Defense Secretary Carter Praises Special Operations, Criticizes Continuing Resolution

Karen Parrish at the DoD News offers the below piece:

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2016 — America’s special operations forces are a potent part of the “Force of the Future,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters yesterday in Florida.

Carter visited Hurlburt Field and Eglin Air Force Base as part of a four-day trip that also included stops in California and Texas. Both Florida installations are critical to national security, he said, adding that he’s grateful to the local communities for the support they provide to service members.
Carter noted that Hurlburt Field is home to some of the nation’s most elite warfighters.

“Very specifically, today we were looking at a number of the special operations forces’ assault capabilities,” he said. “This is a kind of capability that we use nearly every day, somewhere in the world.”

Carter said his most important responsibility as defense secretary “is to approve those operations, and obviously I do that with the greatest care, because there’s risk associated with them -- but we do them with professionalism and skill unrivaled anywhere else in the world.”

Counter-ISIL Campaign

Carter said special operators play a key role in the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He added that he is encouraged at “all the cities in Iraq and Syria that have already been seized from ISIL” and the envelopment of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria “with motivated and capable local partners.”

“We will have a victory that sticks,” he said. “ … We’re obviously trying to accomplish that as quickly as possible, and the forces I was visiting with today are an essential part of that. … We’re working them very hard; their op-tempo is extremely hard. That is necessary, but it’s also difficult for them and their families.”

Carter said he wanted service members and their families “particularly to know that we were thinking of them … at this holiday time.”

Carter said Eglin is important as home to platforms like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and “the most lethal, the most precise” advanced munitions capabilities.

“That is one of the themes in our investments in both our 2017 budget and our 2018 budget,” he said. “It was important to see the progress that those programs are making, and they’re doing very well. But they’re absolutely necessary.”

Concerns on Budget Stability

The secretary responded strongly to a reporter’s question about the prospect of a continuing budget resolution.

“It’s not an efficient way to run the Department of Defense,” he said. “ … This is the eighth consecutive year in which the Department of Defense has not had an appropriations bill at the end of the fiscal year.”

Stop-gap funding under continuing resolutions is an inefficient use of taxpayer dollars and is unfair to troops, the secretary said.

“They deserve budget stability and the knowledge that Congress is supporting them with the funding that they need,” Carter said.

Advanced programs and defense industry partners are also adversely affected by continuing resolutions, the secretary said.

“There’s nothing good to say about the absence of a budget,” he said. “And the troops deserve better.”

Note: In the above photo by Army Sgt. Amber I. Smith, Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks with Air Force special operators during a visit to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida on November 17, 2016.

Cyber May Be Biggest Threat, Defense Secretary Tells Troops

Karen Parrish at the American Forces Press Service offers the below piece:

HONOLULU, May 31, 2013 - The devastatingly destructive potential of cyberattacks has become the security challenge of our age, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told U.S. troops here yesterday.

Hagel stopped in Hawaii on the first leg of a trip that also will take him to Singapore and Brussels, Belgium. The secretary stood in a hangar at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam with an F-22 Raptor fighter jet behind him and about 200 service members in front, representing the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, National Guard and Coast Guard.
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Hagel thanked the troops for their service, offered a few remarks and took their questions, one of which centered on cybersecurity. The secretary noted cyber is "one of the very few items" pegged to receive more money in the current budget request now before Congress.

"Cyber warfare capabilities: we are increasing that part of the budget significantly," he said, noting that means the department can devote more people and more sophisticated approaches to defending U.S. networks and information.

Hagel said interconnected cyber efforts across government also will grow. U.S law enforcement agencies, the National Security Agency, U.S. Cyber Command and the Department of Homeland Security all work together on the issue, he noted. He added that allied contributions also are key to the fight.

"We live in a world -- and you all know this -- where one country's just not big enough ... [or] wealthy enough to handle it all," he said. "Can't do it -- especially cyber."

Cyberattacks are a fundamentally different threat because, with no shots fired, they potentially can disrupt utilities, banking, business and military networks, yet remain essentially untraceable to a country or an agent of origin, the secretary noted.

"Cyber is one of those quiet, deadly, insidious unknowns you can't see," Hagel added. "It's in the ether -- it's not one big navy sailing into a port, or one big army crossing a border, or squadrons of fighter planes. ... This is a very difficult, but real and dangerous, threat. There is no higher priority for our country than this issue."

Note: The above DoD photo of Hagel addressing the troops was taken by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo.

Special Operators Depend On Good Partners, Admiral McRaven Says

Karen Parrish at the American Forces Press Service offers the below piece:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2013 - Close partnership with U.S. geographic combatant commanders will be crucial to keeping the nation's special operations forces effective as budgets and formations dwindle, U.S. Special Operations Command's leader said here today.

Navy Adm. William H. McRaven talked about special operations support to national strategy during a speech at the National Defense Industrial Association's 24th Annual Special Operations and Low-intensity Conflict Symposium.

Socom troops around the world, McRaven said, are "doing exceedingly well, operating as an integral part of the geographic combatant commanders' strategy."

The admiral said while his forces operate in more than 70 countries around the world, Afghanistan remains a key focus. U.S. Central Command is the geographic combatant command responsible for Afghanistan, with NATO's International Security Assistance Force in charge of operations there.

McRaven noted all coalition special operations forces in Afghanistan now are united under one special operations joint task force, commanded by Army Maj. Gen. Tony Thomas.

"His headquarters, which reached its full operational capability on 1 January, has done a phenomenal job," the admiral said. "During my most recent visit there, I was impressed to see [the headquarters] integrating, coordinating and fully synchronizing all [special operations activities] -- not only with each other, but with ISAF."

Village stability operations and support to Afghan local police –- both programs aimed at growing security and extending governance in rural areas -- are among the "most compelling success stories" special operations forces are logging in Afghanistan, McRaven said.

"These programs have been game-changers to our efforts," he noted.

McRaven said he recently visited some of the places where Afghan local police groups have established outposts. "I was amazed at the relationships forged with our Afghan counterparts," he told the symposium audience. "These relationships, built on trust, have clearly paved the way for greater security in the remote areas of the country. They have also helped bridge the gap between the local, district and provincial governments."

The thinning of U.S. conventional forces in Afghanistan this year and in 2014, McRaven said, will give special operations troops "more opportunity to do more in places that we have neglected."

While he doesn't yet know the number of special operations forces that will be needed in Afghanistan beyond 2014, he said, one approach now under way to bridge the anticipated gap is a "surge" in Afghan local police.

The local police program across Afghanistan now numbers close to 19,000 "guardians," he said, which Afghan leaders want to build to 45,000. Around 60 Special Forces or SEAL units, working with Afghan counterparts, support the program as trainers, he added.

McRaven said Thomas has a plan to sustain the program, with coalition special operations forces shifting to a "train the trainer focus," helping the Afghan uniformed police and Afghan special operations forces to take over training local forces.

"I think [the program is] on a good glide path right now," he said. The post-2014 special operations contribution in Afghanistan isn't yet known, he added, but officials are making plans to enable helping the Afghans continue to build the local police program even if special operations forces draw down to a small number.

Special operators also are achieving "similar positive results" around the world, their commander said. He noted that in the Philippines, "our Green Berets and [Navy] SEALs are doing a terrific job with our Filipino partners."

McRaven said on a recent visit to the Philippines, he stopped in two places that "10 years ago ... were safe havens for Abu Sayyaf and other extremist organizations." A decade ago, security for the people in such places depended on "how well they knew the enemy," McRaven said.

"Beheadings, bombings, and families fleeing their homes were a constant part of life," he said. "Today, largely through the magnificent efforts of our [special operations forces] advisory teams and their Filipino counterparts, the threat is contained. Security has greatly improved."

McRaven said improvement in the Philippines, where economic progress and stable local government have followed security gains, rivals similar success in Colombia, where U.S. special operators have worked for decades. Such special efforts are also taking place now in Africa, he added, where U.S. special operations troops are "working with our African counterparts to end the [Lord's Resistance Army] tyranny in Central Africa."

All of these efforts, he said, demonstrate the ability special operators bring geographic combatant commanders: to "counter regional challenges before they become global problems."

Those 70-plus countries where his troops operate, McRaven said, often are "places we don't hear about on the news."

"[Socom's missions in such places] are not secretive. They are not sexy," he said. "Nor do they involve low-flying black helicopters in the dead of night." Socom troops work at the invitation of the host government, are approved by the appropriate U.S. embassy, and are commanded by the U.S. geographic combatant commander for the region, he explained.

"These missions involve supporting an embassy country team, building partner capacity, or increasing [special operations forces] interoperability," he said. "It is hard, slow and methodical work that does not lend itself to a quick win. Instead, it is about patience, persistence, and building trust with our partners -- a trust that cannot be achieved through episodic deployments or chance contacts."

Special operations leaders always have known that "you can't surge trust," said McRaven, noting trust "is developed over years by personal one-on-one interaction."

Socom troops' ability to build such trust, along with language and cultural expertise and the "ability to think through ambiguity," he said, increases both the command's credibility and the demand for its capability.

The past year, the admiral said, has offered a glimpse of the future that includes reduced defense budgets, a drawdown in Afghanistan troop levels and ongoing demands for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

"Socom is prepared to deliver properly organized, trained and equipped forces to the combatant commanders," he said. "Our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are ready to address these and other challenges that our nation will face."

McRaven noted that current defense strategy "directs us to rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region." Special operations forces have maintained a persistent presence in the region that will benefit conventional-force commanders who "fall in" on long-established partnerships, he said.

"We have always been there, in a quiet and persistent way," McRaven said. "Whether capacity building in Thailand, advising in the Philippines, training with our Aussie and Kiwi [special operations] counterparts, or rendering assistance in the time of natural disaster, our efforts have been consistently focused on the region, our partners and our allies."

The future of special operations in Asia and elsewhere lies in how well Socom supports the geographic combatant commanders, McRaven reiterated. His suggestion for how best to improve regional support is to bolster theater special operations commands, which he calls TSOCs.

"As a sub-unified command under the [combatant command], they, the TSOCs, work for the combatant commander and serve as their primary command-and-control node for special operations in theaters," he explained. "Simply put, the TSOCs are the center of gravity for [special operations forces] in theater. And if we want to adequately address current and emerging challenges with a SOF solution, we need to increase their capability."

Socom is now rebalancing its manpower -- without increasing its budget -- to better support the TSOCs, McRaven said.

Regionally focused special operations commands are an adaptation to the changing world, he added, and will position Socom forces to meet global challenges.

Socom also has to consider, he said, how to move Special Forces "A" teams, Marine special operations teams, Navy SEAL platoons and the platforms that support them in and out of theater quickly. That requires working closely with each of the services, he noted.

"The relationship between the services and Socom is at an all-time high. ... We cannot do the job without the services," McRaven said.

The nation's special operations forces, he said, "are the sum of the parts of the greatest military in history. It is the services' people, their traditions, their culture that makes SOF what it is."

Socom also relies on interagency partners -- "all the three-letter agencies" -- on every mission, McRaven said.

Interagency partners stand right beside special operators as they "secure a target, treat an injured child, or provide a much-needed water well or school," he said. "They are always there to provide expert analysis, the authority to arrest a criminal, or a new capability."

That level of cooperation would have been thought impossible before 9/11, but is commonplace today, he said. Work with coalition partner nations has progressed in a like way, McRaven noted.

"The level of trust and friendship has so greatly expanded our network," he said. "It has given our nation a tangible edge over those who would threaten us. These partnerships give us our strength, based on a trust forged of mutual hardships, common cause, and shared ties. This is what will provide the best defense for the homeland and for our partners abroad."

Responding to audience questions, McRaven underscored his emphasis on engaged partnership. One lesson he draws from his experience, he said, applies to Mali, where U.S. forces are supporting French-led efforts against insurgent groups. The United States was never able to establish a persistent presence for its special operations forces in Mali, he observed.

"We had an episodic presence in Mali," the admiral said. "And while I don't know whether or not a persistent presence would have changed our relationship with the Malian forces, ... one lesson we've learned from years of doing this is ... to work with the host country, you really have to have that persistent presence."

U.S. Defense Secretary Calls For 'Innovative' Allied Action Regarding The Hostage Crisis In Algeria



 

Karen Parish at the American Forces Press Service offers the below piece:

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LONDON, Jan. 19, 2013 - The hostage crisis in Algeria has ended, but information on what exactly happened and how many people were killed remain unclear, the U.S. and British defense chiefs told reporters here today.
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During a news conference at Lancaster House, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said both their governments remain in close contact with Algerian officials, and are working to establish firm details of the assault, kidnappings and murders that took place at a remote natural gas facility in Algeria.

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Panetta confirmed Americans were among those held hostage, but he said the possible number of U.S. deaths remains unclear. He pledged continued close consultation with Algerian authorities, and emphasized the attackers bear full and sole responsibility for all loss of life.

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"Just as we cannot accept terrorist attacks against our cities, we cannot accept attacks against our citizens and our interests abroad," he said. "Neither can we accept an al-Qaida safe haven anywhere in the world."

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Since 9/11, Panetta said, "we've made very clear that nobody is going to attack the United States of America and get away with it." The nation and its allies and partners have fought terrorists in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, and will take the fight to North Africa as well, he said.

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Both Panetta and Hammond stated they have no plan to put their nations' troops on the ground in Mali, where French forces are fighting the advance of terrorist factions. Both nations are assisting French operations, the defense chiefs said, but they agree that the ultimate solution to countering terrorism in Africa is to train and assist forces on that continent to provide their own security.

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Terrorists, particularly regional factions of al-Qaida, remain a determined enemy, Panetta said. It's important that the United States and its allies continue to work with developing militaries in the places where terrorists seek to establish operations, he added.

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"What I care about is that [regional forces] do everything they can to ensure al-Qaida does not establish a safe haven. ... If we continue to pressure al-Qaida, we can keep them on the run. ... [But we] cannot be complacent," he said.

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The secretary arrived here the evening of Jan. 17, and has attended meetings with Prime Minister David Cameron, other senior government officials and members of Parliament.

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Panetta told reporters he also met with some British troops who recently returned from Afghanistan. "I expressed my deepest appreciation to them and to their families," he said.

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The secretary expressed his sorrow for the families of Great Britain's troops killed in Afghanistan. "The American people will forever mourn the more than 400 fallen British heroes of this war," he said.

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Sustaining Afghan forces beyond 2014 is crucial to ensuring those and all deaths in Afghanistan since 9/11 are not in vain, he said, and to ensuring Afghanistan can secure and govern itself into the future.

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Panetta praised Britain's commitment to the coalition mission in Afghanistan, and his meetings with British leaders and defense officials, he said, "reaffirmed the continued strength of the historic relationship between our two nations."

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Those discussions also underscored the numerous security challenges the United States, Great Britain and their partner nations face, the secretary noted.

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He listed some of those threats: ongoing operations in Afghanistan, turmoil in the Middle East, a growing terrorist threat in Africa, Iran's focus on nuclear proliferation, the murder of Syrian citizens by Bashar al Assad's regime, ceaseless cyberattacks and the shadow of record deficits and growing budget pressures.

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His discussions with Hammond addressed those issues and others, the secretary said. He praised Britain's leaders for their focus on sustaining and improving the NATO alliance, and in planning effective, allied approaches to common threats.

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As he has throughout this trip, the secretary also spoke of budget crises facing American and many of its allies, and the resulting increased need for partner nations to cooperate in defense investments and operations. The United States and the United Kingdom, he noted, are pursuing a mutual aircraft carrier initiative that "will bring our navies closer together than ever."

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Panetta repeated a message he has delivered consistently throughout his travels this week: "It is when resources are constrained and security challenges are growing that we need to be creative and innovative in ... [developing] alliances."

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The secretary quoted the World War II British Prime Minister Winston Churchill: "This is no time for ease and comfort; this is a time to dare, and to endure."



U.S. Defense Secretary Panetta Vows 'All Necessary Steps' For U.S. Hostages

 

Karen Parrish at the American Forces Press Service offers the below piece:

 

ROME, Jan. 16, 2013 - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta confirmed that Americans are among those taken hostage in southern Algeria today when terrorists attacked and occupied a natural gas plant.

"The United States strongly condemns these kinds of terrorist acts," the secretary said during a previously scheduled discussion here with Italian media and reporters traveling with him. "It is a very serious matter when Americans are taken hostage, along with others."

Panetta said he does now know how many Americans the terrorists are holding, but that U.S. and British authorities -- the natural gas complex is partly owned by British Petroleum -- are in close consultation with their Algerian counterparts to learn as much as possible.

"I want to assure the American people that the United States will take all necessary and proper steps that are required to deal with this situation," he said.

Panetta said he does not yet know whether there is a link between the attack in Algeria and the French operation in Mali, where France began airstrikes against a dispersed force Panetta has identified as affiliated with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.

While he couldn't confirm a link, Panetta said, "it is for that reason that we have always been concerned about their presence in Mali -- because they would use it a base of operations to do exactly what happened in Algeria. That's the kind of thing that terrorists do."

On the operation in Mali, Panetta said the United States will support the French as soon as legal authorities are clear as to what support can be supplied.

"Frankly, we already are providing assistance in terms of information to ... help in this effort," the secretary added.

Panetta noted he has spoken with European government and defense leaders thus far in Portugal, Spain and now Italy about the way ahead in Mali.

"I believe that there is a consensus that France took the right step here to ... deter AQIM from taking even further action there," he said.

European defense ministers will meet tomorrow to discuss ongoing assistance in Mali, the secretary said.

"The United States is going through the same process," he added. "The goal, for all of us, is to do what we can to ensure that ultimately, the African nations ... come in and play a key role in providing for the security of Mali."

Panetta has said several times during his travels this week that forces from the Economic Community Of West African States, or ECOWAS, would ideally lead such an effort. He added, however, that he believes terrorism is a threat that the international community as a whole must address.

Of AQIM and al-Qaida in general, the secretary said his background as CIA director and then as U.S. defense secretary has proven to him that "they are a threat."

"They are a threat to our country. They are a threat to the world," Panetta said. "And wherever they locate and try to establish a base for operations, ... that constitutes a threat that all of us have to be concerned about."

Note: The above photo show Leon Panetta arriving in Rome. The DOD photo was taken by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo.

U.S. Coast Guard's Wide-Ranging Mission Set Increasing, Commandant Says

By Karen Parrish, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2012 - If something touches the nation's waters, the "multi-mission" Coast Guard probably has some responsibility for it, according to that service's only four-star officer.

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr. told the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service the complex mission set has evolved over the service's 221-year history, since Congress in 1790 authorized the building of 10 vessels to enforce federal tariff laws and prevent smuggling.

"We were the maritime force of the nation when the nation couldn't afford a Navy," Papp said, noting the Coast Guard predates the Navy by four years. Over time, he added, the Coast Guard has amassed a wide range of responsibilities: stopping drugs, saving lives, screening and inspecting vessels, maintaining aids to navigation, enforcing fisheries laws and pollution standards, and even searching foreign ports for sources of harm to the United States.

The admiral said he sums up the service's 11 statutory missions this way: "We protect those who use the sea, we protect the nation against threats from the sea, and we protect the sea itself."

The admiral said to meet those missions, a "good Coastie" needs specific qualities, some of which – such as patriotism and selfless service -- are common to service members of all branches. The defining characteristic for Coast Guardsmen, he added, is a love and understanding of the sea in its turbulent moods.

"You have to understand that everything that occurs on the ocean ... is multiplied in terms of difficulty, particularly when you're doing it at night or in the midst of a storm," Papp said. "And that's when the Coast Guard gets its work done."

Looping back to the mission mix, the commandant said adaptability is the other Coast Guard essential.

"Rather than be able to focus just on defense, or just on law enforcement, a Coast Guardsman's got to be versatile ... and have some level of knowledge and competency in a broad range of activities," he explained.

The admiral noted a Coast Guard cutter crew's January rescue of six Iranian mariners in waters off Iraq highlights one of the service's lesser-known efforts.

"A lot of people say, 'You're the Coast Guard; what are you doing over there?'" he noted. "[But] it's not just U.S. coasts. There are a lot of coasts around the world ... [and] we offer the United States options in terms of national security."

Papp said most people don't realize the Coast Guard has operated in the northern Arabian Gulf for nine years, filling "a niche capability for the Department of Defense that Central Command needed."

Iraq has offshore oil platforms that produce 90 percent of the country's wealth, but a territorial dispute between Iraq and Iran means those platforms are under constant threat, he explained. Coast Guard patrol boats, along with Navy patrol craft, provide security for those platforms under command of the Coast Guard's Patrol Forces for Southwest Asia, he said.

"That's just one example of Coast Guard people overseas," he said.

The Coast Guard pushes the boundaries of the United States' maritime security, the commandant said, because port security begins where ships that end up in U.S. ports start out -- places like Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, and Singapore.

Papp said since 9/11, the Coast Guard –- as the nation's representative to the United Nations International Maritime Organization -- has pushed for treaties to help in increasing America's port security.

"We now are able to send inspectors overseas to verify the security procedures in the ports of countries that wish to trade with the United States," he said. That effort involves a couple of dozen U.S.-based traveling inspectors and small Coast Guard commands, each also about two dozen strong, in Europe and the Far East.

"That is really what I view as a low-cost effort ... to help provide security," Papp said.

U.S. ports are the other end of the Coast Guard's layered port security.

"We've done a great job over the last 10 years in restoring and rebuilding our boat fleet in the ports, repopulating our Coast Guard stations and sectors, and creating something we call deployable specialized forces ... which are basically [special weapons and tactics] teams afloat," he said.

Papp said he worries about maritime security's "middle layer" -- vast expanses of ocean.

"Our country needs to have a persistent presence to intercept any identified threats that might be coming toward the United States," he said. "That's really our weak point right now."

High-endurance ships that can stay on station and survive the weather are critical to that middle range, he said, and the large Coast Guard cutters built to provide that presence are now more than 40 years old.

"They're falling apart, they're very expensive to maintain, and we need to be about the process of getting those rebuilt," Papp said.

The constricting federal budget will make that "very difficult," he acknowledged.

"We've always liked to consider ourselves a lean and agile force," the commandant said. "But ... because people keep pushing responsibilities to [us,] [we] end up doing more with less, which is something that's cursed us over the years."

The Coast Guard's increased missions are within the service's capabilities, but not its funding, Papp said.

"Unless somebody's going to infuse massive amounts of money into the Coast Guard budget, we can't handle this on our own," the admiral said. "We'll do the best we can with the resources we have, and I will identify the resources that are needed for our country, but then we've got to come up with an all-of-government solution."

The Coast Guard has worked hard since 9/11 to build its uniformed strength back to what it was in 1990, Papp said. "But we've taken on a whole lot more responsibilities over the last 10 years as well," he added.

Note: I wrote a piece on the Coast Guard for Counterterrorism magazine a while back. You can read my piece via the below links:

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/CoastGuard1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/CoastGuard2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/CoastGuard3.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/CoastGuard4.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/CoastGuard5.jpg

I also wrote a column about my visit to the U.S. Coast Guard station in Philadelphia and my ride aboard a Coast Guard boat on the Delaware River.

You can read my column via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2009/09/semper-paratus-coast-guard-is-always.html

Defense Secretary Panetta To Troops: 'You Carry On Nation's Legacy'

By Karen Parrish, American Forces Press Service

SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 27, 2011 - Since leaving Washington on Oct. 21 for a visit to the Asia-Pacific region, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has emphasized that the United States is a Pacific nation and remains committed to doing its part for the common good.

In meetings with senior Indonesian officials and with Association of Southeast Asian Nations defense ministers, as well as with Japanese military, foreign affairs and political leaders and now here, the secretary has emphasized the U.S. commitment to furthering peace, stability and security in the Pacific.

Panetta has had another dialogue as well. In a hangar, on a ship and in a gym, the secretary has gathered with U.S. troops and their Japanese and South Korean counterparts to thank them for their service and share his views on why that service matters.

"As secretary of defense, these are really the best moments -- a chance to be with the men and women who are out there on the front lines, men and women who put their lives on the line ... [and] represent the best of what our nation is all about," the secretary told a sea of men and women in uniform yesterday at Yongsan Garrison's Collier Field House here.

America is a democracy designed from its beginnings to depend on citizens willing to give something back to their nation, Panetta said. The nation's forefathers, pioneers and immigrants all have understood that citizens' contributions keep the nation strong, he added.

Panetta told the troops his parents came to the United States from Italy in the 1930s. Like millions of fellow immigrants from around the world, they had little money and no special skills or language abilities, he said.

The secretary told the troops he was born in Monterey, Calif., and recalled asking his father many times why he and Panetta's mother had traveled such a long way at such risk.

"My father said the reason they did it was because my mother and he believed that they could give their children a better life," Panetta said.

In his view, he added, that's the American dream.

"It's what all of us want for our children, and hopefully what our children will want for their children ... so that they can enjoy the fruits of what democracy is all about," the secretary said.

The advantages of American democracy are due to the service of people who care about the country, he said.

"That was the other thing that my father would say to my brother and I: for everything that America gave them, we owed something back to this country," Panetta said.

Panetta has served the United States as an Army intelligence officer, congressman from California, presidential chief of staff and CIA director. Before leading the CIA, he spent 10 years co-directing with his wife, Sylvia, the Panetta Institute for Public Policy, based at California State University, Monterey Bay. The nonpartisan, not-for-profit institute seeks to instill in young men and women the virtues and value of public service.

"I'm a believer in public service," he told the troops. "I think public service is what makes our country strong because there are those wiling to give something back."

Freedom is not free; it demands sacrifice like that offered by service members, Panetta said. "For that reason, I just deeply thank you for your service to the country," he added. "We all can talk about the greatest generation coming out of World War II, [but] this is the greatest generation of our time, today -- having served 10 years in war, ... a group of men and women in the military who have really provided the greatest service imaginable."

Over that decade, nearly 6,200 of those men and women have died, and some 46,000 have been wounded, the secretary said.

"That sacrifice is what makes our country strong: ... men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line in order to make this country better, in order to give our children a better life," Panetta said.

America and its allies will continue to pressure terrorist organizations around the world, and will help nations such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya solidify their own security and governments, the secretary said.

"There's a tremendous amount of progress that's been made here, but obviously, it's going to take continued vigilance [and] work," Panetta said.

The bottom line is the successes of the past decade are because of America's troops, the secretary said.

"We are a country that wants to promote peace and prosperity throughout the world. That's what we're about; that's what we do," the secretary said. "Take the dreams of people all people -- and give them a chance ... to reach those dreams, the way my parents were able to reach their dreams.

"You carry on the legacy of what America is all about: ... service to each other, and service, most of all, to the nation that represents freedom and opportunity for others throughout the world," he said.

The above DoD photo of Defense Secretary was taken by Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey

National Reconnaissance Office Maintains Nation's Intel Satellite Edge

By Karen Parrish, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 2011 - The National Reconnaissance Office is 50 years old this month, but its mission of designing, building, launching and maintaining America's intelligence satellites is always future focused, its chief said yesterday.

Bruce A. Carlson, a retired Air Force general and NRO's director, told defense reporters here the office's current missions range from identifying roadside bombs in Afghanistan to tracking activities in China and North Korea.

The National Reconnaissance Office has launched six satellites in seven months, "the best we've done in about 25 years," the director said.

As recently as two years ago, more than 30 percent of the organization's programs were rated yellow or red for improper performance. All the NRO's major system acquisition programs are now in the green -- delivering on schedule, on contract and on price, Carlson said.

Carlson said NRO's mission is getting more challenging because space is becoming increasingly congested where the satellites work.

"Other countries are launching a lot of stuff, and it's becoming more competitive," he said. "We all have to operate in the same space."

And it's no secret the Chinese are becoming more active in space, the director added. "That concerns us because we're not absolutely sure of their intent," he said.

NRO and Air Force Space Command have a joint space protection program, Carlson said, which is the "ace in the hole" should "somebody try to do something."

"We also use the space protection program to work around the congestion problem ... make sure we don't run into something else up there," he said.

China and Russia both contend with the United States for room in space, Carlson said.

In satellite surveillance as with night fighting, deep strike capabilities and special operations expertise, "they have to focus on our strengths," the director said.

China and Russia don't try to compete with U.S. capabilities, but to counter them, Carlson noted. "That's why we have a space protection program," he said.

China is a focus for his organization's surveillance efforts, as is North Korea, Carlson said.

"I remain concerned about [China's] intent and exactly what it is that I do not know," he said.

North Korea also works "really hard to deceive us," Carlson noted. "We work really hard to make sure we don't let them deceive us. So it's sort of a cat-and-mouse game. It's very serious for us."

The NRO's three main lines of business are imaging, signals collection and communications, the director said. The science and technology, or developmental and demonstration program, underlies all three, he added.

"We have a very active program to do our own technology," Carlson said. "We're the only organization in the government that does space reconnaissance ... and that takes some unique technologies."

NRO partners with the National Laboratories and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in developing new capabilities, but some 60 percent of the equipment on the six recently launched satellites was developed in-house, he said.

Several other small satellites -- less than about 1,000 pounds -- are now in orbit demonstrating new technologies that NRO will roll into its existing surveillance systems, the director said.

For imaging reconnaissance, the NRO seeks to examine as many parts of the spectrum with as many instruments as possible, he said.

The goal is to "do sensing ... in the daytime, at night, in bad weather, good weather ... and sandstorms," he said.

Some of the signals collection satellites are "remarkably old," he said.

"Those satellites were designed to collect Soviet long-haul communications that dealt with the Cold War," he said. "Now they're collecting phone calls or push-to-talk radio signals out of the war zone."

NRO uses its communications satellites to relay image or signals data around the world and down to the ground for processing, then shunt the results back to where they're needed, Carlson said.

"Processing takes a lot of energy and [computer] capacity," he said. "We've got to do that on the ground; we can't afford to do it in space."

NRO's ability to fuse various streams of intelligence data -- including image, signals and geolocation -- into a single, usable result has increased by an order of magnitude, but is five orders of magnitude below where it needs to be, Carlson said.

"It's incredibly difficult to take a picture someplace and fuse it with signals intelligence, that you might have a million pieces of, and sort that all out and geolocate it rapidly," he said. "But in many cases we're able to do that ... in minutes or less."

One promising example of fusion is the "red dot" system, Carlson said, which pinpoints the signals emitted by roadside bombs set for electronic detonation.

"We do a lot of work to make sure that we know what those signals are, where they're coming from, and geolocate them," he said.

That data generates a red dot on displays in military vehicles or command posts to show high probability of an explosive, he added.

"I can't tell you exactly how we do that, but it's a pretty clever set of technologies," the director said. "What it has meant is that, even though we still have an unacceptable loss from [roadside bombs], we are catching a lot of them before they're detonated."

The system has been in place for approximately six months and has been about 80 percent effective, he added.

NRO was also "instrumental" to the NATO operation in Libya, ensuring the air campaign was successful, Carlson said.

The NRO feeds data to military commanders, he said, but it is also a key strategic asset, serving the National Security Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

There will always be competition between, for example, the information an analyst wants to assess foreign weapon systems and a combat commander's need to know where and how many cell phones are operating in a particular enemy area, the director noted.

Whether identifying insurgent behavior patterns or focusing on larger national security questions, Carlson said, "My job is to ... get the most out of a sensor."

There are only so many satellites in orbit, so NRO has an inclusive and responsive process to allocate its 24-hour capabilities, he said.

"What that allows us to do is very rapidly ... worldwide and throughout our architecture, tune those systems," he said.

An example is an aircraft bailout requiring a search-and-rescue effort, he said.

"We can, within a matter of seconds, turn an incredible number of our sensors on a specific area," he added.

Carlson said during NRO's next 50 years, the challenges are to do what it now does even better, and to develop more in-space capability.

"We know what we have to do -- we have to provide the best, integrated intelligence in the world," he said. "Now, [we have to] do it faster and cheaper."

Space satellites have always focused downward, and now need to be able to look around and up as well, he said.

"Because space is more congested and more contested and more competitive ... we've got to build systems that continue to be much more adaptable," he said. "Space reconnaissance -- that's my job."

Special Ops Forces Will Remain Essential, Acting Assistant Secretary Of Defense Says

By Karen Parrish, American Forces Press Service

BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Aug. 30, 2011 – The nation’s special operations forces are experiencing heady but somewhat perilous times, the Pentagon official tasked with overseeing them said here today.

“The skills and capabilities of America’s elite special operators have never been more recognized by the nation – sometimes, frankly, more than I like,” Michael D. Lumpkin, acting assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict, told hundreds of people attending the National Defense Industrial Association’s Joint Missions Conference here.

Operations since 9/11, culminating in the May strike that killed Osama bin Laden, mean special operations forces are more active and more integrated across the military than ever before, Lumpkin said, with Defense Department and other agencies’ senior leader ranks now peppered for the first time with generals and flag officers raised in the special operations community.

Public awareness of special operators may fade over time, Lumpkin said, but the demand for their skills likely will remain.

As the nation faces severe budget constraints, he noted, it remains critical to train and equip a special operations force that has more than doubled in size over the past decade. Across-the-board defense spending cuts could mean the military loses capabilities it would then have to rebuild at greater expense later, he said, adding that the key challenge is to identify capabilities that must be sustained and institutionalized to prepare the force for the kinds of conflicts the nation is going to face in the future.

Trends shaping the national security environment include the growth in power of nonstate actors, increasing instability in fragile states, and ever more readily available advanced technologies, Lumpkin said.

These threats mean the intensity of operations over the last 10 years likely will be sustained for the next 10, or even 20 years for special operations forces, he said.

“We need to be cognizant of the future and current fiscal climate while ensuring special operations forces retain their edge,” he said.

In Afghanistan and other regions, he noted, criminals and insurgents are nearly indistinguishable.

“Arguably one of the most important lessons we’ve taken from … Iraq and Afghanistan is that success in counterinsurgency, counterterrorism and post-conflict stability, he said, depends upon the integrated efforts of both civilian and military organizations in all phases of the operation, from planning through execution.

The complexity of likely future operations, Lumpkin added, will require special operators to work “fluently” with agency representatives across the defense, development and diplomacy aspects of government.

Narcotics trafficking, transnational organized crime and terrorist networks form a nexus that increasingly requires an interagency and coalition approach to combat effectively, Lumpkin said.

“These networks are challenging the character of the battle space, and thus forcing us to adjust our approaches in combat,” he added.

Lumpkin said new, multi-use tools and technologies linking U.S. forces, allies and police organizations are needed to counter such hybrid threats. “Picture a … digital, coalition joint task force sharing information, including forensic and biometric data, properly controlled, but without current obstacles to sharing,” he said.

Interagency and international approaches to acquisition are inherently beneficial to special operations forces, Lumpkin said, noting that his office oversees the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office, commonly known as CTTSO.

CTTSO staff members work closely with representatives of more than 100 other state and national government, law enforcement and first-responder agencies “to gather front-line requirements and leverage the resources of multiple users for … rapid prototyping,” Lumpkin said.

As special operations forces and even regular forces face future missions likely to require small teams operating in remote locations around the world, Lumpkin said, new technologies to enhance communications, mobility and surveillance capabilities top the list of needs.

“Picture the great distances of Africa,” he told the audience. “And then consider what new technologies might be needed … to rapidly move and tactically maneuver.”

Light and rugged ground vehicles and aircraft that can be used with existing systems are critical, Lumpkin said. “Integrating new technologies with aviation support is a necessity to maintain our effectiveness in the current war and the small wars of tomorrow,” he added.

Small wars create shortfalls for the nation’s high-end defense aviation capabilities, he noted. “Mobile, rugged, high-endurance, quiet-loitering, persistent systems that can be embedded with and operated in close proximity to the user are necessary to meet warfighter needs,” he said.

Future operations will require mobility systems that can transport sensors, cargo and medical equipment to remote locations, he said, and surveillance capabilities will remain increasingly important.

“Acoustically quiet, long-dwell surveillance aircraft are critical to prosecuting high-value targets and sustaining eyes-on for extended periods of time,” he said.

A close air support aircraft that can arrive quickly with the proper ordnance and remain on station for at least four hours to support ground troops also is “operationally necessary in the irregular wars that we will fight,” he said.

“Such low-cost, highly agile aviation systems can be applied not just to special operations overseas, but to protect our borders as well,” he noted.

Innovations in aircraft design can revolutionize how aircraft are used on the battlefield, Lumpkin said.

Other key near-term needs requiring investment include fixed- and rotary-wing systems and vertical-lift capability, he said, as well as “long-range, high-speed infiltration, extraction and resupply to special operations teams in hostile, denied, politically sensitive areas, in the air, on land and on and under the sea.”

The department has established summits to bring together representatives from the military services, research labs and U.S. Special Operations Command to synchronize technology development efforts and speed and streamline new equipment acquisition for special operations forces, Lumpkin said.

“Closing these kinds of seams between Socom and the services’ acquisition processes will likely be increasingly important in the resource-constrained environment of the future,” the assistant secretary said.

Improving synchronization between Socom and the laboratories also will help to identify opportunities to work together, improve speed of transition to the field and ensure appropriate interaction with industry, Lumpkin added.

The key challenge DOD faces today is consistent for every component, Lumpkin said: balancing budget reductions with the need to preserve the “muscle and bone” of core capabilities. Defense industries must therefore be forward thinking and nimble, he said.

"Despite this fiscal climate,” he told the audience, “we need to really think big about the future of our military, and the future of special operations forces.”


Michael D. Lumpkin was sworn in as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict & Interdependent Capabilities (SO/LIC&IC) on April 25, 2011.

Mr. Lumpkin assists the ASD (SO/LIC&IC) in the development of policy regarding the capabilities and operational employment of special operations forces, strategic forces and conventional forces. He also assists the ASD on counterterrorism strategy, counternarcotics, force transformation initiatives, and special activities.

Prior to his appointment as PDASD (SO/LIC&IC), Mr. Lumpkin served as both Senior Advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). As Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations he oversaw many of the day to day operations of the second largest U.S. federal department. Prior to joining VA, Mr. Lumpkin served as Executive Director of Business Development at ATI where he led tactical systems integration efforts in support of the Department of Defense and Tactical Law Enforcement Teams.

Mr. Lumpkin has more than 20 years of active duty military service as a US Navy SEAL where he held every leadership position from platoon commander to Team commanding officer. Mr. Lumpkin has participated in numerous campaigns and contingencies throughout the world to include both Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. He is a proven combat leader who served as the former Deputy Commander, Joint Special Operations Task Force-Arabian Peninsula for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Mr. Lumpkin holds a MA from Naval Postgraduate School in National Security Affairs. He is a recognized subspecialist in Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict and Western Hemisphere Affairs.

General Petraeus Says Counterinsurgency Strategy Has 'Borne Fruit'

By Karen Parrish, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 12, 2011 - The commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, the officer many view as the architect of the Defense Department's counterinsurgency strategy, assessed its results in Afghanistan as he prepares to retire.

During his last full week commanding coalition and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, seen in the above DoD photo, discussed his tenure there with NATO TV yesterday.

"What we have done is implement the so-called NATO comprehensive approach, a civil-military campaign ... that does indeed embody many of the principles of the counterinsurgency field manual that we developed back in 2006, and which we employed in Iraq in the surge of 2007-2008," he said. "I think generally, it has borne fruit."

Petraeus and Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis, who succeeded him in August as commander of U.S. Central Command, jointly oversaw the manual's development and publication. Petraeus has issued further counterinsurgency guidance on troop operations and contracting since assuming the ISAF command in July 2010.

There have been setbacks as well as successes, the general said, but over the last year coalition and Afghan forces have halted the Taliban's momentum in much of the country, and reversed the insurgent hold in central Helmand province, districts around Kandahar city and in the security bubble in and around the Afghan capital of Kabul.

While ISAF and Afghan forces have increased their hold in many population centers, there is still a tough fight for control of the country, he said.

"We always say it gets harder before it gets easier, and we have definitely been in the 'getting harder' phase of this overall endeavor," the general noted.

The number of enemy attacks between last May and this May was about the same, he said, and levels in June decreased by 3 to 5 percent from last year. That trend may not continue, but is still noteworthy for those two months, Petraeus said, particularly since the increase in violent incidents from 2009 to 2010 was "very, very significant."

"But this is hard," he said. "There is a resilient enemy, and there is no question ... that enemy is willing to cause civilian casualties. It's an enemy willing to blow himself up, in some cases, to achieve objectives."

Enemy activity within Afghanistan's border area with Pakistan is a very serious challenge, the general said.

Petraeus said ISAF and Afghan forces have worked together to establish a layered border defense in key locations such as the area between Khost province and North Waziristan. The protection force there "is quite effective and well supported," he added.

Coalition troops plan to expand that force and establish similar defenses in Paktika province and other "rugged, mountainous tribal areas in which the insurgents have been able to establish safe havens over the years," he said.

"Many of these areas, frankly, are just not those in which you will ever see sizeable Afghan or ISAF forces," he acknowledged.

With mountains reaching to 14,000 feet and sparse population, he said, the border area requires sustainable security solutions that will deny insurgents access to the Afghan side of the border. The challenge then, he said, will be to "work with our Pakistani partners so that they can do the same on the other side."

"Keep in mind, many of these insurgents are posing what we believe is the most existential threat to Pakistan," Petraeus said. "[They] pose the most urgent threat to the very existence of the Pakistani state, as its citizens know it, ... killing dozens of Pakistani civilians in an average week."

In contrast, and in keeping with the coalition's emphasis on minimizing civilian casualties, he said, coalition special operations activities generally result in no shots fired.

"They have been very effective, indeed, in getting those individuals we're seeking," he said. "Typically capturing them, because we want to interrogate them and ... learn more about their networks."

The hierarchy of Afghan security forces is capable "with some caveats," the general said.

"The Afghan special operations forces, over 12,000 of them now, [are] really quite capable and indeed leading nearly a quarter of the so-called night raids at this point," he said. "We certainly provide enablers for them ... but they are the ones going through the door, they're the ones doing the apprehensions, the searches, and all the rest of that."

The Afghan regular army forces are "generally doing well," he said. "Certainly there's a range of them," he added, "all the way from still being established ... to an actual independent infantry battalion."

The Afghan police forces, he said, "run the gamut from quite good to some that are suspect in the eyes of the local population."

Petraeus said that during the attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul on June 28, Afghan forces responded capably and relatively quickly in a situation involving a massive structure with hundreds of rooms, two huge wings and multiple floors.

It does take a few hours to alert a force, assemble it, issue its equipment, develop initial plans, deploy to the location, get an update and then launch into operations," he said, "keeping in mind that the individuals they were going after, each of them, was wearing a suicide vest and heavily armed."

Afghan forces accomplished a "credible and courageous performance" clearing the hotel of heavily armed attackers in suicide vests, he said.

NATO forces assisted during the attack, Petraeus said. "But it was the Afghan forces that died in this operation," he added. "There's no better example ... that they were the ones confronting these would-be suicide bombers, and ultimately forcing the remaining handful that remained up on to the roof, where they were killed by ... other forces."

Petraeus will turn over command July 18. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John R. Allen has been nominated for promotion to general and appointment as Petraeus' successor.

Petraeus will retire from the Army on Aug. 31 and assume his new duties as CIA director Sept. 6.

Petraeus told NATO TV he never expected to end his military career in Afghanistan.

"I thought I would end it as the commander of U.S. Central Command," he said. "This was unexpected. ... We've jokingly said that I went to the White House for the monthly National Security Council meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan with President [Barack] Obama, and came out with a new job."

Serving as NATO ISAF commander was "an extraordinary privilege," Petraeus said.

"There's no greater honor, there's also no greater responsibility, than that of command," he said. "I've had probably more than my share of commands, especially as a general officer, and especially in some pretty important endeavors in combat."

Senators Quiz Vice Admiral McRaven For Top Special Operations Slot

By Karen Parrish, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2011 - Navy Vice Adm. William H. McRaven appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee today as the senators met to consider his promotion to the rank of admiral and appointment as commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.

McRaven currently commands Joint Special Operations Command. His previous assignments include service commanding Special Operations Command Europe, Naval Special Warfare Group 1 and SEAL Team 3.

"I have been very fortunate to have spent the past 34 years in special operations, and I can tell you from my personal experience that ... we have the best-trained, the best-equipped, and most experienced special operations force in the history of the U.S., and possibly the world," McRaven said.

If confirmed, McRaven said, he will train, organize, equip and deploy special operations troops, as directed by the secretary of defense, across the spectrum of conflict.

"We will, at all times, be prepared to answer the nation's call with experienced forces whose intellect, maturity and courage allows them to operate in politically and militarily complex environments," he said.

McRaven called Socom's joint troops, "... men and women who relish challenges, and who willingly go where the threat to America is at its greatest."

As good as the force is, McRaven said, he knows one of his primary challenges if he is confirmed as commander will be to ensure special operations forces and their families are well taken care of, physically and emotionally.

"In his 2011 posture hearing, [current Socom commander] Admiral Eric Olson noted that as a result of 10 years of continuous combat, the force is frayed at the edges," McRaven said. "Admiral Olson and his wife, Marilyn, were exceptionally engaged in the welfare of the [special operations forces] soldiers and their families, particularly our wounded warriors."

If he is confirmed, McRaven said, he and his wife, Georgeann, "will follow their lead and put forth every effort to ensure the well-being of the individuals under my command and the families that support them."

In a written response to advance questions before today's hearing, McRaven gave his views on Socom's operational tempo, troop morale, and the command's cooperation with the military services and other governmental agencies.

The "new normal" for special operations forces is a "persistently engaged, forward-based force to prevent and deter conflict and, when needed, act to disrupt and defeat threats," McRaven wrote.

The long-term engagement that new normal represents, he added, "translates into increased demand for [special operations forces]. The pace of the last 10 years is indicative of what we expect for the next 10 years."

Special operations forces by doctrine rely on the military services for critical support in missions longer than 15 days, McRaven wrote, adding that like conventional units, they "struggle to obtain enough ... [explosive ordnance disposal], [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance], communications personnel, medical and security personnel support."

While special operators have deployed frequently over the past decade, McRaven wrote, "In most cases, [special operations forces] are doing what they expected and wanted, and they feel good about their impressive contributions."

However, increasing deployment predictability and avoiding last-minute demand for forces will be important to maintaining troops' job satisfaction, he wrote.

The recent operation resulting in Osama bin Laden's death highlights Socom's success in providing skilled forces and working effectively with other agencies, McRaven wrote.

Maintaining high standards [and] challenging training environments and encouraging ingenuity develops unique and valuable operators," he wrote. "Finally, continuing to break down barriers between the various agencies and departments allows for increased cooperation and synchronization, allowing the U.S. government to successfully accomplish the mission."

After the committee reports on today's hearing, McRaven's nomination will move to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.