TOP STORY — POTUS IN SAUDI: President Obama is in Saudi Arabia on Day 2 of his reset with the Kingdom. After a two-hour meeting Wednesday, Saudi King Salman it was unclear if any progress was made in easing the tensions between the two allies, a marriage of convenience centered on oil. The Washington Post reports that Saudi officials are not-so-quietly fuming about a bipartisan move in Congress that holds Saudi Arabia financially liable for any role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
COLD WAR REDUX? Russia’s not just challenging the U.S. in the air, with its hot-dogging fighter pilots buzzing American ships and spy planes, it’s back in the undersea world big time. The New York Times is front paging a story about Russia’s buildup of newer, quieter diesel and nuclear powered submarines, citing a 50 percent increase in patrols. All that helps justify America’s five-year $8 billion sub-building plans, including more new Virginia class boats.
Good Thursday morning and welcome to the Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by the Washington Examiner’s National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre), National Security Writer Jacqueline Klimas (@jacqklimas) and Senior Editor David Brown (@dave_brown24). Send tips, suggestions and anything else to [email protected].
McCAIN’S BIPARTISAN BLAST: The heating up of the Cold War with Russia is not lost on Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., who took to the Senate floor yesterday to deliver a blistering critique of the sorry state of U.S. military readiness, after five years of sequester cuts. McCain says only 30 percent of Marine F/A-18s can fly, only two of the Army’s brigade combat teams are fully ready to fight, and less that half of the Air Force’s combat squadrons can conduct full-spectrum operations. He blamed just about everyone for being asleep at the switch. “What’s worse is the two-faced hypocrisy of it all … Democrats who say they favor more funding for our military, but only if they get dollar-for-dollar increases for their pet domestic programs first … Republicans who say they favor a strong defense, but when it comes time to do the hard work of funding it are nowhere to be found.”
NO SLEEP TILL NDAA: It’s not like Congress isn’t a least TALKING about more funding for defense. Mark-up-a-palooza has begun, with three House Armed Services subcommittees marking up their portion of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday.
Here’s your rundown:
The subcommittee meeting on the personnel mark, which includes a 2.1 percent pay increase for troops, lasted a whopping nine and a half minutes. During that time, Rep. Susan Davis, D-Calif., said troops would rather deploy with better equipment than have $11 extra a month in their paycheck, Military Times reported.
Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said at the tactical air and land subcommittee markup that he is “concerned” that resources do not equip the military to adequately meet needs as evidenced by $22 billion on the services’ fiscal 2017 unfunded wishlists. The budget, he said, is forcing the Pentagon to support those who deploy “by robbing the next to deploy.”
We finally saw some amendments in the markup for seapower and projection forces, which authorizes $20.6 billion for shipbuilding, which is $2.3 billion more than president’s request. One from Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala., would prohibit the Navy from narrowing down to only one littoral combat ship builder until the next administration. Right now, Lockheed Martin and Austal USA make their own types of LCSes. The other from Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., would require the Coast Guard to give Congress a list of requirements for an ice breaker within 10 days of the bill’s passage. Both passed.
Hunter struggled some with the logistics of the markup. After he was called on to offer his amendment, he said he didn’t have one, then interrupted Chairman Randy Forbes, R-Va., admitting his mistake. “You are a dumb Marine,” one of his colleagues joked (Hunter had referred to himself as “just a dumb Marine” earlier in the session, so everyone can calm down). See the video here.
Three more mark-ups on the House side are on deck for Thursday: readiness at 9:30, emerging threats and capabilities at 11 and strategic forces at noon.
KEEPING OUR EDGE: Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., wants the U.S. to spend more on research and development to make sure the military stays ahead of peer competitors like China.
“What are we thinking?” he said Wednesday during a hearing after complaining that the U.S. is cutting R&D spending while China boosts its investments and is on pace to surpass the American military’s technological superiority in about five years.
Arati Prabhakar, the director of DARPA, said that many of the assumptions made about the investments needed in technology came from a time when enemies didn’t change that often.
“That slow moving world is gone,” she said.
Rhymes with avatar? Prabhakar brushed off Alabama Republican Sen. Richard Shelby’s stumbling over her last name during the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing.
“I grew up in Texas, sir, so there’s nothing you can do to my name that hasn’t been done,” she said.
TAKE THEIR OIL? THAT’S SO LAST YEAR: A House Democrat says “extreme” rules of engagement means that the Islamic State is getting free power from Iraq, Joel Gehrke writes. “Our rules of engagement in bombing have been so extreme that, I mean, we continue to see ISIS getting free electricity from the Iraqi government through generation [and] transmission facilities that we will not bomb,” Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Wednesday.
ELSEWHERE ON THE HILL: Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, deputy Marine commandant for aviation, said readiness has taken a major hit due to budget cuts and heavy operations, Rudy Takala reports. “It happened over a period of time,” Davis told a panel of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “We were making our operational commitment, we were making our deployments to go fight in Afghanistan, Iraq, and around the world.
DUNFORD IN BAGHDAD: No sooner was SecDef Ash Carter wheels up from Baghdad than the military’s top general was arriving to keep the pressure on the Iraqis. Joint Chiefs Chairman Marine Gen. Joe Dunford was in the Iraqi capital for more nitty-gritty talks with Iraqi, American and coalition officials. The Pentagon would really like to see the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, an Islamic State stronghold, liberated before the end of the year, something President Obama, in an interview with CBS news this week, indicated was a possibility.
PENTAGON PUSH-BACK: The Pentagon was bristling at a report in USA Today that suggested in an effort to target ISIS more aggressively, the U.S. military is approving airstrikes that risk more civilian casualties. “We’re not lowering the bar, we’re just changing who judges where the bar is,” said spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis. The airstrikes, which used to be approved by a four-star in Tampa, are now being approved by a three-star in Doha.
“Standards have not changed. Delegating authorities for targeting makes us faster and more agile, but it does not change this fundamental fact. Our goal is to minimize the risk of civilian casualties to the greatest extent possible. By any standard, this is the most precise air campaign in the history of warfare.”
GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER? He wasn’t an announced part of the delegation, but CIA Director John Brennan is accompanying President Obama to Saudi Arabia, Susan Crabtree reports. The White House didn’t disclose it, but “As the president and his entourage arrived in Riyadh and disembarked from Air Force One, a White House pool reporter spotted Brennan getting into a van driving to Erga Palace for a meeting between Obama and King Salman and senior U.S. and Saudi officials.”
Oh, and when Obama meets with the king, he’d better not bow. That’s the word from Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., Curt Mills reports. “I call on the president not to bow to the Saudi King and the Washington D.C. lobbyists who are making obscene amounts of money lobbying on the King’s behalf,” Jones said in a statement.
THE ONE COUNTRY THAT WANTS DONALD TRUMP TO WIN: It’s not the U.S., Kelly Cohen reports. See if you can guess before clicking.
NOT SO FAST … Retired Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis may be speaking at a D.C. think tank on Friday, but don’t add him to the ticket just yet. While a speaking circuit is sometimes a sign that a White House bid will soon be launched, analysts warned politicos shouldn’t take this as a sign that the esteemed military leader is thinking about jumping into the GOP nomination fight, Military.com reported.
“Politicians go to [Brookings and other think tanks] when they want to stake out foreign policy positions,” Jeb Bush’s former national security adviser John Noonan told the website. “General Mattis doesn’t need to do that. He already has that label; he already has that expertise.”
CHINESE PRESIDENT TAKES NEW COMMAND: The Associated Press, citing state media and analysts, is reporting Chinese President Xi Jinping has assumed a new title of commander in chief of its Joint Operations Command Center, thereby asserting a more direct role as head of the country’s powerful armed forces. Much was made of the fact that Xi appeared publicly for the first time in camouflage battle dress wearing the joint center’s insignia.
COOL GRAPHIC: The Center for Strategic and International Studies is out with a 3-D interactive graphic of China’s new aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. Check it out here.
IT’S RAINING HUMVEES: Watch this video posted by Task and Purpose to see what happens when you drop Humvees out of an airplane and don’t properly secure them to parachutes. Wear your earbuds for this one. The language is … soldiery.
Miss being in the fleet? Here’s 30 minutes of V-22 Ospreys arriving and taxiing at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. Just play it in the background while you work at your desk in D.C. It’s like whale songs, but way more motivating.
OK, one more video. Rocket sleds! What else do you need? This video shows the Air Force setting a world speed record by launching a sled using magnetic levitation, or maglev, down a track at 633 miles per hour. This B-roll features sound bites from 2nd Lt. Natalia Ocampo, rocket sled program manager, who has Daily on Defense’s vote for coolest job title ever. Go to 8:28 to see the sled in action.
MILITARY SPELLING BRAVO: “We spell it this way: Quebec Alpha Yankee Yankee Alpha Romeo Alpha Hotel. If you don’t know your phonetic alphabet, you need to learn it, if you’re going to work in the Pentagon,” Col. Steve Warren, schooling a Pentagon reporter on spelling of first Iraqi city bombed by newly deployed B-52 heavy bombers. The BUFFs are replacing the B-1s and used precision guided bombs to take out an “enemy weapons storage facility.” As any schoolchild knows BUFF stands for Big Ugly Fat “Fellow.”
THE DANISH SCHOOL MASSACRE THAT NEVER HAPPENED: Here’s some good news you might have missed, another example of a true American hero. We would say “unsung,” except Army Capt. Bradley Grimm was recognized by Denmark and awarded the Danish Defense medal for special, meritorious effort. Grimm doubtless saved lives by providing actionable intelligence about a bomb threat against a school in Denmark. Danish authorities foiled a plot, making an arrest and confiscating explosives.
THE RUNDOWN
Bloomberg: How Pentagon Reached Merger Detente With Antitrust Agencies
The Hill: GOP blocks Obama’s sanctions czar
Military.com: B-52 bombers carry out first airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq
Reuters: Russia warns U.S. over naval incident as NATO tensions laid bare
New York Times: Supreme Court Rules Iran Bank Must Pay for Terrorist Attacks
Washington Post: My terrifying plunge in a car from one of Afghanistan’s most dangerous roads
Calendar
WEEK AHEAD
THURSDAY | APRIL 21
8 a.m. 529 14th St. NW
The National Press Club releases a report on how millennial members of the military spend their money.
9:30 a.m. Rayburn 2212
The readiness subcommittee marks up the National Defense Authorization Act.
9:30 a.m. Hart 216
U.S. Korea Commander Army Gen. Curtis. Scaparrotti, nominated to be SACEUR and EUCOM commander testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee this morning, along with Air Force Gen. Lori J. Robinson who, if confirmed, will be the first woman to head a combatant command, NORTHCOM.
10 a.m. Capitol H-405
James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, delivers a closed briefing on the budget for the intelligence community.
11 a.m. Rayburn 2118
The subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities marks up its piece of the fiscal 2017 defense policy bill.
12 p.m. Rayburn 2212
The strategic forces subcommittee marks up the NDAA.
12 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE
The Heritage Foundation hosts an event on the next steps in the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal.
FRIDAY | APRIL 22
**9:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW**
Retired Gen. James Mattis will speak about the future of the Middle East.
csis.org
MONDAY | APRIL 25
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW
The Center for Strategic and International Studies hosts an event on defense acquisition reforms proposed by Rep. Mac Thornberry.
12 p.m., 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE
The Heritage Foundation hosts a book event for the release of “Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War.”
2 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW
U.S. Special Representative for the Arctic Robert Papp delivers an update on U.S. strategy in the Arctic halfway through its tenure as chairman of the Arctic Council.
TUESDAY | APRIL 26
8 a.m. 37th and O St. NW
Adm. Michael Rogers, the head of U.S. Cyber Command, delivers a keynote address as part of a day-long cyber engagement conference at Georgetown University.
8:30 a.m. 101 Constitution Ave. NW
The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments unveils a new report titled, “Winning the Salvo Competition: Rebalancing America’s Air and Missile Defenses.”
10 a.m. Dirksen G-50
Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s top acquisition chief, along with officials working on the F-35 program will testify on the fiscal 2017 budget for the Joint Strike Fighter.
11 a.m. Dirksen 106
Maj. Gen. Jeff Newell and Lt. Col. Andy Massie of the Royal Air Force speak about air superiority.
WEDNESDAY | APRIL 27
9 a.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW
Stimson hosts a two-day conference on understanding terrorism.
10 a.m. 1150 17th St. NW
Analysts will discuss defense in 2017 at an event titled “Confusion among chaos.”
1:30 p.m. 1152 15th St. NW
Journalist Vago Muradian moderates a panel discussion on Army readiness.
THURSDAY | APRIL 28
10 a.m. Cannon 311
The House Homeland Security Committee holds a hearing on the implications for states and local communities if Gitmo detainees are brought to the U.S.
1:30 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW
Analysts talk about the future of U.S. defense and national security partnerships.
