Photo: DoD

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is campaigning to keep federal funds flowing as the United States begins to withdraw military forces from Iraq and eventually, Afghanistan.

Gates is concerned that, like in other times in U.S. history, wars ending will lead to a “peace dividend.”

Addressing the American Legion in a speech last week, Gates said: “As a country, historically, we have a troubling, predictable pattern of coming to the end of a conflict, concluding that the nature of man and the world has changed for the better, and turning inward – unilaterally disarming and dismantling institutions important to our national security.”

As already pledged by President Barack Obama, DoD will grow by between 1 and 2 percent per year. Gates says such amount will not be enough to sustain the capabilities the military has to defend the country.

DoD is already working to reduce overhead, aiming to save $100 billion during the next five years. Some cost-saving measures have already been implemented, including eliminating the Joint Forces Command and reducing contractors by at least 10 percent.

Gates said, “To make the case for this growth at a time of economic and fiscal duress requires the Defense Department to make every dollar count – to fundamentally change the way we do business.”

He added, “It means shifting resources from bureaucracies and overhead to the combat capabilities needed today and in the future.”

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Photo: Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Tuesday met with leaders of U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command to discuss existing partnerships.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen visited with Army Gen. William E. “Kip” Ward, commander of Africom, and Army Lt. Gen. John D. Gardner, Eucom’s deputy commander, and members of their respective staffs.

“One of my goals as chairman is to engage the [combatant commanders] not only when they’re in Washington on my turf, but out on their turf,” Mullen told reporters traveling with him en route to Germany.

Although Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis, Eucom’s commander, was unavailable for Tuesday’s meeting, Mullen said he had spoken with him on the phone before leaving Washington.

Eucom’s area of focus includes all of Europe, as well as large portions of Asia, parts of the Middle East and the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. The command is responsible for U.S. military relations with NATO and more than 50 countries.

In the most recent years, Eucom has expanded its partnerships with U.S. agencies outside of the Department of Defense to gather subject-matter together and facilitate the exchange of information for “whole of government” international efforts in which military and nonmilitary agencies have what Eucom officials call “a coincidence of purpose.”

Mullen said he was a strong proponent for the creation of Africom, which was launched in October 2008. Previously, Eucom was responsible for U.S. military relations in Africa, but with Eucom’s vast area and its commander also serving in a NATO role, it was not physically possible for Africa to receive an appropriate level of attention and engagement, he said.

“[Africom] gives us a 24/7 engagement in that continent that we had very little of prior to that stand-up,” the chairman said, “so I’m very pleased with the leadership and the progress in what we’ve been able to do in Africa over a relatively short period of time.”

Africom was created as an “engagement command” to help African nations build their capabilities, Mullen said, but it has had to work to overcome suspicions that the United States created the command with designs on militarizing the continent.

“A great deal of that has been dissipated,” he said, noting that many countries that at first were suspicious and concerned have come to recognize the command’s value.

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Photo: Pete Souza

President Barack Obama yesterday announced the official end to combat operations in Iraq during a prime-time Oval Office address, promising Iraqis “a new beginning.”

“Operation Iraqi Freedom is over,” Obama said, speaking just hours after the launch of Operation New Dawn in Iraq. “The Iraqi people now have the lead responsibility for the security of their country.”

Obama praised the men and women in uniform whose service and sacrifice led to this “historic moment” in time.

“The Americans who have served in Iraq completed every mission they were given,” he said. “They defeated a regime that had terrorized its people. Together with Iraqis and coalition partners who made huge sacrifices of their own, our troops fought block-by-block to help Iraq seize the chance for a better future.”

Noting that more than 4,400 U.S. troops were killed and thousands more were wounded, the president said the efforts in Iraq came at tremendous cost and ending the war is in the best interest of both Iraq and the United States.

“The United States has paid a huge price to put the future of Iraq in the hands of its people,” Obama said. “We have sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices in Iraq and spent vast resources abroad at a time of tight budgets home. We have persevered because of a belief we share with the Iraqi people: a belief that out of the ashes of war, a new beginning could be born in this cradle of civilization.”

The president said after going through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, it is time to turn the page. He outlined the future role of the transitional force of U.S. troops to remain in Iraq through December 2011, a task in which they will advise and assist Iraqi security forces, support Iraqi troops in targeted counterterrorism missions and protect U.S. civilians.

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TSA has worked closely with LCAA to adopt the necessary security protocols for sustainable aviation-security institutions and practices, and to ensure the safety of passengers traveling between the two nations . In 2009, TSA and LCAA signed a Joint Statement of Intent to develop and enhance aviation-security programs, as well as share best practices.

“TSA’s efforts to assist Liberia demonstrate our commitment to aiding in the development of aviation systems throughout the world,” said John Halinski, assistant administrator for TSA’s Office of Global Strategies. “Through this partnership, TSA and LCAA have built a sustainable Liberian transportation security system — not only aiding travelers in our respective countries as flights begin this fall, but also demonstrating our shared commitment to the international aviation security community.”

TSA has deployed a group of veteran security experts to work with Liberian aviation security officials. The group and its LCAA counterparts assessed aviation-security programs such as training and equipment, as well as current aviation-security laws and regulations.

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“We have established procedures for authorized officers to interact with the media,” Clapper wrote in the memo. “For everyone else, unauthorized disclosure of our work is both a serious matter and a diversion from the critical tasks we face. In other words, blabbing secrets to the media is not ‘in’ as far as I’m concerned. Let’s get on with our mission by keeping our secrets and serving our country.”

Clapper expressed a desire for intelligence community personnel to be like his grandchildren: seen, but not heard.

“We have established procedures for authorized officers to interact with the media,” he wrote. “For everyone else, unauthorized disclosure of our work is both a serious matter and a diversion from the critical tasks we face. In other words, blabbing secrets to the media is not ‘in’ as far as I’m concerned. Let’s get on with our mission by keeping our secrets and serving our country.”

It was not clear which disclosures Clapper referred to, but The Atlantic, which published the intelligence director’s memo, reported that a State Department analyst was recently indicted for allegedly telling Fox News what U.S. intelligence agencies concluded about how North Korea would respond to diplomatic and military pressure. The magazine also mentioned whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, which has published more than 90,000 Afghan war documents and last week leaked a classified CIA Red Cell paper.

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The Modern Day Marine Military Exposition will celebrate that anniversary by continuing a tradition of leadership in the defense trade show industry with various special programs and events. The event will include a new “Warfighters Corner”; meetings between industry officials and the Marine Corps’ authorities on the service’s equipment requirements; a parade; award ceremonies honoring outstanding members of Marine commands and two distinguished Americans; and presentation of a major financial donation to a youth group by a defense company exhibiting at the exposition.

Defense manufacturers will have representatives on hand to discuss their companies’ products and services, respond to questions and exchange information with the Marine warfighters concerning their recent forward deployments.

On Sept. 30, the Modern Day Marine Military Exposition will also host a “Family Day,” during which family members of DoD military and civilian personnel can tour the exhibits.

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Mike Mullen

The national debt is the single biggest threat to national security, according to Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Tax payers will be paying around $600 billion in interest on the national debt by 2012, the chairman told students and local leaders in Detroit.

“That’s one year’s worth of defense budget,” he said, adding that the Pentagon needs to cut back on spending.

“We’re going to have to do that if it’s going to survive at all,” Mullen said, “and do it in a way that is predictable.”

He also called on the defense industry to hire veterans and become more robust in the future.

“I need the defense industry, in particular, to be robust,” he said. “My procurement budget is over $100 billion, [and] I need to be able to leverage that as much as possible with those [companies] who reach out [to veterans].”

Mullen highlighted the unity of purpose between the government and industry as well, in working to solve national security issues.

“I have found that universally, [private-sector workers] care every bit as much about our country, are every bit as patriotic and wanting to make a difference … as those who wear the uniform and are in harm’s way,” he said.

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“Through homeland security grants and the Recovery Act, we are helping local fire departments protect the jobs of veteran firefighters, rebuilding fire stations across the country, and providing first responders with the tools they need to do their jobs,” the secretary said when delivering remarks to the International Association of Fire Chiefs at Fire-Rescue International 2010.

Napolitano visited the Windy City to deliver remarks at the event, visit key critical infrastructure sites, and join Chicago Mayor Richard Daley to meet with government and industry stakeholders, law-enforcement officials and first responders to discuss the department’s continued commitment to protecting U.S. transportation systems and critical infrastructure.

During her remarks at the Fire-Rescue International 2010, Napolitano highlighted DHS’ ongoing efforts to help fire departments across the country save jobs and acquire and maintain critical equipment through the Staffing for Adequate Fire Emergency Response grants, the Assistance to Firefighters Grants, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-funded Fire Station Construction Grants.

She also toured the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Union Station to discuss best practices and the important role of the private sector in protecting critical infrastructure and transportation systems.

Additionally, Napolitano visited the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications and met with public- and private-sector stakeholders, law-enforcement officials and first responders to discuss the Department’s commitment to protecting communities through programs such as the Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative.

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Photo: af.mil

To fight the cyber threat, the Pentagon has built “layered and robust defenses” around military networks, and officials from the departments of Defense and Homeland Security are collaborating to protect the computer systems, Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn wrote in an article published yesterday in Foreign Affairs magazine.

Titled “Defending a New Domain,” the piece outlines the evolution of computer-network threats and measures the department has adopted to deal with them. The frequency and sophistication of intrusions into U.S. military networks have increased exponentially in the past 10 years, Lynn wrote. They now are probed thousands of times and scanned millions of times, every day, he added.

Sometimes, the adversaries are successful, acquiring thousands of files from DoD networks and those of the Pentagon’s industry partners and U.S. allies, including weapons blueprints, operational plans and surveillance data, Lynn said. To counter cyber attacks, the Pentagon has built solid defenses around military networks and created the new U.S. Cyber Command to integrate processes, Lynn said. DoD officials are working with their counterparts at the Department of Homeland Security, which has jurisdiction over the “dot-com” and “dot-gov” domains, to safeguard the networks.

“Information technology enables almost everything the U.S. military does,” Lynn wrote, from logistical support and command and control to real-time intelligence and remote operations. Any future conflict will include cybersecurity, he has said in the past.

In the article, Lynn outlines five pillars of DoD’s emerging cybersecurity policy, starting with how cyber has to be recognized as a warfare domain equal to land, sea and air. The second one entails ensuring that any defensive posture reaches beyond good hygiene to include sophisticated and accurate operations that allow fast response. The third pillar calls for cyber defenses to go beyond the DoD’s dot-mil world into commercial networks, as governed by Homeland Security. The fourth aspect encompasses working with international allies to pursue cyber defenses. Finally, the fifth pillar entails DoD assisting with maintaining and leveraging U.S. technological dominance and improving the acquisitions process to keep up with the speed and agility of the IT industry.

Pentagon officials are working on a cyber-strategy document to be released this fall. Among many other things, it will address any statutory changes needed for cyber defense, and the capability for “automated defenses,” such as the ability block malware at top speed, Lynn has said in the past.

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Photo: dhs.gov

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano yesterday visited Montana to tour U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations and meet with state and local officials, law-enforcement personnel and private-sector stakeholders regarding DHS’ efforts to secure the Northern border.

“We have made critical security enhancements along our Northern border, investing in additional personnel, technology, and infrastructure to meet the security and operational requirements of our post-9/11 world,” Napolitano said. “DHS is committed to working closely with our federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners and the citizens of Montana to protect the border while facilitating legal trade and travel.”

Joined by Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, and CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin, Napolitano toured CBP operations at the Piegan and Sweetgrass ports of entry to observe cutting-edge technologies such as thermal camera systems and mobile surveillance systems.

The group then traveled to Sunburst, Mont., to discuss with law enforcement about DHS’ ongoing partnerships with federal, state, local, tribal and Canadian law-enforcement agencies along the Northern border to fight transnational crime and drug smuggling.

In Havre, Napolitano and the delegation participated in a town-hall meeting to discuss issues such as partnerships with Canada on trusted-traveler programs and DHS’ efforts to increase staff along the Northern border to boost security and continue to facilitate legal travel and trade.

Napolitano also toured the Westside Great Falls Levee District, reiterating the DHS’ commitment to collaborating with federal, state, local and tribal officials to develop practical solutions that address flooding problems without disrupting   economic development.

Today, Napolitano will visit Chicago to deliver remarks to the International Association of Fire Chiefs at Fire-Rescue International 2010; visit key critical-infrastructure sites; and join Chicago Mayor Richard Daley to meet with public and private sector stakeholders, law-enforcement officials and first responders to discuss the DHS’ continued commitment to protecting U.S. transportation systems and critical infrastructure.

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