FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C., April 24, 2013 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Capital One Financial Corporation and two senior executives for understating millions of dollars in auto loan losses incurred during the months leading into the financial crisis.
An SEC investigation found that in financial reporting for the second and third quarters of 2007, Capital One failed to properly account for losses in its auto finance business when they became higher than originally forecasted. The profitability of its auto loan business was primarily derived from extending credit to subprime consumers. As credit markets began to deteriorate, Capital One’s internal loss forecasting tool found that the declining credit environment had a significant impact on its loan loss expense. However, Capital One failed to properly incorporate these internal assessments into its financial reporting, and thus understated its loan loss expense by approximately 18 percent in the second quarter and 9 percent in the third quarter.
Capital One agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle the SEC’s charges. The two executives – former Chief Risk Officer Peter A. Schnall and former Divisional Credit Officer David A. LaGassa – also agreed to settle the charges against them.
"Accurate financial reporting is a fundamental obligation for any public company, particularly a bank’s accounting for its provision for loan losses during a time of severe financial distress," said George Canellos, Co-Director of the Division of Enforcement. "Capital One failed in this responsibility by underreporting expenses relating to its loan losses even as its own internal forecasting tool had signaled an increase in incurred losses due to the impending financial crisis."
According to the SEC’s order instituting settled administrative proceedings, beginning in October 2006 and continuing through the third quarter of 2007, Capital One Auto Finance (COAF) experienced significantly higher charge-offs and delinquencies for its auto loans than it had originally forecasted. The elevated losses occurred within every type of loan in each of COAF’s lines of business. Its internal loss forecasting tool assessed that its escalating loss variances were attributable to an increase in a forecasting factor it called the "exogenous" – which measured the impact on credit losses from conditions external to the business such as macroeconomic conditions. A change in this exogenous factor generally had a significant impact on COAF’s loan loss expense, and it was closely monitored by the company through its loss forecasting tool. Capital One determined that incorporating the full exogenous levels into its loss forecast would have resulted in a second quarter allowance build of $72 million by year-end. Since no such expense was incorporated for the second quarter, it would have resulted in a third quarter allowance build of $85 million by year-end.
However, according to the SEC’s order, instead of incorporating the results of its loss forecasting tool, Capital One failed to include any of COAF’s exogenous-driven losses in its second quarter provision for loan losses and included only one-third of such losses in the third quarter. The exogenous losses were an integral component of Capital One’s methodology for calculating its provision for loan losses. As a result, Capital One’s second and third quarter loan loss expense for COAF did not appropriately estimate probable incurred losses in accordance with accounting requirements.
The SEC’s order also finds that Schnall and LaGassa caused Capital One’s understatements of its loan loss expense by deviating from established policies and procedures and failing to implement proper internal controls for determining its loan loss expense. Schnall, who oversaw Capital One’s credit management function, took inadequate steps to communicate COAF’s exogenous treatment to the senior management committee in charge of ensuring that the company’s allowance was compliant with accounting requirements. Despite warnings, he also failed to ensure that the exogenous treatment was properly documented. LaGassa, who managed the COAF loss forecasting process, failed to ensure that the proper exogenous levels were incorporated into the COAF loss forecast. He also failed to ensure that the exogenous treatment was documented consistent with policies and procedures.
"Financial institutions, especially those engaged in subprime lending practices, must have rigorous controls surrounding their process for estimating loan losses to prevent material misstatements of those expenses," said Gerald W. Hodgkins, Associate Director of the Division of Enforcement. "The SEC will not tolerate deficient controls surrounding an issuer’s financial reporting obligations, including quarterly reporting obligations."
Capital One’s material understatements of its loan loss expense and internal controls failures violated the reporting, books and records, and internal controls provisions of the federal securities laws, namely Sections 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A), and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 12b-20 and 13a-13. Schnall and LaGassa caused Capital One’s violations of Section 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A), and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act and Rule 13a-13 thereunder and violated Exchange Act Rule 13b2-1 by indirectly causing Capital One’s books and records violations.
Schnall agreed to pay an $85,000 penalty and LaGassa agreed to pay a $50,000 penalty to settle the SEC’s charges. Capital One and the two executives neither admitted nor denied the findings in consenting to the SEC’s order requiring them to cease and desist from committing or causing any violations of these federal securities laws.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Senior Counsel Anita Bandy and Assistant Chief Accountant Amanda deRoo and supervised by Assistant Director Conway Dodge.
Friday, April 26, 2013
U.S.-U.A.E. DEFENSE COOPERATION DISCUSSION
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| U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel meets with United Arab Emirates Gen. Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, center, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the United Arab Emirates armed forces, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, foreign affairs minister, in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, April 25, 2013. Hagel met with defense leaders on his last stop of a six-day trip to the region. Photo Credit: DOD. |
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Hagel, Crown Prince Discuss U.S.-U.A.E. Defense Cooperation
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, April 26, 2013 - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's first trip to the Middle East included a visit and official dinner with Gen. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the United Arab Emirates armed forces.
The two men met last night and reaffirmed the strong U.S. commitment to defense and security cooperation between their countries, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said today in a statement.
In particular, he said, they discussed the United Arab Emirates' purchase of 25 F-16 Block 60 aircraft and the U.S. decision to release standoff weapons for sale to defend the United Arab Emirates. The smart standoff weapons can navigate to their targets and are more precise and can be fired at further distances than conventional weapons.
"The additional F-16s will increase both nations' interoperability and enhance their ability to perform joint and coalition security operations," Little added.
Hagel expressed appreciation for United Arab Emirates' contributions to NATO missions in Afghanistan and Libya.
"The secretary and the crown prince concurred on the need to build on the already robust defense ties, which include bilateral exercises and training, to expand cooperation in such areas as ballistic missile defense," Little said.
The United States and the United Arab Emirates agreed to hold regular bilateral defense consultations to further coordinate expanding military activities, the press secretary said.
They also discussed a range of regional challenges, he said, including the need for Iran to meet its international obligations with respect to its nuclear program, the ongoing conflict in Syria, and countering the threat of violent extremism.
Hagel's trip to the Middle East, which began April 20 and ends later today, also took the secretary to Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt to discuss common issues and interests in the region
THE CHEMISTRY OF SUN AND SNOW IN THE ARTIC
.jpg) |
| Artic Sun. U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service |
Sunlit Snow Triggers Atmospheric Cleaning, Ozone Depletion in the Arctic
Finding is related to snow atop sea ice, adding a new dimension to scientific concerns about loss of Arctic ice
National Science Foundation-funded researchers at Purdue University have discovered that sunlit snow is the major source of atmospheric bromine in the Arctic, the key to unique chemical reactions that purge pollutants and destroy ozone.
The new research also indicates that the surface snowpack above Arctic sea ice plays a previously unappreciated role in the bromine cycle and that loss of sea ice, which been occurring at an increasingly rapid pace in recent years, could have extremely disruptive effects in the balance of atmospheric chemistry in high latitudes.
The team's findings suggest the rapidly changing Arctic climate--where surface temperatures are rising three times faster than the global average--could dramatically change its atmospheric chemistry, said Paul Shepson, an NSF-funded researcher who led the research team. The experiments were conducted by Kerri Pratt, a postdoctoral researcher funded by the Division of Polar Programs in NSF's Geosciences Directorate.
"We are racing to understand exactly what happens in the Arctic and how it affects the planet because it is a delicate balance when it comes to an atmosphere that is hospitable to human life," said Shepson, who also is a founding member of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center. "The composition of the atmosphere determines air temperatures, weather patterns and is responsible for chemical reactions that clean the air of pollutants."
A paper detailing the results of the research, some of which was funded by NSF and some by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was recently published online at Nature Geoscience.
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| Arctic Sea Ice. Credit: NOAA. |
Ozone in the lower atmosphere behaves differently from the stratospheric ozone involved in the planet's protective ozone layer. This lower atmosphere ozone is a greenhouse gas that is toxic to humans and plants, but it also is an essential cleaning agent of the atmosphere.
Interactions between sunlight, ozone and water vapor create an "oxidizing agent" that scrubs the atmosphere of most of the pollutants human activity releases into it, Shepson said.
Temperatures at the poles are too cold for the existence of much water vapor and in the Arctic this cleaning process appears instead to rely on reactions on frozen surfaces involving molecular bromine, a halogen gas derived from sea salt.
This gaseous bromine reacts with and destroys atmospheric ozone. This aspect of the bromine chemistry works so efficiently in the Arctic that ozone is often entirely depleted from the atmosphere above sea ice in the spring, Shepson noted.
"This is just a part of atmospheric ozone chemistry that we don't understand very well, and this unique Arctic chemistry teaches us about the potential role of bromine in other parts of the planet," he said. "Bromine chemistry mediates the amount of ozone, but it is dependent on snow and sea ice, which means climate change may have important feedbacks with ozone chemistry."
While it was known that there is more atmospheric bromine in polar regions, the specific source of the natural gaseous bromine has remained in question for several decades, said Pratt, a Polar Programs-funded postdoctoral fellow and lead author of the paper.
"We thought that the fastest and best way to understand what is happening in the Arctic was to go there and do the experiments right where the chemistry is happening," Pratt said.
She and Purdue graduate student Kyle Custard performed the experiments in -45 to -34 Celsius (-50 to -30 Fahrenheit) wind chills near Barrow, Alaska. The team examined first-year sea ice, salty icicles and snow and found that the source of the bromine gas was the top surface snow above both sea ice and tundra.
"Sea ice had been thought to be the source of the gaseous bromine," she said. "We had an 'of course!' moment when we realized it was the snow on top of the sea ice. The snow is what is in direct contact with the atmosphere. Sea ice is critical to the process, though. Without it, the snow would fall into the ocean, and this chemistry wouldn't take place. This is among the reasons why the loss of sea ice in the Arctic will directly impact atmospheric chemistry."
The team also discovered that sunlight triggered the release of bromine gas from the snow and the presence of ozone increased the production of bromine gas.
"Salts from the ocean and acids from a layer of smog called Arctic haze meet on the frozen surface of the snow, and this unique chemistry occurs," Pratt said. "It is the interface of the snow and atmosphere that is the key."
A series of chemical reactions that quickly multiplies the amount of bromine gas present, called the "bromine explosion," is known to occur in the atmosphere. The team suggests this also occurs in the spaces between the snow crystals and wind then releases the bromine gas up into the air above the snow.
The team performed 10 experiments with snow and ice samples contained in a "snow chamber," a box constructed of aluminum with a special coating to prevent surface reactions and a clear acrylic top. Clean air with and without ozone was allowed to flow through the chamber and experiments were performed in darkness and in natural sunlight.
The team also measured the levels of bromine monoxide, a compound formed from the reaction of bromine atoms with ozone, through flights of the Purdue Airborne Laboratory for Atmospheric Research.
Shepson is the pilot of this specially equipped aircraft, which he and air operations technical specialist Brian Stirm flew from Indiana to Barrow for these experiments. They found the compound was most prevalent over snow-covered first-year sea ice and tundra, consistent with their snow chamber experiments.
The experiments were performed from March to April 2012 and were part of NASA's Bromine, Ozone and Mercury Experiment, or BROMEX. The goal of the study is to understand the implications of Arctic sea ice reduction on tropospheric chemistry.
Shepson's group next plans to perform laboratory studies to test the proposed reaction mechanisms and to return to Barrow to perform more snow chamber experiments.
In addition, Shepson is co-leading a team using ice-tethered buoys to measure carbon dioxide, ozone and bromine monoxide across the Arctic Ocean, and Pratt is working with scientists from the University of Washington to examine the chemistry of snow from across the Arctic Ocean.
"In the Arctic, climate change is happening at an accelerated pace," Pratt said. "A big question is what will happen to atmospheric composition in the Arctic as the temperatures rise and snow and ice decline even further?"
-NSF-
CDC WARNING REGARDING POSSIBLE WORKER HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH NANOMATERIALS
FROM: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL
To protect worker health NIOSH recommends new exposure levels for nanomaterials
What
New Current Intelligence Bulletin issued by CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reports the results of research in which various types of carbon nanotubes/carbon nanofibers can cause pulmonary fibrosis, inflammatory effects, and granulomas in laboratory animals exposed to them by inhalation. NIOSH considers these animal study findings to be relevant to human health risk because similar lung effects have been observed in workers exposed to respirable particulates of other materials in dusty jobs.
Who
CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) today recommended that occupational exposures to carbon nanotubes and nanofibers be controlled to reduce worker’s potential risk for certain work-related lung effects. NIOSH is the first federal agency to issue recommended exposure levels for this growing industry.
Background
The number of workers that are potentially exposed to nanomaterials cannot be determined with certainty. However, the demand for nanomaterials are expected to grow over the next decade with increasing use in energy saving products, consumer goods and the structural material of medical devices. These nanomaterials are also incorporated into plastics, ceramics, paints, coatings, and electronics, among other everyday products.
Carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers are only two of many types of nanomaterials being incorporated into different products to increase strength, durability, versatility, heat resistance, and other useful properties. They are routinely used by workers in a variety of manufacturing industries including, automotive, aviation, construction manufacturers of structural materials, textiles, batteries, and consumer products such as sporting goods.
To protect worker health NIOSH recommends new exposure levels for nanomaterials
What
New Current Intelligence Bulletin issued by CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reports the results of research in which various types of carbon nanotubes/carbon nanofibers can cause pulmonary fibrosis, inflammatory effects, and granulomas in laboratory animals exposed to them by inhalation. NIOSH considers these animal study findings to be relevant to human health risk because similar lung effects have been observed in workers exposed to respirable particulates of other materials in dusty jobs.
Who
CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) today recommended that occupational exposures to carbon nanotubes and nanofibers be controlled to reduce worker’s potential risk for certain work-related lung effects. NIOSH is the first federal agency to issue recommended exposure levels for this growing industry.
Background
The number of workers that are potentially exposed to nanomaterials cannot be determined with certainty. However, the demand for nanomaterials are expected to grow over the next decade with increasing use in energy saving products, consumer goods and the structural material of medical devices. These nanomaterials are also incorporated into plastics, ceramics, paints, coatings, and electronics, among other everyday products.
Carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers are only two of many types of nanomaterials being incorporated into different products to increase strength, durability, versatility, heat resistance, and other useful properties. They are routinely used by workers in a variety of manufacturing industries including, automotive, aviation, construction manufacturers of structural materials, textiles, batteries, and consumer products such as sporting goods.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE HAGEL MAKES REMARKS IN SOUTHWEST ASIA
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Presenter: Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel April 25, 2013
Remarks by Secretary Hagel at an Air Base in Southwest Asia
MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, the secretary of defense, the Honorable Chuck Hagel. (Applause.)
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE CHUCK HAGEL: Good morning. You guys are at ease. I remember as an old sergeant -- there you go -- I've never done that before. That's -- that's pretty good, isn't it?
Thank you for having me. Thank you for allowing me to say a few words and come out and get my picture taken with you. And thank you for what you're doing. I don't have to tell you the kind of world that we live in today, the complications and the dangers. You're a very big part of helping keep our world secure and safe, stable, not easy. But it's worth doing.
I've always admired anyone who makes the armed forces their career, if for no other reason than you've figured out in your life a purpose. And not everyone can say that. So I want you to know how much we all appreciate the work you do.
I know also it's a great sacrifice for each of you with your families, but I don't have to tell you it's worth doing and your families are proud of you. We're going to do everything we can to continue to support your mission and your efforts and everything you're doing. These are defining times in the world. These are exciting times, dangerous times, but I don't know of a time for any of us to be part of something so important than right now.
You know, each generation has an opportunity to make the world better and contribute and do things, but your generation is truly part of building a new world order. And I don't think we've seen this kind of a reality and this kind of effort being put forward, nor this kind of a complete upside-down world order since the end of World War II. And what you do here and how you're doing it and your lives and your careers are going to have a tremendous impact on how this turns out, as this new world order is built.
So thank you for doing this. Thank you for giving me the privilege of being part of your team and coming out here today. I've had an interesting five days here in the Middle East. And this is my last stop after visiting five countries. We'll go back tomorrow.
Always, it's important to come out and see firsthand and listen carefully and closely to the men and women who are doing the job out here. And I very much appreciated this time out in your area. You get a little closer to what's going on and get connected better with what you're doing and how I can help you and how everybody in our enterprise can help you do your jobs better in every way we can.
Give my thanks to your families and my best regards to your families. I know how proud they are of each of you.
Now, I'd be glad to respond to questions if you've got some advice for the secretary of defense. I'm very open to that, and I welcome that. So we've got a few minutes, I think, before we take some pictures, and I'd be glad to respond to anything I can and anything that you want to talk about. Want to also acknowledge your commanding officer and all those who have responsibility of these important units out here for their leadership and what they're continuing to do for our country and our efforts.
So, general, chief, thank you each, as well as all the leaders out here in this operation.
So who wants to -- who wants to start? Anything you want to talk about. Yes?
Q: Mr. Secretary, thank you for taking my question. (Inaudible) . Recently, servicemen and women saw tuition assistance suspended and then restarted. My question is, what, if any, changes can we expect to see in fiscal year '14 to that program?
SEC. HAGEL: Tuition assistance is an important program for all the reasons you know. When I was in the Senate, I was a strong supporter -- I think all of Congress is. All of America understands the importance of it. We have reinstituted it, as you have noted, sergeant. We'll continue to make it a priority.
But in the scope of the budget realities that you all are familiar with, we are having to make some tough choices to comply with budget cuts that are significant. I wish we didn't have to do that, but we do.
So what I have to focus on, as all of our leaders, first, the readiness of the men and women who are out on the front lines and support you and your mission and what you're doing. That's number one, is to support you in your mission in every way we can. We won't cut that.
Then we've got to go from there. How then do we fairly distribute these cuts without cutting into our operations, without cutting into our maintenance? And we're balancing that now. Not easy. We'll get through it. But these are difficult -- difficult issues.
So tuition assistance, it's important. It's a priority. You all understand it. We do. But in the first scope of this, sergeant, when we made that initial decision based on those initial numbers, we had to assess what was highest priority. And I just gave you what the highest priority was. As important as tuition assistance is, will continue to be -- it was not at the same level of supporting our readiness of you all.
But, again, I say, not to minimize the importance of that program -- it is important, we will fund it, and we'll continue to fund it. Thank you.
Where are you from, sergeant?
Q: (Inaudible), sir.
SEC. HAGEL: Thank you.
Who else has a -- a question? Yes.
Q: (off mic)
SEC. HAGEL: How do I see the shift, did you say? I'm sorry. I didn't get the last part.
Q: Yes, sir. What do you see the Air Force doing -- particularly the Air Force, but the military as a whole -- to make that transition from this AOR to the Pacific?
SEC. HAGEL: Well, the larger context of your question was regarding our rebalancing of our focus with our assets around the world. As you noticed and noted in your comments, we are unwinding our -- our major combat presence in Afghanistan and we have unwound our presence in Iraq. And we have made the assessment -- and I think correctly -- that -- and, by the way, these assessments are constantly changing based on the world, based on dangers, based on assets, based on interest, based on allies. And so the world is not static; I don't have to remind any of you. It changes hour to hour, minute to minute.
So our job in the Department of Defense, a leader's job, President Obama's job, all of your jobs, is to protect our country and to assure our interest in the world, and security is the anchor to that. So that policy, as we rebalance our focus, has rebalanced more assets to the Asia Pacific, which I think is exactly right.
All our services, including the Air Force, will continue to have a very, very, very significant role in that. How can it be otherwise? We will -- we will shift in varying ways presence in operations, depending on what the threat is, depending on how we want to project power, and that is all part of a continual assessment.
So the Air Force in particular, the question you asked about, will continue to play an important role, if for no other reason than projection of power. And I think where we want to continue to go -- Secretary Gates talked about this, Secretary Panetta talked about it -- is a flexible, agile military.
The threats are shifted. Ten years ago, I don't think very many people in this room would have talked much about cyber warfare or -- or the cyber threat. Even five years ago, it was a different world. Obviously, non-state actors, Islamic fundamentalism, terrorists, the coordination of those terrorists, interests that go below the surface, these are not coming all or mainly from state threats, from nation-state threats. Most of these threats are coming from non-state actors.
And so that is shifting not only our balance of assets, but our -- our strategic interests and the strategies that protect those strategic interests and the tactics then that employ those -- those strategies. So our Air Force, our Navy, our Marines, our Army, Coast Guard, all remain -- will continue to remain vital parts of our security interests.
You may be spending more time in the Pacific. Not a bad assignment.
Did somebody else have one? Yes.
Q: Sir, thank you. (Inaudible). Quick question on the note of sequestration, with the 17 squadrons that are being temporarily stood down until the end of the fiscal year. What is your prediction on the possibility of an agreement being made prior to the end of the year to keep the squadrons flying? And if not, how do you view our CMR status up to the end of the fiscal year?
SEC. HAGEL: An agreement on what?
Q: The flying hour program to keep the squadrons flying, get them flying again, get the 17 units that were stood down.
SEC. HAGEL: Well, as I said, these strategies and our programs and our policies and where we think our needs are, and then the operations to fulfill those requirements, are in constant review. I opened up our Q&A here this morning and answered a question about tuition assistance by referencing the budget limitations.
Now, budget should never, ever hold hostage a nation's interests -- should never hold hostage a nation's security. But budgets are all part of what we live with, and so we have got to adjust and adapt to the reality of those budgets. And, yes, it will affect some of our missions. Yes, it will affect some of our strategies and how, in fact, we protect our interests and our strategic interest, in particular, and then how we adapt with our tactical operations.
So we'll continue to review and shift, but, again, I say, this is all anchored by the absolute requirement of having a ready force, an adaptable force, a flexible, agile force, and a committed force. And I said when I became secretary of defense -- I think every secretary of defense has said this, is committed to this, as all your leaders -- the one asset an institution has that's more valuable than anything else, its people. And you take care of your people. You have to take care of your people.
And we're committed to do that first, because it won't matter how many planes you have or ships you have and how sophisticated the equipment if the people aren't right, if the people are not committed, if they're not of quality. And our force is our highest priority.
Another question? Yes.
Q: Sir, (inaudible) deployed out of (inaudible), California. Speaking about strategic interests, sir, I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about the economic sanctions against Iran and what your assessment of their effectiveness is.
SEC. HAGEL: Well, I believe that our policy regarding Iran is the correct policy. We are employing all the tools that wise, great powers employ when dealing with issues and challenges and dangers. And so we are working the diplomatic track. As you noted, we're working the international sanctions -- economic sanctions track. On Iran in particular, those economic sanctions against Iran are the most effective, most international, most penetrating economic sanctions that I think have ever been employed against a country.
And we do know, by every measurement, every metric applied, that it is doing significant damage to Iran's economy. It is having an effect inside Iran. You use all the other dimensions, the threat, always, of the military option. You build an international consensus, which we have done, using the international economic sanctions. You build especially a consensus with your regional partners, which you're doing out here. And you take the entire universe of these capabilities and assets and you focus them.
The military option in these situations is always an option, but I believe -- I think the president -- I know the president believes this -- that should be the last option. And I don't know if all of these efforts that we're applying in dealing with Iran, one being international economic sanctions, will, in fact, change their attitude about what we think is their objective moving toward a nuclear weapon, possibility of delivering that weapon. I don't know if what we're doing will shift their thoughts or their approach.
But we have the time. We have the assets. We have the international community. We are working toward that end. So I think those sanctions have been effective. I think they'll continue to be effective. We can continue to do more, but it's important to remember, as I said, the international consensus in these kinds of dangerous efforts is very, very important. And we continue to build that international consensus.
GEORGE LITTLE: (off mic)
SEC. HAGEL: Okay, George. George Little, very famous man over here. You've all seen -- he's our assistant secretary for public affairs. He's the spokesman. He has everything just right all the time. And he's willing to stay for four or five hours and answer questions. Isn't that right, George? If you --
MR. LITTLE: (off mic)
SEC. HAGEL: Yeah. Guys, I am grateful personally as an American citizen for what you're doing. I'm proud as secretary of defense to be your leader. And I thank you and your families, especially, for the sacrifices you're making for our country and the efforts that we're all making to make a better world.
Now, if you all want to do some photos, I'd be very pleased if we wanted to get a picture. Thank you.
Presenter: Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel April 25, 2013
Remarks by Secretary Hagel at an Air Base in Southwest Asia
MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, the secretary of defense, the Honorable Chuck Hagel. (Applause.)
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE CHUCK HAGEL: Good morning. You guys are at ease. I remember as an old sergeant -- there you go -- I've never done that before. That's -- that's pretty good, isn't it?
Thank you for having me. Thank you for allowing me to say a few words and come out and get my picture taken with you. And thank you for what you're doing. I don't have to tell you the kind of world that we live in today, the complications and the dangers. You're a very big part of helping keep our world secure and safe, stable, not easy. But it's worth doing.
I've always admired anyone who makes the armed forces their career, if for no other reason than you've figured out in your life a purpose. And not everyone can say that. So I want you to know how much we all appreciate the work you do.
I know also it's a great sacrifice for each of you with your families, but I don't have to tell you it's worth doing and your families are proud of you. We're going to do everything we can to continue to support your mission and your efforts and everything you're doing. These are defining times in the world. These are exciting times, dangerous times, but I don't know of a time for any of us to be part of something so important than right now.
You know, each generation has an opportunity to make the world better and contribute and do things, but your generation is truly part of building a new world order. And I don't think we've seen this kind of a reality and this kind of effort being put forward, nor this kind of a complete upside-down world order since the end of World War II. And what you do here and how you're doing it and your lives and your careers are going to have a tremendous impact on how this turns out, as this new world order is built.
So thank you for doing this. Thank you for giving me the privilege of being part of your team and coming out here today. I've had an interesting five days here in the Middle East. And this is my last stop after visiting five countries. We'll go back tomorrow.
Always, it's important to come out and see firsthand and listen carefully and closely to the men and women who are doing the job out here. And I very much appreciated this time out in your area. You get a little closer to what's going on and get connected better with what you're doing and how I can help you and how everybody in our enterprise can help you do your jobs better in every way we can.
Give my thanks to your families and my best regards to your families. I know how proud they are of each of you.
Now, I'd be glad to respond to questions if you've got some advice for the secretary of defense. I'm very open to that, and I welcome that. So we've got a few minutes, I think, before we take some pictures, and I'd be glad to respond to anything I can and anything that you want to talk about. Want to also acknowledge your commanding officer and all those who have responsibility of these important units out here for their leadership and what they're continuing to do for our country and our efforts.
So, general, chief, thank you each, as well as all the leaders out here in this operation.
So who wants to -- who wants to start? Anything you want to talk about. Yes?
Q: Mr. Secretary, thank you for taking my question. (Inaudible) . Recently, servicemen and women saw tuition assistance suspended and then restarted. My question is, what, if any, changes can we expect to see in fiscal year '14 to that program?
SEC. HAGEL: Tuition assistance is an important program for all the reasons you know. When I was in the Senate, I was a strong supporter -- I think all of Congress is. All of America understands the importance of it. We have reinstituted it, as you have noted, sergeant. We'll continue to make it a priority.
But in the scope of the budget realities that you all are familiar with, we are having to make some tough choices to comply with budget cuts that are significant. I wish we didn't have to do that, but we do.
So what I have to focus on, as all of our leaders, first, the readiness of the men and women who are out on the front lines and support you and your mission and what you're doing. That's number one, is to support you in your mission in every way we can. We won't cut that.
Then we've got to go from there. How then do we fairly distribute these cuts without cutting into our operations, without cutting into our maintenance? And we're balancing that now. Not easy. We'll get through it. But these are difficult -- difficult issues.
So tuition assistance, it's important. It's a priority. You all understand it. We do. But in the first scope of this, sergeant, when we made that initial decision based on those initial numbers, we had to assess what was highest priority. And I just gave you what the highest priority was. As important as tuition assistance is, will continue to be -- it was not at the same level of supporting our readiness of you all.
But, again, I say, not to minimize the importance of that program -- it is important, we will fund it, and we'll continue to fund it. Thank you.
Where are you from, sergeant?
Q: (Inaudible), sir.
SEC. HAGEL: Thank you.
Who else has a -- a question? Yes.
Q: (off mic)
SEC. HAGEL: How do I see the shift, did you say? I'm sorry. I didn't get the last part.
Q: Yes, sir. What do you see the Air Force doing -- particularly the Air Force, but the military as a whole -- to make that transition from this AOR to the Pacific?
SEC. HAGEL: Well, the larger context of your question was regarding our rebalancing of our focus with our assets around the world. As you noticed and noted in your comments, we are unwinding our -- our major combat presence in Afghanistan and we have unwound our presence in Iraq. And we have made the assessment -- and I think correctly -- that -- and, by the way, these assessments are constantly changing based on the world, based on dangers, based on assets, based on interest, based on allies. And so the world is not static; I don't have to remind any of you. It changes hour to hour, minute to minute.
So our job in the Department of Defense, a leader's job, President Obama's job, all of your jobs, is to protect our country and to assure our interest in the world, and security is the anchor to that. So that policy, as we rebalance our focus, has rebalanced more assets to the Asia Pacific, which I think is exactly right.
All our services, including the Air Force, will continue to have a very, very, very significant role in that. How can it be otherwise? We will -- we will shift in varying ways presence in operations, depending on what the threat is, depending on how we want to project power, and that is all part of a continual assessment.
So the Air Force in particular, the question you asked about, will continue to play an important role, if for no other reason than projection of power. And I think where we want to continue to go -- Secretary Gates talked about this, Secretary Panetta talked about it -- is a flexible, agile military.
The threats are shifted. Ten years ago, I don't think very many people in this room would have talked much about cyber warfare or -- or the cyber threat. Even five years ago, it was a different world. Obviously, non-state actors, Islamic fundamentalism, terrorists, the coordination of those terrorists, interests that go below the surface, these are not coming all or mainly from state threats, from nation-state threats. Most of these threats are coming from non-state actors.
And so that is shifting not only our balance of assets, but our -- our strategic interests and the strategies that protect those strategic interests and the tactics then that employ those -- those strategies. So our Air Force, our Navy, our Marines, our Army, Coast Guard, all remain -- will continue to remain vital parts of our security interests.
You may be spending more time in the Pacific. Not a bad assignment.
Did somebody else have one? Yes.
Q: Sir, thank you. (Inaudible). Quick question on the note of sequestration, with the 17 squadrons that are being temporarily stood down until the end of the fiscal year. What is your prediction on the possibility of an agreement being made prior to the end of the year to keep the squadrons flying? And if not, how do you view our CMR status up to the end of the fiscal year?
SEC. HAGEL: An agreement on what?
Q: The flying hour program to keep the squadrons flying, get them flying again, get the 17 units that were stood down.
SEC. HAGEL: Well, as I said, these strategies and our programs and our policies and where we think our needs are, and then the operations to fulfill those requirements, are in constant review. I opened up our Q&A here this morning and answered a question about tuition assistance by referencing the budget limitations.
Now, budget should never, ever hold hostage a nation's interests -- should never hold hostage a nation's security. But budgets are all part of what we live with, and so we have got to adjust and adapt to the reality of those budgets. And, yes, it will affect some of our missions. Yes, it will affect some of our strategies and how, in fact, we protect our interests and our strategic interest, in particular, and then how we adapt with our tactical operations.
So we'll continue to review and shift, but, again, I say, this is all anchored by the absolute requirement of having a ready force, an adaptable force, a flexible, agile force, and a committed force. And I said when I became secretary of defense -- I think every secretary of defense has said this, is committed to this, as all your leaders -- the one asset an institution has that's more valuable than anything else, its people. And you take care of your people. You have to take care of your people.
And we're committed to do that first, because it won't matter how many planes you have or ships you have and how sophisticated the equipment if the people aren't right, if the people are not committed, if they're not of quality. And our force is our highest priority.
Another question? Yes.
Q: Sir, (inaudible) deployed out of (inaudible), California. Speaking about strategic interests, sir, I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about the economic sanctions against Iran and what your assessment of their effectiveness is.
SEC. HAGEL: Well, I believe that our policy regarding Iran is the correct policy. We are employing all the tools that wise, great powers employ when dealing with issues and challenges and dangers. And so we are working the diplomatic track. As you noted, we're working the international sanctions -- economic sanctions track. On Iran in particular, those economic sanctions against Iran are the most effective, most international, most penetrating economic sanctions that I think have ever been employed against a country.
And we do know, by every measurement, every metric applied, that it is doing significant damage to Iran's economy. It is having an effect inside Iran. You use all the other dimensions, the threat, always, of the military option. You build an international consensus, which we have done, using the international economic sanctions. You build especially a consensus with your regional partners, which you're doing out here. And you take the entire universe of these capabilities and assets and you focus them.
The military option in these situations is always an option, but I believe -- I think the president -- I know the president believes this -- that should be the last option. And I don't know if all of these efforts that we're applying in dealing with Iran, one being international economic sanctions, will, in fact, change their attitude about what we think is their objective moving toward a nuclear weapon, possibility of delivering that weapon. I don't know if what we're doing will shift their thoughts or their approach.
But we have the time. We have the assets. We have the international community. We are working toward that end. So I think those sanctions have been effective. I think they'll continue to be effective. We can continue to do more, but it's important to remember, as I said, the international consensus in these kinds of dangerous efforts is very, very important. And we continue to build that international consensus.
GEORGE LITTLE: (off mic)
SEC. HAGEL: Okay, George. George Little, very famous man over here. You've all seen -- he's our assistant secretary for public affairs. He's the spokesman. He has everything just right all the time. And he's willing to stay for four or five hours and answer questions. Isn't that right, George? If you --
MR. LITTLE: (off mic)
SEC. HAGEL: Yeah. Guys, I am grateful personally as an American citizen for what you're doing. I'm proud as secretary of defense to be your leader. And I thank you and your families, especially, for the sacrifices you're making for our country and the efforts that we're all making to make a better world.
Now, if you all want to do some photos, I'd be very pleased if we wanted to get a picture. Thank you.
LETTER TO CONGRESS WARNS OF POSSIBLE SYRIAN REGIME USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
This morning, the White House delivered a letter to several members of Congress on the topic of chemical weapons use in Syria. The letter, which will be made available to you here shortly, states that the U.S. intelligence community assesses with some degree of varying confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin.
As I have said, the intelligence community has been assessing information for some time on this issue, and the decision to reach this conclusion was made in the past 24 hours, and I have been in contact with senior officials in Washington today and most recently the last couple of hours on this issue.
We cannot confirm the origin of these weapons, but we do believe that any use of chemical weapons in Syria would very likely have originated with the Assad regime. As the letter states, the President has made it clear that the use of chemical weapons or the transfer of such weapons to terrorist groups would be unacceptable.
The United States has an obligation to fully investigate – including with all key partners and allies, and through the United Nations – evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria.
Over the past week, I have traveled as you all know to five countries in the Middle East – all of whom have expressed concerns about the deteriorating situation in Syria. And you have asked me on several occasions about chemical weapons use.
As I've said, this is serious business – we need all the facts.
This morning, the White House delivered a letter to several members of Congress on the topic of chemical weapons use in Syria. The letter, which will be made available to you here shortly, states that the U.S. intelligence community assesses with some degree of varying confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin.
As I have said, the intelligence community has been assessing information for some time on this issue, and the decision to reach this conclusion was made in the past 24 hours, and I have been in contact with senior officials in Washington today and most recently the last couple of hours on this issue.
We cannot confirm the origin of these weapons, but we do believe that any use of chemical weapons in Syria would very likely have originated with the Assad regime. As the letter states, the President has made it clear that the use of chemical weapons or the transfer of such weapons to terrorist groups would be unacceptable.
The United States has an obligation to fully investigate – including with all key partners and allies, and through the United Nations – evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria.
Over the past week, I have traveled as you all know to five countries in the Middle East – all of whom have expressed concerns about the deteriorating situation in Syria. And you have asked me on several occasions about chemical weapons use.
As I've said, this is serious business – we need all the facts.
THE PITCHER PLANT ECOSYSTEM
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| Pitcher Plant. Dept of the Interior, National Park Service |
Earth Day: Big Ecosystem Changes Viewed Through the Lens of Tiny Carnivorous Plants
April 22, 2013
In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans.
---Kahlil Gibran
What do a pond or a lake and a carnivorous pitcher plant have in common?
The water-filled pool within a pitcher plant, it turns out, is a tiny ecosystem whose inner workings are similar to those of a full-scale water body.
Whether small carnivorous plant or huge lake, both are subject to the same ecological "tipping points," of concern on Earth Day--and every day, say scientists.
The findings are published in this week's issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In the paper, ecologists affiliated with the National Science Foundation (NSF) Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research site in Massachusetts offer new insights about how such tipping points happen.
"Human societies, financial markets and ecosystems all may shift abruptly and unpredictably from one, often favored, state to another less desirable one," says Saran Twombly, program director in NSF's Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research.
"These researchers have looked at the minute ecosystems that thrive in pitcher plant leaves to determine early warning signals and to find ways of predicting and possibly forestalling such 'tipping points.'"
Life in lakes and ponds of all sizes can be disrupted when too many nutrients--such as in fertilizers and pollution--overload the system.
When that happens, these aquatic ecosystems can cross "tipping points" and change drastically. Excess nutrients cause algae to bloom. Bacteria eating the algae use up oxygen in the water. The result is a murky green lake.
"The first step to preventing tipping points is understanding what causes them," says Aaron Ellison, an ecologist at Harvard Forest and co-author of the paper. "For that, you need an experiment where you can demonstrate cause-and-effect."
Ellison and other scientists demonstrated how to reliably trigger a tipping point.
They continually added a set amount of organic matter--comparable to decomposing algae in a lake--to a small aquatic ecosystem: the tiny confines of a pitcher plant, a carnivorous plant native to eastern North America.
Each pitcher-shaped leaf holds about a quarter of an ounce of rainwater. Inside is a complex, multi-level food web of fly larvae and bacteria.
"The pitcher plant is its own little ecosystem," says Jennie Sirota, a researcher at North Dakota State University and lead author of the paper.
Similar to lake ecosystems, oxygen levels inside the water of a pitcher plant are controlled by photosynthesis and the behavior of resident organisms--in this case, mostly bacteria.
Ellison says that conducting an experiment with bacteria is like fast-forwarding through a video.
"A bacterial generation is 20 minutes, maybe an hour," he says. "In contrast, fish in a lake have generation times of a year or more.
"We would need to study a lake for 100 years to get the same information we can get from a pitcher plant in less than a week."
The same mathematical models, Ellison and colleagues discovered, can be used to describe a pitcher plant or a lake ecosystem.
To approximate an overload of nutrients in pitcher-plant water, the team fed set amounts of ground-up wasps to the plants.
"That's equivalent to a 200-pound person eating one or two McDonald's quarter-pounders every day for four days," says Ellison.
In pitcher plants with enough added wasps, an ecosystem tipping point reliably occurred about 45 hours after the start of feeding.
The scientists now have a way of creating tipping points. Their next step will be to identify the early warning signs.
"Tipping points may be easy to prevent," says Ellison, "if we know what to look for."
Other authors of the paper are Benjamin Baiser of Harvard Forest and Nicholas Gotelli of the University of Vermont.
-NSF-
SECREATY HAGEL VISITS JORDAN
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Places Jordan Among Most Important Middle East Partners
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
AMMAN, Jordan, April 23, 2013 - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met here today with Jordan's Lt. Gen. Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein and Gen. Mashal al-Zaben, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Jordanian armed forces, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said in a statement.
The United States and Jordan -- which Hagel said is one of the most important U.S. partners in the region -- share concerns about the crisis in Syria and continue to consult closely on issues including chemical weapons and demands posed by the influx of Syrian refugees fleeing the violence, Little added.
During the meeting, Hagel reaffirmed the closeness of the U.S.-Jordan strategic relationship and reiterated the DOD commitment to working with the Jordanian armed forces to address common challenges, the press secretary said.
The leaders discussed Hagel's decision, announced April 17, to sustain U.S. military personnel in Jordan to foster even closer planning, improve joint readiness, and prepare for a range of scenarios, Little noted.
Hagel and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, reported to the Senate Armed Services Committee that the secretary ordered the Army deployment to help Jordanian forces defend their border with Syria. The contingent will enhance the efforts of a small U.S. military team that has been working in Jordan since last year on planning related to chemical weapons and preventing a spillover of violence across Jordan's borders, Hagel told the Senate panel.
DOD personnel and interagency partners are helping Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and other Syrian neighbors counter the threat posed by Syria's chemical weapons, Hagel said during the hearing.
The secretary, Prince Faisal and Zaben agreed to continue to work closely together to support mutual objectives, develop capacity and provide military assistance as needed to the Jordanian armed forces, Little said.
Hagel commended Jordan on its decision to keep borders open to refugees fleeing the violence in Syria, the press secretary said, adding that Jordan now hosts nearly 500,000 Syrian refugees.
In addition to about $409 million in humanitarian assistance the United States has provided to those affected by the violence in Syria, Little said, DOD has provided more than $1.2 million in goods such as food, water, medical supplies and power generators through the Jordanian armed forces to help in the care and transport of refugees coming across the border.
DOD also has provided more than $70 million to Jordan this year to help secure its borders and prevent chemical-weapons transfer, Little said.
Hagel's trip to the Middle East, which began April 20 and will end April 26, also will take the secretary to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates to discuss common threats and interests in the region.
Places Jordan Among Most Important Middle East Partners
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
AMMAN, Jordan, April 23, 2013 - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met here today with Jordan's Lt. Gen. Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein and Gen. Mashal al-Zaben, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Jordanian armed forces, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said in a statement.
The United States and Jordan -- which Hagel said is one of the most important U.S. partners in the region -- share concerns about the crisis in Syria and continue to consult closely on issues including chemical weapons and demands posed by the influx of Syrian refugees fleeing the violence, Little added.
During the meeting, Hagel reaffirmed the closeness of the U.S.-Jordan strategic relationship and reiterated the DOD commitment to working with the Jordanian armed forces to address common challenges, the press secretary said.
The leaders discussed Hagel's decision, announced April 17, to sustain U.S. military personnel in Jordan to foster even closer planning, improve joint readiness, and prepare for a range of scenarios, Little noted.
Hagel and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, reported to the Senate Armed Services Committee that the secretary ordered the Army deployment to help Jordanian forces defend their border with Syria. The contingent will enhance the efforts of a small U.S. military team that has been working in Jordan since last year on planning related to chemical weapons and preventing a spillover of violence across Jordan's borders, Hagel told the Senate panel.
DOD personnel and interagency partners are helping Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and other Syrian neighbors counter the threat posed by Syria's chemical weapons, Hagel said during the hearing.
The secretary, Prince Faisal and Zaben agreed to continue to work closely together to support mutual objectives, develop capacity and provide military assistance as needed to the Jordanian armed forces, Little said.
Hagel commended Jordan on its decision to keep borders open to refugees fleeing the violence in Syria, the press secretary said, adding that Jordan now hosts nearly 500,000 Syrian refugees.
In addition to about $409 million in humanitarian assistance the United States has provided to those affected by the violence in Syria, Little said, DOD has provided more than $1.2 million in goods such as food, water, medical supplies and power generators through the Jordanian armed forces to help in the care and transport of refugees coming across the border.
DOD also has provided more than $70 million to Jordan this year to help secure its borders and prevent chemical-weapons transfer, Little said.
Hagel's trip to the Middle East, which began April 20 and will end April 26, also will take the secretary to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates to discuss common threats and interests in the region.
HHS HAS APP FOR MANAGEMENT OF RISK FOR HEART DISEASE
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| Photo: Mobile App. Credit: HHS |
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Nicholas Garlow with HHS HealthBeat.
Your health is going digital. Health applications on the go are becoming more available. The HHS initiative, Million Hearts, recently challenged developers to create an app that helps people manage their heart health.
Dr. Simon Lin and his team at the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation did just that.
"Just as we need motivation to exercise and to eat healthy food, we also need those easy-to-use tools to track our health goals."
The Heart Health Mobile app helps you manage your risk of heart disease.
HHS has also developed numerous apps around heart health, weight, women’s health, and more. You can find the full list of HHS apps on hhs.gov/digitalstrategy.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Nicholas Garlow.
Last revised: April 21, 2013
TESTIMONY BEFORE HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE ON EXPORT CONTROL REFORM
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Export Control Reform: The Agenda Ahead
Testimony
Thomas Kelly
Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
Statement Before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing on Export Control Reform
Washington, DC
April 24, 2013
I thank the Chairman for his introduction, and would ask that my written remarks be entered into the record.
Chairman Royce, Congressman Sherman, Committee Members: it has been two years since the Committee last met to hear testimony on the President’s Export Control Reform Initiative. A lot of work has been done in the intervening period. I would like to start by thanking thw Committee on behalf of the State Department for its bipartisan support throughout the process.
As the pace of technological advance accelerates, and as technological capability spreads around the world, the need to update our Export Controls is increasingly urgent. We are no longer in an era in which a handful of countries hold the keys to the most sensitive technologies, as was the case during the Cold War. Today, a whole range of nations have advanced technological capability.
At the same time, because of the diffusion of technology, many U.S. companies must collaborate with foreign partners to develop, produce and sustain leading-edge military hardware and technology. Their survival depends on it.
But because our current export controls are confusing, time-consuming, and – many would say-- overreaching, our allies increasingly seek to ‘design out’ US parts and services, thus avoiding our export controls and the end-use monitoring that comes with them in favor of indigenous design. This threatens the viability of our defense industrial base, especially in these austere times.
Our current system has another problem. It can prevent our allies in theatre from getting the equipment and technology they need to fight effectively alongside our troops in the field.
This system has its basis in the 1960s, and has not undergone significant update since the early 1990s. It is cumbersome, complex and incorrectly controls too many items as though they were "crown jewel" technologies.
What that has meant is that an inordinate amount of agencies’ resources – both in terms of licensing and compliance activities – has been expended on nuts and bolts as well as our REAL "crown jewel" technologies.
In November 2009, President Obama directed a White House task force to identify how to modernize our export control system so that it will address the current threats we face, as well as account for the technology and economic landscape of the 21st century.
His direction was grounded in national security, with the goal of putting up ‘higher fences’ around the items that deserve the greatest protection, while permitting items of lesser sensitivity to be exported more readily when appropriate.
To address the problems the task force identified, they recommended reforms in four key areas: licensing policies and procedures; control lists; information technology; and export enforcement.
The President accepted the recommendations, and since early 2010, agencies have been working hard to implement them.
Much of agencies’ efforts have centered on revising the U.S. Munitions List and the Commerce Control List. This reform will draw a "bright line" between the two lists using common terms and control parameters. This will help our exporters determine far more easily which list their products are on. The reform will ensure that those items of greatest concern to us from a national security and foreign policy perspective will remain on the USML, and thus be subject to the most stringent licensing requirements, while items of less sensitivity will be moved to the CCL.
I want to emphasize a key point: items moving to the CCL are going to remain controlled. They are not being "decontrolled", but in specific circumstances, they will be eligible for export under Commerce’s more flexible licensing mechanisms.
I am confident that the revised lists will permit State to continue to perform its national security and foreign policy mandates in export licensing.
I will also note that we are making tremendous progress in the effort to rewrite the categories. We have published twelve rebuilt USML categories in the Federal Register for public comment. The proposed rules for the seven remaining categories have been drafted and are either undergoing or awaiting interagency review so that we can then publish them for public comment.
On April 16, the Departments of State and Commerce published companion rules that implement the revised USML Categories VIII (Aircraft) and XIX (Engines). This is the first pair in a series of final rules that put in place the rebuilt export control lists. Our goal is to publish the revised USML in its entirety on a rolling basis throughout this year.
In the last phase of our reform effort, we will need legislation to bring the initiative to its logical conclusion by creating a single licensing agency. The Administration has not yet determined when to approach this effort, but we will fully engage our oversight Committees and know that we can count on your support when we do.
On that note, one final point I want to make is that this has not only been an interagency process, but a cross-government process. Over the course of the last three years, we have had the opportunity to work closely with this Committee, and with many others across the Congress, on both the broader strategic questions of national security, and the finer technical details of our proposals. Our work together shows what we can achieve together. I am grateful for your bipartisan support for this initiative and look forward to continuing to work closely with you on the remainder of the reform effort.
With that, I want to thank you for inviting me to testify. I now would like to turn the floor over to Commerce Assistant Secretary Kevin Wolf.
Export Control Reform: The Agenda Ahead
Testimony
Thomas Kelly
Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
Statement Before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing on Export Control Reform
Washington, DC
April 24, 2013
I thank the Chairman for his introduction, and would ask that my written remarks be entered into the record.
Chairman Royce, Congressman Sherman, Committee Members: it has been two years since the Committee last met to hear testimony on the President’s Export Control Reform Initiative. A lot of work has been done in the intervening period. I would like to start by thanking thw Committee on behalf of the State Department for its bipartisan support throughout the process.
As the pace of technological advance accelerates, and as technological capability spreads around the world, the need to update our Export Controls is increasingly urgent. We are no longer in an era in which a handful of countries hold the keys to the most sensitive technologies, as was the case during the Cold War. Today, a whole range of nations have advanced technological capability.
At the same time, because of the diffusion of technology, many U.S. companies must collaborate with foreign partners to develop, produce and sustain leading-edge military hardware and technology. Their survival depends on it.
But because our current export controls are confusing, time-consuming, and – many would say-- overreaching, our allies increasingly seek to ‘design out’ US parts and services, thus avoiding our export controls and the end-use monitoring that comes with them in favor of indigenous design. This threatens the viability of our defense industrial base, especially in these austere times.
Our current system has another problem. It can prevent our allies in theatre from getting the equipment and technology they need to fight effectively alongside our troops in the field.
This system has its basis in the 1960s, and has not undergone significant update since the early 1990s. It is cumbersome, complex and incorrectly controls too many items as though they were "crown jewel" technologies.
What that has meant is that an inordinate amount of agencies’ resources – both in terms of licensing and compliance activities – has been expended on nuts and bolts as well as our REAL "crown jewel" technologies.
In November 2009, President Obama directed a White House task force to identify how to modernize our export control system so that it will address the current threats we face, as well as account for the technology and economic landscape of the 21st century.
His direction was grounded in national security, with the goal of putting up ‘higher fences’ around the items that deserve the greatest protection, while permitting items of lesser sensitivity to be exported more readily when appropriate.
To address the problems the task force identified, they recommended reforms in four key areas: licensing policies and procedures; control lists; information technology; and export enforcement.
The President accepted the recommendations, and since early 2010, agencies have been working hard to implement them.
Much of agencies’ efforts have centered on revising the U.S. Munitions List and the Commerce Control List. This reform will draw a "bright line" between the two lists using common terms and control parameters. This will help our exporters determine far more easily which list their products are on. The reform will ensure that those items of greatest concern to us from a national security and foreign policy perspective will remain on the USML, and thus be subject to the most stringent licensing requirements, while items of less sensitivity will be moved to the CCL.
I want to emphasize a key point: items moving to the CCL are going to remain controlled. They are not being "decontrolled", but in specific circumstances, they will be eligible for export under Commerce’s more flexible licensing mechanisms.
I am confident that the revised lists will permit State to continue to perform its national security and foreign policy mandates in export licensing.
I will also note that we are making tremendous progress in the effort to rewrite the categories. We have published twelve rebuilt USML categories in the Federal Register for public comment. The proposed rules for the seven remaining categories have been drafted and are either undergoing or awaiting interagency review so that we can then publish them for public comment.
On April 16, the Departments of State and Commerce published companion rules that implement the revised USML Categories VIII (Aircraft) and XIX (Engines). This is the first pair in a series of final rules that put in place the rebuilt export control lists. Our goal is to publish the revised USML in its entirety on a rolling basis throughout this year.
In the last phase of our reform effort, we will need legislation to bring the initiative to its logical conclusion by creating a single licensing agency. The Administration has not yet determined when to approach this effort, but we will fully engage our oversight Committees and know that we can count on your support when we do.
On that note, one final point I want to make is that this has not only been an interagency process, but a cross-government process. Over the course of the last three years, we have had the opportunity to work closely with this Committee, and with many others across the Congress, on both the broader strategic questions of national security, and the finer technical details of our proposals. Our work together shows what we can achieve together. I am grateful for your bipartisan support for this initiative and look forward to continuing to work closely with you on the remainder of the reform effort.
With that, I want to thank you for inviting me to testify. I now would like to turn the floor over to Commerce Assistant Secretary Kevin Wolf.
RALPH LAUREN CORPORATION SETTLES FCPA ALLEGTIONS WITH JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Monday, April 22, 2013
Ralph Lauren Corporation Resolves Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Investigation and Agrees to Pay $882,000 Monetary Penalty
Ralph Lauren Corporation (RLC), a New York based apparel company, has agreed to pay an $882,000 penalty to resolve allegations that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by bribing government officials in Argentina to obtain improper customs clearance of merchandise, announced Mythili Raman, the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, and Loretta E. Lynch, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
According to the agreement, the manager of RLC’s subsidiary in Argentina bribed customs officials in Argentina over the span of five years to improperly obtain paperwork necessary for goods to clear customs; permit clearance of items without the necessary paperwork and/or the clearance of prohibited items; and on occasion, to avoid inspection entirely. RLC’s employee disguised the payments by funneling them through a customs clearance agency, which created fake invoices to justify the improper payments. During these five years, RLC did not have an anti-corruption program and did not provide any anti-corruption training or oversight with respect to its subsidiary in Argentina.
In addition to the monetary penalty, RLC agreed to cooperate with the Department of Justice, to report periodically to the department concerning RLC’s compliance efforts, and to continue to implement an enhanced compliance program and internal controls designed to prevent and detect FCPA violations. If RLC abides by the terms of the agreement, the Department will not prosecute RLC in connection with the conduct.
The agreement acknowledges RLC’s extensive, thorough, and timely cooperation, including self-disclosure of the misconduct, voluntarily making employees available for interviews, making voluntary document disclosures, conducting a worldwide risk assessment, and making multiple presentations to the Department on the status and findings of the internal investigation and the risk assessment. In addition, RLC has engaged in early and extensive remediation, including conducting extensive FCPA training for employees worldwide, enhancing the company’s existing FCPA policy, implementing an enhanced gift policy and other enhanced compliance, control and anti-corruption policies and procedures, enhancing its due diligence protocol for third-party agents, terminating culpable employees and a third-party agent, instituting a whistleblower hotline, and hiring a designated corporate compliance attorney.
In a related matter, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a non-prosecution agreement with RLC , in which RLC agreed to pay $$734,846 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Daniel S. Kahn of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Sarah Coyne, Chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section of the Eastern District of New York. The case was investigated by the FBI’s New York Field Office. The department acknowledges and expresses its appreciation for the assistance provided by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Ralph Lauren Corporation Resolves Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Investigation and Agrees to Pay $882,000 Monetary Penalty
Ralph Lauren Corporation (RLC), a New York based apparel company, has agreed to pay an $882,000 penalty to resolve allegations that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by bribing government officials in Argentina to obtain improper customs clearance of merchandise, announced Mythili Raman, the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, and Loretta E. Lynch, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
According to the agreement, the manager of RLC’s subsidiary in Argentina bribed customs officials in Argentina over the span of five years to improperly obtain paperwork necessary for goods to clear customs; permit clearance of items without the necessary paperwork and/or the clearance of prohibited items; and on occasion, to avoid inspection entirely. RLC’s employee disguised the payments by funneling them through a customs clearance agency, which created fake invoices to justify the improper payments. During these five years, RLC did not have an anti-corruption program and did not provide any anti-corruption training or oversight with respect to its subsidiary in Argentina.
In addition to the monetary penalty, RLC agreed to cooperate with the Department of Justice, to report periodically to the department concerning RLC’s compliance efforts, and to continue to implement an enhanced compliance program and internal controls designed to prevent and detect FCPA violations. If RLC abides by the terms of the agreement, the Department will not prosecute RLC in connection with the conduct.
The agreement acknowledges RLC’s extensive, thorough, and timely cooperation, including self-disclosure of the misconduct, voluntarily making employees available for interviews, making voluntary document disclosures, conducting a worldwide risk assessment, and making multiple presentations to the Department on the status and findings of the internal investigation and the risk assessment. In addition, RLC has engaged in early and extensive remediation, including conducting extensive FCPA training for employees worldwide, enhancing the company’s existing FCPA policy, implementing an enhanced gift policy and other enhanced compliance, control and anti-corruption policies and procedures, enhancing its due diligence protocol for third-party agents, terminating culpable employees and a third-party agent, instituting a whistleblower hotline, and hiring a designated corporate compliance attorney.
In a related matter, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a non-prosecution agreement with RLC , in which RLC agreed to pay $$734,846 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Daniel S. Kahn of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Sarah Coyne, Chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section of the Eastern District of New York. The case was investigated by the FBI’s New York Field Office. The department acknowledges and expresses its appreciation for the assistance provided by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
DEFENSE SECRETARY MEETS WITH SAUDI DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER
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| Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel meets with Saudi Arabia's Prince Fahd bin Abdullah, the country's deputy defense minister, for a welcoming tea ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 23, 2013. Hagel is on a six-day trip to the Middle East, where he is visiting counterparts in Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo |
Hagel: Defense Partnership Anchors U.S.-Saudi Relationship
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, April 23, 2013 - On his inaugural trip to the Middle East since taking office, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met here today with Saudi Crown Prince and Defense Minister Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said in a statement.
During their talks, Hagel and his Saudi counterpart reiterated the longstanding, steadfast relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and emphasized the strong defense partnership that anchors the two nations, Little added.
They also discussed the release of standoff weapons to Saudi Arabia that will provide strategic precision defensive capabilities to the Saudi F-15 fleet, Little said. Such smart weapons can navigate to their targets and are more precise and can be fired at further distances.
"Both agreed the release reflected the close bilateral partnership and would enable long-term cooperation in the pursuit of common security policy aims of a peaceful and stable region," Little said. The two defense leaders also consulted on regional issues, including the need for Iran to abide to international commitments on its nuclear program, the situation in Syria, and the political transition in Yemen, he added.
Hagel's trip to the Middle East, which began April 20 and will end April 26, began in Israel and Jordan and tomorrow will take the secretary to Egypt and the United Arab Emirates to discuss common threats and interests in the region.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
ISAF NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Robert Wolfe scans for security threats from a rooftop during a meeting with the Farah provincial council at the governor's compound in Farah City, Afghanistan, April 18, 2013. Wolfe, a platoon leader, is assigned to Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Petty Officer Josh Ives FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Combined Security Force Kills Insurgents in Helmand Province
From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release
KABUL, Afghanistan, April 24, 2013 - A combined Afghan and coalition security force killed two insurgents during a search for a Taliban leader in the Nad-e Ali district of Afghanistan's Helmand province yesterday, military officials reported.
The leader is believed to be responsible for purchasing and distributing improvised explosive device components to other Taliban members. He also has participated in attacks against Afghan and coalition forces and provides intelligence to senior Taliban leaders in the province, officials said.
In other Afghanistan operations yesterday:
-- A combined force in Helmand's Nahr-e Saraj district killed an insurgent during a search for a Taliban leader who is believed to oversee IED operations in the district. He also has participated in assassinations against Afghan national security force members and provided intelligence to senior Taliban leaders.
-- Afghan Provincial Response Company Zabul, enabled by coalition forces, detained several insurgents and seized and destroyed 132 pounds of ammonium nitrate aluminum powder in Zabul province's Shinkay and Qalat districts. Insurgents use the powder in making IEDs.
U.S.S HOON ARRIVES IN VEITNAM AND USS JOHN C. STENNIS RETURNS TO PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM BASE
FROM: U.S. NAVY
Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung Hoon (DDG 93) shift colors after arriving in Da Nang, Vietnam, for a naval engagement activity. The engagement provides opportunities for U.S. and Vietnamese naval professionals to share best practices and exchange maritime skills in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, medical training, fire fighting and damage control, search and rescue, diving and salvage, sports and community service projects. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jay C. Pugh (Released) 130421-N-YU572-057
The aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) enters Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam as friends and family members of Sailors greet them from shore. The John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group is returning from an eight-month deployment conducting operations in the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of responsibility. U.S. Navy Photograph by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Daniel Barker (Released) 130421-N-RI884-070.
GENERAL POLUMBO OUTLINES FUTURE MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Presenter: Director, ISAF Air Component Coordination Element and Commander, 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force-Afghanistan Major General H.D. Polumbo Jr.
April 23, 2013
Department of Defense Press Briefing with Maj. Gen. Polumbo from the Pentagon Briefing Room
COMMANDER BILL SPEAKS: Good morning here in the Briefing Room, and good afternoon in Kabul, Afghanistan. I'd like to welcome Major General H.D. Polumbo, Jr., to the Pentagon Briefing Room.
Major General Polumbo is commander of the 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force in Afghanistan. He oversees three air expeditionary air wings and two expeditionary groups, consisting of more than 450 airmen directly engaged in combat operations, and he advises and assists with joint expeditionary tasked individuals in the Afghanistan Combined/Joint Operations Area.
Additionally, the general serves as the Central Command coalition air component commander's personal representative to the commander of headquarters ISAF, as well as the deputy commander for air to the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, ensuring the optimal integration of air and space power and supports headquarters ISAF and Operation Enduring Freedom missions.
This is Major General Polumbo's first time here with us in the Pentagon Briefing Room. He will provide brief opening remarks and take your questions.
And with that, sir, I'll turn it over to you.
MAJOR GENERAL H.D. POLUMBO JR.: Hey, Cmdr. Speaks, thank you. Good morning, everybody there at Washington and good evening from over here in Kabul, Afghanistan. I'm Jake Polumbo and would let you all know that it's been my distinct honor, actually, to serve as the senior NATO and U.S. airman here in Afghanistan for the last year. And I'll take the next 30 minutes or so, or as long as you need to -- and welcome the opportunity to share some of my recent experiences with all of you as this campaign here in Afghanistan enters a new phase. And that phase is Afghans taking the lead for their own security and ISAF stepping back into a supporting role.
Throughout this campaign, coalition airpower has provided a critical asymmetric advantage over those who threaten the security of Afghanistan. And air will continue to do so for the remainder of the ISAF campaign, I'm confident. But in the weeks to come, our focus is going to shift -- will shift to supporting the Afghan national security forces, and I will continue to emphasize the Afghan Air Force, so that the core commanders, the ground commanders can hold and expand on the significant security gains they've made that were enabled by NATO forces.
You all can imagine that building an air force from the ground up is no easy task. It takes skilled, confident, bold air crews, proud maintenance specialists who have the technical expertise and language skills needed to operate and maintain their aircraft through a variety of challenging roles and missions of the Afghan air force and in the rugged terrain found here in Afghanistan.
Austere conditions, challenging weather patterns, remote locations, and combat conditions only increase the degree of difficulty of these tasks, but the Afghans -- and particularly the Afghan airmen -- are hardy people and have eagerly embraced these challenges.
The results are showing not only in the training environment, but more importantly on the battlefield. And Afghan air force airmen have conducted winter resupply missions to remote Afghan National Army locations in Nuristan Province in the east, and they've provided direct support to Afghan border police in Paktika, Zabul Province in the east, and also down in the south, in Kandahar Province.
During recent combat operations, Afghan air force helicopters flew life-saving casualty evacuation flights, and they also conducted independent air assaults into contested areas. Admittedly, Afghan air force capacity is still very limited, and it'll need continued assistance from NATO to increase their capabilities to conduct missions like air surveillance, air support, and mobility operations, and the like.
But the early signs are, indeed, encouraging, and continued Afghan air force development will bolster the confidence of the rest of the Afghan security forces as they increasingly meet their specific security needs with their own organic capabilities.
As we assist the Afghans in developing their own organic military capabilities, our proven coalition airpower will provide vital protection -- force protection and sustainment for the NATO force, even as we set the theater for the end of the ISAF mission in December 2014 and transitioned to the anticipated NATO resolute support mission during the decade of opportunity.
In the new NATO mission, we'll work -- continue to work side by side with our Afghan partners to achieve some mutual goals. And those goals include the following: a competent, self-reliant Afghan national security force; an operationally ineffective al-Qaeda deprived of safe havens from which to conduct their operations; an acceptable political transition defined by free and fair elections next year; and, finally, improved regional security relationships between Afghanistan and our neighbors, in particular Pakistan.
The ISAF commander is confident these goals are achievable, but he also reminds us, his staff, every day that they're not inevitable. A firm commitment to these objectives is necessary to achieve a positive result for the Afghan people and the air component, the airmen that I work with every day will always be ready to do their part.
It's been an honor to command the truly remarkable airmen in our U.S. and coalition air forces in Afghanistan and continue our vital air mission in support of the ground commanders. With that, ladies and gentlemen, I'd be glad and happy to take any of your questions.
CMDR. SPEAKS: Spencer?
Q: Thank you, General Polumbo. Spencer Ackerman with Wired. I'm hoping we can quantify some of the aspects of the air operations you've talked about. What percentage of air assault missions are being conducted solely by the Afghan national security forces' air components? We hear a lot about the size of the ANSF on the ground. What still remains to be done in terms of the size of the ANSF air presence, both in terms of personnel and also in terms of the actual air fleet, the aircraft that it still needs?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Yeah, Spencer, that's a great question. And to be -- to put it into macro terms for you, as we drive the Afghan national security force towards their number, their sustained number of over 350,000 troops, only 6,000 or so right now are in the Afghan air force.
And so you can imagine that the percentage of Afghan air force support forward is small, and that's okay, because what truly is happening now is we assist the Afghan security forces, the core commanders, the kandak commanders, we assist them with all of our sustainment capabilities that we have, which is very robust. Our NATO forces are very capable.
And so it's a small percentage that the Afghan air force supplies, in terms of resupply missions, in terms of their other ways to connect the kandaks to the battle space, but over the next two years, it will increase. And, again, this is what's so important to me as an airman, is there is a pipeline for increased capacity with the air crew members, the pilots, copilots, the load masters, the crew chiefs, as those increase the ability to -- and capacity will increase for them to resupply their own ground operations.
Q: About the air assault, what percentage of air operations right now are conducted by the ANSF air force independently?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Again, it's a small percentage. And I can get you those numbers and would be happy to do that. It's a small percentage where their air assault is done -- they have more than just the Afghan air force air wings that they have at their locations. They have a special mission wing that also, with Mi-17 helicopters, is able to provide lift for their helicopter assault force, or assault forces, into specific regions in -- in the east primarily.
So -- but it's a very small number, and that's where you need to understand that many of the movements that the Afghans will make will be by -- by land, by ground capabilities, and then when they need those specific assaults that are done into the mountainous regions, with their Mi-17s either in the Afghan air force or in the special mission wing, that they plan those, they prioritize those, they make them, you know, work in terms of how the ground forces command prioritizes those events day by day.
Q: Do they have any close air support capabilities?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: They don't. And, again, another good question in the sense of where are the gaps that they have currently in their arsenal, in their quiver, if you will, for how they can do combined operations. What they do have are they -- they have six Mi-35 helicopters that have forward-firing capability, and that capability from my standpoint as the senior airman here is designed to primarily start to set the tactics, the techniques, and the procedures, as we call them, the TTPs, for how they will bring on the Super Tucano now, which is the selected aircraft that the Afghan air force will have that will have multiple capabilities, multiple weapons, weapons capabilities.
And so these Mi-35s that they have that they're now currently flying -- and actually have used in some combat operations in rocket boxes and different things around the Kabul area -- they will set those TTPs up that will allow then these Super Tucanos -- or as I will designate them, the A-29 -- to come into the inventory, starting within the next year, and then probably fully operational into the 2015 timeframe.
So you can see your -- as your question alludes to, they have no close air support capability as we would define it, as NATO coalition. What they will have is the air support that their -- their ground commanders will need, and in particular, when this A-29 comes onboard, a very, very good and robust capability, as the numbers come onboard.
CMDR. SPEAKS: Lalit?
Q: Yeah, thank you, General, for doing this. Can you give us a sense into what's a timeline or a strategy for having a strong and independent Afghan air force? And would -- you will be providing any kind of support to the Afghan national security forces post-2014? Because they will need air support for their combat operations.
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Yes, I'd be happy to do that. And as you allude to, it will take time for the Afghan air force to end up as a fully operational -- full operational capability, as we call it, FOC, and that will take into the 2016, end of 2016 timeframe at best, and we understand that. That is -- that is exactly how we have partnered with the Afghan security forces, in particular the air force, is to be committed to that duration and to bring on these aircraft, these training mechanisms, and the like.
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: In the meantime, what the ISAF mission will do -- and NATO coalition air will do -- will be to provide support when our commanders, when our coalition commanders deem it required in order to assist the Afghan ground commanders with the operations that are -- that are undergoing -- they're -- that they're undertaking.
So we have what I would call -- and as the senior airmen have coined the phrase -- a graduated approach for how our forces would put air support into the equation to assist our Afghan ground commanders with their contact with the insurgents. And that graduated approach is a very detailed way -- we have a specific standard operating procedure as to how our regional commanders interact with the core commanders, and the primary way that we emphasize it is to start out with what they have organic, their mortars, their D-30 mortars, their D-60 mortars that are coming online, their indirect fire capability, where we, with a graduated approach mindset, will assist them with information, with intelligence, with targeting options to try and make sure they understand, once they are in contact with the enemy, with the insurgents, where are they exactly? How would they best target them with what they have organic?
And then if they need to, and they need to step it up because the conditions are worsening, then we would move towards something that they would have in their capability like attack helicopters, because the Mi-35 is there. At some point in time, we'll have door gunners in the Mi-17s. So we would provide, as we graduate this assistance, if, in fact, our coalition commanders deem that appropriate, we would assist with those types of -- of helicopter assault force, those things.
And in the most significant or dire of circumstances, if you will, in a very -- what we would call in extremis situation, when senior commanders in the ISAF headquarters deem it appropriate, we would put the absolute finest capable platforms we have, what I call our national unique platforms, in play, and then with our coalition commanders controlling those strikes, we would assist the Afghans in that regard.
There's no doubt that General Dunford and COMISAF, our commander, has told us, we -- we will assist them to make sure that there are no significant setbacks in this campaign, but we have to use a graduated approach so that they continue to learn how to fight with what they'll have in their own arsenal.
Q: General, Otto Kreisher with Seapower Magazine. There's been a lot of talk about the downsizing, drawback of the ground forces, ISAF ground forces, because the -- it's going to take so long for the ASFN to develop their air component, is -- what's the -- how are you planning to draw down an air asset? And, you know, based in Afghanistan, using Navy -- naval assets offshore, how -- how does that schedule play out? Are you going to need to keep air assets in at a higher level perhaps than -- than the ground?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Yeah, Otto, you're read-in very good -- very well on this. And, again, you've mentioned a couple things that -- if you'll permit me, I'll walk you through this. First and foremost, we know that air is a critical enabler in many of the operations that we do, that coalition ground forces do in partner with our Afghan security forces and sometimes on our own.
But as I've said in my opening statement, those coalition operations where we are out in the lead of anything are scaling back and moving into the background so that we can advise and assist, as we finish up the ISAF mission over the next 20 months.
But air will always be important in that regard. It's our asymmetric advantage. The insurgents, the Taliban have no match to it, and therefore we always have that ability to provide that force protection, to provide that capability to pack that punch that really keeps them on their heels, if not just in retreat.
So how do we then work that into, you know, the next year with respect to the Afghans? Well, again, it's that graduated approach. But the drawdown to our enduring presence numbers is underway. And we certainly have our guidance in the U.S., and the other NATO nations are similarly working their way down towards the numbers that will be here at the end of '14, which we'll call the enduring presence numbers.
How will air draw down according to COMISAF and COMIJC? It will draw down at a slower rate, at a slower -- at a less severe of a slope in order to maintain that asymmetric advantage. In my view, we need to make sure that we keep our intelligence, our surveillance, our reconnaissance capabilities fairly high, especially through the end of this fighting cycle, end of this year, and into the election period next year, which is so critical to the success of this campaign, is to enable the Afghans to have a free and fair election.
So we will draw down at slightly slower -- lower slope, but we'll ultimately -- as we get to the enduring presence numbers -- end up with a smaller air component in Afghanistan to transition to resolute support.
But you -- you rightfully remind our viewers and the rest of the reporters that there's over-the-horizon capability. And the air component -- specifically, the key nations that contribute to air and very much so the U.S. -- keeps a very capable over-the-horizon component that can be called in by the commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan/the commander of ISAF, General Dunford, as the same person, and I, as the senior airman, along with the CFAC back in -- in the CAOC at Al Udeid, we worked that day in and day out via an air tasking order that allows us to flex whenever the situation requires. So the drawdown a little bit slower, and we have over-the-horizon capabilities that can be called back into the equation very quickly. Very good question, though.
CMDR. SPEAKS: Kristina?
Q: Hi, General, this is Kristina Wong from the Washington Times. Thanks so much for speaking with us this morning. My first question is, could you talk a little bit more about the challenges of illiteracy and just some challenges in training pilots, maintenance crews, and -- and just across the board what kind of challenge that is?
And then, also -- and I've heard estimates of, you know, an air -- Afghan air force standing up, you know, in 2018. You mentioned 2016 at best. And I was wondering, you know, how many trainers you have now and how many trainers you envision sort of having post-2014 throughout 2018?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: First, to the illiteracy question, I continue to emphasize to my commanders in the coalition and also to the commanders in the Afghan security forces, and particularly my good friend, Major General Wahab, the commander of the air force, Afghan air force, that the literacy piece is so important, and the ability to read and write and communicate in English is critical to the development -- further development of the Afghan air force.
And because of that, two things have happened. One is that the chief of general staff has agreed to higher accession standards for the Afghan air force, and they are slowing working those procedures into their recruitment and pipeline process, so that the air force gets the recruits that can begin this higher-tech training that's required to fix the aircraft, to fly the aircraft, to crew chief the aircraft, et cetera, and then to be able to operate (inaudible) dynamic combined arms setting.
It isn't there yet. They will sometimes in our monthly recruiting results will end up with a class that comes in and their literacy rates are too low and their English skills are not where they need to be, and we will turn those recruits away, and they will go back into kind of a general fund, if you will, and go into other things.
So we'll continue to highlight that, because it can't happen. You know, a Super Tucano and different types of airplanes, the Cessna 208, the Mi-17V5, which is a very capable airplane for flying in Afghanistan, a helicopter, it requires English and full literacy capabilities. So I will stay on that, and we will stay on it.
In terms of the number of trainers, it's actually a very small number in the 300 or so -- and you -- I can get you more exact numbers, but it's a very small portion of the total advise and assist footprint that is in the coalition force management level.
And I anticipate it won't get any bigger than that in 2014 into '15, because we have -- as I've said, we have a training pipeline that has the strategic goals in mind to get the capability and capacity up between 2015, 2016, and then finishing in '17. So, again, the numbers will be small in comparison to the advisers and the people who will -- the troops that will provide assistance to the army and to the police.
CMDR. SPEAKS: Richard?
Q: Sir, Richard Sisk of Military.com. Another numbers question. Sir, can you tell us how many sorties the ISAF forces have flown this year in which the aircraft have fired or dropped munitions? And how does that stack up against previous years?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Yeah, Richard, good question. And I can get those numbers to you. You know, my last monthly report to the commander had over 11,000 sorties flown by all of the coalition, including the sorties that come in from over-the-horizon, so it's a very, very high number of sorties that are flown, but you can imagine that a lot of that is the re-supply, intra-theater lift. A lot of that is the different helicopter ops and everything else.
That's why I say, if you can be more specific, I can get you very precise answers, and I'd be happy to do that for you, because we're very proud of the fact that we fly an incredible amount of rotary wing and fixed-wing sorties every day and night, 365 days. We get absolute incredible support from over-the-horizon, whether it's from the carrier strike group or from the bases in the Arabian Gulf.
In -- in the particular piece of kinetic deliveries, it's a very small percentage of that, a significantly small percentage, because we don't go kinetic very often, because we are so precise in our kinetic deliveries. When we do kinetic, the precision with which we do that is so high that we do it, it doesn't take a second sortie, it doesn't take another mission. It gets done -- the ground commander's intent is met on the first try, and then we go back into an overwatch mode, and also primarily -- which is what we do so often -- is we go into an intelligence-gathering mode with surveillance of FOBs and COBs.
So I'd be glad to get you those numbers. And rather than give you a wag, I'd give you the exact numbers via an RFI, if you will.
Q: Thank you, General. Amy McCullough with Air Force Magazine. I was wondering if you could elaborate on the post-2014 footprint a little bit. I know you've talked about that quite a bit. But other than trainers, who -- who will we -- who will the air force still need in Afghanistan? And will there be a need to plus-up the footprint at the surrounding bases?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Amy, somehow we got a bad connection at that point. I think I -- I heard your name, but then if you could repeat the question, I'm sorry. I just didn't hear it.
Q: Sure, no problem. In addition to trainers, what other types of airmen do you see in Afghanistan post-2014? What type of career fields will be necessary? And do you see any need to kind of plus-up the footprint in surrounding gulf bases?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: The types of airmen that we'll have besides the advise and assist airmen will be primarily airlift, people that assist in regards to any of the drawdown that might not yet be done and assisting with the aerial ports of demarcation for our retrograde ops, and then some manned ISR will be a small footprint, but, again, enough that it'll be a recognizable percentage of the footprint into '15.
And then what, you know, I'm so proud of as a U.S. air force, U.S. airman, is the fact that much of our remotely piloted aircraft that provide this long endurance, persistent watch of the target areas or of the friendly forces, is flown by reach back, it's flown by a distributed environment for our -- RPA pilots actually are back in Creech Air Force Base in Nevada or in Holloman in New Mexico, in other places.
So you can see the footprint goes way down, because of that ISR capability that will be so important into '15, but we'll do it with very few people forward. We'll launch and recover, as I would call it, pitch and catch the RPAs, and then most of the mission is flown reach back.
As far as your question on the rest of the gulf region, you know, it really is a CENTCOM discussion to have that. From my point of view, I wouldn't see any plus-ups significantly in anything we have in the over-the-horizon capability because we have such a sustained way of providing that capability with small footprint, what I call expeditionary airmen, that generally are not permanently assigned to these locations that come in, in our U.S. Air Force expeditionary rotation.
So I wouldn't expect it to plus-up in that regard, but, you know, CENTCOM probably has the better vantage point to answer that. But that's a good question, Amy, on both aspects.
CMDR. SPEAKS: Luis?
Q: General, it's Luis Martinez with ABC News. Just following up on Amy's question, which is exactly what I was going to ask, so you're saying that the enduring air component will not have combat air support capability beyond the over-the-horizon aircraft that may be needed? Is that correct?
And what -- what -- how long of a timeframe are we talking before the A-29, Super Tucano is operable by the Afghan air force?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Yeah, the A-29 will start coming into the inventory next year, not -- it will not be a factor -- yeah, okay. I'm sorry. There was a little bit of feedback. But, again, the Super Tucano A-29 is not anything in the '13 fighting cycle. It's next year where it starts to come onboard, and obviously most of that will have to be the initial training the cadre of Afghan air force pilots who will not only be prepared to fly it themselves, but also bring on and become the instructors in the airplane. So it'll be mid-'14 and into '15 where it starts to really reach some operational capability. So what does that mean for -- how does the air support be generated by anything still remaining in the coalition capabilities? We'll still have some fixed-wing capability to do air support, air- delivered munitions. It likely will include other nations besides the United States Air Force and the United States Navy and the United States Army. And I encourage that, for our NATO partners who have very robust capabilities over here right now in both rotary-wing and fixed-wing.
And likely, we would expect to see some of those nations stay into the resolute support mission in 2015 and beyond, all to be determined in the months to come as we go through the concept of operations that NATO will put in play and in negotiations with the nations, and ultimately into a final plan that will come to fruition in 2015.
I think the other piece that maybe you're asking about that I could help you with is, what other capabilities will have kinetic capabilities? And, again, I come back to the remotely piloted aircraft that not only the U.S. fly, but other nations fly -- the U.K. comes to mind -- that have hybrid ISR. They can collect intelligence, but they also are armed. And they're armed to be able to provide force protection to our coalition forces, and then our coalition ground force commanders, when they deem it appropriate, they can control that air delivered munition capability from the RPAs to be put in support of the Afghans.
So you'll have that hybrid ISR, as I call it, that armed ISR remotely piloted aircraft capability all the way through '14. And then once resolute support mission operations is fully understood and agreed upon by our coalition partners and our -- and our leadership, you likely will see it into 2015 to provide force protection.
Q: If I could follow up really quickly, are you -- are you talking about an integrated international aviation task force, I guess, where you would bring small numbers, each country would present small numbers of aircraft, fixed-wing aircraft that would all operate under the same umbrella?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: I am. And it's what we have now. As you know, the coalition that we have of 50 willing nations -- most of them are NATO -- which makes it very straightforward for me as the senior NATO airman to operate. We know how we are integrated. We know how to talk to each other. We know how to pass taskings back and forth. We know how to do air space control measures, et cetera.
So we have that now, and I'm confident that that NATO coalition of the troop contributing nations that have air power, that it will likely be the same type of a set-up, albeit smaller, in the resolute support mission, so into 2015.
The interesting part of it is, we also have other non-NATO nations that have very significant air capabilities -- United Arab Emirates, UAE comes to mind -- and they -- after we work this into our existing NATO command-and-control structure, they are full participants and very, very capable of doing this day in and -- day in and day out. And into resolute support, you know, I would -- I would encourage and hope that the nations such as the UAE would also stay with us.
CMDR. SPEAKS: Okay, with that, sir, I will turn it over to you for any closing comments.
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Well, I think you guys have been too easy on me, but it's been a pleasure to talk to you. There's an obvious understanding of the complexity of the environment by the questions that you all ask. They were really good questions. I appreciate it. Anything that I promised you a return on, we can through the ISAF structure that we have here, we can get that data to you.
I will close by saying it's an honor and a privilege as the senior U.S. and NATO airman to have served for the year and worked with so many great airmen and great soldiers and Marines and sailors and the civilians that are over here. And I have been flying in the Afghan airspace this year, as the commander, but also over the last three years, it's a very difficult place to fly. It's a very challenging environment to fly airplanes day and night, so I have nothing but the utmost admiration for our airmen and the maintenance personnel and the civilians that assist us in that regard, because it's so important.
The Afghan people deserve this try. General Dunford has defined how we should look at how to declare a win in this regard. And over the next 20 months, we have a lot of work to do to really, really assist the Afghans in a free and stable and vibrant and economically viable country.
So, again, thank you all for the opportunity to talk to you today, and we're out here from Kabul.
CMDR. SPEAKS: Thank you, sir.
Presenter: Director, ISAF Air Component Coordination Element and Commander, 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force-Afghanistan Major General H.D. Polumbo Jr.
April 23, 2013
Department of Defense Press Briefing with Maj. Gen. Polumbo from the Pentagon Briefing Room
COMMANDER BILL SPEAKS: Good morning here in the Briefing Room, and good afternoon in Kabul, Afghanistan. I'd like to welcome Major General H.D. Polumbo, Jr., to the Pentagon Briefing Room.
Major General Polumbo is commander of the 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force in Afghanistan. He oversees three air expeditionary air wings and two expeditionary groups, consisting of more than 450 airmen directly engaged in combat operations, and he advises and assists with joint expeditionary tasked individuals in the Afghanistan Combined/Joint Operations Area.
Additionally, the general serves as the Central Command coalition air component commander's personal representative to the commander of headquarters ISAF, as well as the deputy commander for air to the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, ensuring the optimal integration of air and space power and supports headquarters ISAF and Operation Enduring Freedom missions.
This is Major General Polumbo's first time here with us in the Pentagon Briefing Room. He will provide brief opening remarks and take your questions.
And with that, sir, I'll turn it over to you.
MAJOR GENERAL H.D. POLUMBO JR.: Hey, Cmdr. Speaks, thank you. Good morning, everybody there at Washington and good evening from over here in Kabul, Afghanistan. I'm Jake Polumbo and would let you all know that it's been my distinct honor, actually, to serve as the senior NATO and U.S. airman here in Afghanistan for the last year. And I'll take the next 30 minutes or so, or as long as you need to -- and welcome the opportunity to share some of my recent experiences with all of you as this campaign here in Afghanistan enters a new phase. And that phase is Afghans taking the lead for their own security and ISAF stepping back into a supporting role.
Throughout this campaign, coalition airpower has provided a critical asymmetric advantage over those who threaten the security of Afghanistan. And air will continue to do so for the remainder of the ISAF campaign, I'm confident. But in the weeks to come, our focus is going to shift -- will shift to supporting the Afghan national security forces, and I will continue to emphasize the Afghan Air Force, so that the core commanders, the ground commanders can hold and expand on the significant security gains they've made that were enabled by NATO forces.
You all can imagine that building an air force from the ground up is no easy task. It takes skilled, confident, bold air crews, proud maintenance specialists who have the technical expertise and language skills needed to operate and maintain their aircraft through a variety of challenging roles and missions of the Afghan air force and in the rugged terrain found here in Afghanistan.
Austere conditions, challenging weather patterns, remote locations, and combat conditions only increase the degree of difficulty of these tasks, but the Afghans -- and particularly the Afghan airmen -- are hardy people and have eagerly embraced these challenges.
The results are showing not only in the training environment, but more importantly on the battlefield. And Afghan air force airmen have conducted winter resupply missions to remote Afghan National Army locations in Nuristan Province in the east, and they've provided direct support to Afghan border police in Paktika, Zabul Province in the east, and also down in the south, in Kandahar Province.
During recent combat operations, Afghan air force helicopters flew life-saving casualty evacuation flights, and they also conducted independent air assaults into contested areas. Admittedly, Afghan air force capacity is still very limited, and it'll need continued assistance from NATO to increase their capabilities to conduct missions like air surveillance, air support, and mobility operations, and the like.
But the early signs are, indeed, encouraging, and continued Afghan air force development will bolster the confidence of the rest of the Afghan security forces as they increasingly meet their specific security needs with their own organic capabilities.
As we assist the Afghans in developing their own organic military capabilities, our proven coalition airpower will provide vital protection -- force protection and sustainment for the NATO force, even as we set the theater for the end of the ISAF mission in December 2014 and transitioned to the anticipated NATO resolute support mission during the decade of opportunity.
In the new NATO mission, we'll work -- continue to work side by side with our Afghan partners to achieve some mutual goals. And those goals include the following: a competent, self-reliant Afghan national security force; an operationally ineffective al-Qaeda deprived of safe havens from which to conduct their operations; an acceptable political transition defined by free and fair elections next year; and, finally, improved regional security relationships between Afghanistan and our neighbors, in particular Pakistan.
The ISAF commander is confident these goals are achievable, but he also reminds us, his staff, every day that they're not inevitable. A firm commitment to these objectives is necessary to achieve a positive result for the Afghan people and the air component, the airmen that I work with every day will always be ready to do their part.
It's been an honor to command the truly remarkable airmen in our U.S. and coalition air forces in Afghanistan and continue our vital air mission in support of the ground commanders. With that, ladies and gentlemen, I'd be glad and happy to take any of your questions.
CMDR. SPEAKS: Spencer?
Q: Thank you, General Polumbo. Spencer Ackerman with Wired. I'm hoping we can quantify some of the aspects of the air operations you've talked about. What percentage of air assault missions are being conducted solely by the Afghan national security forces' air components? We hear a lot about the size of the ANSF on the ground. What still remains to be done in terms of the size of the ANSF air presence, both in terms of personnel and also in terms of the actual air fleet, the aircraft that it still needs?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Yeah, Spencer, that's a great question. And to be -- to put it into macro terms for you, as we drive the Afghan national security force towards their number, their sustained number of over 350,000 troops, only 6,000 or so right now are in the Afghan air force.
And so you can imagine that the percentage of Afghan air force support forward is small, and that's okay, because what truly is happening now is we assist the Afghan security forces, the core commanders, the kandak commanders, we assist them with all of our sustainment capabilities that we have, which is very robust. Our NATO forces are very capable.
And so it's a small percentage that the Afghan air force supplies, in terms of resupply missions, in terms of their other ways to connect the kandaks to the battle space, but over the next two years, it will increase. And, again, this is what's so important to me as an airman, is there is a pipeline for increased capacity with the air crew members, the pilots, copilots, the load masters, the crew chiefs, as those increase the ability to -- and capacity will increase for them to resupply their own ground operations.
Q: About the air assault, what percentage of air operations right now are conducted by the ANSF air force independently?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Again, it's a small percentage. And I can get you those numbers and would be happy to do that. It's a small percentage where their air assault is done -- they have more than just the Afghan air force air wings that they have at their locations. They have a special mission wing that also, with Mi-17 helicopters, is able to provide lift for their helicopter assault force, or assault forces, into specific regions in -- in the east primarily.
So -- but it's a very small number, and that's where you need to understand that many of the movements that the Afghans will make will be by -- by land, by ground capabilities, and then when they need those specific assaults that are done into the mountainous regions, with their Mi-17s either in the Afghan air force or in the special mission wing, that they plan those, they prioritize those, they make them, you know, work in terms of how the ground forces command prioritizes those events day by day.
Q: Do they have any close air support capabilities?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: They don't. And, again, another good question in the sense of where are the gaps that they have currently in their arsenal, in their quiver, if you will, for how they can do combined operations. What they do have are they -- they have six Mi-35 helicopters that have forward-firing capability, and that capability from my standpoint as the senior airman here is designed to primarily start to set the tactics, the techniques, and the procedures, as we call them, the TTPs, for how they will bring on the Super Tucano now, which is the selected aircraft that the Afghan air force will have that will have multiple capabilities, multiple weapons, weapons capabilities.
And so these Mi-35s that they have that they're now currently flying -- and actually have used in some combat operations in rocket boxes and different things around the Kabul area -- they will set those TTPs up that will allow then these Super Tucanos -- or as I will designate them, the A-29 -- to come into the inventory, starting within the next year, and then probably fully operational into the 2015 timeframe.
So you can see your -- as your question alludes to, they have no close air support capability as we would define it, as NATO coalition. What they will have is the air support that their -- their ground commanders will need, and in particular, when this A-29 comes onboard, a very, very good and robust capability, as the numbers come onboard.
CMDR. SPEAKS: Lalit?
Q: Yeah, thank you, General, for doing this. Can you give us a sense into what's a timeline or a strategy for having a strong and independent Afghan air force? And would -- you will be providing any kind of support to the Afghan national security forces post-2014? Because they will need air support for their combat operations.
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Yes, I'd be happy to do that. And as you allude to, it will take time for the Afghan air force to end up as a fully operational -- full operational capability, as we call it, FOC, and that will take into the 2016, end of 2016 timeframe at best, and we understand that. That is -- that is exactly how we have partnered with the Afghan security forces, in particular the air force, is to be committed to that duration and to bring on these aircraft, these training mechanisms, and the like.
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: In the meantime, what the ISAF mission will do -- and NATO coalition air will do -- will be to provide support when our commanders, when our coalition commanders deem it required in order to assist the Afghan ground commanders with the operations that are -- that are undergoing -- they're -- that they're undertaking.
So we have what I would call -- and as the senior airmen have coined the phrase -- a graduated approach for how our forces would put air support into the equation to assist our Afghan ground commanders with their contact with the insurgents. And that graduated approach is a very detailed way -- we have a specific standard operating procedure as to how our regional commanders interact with the core commanders, and the primary way that we emphasize it is to start out with what they have organic, their mortars, their D-30 mortars, their D-60 mortars that are coming online, their indirect fire capability, where we, with a graduated approach mindset, will assist them with information, with intelligence, with targeting options to try and make sure they understand, once they are in contact with the enemy, with the insurgents, where are they exactly? How would they best target them with what they have organic?
And then if they need to, and they need to step it up because the conditions are worsening, then we would move towards something that they would have in their capability like attack helicopters, because the Mi-35 is there. At some point in time, we'll have door gunners in the Mi-17s. So we would provide, as we graduate this assistance, if, in fact, our coalition commanders deem that appropriate, we would assist with those types of -- of helicopter assault force, those things.
And in the most significant or dire of circumstances, if you will, in a very -- what we would call in extremis situation, when senior commanders in the ISAF headquarters deem it appropriate, we would put the absolute finest capable platforms we have, what I call our national unique platforms, in play, and then with our coalition commanders controlling those strikes, we would assist the Afghans in that regard.
There's no doubt that General Dunford and COMISAF, our commander, has told us, we -- we will assist them to make sure that there are no significant setbacks in this campaign, but we have to use a graduated approach so that they continue to learn how to fight with what they'll have in their own arsenal.
Q: General, Otto Kreisher with Seapower Magazine. There's been a lot of talk about the downsizing, drawback of the ground forces, ISAF ground forces, because the -- it's going to take so long for the ASFN to develop their air component, is -- what's the -- how are you planning to draw down an air asset? And, you know, based in Afghanistan, using Navy -- naval assets offshore, how -- how does that schedule play out? Are you going to need to keep air assets in at a higher level perhaps than -- than the ground?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Yeah, Otto, you're read-in very good -- very well on this. And, again, you've mentioned a couple things that -- if you'll permit me, I'll walk you through this. First and foremost, we know that air is a critical enabler in many of the operations that we do, that coalition ground forces do in partner with our Afghan security forces and sometimes on our own.
But as I've said in my opening statement, those coalition operations where we are out in the lead of anything are scaling back and moving into the background so that we can advise and assist, as we finish up the ISAF mission over the next 20 months.
But air will always be important in that regard. It's our asymmetric advantage. The insurgents, the Taliban have no match to it, and therefore we always have that ability to provide that force protection, to provide that capability to pack that punch that really keeps them on their heels, if not just in retreat.
So how do we then work that into, you know, the next year with respect to the Afghans? Well, again, it's that graduated approach. But the drawdown to our enduring presence numbers is underway. And we certainly have our guidance in the U.S., and the other NATO nations are similarly working their way down towards the numbers that will be here at the end of '14, which we'll call the enduring presence numbers.
How will air draw down according to COMISAF and COMIJC? It will draw down at a slower rate, at a slower -- at a less severe of a slope in order to maintain that asymmetric advantage. In my view, we need to make sure that we keep our intelligence, our surveillance, our reconnaissance capabilities fairly high, especially through the end of this fighting cycle, end of this year, and into the election period next year, which is so critical to the success of this campaign, is to enable the Afghans to have a free and fair election.
So we will draw down at slightly slower -- lower slope, but we'll ultimately -- as we get to the enduring presence numbers -- end up with a smaller air component in Afghanistan to transition to resolute support.
But you -- you rightfully remind our viewers and the rest of the reporters that there's over-the-horizon capability. And the air component -- specifically, the key nations that contribute to air and very much so the U.S. -- keeps a very capable over-the-horizon component that can be called in by the commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan/the commander of ISAF, General Dunford, as the same person, and I, as the senior airman, along with the CFAC back in -- in the CAOC at Al Udeid, we worked that day in and day out via an air tasking order that allows us to flex whenever the situation requires. So the drawdown a little bit slower, and we have over-the-horizon capabilities that can be called back into the equation very quickly. Very good question, though.
CMDR. SPEAKS: Kristina?
Q: Hi, General, this is Kristina Wong from the Washington Times. Thanks so much for speaking with us this morning. My first question is, could you talk a little bit more about the challenges of illiteracy and just some challenges in training pilots, maintenance crews, and -- and just across the board what kind of challenge that is?
And then, also -- and I've heard estimates of, you know, an air -- Afghan air force standing up, you know, in 2018. You mentioned 2016 at best. And I was wondering, you know, how many trainers you have now and how many trainers you envision sort of having post-2014 throughout 2018?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: First, to the illiteracy question, I continue to emphasize to my commanders in the coalition and also to the commanders in the Afghan security forces, and particularly my good friend, Major General Wahab, the commander of the air force, Afghan air force, that the literacy piece is so important, and the ability to read and write and communicate in English is critical to the development -- further development of the Afghan air force.
And because of that, two things have happened. One is that the chief of general staff has agreed to higher accession standards for the Afghan air force, and they are slowing working those procedures into their recruitment and pipeline process, so that the air force gets the recruits that can begin this higher-tech training that's required to fix the aircraft, to fly the aircraft, to crew chief the aircraft, et cetera, and then to be able to operate (inaudible) dynamic combined arms setting.
It isn't there yet. They will sometimes in our monthly recruiting results will end up with a class that comes in and their literacy rates are too low and their English skills are not where they need to be, and we will turn those recruits away, and they will go back into kind of a general fund, if you will, and go into other things.
So we'll continue to highlight that, because it can't happen. You know, a Super Tucano and different types of airplanes, the Cessna 208, the Mi-17V5, which is a very capable airplane for flying in Afghanistan, a helicopter, it requires English and full literacy capabilities. So I will stay on that, and we will stay on it.
In terms of the number of trainers, it's actually a very small number in the 300 or so -- and you -- I can get you more exact numbers, but it's a very small portion of the total advise and assist footprint that is in the coalition force management level.
And I anticipate it won't get any bigger than that in 2014 into '15, because we have -- as I've said, we have a training pipeline that has the strategic goals in mind to get the capability and capacity up between 2015, 2016, and then finishing in '17. So, again, the numbers will be small in comparison to the advisers and the people who will -- the troops that will provide assistance to the army and to the police.
CMDR. SPEAKS: Richard?
Q: Sir, Richard Sisk of Military.com. Another numbers question. Sir, can you tell us how many sorties the ISAF forces have flown this year in which the aircraft have fired or dropped munitions? And how does that stack up against previous years?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Yeah, Richard, good question. And I can get those numbers to you. You know, my last monthly report to the commander had over 11,000 sorties flown by all of the coalition, including the sorties that come in from over-the-horizon, so it's a very, very high number of sorties that are flown, but you can imagine that a lot of that is the re-supply, intra-theater lift. A lot of that is the different helicopter ops and everything else.
That's why I say, if you can be more specific, I can get you very precise answers, and I'd be happy to do that for you, because we're very proud of the fact that we fly an incredible amount of rotary wing and fixed-wing sorties every day and night, 365 days. We get absolute incredible support from over-the-horizon, whether it's from the carrier strike group or from the bases in the Arabian Gulf.
In -- in the particular piece of kinetic deliveries, it's a very small percentage of that, a significantly small percentage, because we don't go kinetic very often, because we are so precise in our kinetic deliveries. When we do kinetic, the precision with which we do that is so high that we do it, it doesn't take a second sortie, it doesn't take another mission. It gets done -- the ground commander's intent is met on the first try, and then we go back into an overwatch mode, and also primarily -- which is what we do so often -- is we go into an intelligence-gathering mode with surveillance of FOBs and COBs.
So I'd be glad to get you those numbers. And rather than give you a wag, I'd give you the exact numbers via an RFI, if you will.
Q: Thank you, General. Amy McCullough with Air Force Magazine. I was wondering if you could elaborate on the post-2014 footprint a little bit. I know you've talked about that quite a bit. But other than trainers, who -- who will we -- who will the air force still need in Afghanistan? And will there be a need to plus-up the footprint at the surrounding bases?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Amy, somehow we got a bad connection at that point. I think I -- I heard your name, but then if you could repeat the question, I'm sorry. I just didn't hear it.
Q: Sure, no problem. In addition to trainers, what other types of airmen do you see in Afghanistan post-2014? What type of career fields will be necessary? And do you see any need to kind of plus-up the footprint in surrounding gulf bases?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: The types of airmen that we'll have besides the advise and assist airmen will be primarily airlift, people that assist in regards to any of the drawdown that might not yet be done and assisting with the aerial ports of demarcation for our retrograde ops, and then some manned ISR will be a small footprint, but, again, enough that it'll be a recognizable percentage of the footprint into '15.
And then what, you know, I'm so proud of as a U.S. air force, U.S. airman, is the fact that much of our remotely piloted aircraft that provide this long endurance, persistent watch of the target areas or of the friendly forces, is flown by reach back, it's flown by a distributed environment for our -- RPA pilots actually are back in Creech Air Force Base in Nevada or in Holloman in New Mexico, in other places.
So you can see the footprint goes way down, because of that ISR capability that will be so important into '15, but we'll do it with very few people forward. We'll launch and recover, as I would call it, pitch and catch the RPAs, and then most of the mission is flown reach back.
As far as your question on the rest of the gulf region, you know, it really is a CENTCOM discussion to have that. From my point of view, I wouldn't see any plus-ups significantly in anything we have in the over-the-horizon capability because we have such a sustained way of providing that capability with small footprint, what I call expeditionary airmen, that generally are not permanently assigned to these locations that come in, in our U.S. Air Force expeditionary rotation.
So I wouldn't expect it to plus-up in that regard, but, you know, CENTCOM probably has the better vantage point to answer that. But that's a good question, Amy, on both aspects.
CMDR. SPEAKS: Luis?
Q: General, it's Luis Martinez with ABC News. Just following up on Amy's question, which is exactly what I was going to ask, so you're saying that the enduring air component will not have combat air support capability beyond the over-the-horizon aircraft that may be needed? Is that correct?
And what -- what -- how long of a timeframe are we talking before the A-29, Super Tucano is operable by the Afghan air force?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Yeah, the A-29 will start coming into the inventory next year, not -- it will not be a factor -- yeah, okay. I'm sorry. There was a little bit of feedback. But, again, the Super Tucano A-29 is not anything in the '13 fighting cycle. It's next year where it starts to come onboard, and obviously most of that will have to be the initial training the cadre of Afghan air force pilots who will not only be prepared to fly it themselves, but also bring on and become the instructors in the airplane. So it'll be mid-'14 and into '15 where it starts to really reach some operational capability. So what does that mean for -- how does the air support be generated by anything still remaining in the coalition capabilities? We'll still have some fixed-wing capability to do air support, air- delivered munitions. It likely will include other nations besides the United States Air Force and the United States Navy and the United States Army. And I encourage that, for our NATO partners who have very robust capabilities over here right now in both rotary-wing and fixed-wing.
And likely, we would expect to see some of those nations stay into the resolute support mission in 2015 and beyond, all to be determined in the months to come as we go through the concept of operations that NATO will put in play and in negotiations with the nations, and ultimately into a final plan that will come to fruition in 2015.
I think the other piece that maybe you're asking about that I could help you with is, what other capabilities will have kinetic capabilities? And, again, I come back to the remotely piloted aircraft that not only the U.S. fly, but other nations fly -- the U.K. comes to mind -- that have hybrid ISR. They can collect intelligence, but they also are armed. And they're armed to be able to provide force protection to our coalition forces, and then our coalition ground force commanders, when they deem it appropriate, they can control that air delivered munition capability from the RPAs to be put in support of the Afghans.
So you'll have that hybrid ISR, as I call it, that armed ISR remotely piloted aircraft capability all the way through '14. And then once resolute support mission operations is fully understood and agreed upon by our coalition partners and our -- and our leadership, you likely will see it into 2015 to provide force protection.
Q: If I could follow up really quickly, are you -- are you talking about an integrated international aviation task force, I guess, where you would bring small numbers, each country would present small numbers of aircraft, fixed-wing aircraft that would all operate under the same umbrella?
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: I am. And it's what we have now. As you know, the coalition that we have of 50 willing nations -- most of them are NATO -- which makes it very straightforward for me as the senior NATO airman to operate. We know how we are integrated. We know how to talk to each other. We know how to pass taskings back and forth. We know how to do air space control measures, et cetera.
So we have that now, and I'm confident that that NATO coalition of the troop contributing nations that have air power, that it will likely be the same type of a set-up, albeit smaller, in the resolute support mission, so into 2015.
The interesting part of it is, we also have other non-NATO nations that have very significant air capabilities -- United Arab Emirates, UAE comes to mind -- and they -- after we work this into our existing NATO command-and-control structure, they are full participants and very, very capable of doing this day in and -- day in and day out. And into resolute support, you know, I would -- I would encourage and hope that the nations such as the UAE would also stay with us.
CMDR. SPEAKS: Okay, with that, sir, I will turn it over to you for any closing comments.
MAJ. GEN. POLUMBO: Well, I think you guys have been too easy on me, but it's been a pleasure to talk to you. There's an obvious understanding of the complexity of the environment by the questions that you all ask. They were really good questions. I appreciate it. Anything that I promised you a return on, we can through the ISAF structure that we have here, we can get that data to you.
I will close by saying it's an honor and a privilege as the senior U.S. and NATO airman to have served for the year and worked with so many great airmen and great soldiers and Marines and sailors and the civilians that are over here. And I have been flying in the Afghan airspace this year, as the commander, but also over the last three years, it's a very difficult place to fly. It's a very challenging environment to fly airplanes day and night, so I have nothing but the utmost admiration for our airmen and the maintenance personnel and the civilians that assist us in that regard, because it's so important.
The Afghan people deserve this try. General Dunford has defined how we should look at how to declare a win in this regard. And over the next 20 months, we have a lot of work to do to really, really assist the Afghans in a free and stable and vibrant and economically viable country.
So, again, thank you all for the opportunity to talk to you today, and we're out here from Kabul.
CMDR. SPEAKS: Thank you, sir.
ATTACKS REMEMBERED WITH U.S. NAVY PHOTOS
FROM: U.S. NAVY
010914-N-0000X-002 Pascagoula, Miss. (Sept. 14, 2001) – The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67) is back in the water. Cole was relaunched at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems Ingalls Operations in Pascagoula, Miss., after repairs on her hull were completed. The ship was transported to Pascagoula following the October 12, 2000 terrorist attack in Yemen. U.S. Navy Photo (RELEASED)
010911-N-3783H-174 Arlington, Virginia (Sept. 11, 2001) -– Smoke and flames rose over the Pentagon late into the night, following a terrorist crash of a commercial airliner into the southwest corner of the Pentagon. Part of the building has collapsed meanwhile firefighters continue to battle the flames and look for survivors. The building was evacuated, as were the federal buildings in the Capitol area, including the White House. U.S. Navy Photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Bob Houlihan (Released)
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