Eleven former U.S. military leaders are urging lawmakers to nix a provision in the Senate version of the fiscal year 2017 defense authorization bill that would repeal a requirement that the head of the Missile Defense Agency be at least a three-star officer.
In a June 24 letter to Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the ex-officials argue that “the scale, scope and complexity of the position demands the minimum grade of a lieutenant general or vice admiral.”
The MDA director must oversee programs valued at more than $30 billion, many of which are deployed across the globe. The director also must have the executive experience and savvy to work with senior allied military and political leaders, chief executive officers at major defense contractors, and high-level Pentagon officials, the letter says.
The letter also asserts that downgrading the position “would send the absolute wrong message to our adversaries that the U.S. is backing off of missile defense as a priority within our warfighting capability.”
The letter’s signers, all of whom worked with missile defense, are ret. Air Force Lt. Gens. Henry “Trey” Obering and Ronald Kadish, both former MDA directors; three former directors of MDA predecessor organizations; a former MDA deputy director; three former commanders of U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Pacific Command and U.S. Strategic Command; and two former commanding generals of U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
The Senate provision is apparently part of an effort to reduce the number of general and flag officers across the military. A House-Senate conference committee is working on a final version of the authorization bill.