne or truck-mounted light infantry decades, before the battle begins — cre- n T i mes A dv to Brooke pointed out that the Germans integrated air defenses stretching from forces and, eventually, its antiquated ate the margin of victory. still had more than 150,000 combat the Crimea to Central Iran. The result brigade combat teams with tanks, guns If the Trump administration is to troops in France, and none had moved would be a land war on strategic terms and armored fighting vehicles designed build America’s 21st century margin south in response to the Allied invasion that do not favor the U.S. in the 1970s. All of these forces would of victory, the archaic U.S. Army must of North Africa in November 1942 (Op- Wars like the one just described operate today the way they did in 1991 become the Trump administration’s eration Torch). The strength of German demand the persistent employment of — in linear configuration under sev- obsession. air power over France was formidable, powerful aerospace, naval and ground eral layers of Army division and corps
The Washi ng ARED BY and the German capacity to rapidly forces. Keeping millions under arms in headquarters. Retired U.S. Army Col. Douglas Mac- reinforce its troops in the West made readiness to fight them is unaffordable, The kind of disaster that Brooke gregor, Ph.D., is a decorated combat vet- an Allied landing in France during 1943 eran and author of five books. His most
T P RE but maintaining the core capabilities to feared in 1943 would unfold in short extremely dangerous, if not impossible. fight such wars is necessary and, as De- order. recent, “Margin of Victory: Five Battles Brooke won the argument. fense Secretary James N. Mattis pointed Warfare today demands a differ- that Changed the Face of Modern War,” Political and military leaders in every out in his recent testimony before the ent Army, an army of self-contained, is available from Naval Institute Press.
CI A L RE PO R country always want conflict to be short Senate, it’s affordable. Unfortunately, the independent battle groups and forma- and decisive. Marshall was no exception. last 25 years of open-ended interventions tions tightly integrated with aerospace A S P E THE WASHINGTON TIMES THE WASHINGTON
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Modernization needs to include our additional resources beyond those 21st century and to develop strategies MAHNKEN nuclear deterrent. Historically, when permitted by the Budget Control Act. and operational concepts to bring our From page C7 the United States has drawn down its But more money will be insufficient to enduring strengths to bear against conventional forces, as it did in the 1950s prepare us for the future. Much of the our competitors. Secretary of Defense war are largely in hand. By contrast, and after the Vietnam War, it came to effort that is required is intellectual. James Mattis and Deputy Secretary over the past quarter century, we have rely increasingly upon its nuclear deter- The last decade and a half have left of Defense Robert Work are well neglected the means to deter, and if rent. In recent years, by contrast, the an indelible mark on those of us who equipped to meet these challenges. necessary wage, high-end warfare. United States has both drawn down both fought; we need to ensure that that These include not only today’s major its conventional and nuclear forces. Now experience does not blind us to the Thomas G. Mahnken, Ph.D., is president weapon systems, but also potentially both require modernization, to include very different circumstances that we and CEO of the Center for Strategic and
15 • 2017 • February Wednesday high-leverage capabilities, such as theater nuclear weapons. may face. That includes developing the Budgetary Assessments. From 2006- those being pursued as part of the so- The tasks of improving readiness intellectual capacity to think about the 2009, he served as Deputy Assistant 8 called Third Offset Strategy. and modernizing the force will require character and conduct of war in the Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning. Time for tough choices Race in Alice in Wonderland, the Pen- plans, let alone undertake significant an ever-greater part of the budget pie, tagon will have to run hard just to stay upgrades to its capabilities. defense spending and spending on do- in place. According to outgoing Deputy But the problems don’t end here. mestic priorities (such as education, the Defense Secretary Robert Work, the The Obama administration has left environment and transportation) will be Obama administration’s Defense De- behind two fiscal time bombs. One in- progressively squeezed.
By Andrew F. Krepinevich, Jr. here is excitement at the Pentagon over President Trump’s pledge to un- dertake a buildup of the country’s military. Support for the new president’s de- fense agenda is also found among many on Capitol Hill, with TSenate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain proposing to add roughly $430 billion to the defense budget over the next five years. A strong case can be made for en- hancing the country’s defenses. Much of the defense spending increases following 9/11 focused on operations
against radical Islamist terrorist groups A S P E in Afghanistan and Iraq. Relatively lit-
tle was spent on new equipment, while CI A L RE PO R a substantial slice of the increase went Fortunately, this outcome is not cast to recruit and retain troops needed to in stone. A significant increase in taxes undertake large-scale, seemingly open- could help remedy the situation, as
ended operations. could spending cuts and entitlement T P RE Several new weapon systems were reforms. But these tough choices were cancelled. To protect soldiers in the not addressed during the campaign. ARED BYi ng The Wash field, however, over $40 billion alone In fact, the American people were was spent on heavily armored troop promised tax cuts for the middle class transports, for which the Pentagon and that Social Security benefits would now has little use. The result was a remain unchanged. “hollow buildup,” with little in the Something will have to give. way of new equipment heading to the While Mr. Trump rightly notes field, while combat vehicles, planes that America’s allies and partners can and ships in the force continued aging, — and should — do more to defend to n T i mes A dv often at an accelerated rate due to the against growing threats in their part pace of combat operations. of the world, they will need more U.S. In addition to contending with leadership and muscle, not less. But rapidly rising personnel costs and the undertaking a boost in defense spend- THE WASHINGTON TIMES
consequences of the “hollow buildup,” ing while the country’s fiscal pillars oc
America’s armed forces now face a continue to erode will only kick the a c far more formidable array of threats fiscal can down the road, risking the y D e p than during the decade or so following volves interest payments on the coun- country’s long-term defenses in the
9/11. Three revisionist powers seek to The Obama administration try’s rapidly growing debt. According process. ar overturn the rules-based international has left behind two fiscal to the Congressional Budget Office Mr. Trump pledged to make America t men order in regions long considered vital time bombs. One involves (CBO), these payments are projected great again. Doing so entails restoring to U.S. security by presidents of both to increase from $233 billion in 2015 the country’s economic foundation. This | political parties. China, Iran and Russia interest payments on the to over $800 billion by the mid-2020s. will require his leadership in convincing Wednesday • February 15 • 2017 are all engaged in acts of intimidation, country’s rapidly growing The second involves spending on the American people of the need for coercion and even low-level aggression debt.... The second entitlements, which CBO projects will near-term sacrifice. Toward this end, he against American allies and security nearly double, from over $2.3 trillion a can benefit from the advice of President partners. Simply put, the military involves spending on year in 2015 to $4.1 trillion by 2026. If, Eisenhower, who declared, “our system confronts rapidly growing threats with entitlements, which CBO as projected, the Social Security and must remain solvent, as we attempt a relatively fewer resources. projects will nearly double Medicare trust funds are depleted in solution of this great problem of security. This presents Mr. Trump with a ... to $4.1 trillion by 2026. the early 2030s, additional revenues Else we have lost the battle from within strategic choice: boost the military’s will need to be provided to avoid sub- that we are trying to win from without.” ability to preserve a stable balance of stantial benefit reductions. power in the Western Pacific, Europe partment’s program is short an average If this plays out, these components Andrew F. Krepinevich, Jr., Ph.D., is a dis- and the Middle East, or encourage of $88 billion a year over the next five of the federal government’s budget pie tinguished senior fellow at the Center for further aggressive behavior from the years. So even if Mr. McCain’s budget will account for 83 percent of the total Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. revisionist powers. increase becomes reality, the Pentagon increase in spending over the coming de- Unfortunately, like the Red Queen’s may not be able to execute its existing cade. As entitlements and debt consume 9 Trump administration: ‘America First’ and ‘Peace Through Strength’ national security policies
In forming new alliances, Mr. of the strategic waterway. Beijing has announced effort to focus on building Trump will attempt to reset America’s built 3,200 acres of new islands in up the American domestic economy and relations with Russia. The president disputed waters and has begun build- infrastructure. wants to join with Russia in a battle ing missile emplacements and other Another major challenge facing Mr. against Islamic terrorism. military facilities on them. Trump is America’s aging nuclear ar- But Russia under President Vladi- Mr. Trump and key aides have senal. Nuclear weapons modernization mir Putin remains staunchly anti- vowed that the South China Sea, where was stifled for the past eight years under American. In recent months, Russian some $5 trillion in trade flows annually, the Obama administration’s anti-nuclear military and civilian leaders have made will remain international waters and policies. unprecedented threats to use nuclear not become a Chinese lake. Mr. Trump has vowed to rapidly build weapons against the United States. For Iran, Mr. Trump has criticized up the nuclear arsenal as part of policies Moscow’s military forces have carried the Obama administration’s foreign he has called Peace Through Strength — out provocative, saber-rattling nuclear policy centerpiece: the nuclear deal similar to the policy of President Ronald exercises and bomber flights near U.S. with Iran that limits Tehran from Reagan in the 1980s that posits that a borders. developing nuclear weapons, but only strong military is the key to maintaining By Bill Gertz Moscow’s favorable view of the new for 10 years. world peace and stability. president and its efforts to seek closer The international agreement likely A major priority for the new admin- resident Donald Trump ties with Washington are not based on will not be renegotiated despite its flaws istration should be the development and his administration a desire to counter common threats. — such as not limiting Tehran’s ability of new cyber and information warfare face an array of security Russia’s main goal is to see a loosening to build long-range nuclear missiles. An policies — capabilities needed to counter threats and challenges of crippling international economic attempt to renegotiate the accord will the growing information threats posed around the world as the new president seeks to refocus U.S. government policies on putting America first. Immediate priorities for the new t men P president include revamping the mili- ar tary and intelligence policies toward the Islamic State terrorist group. y D e p c
a The IS has been hit hard by mili-
oc tary strikes on its redoubts in Iraq and Syria. But the ultraviolent terror group has shown no signs of diminishing its growing influence around the world — it is inspiring small-scale terror at- tacks linked to what is being called by n T i mes A dv to the new administration as part global jihadist movement and not individual, unlinked attacks. Mr. Trump has tasked military commanders to draw up new plans for attacking and defeating what he has called the radical Islamist threat.
The Washi ng ARED BY During his inaugural address Jan. 20, Mr. Trump vowed to “reinforce old alliances and form new ones — and T P RE unite the civilized world against radi- cal Islamic terrorism which we will eradicate completely from the face of
CI A L RE PO R the earth.” The president’s new counterterror A S P E THE WASHINGTON TIMES THE WASHINGTON policies are expected to utilize a much
| more ideologically driven offensive sanctions imposed on Moscow for its more than likely produce a collapse of the by hacking and influence operations action against terrorism, based on the 2014 military take over of Ukraine’s agreement, which gave Tehran $100 bil- undertaken by China, Russia, Iran, North many new officials at the top levels of Crimean peninsula. lion in payments frozen since the 1970s. Korea and the Islamic State. government who have criticized the On China, Mr. Trump also has thrown Domestically, the new president has Mr. Trump has ordered his adminis- past Obama policy of killing terror- down the gauntlet against Beijing. In vowed to undo Congress’ Budget Con- tration to draw up new and more aggres- ist leaders but largely ignoring the public statements prior to his inaugura- trol Act, which choked defense funding sive cybersecurity policies. Islamist extremist ideology that moti- tion, he made clear that relations with by several hundred billion dollars and In the Information Age, such capabili- vates the terrorists. China will not be based on the status prompted a budgetary crisis for the U.S. ties to challenge foreign information and Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant quo of recent years, when trade relations military that is unable to meet its global cyberthreats are urgently needed. to the president, will be a key player in dominated and growing concerns about requirements. leading the administration’s new coun- threatening Chinese military activities Revoking the defense sequestration Bill Gertz is a national security col- ter-ideological offensives. The coun- were played down or ignored. will require tough congressional horse umnist for The Washington Times
15 • 2017 • February Wednesday terterrorism expert has been critical of The next political battleground with trading. Mr. Trump plans to add $500 and author of “iWar: War and the Obama administration’s failure on China will be the South China Sea, billion in new spending, a plan that will Peace in the Information Age.” 10 this front in the war on terror. where China is seeking to take control be expected to challenge the president’s Military expansion goals: Big, modern, ready
dramatic reductions in the size — and has been replaced by an array of chal- something different, something better. funding — of the military. lengers who, in aggregate, present an In February 2011, then-Secretary of The 9/11 terror attacks thrust the U.S. even larger, more complex challenge. Defense Robert Gates observed that back into large-scale military operations The relatively benign Russia of the “when it comes to predicting the nature in distant theaters. Conflicts that started 1990s is now actively destabilizing East- and location of our next military engage- in Afghanistan and Iraq have evolved in ern Europe, rapidly modernizing its mili- ments, since Vietnam, our record has many ways and roiled over into Syria, tary and serving as the lead power broker been perfect. We have never once gotten North Africa and beyond. in the Middle East. A newly expansionist it right… we had no idea a year before any Fifteen years of conflict have outlasted China has made extravagant territorial of [a series of conflicts] that we would be the planned service life of equipment claims, is intimidating its neighbors and so engaged.” — hours on planes, miles on tanks and improving its ability to project military Having the ability to fight one major trucks, etc. As equipment wears, it must power. North Korea is expanding its nu- conflict enables the U.S. to protect a be repaired or replaced just to sustain clear arsenal and improving its ballistic core interest against a major competitor, By Dakota L. Wood operations. And as the years tick by, what missiles. Iran, while retaining its capacity but only one. With major competitors resident Trump has was useful in combat becomes obsolete, to pursue nuclear weapons, is exploiting simultaneously challenging U.S. vital in- pledged to expand the size forcing the military to develop new capa- the mayhem in the Middle East to press terests in several areas around the world, of the U.S. military by as bilities to keep pace with our foes. its hegemonic ambitions throughout America continues to need a global force much as one third in some Our warriors get worn out too, by the region. And terror groups of various big enough, modern enough and ready areas. The U.S. already frequent and lengthy deployments. stripes, affiliated with or inspired by al enough to protect its interests. spends more than $600 With adequate funding, the military Qaeda and ISIS, have cut a swath of de- For the last several years, U.S. senior billion a year on defense, could keep pace. But the 2011 Budget struction from northern Africa through military officials have consistently and some estimate the expansion could Control Act slashed planned defense the Middle East and across Europe. warned of the deteriorating state of Ptack on an extra $100 million annually. spending by $1 trillion over the next Since World War II, the U.S. has found America’s military: its decreasing size, That’s an eye-watering amount, albeit decade. That forced the military into a itself involved in a major “hot” war every degraded readiness and delayed mod- well within historical averages for the dangerous juggling act, trying to balance 15 to 20 years, while simultaneously ernization. President Trump is correct U.S. The real question is, “Does the coun- troop training needs with equipment maintaining substantial combat forces in to acknowledge this dangerous state of try really need a military that big and repair and replacement demands, as well Europe and several other regions. Some affairs.
that costly?” as preparing for future challenges. argue that the world has so changed that For the federal government, Job One A S P E Throughout the Cold War, the answer Inevitably, all three areas have suf- the U.S. need not keep large forces “at the is to “provide for the common defense.”
was indisputably, “Yes.” The U.S. needed a fered. Shrinking the force has reduced ready” — that diplomacy and economic The United States needs a military large CI A L RE PO R military capable of both deterring Soviet personnel expenses — but at a cost. interdependencies have negated the enough to protect its interests globally — aggression in all potential theaters and Now fewer people must bear what is an need for “hard power.” But countries like and should budget accordingly. protecting other U.S. interests too. The increasing operational burden. Russia and terror groups like ISIS appear
U.S. consistently spent the equivalent of So, how large a military does the U.S. not to have embraced that belief. The U.S. Dakota L. Wood is a senior research T P RE $1 trillion annually on defense until the need? The U.S. still has global interests, really has no choice but to take the world fellow in The Heritage Founda- USSR collapsed in late 1991. That led to and though the Soviet Union is gone, it for what it is, while working to make it tion’s Center for National Defense. ARED BYi ng The Wash Swords or words: Which is mightier?
throughout the Middle East, indeed, the
world. In this case, Samuel Huntington’s to n T i mes A dv “clash of civilizations” has arrived at such an extreme that mutual under- standing simply does not help.
But even looked at more broadly, the THE WASHINGTON TIMES
debate over spending on military force oc
versus public diplomacy is misguided. a c
The fact is: Without a properly funded y D e p By Helle C. Dale and functioning military, in many parts Those who believe in the power of of the world, public diplomacy is all but ar public diplomacy often argue that if only impossible. t men the United States spent a fraction of the In high-risk environments, the Pentagon’s budget — say, the cost of an outreach work of diplomats and Public | F-16 fighter — on outreach to the publics Diplomacy (PD) officers becomes too Wednesday • February 15 • 2017 of other countries, the need for defense dangerous without military escorts. At spending would be greatly reduced. This the same time, even with the best of assertion rests on the assumption that if intentions, commanders clearly have only we all understood each other better, to make hard choices, which may well fewer international conflicts would arise end up cutting out cultural-educational the Pentagon, has worked hard to reach foster mutual understanding, and the and the world would be a more peaceful outreach to local populations. out to local populations, with decidedly Pentagon made a number of ill-fated place. It should also be noted that strained mixed results. In Afghanistan, even after efforts to impact local news coverage. The rise of violent Islamist extrem- military resources affect other activities, a decade of U.S. military presence, over Often the U.S. troops turned out to be ism has unfortunately shown that the like NGO work, development programs 90 percent of the population still had the best ambassadors, as they displayed underlying premise is not necessarily and rebuilding efforts. no idea why U.S. troops were in their good old-fashioned American decency, true. Obvious cases in point are the recent country. generosity and good nature towards Understanding is manifestly not the U.S. engagements in Afghanistan and It was not for want of effort, though. local children and populations. Cuts key to defeating brutal fanatics bent on Iraq. The State Department instituted some spreading a medieval kind of hegemony The State Department, as well as 30 different cross-cultural programs to » see DALE | C12 11 Drones and autonomous systems: An emerging threat
limited to major state powers. interfere with the flight of drone, just like civilians or infrastructure. Now groups like ISIS can, and do, a plane. Right now, most drone counter- Currently there is no single system or deploy drones to act as surveillance plat- measures — such as net guns, jammers, single approach to deal with threatening forms or simple guided weapons. While firearms and cyber-based systems — drones, let alone swarms of drones. not as capable as U.S. military drones, violate these laws. The result has been Furthermore, drones and autonomous commercial drones are cheap, hard to a legal morass on how private organiza- systems, such as delivery robots, are detect and hard to stop. tions, law enforcement and even govern- becoming more sophisticated, making To help reduce the risk from drones, ment can deal with threatening drones in them harder to deal with. the Trump administration’s first step everything from the airspace around an For example, some drones are already should be to advance new laws, regula- airport to defending the White House. equipped with the capability to dodge tion and policy. The Obama administration, working other drones or even nets fired at them. Firstly, the administration can work with stakeholders such as the Federal The rapid evolution of drone capabili- closely with Congress to pass sensible Aviation Administration, made important ties and associated autonomy creates an intricate issue for the administration to By Robi Sen address: proactively dealing with emerg- The Obama administration, working with stakeholders ing and future threats. he new Trump administra- such as the Federal Aviation Administration, Government is notoriously reaction- tion is inheriting a highly ary both in design and practice — yet volatile world with an as- made important strides to clarifying laws. Now, to deal with the emerging threats from cending Russia, China and the Trump administration needs to work closely drones and autonomous systems, the Iran, and an unstable Mid- with Congress to create or modify laws to allow new administration must proactively dle East. Europe is going for effective countermeasures against drones develop policies that are relevant, not through complex changes only during this administration’s tenure involving immigration, economic issues that represent a threat to public safety. but for years to come. Tand Brexit, as well as increasing security The administration should encourage issues. The security landscape is made laws to regulate drones — and also strides to clarifying laws. Now, the Trump academia, industry and government to even more complex by the rise and effec- to counter drones. For example, cur- administration needs to work closely jointly think through the risks and re- tiveness of rogue states, criminal gangs, rent law treats drones very similarly to with Congress to create or modify laws wards of these new emerging technolo- terrorists and malcontents who have manned aircraft, such as a passenger to allow for effective countermeasures gies, such as how to secure autonomous become more formidable in part due plane. The consequence is that it is against drones that represent a threat to systems from hackers or how to clear an t men to the rapid spread and democratizing currently il- public safety. airspace of delivery drones in case of an ar of technology, such as the internet and legal to Yet regulation and emergency. Careful planning will stimu- high-speed wireless devices. legislation will not late emerging economic opportunities y D e p c
a One such technology — autonomous solely reduce the and create safeguards to protect society
oc systems, such as drones — has emerged risk from hos- in the future, when drones, bots and as a major issue for U.S. military forces tile drones. autonomous systems will increasingly and law enforcement. Drones will Secondly, work and function near humans. require not only technological solutions, the admin- While autonomous systems, such as but also intelligent regulation, policy and istration can drones, present an increasing risk to se- planning to deal with their proliferation encourage curity, a bold administration could foster n T i mes A dv to in the coming years. and promote new policies and regulations that would While reports about the potential research and spur the growth of the drone market hazards of drones to pedestrians and air- development while responding to the security risk. craft have made it into the popular press, of capabilities Doing this would help the U.S. to effec- very little has been reported on actual to stop drones tively capitalize on the many economic drone use by terrorists and criminals. and autonomous benefits of drones while strengthening From the wide-scale use of drones systems without the U.S.’s and our allies’ security.
The Washi ng ARED BY by drug gangs in Mexico to separatists causing harm to in Ukraine using weaponized drones to Robi Sen is the founder and CTO of De- attack government forces, commercial MESMER is a unique, patented, low-power, non-jamming, non-line of sight, non-kinetic partment 13 Inc., which focuses on devel- T P RE drones have rapidly become a major tool drone mitigation solution, enabling an effective and safe method of protecting personnel oping security solutions. He is a frequent for hostile actors to provide themselves and infrastructure from dangerous drones. Image courtesy of Department 13. lecturer on security and defense matters capabilities that only a decade ago were in relationship to emerging technology. CI A L RE PO R A S P E THE WASHINGTON TIMES THE WASHINGTON
| embassies overseas has been subject protection of the Benghazi compound centers. After a string of military DALE to the Secure Embassy Construction not been cut at a time of rising terrorist defeats, ISIS propaganda has subsided From page C11 and Counterterrorism Act. With the activity, the four Americans who were significantly. intention of keeping U.S. diplomatic killed might still be alive today, and we President Teddy Roosevelt advo- in military presence, however, usu- personnel safe, this has led to the con- might have had a chance to engage the cated speaking softly and carrying ally impacted diplomatic efforts. The struction of perimeter walls, reloca- people of Benghazi. a big stick. Without a “big stick” to diplomacy and security simply had to tions away from city centers and added And finally, there is no denying that get their attention, other nations are go hand in hand. security staff — all of which create military victories send their own pow- far less likely to heed our diplomats’ Then there is the problem that in obvious barriers to outreach. erful message. As part of its PD efforts, words or notice our diplomatic works. today’s world, high-risk environments This state of affairs is often deplored the Obama administration pressured are no longer just actual battle zones. by public diplomacy practitioners. Yet, Silicon Valley to help with anti-ISIS Helle C. Dale is the senior fel- The spread of terrorist activity globally as we saw in Benghazi in 2012, when messaging. One suspects that greater low for public diplomacy in The
15 • 2017 • February Wednesday has made U.S. embassies more vulner- security requirements are ignored in impact was produced by bombing Heritage Foundation’s Margaret able and therefore harder to secure. decidedly high-risk areas, the conse- the terrorist group’s military installa- Thatcher Center for Freedom. 12 Since 1999, construction of U.S. quences can be tragic. Had the military tions and propaganda-spewing media Grid-protecting CIPA: Enacted, but in time?
By Ambassador natural EMP from a solar superstorm R. James Woolsey and would not damage transformers or cause Dr. Peter Vincent Pry a protracted nationwide blackout. This was debunked by independent experts ongress, virtually at the at a technical conference before the U.S. last minute and unnoted Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by the press, finally passed (FERC). the Critical Infrastructure Although U.S. FERC compelled NERC Protection Act (CIPA) — to adopt a standard to protect the grid arguably the single most from natural EMP, the standard is grossly important piece of legisla- inadequate. tion approved by Congress in 2016 — by Interestingly, the Energy Department Cinserting it into the National Defense and EPRI excluded the EMP Commis- Authorization Act. sion from their dubious study on nuclear The bill, long-championed by Rep. EMP effects. Indeed, the Obama admin- Trent Franks, Arizona Republican, and present dangers, right now. and decisively defeat any adversary. The istration’s Department of Defense did and sponsored by Sen. Ron Johnson, NASA warns that on July 23, 2012, a Congressional EMP Commission warned everything in its power to “slow roll” and Wisconsin Republican, in the Senate, has solar flare narrowly missed the Earth. It that Russia and China have developed impede the work of the EMP Commis- traveled a long road. could have caused a natural EMP, col- Super-EMP weapons to implement sion by withholding funding and security Eight years ago, the Congressional lapsing electric grids and life-sustaining this strategy — and have apparently clearances, to which the Commission is
EMP Commission urged Capitol Hill to critical infrastructures worldwide, put- transferred the design for a Super-EMP legally entitled. R A S P E direct the Department of Homeland Se- ting at risk the lives of billions. NASA weapon to North Korea. Beyond CIPA, the next necessary curity (DHS) to protect the electric grid estimates the likelihood of such a solar CIPA is a first necessary step to pro- step is to “drain the swamp” at FERC, and other critical infrastructures from superstorm is 12 percent per decade. tect our nation from an EMP catastrophe DOE, NERC and EPRI — to reform or a man-made or natural electromagnetic Thus, it is likely that the American and other threats. But CIPA will fail if its replace these with new institutional pulse (EMP). people, and all mankind, will face an provisions are ignored — or if corrupt arrangements to protect our critical EMP could cause a protracted nation- existential threat from a solar super- actors in the federal bureaucracy and in- infrastructures and the lives of the wide blackout. The EMP Commission storm within our lifetimes or that of our dustry continue to pretend that the EMP American people.
warned a nationwide blackout lasting children. God willing, CIPA will get us threat is not real. CI A L RE PO R one year could kill up to 90 percent of prepared. For example, the Obama administra- Ambassador R. James Woolsey is for- the American people through societal The nuclear EMP threat is equally tion’s Department of Energy (DOE) mer director of Central Intelligence and collapse and starvation. worrisome. conspired with industry’s private Electric negotiated the Conventional Forces in
CIPA implements one of the most Two North Korean satellites, the Power Research Institute (EPRI) to pro- Europe Treaty with the USSR. Peter T P RE important recommendations of the EMP KMS-3 and KMS-4, already regularly duce a “junk science” study that argued Vincent Pry, Ph.D., is executive direc- Commission to prevent societal mass orbit over the United States on the opti- that a nuclear EMP attack would not de- tor of the EMP Task Force on National ARED BYi ng The Wash destruction. It directs the DHS to es- mum trajectory to make a surprise EMP stroy electric grid transformers or cause and Homeland Security and served in tablish new national planning scenarios attack, if nuclear armed. a protracted nationwide blackout. the Congressional EMP Commission, focused on protecting and recovering Russia, China and Iran all subscribe to EPRI in 2012 joined with the North the House Armed Services Committee, the nation from an EMP catastrophe. All a new way of warfare that combines EMP American Electric Reliability Corpora- and the CIA. He is the author of “Black- federal, state and local emergency plan- and cyberattack against electric grids and tion (NERC) to produce another “junk out Wars,” which is available through ning, training and resource allocation other critical infrastructures to swiftly science” study that falsely claimed CreateSpace.com and Amazon.com. are based on the DHS national planning scenarios. to n T i mes A dv Passage of CIPA means that millions of emergency planners and first respond- ers across the nation, including police, firefighters and National Guardsmen, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
will become part of the solution to the oc
existential threat that is EMP. a c
CIPA also requires the DHS to start y D e p pilot programs demonstrating that the national electric grid can be protected ar from the catastrophic consequences of an t men EMP event cost-effectively. CIPA directs the exploration and development of new | technologies to make EMP hardening of Wednesday • February 15 • 2017 all the critical infrastructures easier and even more affordable. CIPA will further help protect the electric grid and other critical infra- structures from cyberwarfare, physical sabotage and severe terrestrial weather. The Congressional EMP Commission recommended that by protecting against the worst threat — nuclear EMP attack — all these lesser threats would also be mitigated. CIPA may have passed just in time. The threats from nuclear and solar EMP are not merely theoretical, but are clear 13 F-35 sale to Taiwan? A test of Taiwan and Trump
unsurprising. In these modern times of defending Taiwan from Chinese military substitute F/A-18s for the Navy’s F-35C ours, there are only two types of aircraft aggression. Under this scenario, the buy threatens to derange the F-35 pro- — stealth fighters and targets. Though Americans would come to the country’s gram, long the centerpiece of Russian actual combat experience is mercifully rescue, provided only that it manage to propaganda attacks. Selling 100 F-35s to nonexistent, most simulations seem to hold out for a few days — at least long Taiwan would not entirely compensate show exchange ratios in the order of enough for U.S. reinforcements to arrive. for the cutback of 300-odd Navy F-35s, 10-to-1, as in stealth fighters tend to shoot In contrast, China would hope to win but it would be a step in that direction. down 10 non-stealth aircraft for every before the Americans arrive. Mr. Trump faces another upcoming single stealth jet lost in combat. There are surely good arguments fighter aircraft sale test. Iran remains The clearest demonstration of this for America defending Taiwan, but the the only country on the planet flying the axiom came recently from South Korea, middle of a Chinese assault on the island F-14 Tomcat. These 40-year-old aircraft which held a procurement competition is probably not the best time to remind are long overdue for replacement. Iran between the (non-stealthy) F-15 and the people of these arguments, particularly and Russia have discussed substituting stealthy F-35. With the F-35 three times when time is of the essence. All the while new Sukhoi Flankers. Mr. Trump may as expensive as its F-15 counterpart, the the once-vaunted “Taiwan Lobby” seems ultimately be confronted with choosing By John Pike Koreans opted to buy the proven F-15. For to have dried up and blown away. between his good friends in Moscow and a few months. If Taiwan will not defend, or pay to fending off his sworn enemies in Tehran. he United States might Suffering buyer’s remorse, South defend, itself, why should America? Possibly the matter will be finessed by sell the F-35 stealth fighter Korea ultimately decided that it really Much in the same way that Donald having Iran buy Flankers from China? to Taiwan. Although no wanted the F-35, despite the ballooning Trump has argued for NATO mem- There is great danger here that Tai- formal request has been price tag. The logic behind this is simple: bers to pay their fair share, if Taiwan is wan will be played as a pawn — dangled made, the logic of the idea is While the F-35 would provide a real unprepared to spend what is needed to to annoy Beijing, but sold down the river impeccable. response to Chinese stealth fighters, the hold out until the cavalry shows up, just as part of some grand bargain on tariffs Taiwan’s air force is F-15 would do little more than provide why should American defense planning and jobs. If there is to be a “deal,” it could currently an odd mix of French Mirage targets for Chinese fighter aces. include this scenario? The obligation only be to the detriment of Taiwan. The T2000s, American F-16s and Taiwan’s lo- Taiwan originally expressed an inter- to defend Taiwan is long-standing — so hazard is that American posturing will cally made Indigenous Defense Fighters. est in buying more F-16s from the Obama long-standing that no one can quite re- leave Taiwan with little more to defend These were all fine aircraft when pur- administration, but this transaction did member why this is in America’s national itself than presidential tweets that only chased two decades ago. But two decades not move forward in the face of the ad- interest. further antagonize China. is really a long time ago in the combat ministration’s fear of provoking the Chi- As president-elect, Mr. Trump already For Taiwan, phone calls and visits are t men aviation world. nese. Given numerical and technological broke with tradition on Taiwan, which he transient and of little lasting value; sound ar Back in the late 1990s, Taiwan was advances in Chinese air capability, there seems to view more as an asset in his art and fury, signifying nothing. Taiwan well on its way to achieving a military is now little point in Taiwan procuring of the deal with China. Now in office, Mr. would be well served to recall what y D e p c
a balance with China, which then had a more F-16s or other non-stealthy aircraft. Trump will be asked to sell a new batch Conan the Barbarian’s father taught him
oc very large air force of very old fighters. A militarily meaningful fleet of F-35 of arms to Taiwan, and this request will about the secret of steel: words to the That no longer holds true. Today, fighter jets would be rather pricey: likely come sooner rather than later. effect of “No one in this world can you China has the world’s largest fleet of Taiwan presently has nearly 400 non- The sale of the F-35 to Taiwan will trust. Not men, not women, not beasts. Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker fighters (the Soviet stealthy fighters, and even 100 F-35s be a test of Taiwan’s determination to Steel. Steel you can trust.” counterpart to the American F-15) — would run in the neighborhood of $20 defend itself and a test of Mr. Trump’s more so than even Russia, where the billion, or about twice Taiwan’s total an- willingness to walk the walk, in addition John Pike is director of GlobalSecu- n T i mes A dv to design originated. China is also develop- nual defense budget. to talking the talk. rity.org, the world’s leading military ing not one, but two stealth fighters. The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act This will also test Mr. Trump’s com- information website. http://www. The Chinese push for stealth is potentially commits the United States to mitment to the F-35. His proposal to globalsecurity.org/org/staff/jpike.tif
The Washi ng ARED BY Keeping America’s waters safe: Why stealth technology is key T P RE a strong naval force is an integral part of of Blue’s fleet on the second day of the terrorists or enemy powers. In fact, one the mix. Turning this goal into a real- exercise; based on this information, Red such stealth-enabled vessel, GHOST, has ity, however, may involve incorporating launched a salvo of cruise missiles that already been developed by my company,
CI A L RE PO R cutting-edge technology in ways that the overwhelmed Blue’s electronic sensors Juliet Marine Systems (JMS). Navy has not yet fully come to embrace. and “destroyed” one aircraft carrier, Comparable to an attack helicopter A S P E THE WASHINGTON TIMES THE WASHINGTON Nobody can say just how closely 10 cruisers and five amphibious ships. on water, GHOST is an attack craft
| President Trump has studied the current An equivalent success in a real conflict designed to protect vital waterways. capabilities of the U.S. Navy, but there is would have resulted in the deaths of Using supercavitation technology and one angle he might find troubling: The more than 20,000 service personnel. high-performance jet engines, GHOST Navy has never found a way to stop a Soon after, another significant portion of achieves unmatched stability in high swarm attack of small boats against the Blue’s navy was “sunk” by an armada of sea states, allowing for accurate deploy- U.S. fleet. As an example of this vulnera- small Red boats, which carried out both ment of defensive weapons. Its large fuel bility, consider the Millennium Challenge conventional and suicide attacks that capacity allows for long-term missions, Exercise of 2002 (MC02). capitalized on Blue’s inability to detect and its heavy weapons payload capac- By Gregory E. Sancoff Very briefly, MC02 was a major war them. In a controversial move, Blue’s ity ensures it can be ready to protect How effectively will the U.S. Navy game exercise designed to serve as a test ships were subsequently “re-floated” and the fleet. What makes GHOST unique protect America’s maritime interests of the military’s transition toward new a script imposed to ensure a Blue victory. is its combination of speed, maneuver- during the Trump administration? Given technologies. The simulated combatants This embarrassing episode high- ability and endurance, all essential to
15 • 2017 • February Wednesday the new president’s oft-stated interest in were “Blue” (the U.S.) and “Red” (an lighted the need to implement new tech- engaging potential enemy swarms before protecting U.S. borders and maintaining unnamed adversary). Red used a fleet nology in ways that could defend against 14 our national prestige, it is important that of small boats to determine the position real-life small boat attacks launched by » see SANCOFF | C15 America needs missile defenses
makes it easier to track and “lock on” to them. Space-based missile defense would allow us to defend against large-scale attacks, not just “a handful” of missiles, which is what the current system is geared to handle. Would such a system be techno- logically challenging? Of course. After all, it is a rocket science. Would it be impossible? Not at all. The nation came fairly close with the Global Protection Against Limited Strikes program over 20 years ago. And technologies have ad- vanced exponentially since then, open- By Michaela Dodge ing the promise of space defenses that resident Trump has a are cheaper, smaller and more effective. long “to do” list, starting Today, the largest obstacle to effec- with repealing Obam- tive missile defense is not technological acare, fixing the tax code but political. Domestically, opponents and building a wall. But continue to believe that leaving U.S. cit- there is another kind of a ies vulnerable to ballistic missile attacks “wall” that demands the is somehow “stabilizing.” Internation- president’s attention: The president ally, we have been too sensitive to Rus- Pmust make sure the nation has the mis- sian propagandistic objections. sile defenses it needs. For eight years, these political Ballistic missiles remain the weap- considerations have prevented us from
ons of choice for our adversaries for applying U.S. technology and creativity A S P E several reasons. From anywhere in the to shield us from the rising existential
world, they can deliver a lethal payload threat of ballistic missile attack. The CI A L RE PO R to the continental United States in less need for an effective missile defense is than 33 minutes. They are relatively greater and more pressing than ever. cheap to build, and the technologies Mr. Trump, build up that (missile
used to make them are becoming more defense) wall! T P RE widely available. ensure these missile defense deploy- missiles — short- and medium-range, as And they can deliver not just de- ments remain on track. Further delay well as long-range. Michaela Dodge is a senior policy ARED BYi ng The Wash struction, but doomsday. A nuclear war- would only extend our allies’ vul- While still in space, ballistic missiles analyst in The Heritage Founda- head detonated at a high altitude would nerability. But the new administra- can’t deploy decoys — a limitation that tion’s Center for National Defense. completely obliterate the electric grid tion should also improve the plan by for an enormous area. That could bring developing a long-range ballistic missile modern life to a halt in multiple states, defense interceptor that could be de- moving parts. As air is much less setting survivors back to 18th century. ployed to Europe to augment our ability SANCOFF dense than water, it is desirable to Being able to defend ourselves from to protect the homeland. From page C14 have air around as much of the hull as
ballistic missile attack is essential. It is Currently, the only interceptors that possible. to n T i mes A dv also an extremely complicated techno- protect the United States from long- they reach their intended targets. In As a stable platform in all types logical and engineering challenge. range ballistic missiles — like those defense roles, missions such as fleet of water conditions, GHOST might Throughout his two terms in the being developed in North Korea — are protection; intelligence, surveillance allow the U.S. to wage a proper de-
Oval Office, President Obama left much deployed in Alaska and California. and reconnaissance (ISR); and special fense against enemy swarms. To date, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
undone in terms of addressing the bal- There are 30 of them. operations are likely. Civilian govern- however, the Navy has decided not to oc
listic missile threat. He cancelled proj- The plan under President George W. ment applications could include law go forward with the development of a c
ects to develop and advance promising Bush was to strengthen that thin layer enforcement and search and rescue. this technology. Indeed, the Pentagon y D e p missile defense technologies — like the by deploying a total of 44 interceptors, GHOST incorporates technol- does not want to purchase our boat
Airborne Laser, an aircraft with chemi- possibly even more. But in 2010, Mr. ogy solutions never seen before: Its and also will not permit us to sell it ar cal laser that successfully shot down Obama decided we didn’t need that 16 flush low-drag paddle controls, abroad. t men ballistic missiles. The Multiple Kill many to get the job done; he decreased located behind its forward-mounted In the Trump era, it will take Vehicle, a technology that could make the number to 30. propellers, work in conjunction with enhanced attention to technologies | some existing interceptors more effec- By 2013, the Obama administration a fly-by-wire computer and sensors, such as GHOST to ensure that the Wednesday • February 15 • 2017 tive, was another casualty of the Obama recognized that 30 wasn’t enough and allowing GHOST to be completely U.S. retains its ability to protect itself administration’s misguided belief that a decided to go back to the original plan controlled in high sea states at cruise against enemies on the high seas. strong missile defense would somehow of deploying 44 interceptors. But the speeds. JMS created a new form Doing so will be one way to ensure make the country less safe. dithering has cost our nation several of drag reduction, surrounding its that America can indeed become Our European allies were left hang- years — years in which we will have to underwater hulls with foam tun- “great again.” ing when the administration cancelled wait before we get better ballistic mis- nels. Drag reduction allows GHOST efforts to deploy long-range intercep- sile protection. to reclaim energy usually lost by Gregory E. Sancoff is president and tors in Poland and an X-band radar in Mr. Trump will have an opportunity conventional propulsion — the trail CEO of Portsmouth, N.H.-based Juliet the Czech Republic. Instead, Mr. Obama to serve the nation where Mr. Obama of bubbles often seen behind power Marine Systems, Inc. Juliet Marine began implementing a substitute plan failed: spurring the development and boats — and redirect it to reduce is dedicated to the rapid develop- — one that deploys, later than the deployment of space-based ballistic drag. GHOST can actively manage ment and deployment of technolo- original plan, less-capable interceptors missile interceptors. Space-based de- movement of air around its hulls, gies that will enhance performance to Poland and Romania. fenses are the most effective way to pro- and does so without pumps, fuel or and safety in small vessels. The Trump administration should tect the nation from all types of ballistic 15 Missile defense in the next four years
vehicle (UAV) and cruise missile capac- the best sensor. For this, an architecture deployments in EUCOM (European ity in combat in Ukraine and Syria. based on a global network of discriminat- Command), PACOM (Pacific Command), Russia’s success highlights the vulner- ing sensors from commercial satellites, and CENTCOM (Central Command); ability of U.S. Army’s Combat Brigade U.S. Air Force satellite constellations, and an available Global Response Force Teams, which lack adequate maneu- air- and terrestrial-based sensors should and two additional Patriot battalions. verable air defense capabilities in the be established to gather mass persistent U.S. allies should be encouraged and European theater. China’s sophisticated awareness and discrimination for target- incentivized to invest and integrate their weapon systems exploit our vulnerabili- ing for all interceptor systems. homeland defense systems with U.S. air ties and restrict U.S. and allied freedom Greater efficiency and effectiveness and missile defense platforms, allowing of movement in the Asia-Pacific region. can be proved by a multi-mission inter- for interoperability between U.S. and North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic mis- ceptor system that can support multiple allied defense systems and creation of sile testing and proliferation has to be ac- layers using different defensive intercept a comprehensive joint air and missile counted for by having capability to defeat technologies on a single platform that is defense architecture. these systems. transportable and mobile. New inter- An investment of $10 billion to $12 The United States requires a new pol- cept technologies that reduce the cost billion a year over the next five years — By Riki Ellison icy and a new vision to develop, acquire of intercept need to be highly funded, close to 2 percent of our defense budget and deploy new technologies; modernize developed and deployed, with emphasis in this domain — can bring forth a clear merica faces near-peer current systems; and increase current ca- on electronic attack for mass soft kill, and effective defense of the United States challenges from Russia pability to defeat these threats in air and and directed energy, especially on UAV’s and its allies from near-peer adversaries and China, which pos- space and during the boost, midcourse (unmanned aerial vehicles) for boost and rogue nations. sess modernized com- and terminal phases of their flights. We phase and hypervelocity powder guns for Peace through strength and defensive plex offensive capability must develop and deploy a seamless point defense. technology, breakthrough capability and in ballistic missiles, continuum of layered “right-of launch” Maximizing current missile and air capacity brings forward more options to anti-satellite technology, defensive capabilities and “left-of-launch” defense capability in both quantity and resolve, deter and win the battle envi- hypersonic glide vehicles, cruise missiles offensive capabilities. Missile defense “hit modernization is needed to introduce ronment for the president of the United andA unmanned aerial systems (UAS). to kill,” directed energy, and electronic “distributed lethality” on 200 ships, States of America and U.S. allies. Within the next four years, North Korea attack capabilities should be integrated, increasing our homeland defense to 100 and Iran will have solid-fueled mobile also using electronic and cyber means to GBIs (Ground-Based Interceptors) with Riki Ellison is founder and chairman of missiles, multiple re-entry vehicles and effectively disrupt the opponent’s C4ISR a combination of transportable launchers the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, intercontinental-range ballistic missiles (Command, Control, Communications, and multiple object kill capabilities on a nonprofit organization launched in t men (ICBMs) that will challenge in quantity Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and each kill vehicle; operationalizing the full 2002 to promote evolution, develop- ar and capability currently deployed U.S. Reconnaissance). air and missile defense capabilities of all ment and deployment of missile de- missile defense systems. The base for this architecture consists U.S. Aegis Ashore sites and Aegis BMD fense. Since its founding, the MDAA has y D e p c
a While China’s modernized ballistic of a global persistent distributed air- and (ballistic missile defense) ships capable grown to more than 14,000 members
oc and cruise missile arsenal puts Okinawa, space-based missile defense system of defense against ICBMs in the termi- worldwide and is viewed as the top Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Guam at that is fused together and merges U.S. nal phase; development of 10 THAAD lay expert voice on missile defense. risk, Russia successfully demonstrated regional and homeland defenses to en- (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) its modernized UAS, unmanned aerial able the best interceptor to engage from systems with multiple operational n T i mes A dv to Fixing readiness doesn’t require a spending boost
“disaster” in “shambles.” prepared to strike at desert insurgents missions is hardly in crisis — before In reality, there’s no depletion or — but ill-equipped to land on contested complaining about some other matter, like
The Washi ng ARED BY readiness crisis, unless it’s a crisis that Chinese beaches — unready? the force’s size, funding or preparation for the U.S. military can’t be everything that Another complexity is that military future rivals. hawks want. The military does have readiness isn’t an absolute good. Given Likewise, the service chiefs frequently T P RE readiness problems, but they could be limited resources, one cannot be fully complain about readiness in asking for addressed without raising total military prepared for everything all the time. budget increases. But they don’t put budget. Those lamenting the state of Readiness should rise and fall as U.S. today’s readiness challenges in historical
CI A L RE PO R military readiness ignore those solutions forces prepare for and exit conflicts. context or define what deviation from because they are using it to argue for a These ambiguities mean that debates ideal is acceptable. They avoid claiming A S P E THE WASHINGTON TIMES THE WASHINGTON higher topline. that appear to concern readiness are that readiness is in crisis and resent con-
| In principle, U.S. military readiness actually about other issues, like what to tentions that U.S. forces are enfeebled. refers to the force’s ability to perform its buy and what wars to expect. A telling The U.S. military’s readiness problems key missions. That means having units example came last summer when former are largely the fault of those that most that are well-equipped, manned and CIA Director David Petraeus and foreign loudly bemoan them. That includes Pen- By Benjamin H. Friedman trained. Two internal Pentagon track- policy scholar Michael O’Hanlon pub- tagon bosses and especially congressional ing systems rate readiness on that score. lished two articles calling the “readiness leaders. They routinely reject three fixes That sounds simpler, but readiness’ crisis” a myth. They argued that while that require no budget boost. A “readiness crisis” afflicts the U.S. definition makes it tough to assess. readiness is hardly perfect, vehicles are The first and best option is to ask less military, according to congressional One reason is that its definition generally well-maintained and combat of the military. A defense strategy that pri- hawks eager to boost military spending. complicates assessment. The force’s abil- units well-trained and equipped for cur- oritized among dangers, rather than trying President Trump promises to reverse ity to accomplish its missions depends rent wars. to stabilize most corners of the earth, what he labeled the military’s “deple- partly on future enemy actions, which Their argument produced a bevy of would leave the force less strained and
15 • 2017 • February Wednesday tion” in his dystopian inaugural ad- are inherently uncertain. criticism from hawkish analysts. But these allow cuts to force structure. The savings dress. That’s an improvement over his There’s also ambiguity as to what responses oddly accepted the basic point 16 campaign rhetoric, which labeled it a missions matter. Is a Marine unit that is of contention — that readiness for current » see Friedman | C20 Fighting with (and without) our allies
criticized many of our allies, correctly approach toward NATO. Mr. Trump Mr. Bush seemed confused about the saying that most of them aren’t spending should tell its members that we can’t U.N. On one hand, his “Proliferation Se- enough on their own defenses. His harsh- defend them unless they spend enough, curity Initiative” — formed and operated est words were aimed at NATO, which he and in the right way, for them to help us independent of the U.N. — succeeded as said is obsolete. Japan and South Korea, do so. They — and we — will be consid- an ad hoc alliance with nations ready to he said, might need nuclear weapons erably stronger if they invest in their own help interdict shipments of nuclear equip- and that nations where U.S. troops were defenses in a manner that best provides ment and technology from North Korea. stationed should cover that cost. them the ability to operate with us, on On the other hand, at NATO’s insistence, And then there’s the United Nations, and off the battlefield. Mr. Bush spent six months trying unsuc- which isn’t an alliance at all. It’s a media Israel is strong and wants to be faith- cessfully to get a U.N. blessing before circus used by dozens of despots to politi- ful, but Mr. Obama sided with its enemies invading Iraq. cally attack the few democracies left in consistently in his Iran nuclear weapons Mr. Bush’s PSI followed the example of the world. Mr. Trump can begin to repair deal and at the U.N. Mr. Trump can begin Reagan’s conservative internationalism by our alliances and deal with the U.N., but to repair the damage Mr. Obama has engaging the world without sinking in the none of it will be easy. done to Israel. First, he needs to tear up U.N. quagmire. That is the model for ad By Jed Babbin Most of NATO’s 28 members are es- Mr. Obama’s nuclear weapons deal with hoc alliances that Mr. Trump should fol- merica’s strategic pos- sentially incapable of defending them- Iran, which endangers us as well as Israel, low. At the same time, he should substan- ture — both military and selves. Despite their mutual defense Europe and all non-Shiite Middle Eastern tially reduce our funding of the U.N., thus diplomatic — depends, pledge, only five of NATO’s members nations. Second, he should give a major showing that we have no tolerance for its in part, on our allies. spend the agreed-to 2 percent of their speech in which he reaffirms our alliance anti-democracy antics. What our allies can or gross domestic product on defense. with Israel in the strongest terms. The key to all of this is American cannot do — and will or Nearly all of its members are also Mr. Trump and some of his advis- leadership. By crafting an assertive for- will not do — is key to members of the European Union, which ers have already declared that they will eign policy and backing it up with action, our ability to deter or defeat the many competes with NATO for funding and on defeat the poisonous Islamist ideology. Mr. Trump can restore America to the threatsA we face. policy decisions. Because most of the Arab nations of the superpower status it needs to recreate a During the Cold War, America was Japan and South Korea invest sig- Middle East and Southwest Asia help Pax Americana. a superpower. Because the free world nificantly in defenses, the latter far more spread that ideology, they cannot be de-
looked to us for leadership and our adver- heavily. Pressured by its allies, Japan pendable allies, but they may join ad hoc Jed Babbin served as a deputy under- A S P E saries respected us, we could influence is about to increase its military budget coalitions of nations. secretary of defense in the George H. W.
every important world event. President significantly. They, and the Philippines, Least important, but sometimes Bush administration. He is the best-selling CI A L RE PO R Obama’s foreign policy ended all of that. were cast adrift waiting for Mr. Obama’s most troublesome, is the U.N. If Mr. author of books including “Inside the Winston Churchill once said: “There illusory “Pacific shift.” Trump applies any cost-benefit analysis Asylum: How the UN and Old Europe are is only one thing worse than fighting with Mr. Trump will quickly come to real- to it, he’ll find that the U.N. costs a lot Worse than You Think” and “In the Words allies and that is fighting without them.” ize that our national security — and that (around $8 billion a year) and delivers of Our Enemies.” He is a senior fellow of T P RE Mr. Trump is about to see just how bad it of our allies — is not just a matter of almost zero benefit. To deal with it, he the London Center for Policy Research. can be in both circumstances. cash flow. can learn from Presidents Ronald Rea- ARED BYi ng The Wash During the campaign, Mr. Trump He needs to take a “tough love” gan and George W. Bush.
Military spouses — and a renewed call to hire our heroes to n T i mes A dv — the national veteran employment four times the rate of veterans. Because perspective. It’s good for the bottom line. crisis, and are now making innovative of frequent moves across the country, That’s why Hiring Our Heroes is strides in supporting a new generation résumé gaps due to time out of the committed to leveraging the power of the
of military families through the transi- work force, and other challenges related private sector. Through our connections THE WASHINGTON TIMES
tion process. to their partners’ service, spouses face to the business community, we see com- oc
Our commitment to grassroots unique hurdles that other job seekers panies like Starbucks, Prudential, USAA, a c
engagement and public-private partner- simply do not. Military spouses make Capital One, La Quinta, CarMax and y D e p ships has sparked monumental shifts in up an incredibly talented work force, many others stepping out and leading the
military family employment. Through and their absence is a missed opportu- way to develop robust hiring strategies ar our collaborative efforts, more than nity for businesses. that fully incorporate military spouses. t men 28,000 veterans and military spouses Military spouse employment is not Companies can take immediate action have obtained jobs through Hiring only an economic issue, but a matter of today by partnering with Hiring Our | Our Heroes events — and now, more national security. Statistics show that Heroes and joining the coalition to foster Wednesday • February 15 • 2017 than 2,000 companies have committed retention of good service members military family employment. Together, By Eric Eversole to hire 710,000 veterans and military depends greatly on opportunities for we can tackle the challenge of full spouses as part of the Hiring 500,000 military spouses. Military families are no military family employment — because Heroes campaign. Already, we have different from other American families without focusing on military spouses, we For nearly six years, Hiring Our He- seen 505,000 confirmed hires. in depending on two incomes, and in only have half of a strategy. roes at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce While tremendous progress has been order to maintain the best fighting force Foundation has led the nationwide made for transitioning service members, possible, we need to ensure that military Eric Eversole is president of Hiring Our effort to find meaningful careers for veterans and military spouses in finding spouses have equal opportunity to con- Heroes, a program of the U.S. Chamber veterans and military spouses through meaningful employment, we have more tribute to our economy. But just as with of Commerce Foundation, and vice presi- hiring events, fellowship programs, work to do. veterans and transitioning service mem- dent of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. online resources, and other programs As a nation, we need to redouble our bers, recruiting and retaining military and initiatives. efforts to support and employ military spouses in the right positions is not just Since we launched in March 2011, we spouses. The military spouse commu- a “feel-good” or necessary thing to do, it have successfully halted — and reversed nity faces unemployment rates of up to is the right thing to do from a business 17 Remember the caregivers Not by a long shot. alone, isolated from the community connect military caregivers to resources In actuality, many family members around them. Many caregivers have been and support. The Foundation also awards or friends step into the role of a military forced to become the sole breadwinner innovation grants to nonprofit organiza- caregiver without sufficient assistance of the household, navigating a complex tions that make a direct impact in the and support from government programs. health care and benefits system while lives of America’s veteran caregivers. These spouses, mothers, dads, children, trying to raise a family. Military caregiv- Underscoring the grassroots nature of siblings or friends are typically taking on ers must also confront the long-term the effort, the U.S. Conference of Mayors the role of caregiver for the first time — challenges that invisible wounds may last summer passed a resolution encour- with little or no training — while manag- present their loved one, such as post- aging all cities to become military and ing complex injuries and illnesses over a traumatic stress and depression. veteran caregiver supportive cities. More lifetime of care. What’s equally troubling is that care- than 70 cities thus far have signed on to When my husband Bob Dole was giving is hurting the nation’s caregivers participate. admitted to Walter Reed Army Medical themselves. The RAND study found that Tom Hanks, chairman of the Hidden By Sen. Elizabeth Dole Center for an extended period of time, those caring for post-9/11 veterans are Heroes Campaign, succinctly captured my eyes were opened to the tremendous suffering depression at nearly four times the sentiment of the cities and orga- uring a recent news challenges facing the loved ones caring the rate of civilian caregivers. Many nizations that are joining forces under conference, President for our wounded veterans. Indeed, all spend hours each day providing care and the Foundation’s leadership to help the Trump reaffirmed his the science and experience points to an — because of the multiple and serious unsung heroes who care for the nation’s administration’s com- undeniable societal crisis that demands a conditions they are caring for — consis- veterans. mitment to helping our national response. tently experience more personal health “Military caregivers don’t often ask nation’s veterans, many of Though military caregivers are not problems, financial challenges, workplace for help, but they deserve our support,” whom face steep mental always visible, they are all around us: Ac- issues or strains in family relationships as he said. “Together, we all can bring and physical challenges after returning cording to a first-ever assessment of this compared to non-caregivers. military caregivers out of the shadows to Dfrom their time on the battlefield. As the community by the RAND Corp., there The Trump administration and David honor their service and strengthen their longest war in U.S. history continues, so are more than 5.5 million military and Shulkin, the nominee to lead the De- support systems.” too does the responsibility to care for veteran caregivers in the United States. partment of Veterans Affairs, must take these brave men and women who have As an unpaid work force, these “hidden note that the situation with caregivers of Elizabeth Dole is a former U.S. sena- sacrificed so much for our freedom. heroes” are providing nearly $14 billion veterans is a silent crisis, one in which tor from North Carolina who has also While access to care has improved at in services annually to care for those those most in need of help are often too previously served as secretary of the the Department of Veterans Affairs over who have returned from war. These are overloaded and stressed to ask for it. U.S. Departments of Transportation t men the last few years, the new administra- costs that would otherwise be borne by That’s why the Elizabeth Dole Foun- and Labor. She is founder and presi- ar tion must recognize that the care for our society. dation launched the Hidden Heroes dent of Caring for Military Families: veterans does not fall entirely on the The research also shows that military campaign last fall — to bring public The Elizabeth Dole Foundation. y D e p c
a shoulders of the government. caregivers often face these challenges attention to this crisis and to better oc Renew support for military families n T i mes A dv to
Since September 11th, almost 3 million leaving grieving families to pick up the these families wondering whether the service members have deployed in sup- pieces of what was taken from them. resources they rely on will disappear. port of our freedom. The conflicts in Af- Families fortunate enough to see Sequestration has put military pay and ghanistan and Iraq have faded from pub- their loved ones return from battle often benefits on the chopping block over and lic view, so much that most Americans discover that invisible wounds, like over again, adding to the uncertainty think these wars are over. But they’re Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) faced by our troops and their families. It
The Washi ng ARED BY not. In fact, nearly 300,000 troops are or a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), have has gutted some of the support programs currently deployed throughout the world changed their lives forever. families need most, especially those deal- to these areas and elsewhere. You’ve seen Military spouses struggle to achieve ing with deployments, frequent moves T P RE the headlines about 3,500 soldiers leaving their educational and career goals amid and other military life challenges. their families in Colorado and heading to the challenges of military life, including It’s time for our nation’s policymak- By Joyce Raezer Poland for training and what the Depart- raising children as a single parent while ers and our new commander in chief to
CI A L RE PO R ment of Defense calls “security coopera- their service member is deployed. Why demonstrate they understand how much Life is all about give and take — tion activities.” Almost 300 Marines are does that matter? Because sometimes our service members and their families A S P E THE WASHINGTON TIMES THE WASHINGTON at least, that’s what we’re told since leaving Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, that spouse’s paycheck is sorely needed sacrifice.
| childhood. But for our nation’s service for training and exercises north of the to keep the family finances above water We must never take the giving spirit members and their families, this sense of Arctic Circle in Norway. — especially if an illness or injury forces of our service members and their fami- balance is off. Whether our troops are in combat the family out of military life without the lies for granted. Our military members are pre- zones, on ships, or in training with our al- support they need. Thanks to their selflessness, our liber- pared to lay down their lives to protect lies, military families pay the price. Their Military families willingly take on these ties are guaranteed. our freedom. Their 2.9 million family loved one isn’t here. Their husband, sacrifices. They are proud and amaz- Let’s give thanks as a grateful nation members stand behind them with pride. father, wife or mother is in a danger- ingly resilient, but they’re tired. In return and demand our nation’s families are But the network of support they rely on ous place, far from home. Meanwhile, for their sacrifices, they need continued taken care of, without compromise. to face the challenges of military life is the family is forced to move on without support from all Americans, but especially weakening. them. Thousands of military children from our leaders in Washington. The Joyce Raezer is executive director of We ask President Trump, and our fel- will celebrate birthdays or gradua- readiness of our military members depends the National Military Family Asso- low Americans, to recognize the service tions this year with one or both parents on the strength of their families. ciation. She’s a military spouse, staunch
15 • 2017 • February Wednesday and sacrifice of our military families — deployed. Perhaps the greatest burden our military family advocate and recog- and provide them the support they need to Nearly 7,000 service members have military families bear today is uncer- nized expert on military families. 18 remain strong. died in combat in the last 15 years of war, tainty. Years of budget battles have left Hearing our forgotten men and women in the military
demographic “gender diversity met- orders to serve in the combat arms on bureaucratic “gender markers” cannot rics” (quotas), regardless of the impact an involuntary basis, negative responses transform a man into a woman or vice on combat effectiveness. jumped to 23 percent, almost one in versa. True gender markers exist in In an official survey of Navy SEALs four. Twenty-two percent of male Ma- unchanging XX and XY chromosomes and Special Operators, 85 percent of rines expressed the same opinion. in human DNA, but biological realities respondents opposed mixed-gender Surveys such as this matter because are not PC. commando teams, with 80 percent ex- our all-volunteer force depends on A Navy officer told me he will have to pressing doubts about women’s physi- young men’s and women’s willingness disobey orders to promote transgender cal abilities to handle the job. to serve in uniform. education materials that he knows to be When the Army asked 170,000 Recently, The Washington Times false. Because the Obama administration active-duty women whether they reported that personnel shortages decided in 2015 to treat transgenders would want to serve in combat arms could threaten the Trump administra- as a special, protected class, there are units, such as the infantry, 92.5 percent tion’s plans to rebuild the military. no conscience protections for medical said they would not. Mr. Carter never- Bonuses of $10,000 or more may not personnel or military chaplains. theless announced that combat arms be enough to retain personnel and Military women, to no avail, have assignments for minimally qualified families, especially when civilian jobs expressed concerns about personal women would be made on the same become more attractive as our econ- privacy and “gender pretenders” in By Elaine Donnelly involuntary basis as men. omy gets stronger. private living quarters. Students and n Inauguration Day, parents with children in Defense De- President Donald partment schools weren’t even asked Trump talked about about a recent decision to open school the “forgotten men and locker rooms and restrooms to persons women of our country. identified at birth as the opposite sex.
Everyone is listening to Several states are challenging similar A S P E you now.” mandates in civilian schools, but in the
These words must have encouraged armed forces all personnel must stay CI A L RE PO R Oforgotten Americans in the military. silent, follow orders, or leave. For many years, their opinions about Political correctness that threatens politically correct mandates from Pen- the all-volunteer force is a national
tagon officials have been deliberately security issue. Will help soon be on the T P RE ignored. way? Consider Marine Capt. Lauren Ser- The 2016 Republican National Plat- ARED BYi ng The Wash rano, who respectfully asked a ques- form promised to conduct “an objec- tion of President Barack Obama at a tive review of the impact on readi- military forum last September. Capt. ness of the current Administration’s Serrano cited Marine Corps field tests ideology-based personnel policies” and showing that mixed-gender units took to “correct problems with appropri- up to 159 percent longer to evacuate a ate administrative, legal, or legislative wounded battlefield casualty. action.”
“As the wife of a Marine who de- The platform also stated, “We reject to n T i mes A dv ploys to combat often,” she said, “that the use of the military as a platform added time could mean the difference for social experimentation . . . Military between my husband living or dying. readiness should not be sacrificed on
Why were these tangible negative con- the altar of political correctness.” THE WASHINGTON TIMES
sequences disregarded?” Mr. Trump reinforced this resolu- oc
Mr. Obama’s rambling answer tion when he said to all Americans, a c betrayed indifference. In 2015, De- including military personnel and fami- y D e p fense Secretary Ashton Carter abol- lies, “You will never be ignored again.” ished women’s exemptions from Two combat veterans who were ar direct ground combat units, such as Two combat veterans who were planning to planning to resign due to PC mandates t men the infantry, showing little concern resign due to PC [politically correct] mandates told me they have changed their minds. about disproportionately high female They and many others are relying on |
told me they have changed their minds. They Wednesday • February 15 • 2017 injury rates. Mr. Carter brushed aside Mr. Trump’s pledge, “I will never, ever scientific research showing that in field and many others are relying on Mr. Trump’s let you down.” tests with typical combat arms tasks, pledge, “I will never, ever let you down.” For reasons of national security, and all-male teams outperformed mixed- to retain American military superior- gender units 69 percent of the time. ity, the new administration must never Then-Commandant General Joseph Mr. Carter also disregarded a major Politically correct social experi- let military voices be forgotten again. Dunford asked that some fighting units, Center for Naval Analysis survey asking ments have alienated personnel that such as infantry battalions and Special thousands of Marines how prospective the military cannot do without. Elaine Donnelly is president of the Operations Forces, remain all-male. rule changes making women eligible Uniformed doctors and nurses, for ex- Center for Military Readiness, an He backed that request with empirical for the combat arms would affect their ample, are being ordered to provide or independent public policy organiza- data confirming physical differences decisions to join or stay in the Corps. condone transgender hormone treat- tion that reports on and analyzes in strength and endurance that would Five percent of female Marine respon- ments or surgeries that many consider military/social issues. More informa- impede speed and lethality in battle. dents said they would not have joined unethical. tion is available at www.cmrlink.org. None of that mattered. The ad- the Corps under such rules. Mr. Obama’s transgender policy ministration’s goal was to promote When women were asked about disregards the fact that changes in 19 Today’s military families: Strong, but overdeployed
By Kathy Roth-Douquet different types of forward presence that and Michael O’Hanlon can be easier on families. Options could include basing more forces in Europe s the Trump adminis- and Korea on normal tours, with their tration begins to set families, rather than relying so heavily priorities for national on rotations/deployments; considering a security, it should take change to the size and scale of Okinawa/ note of the continued Guam Marine Corps deployments stress and the changing in one way or another; and looking expectations facing our for more clever ways to sustain ships 21st century military and their families. overseas, such as crew swaps that allow ItA is heartening Mr. Trump is concerned ships to remain forward in theater while about wear and tear on the force, and crews are rotated in and out by airplane. proposes roughly a 15 percent buildup Mr. Trump can take office resting as- in its size, as well as increases in funds sured that the state of today’s American for military personnel and weapons armed forces, man for man, woman for acquisition. woman, family for family, is excellent. Since the sum total of these aspira- The strength and the heart of our military Today’s warrior families are as dedicated tions may prove too expensive, pri- excellence is the people, and evidence shows to their mission as ever, and they are oritization will likely be required. In certainly as good at their professions as streamlining his wish list, therefore, that the people are stressed to the point of they ever have been as well. But they are Mr. Trump may wish to take stock of discouragement — in part because many of the also tired, and stressed, by the legacies the concerns and observations of those expectations surrounding military personnel are of war, the burdens of current deploy- wearing the uniform today — as well as ments, and the nature of military life. their families. based on outmoded understandings of family life. We can and should do better by them t men Investing in technology and equip- — and thereby help ensure their excel- ar ment alone is not enough to rejuvenate frequent moves makes it very hard to good retirement packages but those with lence, as well as the nation’s security, in the force. The strength and the heart of have a two-income family. Indeed, there less still get nothing) and efficiency in the years and decades ahead. y D e p c
a our military excellence is the people, really is no comparability between mili- the use of military health care. But any
oc and evidence shows that the people are tary service and civilian employment, such reform should be at least neutral in Kathy Roth-Douquet is founder and stressed to the point of discouragement as then-Secretary of the Army Eric Fan- its net effects on overall compensation CEO of Blue Star Families and was a — in part because many of the expecta- ning underscored at the event we held per family. military spouse; Michael O’Hanlon tions surrounding military personnel are together at Brookings on Dec. 8. To take --The military services, combat- is a senior fellow at Brookings and based on outmoded understandings of one measure, military families are 27 ant commands and civilian leadership author of “The $650 Billion Bar- family life. The organization one of us percent less likely to have dual incomes should also look for ways to replace gain: The Case for Modest Growth n T i mes A dv to runs, Blue Star Families, has just com- than couples/families in the civilian sec- some overseas deployments with in America’s Defense Budget.” pleted and released its annual survey on tor, and 21 percent of military spouses the state of military families, available at report being unemployed, with many bluestarfam.org/survey. more underemployed. On a related mat- from operational accounts to acquisi- For us, two findings stand out per- ter, 66 percent of families say they are Friedman tion at the expense of readiness. haps most prominently. unable to find the child care they need From page C16 The third option falls prey to -- Overdeployment. With only about — probably a function of often being in concerns about cuts to local jobs and
The Washi ng ARED BY 10 percent as many forces officially a new place, combined with the finan- could fund the operational accounts potential calumny about not support- deployed to the nation’s active missions cial constraints noted above. Today’s that pay for the readiness of the force. ing the troops. in Afghanistan and Iraq/Syria as had Second, even without a strategic Congressional Republicans aren’t
T P RE millennials flag that spouse unemploy- been the case, most Americans believe ment is one of their top concerns with shift, Congress could cancel complex especially motivated to fix the readi- that our forces have essentially come military life. platforms, like the Littoral Combat ness crisis because they use it to pres- home from war. But in our survey, Where does this leave us? Lawmakers Ship or F-35, which suck up opera- sure Democrats to increase defense
CI A L RE PO R more than four in 10 families have had of both parties in the House and Senate tional funding, and replace them with spending. In that sense, they care less a service member deployed for at least have already halted further planned simpler alternatives — or do with less about readiness for current wars than A S P E THE WASHINGTON TIMES THE WASHINGTON six months in the past year and a half. drawdowns in the size of the military in some areas. readiness for the array of imagined
| This comes on top of the 15 years of this year. But there is clearly more to do, A third solution is to eventually future wars. war these families have experienced as the survey findings underscore. free up funds for operational accounts In Washington, readiness now (with most having more than four years --Today’s force probably should grow by cutting spending on excess bases seems to mean whatever the speaker of family separation since 9/11). As a in size at least modestly. and by slowing the growth in person- wants from the military. We should result, a whopping 72 percent of re- --In regard to military families and nel costs. discard the term in recognition of the spondents consider the current pace of their income, we need to help promote Congressional defense committees fact that military spending choices are global deployment to be unacceptably employment of military spouses in and dismiss the first solution because they mostly about what to be ready for, not stressful on their families. This kind of out of government. For example, we see U.S. military efforts as indispens- how to be ready for everything. situation could jeopardize the sustain- should encourage the private sector to able to world order, perhaps because of ability of the all-volunteer force. hire and allow remote work for military the spending indispensability requires Benjamin H. Friedman is a research -- Spouse underemployment. Military spouses, perhaps with tax credits. Some in their districts. They reject the sec- fellow in Defense and Homeland Se- compensation is reasonably good com- military benefit reform may be reason- ond option for similar reasons. Indeed, curity Studies at the Cato Institute.
15 • 2017 • February Wednesday pared to that of civilians of comparable able, especially when guided by goals they reject it so thoroughly that they age, education and experience, yet the such as enhancing fairness in pensions often do the opposite — shifting funds 20 nature of the military lifestyle with its (where those with 20 years service get Troop morale linked to upholding chaplains, religious ministries
Chaplain Corps in 1775. For the sake of forced to make a decision between my troops won. unit readiness, the military needs chap- Creator and my commander. In a current context, on Jan. 20, 2017, lains who will speak truth according The complaint filed by the young offi- then-President-elect Trump attended to their ordaining denominations. The cer seemed to snowball, and in short order morning worship services and later that military needs men and women of God I was not only being investigated for an morning during the swearing-in cer- who are prophetic to the institution Equal Opportunity (EO) complaint, but I emony, Mr. Trump placed his left hand on and not simply part of the latest social was brought up on charges of dereliction his childhood Bible and then on a second cause taken up by one political party or of duty. Shortly after that, my command- Bible owned by President Abraham Lin- another. This is true for force multipli- ing officer gave me a letter of dismissal coln. It would be unconscionable for a cation and for the spiritual resilience from the service approximately 18 months president to take the oath of office without our warriors need when they serve in prior to my earliest retirement date. appealing to God for His grace, mercy, and harm’s way. “Just walk away.” Those words still guidance in the faithful discharge of the With President Obama’s policy ring in my ears. president’s duties. If calling upon God is change in place, I found myself in legal I was on the phone with someone I important for the guidance of our nation trouble: An openly gay service member, respected as a retired military chaplain for the commander in chief, then it must who sought out my counsel as a clergy- who continued our conversation: “Just be equally protected for the men and By Dr. Wes Modder man, filed a complaint because he did walk away. Wes, you can retire with honor women who serve in our armed forces. o one could have imag- ined just a few decades ago that a secularist invasion would change military policy from
“don’t ask, don’t tell” to A S P E our current rendering
that all gay and transgender people are CI A L RE PO R Nfit for full service in the military. Regardless of one’s beliefs on social matters, this policy decision sets up a
collision course with the privately and T P RE constitutionally protected religious beliefs of service men and women — in- ARED BYi ng The Wash cluding attacks on the private counsel, preaching and communications of military chaplains. The beneficial impact of the reli- gious ministries on troop morale is without question. It inspires hope, strengthens spiritual well-being, in-
creases personal resilience, and these to n T i mes A dv collectively enhance mission readiness, according to the U.S. Navy Chaplain not agree with my counsel on matters in September of 2015, and you can keep Governmental discrimination against Corps. (http://www.navy.mil/docs/Im- of faith and human sexuality that was in your good name. I’ve seen this happen people of faith in the armed forces is
pactofReligiousMinistry_Final.pdf). accordance with my ordaining body, the before, and it never turns out well. It’s not unacceptable and will impact the morale THE WASHINGTON TIMES
To be blunt, to stifle the free expres- Assemblies of God. worth the energy and emotional capital it of any unit. Prohibitions on chaplains oc
sion of religion among our military will cost both you and your family. It’s just being disciplined for counseling from a c
troops is a morale killer. not worth it; there are no winners in this.” their scriptures and ordaining body must y D e p While military chaplains do need Governmental Yet, in my heart, I believed that I was be upheld. to navigate a pluralistic military that discrimination against to stand firm for religious liberty. This It has been the norm for these last eight ar includes many faiths, atheists and people of faith in felt like my David and Goliath moment. I years for service members to be pressured t men agnostics, some commanders in error did not pick the fight, but I was willing to to renounce their religious views on top- have interpreted pluralism as the high- the armed forces is fight because the cause was just. ics like sexuality — or be punished for | est order. Their reasoning is that all unacceptable and will Should I lose my case, it would be open not doing so — as well as other attacks Wednesday • February 15 • 2017 troops are not Christian, therefore all impact the morale of season on religious liberty, a direct blow on religious freedom in the military. This troops should never have to hear the to troop morale and unit readiness. If a “religious cleansing” has national security name of Jesus or have their eyes burned any unit. Prohibitions Navy chaplain can be told how to pray, implications. by the posting a Bible verse on a bunk on chaplains being and what and what not to counsel in pri- Mr. Trump should quickly change the or workstation of their co-worker. disciplined for counseling vate counsel, then religious liberty is dead atmosphere by ordering the Department Some commanders have gone too far from their scriptures for all the troops. The warning was clear: of Defense to make clear that political by ordering Christian military chaplains Get on board with progressive pluralistic correctness must end. The free exercise of to not pray in Jesus’ name. Whose name and ordaining body policies, or your career is over and your religious liberty is in the Constitution and should a Christian chaplain pray in? must be upheld. tainted future is most uncertain. military codes and must be guaranteed to George Washington saw the mat- Eventually, I won my case with the all service members and chaplains. ter quite differently, believing spiritual The Navy wanted me to support policy aid of brilliant law firms, such as First fitness was tantamount to unit readi- in the area of “care” that went against my Liberty and Wilmer Hale, who partnered Retired Navy Chaplain Wes Mod- ness. Washington directed the Conti- ordination, conscience and deeply held with many people who value our precious der, D. Min., is lead pastor of Stone nental Congress to establish the Army religious convictions. Suddenly, I was religious liberties. More importantly, the Church in Orland Park, Illinois. 21 Put more ‘healing leashes’ into the hands of veterans
By Capt. Jason Haag wait: If suicide didn’t kill me, my sub- PTS, according to VA estimates. stance abuse would — it felt like it was So how can the Trump administra- resident Trump cam- only a matter of time. Finally, I found tion help put more healing leashes into paigned on promises to a nonprofit group that could pair me the hands of the veterans who need improve the government with a service dog in as little as seven them now? support and overall stan- months. It was still a long wait, but for The long wait times for veterans dard of care offered to the first time, I could see a light at the seeking service dogs — spanning any- military veterans like me. where from 18 months to three years Steps to do so under his — stem primarily from the high rate of new administration must include ef- A neighbor and fellow demand, as well as the time-consuming Pforts to provide more lifesaving service military veteran credited canine training process. As you can dogs to veterans with Post-Traumatic his PTS service dog with imagine, teaching a dog to detect and Stress (PTS) and Traumatic Brain respond to the invisible wounds of war Injury (TBI). turning his life around is a highly specialized and exhaustive In outlining his vision for the when everything else process. It’s also expensive, costing presidency, Mr. Trump emphasized failed. I was running out upwards of $20,000 per dog. the need to better address the invisible At American Humane, the country’s wounds of veterans. I know firsthand options, and decided first national humane organization, that specially trained service dogs can to give it a shot. which has been supporting the U.S. help heal these lasting scars. military and military animals for 100 After 9/11, I deployed for three end of the tunnel. years, we are working to help get more combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq Everything changed when I met highly trained service dogs into the with the U.S. Marine Corps. I was shot Axel, a special German Shepherd rigor- hands of veterans with PTS. by machine gun fire on April 9, 2003, ously trained to manage the symptoms Currently, the VA doesn’t cover the while in direct combat right outside of my invisible wounds. He is now costs of obtaining and training ser- of Baghdad. In the months that fol- at my side 24/7, helping disrupt my vice dogs for veterans with PTS and lowed, I sustained additional injuries panic attacks and flashbacks, waking TBI. The agency does, however, help from improvised explosive devices on me from night terrors, and keeping offset the same expenses for veterans our convoys, ranging from the blasts me calm in high-stress situations, who use service dogs for visual aid or of explosives strikes on our convoys such as crowded shopping malls or mobility, offering them a $500 annual t men and patrols to the gunfire of countless 18 beers a night to fall asleep. I tried loud intersections. Axel’s constant stipend. ar small-arm engagements. everything — medication, individual companionship has also enabled me to Those of us who depend on PTS The physical injuries that earned and group therapy, veterans support significantly curb my prescription drug and TBI service dogs should be eli- y D e p c
a me a Purple Heart would eventu- groups — but none of the traditional intake, which is now down to only two gible for the same government support.
oc ally heal, yet my invisible wounds — treatment methods seemed to work. daily medications for TBI. The Trump administration shouldn’t namely, PTS and TBI — continued to A neighbor and fellow military There is no doubt in my mind that delay: Veterans’ lives are at stake. haunt me. I suffered from debilitating veteran credited his PTS service dog without Axel, I would be another depression and anxiety, night terrors with turning his life around when ev- veteran statistic: The U.S. Department Retired U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Jason and flashbacks. I was soon spending erything else failed. I was running out of Veterans Affairs (VA) reports that Haag is the national spokesperson day and night alone in my dark base- options, and decided to give it a shot. there’s an average of 20 veteran sui- for the American Humane Lois Pope n T i mes A dv to ment, self-medicating and contemplat- I applied to a handful of service cides every day, many resulting from LIFE Center for Military Affairs. ing suicide. At rock bottom, I was tak- dog organizations online, where I was PTS and TBI. Up to 20 percent of my ing 32 daily medications — including a met with waiting lists up to three years fellow Operations Iraqi Freedom and dozen or so narcotics — and drinking long. But I knew I couldn’t afford to Enduring Freedom veterans suffer from
The Washi ng ARED BY Bring fiscal responsibility to defense spending T P RE
spending at the Pentagon that endangers with 2.8 million employees and an an- and policies at every level of military our national security and the men and nual budget of $580 billion. operations.
CI A L RE PO R women who wear the uniform. Years of reports about wasteful These mandates unnecessarily inflate The Trump administration should Pentagon spending make it clear that military expenses by adding new layers A S P E THE WASHINGTON TIMES THE WASHINGTON begin working with Congress on fiscally an audit is overdue. In one egregious of bureaucracy and by forcing our armed
| responsible reforms that will ensure the example, the DoD spent nearly $150 forces to procure expensive “green” fuel strength and sustainability of our armed million to provide security and private and equipment. In 2015, for instance, the forces. My organization, Concerned Vet- villas to a handful of employees in Pentagon spent $150 per gallon on jet erans for America (CVA), has identified Afghanistan. Another report found that fuel derived from algae — 64 times the several areas where we can cut waste the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency price of conventional fuel. Green-energy and inefficiency while putting our mili- was systematically overcharged for air- mandates divert attention and resources tary on a stronger footing, ready to face craft parts and spent over $7 billion on away from the core mission of our mili- any challenge in the years ahead. unneeded equipment. tary: keeping America safe. By Mark Lucas The first step is to audit the Pentagon. In addition to an audit, Congress Another urgent area for reform is The Department of Defense (DoD) is and President Trump can begin cutting the military’s health care system, which President Donald Trump has prom- the largest government agency with the waste by reversing the costly green- consumes a growing share of defense ised numerous times to strengthen largest discretionary budget. And yet, it energy mandates put in place by the spending.
15 • 2017 • February Wednesday America’s military. Yet if he hopes to is the only government agency that has Obama administration. These include Spending on military health care keep this vow, he must tackle a critical never been audited. Taxpayers deserve executive orders requiring the Pentagon 22 issue that’s often overlooked: wasteful more accountability from an agency to incorporate climate change programs » see LUCAS | C23 American Gold Star Mothers: Turning sorrow into service
for the war-wounded. Soon, she sought all Veterans Service Organizations and out Washington, D.C., mothers who In 1928, after years appreciate our association with each of were in her similar situation — the Blue of planning, those 25 them. Service Star that hung in their window Washington, D.C., women In June 1936, President Franklin D. had turned Gold. They all mourned the Roosevelt designated the last Sunday in loss of their sons. met and formed American September as Gold Star Mother’s Day. It Turning their sorrow into service, Gold Star Mothers, named is a day that has become a time-honored Grace encouraged the mothers to do for the Gold Service Star tradition of remembering mothers what she was doing — continue the whose sons and daughters made the service that their fallen sons could not that hung in the windows supreme sacrifice for our country. complete. of the families who had a All too many mothers suffer the A new purpose was born. The family member who had unimaginable tragedy of losing a child women realized that self-contained pity paid the ultimate sacrifice. while they are selflessly serving our is self-destructive. country. The least our country can do is In 1928, after years of planning, those to continue honoring Gold Star Mothers 25 Washington, D.C., women met and serving our great nation. on a special day — it communicates the By Candy Martin formed American Gold Star Mothers, American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., is message that we will not forget their son early 100 years ago, 1st Lt. named for the Gold Service Stars that a member of the Veterans Administra- or daughter. George Vaughn Seibold hung in the windows of the families who tion Voluntary Service Advisory Board. was an aviator who flew in had a family member who had paid the Nearly all of the members of Ameri- Candy Martin is the national presi- support of The Great War ultimate sacrifice. can Gold Star Mothers throughout the dent of American Gold Star Mothers, efforts. Since our United By the next year, the organization was United States provide many hours of Inc. She is a combat veteran, having States did not have avia- incorporated under the laws of Wash- volunteer work and personal service served in Iraq from 2005-2006. She tion assets to support the ington, D.C. Chapters were growing to veterans, their families, and in their retired in 2013 from the U.S. Army war effort, George joined other aviators throughout the United States and many communities. We work closely with as a Chief Warrant Officer Five. Nwho trained and flew for one of our allies Gold Star Mothers joined the National — Great Britain. Organization of American Gold Star
The young lieutenant was careful Mothers, Inc. — a Veterans Service A S P E to send letters home to his parents, Mr. Organization.
George G. and Mrs. Grace Darling Sei- The success of our organization CI A L RE PO R bold, who lived in Washington, D.C. continues because of the bond of mutual When the letters quit arriving, Mrs. love, sympathy and support for one Seibold convinced herself that her another. Although we grieve for the loss
beloved son was coming home with the of our fallen sons and daughters, we are T P RE war-wounded to Walter Reed General a resilient and strong group of patriotic Hospital. With selfish thoughts, she went mothers who, while sharing our grief ARED BYi ng The Wash to Walter Reed every day, believing that and our pride, have channeled our time young George, should he be among the and talents to lessen the pain of others. war-wounded, would not have any form We stand tall and proud by honoring of identification and she wanted to be our children, and serving our veterans, there to find him. their families and our communities. The Walter Reed staff, weary from an Although we are a small organization eager mother hanging around, did what (approximately 1,200 members), we are
comes natural for any hospital staff — a time-honored tradition of strong irre- to n T i mes A dv they put her to work! Grace Darling Sei- pressible mothers who have a lost a son bold continued caring for the wounded or daughter in active military service to and the sick after they were transferred our nation.
from the European combat zone. Our losses are different. We are moth- THE WASHINGTON TIMES
When the letter finally arrived with ers of combat deaths, training-accident oc
the feared news that 1st Lt. George deaths, illness, and yes, even suicides. a c
Vaughn Seibold had been confirmed We are an organization of mothers who y D e p shot down and there were no remains, have lost a son or a daughter (no mat-
Mrs. Seibold continued working to care ter the cause of death) who died while ar t men | control. Congress should implement keep its fiscal house in order.” responsible level. Wednesday • February 15 • 2017 LUCAS the health care recommendations of the While our $19 trillion in debt was Our military remains the finest on the From page C22 Military Compensation and Retirement rarely mentioned during the campaign planet, but years of profligate and waste- Modernization Commission, which season, we can no longer afford to ful spending have eaten away at its core increased 130 percent between 2000 would give military family members and ignore it. If we continue to allow the competencies. The Trump administration and 2012 and now accounts for about retirees access to a wider array of health debt to grow at its current pace, in should seize the opportunity to reverse 10 percent of the DoD’s base budget. care providers while lowering costs over just four years interest payments on course and ensure our armed forces have Despite the increased spending, surveys time. the debt will outweigh all spending on the resources they need to fulfil their mis- show that service members and their Finally, we must address our grow- national defense. sion — a promise he has made time and families are frequently dissatisfied with ing national debt, which increasingly These budgetary pressures will again. The enduring safety and prosperity their treatment and choice of medical jeopardizes the economic and military eventually cripple our ability to fund of our country depend on it. providers. dominance of the United States. In the a cutting-edge military force. To dig Fortunately, there is already a pro- words of Secretary of Defense James N. ourselves out of this hole, Congress Mark Lucas is executive director of posal on the table that would improve Mattis, “no nation in history has main- and the administration must trim Concerned Veterans for America. care while getting spending under tained its military power if it failed to the bloated federal budget to a more 23 POW/MIA priorities: Accountability for the missing, suicide prevention
By Rolling Thunder®, Inc. of saying to these families and to the public at large It is signified by the red patch with the number 22 on that our government has not forgotten that they did it that we are placing on the vests that we wear. e are an organization comprised not come home, and 2) the positioning of the “Chair of This red patch represents the suicides that are occur- of U.S. military veterans, the fami- Honor” in the Capitol Rotunda, as a way of saying to the ring every day. The number 22 represents the number lies of veterans and those who world that those who are missing are always welcome of suicides committed by military personnel, who are believe and are supportive of our home. either active-duty or of veteran status. This is truly an agenda. The Army, Marine Corps, American tragedy. Something must be done to end this. Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard Health care The VA appears to be overwhelmed and in need of are represented in our member- For those who’ve fought in this country’s wars, it new leadership and/or direction. The backlogs are leg- ship. And while our organization came into existence in is certainly not new that many instruments of war are endary, as the health care being provided is falling short Wthe shadows of the Vietnam War, our membership has used in order to effect a positive outcome in the field of of what is required of it. included those who served in WWII, Korean, Vietnam, battle. Couple this with those toxic agents that may have Additionally, Rolling Thunder®, Inc., recommends Iraq, Afghanistan, and all of the conflicts that have been inadvertently released into the air as a result of that the new administration consider the following key occurred around the world and drawn upon the U.S. enemy actions. points: military. The problem is that quite possibly those instruments --Ensure VA providers can coordinate care. And while the theaters of battle and the participants of a chemical nature may not have been thoroughly --Ensure case management, continuity and consis- may have been different, a constant has, and always will researched, at the time of use, in terms how it may affect tency in providers, especially for those with critical be, the resoluteness of our military to go into harm’s needs. way to accomplish the missions that they’ve been --Significantly increase access to mental health care, charged with. making it the highest priority. With the above in mind, a major function of Roll- --Communicate to veterans about VA Choice pro- ing Thunder®, Inc., is to publicize the Prisoner of War/ gram, VA capacity, and preserve VA’s role as coordinator Missing in Action issue: to educate the public that many of care. American POWs were left behind after all previous --Hire more veterans, and increase access to patient wars, to help correct the past, and protect future veter- advocates and peer mentors. ans from being left behind, should they become POW/ --Move toward veteran-focused and veteran-centric MIA. care. t men Another major function is to add ours to the clarion --Rolling Thunder®, Inc., strongly urges the new ar of voices calling for improvements in the health care administration to keep our nation’s commitment to our outcomes experienced by veterans as a result of inad- veterans. y D e p c
a equacies in the Veterans Administration (VA)-adminis- Legislation oc tered health care system. Rolling Thunder®, Inc.’s national leadership supports POW/MIA two pieces of legislation. If one were to go back just 100 years for the purpose Since 2007, we have lobbied Congress to establish a of reviewing how well this country has done in the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, as spelled out area of accounting for the millions of American men in House Resolution 111. n T i mes A dv to and women who have been sent off to fight in distant This committee would conduct a full investigation of theaters for the purpose of protecting the rights and all unresolved matters relating to any U.S. POW/MIAs freedoms which this country’s citizenry hold so dear, we who are unaccounted for from the wars in Iraq, Afghani- as a country have not done so well. stan, the Gulf States, Vietnam, Korea, the battlegrounds Some say we’ve done well by accounting for more in WWII, and the Cold War. than 99 percent of all who’ve been sent into harm’s way. In the 111th, 112th and 113th Congresses, we had The problem with that line of thinking is that included more than enough co-sponsors to bring this legisla-
The Washi ng ARED BY in the less than 1 percent are the 91,000-plus who have our troops — a principal case being the use of chemi- tion to the floor for a vote by the Rules Committee. not been accounted for. Meaning that 91,000-plus fami- cally derived defoliating agents used in Vietnam. At But despite our meetings with their policy advisers, lies have sent loved ones off to war, but have not seen the time of the war, our troops used Agent Orange, as neither former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi nor former T P RE nor heard from them since — nor has the government well as numerous other agents, to remove the foliage House Speaker John Boehner did anything to move this said anything more than they are prisoners or otherwise that could conceal the enemy. And in the Gulf War, the resolution forward. missing. enemy took to setting fire to oil wells, releasing thick, Also, Rolling Thunder®, Inc. was highly instrumen-
CI A L RE PO R The 91,000-plus moms and dads have raised a child, toxic plumes into the atmosphere. tal in passing legislation requiring that federal buildings only to have them sacrificed for the “greater good.” To Our troops went into these areas soon after release. It and all U.S. Post Offices and military facilities fly the A S P E THE WASHINGTON TIMES THE WASHINGTON know one’s child has died in the line of battle is a sor- was realized only much later that these chemicals were POW/MIA flag on all six national holidays.
| rowful thing. But not to know their whereabouts years health-altering, remaining in the body possibly as long Fast-forward to 2017: New legislation was intro- after the war or conflict has been terminated should be as for generations. duced in the 115th Congress by Rep. Leonard Lance, thought of as more than a parent should have to stand. This could very well mean that our troops were New Jersey Republican, to fly the POW/MIA flag on all And we’ve not begun to mention the pain and sorrow exposed to chemical agents that could affect their family days that the American flag is displayed, over all federal of a wife, or a child that must grow up fatherless, or sib- lines for generations to come, thus affecting our troops buildings and military facilities, and especially over the lings who must continue their lives without the love of a and possibly their children and children’s children. White House and the U.S. Capitol building. brother or sister who has been lost to them forever. Rolling Thunder®, Inc., thinks it’s only right that re- It should not be too much to ask for this country to search finally be done to determine the potential extent Rolling Thunder®, Inc., is a nonprofit incorporated in advance those things of a commemorative nature that of this problem. In prior sessions of Congress, legisla- 1995 for the sole purpose to advocate for veterans and could have the effect of soothing the hearts of loved tion had been introduced that, if enacted, would address veterans’ rights. It is a nationwide organization of 8,000- ones. this matter head on, but it will take the political will of plus volunteers in over 90 chapters. Rolling Thunder Rolling Thunder®, Inc., thinks so, and that is why this country’s leadership to make this happen. members volunteer in VA facilities, raise money to sup-
15 • 2017 • February Wednesday we’ve gone to great measure in support of 1) flying the There is another matter that is of grave concern to port veterans, and lobby state and federal government POW/MIA flag on the White House and on the Capitol Rolling Thunder®, Inc., which deserves as much atten- agencies on the behalf of veterans and their families. 24 building whenever the American flag is flown, as a way tion as can be brought to bear.