Smith Stance. HASC Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) says on Sept. 23 that he is “particularly concerned that further large and indiscriminate cuts to the defense budget could have a substantially negative impact on our military.” Yet, he says HASC Republicans who have been speaking out against addition defense reductions should support new taxes to prevent major cuts. “I hope my Republican colleagues will recognize that in order to avoid arbitrary cuts to defense and other important programs we must put revenue on the table and we must undergo a comprehensives strategic review to understand how best to spend the defense dollars we have.” Smith argues: “We can rationally evaluate our national security strategy, our defense expenditures, and the current set of missions that we ask the military to undertake, and we can come up with a strategy that requires less funding.”
McCain Authorizing. SASC Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.) laments on Sept. 21 that the SAC appropriates funding for weapon systems that his panel, the authorization committee, does not. He argues on the Senate floor that the SAC is “rewarding special interests and funding pet projects that have little or nothing to do with our national defense.” He slams the SAC for including in its FY ’12 defense appropriations bill $2.3 billion in spending not sought by the Pentagon, for items including 12 Air Force C-130Js, radars for Air National Guard F-15s, and National Guard and Reserve Equipment. He laments that the SAC bill has 580 differences from the SASC’s defense authorization bill–including funding for the Army’s Medium Extended Air Defense System and Navy F/A-18E/F Hornets.
Super Plea. Two defense appropriators join 69 other House members in asking the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to help end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and fund “a safe, orderly, and responsible redeployment of troops,” which they argue would “go a long way toward meeting our fiscal challenges.” The letter-writers ask the 12-lawmaker group–which is weighing up to $1.5 trillion more in federal budget cuts–to end “the overseas contingency operations emergency supplementals and on-budget appropriations starting in Fiscal Year 2013, providing $170 billion in Fiscal Year 2012 to fund redeployment, while saving more than $1.8 trillion from current law spending levels over 10 years.” The Sept. 21 letter’s signers including House Appropriations Defense subcommittee members Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.).
ERP Slog. The Defense Department has been unable to meet key milestones for four of its 11 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) business-software systems, and that does not bode well for its goal of having auditable financial statements by 2017, says Daniel Blair, the Pentagon’s deputy inspector general for auditing. “Because it’s such an integral part of the auditability efforts, this slippage is of serious concern,” Blair tells the HASC Panel on Defense Financial Management and Auditability Reform on Sept. 22. Blair says his office has increased audits of the ERP systems “because what we’re starting to see is that there are some consistent themes.” It also is looking at how the Pentagon is “implementing other ERPs, so that they can take the lessons learned from one and apply it to all, as appropriate,” he adds.
Cartwright’s Tank. James Cartwright, the recently retired Marine Corps general who served as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, is the first-ever Harold Brown Chair in Defense Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic & International Studies. “As the United States faces changing and increasing political, economic and security challenges, it is crucial that our nation’s most experienced and capable leaders remain active in the public process of U.S. policymaking,” says CSIS Harold Brown, a counselor and trustee at the Washington think tank. Cartwright chaired the Joint Requirements Oversight Council and co-chaired the Defense Acquisition Board. He was outspoken on the topic of cyber security.
Navy’s Budget Guidance. The Navy has issued internal budget guidance for the 2014-2018 fiscal years that anticipates an annual cut of 2 to 3 percent in “top line” funding for each year, according to a service document. The Sept. 21 memorandum from the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations calls on the service to thoroughly analyze its spending priorities to create a “fiscally balanced and defendable” plan for the four-year period. The memo says the Navy will issue Program Issue Reviews (PIR) in October. Defense reductions are expected as the White House and Congress try to rein in the national debt and deficit spending. The Pentagon could be faced with at least $450 billion in cuts over the next 10 years.
A Two-Man Office. Lockheed Martin last week created a new Executive Office of the Chairman, which includes Bob Stevens, the company’s chairman and CEO, and Chris Kubasik, the company’s president and chief operating officer. The move gives Kubasik more responsibility because the new office requires the two company leaders to be able to act “interchangeably to promptly address and resolve operational and functional issues as they arise,” Stevens says. Given the pace of change going on at the company and with its customers in the defense and federal markets, the Stevens-Kubasik leadership tandem gives Lockheed Martin the ability to act more responsively, flexibly and quickly amid a dynamic environment. Kubasik is considered by many defense industry watchers to eventually be the successor to the 60-year old Stevens, who doesn’t have to retire from the company until he’s 65.
New CNO. Adm. Jonathan Greenert took over as the Navy’s chief of naval operations during a ceremony Friday at the U.S Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Greenert became the 30th CNO, taking over for Adm. Gary Roughead, who is due to retire at the end of this month. Greenert, 58, had been serving as vice chief of naval operations when he was tapped by President Barack Obama to become the Navy’s top officer.
Shareholder Value. Raytheon says its board has authorized additional stock repurchases of up to $2 billion. Stock repurchases are usually done to offset dilution from the awarding of stock as employee compensation and to reduce the number of shares outstanding, thereby increasing the value of the stock. The company also maintained its quarterly cash dividend at 43 cents per share.
High Demand Milestone, The Army and Lockheed Martin mark delivery of the 400th High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) last week. The Army has received 300 HIMARS mobile rocket launchers to date, while the Marines and international partners have taken delivery of 100 launchers. “It is absolutely essential that we provide our Soldiers, Marines and Special Operations forces with the most responsive, accurate and lethal long-range fires available. We simply owe our troops nothing short of the best,” says Lt. Col. Frederick Hughes, HIMARS product manager for the U.S. Army. “The M142 HIMARS launcher is the system of choice for delivering precision long-range fires for our troops in combat.” In service since 2005, HIMARS brings Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) firepower to a wheeled chassis. It carries a single six-pack of rockets or one Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missile, and can launch the entire MLRS family of munitions.
Renovations. Fort Benning’s newly renovated headquarters building is dedicated, and renamed for two Medal of Honor recipients, Spc. Ross McGinnis and Cpl. Jerry Wickam. McGinnis was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006. He trained to be an Infantry Soldier at Fort Benning with the 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 198th Infantry Brigade. Wickam was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions near Loc Ninh, Republic of Vietnam in 1968. He trained to be an Armored Cavalry Soldier at Fort Knox, Ky. The building was first officially dedicated in June 1964. A $155 million renovation contract was awarded in 2008, and Phase I is complete. Phase II is scheduled for completion in the spring.The renovation was done to energy and environmental standards. By weight, the command says, 90 percent of the items removed during the renovation, to include glass, concrete, steel, doors and aluminum, were recycled.
Hand Over. DoD says it will return several facilities to the German government for a savings of some $3.3 million. The Oberweis Annex warehouse; three communication sites at Pruem Air Station, Hahn Communication Station and ARFT radio relay station; Hochspeyer ammunition storage facility; and Bitburg Storage Annex No.2 (French Kaserne). These closures are all part of U.S. European Command’s continued effort to remove non-enduring sites, bases and installations from its real-property inventory. There are no personnel changes associated with these facilities and their return will have no impact on U.S. Air Forces in Europe operations in Europe. The United States plans to return the facilities to the host nation now through 2015.
New License. General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies says it has received the FCC license that allows continuous access to private- and government-owned communication satellites while on-the-move in vehicles. The license applies to four models of satellite communications ground-station equipment made by General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies.“Before the FCC license was approved, the only way to stay connected to a satellite while moving in a vehicle was to use a handheld pay-by-the-minute SATCOM phone,” says Tim Shroyer, Chief Technology officer for General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies. “Now, our Vehicle Mounted Earth Stations have reliable, ‘always on’ satellite communications capability while driving.”
New Factory. Harris Corp. officially opens an advanced manufacturing center to produce tactical radios, assured communication systems and related products. The new 573,000 square-foot center near Rochester, N.Y., is specifically to increase the company’s competitiveness and address the changing requirements of military and public safety communications. The factory consolidates several previously geographically dispersed production lines into a single, integrated facility. “The opening of this new factory represents a significant investment by Harris in the Rochester area and the global market for assured tactical and public safety communications,” says Howard Lance, chairman, president and CEO, Harris Corp. “It demonstrates our commitment to serve our customers by delivering products to the field faster and more efficiently. The new facility will provide cost savings and deliver a platform to drive continued innovation and growth.”
Show Don’t Tell. PEO Aviation says the way ahead for a new Army scout attack helicopter is not clear, but the analysis of alternatives is almost done. There are a lot of vendors, and Maj. Gen. Tim Crosby wants to go beyond PowerPoint. “I like to say, show me,” based on cost,” he says. The point is he wants a product demonstration and a scrub whether it is affordable. “I think lifecycle costs, not procurement costs,” he says during a visit to Boeing’s refurbished Chinook production line and celebration of 50 years since the helicopter’s first flight.