TOP U.S. MILITARY LEADERS TELL SENATORS COMMANDERS SHOULD HAVE PROSECUTION AUTHORITY IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Commanders Should Retain Prosecution Authority, Leaders Say
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2013 - The nation's top military leaders told senators today that commanders should retain responsibility for prosecuting service members accused of sexual assault.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., the vice chairman, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that taking that authority away could harm good order and discipline.

Dempsey and Winnefeld are under Senate consideration for second two-year terms in their posts.

Keeping commanders in the process ensures there is an active deterrent to the crime, Winnefeld said. "Somebody who is contemplating a sexual assault knows that they're going to be caught, that they're going to be prosecuted, and if they're prosecuted, they're going to be punished," he said. "It's our strong view that the commander is responsible for that."

Dempsey told the senators that Army officials have looked at the numbers on sexual assault prosecutions over the past two years and found 35 cases in which civilian district attorneys refused to take sexual assault cases to court.

"And the chain of command in the military insisted that the case be taken inside the military chain of command," he said.

Of those cases, 25 resulted in a court-martial conviction.

"That's a 71 percent conviction rate," the chairman said. The civilian rate is between 18 and 22 percent.

Dempsey stressed that this was done because commanders insisted on taking these cases. "I worry that if we turn this over to somebody else, whether it's a civilian DA or an entity in the military, that they're going to make the same kind of decisions that those civilian prosecutors make," he said.

Commanders must be responsible for ensuring the command climate does not tolerate sexual assault in any manner, Winnefeld said.

"It's about teaching people what a heinous crime this is," he added. "It's about reporting it if you see it. It's about intervening if you see it about to happen -- a whole host of measures that commanders must take to establish the climate inside their commands."

The Marine Corps also had examples similar to the Army, the admiral said. The Marine Corps went back to 2010 and found 28 cases in which civilian prosecutors declined to take the case.

"Of those, 16 of them, the Marine Corps was able to obtain a conviction of court-martial -- 57 percent," Winnefeld said. "So those are 16 perpetrators that are no longer walking the street and 16 victims who received justice who would not have received it otherwise."

DOD LEADERS SAY U.S. ON TRACK IN AFGHANISTAN

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 
U.S. on Track in Afghanistan, Military Leaders Tell Senate
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2013 - Despite Taliban resistance, U.S. military objectives in Afghanistan are on track, senior U.S. military leaders told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey and Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr. told the committee during their reconfirmation hearing that the International Security Assistance Force mission is on track to achieve its objectives in Afghanistan and end its mission by 2015.
President Barack Obama nominated Dempsey and Winnefeld for second terms as chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Dempsey told the senators that Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the ISAF commander, said he will achieve his campaign objectives in developing the Afghan security forces.

"Now, he does also acknowledge there are some potential gaps that he will have better clarity on after this fighting season," Dempsey said.

The chairman and vice chairman told the senators that they have given their recommendations for the size of a residual force the United States will leave in Afghanistan post-2014.

"We've provided several options," Dempsey said. "As the Joint Chiefs, we have made a recommendation on the size, and we've also expressed our view on when that announcement would best meet the campaign objectives."

The United States and Afghanistan must finalize a bilateral security arrangement -- with legal protections for American service members -- before a decision is made. Dempsey said he would stress this when he meets with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Dempsey told the senators he seeks opinions about Afghanistan.

"Besides speaking with General Dunford on a weekly basis and visiting him about quarterly, I also reach out to as many other people as I can possibly reach out to who can give us other views," he said.

All these reports align, the chairman added.

Having American troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 is crucial to success in the country, Dempsey said.

"Although I've told you that the progress of the security forces has been significant," he added, "they would not have the level of confidence to sustain themselves over time if it happens that precipitously."

U.S. ADMIRAL WINNEFELD SPEAKS OF U.S. DEFENSE STRATEGY AND BUDGET

PEARL HARBOR (Nov. 21, 2012) The guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) arrives at its homeport of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for the first time.

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
　
Winnefeld Discusses Defense Strategy, Budget Link
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 28, 2012 - The fiscal 2014 defense budget request will be a chance for the department to adjust funding to support the defense strategic guidance issued in January this year, Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said here yesterday.

The admiral spoke at the Atlantic Council's Commanders Series.

"We are continuing to filter and refine the decisions we made ... last year," Winnefeld said. "It is going on now and it is going on pretty well."

Winnefeld took office the same day that Congress passed the Budget Control Act -- Aug. 4, 2011. "I arrived in this job at the high-water mark of the defense budget for the last 20 years," he said.

Defense leaders had already termed the national deficit as a threat to national security, he said, noting that DOD will do its part to reduce it. "We would forcefully state that we are not necessarily the cause of this problem, but we all need to pitch in," he said.

Since 9/11, the department had virtually unlimited resources, the admiral said.

"Now we're in a different place, and as Winston Churchill said, 'Gentlemen, we're out of money, and now we have to think,'" he added.

Under the old strategy, cutting $489 billion out of the department over 10 years increased the risk to the nation, Winnefeld said. DOD leaders needed to work together to examine the department's core missions, he said, and how to accomplish those missions with declining resources..

"We knew we had to link strategy with the budget-making process," the admiral said.

At the same time, leaders had to account for changes in warfare, he said. This included changes across the range of combat bred by the efficacy of networks to speed awareness. It also included understanding the benefits interagency partners provide to the military and the importance of cross-service cooperation at all levels.

On the equipment side, the strategy had to consider the effect of unmanned vehicles, cyber capabilities, stealth technology and the contributions of "the best people we have ever had in the U.S. military," Winnefeld said. The talent that young people bring to the military was actually folded into the new strategy, he said.

The plan made a number of changes in a shift to the Pacific, the emphasis on cyber operations, being able to project power and increased emphasis on efficiency in the department, he said. The strategy keeps the counterterrorism force robust and retains the nuclear deterrent, Winnefeld noted.

The strategy calls for less emphasis on long-term stability operations, the admiral said.

"The way President [Barack] Obama has put it was, 'Give me fewer Iraqi Freedoms and more Desert Storms,'" Winnefeld said. "The point was, go in, do the 'defeat,' and get the job done. Don't end up there for 10 years trying to do nation building. We're just not going to be allowed to do that. We can't afford it."

The guidance took three months to publish, and then leaders used this guidance to build the fiscal 2013 DOD budget request. "It was the first time in my career that I have seen such a tight connection between the strategy document ... to 'means' decisions -- the things we were going to buy or not buy," the admiral said.

The bottom line, he said, is that the strategy covers national interests -- the security of the United States and its citizens; a strong U.S. economy; respect for universal values; and an international order that promotes peace, stability and security through stronger cooperation.

Senior leaders measure their decisions against this strategy, Winnefeld said, and will continue to do so with the new budget.

Winnefeld said he's optimistic that Congress will avoid sequestration, but if it takes place and the department has to cut another $500 billion from the budget, then the strategic guidance could be made moot. A new plan would have to be drawn up, increasing the risk to the nation, the admiral said.