The_Officer_nov_dec_2011

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FEATURES

COVER

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DEBATE CLUB _____________________________________________________ 8 With the nation in the throes of virtually constant debt and spending debates, one targeted area for cuts is the Department of Defense. The question of how deep the cuts should go is a different story. Lawrence J. Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, says defense can afford a $1 trillion cut over the next 10 years.

Gary Schmitt, director of the program on advanced strategic studies at the American Enterprise Institute, on the other hand, warns that massive cuts are making DoD the bill payer for failed economic policies. It’s a debate worth reading.

The Journal of the Reserve Officers Association

www.roa.org

November – December 2011

ENT H O L ER THE ODE CK

INDEPENDENT IMPACT ___________________________________________ 32

AVAT ARS, HOLO GRAM AND S, FUTU 3-D DEFIN RE TR E AININ G

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) will retire at the end of 2012 and says his primary focus in his last year in the Senate is protecting the nation’s defense. Sen. Lieberman met with The Officer recently to discuss his thoughts on the nation’s security and his plans for the remainder of his term in office.

Also Inside: Q&A with Sen. Joseph Lieberman | Robert Gates Beyond the Pentagon

NEXT STEPS ______________________________________________________ 38

After four-and-a-half years as secretary of defense, Robert Gates is making his transition back to academia where he will become the chancellor of The College of William & Mary next year. Since his retirement as secretary, he’s opened up politically. He took time in October to discuss the efforts of his tenure and the future of defense forces in current conflicts and how the country should prepare for future ones.

By Christopher Prawdzik NATIONAL SECURITY REPORT ______________ 42 Debt, BCA 2011, Economy The country’s annual budget deficits are taking their toll on the future of defense spending. Defense cuts as a result of the Budget Control Act, along with a volatile world economy, could wreak havoc on the country’s ability to address national security threats.

By Bob Feidler

ENTER THE HOLODECK Dismounted Soldier is the Army’s $57 million effort to bring the benefits of the latest video gaming technology to military training. The virtual world of avatars, holograms, and 3-D imagery have captured the imagination of military leaders.

By William Matthews Index to Advertisers: AGIA

47

SUBJECT MATTER KEY ________________________________________________

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Use these subject matter icons for a quick reference on column and department topics throughout each issue.

Marsh

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PERSONNEL

OPINION

LEGAL ISSUES

HISTORY

TECHNOLOGY

HEALTHCARE

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

OPERATIONS

LEGISLATION

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

POLICY

INDUSTRY

Pentagon Federal Credit Union ROA Symposium

Back Cover 12

Top of the Hill

Inside Back Cover

TriWest

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UMUC

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DEPARTMENTS PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE ________________________4 Transition Time

By Col Walker M. Williams III, USAF (Ret.)

RESERVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES Organized in 1922. Incorporated under charter of the Congress by Public Law 81-595.

THE OFFICER PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. Publisher: MajGen Andrew B. Davis, USMC (Ret.) Editor: Christopher Prawdzik Managing Editor: Tiffany Ayers Senior Editor: Elizabeth H. Manning Copy Editor: Carol A. Kelly Associate Editor: Jeanne Kouhestani Graphic Design: Six Half Dozen Advertising Director: Lani Burnett Circulation Manager: Tracey Ware Chairman, Publications Committee: LTC John Rosnow, USAR

READER FEEDBACK ____________________________6 ROA/REA ____________________________________22 Best Representation

By RADM Bob Merrilees, USCGR (Ret.) NAVY _______________________________________10 Reduction Targets

By CAPT Marshall A. Hanson, USNR (Ret.) "3.: _______________________________________ 11 Fun (and Pain) with Numbers

By Bob Feidler CAPITOL HILL CONNECTION__________________ 14 Taking the Hill No Falling Sky

By CAPT Marshall A. Hanson, USNR (Ret.) Pins and Needles Reduction Roster

By Lauren Wilkins China Purchases Power Down on the Pharm Deficit Reduction Plan Could Increase Military Retirement Costs

By CAPT Marshall A. Hanson, USNR (Ret.) SERVICE MEMBERS LAW CENTER ______________ 20 Voting Victims

By CAPT Samuel F. Wright, JAGC, USN (Ret.) STARs INDUSTRY NEWS _______________________48 Soldier Sustainment TriWest App Brings Benefits to Fingertips

By Jeanne Kouhestani

Follow ROA on Twitter: twitter@ReserveOfficer

The Officer (ISSN 0030-0268) is published bimonthly by the Reserve Officers Association of the United States, One Constitution Avenue NE, Washington DC 20002-5618. Telephone 202-479-2200; Fax 202-646-7767. Printed by Brown Printing Company, East Greenville, Pa. Subscription prices: $40 per year for members, which is included in the dues, $20 for surviving spouses and ROAL members. PERIODICAL POSTAGE PAID at Washington, D.C., and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Officer, Membership Department, ROA, One Constitution Avenue NE, Washington DC 200025618. DEADLINES: Editorial, letters–45 days preceding month of issue; articles, departments–45 days preceding month of publication. Manuscripts preferred by e-mail to editor@roa.org.

This publication is available on the ROA website, for members only. Copyright Š 2011 by the Reserve Officers Association. All rights reserved. ADVERTISING INFORMATION: Deadline: 1st day of month preceding month of publication. ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE: Lani Burnett, Advertising Director, Reserve Officers Association, One Constitution Ave. NE, Washington DC 20002-5618; Phone 202-646-7758; Fax 202-646-7767; E-mail lburnett@roa.org. Linda R. Cooper, Ad Traffic Manager, One Constitution Ave. NE, Washington DC 20002-5618; Phone 202646-7711; Fax 202-646-7767; E-mail lcooper@roa.org. Publication of advertising does not constitute endorsement by the ROA Publisher or the Publisher’s representatives. *****

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ROA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Col 8"-,&3 . 8*--*".4 *** 64"' 3&5 t 30" /"5*0/"- 13&4*%&/5 TRANSITION TIME

ROA expanding efforts to reach members.

s we approach the end of 2011, we are still very concerned with the state of the nation’s economy and the impact that it has on national security. Gridlock seems to continue on Capitol Hill; any way it is unlocked will mean severe cuts to the defense budget. ROA has taken two major steps in order to prepare itself for continuing to advocate for all reservists and their families, and for the critical capabilities to defend the nation.

First, after the recent resignation of Executive Director MG David Bockel, USA (Ret.), ROA is excited to welcome MajGen Andrew B. “Drew� Davis, USMC (Ret.), as its new executive director. We wish MG Bockel all the best back home in Atlanta in his new position as executive director of the Georgia Military Affairs Coordinating Committee. ROA is fortunate to have MajGen Davis at this critical time with his background of distinguished military service and recent experience in the Washington, D.C., area as president and executive director of the American Press Institute. Describing his vision for ROA’s future operations, MajGen Davis cited a mission that promotes two foundational concepts: Reserve strength and Reserve life.

He laid out a mission for ROA that “mitigates the coming defense cuts, sustains the operational Reserve Component, assures a stronger ROA for members, and strengthens the connection of serving reservists to their communities.�

Second, the ROA national executive committee boldly decided to proceed with a proposal to open ROA membership to all enlisted ranks, including the ability for enlisted members to run for any elected position in the association. This proposal, which includes a name change to “Reserve Organization of America,� will now go to the 2012 national convention for vote by convention delegates. If approved, this move will place ROA in a much better position to represent and advocate for all reservists of all services and all ranks.

While ROA continues to evolve, so does The Officer, as this issue closes out the year with a focus on transitions.

For starters, Lawrence Korb, senior fellow at the Center for

American progress and a retired Navy Reserve captain, makes his case for a $1 trillion defense cut over the next 10 years.

Gary Schmitt, director of the Program on Advanced Strategic Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, on the other hand, counters with dangers of severe defense cuts, insisting that the Defense Department not be a bill payer for other failed economic policies.

The journal then delves a bit into the unknown as resident defense technology expert William Matthews follows military simulation and training to the next level.

Once just known to the likes of Star Trek fans and fantasy aficionados, avatars, holograms, and advanced 3-D imagery provide the basis for training never seen before, and The Officer is there to provide an early look at the latest technology.

Transition discussion continues in a conversation with Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.). Sen. Lieberman will retire at the end of 2012 and says his focus between now and then is to ensure the nation’s defense remains strong.

Over to the Pentagon: In July, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stepped down after four-and-a-half years at the helm, which included efforts in two wars abroad as well as making a transition from one presidential administration to another.

In that time, the country has transitioned from heavy combat in Iraq to a withdrawal schedule that will soon have troops leaving for good. The Officer caught up with Dr. Gates not long after his retirement from the Pentagon to discuss a little bit about the past and the future of the force.

In this issue’s National Security Report, ROA director of Army Programs and Strategic Defense Education, Bob Feidler, climbs the mountain of U.S. debt and explores the impact that debt has on the nation’s security. It’s an issue with many impacts, and he notes that most, if not all of them, are negative ones.

Also, don’t miss this month’s STARs report and other items about the latest in Washington, D.C. See you in 2012. [

We are still very concerned with the state of the nation’s economy.

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OFFICER / NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2011

Every day, the men and women of the Air National Guard stand vigilant in service to our country and communities. At Boeing, we’re proud to stand with them in their vital mission.

READER FEEDBACK Rebalance the Force Rather than pitting our moral obligation to provide for current or future veterans against the unemployed, handicapped, or elderly—and revisiting the 1932 Incident on Anacostia Flats (see Capitol View p. 14)—we must find innovative ways to reduce the cost of performing our global missions. To that end, we should rebalance the force. Force rebalancing is not a new concept, and former Army Chief of Staff, Creighton Abrams rebalanced the Army after Vietnam by moving units from the active to Reserve Component. Since we have replaced our strategic reserve with an operational reserve, then maybe it is time to place everyone in the Reserve Component.

As radical as it sounds, eliminating the active component and transferring everyone to the Reserve or National Guard will eliminate disparity and duplication. Instead of maintaining 1.4 million active component service members with limited flexibility to downsize, we would retain 1.4 million Reserve Component service members on active duty with complete flexibility in force reduction. No more retention boards, involuntary separation pay, or disparity between active and reserve benefits and policies. As needed, we could transfer forces to and from active status. Likewise, we would have a single retirement plan. No more 38-year-old retirees drawing two or three checks from the Treasury in retirement, civil service pay, and VA Disability, but 50 year old retirees drawing a pension at the end of their career.

Scott Harrison LTC, USAR Tampa, Fla.

Reader Feedback Policy The Officer welcomes your feedback on content and issues affecting Reserve officers. Letters should be no longer than 300 words, and must include writer’s name, rank (if applicable), service branch, and city and state of residence.

Please include a phone number as we verify each letter’s authenticity before publishing. Phone numbers are not published.

Letters may be edited for grammar, style, and length.

The Officer reserves the right to refuse publication of any correspondence for any reason.

Please send letters via e-mail to editor@roa.org (subject line: “Feedback”) or use the “Feedback” form on www.roa.org.

Please send letters via postal mail to: Christopher Prawdzik, Editor, The Officer, Reserve Officers Association, One Constitution Ave., NE, Washington, D.C. 20002-5618 6

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COMMENT CORNER FEATURING THE ROA BLOG Join the Discussion at:

http://reserveofficer.blogspot.com/ Oct. 5, 2011 Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Col.) submitted a plan to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, suggesting that 100,000 soldiers be removed from Active Duty end strength and be transferred to the Army Reserve or the Army National Guard. According to Coffman, this would achieve a $90 billion savings in personnel cost over a tenyear period. …

Comments: Anonymous said...

If we had done this in the 90s, instead of playing politics with “shared pain” cuts, the bench would not have gone empty so quickly this time around. cavcol said...

What are the individuals who are transferred to the Reserves and National Guard going to do for a living?

Is there a plan in place or has anyone thought about how these transferred active duty personnel are going to support themselves. Drill pay is not enough to support a person or a family. With out a guaranteed job the MOS/AFSC/ RATING mismatch would be horrendous. These units that are part of the strategic Reserve and National Guard have to be trained well enough to be in theater within 30 days of call up. Has anyone thought of how this is going to be accomplished? …

Anonymous said...

While I think this is a good idea. This is not as easy as everyone thinks. If you are taking active duty units and turning them into Reserve or NG units takes a lot of planning and years in the making. There has to be stationing plans, the active duty positions must be moved to the USAR or NG, facilities have to be identified. If no facilities are available the USAR or NG have to POM for Military Construction.

That would take at least 8 years to get completed. So would there even be a savings by doing this? …

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DEBATECLUB CUT TO THE CHASE

BY LAWRENCE J. KORB

Defense spending needs a $1 trillion cut over the next decade.

Congress can and should cut the current level of defense spending by about 15 percent, or a trillion dollars, over the next decade without jeopardizing national security if it acts correctly.

Such cuts are possible because, in real terms, defense spending is now higher than at any time since World War II. Over the past decade, the U.S. share of the world’s military expenditures has risen from one-third to about one-half.

Moreover, the baseline defense budget—exclusive of war costs— has grown in real terms and is now $100 billion higher than what was spent, on average, during the Cold War. It is also higher than at the peak of President Ronald Reagan’s defense buildup.

A 15 percent reduction (about $100 billion a year) would bring the country back to Fiscal Year 2007 spending levels—the year before the end of the George W. Bush administration. Finally, a 15 percent cut would be less than the reductions of Presidents Dwight Eisenhower (27 percent), Richard Nixon (29 percent), and Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton (35 percent combined).

Reductions would have to come in a balanced and strategic way, involving personnel, operations, and investment accounts implemented through a phased-in approach.

As former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates noted in a Feb. 25, 2011, speech at West Point, the United States will not send large land armies into the Middle East again, and the country can return Army and Marine Corps troop strengths to pre–9/11 levels, with parallel reductions in civilian personnel. Moreover, the military health care system for retirees and the military compensation system can be modified as recommended by Department of Defense (DoD) task forces. In addition, the 80,000 troops stationed in Europe and Asia can be reduced by half. These three steps alone will save about $35 billion a year.

Because President George W. Bush presided over what 8

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OFFICER / NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2011

Secretary Gates called a “gusher� of defense spending, Pentagon leaders did not exercise proper control or make hard choices over the past decade. As a result, DoD spent $50 billion on weapons it eventually had to cancel. And cost growth in weapons systems exceeded $300 billion. Therefore, military leaders should find it comparatively easy to identify the remaining $65 billion a year.

Military leaders have already identified almost $200 billion in savings. In addition, the research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) budget is now $20 billion higher in real terms than at the height of President Reagan’s buildup. Returning RDT&E to its Reagan-era levels and taking $20 billion a year in efficiency savings will provide another $40 billion. More than the remaining $25 billion can be found through: t 3FEVDJOH UIF 6 4 OVDMFBS BSTFOBM UP MFWFMT SFDPNNFOEFE CZ the Air War College. t "MMPXJOH UIF /BWZ UP QVSDIBTF ' " & BOE ' NPEFM Super Hornet multirole fighter aircraft instead of the troubleplagued and high-maintenance F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. t 4UPQQJOH GVSUIFS QSPEVDUJPO PG UIF USPVCMF QMBHVFE 7 Osprey, which Dick Cheney, when serving as secretary of defense for President George H.W. Bush, called a “turkey.� t $BODFMMJOH QSPDVSFNFOU PG UIF $7 BJSDSBę DBSSJFS t 4MPXJOH EPXO QSPDVSFNFOU PG UIF 7JSHJOJB DMBTT TVCNBSJOF DDG-51 destroyer, and littoral combat ship.

Critics will argue, as they did when Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton reduced defense spending, that such reductions will jeopardize security. But remember: It was Eisenhower’s force that compelled the Soviet Union to back down in the Cuban missile crisis; it was Nixon’s Total Force that performed so well in the Persian Gulf Wars; and it was the Clinton military that marched to Baghdad in three weeks and expelled the Taliban from Afghanistan in four.

Reducing defense spending will help bring growing . national debt—which Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ADM Mike Mullen called the greatest threat to national security—under control and free up funds to fix the United States’ crumbling infrastructure and deteriorating educational system, the foundation of the economic component of national security. [ Lawrence J. Korb, a retired Navy Reserve captain, is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a Washington, D.C. think tank.

PERILOUS CUTS

BY GARY SCHMITT

Don’t make DoD the bill-payer for economic failures.

It’s become conventional wisdom in the nation’s capital over the past year to argue that, in the face of our growing national debt, the defense budget must be on the table as the government attempts to rein in spending. What’s ignored is that defense spending has been on the table for the past three years, and if the newly established congressional super committee cannot come to some bipartisan agreement over how to reduce the deficit, chances are America’s military will find “the table” to be more like a slab at the morgue.

During the Obama administration’s first two years, some $400 billion was cut from future defense spending plans. And now, as part of the debt ceiling agreement, an additional $330 billion or more is to be sliced from Pentagon programs over the next decade. If those totals sound familiar, they should be. They come close to matching, dollar-for-dollar, the total amount of the president’s stimulus plan in 2009—a plan that arguably ratcheted up the country’s debt but did little to jump-start the economy. The services have, in effect, become the bill-payers for a failed economic plan.

But things could get worse—much worse. If the super committee reaches no deal, or if Congress fails to pass its recommendations, the debt-ceiling deal—now black letter law—requires automatic cuts in government discretionary budgets that will likely result in another $500 billion being whacked from defense programs. Should that come to pass, the American military will be appreciably smaller, and plans to replace aging and worn-out platforms and equipment will simply not be accomplished. Outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ADM Mike Mullen and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta have described this prospect as “disastrous” and “unacceptable.”

Yes, America’s defense budget is large. But so are the

country’s security concerns and commitments around the world. And yes, U.S. allies could do more. But, lest the country forget, it’s in America’s national interest to keep terrorists at bay, deter potential great-power conflict, keep rogue regimes from mischief, and ensure that the global commons are free for our use. Those are large and expensive tasks, but the failure to carry them out puts at jeopardy the extraordinary benefits that accrue to the United States as a result of keeping the peace and, where possible, expanding political and economic liberty.

Moreover, cutting defense will not solve the country’s fiscal problems. In the short term, the deficit, as in the past, will decrease only when the economy starts growing again. The fact is, the Pentagon could shut its doors tomorrow and the current deficit would drop by less than half. As for the country’s longterm fiscal problems, it’s the growth of entitlement spending— Social Security, Medicare, and other programs—that is at issue.

America’s defense budget has, certainly, grown over the past 10 years. But it began from a starting point in 2001 in which the defense burden was a post–World War II low of 3 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). And most of the increase in defense spending has gone to fighting two congressionally authorized wars, maintaining aging equipment, and paying for the services of the extraordinary men and women who have willingly fought in these campaigns.

Yet, even today, the total defense burden is less than 5 percent of GDP, while the core defense budget remains around 3.5 percent. This is a remarkable bargain by any standard. For less than a nickel on the dollar of the country’s wealth, the United States has gotten in return a magnificent fighting force and a military second to none.

Of course, any large government budget—including the Defense Department’s—contains savings opportunities. But the cuts being planned go much deeper than simply finding new efficiencies in how the military goes about its business. We are, in the words of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff GEN Martin Dempsey, headed down a road of “very high risk” when it comes to the nation’s security. It’s a path we need not, and ought not, go down. [ Gary Schmitt is director of the program on advanced strategic studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank.

THE

OFFICER / NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2011

9

NAVY $"15 ."34)"-- " )"/40/ 64/3 3&5 t %*3&$503 /"7"- 4&37*$&4 4&$5*0/

REDUCTION TARGETS Defense cuts threaten naval services’ equipment and personnel.

n the wake of legislation that raised the debt ceiling and proposed cuts to reduce the deficit, the Office of Management and Budget advised federal agencies to prepare budget submissions that are 5 percent below current levels of appropriations. “I don’t think this is necessarily a sea-change event,�

Pentagon press secretary George Little reassured reporters Aug. 19. Yet the proposed $350 billion cut to defense over the next 10 years is in addition to the $150 billion in cost efficiencies to be taken over the next five years by the services directed under former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

As Marines and Soldiers withdraw from Afghanistan and Iraq, naval services may bear a large share of proposed cuts.

Struggling to increase its fleet to 313 ships, the U.S. Navy (USN) faces cuts in shipbuilding and manning levels. Several studies have suggested reducing the number of aircraft carrier groups from 11 to 10, or even fewer, and by slowing new aircraft carrier construction from five- to seven- year intervals. A parallel cut would then be made in air wings, reducing them from 10 to nine.

An unnamed defense industry executive told The Washington Times at the end of August that the Navy has also talked about canceling the successor to the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine and converting some Virginia-class attack boats into missile carriers.

Ironically, the one naval service that has played an important role during the ongoing war against terrorism, the Marine Corps, is likely to take the deepest operational cuts. The Marine variant of the Joint Strike Fighter and the V-22 Osprey rotor aircraft are both suggested areas for procurement cutbacks.

Other areas being looked at are the Marines’ amphibious capability and the expeditionary fighting vehicle program.

The budget crisis could also cause the Marines to start cutting end-strength as early as October 2012. “There is pressure to go below the 186,800 [Marines],� Gen James F. Amos, Marine Commandant, told the Marine Corps Times. The current authorization level is 202,000.

As part of the deal, the Fiscal Year 2012 security budget has been capped at $684 billion, which is about $5 billion less than 10

THE

OFFICER / NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2011

last year. The budget deal legislation defines security to include the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Defense.

Gordon Adams at the Henry L. Stimson Center speculates that “defense was not going to pay the minus $5 billion dollar price tag,� and that cuts of “$10 [billion] or $15 billion in other parts of the security function� are quite possible for 2012.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) faces the prospect of cutting recent staffing increases in the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), the Institute of Policy Studies reports. These cuts could impact port security screenings and may slow down planned end-strength increases to the Coast Guard Reserve. “The administration is reducing the numbers of USCG cutters in the Pacific and arguing against the full number of replacement cutters and the building of a new Offshore Patrol Cutter,� wrote defense expert Robin Laird.

Mr. Laird illustrates the rationale for cutting the Coast Guard with a quote from one senior DHS official who says, “The USN can do many of the missions which the USCG is doing in the Pacific,� even though the Navy has inadequate assets in the Pacific. The Navy has “its smallest fleet since 1916,� confirms Secretary of the Navy Raymond E. Mabus.

While the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) acts as the eyes and the ears of the country when it comes to the conditions of the air and oceans, it may lose part of this capability to belt-tightening. This will not only affect the availability of research vessels at sea, but could delay the replacement of weather satellites. By 2016, only seven of the current 13 earth-monitoring satellites are expected to be operational, according to the Center for a New American Security. Funding cuts also threaten NOAA’s program on Deepocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis.

The U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Officers Corps may be the least affected. As part of the Department of Health and Human Services that is implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, it may have more budget resources. Still, budget cuts will likely further slow the establishment of the USPHS Ready Reserve. [

ARMY

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FUN (AND PAIN) WITH NUMBERS Shrinking budgets spotlight Army Reserve relevance.

riginally attributed to British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in the 1800s, the following maxim still applies today: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” While statistics can be bent to skew a picture, they also can bring startling clarity to otherwise complex and changing landscapes. The following numbers illustrate this quite well and, if anything, prompt some serious thinking when it comes to the country’s quickly evolving fiscal situation. Figures are rounded and Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 numbers are estimates.

increase. The approximate overall Army budget for FY 12 will be slightly more than $140 billion.

In addition, overall military end-strength decreased by 697,000, or 32 percent, between FY 85 and FY 11. Army Active Component end-strength decreased from 740,000 in FY 90 to 563,000 in FY 11. Overall military end-strength in FY 11 was 1,484,000 on active duty and 845,000 in the Selected Reserve. These figures represent a decrease of 34 percent in Active Component end-strength since FY 85 and a 20 percent decrease in Reserve Component end-strength over that period.

Budget Behemoths $15 trillion

The size of the country’s growing national debt.

A little more than $10 trillion is public debt and about 45 percent of that is owed to foreign countries, with China holding about $1.3 trillion. $15 trillion The size of the slow-growing U.S. economy. $1.3 trillion The estimated size of the federal deficit for FY 11. The government borrows 40 cents of every dollar it spends. $740 billion The government’s annual Social Security cost.

(About 10,000 baby boomers a day will be added for the next 20 years.) $540 billion Annual Medicare payments to the elderly. $300 billion Annual federal Medicaid payments for lowincome recipients. $685 billion Department of Defense (DoD) spending for FY 11 for the base budget and overseas contingency operations (wars). About $530 billion is for the DoD base budget and $160 billion is for wars. $640 billion Projected defense spending for FY 12, with $525 billion for the DoD base budget and $120 billion for war.

Between FY 00 and FY 11, the DoD base budget increased more than 80 percent in current dollars and 40 percent in constant dollars. The buying power of the FY 12 DoD budget will be nearly 10 percent less than the 1985 budget.

All services grew substantially, but the Army experienced the greatest growth in constant dollars—about a 44 percent

Army Arithmetic The Army National Guard has an end-strength of about 358,000, and the Army Reserve an end-strength of about 205,000 for an Army Reserve Component total of about 563,000. All other Reserve Component services combined have an end-strength of about 293,000 when the Coast Guard is included. $8 billion The Army Reserve budget (roughly) for FY 11.

203,000 Army Reserve Soldiers mobilized since 9/11. $47,000 Cost of a nonmobilized/nondeployed Army per year Reserve Soldier. $140,000 Cost of a nondeployed Active Component per year Soldier.

With the defense budget shrinking or experiencing very little real growth—and with active Army end-strength on a steep downward trend (it will drop 20,000 to 30,000 over the next three years)—the importance of an enduring operational Army Reserve that is fully resourced and trained is clear. The Army Reserve will be available to mitigate capability shortfalls and will play a key role in the development of cooperative security arrangements with U.S. allies and partners. LTG Jack Stultz, chief of the Army Reserve, put it well in a recent address to the American Legion: “We cannot reduce our support to our men and women in uniform; they are a national treasure.”

Note: LTG Stultz recently announced he will retire in May 2012. A board was scheduled to convene in early October to recommend a successor to the secretary of the Army. [ THE

OFFICER / NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2011

11

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CAPITOL HILL CONNECTION – CAPITOL VIEW

TAKING THE HILL CAPT MARSHALL A. HANSON, USNR (RET.) ROA DIRECTOR OF LEGISLATION

Confrontational approach to Capitol can backfire.

heard an individual—who is a veteran representative for one of America’s largest financial companies—say outside of a recent meeting that the veteran service organizations should put away their differences and together march on the Capitol. This old school mentality of confrontation reminded me of the 1932 Bonus Army that camped out near the Capitol, only to be driven away by the Army.

Known as the Bonus Expeditionary Force, about 43,000 marchers composed of World War I veterans, wives, and children entered Washington, D.C., demanding immediate cash payment on service certificates authorized by Congress in 1924 in recognition of their service. Awarded under the World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924, the bonus certificates were not redeemable until 1945.

This practice of paying wartime bonuses wasn’t new. It actually began after the American Revolutionary War when most of the Continental Army was demobilized without being paid for more than two years. Those bonuses were intended to pay the income difference between what a Soldier was paid and what he might have earned if he hadn’t enlisted. While not offered to Spanish American War veterans, World War I veterans were offered only a $60 bonus—equivalent to about $1,000 today.

With unemployment impacting many veterans at the beginning of the Great Depression, this march on Washington, D.C., reflected the urgent need for cash versus paper promises.

But the tactic backfired.

As Washington, D.C., is exempt from Posse Comitatus Act restrictions, which do not allow the military to perform law enforcement, the Army confronted the veterans who bivouacked at a Hooverville camp on Anacostia Flats. After an altercation between veterans and the Washington, D.C. police, where two veterans were killed, the Army was ordered in to evict the veterans and their families by force. This was done with tanks, fixed bayonets, and adamsite gas, a vomiting agent.

In the end, 55 veterans were injured, 135 arrested, and one infant died in addition to the previous two veterans killed.

So, what has this got to do with ROA and current legislative strategies? Many ROA members want national headquarters 14

THE

OFFICER / NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2011

to do battle on Capitol Hill. They view this as a fight, where serving military and veterans are the good guys, and elected representatives are the bad.

As an example, one anonymous caller left a voice mail complaining that ROA doesn’t support the early retirement correction for mobilization back to Sept. 11, 2001, and just as his Virginia senators were doing nothing, neither is ROA. Sadly, some ROA members seem to have forgotten that ROA has been a true leader on the early retirement issue.

In 2007, ROA wrote the current legislation—the National Guardsmen and Reservists Parity for Patriots Act—which was then introduced by Rep. Joe Wilson (R–S.C.). A proactive strategy, it was written in anticipation of a needed correction to language, before being signed into law, which limited early retirement credit to those who served after Jan. 28, 2008. Since then, ROA has been one of the more vocal groups on Capitol Hill and has worked with the Senate for inclusion of similar language each time the House failed to include it in the National Defense Authorization.

Unfortunately, in 2011, the deficit debate has suffocated any possibility of needed improvements to current U.S. Code if an issue is unfunded, no matter how justifiable it may be. ROA must study the terra incognita before executing a strategy.

ROA recognizes that some frustrated members want action—a declaration of total warfare. While ROA members could prematurely write Congress about the issue, it would be like firing a volley on the battlefield before an enemy has closed. Or headquarters could suggest that ROA members grab the pitchforks and torches and storm The Hill, but that tactic is akin to the success of bayonet charges against machine gun nests during the trench warfare in World War I. Success on Capitol Hill is based on building relationships rather than burning bridges. Applying persistent pressure, working coalitions with other associations, and finding allies on Capitol Hill are the tactics along the path that leads to achievement.

Such tactics take place more behind the scenes, and are thus analogous to the low intensity conflicts of this century that mix confrontation with diplomacy. [

NO FALLING SKY CAPT MARSHALL A. HANSON, USNR (RET.) ROA DIRECTOR OF LEGISLATION

Active retirement changes are more fiction than fact.

After all, ROA had been following this issue since proposals were published in 2003.

fable: Colonel C.K. Little looked up at the clear sky a bit confused.

As a gray-area retiree, he had a number of years to go before receiving his retirement pay and, according to some associations, clouds were gathering that threatened his annuity.

One eager association sent out a warning to the colonel stating that he should contact Congress to aggressively oppose recommendations to the Pentagon to eliminate the current military retirement system.

And Col. Little had seen with his own eyes articles about this recommendation.

In July, the Defense Business Board (De-Be-Be) was briefed by an internal task group that suggested changes to the military retirement system, saying that the current system was “unaffordable.”

It was recommended to the board that military retirement compensation be altered from a defined benefit to a defined contribution as private sector plans have done, using a 401(k)style approach.

One rationale for it was that military retirement funds can’t be invested into higher yielding equities and bonds.

A suggested comprehensive solution would be a plan based on the existing Uniformed Military Personnel Thrift Savings Plan, with the government providing annual contributions.

This option would allow for the military member to make contributions as well, with the member being vested between three to five years.

Another money-saving idea would make the suggested plan payable between ages 60 and 65. Partial withdrawals could be made to cover education, health care, or other specified emergencies. The plan would be funded at a percentage level comparable to the highest end of a private-sector pension plan.

This made Col. Little nervous, because he had heard, with his own ears, that immediate cuts had to be made from defense if there were to be any expected savings. This made his head hurt, because the logic presented in the De-Be-Be plan also contained a number of myths, such as what is the real yield

on equities and bonds in this economy, or if serving members could make partial withdrawals, what value would be left for retirement?

Although he was warned that this was already the Pentagon’s plan, his thoughts suggested that this wasn’t right, that it would take time before a report was sent by De-Be-Be and analyzed by the Pentagon, and that the Department of Defense would then have to propose legislation to Congress. He also had heard with his own ears reassurances from the secretary of defense that any change would not impact those currently in uniform, even though reform might be considered in a broad form.

At this point, it struck Col. Little that there was just too much input, so he turned to ROA to avoid running around in circles. After all, ROA had been following this issue since proposals were published in 2003.

ROA advised Col. Little that this issue was not yet ready to hatch. Congress, which would make the final decision, had not yet bought into the concept of radically changing military retirement. The De-Be-Be recommendation had no traction on Capitol Hill.

Instead, subtler change was being considered that wouldn’t affect retirees but would impact those currently serving. This was to change the “High-3” to a “High-5” calculation upon retirement. (Currently, if someone joined the military after Sept. 8 1980, his or her last 36 months of pay are averaged to calculate the starting retirement pay. A change suggested by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform would increase that to a 60-month average, if accepted.)

ROA then reassured Col. Little that, for once, being in the Guard or Reserve worked in his favor, as his pay continued to go up even while he was in the gray area. Worst case, his High5 would be in those final years, just before he was paid. It would be based on an even higher pay level than when he retired from the Selected Reserve, should such legislation get passed.

For a more in-depth analysis, go to www.roa.org/ retirementchange. Seriously, no fable. [ THE

OFFICER / NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2011

15

CAPITOL HILL CONNECTION

PINS AND NEEDLES LAUREN WILKINS MILITARY LEGISLATIVE ANALYST

Super Committee requirements make DoD nervous.

The plan could bring potentially devastating cuts to security spending.

ongress’s Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction will recommend a plan to Congress by Thanksgiving that cuts at least $1.2 trillion from the federal budget. The Department of Defense (DoD) worries that the plan could bring potentially devastating cuts to security spending.

The super committee—the Joint Select Committee—must agree to a budget reduction plan by Nov. 23, and Congress must pass it by Dec. 23, or else up to $600 billion will be automatically cut from security spending. Even in the best-case scenario, the $1.2 trillion in cuts proposed by the committee could put all security agencies, even DoD, in a precarious budget situation.

Whether the committee agrees to a reduction plan or the sequester cuts are triggered, federal budget reduction could heavily impact security spending—including the budgets of the Departments of Defense, State, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security, as well as the National Nuclear Security Administration, the intelligence community, and various other international affairs organizations.

The new umbrella of security spending used in the Budget Control Act of 2011 may have been an attempt by the government to streamline the budget for national security.

However, the threat of large budget cuts has caused individual departments to seek out support from lawmakers—possibly at the expense of the greater national security goal.

Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides argued in remarks made at the Center for American Progress that “[the Department of] State and USAID [United States Agency for International Development] and the military are working more closely together in places around the world than ever in our history,” to ensure national security in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. “Our goal is to match our spending on diplomacy and development and the military with our national security challenges.” But the State Department and USAID have already been hit with a 13.6 percent budget cut for 2011 and face even larger cuts for Fiscal Year 2012.

Since the Joint Select Committee appointments were announced in early August, security spending advocates have

16

THE

OFFICER / NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2011

lobbied hard to defend the budgets of their respective departments. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has voiced concerns several times regarding additional defense cuts. During a press event at the National Defense University in August, Secretary Panetta said additional cuts “would have devastating effects on our national defense.”

This level of discussion focused on defense spending has raised concerns among other security agencies. The State Department and Department of Homeland Security fear that, in an effort to shield DoD and preserve the support of service members, veterans and defense industry employees among their constituencies, members of the Joint Select Committee will look to the other agencies under the security umbrella for spending cuts.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the State Department have attempted to establish, in the minds of legislators and American voters, that the diplomatic work of the State Department is equally as essential to national security as defense spending. While committee members may agree on the importance of diplomacy, the voices of serving and veteran constituencies as well as advocates for the defense industry may drown out the appeals of other security agencies.

In response to threats against certain veteran benefits, for example, the Veterans of Foreign Wars said in a press release, “[A plan to cut benefits] is a breach of faith with America’s military and veteran families, and the national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. and its Auxiliaries is calling upon his 2 million members to fight it.”

What cuts are proposed by the super committee remain to be seen. According to DoD, further cuts to defense could cause a “doomsday” scenario. As Secretary Panetta explained, “[O]ur national security is our military power, our Defense Department, but it’s also our diplomatic power and the State Department.” Though leaders acknowledge the importance of a collective security effort, the cuts must come from somewhere.

The question now stands: Who will be on the chopping block first? [

REDUCTION ROSTER LAUREN WILKINS MILITARY LEGISLATIVE ANALYST

Influential backgrounds shape super committee membership.

s the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction deliberates on a federal budget reduction plan, the personalities and backgrounds of the committee’s members could be extremely influential in their decision-making. Following is a brief profile of all 12 members of this congressional super committee. Many represent constituencies made up of service members and Department of Defense installations.

Committee co-chairs are Sen. Patty Murray (D–Wash.) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R–Texas).

Sen. Murray (D–Wash.), who was elected in 1992, chairs the Veterans Affairs Committee and sits on the Senate Budget Committee, among others. She is also the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Sen. Murray represents six military installations in the state of Washington.

Rep. Hensarling is currently vice chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Rep. Hensarling has been described as a financial hawk, and his strong fiscally conservative stance suggests he will oppose tax hikes and support entitlement spending cuts.

As for the other senators on the committee, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–Nev.) appointed Sen. Max Baucus (D– Mont.) to the committee. Sen. Baucus chairs the Senate Finance Committee and serves on the Agriculture and the Environment and Public Works Committees. He was influential in the passage of the Affordable Care Act and will likely be a strong advocate for Medicare and Medicaid. He also represents one military installation.

Sen. John Kerry (D–Mass.) was also appointed to the super committee. He currently serves on the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. He also chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A member of the U.S. Navy from 1966– 1970, he served two tours in Vietnam. He represents six military installations in Massachusetts.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R–Ky.) appointed Sen. Jon Kyl (R–Ariz.), a third-term senator who served four terms in the House before his election to the Senate. Sen. Kyl serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over topics from trade and commerce to

constitutional amendments.

Sen. McConnell also selected Sen. Rob Portman (R– Ohio), a freshman senator who spent 12 years in the House.

Senator Portman serves on the Senate Budget Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee. Ohio is home to two military installations.

Another freshman member is Sen. Pat Toomey (R–Pa.), who serves on the Senate Budget Committee; the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; and the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. Sen. Toomey represents Pennsylvania’s four military installations.

From the House, committee member Fred Upton (R–Mich.) has represented southwest Michigan in the House since 1987.

He serves as chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Formally nicknamed “Young Slasher” for his push for reduced spending early in his career, Rep. Upton has earned a reputation for being tough on entitlement programs and bigbudget federal spending.

Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner’s third House pick for the super committee is another from the Great Lakes State, Rep. Dave Camp (R–Mich.). Rep. Camp is chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, which handles legislation dealing with tax policy as well as entitlement programs.

Appointed to the committee by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D–Calif.) is Rep. James E. Clyburn (D–S.C.). A staunch advocate for entitlement programs, Rep. Clyburn has served in the House since 1993. He is the No. 3 Democrat in the House and serves as Democratic leadership liaison to the House Appropriations Committee.

Rep. Pelosi also appointed Rep. Xavier Becerra (D–Calif.), who was elected in 2003. He serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means and serves as vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

The final House member on the super committee is Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D–Md.). Rep. Van Hollen was majority leader of the Maryland State Senate before being elected to Congress in 2002, and is the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee.[

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17

CAPITOL HILL CONNECTION

CHINA PURCHASES POWER CAPT MARSHALL A. HANSON, USNR (RET.) ROA DIRECTOR OF LEGISLATION

Undervalued yuan modernizes military.

hen the Pentagon released its annual assessment last August of China’s military capabilities, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute contravened that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) budget is more than six times that of China’s defense budget. China announced that its annual defense budget is $91.5 billion for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, while the U.S. defense budget is reported at about $700 billion.

Yet, comparing the actual value of the two countries’ defense dollars is like comparing a Washington Red Delicious Apple with a Chinese Mandarin Orange, with both smelling a little overripe. Defense numbers can prove quite mutable.

While President Obama requested a defense budget of $708.2 billion for 2011, his baseline request was for $549 billion. The request also included $159.3 billion to support overseas contingency operations. Though the overall budget is higher by $16 billion than last year, the DoD Discretionary Budget Authority dropped by 17 percent.

The president’s request included $8.1 billion for family services, $16.9 billion for military construction, $19.7 billion for basic allowance for housing, and $50.7 billion for the unified DoD medical budget. Another $49.6 billion is budgeted for the Reserve Component and $26.5 billion for non-DoD defense– related expenses. This is $171.5 billion with few comparisons in the Chinese budget. A better comparison to China’s budget is about $377.5 billion to maintain U.S. defense for FY 11.

Unlike the U.S. budget request, China’s defense figures shy away from specific systems and capabilities. Further, the official Chinese defense budget figure excludes nuclear arms spending, foreign weapons purchases, and defense research and development (R&D), reports the World Politics Review.

The administration requested $80.9 billion for R&D in FY 11, reducing the U.S. defense budget comparison to $296.6 billion.

The value of the Chinese defense budget should also be adjusted for purchase power parity (PPP). PPP originated from the concept that in absence of transaction costs and elimination of official barriers to trade, identical goods will have the same price in different markets when the prices are expressed in terms of one currency. Such adjustment allows for an undervalued Chinese yuan, cheap labor, and subsidized material costs.

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The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) calculates the PPP for China to be a factor of 1.72 percent. This means that China’s published $91.5 billion actually would be at least $157 billion in U.S. dollars. But the CIA PPP numbers are based on a gross domestic product average, not a military procurement index.

Using 2010 prices and exchange rates, Dod estimated China’s total military-related spending to be $160 billion rather than the $77.95 billion announced by the Chinese. Using those 2010 numbers to determine a factor for 2011, China’s defense budget would rise to $187.8 billion.

Shen Dingli, an international affairs analyst, said China’s 2010 military spending, at $78 billion in PPP terms, is nearly half as much as the U.S. military budget (excluding antiterrorist expenditure). GlobalSecurity.org estimates that when the 2011 Chinese defense budget is adjusted, it is more like $400 billion.

While the United States may seem to be investing six times that of its closest peer, when numbers are adjusted it appears to be closer to a parity of two to one, if not one to one. Add in a Russian military buildup and Iranian challenges to the United States, and threats are ever present.

Comparisons aside, China’s defense budget has grown at double digits over the past 10 to 20 years. It has risen 200 percent since 2001, increasing 12.7 percent between 2010 and 2011. The DoD assessment states: “Over the past decade, China’s military has benefitted from robust investment in modern hardware and technology. Many modern systems have reached maturity, and others will become operational in the next few years.”

Michael Schiffer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, recognized this at a Pentagon briefing about the report.

“The pace and scope of China’s sustained military investment have allowed China to pursue capabilities that we believe are potentially destabilizing to regional military balances, increase the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation, and may contribute to regional tensions and anxieties,” he warned.

Perhaps China hopes to develop its own version of “peace through strength.” But with its territorial claims to the South China Sea and periodic threats to independent Taiwan, China risks destabilizing Asia while preparing for a possible confrontation with the United States. [

PHARM FEARS CAPT MARSHALL A. HANSON, USNR (RET.) ROA DIRECTOR OF LEGISLATION

Dissolved partnership could affect Tricare beneficiaries.

wo pharmaceutical giants are wrestling for control of a portion of the retail pharmacy market. Unfortunately, when someone gets pinned, it might be Tricare drug beneficiaries. Department of Defense (DoD) health affairs officials, however, promise that beneficiaries will retain access to the prescriptions they need.

Walgreens announced in June that, as of Jan. 1, 2012, it will terminate its contract partnership with Express Scripts Inc. (ESI), the contracted pharmacy benefits manager for DoD. If nothing changes, beginning next year, the ESI network will not include Walgreens pharmacies or Duane Reade stores (owned

by Walgreens). Each organization accuses the other of terminating discussions, and each claims the other is trying to negotiate higher profits.

Walgreens and ESI have both sent letters to beneficiaries explaining their case. Military Times reported that these letters have led to beneficiary confusion and frustration.

“Don’t let the advertising, letter, and Internet outreach campaigns scare you,” cautioned Navy RADM Christine Hunter, then deputy director of the Tricare Management Activity (TMA).

Because of the confusion caused by these letters, TMA held a conference call with ROA and other beneficiary associations.

RADM Hunter emphasized that Tricare was not involved in

negotiations and that it was a business matter between the two companies.

If a Tricare pharmacy program beneficiary currently uses a Walgreens pharmacy, Walgreens will continue to fill prescriptions through Dec. 31, 2011. But on Jan. 1, 2012, that Tricare beneficiary may have to pay the full prescription price upfront to Walgreens and then request reimbursement from Tricare.

One option for beneficiaries is to use another pharmacy. ESI reports that, on average, another Tricare network pharmacy is within two blocks of a Walgreens. The only thing necessary to transfer a prescription between retailers is the pill bottle. The new retailer can call ESI directly to authorize the change. Excluding Walgreens, more than 55,000 pharmacies remain in the Tricare network.

Another option for beneficiaries is to transfer a maintenance prescription to Tricare Pharmacy Home Delivery, which is also managed by ESI. Through this option, beneficiaries can receive a 90-day supply of medication at the same copayment cost as a retail 30-day supply. Refills can come automatically, and ESI will contact a beneficiary’s doctor directly to renew the prescription.

Beneficiaries also may speak to a pharmacist by phone any time, day or night. [

DEFICIT REDUCTION PLAN COULD INCREASE MILITARY RETIREMENT COSTS President Barack Obama announced his plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction in late September. Unfortunately, the plan included a recommendation to increase costs for benefits to retirees and military families.

Viewed as modest by the White House, annual fees would begin for Tricare For Life, with a $200 annual fee in Fiscal Year 2013. It would increase annually if recommended by the secretary of defense and would be in addition to Part B Medicare premiums.

Additionally, the president suggested adjusting Tricare pharmacy co-payments to more closely match those of federal employee health plans by shifting retail pharmacies from dollar co-payments to percentage co-payments, starting at 10 percent for generic drugs and increasing to 20 percent. Brand-name and nonformulary drugs would start with a 15 percent co-payment that would rise to 30 percent over time. Mail-order generics would be

free, but brand drugs would increase to a $20 co-payment and $35 co-payment for non-formulary, with each eventually increasing to a $40 co-payment.

The president also recommended establishing a commission to modernize military retirement benefits. This would follow a Base Realignment and Closure process, where the Congress could either accept or reject the suggested changes from the commission.

Congress must still accept these suggestions and pass them into law, before any change can occur, however.

ROA voiced concerns over the plan and later participated in a White House teleconference where staff detailed these recommendations. A congressional alert letter is available at the ROA website www.roa.org/Write2Congress for those wishing to contact their representatives. ROA will work to sustain the current benefits as outlined in National Resolution 10-29. —MAH THE

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SERVICE MEMBERS LAW CENTER $"15 4".6&- ' 83*()5 +"($ 64/ 3&5 t %*3&$503 SERVICE MEMBERS LAW CENTER

VOTING VICTIMS

Antiquated process can disenfranchise service members.

n early November, five statesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginiaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and many municipalities will conduct important elections. And although Election Day 2012 is still a year away, this predictably close-fought presidential campaign will reveal itself much sooner. The 2012 nomination process begins in just three months, when Iowa conducts its caucuses in 1,784 precincts on Feb. 6, 2012. The New Hampshire primary follows eight days later.

In the past, the Service Members Law Center has conducted detailed discussions of the critical role of late-arriving military absentee ballots. Law Review 23 (March 2001) addressed their importance in determining the outcome of the 2000 presidential cliffhanger in Florida. But the election process doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t begin with the general election.

Deployed service members also should participate in the nomination process of candidates, as well as election of candidates for federal, state, and local office. Law Review 1156 (available at www.servicemembers-lawcenter.org) addressed this specifically with regard to military participation in the 2012 Iowa caucuses.

Yet, despite advances in technology and efficiency, deployed service members still must navigate an antiquated absentee voting process.

Military absentee voting is still conducted in much the same way it was during World War II. As a result, service membersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; and their ballotsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;must endure three time-consuming steps to complete the absentee voting process. The process includes having pieces of paper (ballots) and requests shipped across oceans and continents by snail mail.

First, an absentee ballot request must travel from the voter to the local election official (LEO) back home. Second, the unmarked absentee ballot must travel from the LEO to the voter. Finally, the marked ballot must travel from the voter to the LEO. Each step can take weeks through snail mail, rather than seconds if secure electronic means were authorized. In most places, those means are not authorized. Instead, absentee ballots must be ready to mail sufficiently early to allow the voter 20

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to receive the ballot and return it in time to be counted.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the rub.

The LEO cannot print absentee ballots (much less mail them out) until all uncertainties about who and what goes on the ballot are resolved. Law Review 1055 (www.servicememberslawcenter.org) addressed this when it described the June 1952 military absentee voting hearing of the House Subcommittee on Elections, Committee on House Administration: â&#x20AC;&#x153;C.G. Hall, Secretary of State of Arkansas and President of the National Association of Secretaries of State, testified that military personnel fighting the Korean War were likely to be disenfranchised in the 1952 election,â&#x20AC;? through no fault of their own. This was the result of â&#x20AC;&#x153;late primaries, ballot access lawsuits, and other problems.â&#x20AC;? LEOs would not have absentee ballots printed and ready to mail until a few days before Election Day, in some cases. Although the service member may have applied for the ballot months in advance, there was just not enough time for the ballot to go from the LEO to Korea and back by Election Day. The 1952 congressional hearing report included a copy of a March 1952 letter to Congress from President Harry S Truman. He called upon the states to fix the problem and called upon Congress to enact temporary federal legislation for the 1952 presidential election. He wrote, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Any such legislation

by Congress should be temporary, since it should be possible to make all the necessary changes in state laws before the congressional elections of 1954.â&#x20AC;?

Well, it did not work out that way. The Korean War ground to a halt in 1953, and the issue dropped from the national radar screen.

Then, in 1986, Congress enacted the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA). This federal statute gives members of the uniformed services and their voting-age family members (within or outside our country) and overseas Americans (outside the United States temporarily or permanently) the right to register by absentee process and vote by absentee ballot in primary, general, special, and runoff elections for federal office. This includes presidential,

U.S. Senate, and U.S. House elections.

UOCAVA also gives the U.S. attorney general the authority and responsibility to sue any state that violates UOCAVA by failing to give military and overseas citizens a reasonable opportunity to cast ballots that really do get counted. Until 2009, UOCAVA did not mention a specific number of days of required ballot transmission time, but it is not a huge leap to argue that if the ballots are not mailed sufficiently early to enable UOCAVA voters to return them on time to be counted, UOCAVA has been violated. The attorney general has brought several such lawsuits based on that theory. The usual remedy sought and obtained has been a court-ordered extension on the deadline for the return of a ballot mailed in from overseas.

In 2009, Congress enacted the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act and clarified this ambiguity. As amended, UOCAVA now explicitly requires every LEO to have absentee ballots mailed out to UOCAVA voters by the 45th day preceding the primary or general election. No more excuses.

The states have had 60 years to fix this problem.

The nation has more than 7,500 LEOs who administer absentee voting for federal elections. Only Alaska, Maine, and the District of Columbia administer absentee voting on a statewide basis. In every other state, officials at the county, parish, city, town, or township level receive absentee ballot requests, mail out unmarked ballots, and receive and count marked ballots. It is difficult for someone here in Washington to monitor (much less to affect) the performance of 7,500 LEOs around the country.

This is a great project for ROA departments and chapters.

Please identify your LEO, who in most states is an elected official, like the county clerk. Visit the LEO and let him or her know that you are concerned about ensuring that the brave young men and women from your community who are serving the nation in uniform will have the opportunity to participate in the 2012 primary and general election, no matter where the service of the country has taken them.

Please visit the LEO again on the 44th day preceding the primary or general election. Have the absentee ballots been transmitted to military and overseas voters? If you find that the 45-day deadline has been missed (for whatever reason), please let me know, and please bring this matter to the attention of Bob Carey, director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program in the Department of Defense. His telephone number is 703588-8118, and his e-mail address is Robert.Carey@fvap.gov.

In his 1952 letter to Congress about military voting rights, President Truman wrote: About 2,500,000 men and women in the Armed Forces are of voting age at the present time. Many of those in uniform are serving overseas or in parts of the country distant from their homes. They are unable to return to their states either to register or to vote. Yet these men and women, who are serving their country and in many cases risking their lives, deserve above all others to exercise the right to vote in the election year. At a time when these young people are defending our country and its free institutions, the least we at home can do is to make sure that they are able to enjoy the rights they are being asked to fight to preserve.

President Truman’s eloquent words about the brave young men and women fighting the Korean War in 1952 are equally true of their grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandsons, and great-granddaughters fighting today. Time, distance, and military regulations preclude military personnel from contacting LEOs to complain about untimely receipt of absentee ballots. It is incumbent on those of us who have already served to contact LEOs on their behalf.

You can find more than 800 “Law Review” articles at www.servicemembers-lawcenter.org. [

For 13 years, ROA’s Law Reviews in The Officer, and now on the Web at www.roa.org/law_review, have logged more than 700 easily searchable and indexed articles about UOCAVA, USERRA, the SCRA, and other laws that are pertinent to those who make sacrifices to protect the rights that we all enjoy.

When ROA established the Service Members Law Center (SMLC) in 2009, outreach increased, supported entirely by donations. Each month the SMLC provides information and assistance to up to 500 service members, attorneys, reporters, congressional staffers, employers, and others about UOCAVA, USERRA, the SCRA, and other militarypertinent laws. Assistance is available via telephone at 800809-9448, ext. 730, and by e-mail at SWright@roa.org.

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ROA/REA RADM BOB MERRILEES, USCGR (RET.)

ROA/REA AD HOC COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

BEST REPRESENTATION ROA/REA merger will help develop unified representation.

he Reserve Component has proven a vital asset to the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s security and an essential ingredient to U.S. operational forces since 1990. Unfortunately, the nation is at war and will be for some time. The Reserve Component is vital to that effort. In fact, at one time during the troop surge in Iraq, reserve members comprised 56 percent of all personnel in country.

To better represent those reservists who are answering the call to duty, ROA and the Reserve Enlisted Association (REA) plan to join forces. The new association would present a unified and strong front as it advocates national policies that will support all reservists, officer and enlisted.

How It Came About An ad hoc committee formed by ROAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s then-National President RADM Paul Kayye, MC, USNR (Ret.), in 2009 looked at the possible merger of ROA and REA. The committee members possess a wide range of experience and are aware of the challenges facing the militaryâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;especially serving Reserve and Guard members. In addition, the committee has tapped into the knowledge and experience of current ROA National President Col Walker Williams III, USAF (Ret.); former ROA Executive Director MG David Bockel, USA (Ret.); Col Will Holahan, USMCR (Ret.), director of membership development; and attorney Hank Howe, ROA legal consultant.

Starting in September 2010, the ad hoc committee held several conference calls, followed by a face-to-face meeting during the ROA National Convention in Washington, D.C., in January 2011. The committee continued with other telecoms to prepare a presentation to the ROA Executive Committee (ExCom) in Tempe, Ariz., on June 24, 2011. During this meeting, the ad hoc committee recommended that ROA and REA join forces to form a more cohesive organizational unit.

The ROA ExCom unanimously approved the committee recommendation to proceed with analyzing the concept of a joint association and asked that the concept be presented to the National Council the following day. The concept and plans for the next steps were approved in a straw vote by the Council, 22

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with only two dissenting votes.

Why It Makes Sense Both ROA and REA share common goals and missions and are currently colocated at ROAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s national headquarters.

Both associations were created to support a strong national security and a viable Reserve Component, and both work on issues ranging from training and deployment to job protection and health care. The two associations together represent all members of the Reserve Componentâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;all ranks, all services.

The combined association would be the only joint reserve association focused solely on reservists and would serve as a leader in the advocacy of national policies that support all reservists. Reserve legislation issues affect officer and enlisted personnel alike. Because only a small percentage of congressional members have military experience, obtaining appropriate benefits for reservists becomes even more challenging. Keeping legislators and policymakers informed and educating them on the issues affecting the men and women serving in the Reserve Component is a primary responsibility of both associations.

The advantages of merging the two associations include: t " NPSF GPDVTFE WPJDF PO $BQJUPM )JMM t 4VCTUBOUJBM PSHBOJ[BUJPOBM DPTU TBWJOHT F H POF NBHB[JOF joint annual meetings, and combined staff t *ODSFBTFE DPNQFUJUJWF BEWBOUBHF BOE SFMBUJPOT XJUI organizations that have already successfully merged, such as AUSA, AUSN, and USAA t *ODSFBTFE NFNCFSTIJQ t "O BWFSBHF NFNCFSTIJQ BHF PG SFEVDFE GSPN The advantages to our enlisted force include: t *ODSFBTFE MFHJTMBUJWF SFQSFTFOUBUJPO t $PNNPO CFOFÄ&#x2022;UT CZ MFWFSBHJOH QSPEVDUT BOE TFSWJDFT already offered to ROA members, such as insurance, education benefits, and legal services; and providing access

to the career center, professional development, travel and leisure, and publications

What Comes Next The ROA/REA Ad Hoc Committee recommends expanding ROAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s membership field to include the enlisted force. The proposed association will represent all Reserve and National Guard members to increase the focus on the critical needs of the uniformed services, including readiness, training, and quality-of-life issues affecting membersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; welfare, that of their families, and that of survivors. The new association will seek to expand the influence of the Reserve and Guard Components while seeking benefits for its members.

To reach the goal of merging the two associations, the committee is working on the following: t $POHSFTTJPOBM DIBSUFS t $POTUJUVUJPO BOE CZ MBXT

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0SHBOJ[BUJPOBM TUSVDUVSF UP FOTVSF FRVBM SFQSFTFOUBUJPO "SUJDMFT PG JODPSQPSBUJPO %VFT TUSVDUVSF /BNF PG UIF OFX PSHBOJ[BUJPO The increased reliance on the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Reserve and Guard to strengthen its military force makes it even more important to QSPWJEF UIF CFTU BEWPDBDZ QPTTJCMF GPS PVS $JUJ[FO 8BSSJPST BOE their families. A status report was to be provided to the ExCom on Oct. 1, 2011, and department delegates will vote on this at UIF /BUJPOBM $POWFOUJPO JO 8BTIJOHUPO % $ JO +BOVBSZ The ad hoc committee asks that you give the facts careful consideration and support the effort to make ROA/REA the premier military and veteransâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; association, providing a unified voice on Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon.

The committee is confident that this action is in the best interest of both ROA and REA, and is confident and appreciative of your support. [

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By William Matthews

Active and Reserve Component personnel enter the world of avatars, holograms, and 3-D imagery to train for future conflicts.

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at a U.S. military base will suit up early next year in “man-wearable immersive training systems,” step onto nine electronic mats, and begin a combat patrol through what looks like Afghanistan. They’re likely to confront snipers, insurgents, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and innocent civilians.

The nine-member squad will be the first to experience the new Dismounted Soldier training system, which the Army boasts is the U.S. military’s only “fully immersive virtual simulation training system.”

To the Soldiers, who will see their world through helmetmounted displays, the buildings and terrain will look authentic.

Indeed, the surroundings might be exact digital copies of real Afghan locations. The sounds of gunfire and vehicles, delivered through small stereo speakers, will be clear enough to determine the difference between an AK-47 and an M4, and a tank from a pickup truck. The training scenario itself will be realistic, based on after-action reports from actual Afghan operations.

Dismounted Soldier is the Army’s $57 million effort to bring the benefits of the latest video gaming technology to military training. The virtual world of avatars, holograms, and threedimensional (3-D) digital scenery that has lured video gamers for more than a decade has now captured the imagination of senior military leaders.

Marines already battle insurgent avatars in a giant mixedreality training center in California. Soldiers in Afghanistan prepare for operations by studying holographic maps that make buildings, trees, and topography seem to leap in three dimensions from thin sheets of plastic film. And troops have been training for years in increasingly realistic—but virtual— aircraft, vehicles, and ships.

Now the Army plans to dive deeper into virtual reality.

“This is the first attempt to get to Star Trek holodeck capability” in military training, said COL Francisco Espaillat, project manager for combined arms tactical trainers at the Army’s program executive office for simulation, training, and instrumentation. Soldiers won’t be battling holographic aliens for some years to come, but for the first time, the Dismounted Soldier system “will immerse the Soldiers inside the game,” he said.

Unlike current simulators, in which Soldiers respond to action as it unfolds on video screens in front of them, Dismounted Soldiers’ helmet-mounted displays will make it seem to Soldiers as if they are inside the virtual training scenarios.

Each trainee becomes an avatar. When a Soldier looks to his left or right, he will see his fellow squad members as avatars. If he looks down he will see feet—not his own, but his avatar’s, COL Espaillat said.

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25

A sensor will track his head movements and cause the scene in his helmet-mounted display to shift, just as the field of view changes in the real world as you scan from side to side. Other sensors will track body positions, so that if the Soldier drops to the ground, he will see a ground-level view of his digital environment.

An instrumented weapon will judge the accuracy of his shots, and the electronic mat or “module pad” he stands on will track his foot movements. A powerful gaming computer in his backpack will knit together all of the sensor data.

Dismounted Soldier will be powered by CryENGINE 3, a state-of-the-art game engine with “near-perfect [video] clarity and resolution,” COL Espaillat said.

For the first time, images will be sharp enough to use virtual reality for training Soldiers in the intricate art of IED detection, COL Espaillat said. That requires being able to spot thin trigger wires, faint indications of disturbed earth, bent grass, and other subtle signals that an IED might have been planted.

“You have to have a really good level of resolution. In the past, we have not had that,” but Dismounted Soldier will provide it, he said.

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The first Dismounted Soldier systems are to be delivered to the Army in January, and Army Reserve and Army Guard troops will be “part of the initial fielding,” said COL Espaillat, who is, himself, an Army Reserve acquisition corps officer serving on active duty.

The Army plans to buy 102 Dismounted Soldier suites over the next four years. After initial testing at Fort Benning, Ga., and Fort Bragg, N.C., suites are to be added to training regimes at Forts Bliss and Hood in Texas and Fort Campbell, Ky. All are major training bases for Reserve and Active Component troops.

Army, Army Guard, and Army Reserve troops are already familiar with a widely used battlefield simulator, Virtual Battlespace 2. The simulator is used to teach combat skills at 250 Active-duty and Reserve training locations across the United States and in places such as South Korea, Germany, and Afghanistan, COL Espaillat said.

But Battlespace 2 “looks like a game.” Dismounted Soldier, he promises, will look much more real. “We’re leveraging the $23 billion gaming industry” to bring the best virtual technology to military training.

Dismounted Soldier will offer training scenarios featuring digital environments that resemble Afghanistan, Iraq, and generic wooded terrain, said Floyd West, director of strategic planning at Intelligent Decisions, the company that created Dismounted Soldier. But those basic scenarios can be easily altered to better match specific locations and missions for which troops will train, he said. The system’s software includes “drag and drop” scenery for changing the landscape and movable walls for constructing virtual buildings. Army trainers won’t have to program new training scenarios from scratch, Mr. West said.

To ensure realism, Intelligent Decisions paid close attention to detail. Walls blasted by explosions, for example, crumble according to the laws of physics, not the imagination of a programmer, Mr. West said. “And we’re updating things like fatigue models for Soldiers,” he said. That is, if a Soldier has to run during a training scenario, Dismounted Soldier software accounts for the fact that if he ran in the real world, he would be winded and tired. So in virtual reality, he won’t be able to shoot as accurately as he would if he weren’t panting and spent. “We don’t want it to be like a game,” Mr. West said. Training scenarios are being developed for all five of the Army’s operational themes: major combat, irregular warfare, limited intervention, peace operations, and peacetime military engagement, he added.

Dismounted Soldier is portable and can be quickly set up

in a gym, a conference center, a day room, or even outside— wherever there is 1,600 square feet of available space, COL Espaillat said.

The Marine Corps is taking a different approach to virtual training. The Corps’ premier virtual training center is a 30,000-square-foot Infantry Immersion Trainer built in a former tomato packing plant at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Less high-tech and more Hollywood, the Marine Corps’ immersion trainers play the roles of Afghan villagers and flashbang pyrotechnics to supply the sound, sight, and smoke of rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosives.

As small units of Marines make their way through an authentic-looking Afghan village, members encounter a mix of costumed trainers and electronic avatars. They kick open doors, clear rooms, and confront enemy avatars who fire digital AK-47s at them and fall dead when shot accurately by Marines with infrared weapons.

Screams, gunfire, and the smells of food, sewage, and animals add to the realism as Marines search for hidden weapons caches and an improvised bomb factory. The trainees’ performance is recorded on video for after-action reviews.

The intent, say trainers, is to have Marines experience in simulation the situations they are likely to face when sent into actual combat in Afghanistan.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen James Amos told the House Armed Services Committee this spring that the Corps’ immersion trainers “are realistic, reconfigurable, and provide comprehensive training environments that develop small-unit tactics and individual skills for deploying infantry squads.”

The primary goal is to increase combat units’ survivability and effectiveness, but Gen Amos said the use of “culturally appropriate role-players and interactive avatars” also teaches Marines “to make legally, morally, ethically, and tactically sound decisions under situations of great stress.”

A second large infantry immersion trainer is under construction in a warehouse at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Even the best of simulation can’t replace traditional live training. “There’s no substitute for live bullets,” said John Lewis, who was an infantry commander for 27 years before joining Cubic Defense Systems, where he is director of live, virtual, and constructive training. Cubic produces a variety of virtual training systems for pilots and ground troops.

“You have to do live-fire training” so troops become familiar with their weapons and the danger and grittiness of combat, Mr. Lewis said. But virtual training can add enormously once the

For the first time, images will be sharp enough to use virtual reality for training Soldiers in the intricate art of IED detection.

basics have been learned in live training.

“If you’re a small team that’s going to Afghanistan in three weeks, and you know you’re going to be in Kabul, and you know the neighborhood where you will be, I can take you through those blocks 100 times before you go,” he said.

Virtual training offers some other advantages: “You can control the weather and decide whether it’s day or night,” COL Espaillat said. Trainers and unit leaders can tailor training scenarios to match particular locations and missions. “You can control the number of IEDs” forces encounter, and add an ambush here and a sniper there. And, ideally, training scenarios will be updated based on conditions encountered by Soldiers who have been in the area recently, he said.

With sufficient “source data,” such as global positioning coordinates, photos, topography, satellite imagery, and other information, it’s possible to produce an exact digital replica of a village, a building, or geographical area for Soldiers to rehearse upcoming missions, COL Espaillat said.

In a virtual reality trainer like Dismounted Soldier, “I can have Soldiers rehearsing convoy operations in the States and it will look just like it does when they arrive in Kandahar,” he said.

Simulation also makes it possible for troops to gain experience that is too dangerous to risk in real life, said Marc Bolas, an interactive media professor at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies.

“You can put a pilot through worst-case scenarios that you could never do in live training. That’s why flight simulators are so effective,” he said. Pilots have been doing that for decades, but it’s just now becoming possible for ground troops, Mr. Bolas said.

Aircraft are relatively easy to simulate; there are a limited number of controls, and they cause the plane to react in a limited number of ways. “Infantry is a lot harder; there are more people involved, and the environments are a lot more varied.”

But with more powerful computers and more sophisticated THE

OFFICER / NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2011

27

Cubic goes beyond 3-D by adding a “hyper-realistic” fourth dimension of effects such as noise, rain, heat, wind, elevation changes, odors, and pain.

graphics, the newest simulators are able to handle the variables.

Virtual worlds populated by civilians as well as armed insurgents help teach Soldiers to make the correct instant decision about whether to shoot or not. “You can have people die and then get up and do it again,” Mr. Bolas said.

Everything is recorded, and videos can be played back immediately to show Soldiers what they did right and what they did wrong.

In today’s economic climate, cost is an increasingly important consideration, and live training is expensive. It costs a lot to move troops to a training area, it costs to set the area up, and it’s expensive to fire real ammunition, fly helicopters, and drive vehicles, Mr. Lewis said.

And while a certain amount of live training is essential, after that, “virtual reality today is a far superior place to train,” COL Espaillat said. “You can add so many different levels of the fog and complexity of war that you just can’t do live. Logistically, live training is very challenging,” but tailor-made virtual environments can be created and exercised anywhere, he said.

That’s the idea behind Cubic’s new Immersive Training System.

Each Soldier, wearing full combat gear, enters a dome that’s 12 feet in diameter and 12 feet high—one Soldier per dome.

“When it lights up, you’re standing inside Afghanistan,” Mr. Lewis said.

The heat is real, and so is the acrid smell of smoke. The village looks real, but it’s actually a digital reproduction compiled from high-resolution photos, digital topography, and intelligence data. The pain from a gunshot wound hurts, but it’s not real, it’s generated by a “pain belt.”

The belt “can make you double over in pain,” warns Ronald Allen, principal systems engineer for the Immersive Training System. The goal is to replicate combat “as closely as possible without actually dying,” said Mr. Lewis.

Cubic developed its simulator domes in response to a 2010 28

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Department of Defense request for an immersive training system for teaching the techniques, tactics, and procedures of irregular warfare. Both the Army and Marine Corps have written requirements for such a system, Mr. Lewis said.

Villagers, militants, and terrorists in the dome may be “predefined” avatars generated by computers that run the training scenario, or they may be “real-time avatars” played by actors whose images are networked into the digital environment that’s being projected inside the dome. Both types of avatars may be present in a training scenario, Mr. Lewis said.

Each trainee sees the images of the other troops of his unit projected onto the walls of his dome, just as his image is projected inside their domes. A computer network ties the multiple domes together.

Theoretically, an unlimited number of domes—and trainees inside—can be linked for an exercise, Mr. Lewis said. In reality, though, a platoon of about 33 troops and domes might be about as large a training group as the military would find practical, he said.

For added realism, Cubic goes beyond 3-D by adding a “hyper-realistic” fourth dimension of effects such as noise, rain, heat, wind, elevation changes, odors, and pain. Put together, the sights, sounds, feel, and smells of combat “can physically stress you in the dome,” Mr. Lewis said.

Digital environments of anywhere in the world can be produced as long as the U.S. military has photos, terrain data, satellite images, and other intelligence about the area.

Many levels of details can be added: the locations of pipelines, electrical grids, and even the interior layout of key buildings, Mr. Allen said.

The system is portable and can be set up in a matter of hours wherever it’s needed, he said.

For decades, Lockheed Martin Corp., one of the grandfathers of simulation, has built simulators to train personnel ranging from fighter pilots to truck drivers.

The company creates realistic-looking aircraft cockpits with software that responds to pilot’s commands. And its Virtual Combat Convoy Trainer puts Humvee crews and truck drivers inside simulated Humvees and truck cabs to respond while surrounding video screens depict insurgent attacks and roadside bomb blasts.

But Lockheed’s newest simulator, the HoloWall, is quite different. The simulator can be used to train engine mechanics or medics, enable small units to rehearse tactics, and serve for mission-planners as a large, three-dimensional “virtual sand

table.”

“It’s designed to be very flexible,” said David Smith, chief hieff innovation officer at Lockheed’s Global Training and Logistics tics unit. Think of the HoloWall as “a teleconferencing system o on n steroids,” he said.

The wall part of the system is a wall-size screen onto which hicch high-definition, 3-D videos are projected. Stereo cameras eras capture the image of the people standing in front of the screen, en n, errs rs so that HoloWall users in one location see images of the users in other locations. err Users also see images of objects, locations, charts, and other data. And viewers at multiple locations can change the images just as if all parties were in the same location manipulating a physical object, Mr. Smith said.

For example, an engine mechanic at a repair depot in the United States might use a 3-D virtual image of an engine to show a mechanic in Afghanistan how to make a repair. Either mechanic can work on the virtual engine—removing parts, for example—and each will see what the other has done, Mr. Smith said. “I can do anything in that world that I can do face to face.”

And a lot more. “You can spin the engine around” to view it from any number of different angles, he said. Parts can be made to fade away, revealing components underneath. Or the entire engine can be made gghost-like so that the p parts become g semitransparent and the internal components are visible.

For full 3-D effect, viewers must wear 3-D glasses. “Without the glasses, it looks like a photograph,” Mr. Smith said. “You can still manipulate it and move left or right to get a different perspective. But it’s pretty extraordinary when you see it in 3-D.” That’s especially true when the HoloWall is used as a virtual sand table.

In a demonstration, the HoloWall displays a wall-size 3-D image of a war-worn Afghan town. Mission-planners first see

th h town from a God’s-eye perspective, but then zoom through the tthe virtual streets at eye-level, deciding where best to position troops and vehicles.

During the planning session, subject matter experts and individuals familiar with the town might be brought into the HoloWall teleconference, Mr. Smith said. Troops and weapons can be placed digitally in the town, then “you can drop in some bad guys,” run a digital scenario, and see how it plays out, he said.

If the outcome is unsatisfactory, mission-planners can devise a different scenario and try again.

And there’s a lot more technology under development, said Mr. Bolas, the USC professor. Miniaturization, the declining cost of computing, and steady developments in 3-D technology mean “we’re on the cusp of expanding a lot,” he said.

Consider “augmented reality.” That’s where Soldiers wearing small head-mounted projectors can project virtual images into real-world training sites, he said. Avatars appear amid real physical surroundings. For now, that technology remains in research stages, Mr. Bolas said.

There’s more. “We’re working on [virtual training] systems that require you to wear nothing on your face—no 3-D glasses—and use a computer the size of a deck of cards” to run the trainingg scenario,, Mr. Bolas said. And in what could become the ultimate training tool, the Institute for Creative Technologies is working to create computers that can think like humans, he said.

That’s the future. Meanwhile, early next year, Soldiers will begin stepping into virtual reality with the Dismounted Soldier system.

“It has taken 10 years to get to where we are now—to do the research and development and to get it right,” COL Espaillat said. “Based on where we are with this capability, I think it will truly revolutionize the way we train dismounted Soldiers.” [

THE TH T HE HE

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INDEPENDENT

IMPACT

Retiring Connecticut senator makes defense and national security the focal points of his final year in office.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I–Conn.) announced earlier this year that he would retire when his term ends in 2012. First elected to the Senate in 1988, he was re-elected in 1994 and in 2000, when, as a Democrat, he also was Al Gore’s vice presidential running mate. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 but withdrew from the race. In 2006, he was defeated in the Connecticut Democratic primary by Ned Lamont, but reclaimed his own seat as an independent in the 2006 general election, and in 2008 supported Sen. John McCain (R–Ariz.) in his bid for the presidency. An issue that has most often separated Sen. Lieberman from his Democratic colleagues in recent years has been that of the War on Terrorism, particularly his support of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and his more hawkish efforts to ensure a strong national defense and what he sees as serious threats to the homeland and the troops abroad.

With about 14 months until his retirement, Sen. Lieberman took time out with editor Christopher Prawdzik to discuss his position on a variety of defense and political issues, particularly as they pertain to the Reserve, as he contemplates his future beyond the Senate.

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THE OFFICER: With chairmanships of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Airland, you’ve gotten close to the issues in which the country’s Reserve forces have participated in, particularly heavily since 9/11. Looking at the Reserve Component today, at what level should it be utilized currently, and where do you see that utilization might need to change over the next couple of years?

Sen. Joseph Lieberman: Well, the Reserves have played an increasingly important role in our national defense, really becoming active more and more, and particularly with Iraq and Afghanistan. And they, the Reserves, bring a skill set that we’re going to just continue to need, so I don’t know if [there are] any directions in which I’d say that would go. But, I would say that there will be no drop in the country’s need for the specialized skills that the reserve officers—Reserve Component—generally bring. …

We held a hearing [recently] in the Homeland Security Committee, which is also the Governmental Affairs committee, on the report of the wartime contracting commission. And it was generally 30 to 60 billion dollars of waste of funds in contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan—it was their estimate. So, what do you do about it? One of the interesting ideas that came up is that part of the problem in both wars was that we were really not ready to adequately oversee the incredible increase— sudden increase—in contracting in war zones. What we really

needed—we had recommended this in legislation a few years ago—[was] to create, I think what we called this Contingency Contracting Corps that basically [is] a kind of reserve that would come into action to oversee contracting so that we weren’t—the government wasn’t—cheated, essentially. And somebody said, “What about the Reserve and the Guard?” And we all agreed it was an interesting idea. I don’t know what comes of that … so that’s one possible different kind of use that could be quite critical to be able to surge. I mean, what is the Reserve?

Basically we’re talking about the possibility of a contract review function for the Reserve—contract management really.

THE OFFICER: In your experience, with your travels overseas to war zones, what feedback do you receive from the troops?

Particularly, what concerns have come to you from the troops while they’re in the field?

Sen. Lieberman: These trips, they’re usually focused on, “How are you doing?” And I must say, the net impression is, when senators come visiting, troops are hesitant to open up too much. So, the main impression I will give you is that the troops that we have out—it’s hard to tell when you go out there who’s Reserve and who are Active [Component]—but I’m always inspired, and I know this sounds like I’m giving a speech somewhere, by the commitment to the cause and by the commitment to each other you find consistently in the troops.

Sometimes they’ll complain; in different phases of the Iraq war, you could get some troops to complain about not enough troops before the surge. But more recently, [there’s] really a high level of commitment and kind of an appreciation in recent years—both in Iraq and Afghanistan—that we’re turning the tide, and they feel very good about that.

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33

If you ask me what is the single most significant source of danger for the world and for the United States, I’d say it’s Iran.

I want to stress [that] high morale, commitment to the cause, and to each other [are] really quite remarkable, and that’s what I find inspiring. One of the things that I say—we used to say—when I come back from visiting troops: “Well, one of the kids said to us… .” And, of course, the more that I go out, they’re not all kids, even though I’m getting older, which is quite an inspiring thing in itself. In other words, a lot of Guard and Reserve out there are adults.

THE OFFICER: You’re talking a much higher average age.

Sen. Lieberman: Higher average age—they’re bringing tremendous skill sets and experience to the battle. It has to be one of the impressions I come away with, that’s part of what’s changed—the higher average age, higher average experience, really quite something.

THE OFFICER: Switching to overall threats.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke to the United Nations on September 23, where he suggested again that the United States had something to do with Sept. 11, 2001. He questioned the Holocaust, but he’s also still moving forward with his nuclear program. Can you assess how the United States has handled Iran’s growth—and I’m talking over the decades, 30 years, since the revolution—and quantify that threat as it stands today to Israel in particular, but also to the region and to the United States?.

Sen. Lieberman: If you ask me what is the single most significant source of danger for the world and for the United States, I’d say it’s Iran. It’s the fanatical government of Iran, both in terms of because it’s a large country with wealth— 34

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oil wealth—and it is run by a group of people now who have hegemonic ambitions. They want to be the dominant power in the region, and they are still, as the State Department will tell you, the number-one sponsor of terrorism—state-sponsored terrorism—in the world. We obviously know about Hezbollah and Hamas. The military has been very clear about this in recent years, that … they’ve been training and equipping Shia extremists who go back into Iraq—[who are] from Iraq [and] go back into Iraq—and are responsible, literally, for the deaths of hundreds of Americans Soldiers [and] thousands of Iraqis.

And that continues, and now they’re increasingly, I think, involved in Afghanistan; even though they don’t naturally like the Taliban, they’re supporting those efforts to give us trouble.

It goes on and on.

[People] used to say, “Well, Iranians are Shias; al-Qaida are Sunnis; they don’t work together.” Well, our intelligence community [has] made very clear now that they do have a working relationship, and that … key finance people for alQaida are operating out of Iran with the protection of the Iranian government. So, long story, the first thing you say is that when you look around the world, this is our top threat and we have to treat it that way. And, incidentally, there wouldn’t be much of an argument about this in the Middle East—and not just from Israel either, but from most of our Arab allies.

[They’re ] very worried about Iran and what its ambitions are.

So, have we done well? The Iranian Revolution was a turning point in world history. Even though there was Islamist

If we don’t deal with so-called entitlement spending—and particularly Medicare, [in] which the cost is growing very rapidly, and the drain on our budget is growing more and more—we’re going to end up having to really decimate all of our so-called discretionary programs, including defense.

terrorism before—some of it against us, some of it against Israel, for instance—when [Ayatollah] Khomeini’s group took over and the Shah was kicked out, that was the beginning of a whole different order of this conflict. And we lost a lot of people in the [Beirut, Lebanon] Marine barracks, et cetera. So I think we’re, through economic sanctions, squeezing them now, and they’re hurting some, economically. But they continue— because of oil prices—to have the resources to develop their own military capacities.

We have to keep our strength, particularly in the [Persian] Gulf, our naval strength, particularly, strong. We have to keep it at a high level to be prepared to respond to provocations of theirs and also to take offensive action if we have to—including if they go over a line, [we] have to take action against their nuclear weapons development facilities. We’ve tried a lot with them, and we have built up the military defense resources of all of our allies in the Arab world around them, and, of course, Israel. But they continue to grow.

I’ll just say this, I still worry that we … haven’t figured out how to support enough—this is the ultimate concern—the groups within Iran, the Iranian people, most of whom, I’m convinced, [are] against the regime, and they’ve suppressed that opposition. But we ought to find ways to help them, because that’s the ultimate answer to better relations with Iran.

THE OFFICER: Why do you think—and this is partially a personal impression—that it seems difficult to convince people of the level of threat that Iran poses? Do you find that?

Sen. Lieberman: I think if you ask people—I’ve seen some polling on this, not recently, about six months ago—it’s kind of surprising how many people feel that it would be justified— in the U.S.—to take military action against Iran to stop their nuclear weapons development program. So, it’s there. But THE

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you’re right.

First up, we’re operating today at a time when most people, understandably both in our country and in Congress, are focused on the domestic economy. That’s the immediate problem. So they have less attention time for the world. But the world impacts us, and Iran is the biggest threat.

In some ways, Ahmadinejad, with his, really, craziness and extremism, reminds people of what a threat the country can be and is, in terms of the classic military equation—combining capacity with intention; you’ve got a dangerous country here.

It’s interesting you asked me that question, because I just said to somebody in the administration, it would really be important if the president [would] come back to working to educate the American people about the threat that Iran represents. I thought he gave a really good speech to the United Nations [in September]. The only thing I wish that he had done is spent more time on the threat from Iran, because it’s really a threat to most of the member nations if you wake up to it. He can’t do everything in one speech, so I hope he’ll come back to that.

THE OFFICER: Moving back to Capitol Hill.

Of course, the budget, and particularly the struggling economy and growing debt problem, are center stage. Can you quantify the country’s debt problem and how that might translate to a national security problem?

Sen. Lieberman: We’re almost 15 trillion dollars in debt. It’s unsustainable; we’re going to go over a cliff here at some point.

And to get ourselves back in balance, we’ve got to do something like the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles commission did to get ourselves back in balance and not compromise our security or quality of life here. And that’s going to take across-the-board cuts, and to me—both cuts and some tax increases. … Our tax structure is quite progressive now. Half the people don’t pay any taxes. So I would certainly ask—I think we can still ask—more in some smart ways of people who are making the most money.

So, we do need to raise revenue over the [next] 10 years.

But here’s what I’m focused on: If we don’t deal with so-

We cannot let ourselves get into a hollow Army situation as we did once before.

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called entitlement spending—and particularly Medicare, [in] which the cost is growing very rapidly, and the drain on our budget is growing more and more—we’re going to end up having to really decimate all of our so-called discretionary programs, including defense. In other words, I say to people: If you don’t want us to cut … our funding of education or health care or transportation or environmental protection, we have to work together to reform these entitlement programs because they’re eating up the budget.

Here’s the classic moment of truth, if we were to reach it. If this joint special committee of 12 doesn’t come to an agreement—or they do and Congress rejects it—then this trigger comes into effect. Well, what does the trigger do? It requires all the savings of the entire government to come from discretionary spending. Discretionary spending is only 30 percent of the overall budget, and about half of that is defense.

We will compromise our national security if cuts like that ever go into effect, at a time when—as I said, the Gulf, Asia—we have to keep our Navy strong, obviously the Army. We cannot let ourselves get into a hollow Army situation as we did once before.

THE OFFICER: Do you think we’re heading toward that peace dividend situation with the cuts that some people, particularly many Democrats, are suggesting? Do you think we’re heading down that road?

Sen. Lieberman: I’m very worried about it. You know, I’m retiring from the Senate after this year, and one of the things that I’m really going to focus on for the next year and a third, or sixteen months, that I’ve got left here is to protect the defense budget because I think we’re in danger of really compromising our security. This won’t be a peace dividend.

This will be a cut that is justified by our national debt. But if we disproportionately hurt defense—look, there’s a big argument here about the Constitution—that there’s a lot of spending here that is not required by the Constitution. One thing I think everybody has to agree is that the Constitution makes clear that the federal government [has] one responsibility: It is to provide for the common defense. That’s a constitutional responsibility, and therefore it’s our responsibility to fund it adequately. And that’s what I’m committed to doing.

THE OFFICER: Let’s go to a personal level.

You’ve spoken many times over the years of the importance of your Jewish faith. Recently, you published your book The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath.

What influenced you to write this at this point in your career, versus a political book, especially when you are so busy as a senator?

Sen. Lieberman: Other people have asked me, why did I write it now, and there’s actually no good reason. In other words, it just felt like something I wanted to do. It happens to be the seventh book I’ve written, and all the rest of them have been about history, government, politics. But I suppose some of it may be related to the fact that a chapter in my life is ending, beginning in 2013 when I leave the Senate. And just thinking about the things that matter to me, that I feel fortunate about— one of them is that my parents raised me to be religious and Sabbath observant. And I thought that if I wrote this book— and I’m writing it not by any means just for Jewish readers— basically inviting readers to come through a typical Sabbath with me. That’s why I call it The Gift of Rest. I can give that gift to them.

Now, this is where it gets broader. Our society, people in America today are really busy. And we never get away from the cell phone or the Blackberry or the iPad or whatever you’re carrying. In a sense, our work is always with us, and I think

I’m retiring from the Senate after this year, and one of the things that I’m really going to focus on for the next year and a third, or sixteen months, that I’ve got left here is to protect the defense budget because I think we’re in danger of really compromising our security. that’s not good. It’s not good for individuals; it’s not good for families; it’s not good for the country really. And it just happens that my parents set me on this course a long time ago. For religious reasons, we stopped every seventh day—as a lot of Christians do, and Muslims [do]— basically to thank God that we’re alive, to honor creation. God created the Earth in six days, rested on the seventh, saw that it was good—that’s what this is all about.

So, it’s an idea, it’s a concept, the Sabbath that is thousands of years old. But to me, it seems like it’s more necessary and important today than it’s ever been because of modern technology. So I hope that, as people read it, they’ll think about the importance of taking a day—or part of a day—obviously either according to their own religious beliefs, or just according to whatever, if they’re not particularly religious, however it fits into their lives, to make some difference, to create a distinction between the rest of the week and this part of their week, so that they’ll have time. Time is a gift—time for their families, time for spiritual experiences, time for themselves. …

To say to people in the military—I talk about this—Jewish law has been very clear that all these rules that were set up over the centuries by the rabbis to protect the Sabbath as a day of rest. They all yield, they all give way when there’s a countervailing interest in protecting life, health, improving life.

So, for instance, people in the military—since you’re writing for that audience—there’s never a question if they’re called to military duty on the Sabbath; they go. Because, after all, the whole day is about honoring life. If you have, as a member of the military, the responsibility to protect life, then that trumps the specific religious prohibitions that are meant to normally protect the day as a day of rest. [ THE

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Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates accepts an honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame. h no hon orraryy deg ora deeeg d greee fr from om the th hee U h Un nive iversi rsiittyy off N rsit No Not otre o re Dam D e. e FFo mer For mer Se Seccre reetar tary ary of of Defense effeense efe nse Ro Robert ber ber be ert Gate atess ac acce ccepts cepts tss an

NEXT STEPS Robert Gates moves back to academia and reflects on four years as secretary of defense.

By Christopher Prawdzik, Editor

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stood before a crowd at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia at the end of September and delivered a sharp critique of the country’s political climate.

“I do believe that we are now in uncharted waters when it comes to the dysfunction in our political system—and it is no longer a joking matter,” he said. “It appears that as a result of several long-building, polarizing trends in American politics and culture, we have lost the ability to execute even the basic functions of government, much less solve the most difficult and divisive problems facing the country. Thus, I am more concerned than I have ever been about the state of American governance.”

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His comments were perhaps broader in perspective than those he made during his four-and-a-half years as secretary of defense, but they also point to the fact that his career extends well beyond his years at the Pentagon. Not only did he serve as secretary of defense for both presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, but he also held a number of positions under several presidents from both parties.

After serving in the CIA in the mid-1960s, he joined the National Security Council under Richard Nixon and also served there during the Ford administration and part of the Carter administration. He returned to the CIA in 1979 and became deputy director in 1982. He declined an offer to become CIA director for President Reagan in 1987 but then accepted a second offer of the post under President George H. W. Bush; he served from 1991 until the beginning of the Clinton administration. In the late 1990s, he became dean of the George Bush School of Government at Texas A&M University before becoming president of the school in 2002. In 2006, President George W. Bush tapped him as secretary of defense.

In early October, Dr. Gates discussed the end of his term as secretary of defense with The Officer and reflected on several aspects of his experience, the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the issues surrounding the Reserve Component.

“The Reserve and Guard are two issues that I raised with President [George W.] Bush when we interviewed in November of ’06 [and told him] that I felt that there had been kind of a bait and switch, that particularly older [noncommissioned] officers had joined one kind of a Guard, which was a strategic reserve, and [then it] turned into an operational reserve,” he said. “Now, everybody who’s joined the reserve since 2001 knows full well they’re going to go to war, but I think we do have to take a hard look at the Guard and Reserve.”

He specifically noted that the country could not have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan without the Reserve Component. But to Dr. Gates, the bigger question is how to move—in the long term—from the kind of strategic reserve that we had before Sept. 11, 2001, into a force that emphasizes and takes advantage of the Reserve Component’s unique abilities.

He suggested, not unlike the Comprehensive Review of the Future Role of the Reserve Component released in April, that some kind of a blending of the force, where part of the Reserve Component is strategic and the other part operational, might be most useful.

“Maybe they train differently; maybe they get paid differently; maybe their retirement circumstances are different,” he said. “It’s very hard to see a wholly operational reserve indefinitely.” But, he noted, with its high operational tempo, the

Reserve Component has experienced stresses similar to that of the Active Component.

“I’m not sure I know the answers, but I’m pretty good at diagnosing the problem,” he said. “It is something that I think needs to be [given] a lot of attention.”

Administrations & Approaches As secretary of defense under Presidents George W. Bush and Obama, Dr. Gates noted more similarities than differences. “[Iraq] had already been settled by the strategic framework agreement in terms of the drawdown there [under President Bush], and President Obama continued—and significantly expanded—the plus-up in Afghanistan,” he said. “In those areas, there wasn’t any discontinuity … and if anything, the efforts have intensified under President Obama; all of that made a transition for me a lot simpler.”

The strategic framework has provided an end-in-sight for troops in these long-fought theaters. He particularly noted that by the end of December, most U.S. troops will be gone from Iraq. But he also touted progress in Afghanistan.

“We have an end date for Afghanistan as well—December 2014—so I do think those two end points, whatever you think of them, provide a basis for planning, in terms of how you balance the force going forward in terms of full spectrum capabilities,” he said.

Dr. Gates said that during his tenure as secretary, he worked to create a force that maximizes versatility to address a variety of conflict types. But looking to the future is much tougher than reviewing the past. Dr. Gates emphasized the need to avoid “niche capabilities” when it comes to weaponry, particularly when preparing for unknown future conflicts.

“One thing that we know for a fact is that if you look back for the last 45 years, we have a perfect record at predicting where we’re going to use military force next: We’ve never once gotten it right,” he said. “There isn’t a single conflict where we’ve used military force since Vietnam, where we knew six months in advance that we were actually going to be militarily engaged.”

The military must develop a posture that’s “ready for everything.” A force can’t maximize for only one type of conflict and then operate under the theory of fighting a large conventional war, while maintaining the capability to fight smaller conflicts at the same time, he said.

“We found out in Iraq and Afghanistan that that’s not true,” Dr. Gates added. “It’s a different set of equipment; it’s a different kind of skill, a different kind of training. So we need that breadth, the range to be able to cover the full spectrum, THE

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.

much of the planning will center on the budget. While willing to recommend certain cuts, Dr. Gates cautioned about overdoing it moving forward.

“I think that most people—at least before I left—felt that over a 10-year period we could, through discipline and smart decision-making, accommodate the additional $400 billion in cuts that the president asked for,” he said. “The other side of that coin, though, is that everybody agreed that going beyond that was too far, and I think Secretary [of Defense Leon] Panetta has taken that position very strongly as well.”

He emphasized that the cuts and caps he recommended were focused on programs that far exceeded the budget or had “lost their direction”—the “low-hanging fruit.” He added that what remained were the things the country really needed.

“Any decisions going beyond what the president has already decided on in terms of the gross figure, I think would be a real danger,” he said.

Robert Gates has served seven presidents in positions that took him from the CIA to the Department of Defense. him m from frrom m the th he CI CIA to CIA to the h Dep Dep De part artmen mentt of men of Defe f nse nse.

Robert Rob ob bert errt Ga Gates tes has ha as ser erv erv r ed seven seven pre se sev p sid pr sident entss iin ent n posi posi ositio os tions tha tions tio thatt took took

“One thing that we know for a fact is that if you look back for the last 45 years, we have a perfect record at predicting where we’re going to use military force next: We’ve never once gotten it right.”

and that’s the one thing you can count on for the next 20 years.”

His perspective regarding what conflicts the country mayy face in the future, he said, also requires a broad, comprehensive llook at the nation’s experiences as a guide.

“My concern all along has never been that we not preparee for future wars, but that we not forget how we fought the wars we’ve just been fighting,” he said. Perhaps most important is remaining dedicated to full-spectrum training without slipping back “to completely like we were going back to fight the Soviet Union.”

U Now, the fact that Iraq and Afghanistan have end dates, hee said, provides a basis for future planning. Ultimately, however, 40

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Full Circle Since leaving his post as secretary of defense, Dr. Gates has not slowed down but instead is returning to academia. In September, he accepted a position as chancellor of the College of William & Mary, Va., beginning in 2012, replacing former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. While he continues to keep an eye on defense issues and is transitioning back to the campus, he’s also sharing his own ideas about politics, as he did during his recent speech at the National Constitution Center.

While somewhat critical of the vitriol he sees in politics today, he is striking a chord of moderation that he said is becoming more and more rare in politics today. His stance is perhaps reflective of his service to various presidents and parties over his career.

“At a time when our country faces deep economic and other challenges at home and a world that just keeps getting more complex and more dangerous, those who think that they alone have the right answers, those who demonize those who think differently, and those who refuse to listen and take other points of view into account—these leaders, in my view, are a danger to the American people and to the future of our republic,” he said in the speech. “I believe that both Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan were great presidents—one, the epitome of a liberal Democrat; the other, the epitome of a conservative Republican. They both changed the country for the better, but both were pragmatic politicians willing to compromise in order to advance their respective agendas.” [

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DEBT, BCA 2011,

ECONOMY

Triple threat sets the stage for the future of national security.

By Bob Feidler

Defense spending is facing an unprecedented budget squeeze. The pressure comes from the size of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual federal deficits and accumulated federal debt, the anticipated staggering cuts to the Department of Defense (DoD) budget in coming years as a result of the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011, and the unstable and volatile state of the world economic environment. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are heading for disaster in America,â&#x20AC;? said Rep. Paul Ryan (Râ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Wis.), chairman of the House Budget Committee, in April. 5IF 8BMM 4USFFU +PVSOBM editorialized Aug. 5 that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the economies of Europe and the United States have arrived at the moment when they no longer have any conceivable hope of being able to pay for the huge public commitments theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve amassed the past 40 years.â&#x20AC;? And Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ADM Michael Mullen has noted frequently that the economy is the greatest threat to national security.

Budget Control Act The nation may have been blissfully ignorant of debt issues as the country entered 2011, but this all changed in the early spring with the contentious fight over government funding that resulted in the just-in-time continuing budget resolution. But this was just a preliminary skirmish. Late spring and much of the summer were consumed with the race to Aug. 2, the date the federal government would not have the cash flow to maintain the current level of expenditures unless the debt ceiling was increased. The specter of default on obligations loomed.

In a process that played out like a soap opera, the political arms of the government battled down to the wire before President Barack Obama signed legislation Aug. 2, adopted

by Congress just one day before. The resolution brought 42

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about an immediate rise in the debt ceiling, enacted a broad formula for spending cuts spanning the next 10 years, and created mechanismsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a deficit reduction super committee and a triggerâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to bring about further dramatic cuts over the next nine years.

Highlights of the legislation included several components.

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OFFICER / NOVEMBERâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;DECEMBER 2011

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ORT P E R Y T URI C E S L A N

NATIO

How the Country Got There The deficit—the amount by which the government’s Th expenditures exceed its revenues—is about $1.3 trillion dollars for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 and will continue to increase by $800 billion a year for the rest of the decade.

The national debt—the sum of all previously incurred annual federal deficits (more specifically, the sum of previously issued federal bills, notes, and bonds that have been issued by the U.S. Treasury and not yet redeemed)—has two components: public debt and intragovernmental debt. The public debt—money owed to individuals, businesses, state and local governments, foreign governments, and any other entity that has bought Treasury bills, notes, and bonds—is $10.2 trillion.

The intragovernmental debt—money owed by the government to itself, primarily the Social Security Trust Fund is roughly $4.7 trillion. The total debt as of Oct. 1 was just under $15 trillion.

The debt ceiling—the limit of debt that can be incurred by government—has been amended upwards more than 50 times in recent history. Lacking a debt ceiling increase when the ceiling is hit, some government functions may go unfunded, and talk of default on financial obligations looms.

The gross domestic product (GDP)—total market value of all final goods and services produced in the country in a given year—is estimated at about $15 trillion for 2011, which is also, within a percentage point, the amount of our total debt.

Along with these daunting figures, the massive dark clouds on the horizon are the country’s total future liabilities—the entitlements promised to recipients in future years, which far exceed revenues. Estimates of future liabilities vary wildly, but looking at obligations such as Social Security ($15 trillion) and Medicare ($55 trillion), a reasonable figure is about $70 trillion.

These massive dollar figures are, of course, estimates, and they vary dramatically based on assumptions relative to current law and policy as well as the health of the economy. Even using these rounded but representative figures, given their size, they are nearly incomprehensible

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for most, including members of Congress.

How big are these numbers? It takes 12 days to reach a million seconds; it takes 32 years to reach a billion seconds; but it takes 32,000 years to reach a trillion seconds. Another way to describe what the debt will look like at the end of 2012 is that a stack of dollar bills representing that amount would stretch 1 million miles high—four times the distance between the Earth and the moon.

Future liabilities, such as Social Security, can be readily solved with reasonable, although painful, solutions. For example, if Social Security eligibility age were adjusted upward to account for the greater life expectancies of recipients, or the formula for cost-of-living adjustments changed, or means testing applied to some degree, the system would remain solvent. For many years the Social Security account ran a surplus—more was paid in by existing workers than paid to recipients—but the government used this money to fund other government projects.

In 2010, for the first time since 1983, Social Security accounts were in the red—not including interest income on the trust funds—by almost $50 billion. Federal bonds held by the Social Security Trust Fund had to be redeemed from the Treasury Department to subsidize current revenue and ensure full payments to recipients.

Annual deficits will become the norm although the system is projected to be solvent until the mid-2030s, when the Trust Funds are exhausted. After that, benefits will decline by about 25 percent (to an amount supported only by the payroll tax), absent a new income source: higher taxes.

The ratio of size of the total debt to GDP is a key indicator of economic health. As a country, the United States has experienced high debt in the past relative to the GDP and survived. In the aftermath of World War II, the debt-to-GDP ratio was 130 percent. Due to enormous economic growth in the 1950s and 1960s, this ratio declined substantially until 1970, when the ratio was down to 39 percent. By 1980, although the debt had

tripled in the 1970s to more than $900 billion, the debt ratio was just under 35 percent, largely due to inflation at the time. The next 15 years brought enormous increases in revenue—but spending increased at an even greater rate.

In 1994, the debt-to-GDP ratio had climbed to nearly 70 percent. At this point, a bipartisan effort between President Bill Clinton and a Republican Congress resulted in continued revenue growth of 61 percent, while outlays grew modestly at 22 percent. By the turn of the century, for about a three-year period, the federal government ran a modest surplus for the first time since President Richard Nixon’s inaugural year, 1969. The debt-to-GDP ratio was down to 57 percent, and life looked good—until the dotcom bubble burst, the economy went into recession, and Sept. 11, 2001, initiated our overseas wars.

The decade following 2000 got off to a rough start with the recession, but it was stable and growing into 2007, with unemployment at just over 4 percent, and federal revenues increasing faster than outlays. The debt-toGDP ratio stood at 65 percent. Then, the collapse of the financial system and the severe recession of 2007–2008 kicked in, and within two years the ratio had climbed to 85 percent. It has continued to climb with the overall debt-to-GDP ratio now at 100 percent. Just the public debt portion of the overall debt-to-GDP ratio is still nearly 70 percent. Many economists feel that when the overall debt ratio hits 90 percent, an economy becomes much more vulnerable and subject to limitations on expectations.

It is unreasonable to expect that the debt will be paid off or even substantially lowered. It is reasonable to expect that the president and Congress will respond to the debt crisis with pro-growth solutions that will result in a lowering of the trajectory of accumulating more debt and a lowering of the debt-to-GDP ratio—much as their predecessors and the country did in the latter half of the 20th century. The BCA is their effort to bring our debt under control over the next decade. —BF

Wait and See What will really happen to defense spending? Nobody knows. Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R–Calif.) recently stated: “I cannot underestimate how dangerous our defense cuts have become.” Many members are urging a cap of $150 billion on what the super committee or the trigger can apply to defense spending beyond the Phase I cuts. The trigger mechanism is clearly devastating, and many feel it was made this way to encourage the super committee to reach agreement and to come

Over the next 10 years, DoD could face cuts ranging from $800 billion ... to more than $950 billion. up with a more reasonable game plan for cuts to the national security accounts, including DoD. But whatever develops, it is clear that, at a minimum, DoD will see cuts in the range of $450 billion during the next decade. These cuts will come from the investment accounts, research, and personnel.

The Active Component of the Army is contemplating cuts of 50,000 to 75,000 personnel. This is a foolish way to provide for national security needs—a budget-driven approach as opposed to the needs of national security. Policymakers should determine the level of threat, the level of acceptable risk, and provide for an adequate defense with either revenue increases or modifications in other programs, be they discretionary or mandatory (entitlement programs are potential bill payers). For example, the three big entitlement programs—Social Security ($740 billion), Medicare ($540 billion), and Medicaid (nearly $300 billion)—will have combined outlays for this year of almost $1.6 trillion, three times the DoD baseline budget, and they’re growing.

Economic Environment The wild card for the future is the state of U.S. and world economies. U.S. economic growth is near zero; European growth is near zero; countries such as China and India face daunting challenges ahead, with inflation and the need for continued growth to maintain stability with their populations.

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ORT P E R Y T URI C E S L A N

NATIO

The stock markets are roiling with swings of hundreds of points though painful, will permit the patient to live. The super in a single day. committee especially must think broadly. For its members to Bank stocks in Europe and the United States have not reach some kind of majority agreement would add to the steadily declined during the summer, and worries about the condemnation of the political arms of the government and fundamental health of the financial markets are pervasive. further erode consumer and investor confidence.

Markets worldwide have been in decline for several months.

Other major bipartisan efforts have all called for at least The downgrade of the U.S. credit rating has caused some of the twice the cuts in spending that the super committee must largest players in the financial world to reconsider U.S. holdings, find. It must stretch to make cuts while incentivizing growth while others find us the safe harbor of last resort, given the through approaches such as cutting our corporate tax rates to fragility of European and Asian world norms, eliminating the markets. more egregious deductions and Confidence in elected leaders is exemptions of the tax code, and Gold traded above $1,900 an ounce as this report was pro-growth provisions down, investor confidence is low, making prepared in September, and of the tax law permanent.

10-year U.S. Treasury bonds Only two ways exist to and many are discouraged by address were trading below 2 percent— the debt burden: an unheard of low return in the apparent inability of political inflation or growth. Inflation recent history. Unemployment is not the answer, and it will levels are more than 9 percent leaders to put politics aside and destroy lifetimes of work and and will remain there for the savings with special hardship intermediate future. Several deal rationally with the scope of the for the elderly. Without European countries—Greece, growth, the country will flail Portugal, Ireland, Spain, Italy, financial problems. for years and leave children and and even France—are in grandchildren burdened with desperate trouble and, with unimaginable debt. They will them, their banks, which hold become a generation with little much of their sovereign debt. (U.S. banks also have a large of the hope, expectancy, and potential that older generations exposure.) The central banks of the world have poured money inherited and that is the essence of the American dream. into Europe to keep its institutions stable. Federal spending is Policymakers must make the difficult choices that will at its highest level as a percentage of gross domestic product (25 sustain the country economically while maintaining security percent) since World War II. Uncertainty at many levels had led in a world with ever greater challenges. It is into the brave to fear and unwillingness to commit funds for the long term. new world of the next decade that new laws and policies will The picture is gloomy. Confidence in elected leaders is be ever more important as they relate to the continuum of down, investor confidence is low, and many are discouraged by service and proper management and utilization of the Reserve the apparent inability of political leaders to put politics aside Components. and deal rationally with the scope of the financial problems. The country must craft thoughtful solutions that will leave essential Bob Feidler is director of ROA Strategic Defense Education. social programs functioning and provide for the common defense while not heaping further tax increases and regulatory The National Security Report is a publication of the burdens on those who drive America’s economic engine.

Defense Education Forum of the Reserve Officers Nevertheless, to loosely quote Churchill, we get it right after Association and is intended to advance discussion trying every other option. Policymakers are beginning to give and scholarship of national security issues. The views evidence to having heard the dire crescendo of the economic expressed in this report are solely those of the author wake-up bell and are engaging in creative policy efforts that, and not necessarily those of ROA.[ 46

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Log on at www.roaeaplus.com to apply online. or call 1-866-413-2986 today and speak with a customer service representative to sign up and get more information about this coverage. Š 2011 AGIA, Inc. EA+ is not insurance.

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SOLDIER SUSTAINMENT DRS provides crucial battlefield systems.

ivilians can eliminate what they would easily get complacent about call their ration break points, the amenities they enjoy you can take your food every day. Most rarely give right from the base camps DRS Technologies, headquartered in Parsippany, these advantages a second to FOBs [forward operating N.J., is a leading supplier of integrated products, thought. But to warfighters bases], as opposed to having services, and support to military forces, on the battlefield whose other multiple points of intelligence agencies, and prime contractors very survival may depend replenishment for food or worldwide. The company is a wholly owned on having blood products medical supplies. ” subsidiary of Finmeccanica S.p.A., which available at the forward The Army realized it employs more than 73,000 people worldwide. operating base or whose needed a more efficient (www.drs.com) morale might be lifted when refrigeration system about a they get a meal prepared with decade ago during Operation fresh vegetables and meat, those advantages assume a whole Roving Sands, a training exercise in Texas. Two singlenew level of importance. temperature 8-by-8-by-20-foot container refrigeration systems Refrigerated container systems that help medical units were often sent half-full, each with either fresh or frozen food stockpile critical supplies and help cooks prepare nutritious supplies, to cooks preparing meals for Soldiers in the field. meals have been available on the warfront for years. But a DRS Technologies, which manufactured the refrigeration DRS Technology product recently rolled out for the U.S. Army containment systems the U.S. Army has used for years, was improves the technology used and increases mobility in the field. awarded a competitive contract in 2004 to help design and Ultimately, the product supports the Army’s force generation develop the specifications for the new system—which is the logistics goal that it be more adaptable for expeditionary field same size as the old one—and to provide MTRCS units to requirements. the Army’s Natick Soldier Systems Center at Natick, Mass.

The new system combines chilling and freezing in the same The design and configuration of this next-generation system container and can operate while on the move. It can replace provides the Soldier with more operational flexibility and a the less-efficient refrigeration containment systems currently greater logistics capability because of its more efficient use of in place that provide either freezing or chilling, but not both in space and reduced transportation requirements. The enginethe same container. By having both capabilities in one unit, the driven, dual-temperature unit contains a removable partition Army can also reduce its transportation footprint and the fuel that allows transportation and storage of frozen and chilled needed to get fresh supplies to their field destinations. perishables simultaneously.

The Army has begun fielding the Multi-temperature “The purpose behind the MTRCS is mobility,” Mr. Refrigerated Container System (MTRCS) in the continental Meysembourg said, explaining that the MTRCS can be picked United States and Afghanistan, said Rod Meysembourg, up with any load-handling vehicle and taken directly to FOBs. program manager for MTRCS at DRS Technologies’ A single unit provides 800 Soldiers with three days’ worth of Environmental Systems Unit in Florence, Ky. “We consider this frozen and perishable foods. The empty container can then one of our most important sustainment programs, as it meets be replaced with a full one, keeping the FOB mobile without the government’s need to restructure their force generation,” he having ration break points in between replenishments. said. “If you can take and replace two systems with one and The new system also reduces the number of trucks and 48

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STANDING TOGETHER FOR AMERICA’S RESERVISTS

probably for field hospitals operated by the Army Reserve and for U.S. Army subsistence platoons and brigade combat team maneuver elements.

According to DRS Technologies, the current requirement for MTRCS is 2,309 systems, but only 1,338 are funded through Fiscal Year 2016.

MTRCS is one of a range of defense technology products and services DRS Technologies provides to the military, homeland security forces, and government agencies. One of the fastest growing defense technology companies in the world, DRS produces thermal imaging devices, combat display workstations, electronic sensor systems, power systems, rugged computer systems, air combat training systems, mission recorders, deployable flight incident recorders, environmental control systems, telecommunications systems, aircraft loaders, military trailers and shelters, and integrated logistics support services.

“It is our mission to put the very best products in the hands of our warfighters,” Mr. Meysembourg said. “We give them the best resources to make sure they can accomplish their mission.

It’s a pretty broad statement, but it fits in with what is required to support our Soldiers on the front lines.” [

DRS TECHNOLOGIES

amount of fuel required to replenish the troops, thus potentially saving lives. Fewer trucks mean fewer enemy targets. The MTRCS also comes with a reduced operational cost. The MTRCS consumes 4.8 fewer gallons of fuel in 24 hours than the antiquated refrigerated container system, and because it operates on the move, food is less likely to spoil. Using a single system also solves the problem of coordinating separate shipments of fresh or frozen foods in-theater.

The MTRCS program has been in production since August 2009. In July 2010, it was approved for full material release, allowing fielding of the system—along with the training, manuals, and other components that go with it—to begin. The first units were sent to Fort Hood, Texas; more soon followed to other U.S. locations.

Recently, about a dozen units were sent to a field hospital in Afghanistan under an urgent operational needs statement from the Pentagon. They arrived in the nick of time. On the same day, an old refrigeration unit broke down, which could have resulted in the loss of critical medical supplies and blood products. A new equipment trainer who arrived with the units reported to Mr. Meysembourg that a MTRCS was quickly set up and a significant amount of the supplies were saved.

Dozens more units are currently en route to Afghanistan, most

The DRS MTRCS refrigeration unit is easily loaded onto a HEMTT (Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck) for transport.

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TRIWEST APP BRINGS BENEFITS TO FINGERTIPS

TriWest Healthcare Alliance partners with the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide access to cost-effective, high-quality health care for 2.8 million members of America’s military family in the 21-state Tricare West Region. TriWest is the largest DoD contractor based in Arizona and has more than 1,900 employees—about half of whom are military dependents or veterans. (www.triwest.com) A toddler falls off the slide at the playground and gashes his leg. His mother scoops him up and runs for the car. She straps him into his car seat and grabs her mobile smartphone. She locates the nearest urgent care center and rushes her wailing son there to get help.

This kind of scenario inspired TriWest Healthcare Alliance’s new innovation: a smartphone application for beneficiaries on the go. TriWest administers the Tricare program to 2.9 million beneficiaries in the West Region, who can now use the mobile app to get Tricare information, quickly find and contact their health care providers, and easily access their confidential health information on the secure mobile website.

The app idea was born when TriWest executives sat down with several groups of military beneficiaries—mostly wives and mothers—to find out how the company could best serve them. TriWest received some surprising insights: During emergencies, most mothers didn’t call or go to their doctors or insurance company; they used their smartphones to find the closest urgent care provider.

“We thought that was fascinating because consumers are changing the way they react and behave,” said Jim Griffith, TriWest’s vice president of eBusiness. “We are always trying to find ways to meet our customers where their interests are, and this was just the next generation.”

Statistics support the point. According to Gartner Group— an information and technology research and advisory company—by 2013, mobile phones will overtake personal computers as the most common web access device worldwide.

So, TriWest developed an app for iPhones/iPads and Android phones, which can be downloaded free through the iTunes Store and Android Market. Those with a Blackberry or other type of smartphone cannot use the app, although they can access the mobile TriWest website if they have a web 50

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browser on their phone. For security, confidential health data isn’t available on the app, although customers can connect to the secure mobile TriWest website through the app and enter their user ID and password. Other helpful information, such as Tricare plan comparisons and guidelines on what to do in the case of a major life change, can be accessed in a couple of clicks on the app by a TriWest beneficiary at any time, anywhere in the world—which is especially important for military families.

The app organizes health care provider contact information to make it convenient and easy to find a particular doctor for a particular family member, without scrolling through hundreds of contacts and having to remember who has which doctor.

“You can just go into the app and have all your health care– related providers in one place and merge them from your phone. You can categorize them—such as my doctors, Johnny’s doctors, and Susie’s doctors—so it’s really easy,” Mr. Griffith said. “We’re very excited about helping consolidate information for people.”

The mobile app isn’t meant to replace other means of communication, Mr. Griffith said; it simply adds another convenient customer service option for West Region Tricare beneficiaries. “Whether you choose to call a service representative, access information via computer, or use your smartphone is more a personal preference issue than a lifestyle, age, or demographic issue,” he said. “Indeed, one of the fastest growing sectors using smartphones is the age 55-plus crowd.”

Along with providing the mobile app and the mobile website, TriWest provides text-based quick alerts so beneficiaries can be notified via their choice of text message, phone call, or e-mail about updates to their accounts—processed claims, authorizations, or scheduled appointments, for example.

“By launching the mobile app, mobile site, and text

STANDING TOGETHER FOR AMERICA’S RESERVISTS

messaging together, we’ve been able to give our customers a complete mobile experience,” Mr. Griffith said.

“TriWest will continue to transform its technology to better serve its military families while ensuring that the company remains a good steward of its taxpayer dollars,” he said. “We carefully balance the idea of being innovative and making sure we are using those dollars as soundly and responsibly as possible.” [

Boeing Awarded A-10 Thunderbolt Modification Contract Boeing recently received a $2.9 million contract to develop and validate a modification of the digital video audio data recorder for the Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt jet. The A-10, which has been part of the Air Force fleet since 1976, is getting an upgrade and overhaul as part of the A-10 Thunderbolt Life Cycle Program Support (TLPS) contract. “Boeing is one of three contractors selected to perform as associate prime integrators on the A-10 TLPS contract,” said Jerry Dunmire, Boeing’s A-10 program manager. “An A-10 TLPS contract supports the sustainment and integration of current and future requirements, helping to ensure the A-10 remains relevant and viable through 2040.” The twin-engine, single-seat jet provides close-air support to ground forces, employing a variety of conventional munitions against ground targets. This contract is Boeing’s sixth under the TLPS program.

The Boeing Company is the world’s largest aerospace company, with leading products and services in commercial and military aircraft and space and communications. Boeing military products include fighters, bombers, tankers, transports, and helicopters, along with missiles, homeland security, advanced information, communications, and space systems. Military aerospace support also provides maintenance and upgrades to all these systems. Boeing products are in use in 145 countries. (www.boeing.com)

Raytheon’s MALD Vehicles Deveoped To Protect Manned Aircraft Raytheon has developed a miniature air-launched decoy vehicle (MALD) that protects aircraft and crews by imitating the signatures and combat flight profiles of U.S. and allied

aircraft. MALD is a state-of-the-art, low-cost flight vehicle that is modular, air-launched, and programmable. At less than 300 pounds, it has a range of approximately 500 nautical miles.

The vehicle, currently in production and expected to become operational in 2012, is integrated on the F-16 and B-52 aircraft, and can also be employed from a C-130. Because MALD flies an autonomous, pre-planned mission, it can protect the aircraft from which it is launched or other aircraft. The Air Force just completed testing a stand-in variant vehicle, MALD-J or miniature air-launched decoy jammer, in a simulated operational environment, proving it could protect manned aircraft. Once the government validates the system, MALD-J will go into production, with initial operations planned for 2014. “MALD brings the fog of war to the enemy and tips the scales of electronic warfare in favor of the U.S. and our allies,” said Jeff White, Raytheon MALD business development manager.

Raytheon Company is a technology leader specializing in defense, homeland security, and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 87 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications, and intelligence systems, as well as mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 73,000 people worldwide. (www.raytheon.com)

Northrop Grumman to Help Develop Ground Combat Vehicle Technology Northrop Grumman has teamed with prime contractor BAE Systems to participate in the technology development phase of the Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) program, comprising one of two teams awarded a contract. Their team’s vehicle features an adaptive platform with a hybrid electric drive propulsion system that enables exceptional force protection and mobility in a lower weight vehicle while allowing for growth in power requirements as new technologies are matured and integrated. The vehicle will remain relevant for decades to come, bringing more survivability, mobility, and versatility to the Army, and with levels of protection scalable to the demands of a variety of missions. Northrop Grumman provides the C4ISR THE

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(command, control, computers, communications, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) subsystem for the GCV, which provides the digital computing backbone and integrates the various sensors and electronics to provide the warfighter enhanced, integrated situational awareness both on board the vehicle and within the broader tactical network. Those systems exploit the vast hybrid electric-generated power reserves of the vehicle. “That enhanced situational awareness, coupled with the GCV’s ability to carry a full nine-man squad, will give our warfighters significant tactical advantages as they go in harm’s way,” said Joe G. Taylor Jr., Northrop Grumman Information Systems’ vice president for ground combat systems.

Northrop Grumman Corporation supports the Air Force Reserve with state-of-the-art products such as LITENING AT for precision targeting on the F-16, A-10, and B-52; APN-241 radars for the C-130s; V-9 radars for the F-16s; Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures for the C-130s, C-5s, and C-17s; and Joint Threat Emitters for Training.

Northrop Grumman...defining the future! (www.northropgrumman.com)

Booz Allen Hamilton Supports National Veterans Wheelchair Games Booz Allen Hamilton supported the 2011 National Veterans Wheelchair Games in August as part of the company’s continuing commitment to honor the nation’s service members, their families, and wounded warriors. This year, the company added a new element to its support: an employment recruiting booth that drew approximately 600 visitors. According to a company spokeswoman, Booz Allen Hamilton is focused on recruiting and hiring former military, veterans, and wounded warriors, assisting with their transition from the military to the civilian workforce and positioning them for success once they have decided to join the firm. By actively recruiting at events like the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, the firm is able to reach a talent pool it may have missed through traditional recruiting channels and to educate potential hires about its firm. “By serving as a bronze sponsor of the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, Booz Allen supports our mission to serve our veterans and wounded warriors by contributing to and volunteering with organizations that help our military men and women,” said Booz Allen principal Elizabeth Mahan.

“Booz Allen employees, many of whom served in the military, 52

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feel especially passionate about helping service members successfully make the transition from military service to civilian life.”

Booz Allen Hamilton, a global strategy and technology consulting firm, works with clients to deliver results that endure. Booz Allen provides services to major international corporations and government clients around the world. Functional areas of expertise include strategy, organization and change leadership, operations, information technology, and technology management. (www.boozallen.com)

Oshkosh Defense, a division of Oshkosh Corporation, is an industry-leading global designer and manufacturer of tactical military trucks and armored wheeled vehicles, delivering a full product line of conventional and hybrid vehicles, advanced armor options, proprietary suspensions, and vehicles with payloads that can exceed 70 tons. (www.oshkoshdefense.com)

USAA provides insurance, banking, investment and retirement products and services to 8.4 million members of the U.S. military and their families. Known for its legendary commitment to its members, USAA is consistently recognized for outstanding service, employee well-being and financial strength. USAA membership is open to all who are serving or have honorably served our nation in the U.S. military – and their eligible family members. For more information about USAA, or to learn more about membership, visit usaa.com.

STANDING TOGETHER FOR AMERICA’S RESERVISTS

Daimler Trucks North America provides a full line of Freightliner and Western Star transportation to the U.S. government: military trucks, AAFES vehicles, and GSA medium and heavy duty trucks. DTNA currently provides the M915A5 6x4 line haul tractor, the M916A3 6x6 light equipment transporter, and the M917A2 6x6 20T dump truck to the U.S. Army. (www.daimler-trucksnorthamerica.com/govt/)

Delta Dental of California has partnered with DoD since 1998 to administer the Tricare Retiree Dental Program (TRDP). The TRDP is the only voluntary group dental benefits plan authorized by the U.S. government for uniformed services retirees and their families, including gray-area retirees. The TRDP provides comprehensive coverage to more than 1.1 million enrollees worldwide. (www.trdp.org)

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., a business area of Lockheed Martin, is a leader in the design, research and development, systems integration, production, and support of advanced military aircraft and related technologies. Its customers include the military services of the United States and allied countries throughout the world.

Products include the F-16, F-22, F-117, C-5, C-130 & 130J, P-3, S-3, and U-2. (www.lockheedmartin.com)

Bonner & Associates is the nation’s premier grassroots organizing firm. For more than 25 years, it has successfully built grassroots support for issues such as funding for the B-2 stealth bomber, Seawolf submarine, and the National Missile Defense Program. Bonner & Associates is proud to have worked for the Veterans of Foreign Wars and other organizations focused on this country’s national security. (www.bonnerandassociates.com)

Humana Military Healthcare Services is a Department of Defense (DoD) contractor for the administration of the Tricare program in the South Region of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Humana Military’s mission is to work collaboratively with its DoD partners in the delivery of high-quality, cost-effective, accessible health care services to the military population Humana serves. (www.humana-military.com)

For more than a decade, Logistics Management Resources Inc. has provided award-winning, cost-effective services to all areas of automated logistics support services. LMR, an employeeand veteran-owned small business, provides logistics management support services to DoD and all Army components with expertise in maintenance, supply, transportation, deployment, aviation logistics, materiel readiness, and training development. (www.lmr-inc.com)

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Legacy Society Spotlight: Past National President CAPT Mike Nolan, USNR (Ret.))

Four Decades of Dedication An ROA member for more than 40 years, ROA past National President CAPT Mike Nolan, USNR (Ret.), recognized early in his career the unique value of an association made up of service members dedicated to the Reserve Component.

With an active-duty tour from 1961 to 1965, he was involved with the transport of the first U.S. forces and equipment into Laos and served on a ship involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

In 1965, he joined the Navy Reserve as a drilling reserve officer until his retirement in 1992.

During his career, mentoring from senior officers inspired CAPT Nolan to pursue many leadership roles as an ROA member.

“In addition to providing leadership opportunities for an officer early in his/her reserve career, a young officer could look forward to attending chapter, department, and national meetings to learn how current and past ROA leaders have worked with members of Congress and their staffs to pass legislation to ensure that we have a well trained and equipped force to defend the nation,” he said.

A contributor to the ROA Memorial Endowment Trust, he encourages all ROA members to consider a legacy contribution to the nation’s reserve forces and to ROA’s future.

He underscored ROA’s significant impact on legislation that has directly affected Reserve Component recruiting and retention and noted ROA’s role in establishing the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Appropriation. He also praised ROA’s direct action to stop across-the-board Army and Navy Reserve reductions during the 1990s and is proud that ROA led efforts to establish drill pay for weekend training duty, retirement pay, and health care for reservists.

At the department level, CAPT Nolan noted proud accomplishments as well. In his home state of Missouri, the department has hosted breakfasts for members of Congress for the last 25 years, providing opportunities to discuss legislative issues with lawmakers and staff. These invaluable meetings ensure the Reserve Component’s role in providing an adequate national security.

When asked about the significance of ROA in his own life, CAPT Nolan emphasized that approximately 50 percent of today’s military forces are Reserve Component members. Therefore, he encourages all officers, including those serving with reserve units and retired personnel, to volunteer to serve as ROA leaders at chapter, department, or national levels.

“Our Citizen-Soldiers have performed in an outstanding manner to defend our nation for over 235 years,” he said. “You can help bring this message of the importance of our reserve forces to our elected 54

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“Our Citizen-Soldiers have performed in an outstanding manner to defend our nation for over 235 years.”

leaders as they formulate new legislation to hopefully ensure we will have a strong reserve force for many decades.”

For CAPT Nolan, whole-hearted dedication is one of the most striking impressions he’s had while serving in so many leadership roles for ROA for over the last 40 years. “I am extremely impressed by the professionalism, patriotism, and love of country demonstrated by our members,” he said. “No other nation in the world has this strong commitment from its [Citizen-Soldier] citizens to be ready and willing to serve and protect our freedoms.”

CAPT Nolan will welcome ROA’s top contributors at the upcoming National Meeting, with the first reception honoring members of the ROA Legacy Society. The Legacy Society contributes to a sustainable future for ROA and the continuing successful execution of the association’s mission.

Visit www.roa.org/support for more information or contact Richard Thralls at 202.646.7721 or rthralls@roa.org

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION 1.

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Publication Title: The Officer Publication Number: 0030-0268 Filing Date: October 1, 2011 Issue Frequency: Bimonthly Number of Issues Published Annually: 6 Annual Subscription $40.00 for members (included in dues), $20.00 for surviving spouses Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: One Constitution Ave. NE, Washington DC 20002-5618 8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters of Publisher: One Constitution Ave. NE, Washington DC 20002-5618 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Publisher: MajGen Drew Davis, USMC (Ret.), One Constitution Ave. NE, Washington DC 20002-5618 Editor: Christopher Prawdzik, One Constitution Ave. NE, Washington DC 20002-5618 Managing Editor: Tiffany Ayers, One Constitution Ave. NE, Washington DC 20002-5618 10. Owner: Reserve Officers Association of the United States, One Constitution Ave. NE, Washington DC 20002-5618 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities: None 12. Tax Status: Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months 13. Publication Title: The Officer 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data: September-October 2011 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation: Average No. Copies No. Copies of Each Issue During Single Issue Published Preceding 12 Months Nearest to Filing Date a. Total Number of Copies (Net Press Run) 57,100 55,700 b. Paid Circulation (By Mail and Outside the Mail): (1) Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies and exchange copies) 56,037 54,751 (2) Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies) 0 0 (3) Paid Distribution Outside the Mails Including Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Paid Distribution Outside USPS 184 184 (4) Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail Through the USPS (e.g. First-Class Mail) 5 8 c. Total Paid Distribution 56,226 54,943 d. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (By Mail and Outside the Mail) (1) Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541 0 0 (2) Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541 0 0 (3) Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes Through the USPS (e.g. First-Class Mail) 0 0 (4) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail (Carriers or other means) 874 757 e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution 874 757 f. Total Distribution 57,100 55,700 g. Copies Not Distributed 0 0 h. Total 57,100 55,700 i. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation 98.5% 98.6% 16. Publication Statement of Ownership: Publication RequiredWill be printed in the NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011 issue 17. Signature and Title of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager, or Owner Christopher Prawdzik Editor October 1, 2011 I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on this form may be subject to criminal sanctions (including fines and imprisonment) and/or civil sanctions (including civil penalties).

THE

OFFICER / NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2011

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CONTACT ROA PRESIDENT Col Walker M. Williams III, USAF (Ret.) roapresident@roa.org PRESIDENT-ELECT BG Michael J. Silva, USAR michaeljsilva@yahoo.com IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT RADM Paul T. Kayye, USNR (Ret.) drkayye@mac.com JUDGE ADVOCATE MAJ William B. Pentecost Jr., USAR wpentecost@eckertseamans.com TREASURER COL W. Terry Baggett, AUS (Ret.) wtbaggett@mindspring.com

DIRECTOR, LEGISLATIVE AND MILITARY POLICY CAPT Marshall A. Hanson, USNR (Ret.) mhanson@roa.org; 202.646.7713

AIR FORCE VICE PRESIDENT Lt Col Ann P. Knabe, USAFR aknabe@roa.org

DIRECTOR, MEMBER DEVELOPMENT Col William L. Holahan, USMCR (Ret.) wholahan@roa.org; 202.646.7727

AIR FORCE JUNIOR VICE PRESIDENT Capt Lynette M. Petsinger, USAFR petsingerl@aol.com

DIRECTOR, MEMBER & EXECUTIVE SERVICES Ms. T. Diane Markham dmarkham@roa.org; 202.646.7706

AIR FORCE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER Col Kathryn A. Karr Blair, USAFR katkblair@yahoo.com

DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC DEFENSE EDUCATION Mr. Robert E. Feidler rfeidler@roa.org; 202.646.7717

AIR FORCE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER Col Jan L. Rhoads, USAFR janlrhoads@aol.com

DIRECTOR, RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT Mr. J. Richard Thralls rthralls@roa.org; 202.646.7721

ARMY JUNIOR VICE PRESIDENT CPT Christopher L. Cox, USAR coxclcox@aol.com

AIR FORCE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER Lt Col R. Randy Stoeckmann, USAFR roger.stoeckmann@scott.af.mil

DIRECTOR, INDUSTRY AFFAIRS & BUSINESS RELATIONS Ms. Lani M. Burnett lburnett@roa.org; 202.646.7758

ARMY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER COL Judi A. Davenport, USAR davenportj2@hotmail.com

CHAIRMAN, DEPARTMENT NATIONAL COUNCIL MEMBERS Lt Col Donald L. Stockton, USAF (Ret.) stocktondl@aol.com

DIRECTOR, ARMY SECTION Mr. Robert E. Feidler rfeidler@roa.org; 202.646.7717

ARMY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER COL Clifford L. Dungey, AUS (Ret.) cliffld@juno.com

CHAPLAIN Chap. (Maj) Vincent A. Cummings, USAFR vcummings90@hotmail.com

ARMY VICE PRESIDENT COL Kevin R. Riedler, USAR roaarmyvp@yahoo.com

ARMY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER COL Marco A. Marin, USAR (Ret.) marin10470@aol.com NAVAL SERVICES VICE PRESIDENT CAPT Gordon T. Austin, DMD, USN gaustin@roa.org NAVAL SERVICES JUNIOR VICE PRESIDENT LCDR T. Scot Cregan, USNR tscregan@roa.org NAVAL SERVICES EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER CAPT Donald C. Grant, USCGR (Ret.) Donaldg1@aol.com NAVAL SERVICES EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER CAPT Morgan Little, USNR (Ret.) mlittle@roa.org

56

NAVAL SERVICES EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER Col James R. Sweeney, USMCR jsweeney@btlaw.com

THE

OFFICER / NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2011

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS OFFICER Col Charles L. Holsworth, USAFR (Ret.) cholsworth@acba.org HEALTH SERVICES OFFICER MG Robert J. Kasulke, USAR ckasulke@twcny.rr.com HISTORIAN COL Robert C. Jackle, USA (Ret.) rcjackle@aol.com PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER Maj Morshe D. Araujo, USAFR morshedaraujo@aol.com SERGEANT-AT-ARMS MAJ Joseph A. Snel, USAR joseph.snel@usar.army.mil EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MajGen Andrew B. Davis adavis@roa.org; 202.646.7701

DIRECTOR, NAVAL SERVICES SECTION CAPT Marshall A. Hanson, USNR (Ret.) mhanson@roa.org; 202.646.7713 DIRECTOR, AIR FORCE SECTION To be announced.

DIRECTOR, COMMUNICATIONS Mr. Keith W. Weller kweller@roa.org; 202.646.7719 DIRECTOR, SERVICE MEMBERS LAW CENTER CAPT Samuel F. Wright, JAGC, USN (Ret.) swright@roa.org; 202.646.7730 DIRECTOR, WEB DEVELOPMENT & GRAPHICS Mr. Kelly M. Matthews kmatthews@roa.org; 202.646.7707

TELEPHONE TOLL-FREE FAX (EXECUTIVE / LEGISLATION) FAX (MEMBER SERVICES / MEDIA) FAX (DEFENSE EDUCATION FORUM) HOME PAGE

202-479-2200 800-809-9448 202-547-1641 703-243-1425 202-646-7767 WWW.ROA.ORG

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