PDA Reset Defense Bulletin – 5/11/12
ed. Ethan R. Rosenkranz
State of Play
ed. Ethan R. Rosenkranz
State of Play
Legislative: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense approved its annual spending bill behind closed doors this week, providing $607.7 billion for National Defense including war funding costs and $519.2 billion for the Pentagon’s base budget. This base budget is $3.1 billion over the President’s FY13 request and even higher than the defense cap placed in law by the Budget Control Act. Included in the bill is $278 million for the Global Hawk Block 30 drone, which the administration has proposed cancelling, as well as a provision halting planned retirements and reassignments of National Guard and Reserve assets until Congress and GAO have a chance to further study the issue. The bill also blocks the proposed mothballing of the C-27J cargo plane. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations has released an initial version of its annual spending bill that would provide $40.1 billion for the State Department’s base budget (excluding OCO funding), which represents a 14 percent cut from the President’s budget request. House Appropriators have also approved their version of the Military Construction and Veterans Administration spending bill, which provides $71.7 billion in discretionary spending, a figure roughly $700 million below the administration’s FY13 request.
The House Committee on Armed Services held a markup of its annual
authorization bill this week, with the legislation expected to hit the
House Floor next week. Rep. Todd Akin
(R-MO) offered
an amendment, which was defeated, that would have held back half of the
procurement funding for the F-35 until the Pentagon can provide Congress with
an initial operating capability (IOC) date for the JSF. The Ranking Member of the committee, Rep.
Adam Smith (D-WA) offered a substitute amendment that was adopted to require
the Pentagon to provide an IOC date by December 31, 2012; but would not punish
DoD for failing to meet the requirement.
The panel also adopted an amendment
which requires GAO to study hull cracks, engine failure, and other problems with
the Littoral Combat Ship as well as an amendment to block the Pentagon from considering or planning
new rounds of base closures. Pentagon leaders were quick to blast the HASC
proposal saying it could endanger funding for training and equipment, telling
reporters that, ““If members try to restore their favorite programs without
regard to an overall strategy, the cuts will have to come from areas that could
impact overall readiness. There is no
free lunch here. Every dollar that is added will have to be offset by cuts in
national security.”
Meanwhile, CQ Today
reports that Senate Appropriators will provide an additional
$5.1 billion in OCO funding for the Department of Defense while cutting the
same amount from the State Department’s FY13 OCO request. This is in order to fulfill President Obama’s
FY13 defense request while staying within the spending caps implemented by the
Budget Control Act. And a group of
bipartisan senators has written
the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee
requesting authorization for the Pentagon to procure an additional
Virginia-class submarine and DDG-51 destroyer over the next five years.
The House passed legislation this week sponsored by Budget Chairman
Paul Ryan (R-WI) that would prevent sequestration from taking effect next year
and replace the pending automatic cuts with more than $300 billion in
reductions to domestic programs. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid responded to the bill by declaring
that any compromise to avoid sequestration must include new sources of
government revenue, the President has vowed
to veto Ryan's legislation, and Secretary Panetta later told
reporters that “defense should not be exempt from doing its share to reduce
the deficit.” House
Democrats were denied a chance to offer an alternative plan that would have
included cuts to agricultural assistance programs, implementation of the
so-called “Buffet Rule,” and cuts to oil and natural gas subsidies. Neither the Democratic nor Republican
leadership have so far endorsed further defense savings as a means of replacing
automatic cuts.
Executive: Testifying
before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, the Army and Marine
Corps vice-chiefs asserted
that sequestration would force the two services to involuntarily separate up
to 225,000 personnel in addition to the proposed reduction of 107,000 Corps and
Army personnel over the next six years.
All four vice-chiefs implored Congress to quickly remove the sequester and
not wait until the last minute to strike a deal. Pentagon leaders have asked for one
additional year of funding for the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS)
as House appropriators zeroed out funds for the program in its annual spending
bill this week. DoD will still move
forward with plans to test the interceptor this coming November regardless of
whether Congress provides funding this fiscal year.
Last weekend, two Air National Guard pilots appeared
on 60 Minutes to discuss why they are refusing to fly F-22 Raptors, which
have been plagued by unusually high incidents of oxygen-supply malfunctions
causing pilots to suffer hypoxia. The
two pilots have now been declared
whistleblowers, and the head of Air
Combat Command says he will begin flying F-22s himself in order to dispel
concern amongst pilots. The White
House has nominated the commander of Air Forces Europe, Gen. Mark Welch
III, to replace the head of the Air Force, Gen. Norton Schwartz, later this
year. AOL Defense’s Colin Clark had earlier
predicted the appointment.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, and
Secretary Panetta are urging
support for Congressional
ratification of the Law of the Sea Convention along
with Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) . The Center for
American Progress has published a new
report on military compensation reform, which finds that the current system
is no longer suited for the all-volunteer force and calls for modest reforms to
address the rapid growth in benefit costs.
In addition, the Project on Government Oversight and Taxpayers for
Common Sense have released
an updated version of their previous savings proposal that outlines almost
$700 billion in military savings over ten years.
Highlights
Huffington Post: Public
overwhelmingly supports large defense spending cuts
R. Jeffrey Smith reports on the results
of an innovative survey, produced by the Center for Public Integrity, the
Program for Public Consultation, and the Stimson Center, which allowed randomly
selected respondents to adjust defense spending and priorities in a detailed
manner. The average respondent cut $103 billion, or about 18 percent from the Pentagon’s
budget, almost double the $55 billion in sequestration cuts scheduled to take
effect next year. In addition respondents cut an average of 43 percent of
funding for the Afghanistan conflict, highlighting disdain for the unpopular conflict. (Reset Defense will provide more coverage on
this survey in next week’s edition). (5/10/12)
Gov. Romney’s proposed defense spending plan could have dramatic
repercussions for the budget deficit. According
to CNAS security analyst Travis Sharp, Romney’s plan to maintain the
defense budget at 4 percent of GDP would increase military spending by about
$2.1 trillion over ten years. Sharp notes that increased military spending does
not necessarily correlate to a more secure global environment: “You can never
eliminate all the risk — no matter how much you spend.” (5/10/12)
Flightglobal: Senior
official raises F/A-XX doubts while retired USMC Generals question USN’s F-35
commitment
A senior Pentagon official is questioning the Navy’s ability to
fund a replacement platform for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which would be
retired in the 2030s. The Navy says that
it will replace earlier versions of the F/A-18 with its F-35C, but needs a
different replacement platform for the E/F variant. A retired Marine Corps general, Lt. Gen.
Emerson Gardner says the F/A-XX program raises questions about the Navy’s
commitment to the F-35C. For Philip
Ewing’s thoughts on the F/A-XX, click
here. (5/4/12)
The Huffington Post: The
F-22: Final Delivery for a Flying Disaster
While highlighting the recent incidents of pilots unwilling to fly
the F-22, Bill Hartung argues that not only is the F-22 "a danger to its
pilots, it has little use in the real world." Hartung points out that it
took a concerted effort by SASC Ranking Member John McCain (R-AZ) and Chairman Carl
Levin (D-MI), as well as former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and a veto
threat from President Obama, just to halve the number of planes under contract.
The ever-more expensive F-35 appears to be the next budgetary battle:
"Let's hope the F-35 doesn't become the next generation's F-22 – a plane
we don't need at a price we can't afford." (5/3/12)
Other News and Commentary
Navy Times: New
Coast Guard ship has rust, holes in hull
A Coast Guard vessel put into operation in October, 2011, has been
found to have "holes and spots of rust" in the hull. According to the vessel's captain, Charles
Cashin, this is extremely unusual for a ship of this age. The cutter, known as the Stratton, is third in
a recent delivery of 418-foot ships to the Coast Guard in an attempt to
modernize their aging fleet. Design
flaws are haunting the Navy as well since its first two Littoral Combat
Ships appear to be experiencing similar symptoms. Of the two variants of the LCS, the General
Dynamics model suffers from symptoms of rust, and the Lockheed Martin version
"can hardly even make it out of the harbor." (5/8/12)
AOL Defense: Sequestration
Is More Likely Than You Think
Conservative commentator Mackenzie Eagleton argues that Congress
will be just as unable to prevent sequestration during the lame duck session as
it is today. Eagleton further asserts
that a short-term fix to sequestration would likely be just as disastrous as
ignoring the cuts altogether, and she makes the case that the effects of
sequestration are already being felt by the defense industrial base. (5/8/12)
In an exclusive interview with AOL
Defense, Rear Adm. Thomas Rowden discusses the troubled Littoral Combat
Ship program and admits that the Navy is still working to determine “everything
from concepts of operation to damage control to the ships' top speed [which] is
still potentially open to revision.”
Rowden points out that the first two LCS were purchased with R&D
funds, not through the traditional shipbuilding account, because the service is
still trying to figure out how they’re going to “utilize these ships.” Meanwhile, the Navy’s newest LCS has completed
acceptance trials and will be delivered to the service later this spring. (5/8/12)
The National Interest: Debunking
the Missile-Defense Myth
Scientists have been claiming for decades that missile defense
simply doesn't work. Now, nuclear
physicist Yousaf Butt reports that the Pentagon's Defense Science Board (DSB) has
confirmed that “while missile defense will create incentives for U.S.
adversaries and competitors to up their ballistic-missile stockpiles, it won't
provide any combat capability to counteract these enlarged arsenals." A recent GAO study has found that the reason
unworkable programs progress so far in the procurement process is that the
Missile Defense Agency (MDA) does not fully test incremental processes required
for programs to function. (5/7/12)
Washington Post: Pentagon
report says Defense Department whistleblowers have been left vulnerable to
reprisals
R. Jeffrey Smith and Aaron Mehta, managing editor and reporter
(respectively) at the Center for Public Integrity, note that the Pentagon has
exhibited sloppy implementation of rules intended to protect whistleblowers in
the department. Smith and Mehta allege
that in several 2010 cases reviewed by investigators, the Directorate for
Military Reprisal Investigations dismissed circumstances of individuals
suffering serious punishments as a result of issuing complaints. In response, SASC chair Carl Levin (D-MI) and ranking
member John McCain (R-AZ) have written a
letter to Secretary of Defense Panetta requesting a copy of the
investigator's report and a reopening of some closed reprisal cases. (5/5/12)
The Will and the Wallet: Burning
a Hole in Your Pocket
Russell Rumbaugh discusses the differences between the Senate and
House 302(b) allocations, which govern how discretionary spending is dispersed
through the appropriations process.
Rumbaugh reports that the House appropriators have increased the defense
subcommittee’s allocation by $5 billion above the President’s request while the
House budget committee set an allocation for Function 050 that is only $3.7
billion above the President’s request.
However, Rumbaugh points out that House Republicans will have a lot of
latitude to move money between different national security accounts, such as
the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons program. (5/3/12)
Gordon Adams responds to a recent New York Times piece, which reported that Gen. Ray Odierno is
trying to restructure the Army to replicate the successful tactics of Special
Operations Forces during the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Adams, however, points out that the American
military has made a mess of Iraq and Afghanistan, without successfully
stabilizing either country, and he questions why Odierno would want to
implement similar strategies in Africa. (5/3/12)
Washington Post: Defense
procurement problems won’t go away
Beginning with the Reagan administration's Packard Commission and
continuing most recently with last month's Defense Business Board task force,
Walter Pincus reports on the quagmire of defense procurement. The main conclusion
of the recently released Defense Business Board report was that the three
separate processes of military requirements, civilian-directed, and hybrid budgeting
acquisition should be merged with a common documentation. The Packard
commission came to the same conclusion sixty years ago. Pincus says, "It’s time to pay
attention." (5/2/12)
Reports
Government Accountability Office:
Security Force
Assistance: Additional Actions Needed to Guide Geographic Combatant Command and
Service Efforts (5/10/12)
Government Accountability Office:
Defense
Management: Actions Needed to Evaluate the Impact of Efforts to Estimate Costs
of Reports and Studies (5/10/12)
Congressional Budget Office: Status
of Discretionary Appropriations: FY 2013 House (5/9/12)
Project on Government Oversight
and Taxpayers for Common Sense: Spending Even Less, Spending Even Smarter:
Recommendations for National Security Savings, FY 2013 to FY 2022 (5/8/12)
Congressional Budget Office: SequesterReplacement Reconciliation Act (5/8/12)
Congressional Budget Office: Monthly
Budget Review (5/8/12)
Government Accountability Office:
Nuclear
Weapons: Evaluation of Report on Feasibility of Increasing Air Transportation
of Nuclear Weapons, Components, and Materials (5/4/12)
Congressional Research Service: In Brief: Clarifying the
Concept of “Partnership” in National Security (5/4/12)
Government Accountability Office:
Improvements
Needed to Enhance DOD's Management Approach and Implementation of Item Unique
Identification Technology (5/3/12)
Government Accountability Office:
Defense
Inventory: Actions Underway to Implement Improvement Plan, but Steps Needed to
Enhance Efforts (5/3/12)
Center for Strategic and
Budgetary Studies: The
FY2013 Defense Budget and the New Strategy-Reality Gap (5/3/12)
Center for American Progress: Reforming
Military Compensation: Addressing Runaway Personnel Costs Is a National
Imperative (May, 2012)
Air & Space Power Journal: Team
Building: The Next Chapter of Airpower Command and Control in Afghanistan (May-June, 2012)
Events
At 1:00 pm on May 15, 2012, the American Enterprise Institute, the
Center for a New American Security and the New America Foundation will host a
discussion on the U.S. national security budget featuring former Under
Secretary for Defense for Policy, Michèle Flournoy. “With the sequestration mechanism set to cut
at least $500 billion from the Department of Defense, on top of budget
reductions in recent years, discussants will consider an issue sure to face the
next administration: U.S. defense spending in the context of American grand
strategy.” Click here to RSVP.
