DEFENSE OFFICIAL SAYS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IS "STUPID"

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
Carter Says Shutdown Would Be 'Disruptive, Stupid'
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2013 - The shutdown that looms if the government isn't funded beyond the end of the fiscal year at midnight tonight would be "disruptive and stupid," Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter said here today.

Carter preceded a scheduled speech on India at the Center for American Progress with his thoughts on the impending shutdown.

"Let me just emphasize that the administration firmly believes that a shutdown can be avoided, should be avoided, and while we in the Department of Defense are fully prepared to deal with the shutdown if it occurs," he said, "it will be extremely disruptive and unfortunate, especially for the men and women who are defending this country who now have to worry about receiving their paychecks on time."

About half of the Defense Department's civilian personnel will be placed on no duty-no pay furloughs if the shutdown occurs, the deputy secretary said, noting that they already had been furloughed for more than a week earlier this year.

"This is no way to treat patriots working in our department and will cause serious harm to productivity and morale," Carter said.

Planning for the shutdown is itself disruptive, he added.

"We're spending thousands of hours on complex planning for a shutdown instead of spending this time more wisely and efficiently on addressing our national security challenges," he said.

The Defense Department is prepared to deal with the shutdown if it occurs, Carter said, just as it was prepared to deal with sequestration spending cuts.

"But a shutdown will be disruptive and harmful to the national security mission," he added. "We strongly urge the Congress to pass a budget and avoid a disruptive and stupid shutdown of the federal government."

DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY CARTER SAYS PAKISTAN'S ECONOMIC SUCCESS CRITICAL

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
Success of India, Pakistan Critical to Region, Carter Says
By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Sept. 18, 2013 - Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter today wrapped up a weeklong overseas trip that included stops in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

After spending three days in Afghanistan, Carter stopped in Islamabad, Pakistan, for talks with senior defense and government officials. Among the topics discussed was the importance of Pakistan's continued economic development to the security of the region, Carter said today.

The economic development of Pakistan is essential, he said.

"Their neighbor to the east is running away from them economically," Carter noted. To develop its economy, Pakistan first needs peaceful relations with India to begin trading with them, the deputy defense secretary said.

Pakistan is critical to U.S. and regional security, the deputy secretary said.

"Unless it's part of the solution, it becomes part of the problem in Afghanistan," Carter said.

"The government of Pakistan has flirted over time with using terrorism as an instrument of state policy," Carter added. "It is coming to the realization that terrorism is a boomerang, and it comes back on you when you try to use it for your own purposes."

The principal threat to Pakistan is terrorism, he said, not its neighbors.

Carter spent yesterday meeting with senior Indian defense officials in New Delhi, including Defense Secretary Radha Krishna Mathur and Defense Minister A.K. Antony. He also met with U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Michael Pelletier at the American Embassy.

The U.S. and India are destined to be security partners on the world stage, Carter said. The two countries share common interests, values and outlooks, he added, noting that the multifaceted defense relationship between them is the defining partnership of the 21st century.

A central topic of discussion was the Defense Trade and Technology Initiative, which is intended to increase defense industrial and technology cooperation, Carter said. The agreement isn't just about selling defense equipment to India, the deputy defense secretary noted; it's about fostering joint ventures.

"They don't want to just buy our stuff," Carter said. "They want to build our stuff with us and they want to develop new things with us, and they want to do research with us."

The joint C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft venture between the Indian multinational conglomerate Tata and Lockheed Martin is a perfect model of co-production, he said.

"India is now part of the supply chain [for the aircraft], and has the economic benefit -- the jobs benefit -- of being part of that," Carter said.

Future defense projects between the two countries will include both co-development and co-production, the deputy defense secretary said.

Today, Carter traveled to Hindon Air Force Station in Ghaziabad, India, the largest air base in Asia and home to No. 77 Squadron, which operates the six C-130J aircraft India acquired in 2008. The aircraft have been used in several humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations throughout the country. In August, a pilot from the squadron set a world record for the highest-altitude landing and takeoff, landing at an airstrip 16,614 feet above sea level.

Hindon also is home to the recently formed No. 81 Squadron. Known as the Skylords, the squadron was formed in September to fly the Indian air force's new C-17 Globemaster III transport jets, which began arriving earlier this year. Three of the heavy-lift aircraft have been delivered so far under the $4 billion deal, and seven more are scheduled to arrive by November 2014.

"We want India to have all the capabilities it needs to meet its security needs, and we want to be a key partner in that effort," Carter said.

"When you look at pictures of the Indian air force's C-130s participating in the recent flood relief efforts in the north, ... that tells us we're on the right track," he added.

DEPUTY SECRETARY CARTER VISITS HERAT, AFGHANISTAN CONSULATE TWO DAYS AFTER ATTACK

Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter addresses service members as he surveys the damage to the U.S. Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, Sept. 14, 2013. A day earlier, troops fought off a Taliban attack. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett 

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
Carter Visits Herat Consulate, Praises Defeat of Attackers
By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 14, 2013 - On the second day of his trip to Afghanistan to assess the progress of the retrograde, Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter visited the U.S. Consulate in Herat, which was attacked yesterday morning.

Following a stop at Camp Leatherneck for a briefing by Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Lee Miller, commander of Regional Command Southwest, Miller and Carter flew to Herat aboard a V-22 Osprey.

Two Afghan police officers and a security guard were killed in a complex early morning assault that involved armed Taliban fighters and a vehicle bomb. About 20 people were injured and the consulate building was damaged, and all seven of the Taliban attackers were killed.

"Now, the individuals that attacked here yesterday did what they did because they wanted to get headlines," Carter told the U.S., Afghan and coalition forces at Herat. But they didn't get the headlines they expected, the deputy defense secretary added.

"The headline they're getting is that they were defeated," he said. "They were defeated in just a few minutes. And not only were they defeated, but there was an overwhelming and incredibly confident American, Afghan and coalition response ... ready to deal with the situation."

Carter told the troops that he and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel were incredibly impressed with their efforts. "You should be very proud," he added.

After a brief stop at the Shindand air base, where Afghan air force pilots and aircraft maintainers are trained, Carter returned to Kabul for meetings with Afghan Defense Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammadi and Interior Minister Umar Daudzai.

DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY SAYS U.S. MILITARY AND INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS ARE ALIGNED

Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter delivers remarks after being honored with the Dwight D. Eisenhower Award and Medal by the National Defense Industrial Association at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in McLean, Va., May 3, 2013. The annual award recognizes leadership and strategic impact at the highest levels of national security. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Carter: Defense Industry Interests Align With Those of DOD
By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 6, 2013 - The long-term interests of the defense industry and the Defense Department are aligned, Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter said during a May 3 awards ceremony in McLean, Va.

At the ceremony, Carter received the Eisenhower Award from the National Defense Industrial Association. The award recognizes leadership and strategic impact at the highest levels of national security, according to an NDIA news release.

The success of the U.S. defense industry is in the nation's interest, Carter told the audience.

Though President Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell address in 1961 warned of the dangers of an outsized military-industrial complex, Carter said, the warning has been removed from its context. As a former Army general and supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe, Eisenhower clearly understood the vital role played by the defense industry in securing the nation, the deputy secretary noted.

"The larger point of his farewell address was that the interests of the country are served when leaders take the long view," he continued. Only by properly aligning ends with means in accordance with national interests, rather than special interests, can national leaders achieve the balance Eisenhower sought, Carter said.

Eisenhower advocated "balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped-for advantages, balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable, balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual [and] balance between the actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future," Carter said, quoting from the president's farewell address.

"He went on to say, 'Maintaining balance involves the element of time, as we peer into society's future. We -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow,'" he said.

The Defense Department is taking the long view, Carter said, understanding that it is operating at the convergence of two great historical trends. The first -- a time of unprecedented strategic change -- led President Barack Obama to make clear in the new defense strategy that "we're turning a strategic corner," the deputy secretary said. The second -- historic levels of financial turbulence -- will require the department to absorb reductions in defense spending in the interest of the nation's overall fiscal health, he said.

The country is moving from an era dominated by two wars toward a future defined by disparate challenges and opportunities, Carter said.

"We know what many of these challenges are -- continued turmoil in the Middle East, the persistent threat of terrorism, enduring threats like weapons of mass destruction and a range of new threats like cyber," the deputy secretary said.

With the challenges come great opportunities, he said. Among them, Carter noted, is shifting the Defense Department's great intellectual and physical weight from Iraq and Afghanistan to the Asia-Pacific region, "where America's future ... will lie, and where America will continue and must continue to play a seven-decade-old pivotal, stabilizing role.

"As we draw down from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, our force needs to make a very difficult transition," Carter continued, "from a large, rotational counterinsurgency-based force, to a leaner, more agile, more flexible and ready force for the future."

There was nothing wrong with the force the nation built for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Carter told the audienced. "It was the right force for the period," he added, noting that the Afghanistan conflict is not over. "We can't ever forget that that still remains job one, but we're going into a different period," he said.

The department's rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region is predominately a political and economic concept, not a military one, the deputy secretary said. But, the Defense Department's role is to enable the continuation of the region's 60 years of peace and prosperity, he said, often by simply leading by example. "We believe that our strong security presence in the Asia-Pacific has provided a critical foundation for our principles to take root," Carter said.

"Our partners in the region welcome our leadership and the values that underlie them," he added, "and therefore, I believe that our rebalance will be welcomed and reciprocated."

The rebalance isn't aimed at any one country, or group of countries, in the region, Carter noted. "It's good for us, and it's good for everyone in the region, and it includes everyone in the region."

If managed properly, the department's budget reductions and the nation's strategic shift can reinforce one another, he said.

"That is the task before us in the Department of Defense," the deputy secretary said. "We know, that in making this strategic transition, we only deserve the amount of money we need, and not the amount we've gotten used to. That's why, well before the current budget turmoil, we made reductions to the department's budget by $487 billion over the coming decade."

Other cuts were made earlier under former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to eliminate unneeded or underperforming programs, Carter said. Additionally, overseas contingency operations funds are decreasing now that the military has left Iraq and is drawing down from Afghanistan, he said.

"Taken together, these reductions compare in pace and magnitude to historical cycles in defense spending the nation has experienced ... after Vietnam and after the Cold War,"the deputy secretary said. "We need to continue our relentless effort to make every defense dollar count."

The department is committed to this effort, he added, noting that "everything will be on the table" during an ongoing review of strategic choices and management. The results of the review will be delivered to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in the coming weeks, Carter said.

"The choices that the secretary and the president make in response to these points in the following months will then inform our [fiscal year 2015] budget submission, as well as our [fiscal 2014] execution decisions," he added. "Ideally, we will have all three elements -- stability, time and flexibility -- with which to make critical budget decisions, but we must anticipate a wide range of possible contingencies."

Tough choices will be necessary in the years to come, Carter acknowledged, -- and will have significant impact on the United States, particularly if deep spending cuts required by the budget sequester remain in force.

"These tough choices, by necessity, must favor national interests over parochial priorities," he said. "What we cannot afford, as President Eisenhower said, is a debate in which people are in favor of sequester, but just not in their own back yard.

"Fiscal 'NIMBY-ism' is exactly the wrong policy prescription for what ails us," the deputy secretary said.

U.S. DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY CARTER ON THE U.S.- PHILIPPINE ALLIANCE

Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter, right center, meets with Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, left center, at the Ministry of Defense in Manila, the Philippines, March 19, 2013. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Carter: U.S., Philippines Enjoy 'Longstanding' Alliance
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

MANILA, Philippines, March 19, 2013 - On the third stop of his weeklong trip to Asia, Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter met today with top officials here and carried greetings from President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to be delivered to President Benigno Aquino III.

During meetings with the president's executive secretary, Paquito Ochoa, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, Carter discussed a range of regional range of regional security issues important to the U.S.-Philippines alliance.

Carter began his visit in Manila by meeting with Gazmin at Camp Aguinaldo, the military headquarters of the Philippine Army and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, or AFP. The men discussed the importance of the U.S.-Philippines alliance, including the continued U.S. commitment to work together on maritime domain awareness, capacity building of the AFP, defense modernization and continued assistance in counterterrorism. Carter emphasized the importance of working together to resolve incidents.

Later in the day, Carter met with del Rosario and senior Foreign Affairs Department officials, followed by a lunch that del Rosario hosted. The two discussed a range of issues including U.S.-Philippine efforts to enhance cooperation across security, diplomatic and economic sectors, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and a code of conduct for resolving disputes in the South China Sea, as well as other bilateral and regional topics.

Carter wrapped up his Manila visit by meeting with Ochoa at the Malacanang Palace complex. The deputy defense secretary addressed issues involving the U.S. rebalance to Asia and concerns about the possible impact to that effort because of defense budget cuts. Discussions ranged from ASEAN and the regional security architecture to Philippine defense modernization efforts.

During a media interview this afternoon, Carter said he came here "because this region of the world is so important to America's future in many ways -- political and economic, but also in the security sphere."

And because of his position as deputy defense secretary, he said, "obviously, I'm focused on the security area. In that context, the United States has deep and abiding security roots here."

As he met with officials, Carter took time to share a more personal reason for his appreciation of the Philippines. A physicist by training, the deputy defense secretary received part of that training in at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In the coffee room there, he got to know a senior fellow from the MIT Center for International Studies.

"He was such a great advisor and mentor to students," Carter said of the man who turned out to be Benigno Aquino Jr., father of the current president of the Philippines. Aquino was assassinated in 1983.

"He and his wife would come to social events at MIT, ... and I got to know them and had great affection for them, ... so I've always had a little place in my heart for the Aquino family," he said. "And that's another good reason to be here in the Philippines."

The United States and the Philippines "have lots of human connections together, all of us," Carter said, "as well as having important global responsibilities and regional responsibilities that we exercise together."

U.S. engagement is part of what has helped to maintain the region's security structure since World War II, he added. Such engagement has allowed Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia "to rise and prosper because they've had peace and security, and now China and India are rising and prospering."

The Philippines, Carter observed, "is a longstanding friend and ally and partner with us in providing that kind of security."

The United States recognized the Philippines as an independent state and established diplomatic relations in 1946. Except for the 1942-to-1945 Japanese occupation during World War II, the Philippines had been under U.S. sovereignty since the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898, according to a State Department fact sheet.

The U.S.-Philippine Bilateral Strategic Dialogue -- the third held last December in Manila -- advances discussion and cooperation on bilateral, regional and global issues. The United States has designated the Philippines a major non-NATO ally, and the nations have close security ties.

The Manila Declaration, signed in 2011, reaffirmed the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty as the foundation for a robust, balanced and responsive security partnership. Such a treaty, Carter said, "opens the door to the U.S.-Filipino relationship, which exists along with other key treaty relationships in the region."

During this week's Asia trip, the deputy defense secretary has visited South Korea and Japan, which are also key treaty partners. And the United States has important treaty relationships with Australia and Thailand.

"These longstanding treaty relationships and other kinds of emerging partnerships are ... part of a historical role that we play with countries in this part of the world -- to protect them, to protect us, but also, very importantly, that is what provides the foundation for peace and security in the region," he said.

"That's the climate in which all countries, the Philippines among them, have been able to ... develop politically and prosper economically in an environment of peace," Carter said. "That's what everybody deserves, and that's what we're about when we talk about our alliance with the Philippines and our alliance structure in this part of the world."

DEFENSE LEADER SENDS LETTERS TO GOVENORS MOST AFFECTED BY SEQUESTRATION

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Carter Sends Letters to Governors Most Affected by DOD Cuts
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2013 - Sequestration will have serious and real effects for people, and to hammer that point home Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter has sent warning letters to the governors of the states that will suffer most.

The letters alert the governors of sequestration's impact on military bases their states, and both the direct and indirect impacts of sequestration. The 10 states most affected are: California, Virginia, Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Alabama, and Washington.

Sequestration means the department must cut $47 billion from its fiscal year 2013 budget -- meaning $47 million by the end of September 2013. All states will be affected, but these 10 states will bear the largest brunt.

For example, roughly 26,000 Defense Department civilian employees work or reside in Pennsylvania, and they will take home $155 million less over the rest of fiscal 2013. In Virginia, maintenance on 11 Navy ships at Norfolk Naval Base is cancelled, with a associated loss of civilian contractor jobs. In California, sequestration will affect Beale, Edwards, Vandenberg and Travis air force bases.

In Maryland, the cuts will impact the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground, Andrews Air Force Base and Patuxent Naval Air Station. In Texas, operations at bases around the state will be affected and operations at Red River Army Depot could lose $1.4 billion.

"While these reductions are unfortunate and will be damaging, the department is doing everything within our power to minimize adverse effects on our national security mission," Carter wrote to all the governors.

He vowed the department will work with the states to help manage the effects of the reductions. "Should Congress take subsequent actions that change the level or the nature of these reductions, we are committed to working closely with you to manage changes quickly," Carter wrote.

DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY CARTER WARNS OF CHAOS

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Spending Cuts Would Cause Chaos, Carter Says
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 2013 - Deep, across-the board spending cuts scheduled to take effect March 1 would cause chaos for the Defense Department, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said in a televised interview yesterday.

Carter told Judy Woodruff on "PBS Newshour" that the department will do what it can to minimize disruptions should the cuts kick in, but it can do only so much.

"We don't have a lot of flexibility, and we don't have a lot of time in that regard," Carter said.

A "sequestration" mechanism in budget law requires DOD to cut $46 billion in spending from March 1 until the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year unless Congress comes up with an alternative that would stop sequestration from triggering. This comes on top of $487 billion in defense spending reductions already programmed over 10 years, and Pentagon officials have noted that operating under continuing resolutions in the absence of a fiscal year budget complicates matters.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta notified Congress yesterday that the department is preparing to place almost all of its 800,000 civilian employees on unpaid furlough for one day a week through the rest of the fiscal year. These are not faceless bureaucrats who simply shuffle paper, Carter said.

"They repair our ships. They maintain our aircraft," Carter said. "That's who these people are, and 44 percent of them are veterans. It's a terrible thing to have to deprive them of some of their income."

If sequestration triggers, operations and maintenance -- the primary funding that ensures readiness -- will be particularly affected. The department will ensure units deploying to Afghanistan will receive the training needed to succeed. But this will rob other units readying for other missions, Carter said.

"That's just a mathematical fact of doing sequester," he added. "This is very damaging to national security."

In planning for sequestration, the Navy already has postponed sending an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf to join one already there, to ensure there will be enough ready carriers to dispatch to other critical areas if required.

"In everything we do, we're really trying to keep on protecting the country and delivering the defense under these circumstances," Carter said.

U.S.-TURKISH OFFICIALS MEET

U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, left, meets with Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz at the Ministry of National Defense in Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 4, 2013. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Carter Meets with Jordanian Leaders, Praises U.S. Troops
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

AMMAN, Jordan, Feb. 5, 2013 - On the final leg of his six-day visit to Europe and the Middle East, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter met with military leaders and Jordan's King Abdullah II here today, and praised U.S. forces stationed here during what he called a pivotal time for the region.

Carter spoke with young U.S. soldiers this afternoon before shaking their hands, giving them commemorative coins and posing with them in photographs.

The deputy secretary also expressed appreciation for Jordan as a premier U.S. ally lately burdened with caring for thousands of refugees fleeing over its borders to escape hunger, brutality and death rising in Syria since March 2011 by the clash between opposition fighters and the Bashar Assad regime.

"I've been in the region for several days, and around the region many times," Carter told the soldiers. "The good news is that everybody wants to be a friend to the United States, ... not only because we're good at what we do, but because we're good. And they like and value that -- none better than the Jordanians."

In October, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta announced that Pentagon officials were working with Turkey and Jordan to help with collateral humanitarian and security issues affecting them because of Syria.

"We have been working with Jordan for a period of time now on a number of the issues that have developed as a result of what's happening in Syria," Panetta said during a news conference at the time.

Humanitarian relief was among those issues, as was help for Jordan in monitoring Syrian chemical and biological weapon sites and determining how best to respond if such weapons were used, the secretary added.

"We've also been working with [Jordan] to try to develop their own military and operational capabilities in the event of any contingency," Panetta said.

"We have a group of our forces there," he added, "working to help them build a headquarters and to ensure that we make the relationship between the United States and Jordan a strong one [to] deal with all the possible consequences" of the war in Syria.

In a cool and hazy Jordanian capital today, Carter started his day at the U.S. Embassy, where he met with Deputy Chief of Mission Stephanie Williams and received a briefing from the country team.

Afterward, in the embassy's tiled circular courtyard, the deputy secretary greeted each of the seven Marine Corps guards, took photographs with them, gave them coins from his office, and thanked them for their service to the embassy and the nation.

He also chatted, shook hands and posed with several members of the embassy staff.

Carter later traveled to one of King Abdullah II's royal palaces, Bab As-Salaam, meaning "the Gate of Peace." Joining the king and the deputy secretary there were Dr. Fayez Tarawneh, chief of the Royal Diwan, or the main executive office of the king; Imad Fakhoury, the king's office director; and Gen. Mashal al Zaben, chairman of defense.

Next, just before Carter spoke with Army troops at the military installation in Amman, he sat down for lunch there with 10 of the young soldiers working in Jordan to help with repercussions of the Syrian crisis.

One of the soldiers was Spc. Sarah Moyer, who has been in the Army for about 18 months and has five years to go on her contract. Moyer is a military police soldier from McDonough, Ga., who works in the security force on the Amman installation.

Moyer joined the Army initially to increase her education, she said.

"I know it betters you in a lot of ways. It increases your [physical training] and brings up morale and teaches you teamwork," she noted. "A lot of main values you hold in the Army [convinced me] to join. So I'll uphold those values and learn more about them."

Marquise Washington is an information technology specialist from Los Angeles who joined the Army about a year ago when he was looking for a stable career. "I've had a good experience so far here in Jordan and in my military career," the father of two said.

After lunch, Carter congratulated the soldiers on their courage and commitment and told them to keep up the good work.

"It's sad what's going on in Syria and what the Assad regime is doing and willing to do to its people," he told the soldiers. "He's on the wrong side of history and will lose and suffer the consequences in the end.

"I don't know when that will be -- how many months or even years -- but that is a result that is inevitable," Carter continued. "And ... until that happens, your help is going to be needed and our help is going to be needed, and that's what your mission is all about."

DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE CARTER INSPECT MISSILE BATTERY IN SYRIA

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter speaks to troops on arrival on a Turkish army base at Gaziantep, Turkey, Feb. 4, 2013. Carter was there to see Patriot missile batteries installed with the help of U.S. forces to help deter potential incursions by Syrian forces. DOD photo By Glenn Fawcett.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Carter Visits Turkish Defense Leaders, U.S. Patriot Battery Troops
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 4, 2013 - On his first official visit to this prosperous capital as deputy defense secretary, Ashton B. Carter spent the day with Turkish defense leaders, then traveled southeast to Gaziantep near the Syrian border to examine the first of two U.S. Patriot missile batteries to be located there.

But Carter's first stop was the U.S. Embassy here on Atatürk Boulevard, where on Friday a suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint on the embassy's perimeter, killing Mustafa Akarsu, a guard in his forties and the father of two teenagers.

At the embassy today, Ambassador Frank Ricciardone ordered the American flag flown at half-staff until sunset on Wednesday, and the embassy operated on a reduced-manning schedule.

Those who did come to work to support the deputy secretary's planned visit observed a moment of silence at 1:13 p.m., exactly 72 hours after the bomb went off. The explosion blew out checkpoint windows, creating scattered debris, wounding several people and ending Akarsu's own life as he attempted to save the lives of his colleagues and friends.

Carter met with the ambassador this morning and walked the blast site. He then met with Akarsu's coworkers in the local guard force and with the embassy's seven Marine Corps guards. He also met -- in person and by telephone and digital video conference -- with about 45 embassy staff members from Ankara, Istanbul and the consulate in Adana, as well as with U.S. staff members from Turkey's Incirlik Air Base.

After the bombing, Carter told the embassy staff, "the ambassador called me and said, 'Do you still want to come?' And I said, 'One blankety-blank isn't going to stop us.'"

Carter said that later in the day he would visit the 80 or so Army troops manning and supporting the NATO-led U.S. deployment of two Patriot missile batteries at Gaziantep "because that ... stands for the strength of our alliance and the willingness of America to stand with Turkey at this moment of danger, when so many unsettled things are happening in Syria [that] pose a threat to the people of Turkey."

The deputy secretary added, "We stand with the people and the government of Turkey, and missile defense is just one way we are doing that."

This afternoon Carter began meeting with Turkish defense leaders.

At the Ministry of National Defense, he and Undersecretary of Defense for Industries Murad Bayar met and discussed three major U.S.-Turkey defense acquisition efforts.

Later, at the Ministry of National Defense, Carter met with Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz, and both made statements ahead of their discussion.

"This unfortunate incident [involving the death of Mustafa Akarsu] has again shown us that the new [era] is one in which cooperation between countries has become more important than ever," Yilmaz said, adding, "The fight against terrorism has great importance and calls for sustained cooperation."

In his remarks, Carter said he planned his trip to Turkey to discuss with Yilmaz and other leaders the military-to-military cooperation long shared by the United States and Turkey in ... counterterrorism, missile defense and every other area of cooperation."

For decades, he added, the United States "has been pleased and honored to be your partners ... [and] we thank the government of Turkey for everything it does to combat terrorism with us."

Later in the day, Carter traveled to a military facility in Gaziantep, just over 60 miles from Aleppo, Syria, where one U.S. Patriot battery is operational and another will be moved from nearby Incirlik as soon as the grounds at the base are prepared for its massive components and the troops required to operate the systems.

The Patriot missile system uses ground-based radar to find, identify and track incoming missile targets. The system can lock onto an incoming missile that's up to 50 miles away. The system can even be made to operate automatically.

Patriot missiles, each weighing nearly a ton, launch from ground-based batteries. A battery is made up of MIM-104 surface--to-air missiles; a launcher that holds, transports, aims and launches the missiles; an MPQ-53 or MPQ-65 radar antenna for detecting incoming missiles; an equipment van called an engagement control station that holds computers and consoles to control the battery; and power-plant truck with two 150-kilowatt generators that power the radar antenna and van. Each Patriot missile battery can have up to 16 launchers.

At the missile launch site, Carter spoke with about 18 soldiers -- men and women -- who operate the site, and then spoke with 80 more in a small theater near the battery site. They're assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, based on Fort Sill, Okla.

"I'm so pleased that two days ago you rolled all the way in from Incirlik with all this fantastic equipment," Carter told the troops.

"Your country is watching and the world is watching and what they see is this magnificent performance," he added. "The good people of Gaziantep see it and the good people of Turkey see it and the good people of the Middle East see it and your country sees it. And you know what? The bad guys see it too."

Carter told the young men and women that they're doing a significant thing.

"When you place your next call," the deputy secetary said, "whether it's to a spouse or your mom and dad, kids, if you have them, or good friends ... tell them that you were thanked today by the leadership of your department, the leadership of your country, for what you're doing here."

Tonight, after leaving Turkey, Carter will travel to Amman, Jordan, to meet on Tuesday with U.S. Embassy personnel and government and defense leaders. He'll also have lunch with troops to thank them for their service to the nation.

DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY CARTER ATTENDS MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE

U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter walks with U.S. Ambassador to Germany Philip D. Murphy as they prepare to meet with German Defense Minister Karl Ernst Thomas de Maizière during the 49th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Feb. 2, 2013. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

 
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
In Munich, Carter Details Sequestration's Reckless Reality
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

Munich, Feb. 2, 2013 - Before one of the world's largest gatherings of foreign and defense ministers, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter took time to detail the grim consequences a second round of severe and potentially imminent budget cuts could have on the Defense Department.

Carter spoke as part of an expert panel that took the stage here late in the afternoon on day two of the Munich Security Conference, also called the Wehrkunde Conference on Security Policy.

Their topic was the future of European defense, and Carter was joined on the panel by Netherlands Defense Minister Jeanine-Antoinette Hennis-Plasschaert, Russian Federation Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, European Union Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Michel Barnier, NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation Gen. Jean-Paul Paloméros and others.

As the deputy secretary neared the end of his talk, he remarked on what has become nearly a routine occurrence at Munich security conferences -- a U.S. defense secretary urging allies to meet their agreed-on NATO benchmarks for defense spending.

"At this point at Wehrkunde," Carter said, "it's traditional for the DOD leader of the U.S. delegation to emphasize, as [former Defense Secretary] Bob Gates did memorably a few years ago, the need for allies to provide the necessary resources for defense."

"'In the final analysis,'" the deputy secretary quoted Gates as saying, "'there's no substitute for nations providing resources necessary to have the capability they need when faced with security challenges.'"

This time at Wehrkunde, Carter told the audience, "I have to add my own country to this exhortation because we're facing the very real prospect of a huge and reckless additional cut in our defense budget."

The department absorbed a budget cut of $487 billion over 10 years beginning in fiscal year 2012, crafting as a result, and with input from every part of DOD and the services, a defense strategy for the 21st century that President Barack Obama and the Defense Department leadership launched in January 2012.

The looming March 1 threat of another half-trillion dollars slashed from military spending over 10 years will happen unless Congress manages to avoid the "huge and reckless cuts," he said, that sequestration would generate.

"What's tragic is that this is not a result of economic emergency or recession," the deputy secretary said. "It's not because defense cuts are the answer to the fiscal challenge -- do the math. It's not in reaction to a change to a more peaceful world. It's not due to a breakthrough in military technology or a new strategic insight. It's not because paths of revenue growth and entitlement spending have been explored and exhausted. It's purely collateral damage from political gridlock."

In response, as the Defense Department's chief management officer, Carter said he has directed "that we take some immediate steps ... to protect the department as best as it is possible to do in this eventuality."

One action will be to freeze the hiring of civilians, he said, adding, "And I'll just remind you that the Department of Defense hires between 1,000 and 2,000 people a week," 44 percent of them veterans.

He'll also reduce temporary-term employees and defer maintenance contracts, among many other actions.

Sequestration will affect every function in every state and every district, he said, producing economic inefficiency and needless waste.

"The result over time, in fact very quickly, would be a readiness crisis. And the effect over a longer period of time would be to threaten the [new defense] strategy itself," Carter said.

On the European side of the Atlantic, he added, "I know that, in myriad ways that are different for every country, something similar is happening -- a political dynamic that threatens spending."

That's why, in his Wehrkunde address today, Carter spoke to Europeans and Americans, he said, "about the level of investment they're willing to make to protect our great countries and the great unity and values represented by our countries."

DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY CARTER'S REMARKS ON SEQUESTRATION PLANNING

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Carter: Sequestration Planning Requires Balance
By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2013 - Planning for sequestration is the practical thing to do and doesn't indicate a lack of confidence in Congress, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said yesterday in an interview on "This Week in Defense News with Vago Muradian."

Though Congress voted earlier this month to delay until March 2 the implementation of about $500 billion in across-the-board defense spending cuts over 10 years, Carter explained, the threat still looms and the Pentagon must be ready.

Complicating matters, is that the Defense Department -- as is all of the federal government -- is still operating under a continuing resolution, "which means we are stuck with the budget of last year, category by category," he added. The continuing resolution is set to expire March 27, unless Congress approves a new appropriations act for fiscal 2013.

Preparing for this confluence of events requires a delicate balance between acting too early and planning too late, Carter said.

"The reason not to make adjustments too early is these are not desirable things to do," he said. "They're not good for defense, so you don't want to do them until you have to."

For example, Carter said, the Defense Department normally hires about 1,000 people each week to maintain a stable number of personnel. "However," he continued, "if I worry that I'm going to run short of money later in the fiscal year, I'd better stop hiring."

On Jan. 10, Carter issued a memo authorizing defense components to implement measures that will mitigate the effects of fiscal uncertainty, including hiring freezes, termination of temporary employees and cancelling certain equipment maintenance contracts.

"Now that's not a good thing," Carter said. "That's jobs -- 44 percent of the people we hire are veterans. And we care about hiring veterans. And of course, most importantly, we care about getting the work done."

When he talks about DOD civilians, Carter said, he's not talking about bureaucrats in Washington. "These are shipyard workers -- these are people who are doing important things," he added.

The memo requires defense components to submit their plans to Carter's office, he said, to ensure their efforts are balanced and to provide components with an opportunity to learn from each other's approaches. Meanwhile, he said, the department is taking prudent steps now in case the continuing resolution is extended for the whole year or the sequestration cuts take effect.

"What we're trying to do is take steps that are reversible," he explained. "They're harmful if they last the whole year. But if I take them now, I'll be better off later in the year."

For now, he said, these are steps that can be quickly undone.

"Later in the year, I'm going to have to do things that are irreversible -- that do irreversible harm," Carter said, including furloughing federal employees and reducing military training.

"Obviously, I don't want to do that. ... If it goes on long enough, we will do damage to readiness that will be difficult and take years to reverse," he said.

Preparations have been ongoing for some time, Carter said.

"We've been doing that quietly," he said, "because we haven't wanted to act as though sequestration or any of these things was either inevitable or, certainly, something that we could manage with ease. These are damaging, destructive things to do."

U.S. SECURITY STRATEGY WHEN MONEY IS TIGHT

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter delivers remarks at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy in Durham, N.C., Nov. 29, 2012. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett
　

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Carter Outlines U.S. Security Strategy in Tight-budget Era
By Amaani Lyle
American Forces Press Service

DURHAM, N.C., Nov. 30, 2012 - In a speech at Duke University here yesterday, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter outlined new security strategies and challenges that he said will define the nation's future in a post-war era of fiscal constraint.

Carter said the need to keep the department's "fiscal house in order" after more than a decade of war and under the threat of sequestration has spurred an approach of rebalancing and innovation as the Defense Department pivots to the Asia-Pacific region.

"We in the Department of Defense ... are at a moment of great strategic consequence and great strategic transition; we're at the confluence of two great forces," Carter said. "After almost 12 years of unrelenting and uninterrupted war ... in two particular places, Iraq and Afghanistan -- that era is coming to an end."

While Carter acknowledged the war in Afghanistan persists, he expressed confidence in the strategy's probability of success as U.S. forces draw down and Afghan security forces maintain stability.

"... The principal requirement [is] to ensure the country is no longer a danger to the U.S.," he said.

Looking forward, Carter said, military leadership determined that U.S. forces must be leaner, more agile, ready, and technologically advanced.

"We wanted to take ... steps to make the most effective use of our force in the era after Iraq and Afghanistan," he said.

The new concept of readiness, according to Carter, involves preserving and building on the strength of the all-volunteer active duty, Guard and Reserve force developed during the last decade.

"We wanted to retain [the force] and we wanted to respect it [with] no sudden changes as the war came to an end," he said.

Carter said he also aims to shift the weight of intellectual effort to future challenges by continuing to invest in special operations forces, electronic warfare, and space and cyber technology.

These investment areas, he explained, will be best leveraged in the Asia-Pacific region, where a considerable amount of the U.S. future security and economic interests lie.

Carter noted the unique history of the region that he said never had NATO nor "any structure to heal the wounds of World War II and yet it has had peace and stability for 70 years."

Because he credits sustained American military presence in the region with the long span of peace, Carter said his goal as the U.S. pivots to the Pacific is simple.

"We want to 'keep on keepin' on' with what that region has: an environment of peace and stability in which the countries of the region -- all of them -- can continue to enjoy economic prosperity," Carter said.

As partnerships with Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Australia continue to blossom, Carter said he urges broadening the U.S. military strategy to one of national strategy including economic engagement, long-standing principles of self-governance, and free, open access to commerce.

"That environment is not a birthright," Carter said. "It's something that results in important measure from the continued pivotal presence of the U.S. military in that region."

The U.S. will continue to work with new security partners such as India, Philippines, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations collective, and China while setting priorities for the kinds of capabilities that are relevant for the Asia-Pacific region, Carter said.

"... We can enhance our Asia-Pacific region posture ... because of the end of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars which frees up capacity," he added.

Therefore, Carter said, the U.S. will move more security assets into the region, such as the deployment of F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft to Japan and an expanding rotational bomber presence on Guam.

Key defense investments that remain shielded from budget cuts include KC-46 tanker aircraft, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technology and the Virginia Class submarine, which Carter said maintains "unrivaled undersea dominance." New training infrastructure involves joint, multi-lateral exercises designed to strengthen partnerships with nations in the Asia-Pacific region, he added.

"Partners are a force multiplier for us," Carter said. "We're not only emphasizing our existing alliances and partnerships, but [we're also] trying as hard as we can to build new ones."

It is for these reasons, he said, that the U.S. can and will find the military capacity and intellectual resources to support the strategic rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region.

But Carter shared a question he said is on the minds of many Americans: Can the U.S. accomplish these endeavors with the anticipated budget cuts?

As the DOD's strategic juncture in history and the current era of fiscal belt-tightening overlap, Carter described the defense strategy as an "an unprecedented process" in terms of the depth of presidential involvement.

Carter said President Barack Obama invested significant time and effort with defense leadership to develop strategic budgetary cuts.

Still, Carter explained, absent swift Congressional approval for follow-on measures to the Budget Control Act, sequestration could be "disastrous" for national defense.

"If it comes to pass, it will hollow out the force," he said.

In the meantime, Carter said he and other DOD officials remain resolute in the task of providing U.S. national security while being good stewards of taxpayer dollars.

"We hope that by being good strategists and sound managers, we can continue to defend the country and enjoy the trust of the people it's our responsibility to defend," Carter said.

U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AND BETTER BUYING STRATEGY

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter offers opening remarks as he introduces Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, to brief Pentagon reporters about the Defense Department's "Better Buying Power 2.0" initiative, Nov. 13, 2012. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT,
Defense Officials Preview 'Better Buying Power 2.0'

By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13, 2012 - Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter today unveiled a proposed new phase of the Defense Department's "Better Buying Power" initiative that since 2010 has shaped the department's acquisition arm to "do more without more."

Carter told reporters during a Pentagon briefing that when he, as undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, and then-Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced the first round of "efficiencies" aimed at trimming defense spending, Gates "foresaw, correctly, that the days of ever-increasing defense budgets were coming to an end."

Better Buying Power, introduced in September 2010, was the acquisition contribution to the efficiencies initiative, Carter said.

"It was directed at the $400 billion that the department spends annually on goods and services, ... to get more capability for the warfighter and more value for the taxpayer by obtaining greater efficiency and productivity in defense spending what economists call 'productivity growth,'" he explained.

Now, after planning for a $487 billion decrease in spending over the next decade, the department will incorporate some lessons its members have learned since 2010 when it rolls out the final version of Better Buying Power 2.0 early in 2013, Carter said.

The deputy secretary said hundreds of examples exist of Defense Department acquisition executives putting the Better Buying Power principles into practice. "Each of these examples shows what we can achieve if we rededicate ourselves to acquisition best practices," he added.

Carter then handed the briefing off to Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. Kendall noted the department's proposed plan for the updated initiative will be open for review and comment for two months before a final version takes effect.

Kendall described the seven broad focus areas for the new defense buying initiative:

-- Achieve affordable programs;

-- Control costs throughout the product life cycle;

-- Offer incentives for productivity and innovation in industry and government;

-- Eliminate unproductive processes and bureaucracy;

-- Promote effective competition;

-- Improve tradecraft in acquisition of services; and

-- Improve the professionalism of the total acquisition workforce.

Kendall noted the new version includes some 36 initiatives grouped under those seven headings. In some cases, he said, they replace the original 23 initiatives in five focus areas.

"It turns out that defense acquisition is a pretty complicated subject," he noted. "And there aren't easy, simple solutions that are going to ... reform acquisition and make everything ... better overnight with one or two policy changes."

Lack of productivity -- both in government's bureaucratic processes and in industry "cycle time" – is one complicated area the acquisition chief said he thinks a lot about, and which carries over from the original 2010 initiative. Cycle time, he said, translates into "how long it takes us to get products to the field" – and he added that he's "very unhappy" with the answer.

"It's taking much too long, as far as I'm concerned," Kendall said. "And I have several efforts under way to try to understand what the root cause of that is." Delays can occur at many stages, he noted -- in setting and changing requirements, in testing, and even in production.

"Is industry not as agile as it once was? There are a number of possible causes there, and it's probably some combination of them all, together. ... But I would definitely like to reduce cycle times," he said.

The new effort brings new approaches, but the same aim, to defense acquisition as 2010's Better Buying Power initiative, Kendall said: to give troops fighting the nation's wars the best equipment, and to get good value for every taxpayer dollar.

Kendall said he sees results from the two-year-old effort, but he echoed defense leaders' statements for months past when he warned that such progress, and any plans to achieve deliberate cost savings, will wither if the Budget Control Act's sequester mechanism takes effect in January.

Sequestration would trigger an additional $500 billion in across-the-board defense spending cuts over the next decade if Congress fails to agree on an alternative.

"It's a horrible way to take money out [of the defense budget]," he said. "It really flies in the face of everything we're trying to accomplish here."

CARTER WANTS MORE PROGESS ON CYBER DEFENSE

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Carter Urges Stepped Up Progress on Cyber Defense
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2012 - Even as the Defense Department increases investments in cyber capabilities, officials are working to reduce vulnerabilities in their own networks and in those of contractors who build sensitive defense systems, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said today.

Speaking at the Air Force Association's Annual Air and Space Conference and Technology Exposition in Maryland, Carter said DOD's cyber concerns are threefold.

"Two of [these parts] we can get our hands on, including by managerial moves within the department, and a third ... is harder to get our hands on," the deputy secretary said.

The first is DOD's defense of its own networks, he said, noting that task is "technically very challenging."

It's paramount that DOD maintains security and integrity across its cyber networks, Carter said, because "we depend on them ... today in everything we do."

The second part involves developing cyber weapons as weapons of war, he said, "doing the intelligence preparation of the battlefield for their employment and planning for their employment. Again, that's something we can do within our own walls and are doing."

The third part is protecting the nation at large from cyberattack, he added, a job that's harder because DOD plays only a role in a larger cast.

The scope of DOD's responsibility for domestic cyber defense extends to the dependence of DOD installations and bases on the U.S. cyber infrastructure, and on the use of DOD data and plans by contractors who build the department's sensitive systems.

"First of all, other parts of the government have capabilities and responsibilities and we work with them. But the most important thing is that most of those networks are ... owned and controlled by private entities who typically fail to invest, or underinvest, in their security," the deputy secretary said.

"When we offer to assist them in protecting [the networks], we run up against barriers that we're slowly trying to knock down and reason our way through," he added.

Such barriers could include antitrust issues if the department provides information to a particular business, he said.

"Do we have to provide the same information to company B? Can company A provide information to company B or does that violate the antitrust laws?" Carter said. "Can company A provide information back to the United States or is that providing personal information to the government that is on their networks?"

He questioned whether DOD should require private industry to control and strengthen its cyber networks, or whether that would be interpreted as excessive government regulation.

"These are all tough problems," he said.

When it comes to dealing with issues of safeguarding the nation as a whole from cyberattack, "we're working our way through all these issues, and my own view is [we're doing it] way too slowly," Carter said.

The Cybersecurity Act of 2012, which called for minimum cyber security performance standards for critical infrastructure that the U.S. government would help develop with private industry, fell short of passage during an Aug. 8 Senate vote.

"We were hoping for some legislative relief this summer that we didn't get out of the Congress," Carter said.

Meanwhile, he said, the Defense Department is considering making U.S. Cyber Command, an armed forces subunified command subordinate to U.S. Strategic Command and led by Army Gen. Keith B. Alexander, a separate combatant command.

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."

DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY CARTER DISCUSSED DOD BUDGET PRIORITIES IN 21ST CENTURY

Photo:  Missile Interceptor Test.  Credit:  U.S. Navy.

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Carter: DOD Puts Strategy Before Budget for Future Force

By Cheryl Pellerin

WASHINGTON, May 30, 2012 - The Defense Department has placed strategy before budget in facing present and anticipated threats while building its joint force for the future, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said here today.

Carter discussed DOD's budget priorities for the 21st century at the American Enterprise Institute's Marilyn Ware Center for Security Studies, as President Barack Obama's fiscal year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act makes its way through Congress.

"While we've been fighting [in Iraq and Afghanistan] the world has not stood still, our friends and enemies have not stood still, and technology has not stood still," the deputy defense secretary said.

"Now we must meet these changes and ... in some places, catch up with them," Carter added. "To do that we must let go of the old and familiar and grab hold of the new to build what [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E.] Dempsey calls the Joint Force 2020, an agile and technologically advanced force of tomorrow."

The present time is one of great consequence for U.S. security because two forces are coming together simultaneously, Carter said.

"The first is obviously the Budget Control Act but the deeper, more fundamental force is the force of strategic history," he said.

The 2011 Budget Control Act is a U.S. federal statute that seeks to reduce the national deficit. A "sequestration" mechanism in the law automatically takes more cuts out of federal spending, including another $500 billion from the Defense Department, which would mean a total defense budget reduction of more than $1 trillion over 10 years.

The result of the Budget Control Act and the new defense strategy, Carter said, was a balanced strategic package in three parts.

First was continued DOD discipline in spending taxpayer dollars, Carter said. Second, he added, was to retain taxpayer confidence that DOD was putting its money to good use. Third, Carter said, was what DOD called rebalancing toward the Asia-Pacific region.

"The Pacific region has enjoyed peace and stability for over 60 years, and in that climate, first Japan, then Korea, and even China have had an environment in which they could develop economically and politically without war or conflict, the deputy defense secretary said.

"That's not a birthright," he added. "That is something that was guaranteed [and] reinforced by the pivotal military power of the United States in that region."

The Defense Department now is bolstering defense capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region, Carter said.

Meanwhile, the Air Force is continuing on with the new stealth bomber, the KC-46 tanker and a host of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, platforms, he said. Other capabilities going forward, he added, include a payload module for the Virginia-class submarines, conventional prompt strike and a host of upgrades in radars, electronic protection, electronic warfare, new munitions of various kinds and more.

Cyber security is another area where DOD will spend more in the future, Carter said, along with certain aspects of the defense science and technology base, special operations forces, unmanned aerial systems, space initiatives, and countering capabilities for terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, including bioterrorism.

In the time since DOD released its carefully balanced budget proposal, Carter said, Congress has marked up the document, adding and subtracting programs and equipment.

"We made decisions within the constraints of the Budget Control Act. We had to. And when additions are made to that package in one area, we of necessity have to take something out elsewhere," he said.

Altering DOD's proposed budget package "could lead to an unbalanced portfolio, for example, a hollowing of the force," Carter said, noting he wanted "to specifically call out a couple of important decisions in that regard."

Congress, he said, is resisting several changes proposed for cost savings by DOD to the following programs:

-- TRICARE, for which premiums would rise slightly for retirees;

-- Aircraft retirements, for some aging single-purpose aircraft in favor of newer multi-role aircraft;

-- Reductions in intra-theater strategic lift, for which modeling indicates is in excess of current need;

-- Reductions in size for the Army and Marine Corps to accommodate a wider spectrum of future combat capability; and

-- A somewhat larger and decidedly more capable Navy.

"In all our services and in all of our activities in national security, we're embarked on a strategic transition following the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," Carter said.

"This is just the beginning," he added. "This ship is making a very big turn, and we need to follow through on our plan and keep moving toward the future."