U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE PANETTA'S REMARKS AT COOPERATIVE THREAT REDUCTION SYMPOSIUM

FROM: U.S. DELPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
20TH Anniversary Cooperative Threat Reduction Symposium
As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, Washington, D.C., Monday, December 03, 2012

Thank you. Good afternoon. Senators Nunn and Lugar, distinguished guests, ambassadors and officials from the partner countries, thank you all for being here today.

I am honored to be able to participate in this important symposium marking the 20th anniversary of the Cooperative Threat Reduction program.

Let me thank National Defense University, and Major General Gregg Martin and Dr. John Reichart for their great work in organizing today's conference.

It's been a day to reflect on the successes that have been achieved in nonproliferation over the past two decades through the CTR program.

It's a particular honor to be able to be in the company of Senator Sam Nunn and Senator Richard Lugar, whose leadership made this program possible.

We can say that the course of history changed for the better because these two men helped the nation confront the threat of nuclear proliferation at the end of the Cold War. The world would have been, without question, a far more dangerous and threatening place were it not for these two patriots.

Earlier this afternoon, I was honored to be able to present Senator Nunn and Senator Lugar with the Distinguished Public Service Award, the Department of Defense's highest civilian honor. Sam and Dick, and you have made the world safer and more secure, and you have the profound gratitude of this nation and the global community.

I also want to recognize and thank my Deputy, Ash Carter, who played a critical role in thinking up and working with these two senators on their legislation, also established the Department's CTR program in the early 1990s as an Assistant Secretary of Defense, and continues that effort now in the Pentagon.

Indeed, today, it's also important that we use this opportunity to generate new thinking and new ideas for how best to carry this vital vision into the future.

It's important to have this discussion now because the CTR program is at a critical inflection point. It's evolved from a focus on nuclear infrastructure in the former Soviet Union to encompass a broader range of counter-WMD efforts across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

And despite the successes achieved in the Former Soviet Union, this program remains as critical as ever, and maintains the strong support of the Department of Defense's leadership.

It also has the strong support of our special guest today, who I am honored to serve in his cabinet and am honored to introduce.

President Obama has been a leader in reducing the threat of weapons of mass destruction since he joined the United States Senate and partnered closely with Dick Lugar. As President, he set a visionary agenda to achieve a world without nuclear weapons and has taken practical steps to move the world in that direction. In doing so, he has helped renew America's global leadership and he has helped advance the cause of peace and security in the 21st century. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am honored to introduce our Commander-in-Chief, President Barack Obama.

U.S. ARMY CYBER COMMANDER DISCUSSES TRANSFORMATION

Lt. Gen. Rhett A. Hernandez, commanding general for the Army Cyber Command, discusses the Army’s transformation to a joint-information environment during a Cyber and LandWarNet panel at the Association of the United States Army annual meeting.
 

FROM: U.S. DELPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
ARMED WITH SCIENCE
by jtozer
ARCYBER Working To Build Joint-Info Environment

The opportunities and challenges cyberspace presents have changed not only the way the world operates, but also the
Army, service officials said Tuesday.

Army leaders addressed the growing arena of cyberspace and the threats it presents during the "Cyber Domain and LandWarNet: Powering the Army" panel at the Association of the United States Army annual meeting.

"(Cyber) threats are real, growing, sophisticated and evolving," said Lt. Gen. Rhett A. Hernandez, commanding general for the Army Cyber Command. He led the panel, which discussed the Army’s transformation to a joint-information environment.

Collectively, the cyber threats facing the Army create a "dynamic and dangerous" environment, Hernandez said. The force has had to change the way it thinks about cyberspace to continue to guarantee versatility, agility and depth to "prevent, shape and win," he explained.

To prevent conflict, the Army needs to deter and influence potential enemies through a modernized force ready to conduct a full range of cyberspace operations, Hernandez continued. If prevention fails, the Army needs to be ready to rapidly apply its combined arms capabilities to win.

"In cyberspace, the significant advantage will go to the side that can protect and secure critical information as well as gain and exploit advantages," he said.

Chief Information Officer and G-6 Lt. Gen. Susan S. Lawrence agreed, stating that the current cyber operational environment is disjointed and difficult to mobilize or integrate, and the Army cannot afford to continue to operate in that environment.

The joint information environment the Army is working toward will be key in maintaining dominance in the cyber arena, Lawrence said.

It will provide the ability to deploy with little to no notice into any theater; allow installations to be used as docking stations, which will enable soldiers to take their technology and train anywhere; it will allow a modernized force from the "strategic core" to the "tactical edge" and provide a single, secure network with centralized management and decentralized execution, she said.

said.
"We have got to able to, in any type of combat or spectrum of operations, have technology overmatch against any enemy, and getting to this environment will allow us to do that," Lawrence said.
The G-6 is aligning LandWarNet with the joint information environment, working toward a single, secure-based, versatile environment that is ready to deploy at any time. , Lawrence said the four lines of operation the G-6 is working through are:
– building technological capacity
– improving cyber security
– providing enterprise services to the tactical edge
– enforcing network standards

"Our energy is shifting to an active defense while moving us to a joint information environment, which will strengthen our ability to operate and defend our networks," Hernandez said.

The cyberspace environment requires quite a bit of support from throughout the Army. Lt. Gen. Mary A. Legere, deputy chief of staff for the G-2, was on hand to discuss Army’s intelligence role.

"(Intelligence) provides the kinds of capabilities necessary to support the mission," Legere said, "and the kinds of capabilities that General Hernandez needs to defend the networks and, as required, to conduct full-spectrum operations on behalf of other Army commanders are quite unique. They aren’t something we have parked in motor pools."

The community’s job is to develop an intelligence corps that has the right capabilities, and develop cyber forces that are appropriate to the mission in the cyber domain, she said.
"It is a conscious development of some of the brightest and most skilled soldiers and civilians we’ve ever attempted to create," Legere said.
"The reality is this is a very dynamic, challenging environment that we’re in and it’s going to require a kind of agility we’ve never seen before, machine-to-machine agility — soldiers and leaders that are capable of making quick decisions and policies that are responsive," Legere said.

Another key organization in supporting Cyber Command is the Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command.

Cyberspace and space are separate domains, Lt. Gen. Richard P. Formica, SMDC, explained, but they are linked. Space enables the delivery of cyber signals, while cyberspace supports space operations through enabling payloads of systems. They both rely on the intelligence community and the joint information environment.

"They are both information-centric and information-enabled and they share network systems, and in some cases physical infrastructures. As I said, both Space and Cyber are global warfighting domains with distinctive space and cyber military activities that occur in those domains," Formica said.

"I don’t envision a cyber war, or a space war, but rather the delivery and application of both space and cyber effects in support of joint and unified land operations," he said.

By Jacqueline M. Hames

DEFENSE: MULTIPLE MISSILE ENGAGEMENT

A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched from Meck Island on its way to intercept of a ballistic missile target during MDA’s historic flight test on Oct. 24, 2012. (Photo by Andrew Hall)

FROM: U.S. DELPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Written by jtozer
Five Targets, One Missile

The Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Army soldiers from the 94th and 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command; U.S. Navy sailors aboard the USS FITZGERALD (DDG 62); and airmen from the 613th Air and Space Operations Center successfully conducted the largest, most complex missile defense flight test ever attempted resulting in the simultaneous engagement of five ballistic missile and cruise missile targets.

An integrated air and ballistic missile defense architecture used multiple sensors and missile defense systems to engage multiple targets at the same time.

All targets were successfully launched and initial indications are that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system successfully intercepted its first medium-range ballistic target in history, and PATRIOT Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) near simultaneously destroyed a Short Range Ballistic Missile and a low flying cruise missile target over water.

The live-fire demonstration, conducted at U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll/Reagan Test Site, Hickam Air Force Base and surrounding areas in the western Pacific, stressed the performance of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense, THAAD and PATRIOT weapon systems.

An Extended Long Range Air Launch Target (E-LRALT) missile was airdropped over the broad ocean area north of Wake Island from a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft, staged from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. The AN/TPY-2 X-band radar, located with the THAAD system on Meck Island, tracked the E-LRALT, and a THAAD interceptor successfully intercepted the medium-range ballistic missile. THAAD was operated by soldiers from the 32nd AAMDC.

Another short-range ballistic missile was launched from a mobile launch platform located in the broad ocean area northeast of Kwajalein Atoll. The PATRIOT system, manned by soldiers of the 94th AAMDC, detected, tracked and successfully intercepted the target with a PAC-3 interceptor.

The USS FITZGERALD successfully engaged a low-flying cruise missile over water. The Aegis system also tracked and launched an SM-3 Block 1A interceptor against a short-range ballistic missile. However, despite indication of a nominal flight of the SM-3 Block 1A interceptor, there was no indication of an intercept of the SRBM.

FTI-01 was a combined developmental and operational test. Soldiers, sailors and airmen from multiple combatant commands operated the systems and were provided a unique opportunity to refine operational doctrine and tactics. Program officials continue to assess and evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test.

Ballistic Missile Defense System programs have completed 56 successful hit-to-kill intercepts in 71 flight test attempts since 2001

Story provided by the Missile Defense Agency


　

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL SITES UNINTENDED EFFECTS OF SEQUESTRATION

FROM: U.S. DELPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Carter Describes Possible Unintended Effects of Sequestration Law

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2012 - While the Defense Department can foresee the harmful effects of sequestration, the nature of the legislative mechanism makes it impossible to devise a plan that eliminates or substantially mitigates those effects, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said here today.

Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Carter explained the law's effect on the defense budget and overall strategy.

Sequestration refers to a mechanism built into the Budget Control Act that would trigger an additional $500 billion across-the-board cut in defense spending over the next decade if Congress doesn't identify alternative spending cuts by January.

"We're working with [the Office of Management and Budget] to understand this complex legislation, and we are, as I described, assessing impacts," Carter said. "But we're still five months from January. I'm hoping, to quote [Defense] Secretary [Leon E.] Panetta, that Congress -- both Republicans and Democrats -- will exercise the necessary leadership to make sure that sequestration is de-triggered. In the unfortunate event that sequestration is actually triggered, we will work with OMB, and like all the federal agencies affected by this law, we will be ready to implement it."

Carter also discussed the unintentional effects of the mechanism if it isn't "de-triggered" in a reasonable amount of time.

"While we'll not fail to prepare for sequestration, we're equally worried about a different type of error," he said. "This would occur if sequestration does not happen, but we end up triggering some of its bad effects anyway.

"For example, we do not want to unnecessarily alarm employees by announcing adverse personnel actions or by suggesting that such actions are likely," he continued. "For efficiency reasons, we do not want to hold back on the obligation of funds, either for weapons projects or operating programs, that would have been obligated in the absence of a possible sequestration."

The deputy defense secretary also noted the department doesn't want to cut back on training, which would harm military readiness as the nation faces a complex array of national security challenges. Also, Carter said, private companies that serve DOD and constitute "important members of our national security team" also need to make decisions on issues related to sequestration.

Carter said a number of these private companies have expressed alarm at "such a wasteful and disruptive way" of managing taxpayers' money and their employees' talent.

"We will continue to consult closely with them, along with the OMB, and other government departments," Carter said. "The best thing that can happen to our industry partners, as well as the department, is for the Congress to enact a balanced deficit reduction plan that halts implementation of this inflexible law."

After outlining his thoughts on sequestration's potentially "devastating" impacts, Carter re-emphasized the Defense Department's position.

"Secretary Panetta and I strongly believe that we need to deal with the debt and deficit problems in a balanced way and avoid sequestration," he said. "This will require legislation that both houses of Congress can approve and that the president can sign."

Carter said Americans, the nation's allies, and even its enemies, need to know the U.S. government has the political will to implement the defense strategy that has been put forth.

"The men and women of our department, and their families, need to know with certainty that we'll meet our commitments to them," he said. "Our partners in defense industry, and their employees, need to know that we're going to have the resources to procure the world-class capabilities they can provide, and that we can do so efficiently."