Rapid Fire July 27, 2012: DoD’s Civilian Workforce

Jul 27, 2012 10:25 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff

Acting US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness and Force Management Frederick Vollrath testified in front of the House Armed Services Committee on the timeline of announcements leading to the reduction of the Pentagon’s civilian workforce to comply with sequestration. A first deadline is around September 21st, less than 2 months from now. Yet the Pentagon maintains its focus on rolling back sequestration, a matter that is out of its hands and is for Congress to address. This is starting to look like a reckless bet, if DoD is actually not planning for the sequester that is. Video abstract of the hearing at the bottom of this entry.
This comes just as the GAO states that it “remains concerned that DOD lacks critical information it needs to effectively plan for its workforce requirements.”

Michael Sheehan, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, said at the Aspen Security Forum that he’s watching al Qaeda affiliates try to gain ground across different parts of the Middle East and northern Africa. He’s seeing promising results in Yemen but is “very concerned” by the situation in Mali where there are now large swathes of “completely ungoverned space.” The picture in Syria is fuzzy but Sheehan was not too concerned about AQI’s success there, neither is Pentagon press secretary George Little.

Speaking at the same event, NSA and USCYBERCOM commander Gen. Keith Alexander said that cyberattacks on US infrastructure were booming in relative terms, though he did not provide any indication of their absolute number. He graded American preparedness pretty poorly and urged Congress to pass the Cybersecurity Act. The Senate made that legislation a higher priority than the FY13 defense bill.

A group of 51 US senators “notified President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton of their intent to oppose ratification of an Arms Trade Treaty that in any way restricts the rights of law-abiding American gun owners.” The treaty clause of the US constitution gives the Senate a strong gatekeeper role since a supermajority is needed to ratify international treaties.

Bloomberg reports that US Army Secretary John McHugh asked the DoD Inspector General to investigate statements made by Army Lieutenant General Patrick O’Reilly about morale at the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) he directs. An IG report leaked to the press earlier this month painted O’Reilly as a boss from hell. When directly asked, George Little dodged a question from Bloomberg’s reporter on rumors that O’Reilly was about to be replaced by saying that this is “really an Army matter.” Come again? O’Reilly may be an Army officer but the MDA is obviously a Pentagon agency…

After DoD added Fully Burdened Cost of Energy (FBCE) concerns to acquisition plans earlier this year, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans Sharon Burke followed up with methodological guidance [PDF] to add these costs to Analyses of Alternatives.

In an op/en in China Daily – most probably sanctioned by higher-ups – an officer and director of China’s Naval Research Institute calls for the development of blue-water capabilities to expand China’s global reach and role. To pursue world peace and self defense, of course. China has been busy rattling the cage of pretty much all its neighbors, and it seems they intend to maintain a pretty assertive posture.

Categories: Africa - Other, China, Fuel & Power, Middle East - Other, USA

Rapid Fire July 27, 2012: DoD’s Civilian Workforce

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