POSTURE
STATEMENT OF
GENERAL RICHARD B. MYERS, USAF
CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF
BEFORE THE 108TH CONGRESS
HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
5 FEBRUARY 2003
It is an honor to report to Congress on the state of the US Armed Forces.
Today, our Nation's Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coastguardsmen operate in an environment characterized by opportunity and danger. In the wake of September 11th, US Forces are now deployed to an unprecedented number of locations. Our forces also operate with a wider array of coalition partners to accomplish more diverse missions.
These operations are required,
as the world remains a dangerous place. In
recent months, terrorists have successfully
conducted numerous attacks - in the Middle
East, Africa and Southeast Asia. The loss of
innocent lives serves as a poignant reminder
that terrorists' evil has no moral or
territorial limits. Coalition discoveries in
Afghanistan and other places confirm that al
Qaida actively seeks weapons of mass
destruction. This network remains active and
determined to conduct more attacks against the
US and our allies.
At the same time, other threats to US
interests have not abated. US Armed Forces
remain focused on preparing for potential
regional conflict. The proliferation of
advanced technology, weapons and associated
expertise has increased the probability that
our adversaries will be capable in the future
of fielding significantly more robust and
lethal means to attack the US and our
interests. In December 2002, North Korea
announced that it would resume its nuclear
program. Iraq has used chemical and
biological weapons in the past and would
likely use them again in the future. Iraq is
also aggressively seeking nuclear weapons.
These facts create imperatives for our
Nation's Armed Forces. All the while, US
Forces remain prepared to confront the
consequences of factional strife in distant
lands and respond to humanitarian disasters.
The President's National Security Strategy
provides a new focus for our Nation's Armed
Forces. Based on detailed analysis in the
most recent 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review,
the Defense Department adopted a new Defense
Strategy. Today, we must be ready to assure
our allies, while we dissuade, deter and
defeat any adversary. We possess the forces
necessary to defend the United States homeland
and deter forward in four critical regions.
If required, we will swiftly defeat the
efforts of two adversaries in an overlapping
timeframe, while having the ability to "win
decisively" in one theater. In addition, our
forces are able to conduct a limited number of
lesser contingencies, maintain a sufficient
force generation capability and support a
strategic reserve.
At home, the establishment of the United
States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) has
significantly improved the preparedness,
responsiveness and integration between the US
military and other federal agencies defending
our homeland. NORTHCOM is an integral part of
the rapidly expanding interagency network
supporting Homeland Defense.
Our Nation's entire Armed Forces remain as
engaged today as at any time since the Second
World War. The War on Terrorism remains our
primary focus. In concert with other
instruments of National power, our Armed
Forces are tracking down al Qaida in
Afghanistan and around the world.
Simultaneously, we are operating in the No-Fly
Zones over Iraq, enforcing UN sanctions in the
Arabian Gulf, facilitating reconstruction in
Afghanistan, conducting peacekeeping
operations in the Balkans, supporting our
partners in South America against narcotics
trafficking and terrorist cells, preserving
stability in the Korean Peninsula and
defending the American homeland. Clearly, the
American people should know that their Armed
Forces are operating at a high tempo.
As a result of this unprecedented strategic
environment, I have established three
priorities as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff: To win the war on terrorism, to
improve joint warfighting and to transform our
Nation's military to face the dangers of the
21st Century. These priorities
also reflect the priorities of the Secretary
of Defense. Combined with the President's
vision, the Secretary's leadership, the
support of Congress and the selfless service
of our Nation's Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen,
Marines, Coastguardsmen and Civilian workforce
- our Nation's Armed Forces are making
progress in each of these areas.
Al Qaida was not created in a single day. It
formed over the course of a decade or more
prior to September 11, 2001. It cannot be
destroyed in a day or a year - it will require
a commitment of many years. We recognize that
dangerous and difficult work remains. The
following highlights recent successes and
describes what additional actions are required
to protect our Nation in our dynamic security
environment.
War on Terrorism
For the past 16 months, the US Armed Forces, in concert with other federal agencies and our coalition partners, have conducted a determined campaign to defeat the most potent threat to our way of life - global terrorist organizations. Operation ENDURING FREEDOM has dealt a severe blow to the al Qaida transnational network. About 50 key al Qaida officials, operatives and logisticians have been killed or captured. Numerous other operatives have also been removed; however, al Qaida remains a formidable and adaptive peril to our nation and our partners.
Our successes reflect the careful integration of all instruments of national power. This war against terrorists requires the inclusive commitment of the military, financial, economic, law enforcement and intelligence resources of our Nation. On the international level, the military support and cooperation has been remarkable. Until August of last year when we determined it was no longer required, NATO provided Airborne Early Warning aircraft to supplement our E-3 aircraft patrolling over American cities. NATO allies remain with us in Afghanistan and patrolling the oceans to interdict terrorists and their weapons or resources. More than 90 nations share our resolve and contribute daily to the goal of destroying al Qaida. As part of this effort, numerous bilateral counter-terrorist exercises and exchanges have been conducted around the world.
At the national level, the Defense Department has made numerous adjustments. The creation of the Joint Interagency Task Force for Counter-Terrorism enables the rapid flow of information and analysis from national resources to the battlefield. Likewise, Combatant Commanders established Joint Interagency Coordination Groups to share information, coordinate actions and streamline operations among military, intelligence and law enforcement agencies. At US Special Operations Command, the Counter-Terrorism Campaign Support Group combines the expertise and resources of the Departments of State, Treasury and Justice and the CIA with our Special Operations warriors at the operational level. The Counter-Terrorism Campaign Support Group fuses intelligence, interagency and military activities in a seamless organization.
Current Overseas Operations
In
Afghanistan, our greatest success has been to
deny al Qaida an operating haven. Today,
Afghanistan has the first true chance for
peace in 23 years. More than 2 million Afghan
people have returned home. We are in the
final stages of Phase III (Decisive
Operations). Phase III has severely degraded
al Qaida's operational capabilities and their
ability to train new members. Their support
continues to decline among the Afghan people.
Pockets of Taliban and al Qaida resistance
remain within Afghanistan primarily along the
Pakistani border. Nonetheless, overall
conditions may permit us to soon shift to
Phase IV (Stability Operations). Once the
President decides to move into Phase IV, we
will increase the civil and reconstruction
assistance to the Afghan government.
Stability operations will require a great deal
of support from the international community to
be successful.
This past year, a key task to promote
stability began with training of the Afghan
National Army. The US spearheaded the
development of this force with training,
equipment, and force structure requirements.
The Afghan National Army's first five
battalions have completed basic training at
the Kabul Military Training Center. More than
1,300 troops began advanced training as of
December. The sixth battalion is currently in
basic training and soon we will begin select
officer training. The French have funded the
initial salaries for the recruits for all six
battalions and provided half of the training.
Recently trained forces are integrating with
our forces throughout the countryside. To
date, the international community has donated
$40 million worth of equipment. Our military
forces will be part of an ongoing commitment
to provide equipment and expertise.
The International Security Assistance Force in
Afghanistan continues its role mandated by the
Bonn agreement and UN Security Council
resolutions. Today, Germany and the
Netherlands are preparing to share leadership
responsibilities of the International Security
Assistance Force as they take over in February
2003. They follow the example set by the
United Kingdom and Turkey. Twenty-two nations
contribute more than 4,500 troops to this
vital mission.
In January 2002, United States Central Command
(CENTCOM) proposed a concept of operations to
disrupt terrorist operations in and around
Yemen. Central to this plan, CENTCOM proposed
to strengthen Yemeni Special Forces capability
for counter-terrorism operations and expand
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
operations. Yemeni Special Forces have been
trained on counter-terrorism tactics and
procedures and are currently receiving
maritime counter-terrorism training. The
working relationship between the US and
Yemeni
Government has greatly improved as a result of
this training program.
CENTCOM also established Joint Task Force Horn
of Africa (JTF-HOA) as part of its Theater
Counter-Terrorism Campaign. In December 2002,
JTF-HOA stood up while embarked on USS
Mount Whitney. JTF-HOA provides
CENTCOM a regional counter-terrorism focus in
East Africa and Yemen. It exercises command
and control of counter-terrorism operations
for this area. The JTF-HOA staff will remain
embarked on USS Mount Whitney for 4 to
6 months until the infrastructure is in place
ashore at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti.
Meanwhile, CENTCOM and Allied Forces
continue Maritime Interception Operations in
the Arabian Gulf to enforce UN sanctions
against Iraq. In 2002, coalition forces
diverted over 800 vessels suspected of
carrying illegal Iraqi oil. This reflects a
significant increase over the 115 vessels
diverted in 2001.
United States European Command (EUCOM) through
its Special Operations Command, Europe, began
the Georgia Train and Equip Program to build a
Georgian capability to deal with the terrorist
presence in the Pankisi Gorge. EUCOM
developed a plan to train three staffs, four
battalions and one Mechanized/Armor company
team. EUCOM has completed training the
Georgian Ministry of Defense staff, the Land
Forces Command staff and the first battalion.
In December, Commander, EUCOM directed Marine
Forces Europe to assume the Georgia Train and
Equip Program mission, which will resume
training in February. Six other allies
contributed nearly $2 million in materiel
reflecting the international nature of this
program.
In July, the President approved Expanded
Maritime Interception Operations to interdict
terrorists and their resources. With this
order, the President authorized commanders to
stop, board and search merchant ships
identified to be transporting terrorists
and/or terrorist-related materiel. Expanded
Maritime Interception Operations are focused
on EUCOM and CENTCOM's Area of
Responsibilities (AORs) while PACOM and the
other Combatant Commanders are developing
Expanded Maritime Interception Operations
plans. Eleven nations provide forces for
Maritime Interception Operations within the
CENTCOM AOR. German and Spanish senior
officers command parts of these operations --
reflecting the coalition commitment to the War
on Terrorism. So far, EUCOM's Maritime
Interception Operations have stopped fourteen
ships. NATO maritime and air forces support
the Maritime Interception Operations within
EUCOM's AOR.
In Europe, we support NATO's plan to
transition Stabilization Forces in
Bosnia-Herzegovina to a minimal presence and
Kosovo Forces to a reduced presence by the end
of 2004. In the spring of 2003, the NATO
Military Committee will review the proposed
force structure reductions and restructuring
for Bosnia and Kosovo. Our presence in the
Balkans has not only promoted peace in the
region, it has also enhanced our ability to
conduct counter-terrorism operations.
During this past year in support of Operation
ENDURING FREEDOM - Philippines, US Pacific
Command (PACOM) has provided the Armed Forces
of the Philippines military advice and
assistance in targeting Abu Sayyaf Group
terrorist activities in the Philippines. US
forces could be available to provide follow-on
advice and assistance if requested by the
Government of Philippines, and approved by the
President and the Secretary of Defense. In
concert with these efforts supporting
Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, Congress has
approved the Security Assistance Funding
necessary to provide counter-terrorism
training for the armed forces of the
Philippines. Training will begin in the
February/March timeframe.
United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM)
continues to support counter-narcotics
trafficking and counter-terrorism efforts in
South America. In accordance with new
Presidential policy and expanded legislative
authority, we are assisting the Colombian
military in its fight against designated
terrorist organizations by providing advice,
training and equipment. Our current
operations are built on preexisting
counter-narcotics missions. US troops are
currently training the Colombian military to
protect critical infrastructures, such as the
Cano Limon Pipeline. In addition personnel
will deploy in FY03 to serve as Operations and
Intelligence Planning Assistance Teams at
selected units to assist the Colombian
military in its fight against terrorism. This
assistance will continue over the next several
years. The US military presence in Colombia
is limited to the troop caps established by
Congress, in terms of uniformed and contract
personnel.
The Tri-Border Area of Argentina, Brazil and
Paraguay is a focal point of increased drug
and arms trafficking, money laundering,
document fraud and Islamic terrorist-supported
activities. US and Brazilian officials
estimate that between $10 - 12 billion USD/year
flows through the Tri-Border Area, some of
which is diverted to known terrorist groups
such as Hizballah and Hamas.
Commander, SOUTHCOM continues detainee
operations (detention and intelligence
collection missions) at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
While the Detainees are not entitled to the
status of Enemy Prisoners of War, the
President and the Secretary of Defense have
directed that the U.S. armed forces treat them
humanely and to the extent appropriate and
consistent with military necessity, consistent
with the principles of the Geneva
Conventions. SOUTHCOM has constructed an
additional 190 medium security units to
augment the 816 holding units and fortified
billeting structures for US military personnel
assigned. Almost 2,000 US military personnel
are deployed to Guantanamo Bay in support of
detainee operations. The President issued an
order on November 13, 2001, authorizing use of
military commissions to prosecute individuals
subject to the order for offenses against the
laws of war and other applicable laws. To
date, no one has been made specifically
subject to the order, and therefore, no one
has been prosecuted by military commission.
The Secretary of Defense appointed the
Secretary of the Army to lead war crimes
investigations. A few of those detained at
Guantanamo determined to be of no intelligence
or law enforcement value or threat to the US
or its interests, have been released and
returned to their countries of origin.
We view Guantanamo Bay as a national asset
that supports our work in securing
intelligence vital to success in the war on
terrorism and protection of our homeland. It
also supports interagency and international
intelligence and law enforcement efforts.
Interrogations at Guantanamo Bay have resulted
in intelligence of high value. Information
gathered from known terrorists held at
Guantanamo Bay has helped us to define and
disrupt the global terrorist threat.
Unified Command Plan 2002
On 1 October 2002 we implemented the 2002 Unified Command Plan, as directed by the President. The 2002 Unified Command Plan, and its subsequent Change 1, created United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM), disestablished United States Space Command (SPACECOM) and combined SPACECOM's missions and forces with United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM), thereby establishing a "new" STRATCOM.
United States Northern Command and Homeland Security
NORTHCOM's mission is to deter, prevent and
defeat threats and aggression aimed at the US
and its territories. When directed, NORTHCOM
provides military assistance to civil
authorities, including consequence
management. Commander, NORTHCOM is dual-hatted
as Commander, North American Aerospace Defense
Command (NORAD). NORAD has control of the Air
Defense of CONUS. Land and Maritime
operations are controlled by NORTHCOM.
NORTHCOM stood up its combatant command staff
and accepted Homeland Defense missions and
tasks from United States Joint Forces Command
(JFCOM) and other combatant commands. It has
also developed a plan to reach its full
operational capability. Currently, NORTHCOM
is engaged with federal and state agencies,
the National Guard and NORAD to plan and
exercise a variety of homeland defense and
civil support tasks. Simultaneously, NORTHCOM
is cultivating closer relationships with our
North American neighbors.
As part of this effort, NORTHCOM's Standing
Joint Task Force Civil Support provides
command and control for DOD forces supporting
the lead federal agency managing the
consequences of chemical, biological,
radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive
incidents in addition to natural disasters.
As such, Joint Task Force Civil Support
provides a sustained planning staff that has
formed a habitual relationship with key
Federal and State Agencies plus communities
nationwide.
NORAD's responsibilities for air and
ground early warning systems and alert fighter
support in defense of CONUS, Canada and Alaska
remain unchanged. In addition, NORAD is
identifying the infrastructure needed for the
defense of the National Capital Region.
On December 9, 2002 the US and Canada agreed
to create a new bi-national land, maritime,
and civil support military planning group at
NORAD to help examine potential responses to
threats and attacks on the US or Canada. This
initiative will advance our ability to defend
our Nation.
Last year Operation NOBLE EAGLE flew over
14,000 sorties even while our current
operations overseas required key resources.
These sorties represent NORAD's contributions
to Operation NOBLE EAGLE and defense of the
American Homeland.
United States Strategic Command
United
States Strategic Command's (STRATCOM) mission
is to establish and provide full-spectrum
global strike, coordinate space and
information operations capabilities to meet
both deterrent and decisive national security
objectives. STRATCOM retains its nuclear triad
of submarine, bomber and missile forces.
On 10 January 2003, the President signed
Change 2 to the Unified Command Plan. This
latest changed assigned four emergent missions
to STRATCOM and reflects the US military's
increased emphasis on a global view. These
new missions include missile defense, global
strike, DOD information operations and global
command, control, communications, computers,
intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance. Missile defense is an
inherently multi-command and multi-regional
task. STRATCOM will serve as the primary
advocate in the development of missile defense
operational architecture. With its global
strike responsibilities, the Command will
provide a core cadre to plan and execute
nuclear, conventional and information
operations anywhere in the world. STRATCOM
serves as the DOD advocate for integrating the
desired military effects of information
operations. These initiatives represent a
major step in transforming our military and in
implementing the new strategic triad
envisioned in the 2001 Nuclear Posture
Review.
STRATCOM will also continue the former US
Space Command's legacy of providing Space
support for our Joint Team. The Global
Positioning System offers an excellent example
of how space systems enhance our Joint
Warfighting Team. The Global Positioning
System's worldwide position, navigation and
timing information give US forces an
all-weather, precision engagement capability.
As an example of one application, the US Army
fielded a
blue force tracking system - a
space-based tool that gives commanders
awareness of their units' locations.
US military space superiority requires
continued advances in space control and access
along with the cooperation of our allies. The
European Union, for example, is developing
Galileo, a civil satellite navigation system
that risks our enhancement to military GPS.
As currently designed, the Galileo signal will
operate in the same bandwidth as our GPS
system's civil and military signals. When
Galileo begins operating, its signals will
directly overlay the spectrum associated with
our new GPS military code. Continued
negotiations to resolve this political issue
with the European Union is essential to
ensuring our joint team maintains the
advantages of GPS in combat.
Concurrent with these on-going operations, the
Services, Joint Staff and Combatant Commands
have pursued a 15 percent major headquarters
reduction. To date, DOD headquarters
personnel have been reduced by more than 11
percent. Given commitments around the world
today, any further reductions beyond those
already taken could adversely impact our
ability to meet the demands of the War on
Terrorism, Homeland Security, global military
presence and respond to any new threats.
Nonetheless, the Service Chiefs, Combatant
Commanders and I continue to explore ways to
reduce and streamline headquarters functions.
Antiterrorism/Force Protection
Antiterrorism/Force
Protection remains a top priority for all
commanders. Our adversaries - unable to
confront or compete with the United States
militarily - have and will continue to use
terrorist acts to attack US citizens,
property, and interests - to include military
bases and personnel. In
the FY03 budget, the
Antiterrorism/Force Protection
portion
of the Combating Terrorism budget totaled $9.3
billion. The terrorist threat
environment has forced us to maintain a higher
worldwide Force Protection Condition for
longer periods of time. In the short term,
this task is being met with an increase in
manpower.
For example, EUCOM is currently at Force
Protection Condition Bravo. In the
short-term, additional troops are required to
guard US military bases throughout EUCOM's
theater. In the long-term, SECDEF directed us
to pursue new technologies that will reduce
the manpower footprint while improving force
protection, as well as seeking host nation
support for the force protection mission.
The Combating Terrorism Readiness Initiative
Fund helped provide immediate
Antiterrorism/Force Protection
off-the-shelf technology to Combatant
Commanders to satisfy emergent requirements
that could not wait for the normal budget
process or long-term technical solutions.
Last year's funded systems included explosive
detection systems that enhanced access
control, intrusion detection systems that
provided broader perimeter security while
reducing manpower requirements and
chemical/biological (Chem/Bio) detection
systems to improve installation defense
capabilities. The Department authorized $47
million this past year for the Combating
Terrorism Readiness Initiative Fund, nearly
twice the FY00 expenditure.
To support the Combatant Commanders'
Antiterrorism/Force Protection efforts,
the Joint Staff Integrated
Vulnerability Assessment Teams will visit 95
military installations worldwide this year.
Joint Staff Integrated Vulnerability
Assessment Teams assess physical security
measures, infrastructure support and
structural vulnerabilities, intelligence
collection and dissemination capabilities and
the installation's ability to respond to
terrorist incidents. Over 500,000 personnel
received
"General Antiterrorism Awareness" training
last year. This on-line training is now also
available to DOD family members.
The Defense Department also finalized
prescriptive antiterrorism engineering and
construction standards to improve
survivability of our personnel from the
effects of an explosive device. In
large part because the Pentagon renovation
project followed design strategies based on
these new antiterrorism
construction standards, the damage and loss of
life from the Pentagon attack was
significantly reduced.
US Forces' antiterrorism capabilities
are seen as a standard worldwide. NATO sought
US military expertise to improve antiterrorism
training for all NATO forces. As a result,
last summer, NATO approved policy guidance
that clarified Antiterrorism responsibilities
for Non-Article 5 operations, delineated
minimum unit Antiterrorism plan requirements
and increased emphasis on weapons of mass
destruction defense and consequence management
planning. The US will assist NATO to
implement this important guidance.
We are working hard to expand and improve our
capabilities to protect our personnel against
Chem/Bio agents. DOD initiated vaccinating
select segments of the force against anthrax
and smallpox. Our medical treatment
capabilities must expand to include improved
treatment against Weapons of Mass Destruction
while providing additional medical
countermeasures, surveillance systems and
response teams.
We improved overall Joint Force readiness by
our recent procurement of improved Chem/Bio
defensive protective clothing, masks and
detection systems. This equipment is
significantly more reliable, better at agent
detection and further enhances our forces'
overall capability to operate in the Chem/Bio
environment.
In the area of installation protection, we
have improved detection systems plus
consequence management assessment and training
capabilities at 23 of our overseas bases. In
addition, we performed a thorough assessment
of our detection and first responder
capabilities at nine key CONUS installations.
These lessons learned will guide development
of a comprehensive plan to improve Chem/Bio
defense at more than 200 bases over the next
six years. Although we improved our Chem/Bio
capabilities, fighting a war in this
environment remains a serious challenge.
Therefore, we must continue to fund research,
development and acquisition projects that
ensure our forces can operate successfully in
this adverse environment.
Readiness for Future Operations
The readiness of our general-purpose forces, whether forward deployed, operating in support of contingency operations or in Homeland Defense, continues to be solid. US Forces are well trained and in general, possess the personnel, equipment and resources needed to accomplish the military objectives outlined in the Defense Strategy.
In light of the current pace of operations, it is notable that active US Army divisions maintain high readiness levels. US Air Force aircraft mission capable rates improved over the past six months. US Navy forces continue to meet readiness goals for both the deployed and non-deployed segments of the force. The US Marine Corps is ready to meet the demands of current and potential operations. While ongoing global operations increased the workload on the Nation's military focus, these forces remain prepared to accomplish their wartime tasks.
Materiel readiness has improved substantially
in part, due to the tremendous support of
Congress. One example is munitions, where
recent supplemental measures have allowed
Combatant Commanders to increase stockpiles of
key all-weather and advanced precision-guided
munitions. These munitions enable the Joint
Team to place at risk a wide array of enemy
targets. Funding increases this past year
dramatically increased precision-guided
munitions production rates, and selected
production rates should be near maximum
capacity by August 2003. Continued
Congressional support is critical to build
munitions and materiel inventories to levels
that meet warfighting requirements.
While the Force is ready, this past year
significantly stressed the readiness of
several critical enablers. Our intelligence
forces operate under increased pressure as a
result of the War on Terrorism. Key skill
sets (like targeteers, linguists and
police-like investigative skills) are in short
supply. Recognizing this fact, our
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
forces must mature into a more adaptable and
flexible contingency collection capability.
Many systems were developed to meet a Cold War
threat and provide excellent force-on-force
collection capability. The ingenuity of our
Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and
Coastguardsmen has allowed many systems to
perform a valuable role in the War on
Terrorism.
The present posture of the military
intelligence forces, for the long-term War on
Terrorism is improving, but many challenges
remain. This global war clearly demonstrates
the need for persistent long-loiter
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
platforms. Military intelligence also
requires low observable unmanned aerial
vehicle systems, close-access sensors and a
greater emphasis on human intelligence
collection. In addition, all intelligence
communities must provide an information
architecture that provides a "push and pull"
capability for the joint warfighter, law
enforcement and counter-intelligence
personnel. We must shift our attitudes away
from the mindset of a "need to know" to one of
"need to share."
Our strategic mobility triad (airlift,
sealift, and prepositioned materiel) provides
us the capability to swiftly move forces
around the world. The US remains the only
nation who can routinely move units and
materiel globally with confidence and speed.
While our airlift and air refueling assets
performed magnificently in support of the War
on Terrorism, this high operational demand is
accelerating the aging of C-5 and tanker
aircraft and created unanticipated wear and
tear on our C-17 fleet. As a result,
strategic airlift
remains one of our top
priorities. The C-17 Multi-Year Procurement
plus the C-5 Re-engining and Reliability
Enhancement Programs are major steps to meet
the minimum wartime airlift capacity of 54.5
million ton miles/day. The follow-on
Multi-Year Procurement with Boeing for 60+
C-17s will bring the total C-17 fleet to 180
aircraft in 2007. As a corollary priority,
replacing the 40-year-old KC-135 air refueling
fleet is an essential joint warfighting
requirement.
With Congressional support, our strategic
sealift achieved the Mobility Requirements
Study-05 goals for surge and prepositioned
fleet sealift requirements. The maintenance
of our organic sealift fleet remains a high
priority to ensure we can deploy sufficient
force to support routine and contingency
operations. To support greater levels of
mobilization, DOD can also access additional
US commercial shipping through the Voluntary
Intermodal Sealift Agreement. This Agreement
is critical to ensure that adequate sealift
capacity (and associated mariners) is
available to support DOD requirements during
wartime. We are working closely with the
Department of Transportation to ensure these
requirements can be met.
Our Prepositioned Materiel reduced response time in key theaters. This critical readiness program enables our success in the War on Terrorism and other contingency operations.
For intratheater mobility, the
Department recognizes the Joint Venture,
High-Speed Vessel as a promising delivery
platform. This vessel employs off-the-shelf
technology and can operate in austere
locations where mature seaports do not exist.
Combatant Commanders praise this vessel for
rapidly and efficiently moving personnel and
equipment. Future operations will also rely
on strong enroute infrastructures that support
strategic mobility requirements. The dynamic
nature of the War on Terrorism and other
potential contingencies dictates that we be
prepared to establish new enroute bases to
support deployments to austere locations. In
addition, we must fully fund the existing
enroute infrastructure to sustain its
capability. Future success in operations
depends upon effective training today and
tomorrow.
Last May, I wrote
the Congress about my grave concern over the
adverse impacts and unforeseen consequences
that the application of various environmental
laws are having on military training and
testing activities and consequentially on the
readiness of our Armed Forces. Last year,
Congress provided temporary relief, but only
for one statute. While measuring the impact
of inflexible or overbroad environmental
requirements is difficult, my professional
assessment is that the impacts and
consequently the challenge we face in
providing the most effective training weapons
and sensors, has grown. Enough is known right
now to convince me that we need relief. We
are not abandoning our outstanding stewardship
over the lands entrusted to us or retreating
from environmental protection requirements.
We are trying to restore balance when
environmental requirements adversely affect
uniquely military activities necessary to
prepare for combat. I ask that you carefully
consider the proposed changes that the DOD
brings forward and provide the tailored relief
we seek.
The current pace of operations and future
potential operations continues to require the
Services and Combatant Commanders to carefully
manage assets and units that are in high
demand, but in small numbers. The demand for
critical capabilities (such as manned and
unmanned intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance assets, special operations
forces, intelligence analysts and linguists
and command and control assets) increased
significantly as a result of multiple
contingencies. We will continue to prioritize
the tasks given these critical units to
preserve our surge capability for future
operations.
Our number one asset remains the men and women
serving in the Armed Forces. They have the
educational depth, the innovative spirit and
mental agility that transforms technology into
an effective military force. Their service
and dedication deserve our full support to
seek ways to improve their quality of life.
The Administration, Congress and DOD made
raising their standard of living a top
priority. This year's legislation provided an
across-the-board military pay raise of 4.1
percent and targeted increases of up to 6.5
percent for junior personnel. This
year's out-of-pocket housing expense reduction
from 11.3 percent to 7.5 percent is a sound
investment, as are future targeted pay
increases based on the Employment Cost Index
plus one half percent. Our troops and their
families greatly appreciate continued
Congressional support for these initiatives,
plus efforts to improve family and
unaccompanied housing.
Such Congressional action directly
impacts recruitment, retention and family
welfare. I view these all as inseparable from
operational combat readiness.
No discussion of those who serve is complete without mentioning the exceptional service of our Guardsmen and Reservists. In the first 15 months of OEF, nearly 85,000 of them served on active duty. Like their active duty counterparts, their service balances their duty to the Nation and their commitment to their families. These citizen-warriors, however, must also
balance an obligation to their civilian employers. These past few months demonstrated our increased reliance on our Reserve Components to defend the Nation's coastlines, skies and heartland, as well as protect our interests worldwide. We also gained a deeper appreciation that today's Reserve personnel have the competence, dedication and leadership that make them indistinguishable from their active-duty counterparts
Improving Joint Warfighting Capabilities
The US Armed Forces' ability to conduct Joint Warfare is better today than anytime in our history, due in part to the tremendous support of Congress. Nonetheless, many challenges remain. Our Joint Team is comprised of the individual warfighting capabilities of the Services. To improve our Joint Warfighting capability, we must maximize the capabilities and effects of the separate units and weapons systems to accomplish the mission at hand - without regard to the color of the uniforms of those who employ them. This challenge demands that we integrate Service core competencies together in such a way that makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Our operational architectures must be inclusive and not exclusive in terms of capabilities and desired effects. We must integrate - not deconflict -- our operations.
To support these efforts, on 1 October 2002, we changed the mission and focus of JFCOM. Today, the men and women of JFCOM concentrate on improving our Joint Warfighting capability as we transform to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. In the future, they will be converting strategy and policy guidance into fielded capabilities at the operational level through the development of joint concepts and integrated architectures.
JFCOM is
contributing to the efforts that develop and
define the Joint Operations Concept, and the
related Operational Concepts, that will link
our Defense Strategy and our emerging Joint
Vision with Service operational concepts. It
will help senior military and civilian leaders
synchronize Service modernization, guide
experimentation and inform acquisition
strategies that will guide materiel and
non-materiel improvements for the Joint
Force. In support of this effort, JFCOM
conducts joint experimentation to validate the
operational utility of joint concepts. The
results will drive changes across all areas of
doctrine, organizations, training, materiel,
leadership and education, personnel and
facilities.
To improve Joint
Warfare, we must focus on improving the
accuracy and timeliness of the Commanders and
Combatants' information used to command and
control the Joint Force. With shared
information, Commanders can integrate discrete
capabilities; without it, they must segregate
operations into time and space. For these
reasons, we must emphasize the
Joint Operations
Concept to solve the interoperability
challenges of our legacy command and control,
communication and computer systems and ensure
future systems are "born joint."
JFCOM is working aggressively towards our goal
of seamless C4ISR interoperability by FY08.
To achieve that goal, JFCOM will set the
operational requirements and prioritize the
integrated architectures under development for
future battle management command and control
systems. In addition, JFCOM will exercise
oversight and directive authority of three
major interoperability efforts: the Deployable
Joint Command and Control system, Single
Integrated Air Picture, and Family of
Interoperable Operational Pictures. The
Services and Defense agencies, in coordination
with JFCOM, will retain acquisition authority
for these and all other battle management
command and control programs and initiatives.
We are convinced that the Deployable Joint
Command and Control system under development
by the Navy is the materiel and technological
solution to provide intelligence processing,
mission planning and control of combat
operations for the Standing Joint Force
Headquarters. The first Deployable Joint
Command and Control suite is scheduled for
delivery in FY05. Together with the Air
Force's Family of Interoperable Operational
Pictures, the Army's Single Integrated Air
Picture, and JFCOM's Joint Interoperability
and Integration programs, this effort will
allow the Joint Force to truly transform the
way it plans, coordinates and executes joint
operations. We need continued Congressional
support for these critical battle management
command and control programs.
Our experiences in Afghanistan illustrated how
important timely and responsive command and
control was to control sea, land and air
forces in areas with primitive or nonexistent
communications infrastructures. To meet this
challenge in the Arabian Gulf AOR, CENTCOM
deployed a prototype battle management command
and control system to support its INTERNAL
LOOK exercise in Qatar and for potential
future operations. DOD will leverage the
lessons learned from this prototype to help
guide the development of future battle
management command and control systems.
We must also develop command and control
systems that can rapidly deploy anywhere in
the world, to support joint and coalition
forces with "plug and play" ease and that are
also scalable to respond to changing
circumstances. Programs such as the Joint
Tactical Radio System, Mobile User Objective
System and the Joint Command and Control
capability (the follow-on to Global Command
and Control System) are systems that were
truly "born joint." We also must ensure that
we have the necessary Military Satellite
communications systems that can provide the
high bandwidth required to support our forces
in austere environments such as Afghanistan.
The role of command, control, communications,
computers, intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance underscores the importance of
managing and developing the radio frequency
spectrum. Highly mobile, widely dispersed
forces require significant radio frequency
spectrum to operate effectively and
efficiently. This military requirement is
increasing at the same time that the private
sector's demand for spectrum is growing.
While it is important to provide additional
spectrum to meet growing industry
requirements, we must ensure the availability
of spectrum to provide future military
requirements.
In today's dynamic strategic environment, events in one area may quickly affect events in another. This reality requires a more responsive planning process to capitalize on the improved C4 networks and where deliberate- and crisis-action planning complement each other. Improvements in war planning are required to close the time gap between deliberate- and crisis-action planning. These initiatives range from changing doctrine to developing new automated planning tools for Time-Phased Force Deployment Data (TPFDD) development. The Joint Staff, in collaboration with the Combatant Commanders' staff, is developing a single shared planning process for deliberate and crisis planning. This initiative will develop tools and processes to reduce the deliberate planning cycle, facilitate the transition to crisis planning and exploit new technology to respond to evolving world affairs. The end results will be greatly improved flexibility for the President and the Secretary of Defense.
Improving Joint Warfighting requires more than technical solutions. My Exercise Program supports the Combatant Commanders' ability to sharpen our Soldier, Sailor, Airmen, Marines and Coastguardsmen' s warfighting edge. It enables operational commanders to better train their battle staffs and forces in joint and combined operations while evaluating their war plans. It also allows DOD to enhance and evaluate interoperability among the Services. Exercises focusing on strategic, national and theater-level joint tasks consistently challenge leaders throughout DOD, interagency and allies with timely and relevant scenarios -- including terrorism, cyber attack, continuity of government and operations. Routinely, these exercises provide access to critical bases of operation around the world as venues for practicing impending joint/combined operations. These exercises also allow the opportunity to enhance the capabilities of the military forces of allied nations and ensure their continued support in the War on Terrorism. The US military is advancing and transforming at a rate that greatly outpaces our allies. We must work hard to help them close that gap.
Since FY96, the number of joint exercises decreased from 277 to 191. This resulted from the reduction of joint exercise transportation funds to $319 million. In order to balance operational and exercise requirements, DOD limits C-17 support to 34,000 equivalent flying hours and Roll-on/Roll-off ships to 1,100 steaming days. Any further decrease in funding will force major reductions or cancellations of high-priority joint/combined exercises and have a detrimental impact on our Joint Warfighting capability.
The Defense Department will
establish a Joint National Training Capability
to support joint operations by leveraging
live, virtual and constructive technologies.
As a first step, the Under Secretary of
Defense for Personnel and Readiness and I will
identify specific capabilities for the
establishment of the Joint National Training
Capability by 1 October 2004. The Joint
National Training Capability will then
exercise DOD's ability to execute key joint
training tasks through several scheduled
annual events.
We must improve our Joint Warfighting
capabilities by learning from previous
operations. The Combatant Commands, Services
and Joint Staff continue to capture and apply
lessons learned from Operation ENDURING
FREEDOM. One of the key lessons learned was
the positive impact Theater Security
Cooperation had on our operations in
Afghanistan. It helped create the foundation
that allowed our air, naval and ground forces
to gain access to the region's airspace and
basing. Another valuable lesson was the
tremendous force multiplier of merging special
operations forces on the ground with space
forces' communications and navigation
capabilities to the air and naval forces'
precision attack capabilities.
In addition to meeting other objectives, Joint
Professional Military Education is one means
to ensure that future warfighters capitalize
on the lessons of the past to improve Joint
Warfighting. Joint Professional Military
Education develops US military leaders capable
of executing the War on Terrorism, improving
Joint Warfighting and transforming the force.
Currently there is an ongoing Congressionally
mandated independent study of Joint Officer
Management and Joint Professional Military
Education. This study
will provide
valuable insights on ways to improve and
expand joint officer development. We
anticipate completion of this study in
early 2003.
In concert with the independent study, the
Joint Staff is also exploring ways to improve
Joint Officer Management and Joint
Professional Military Education.
We identified requirements to provide joint
distance-learning programs to our Reserve
Components and to active duty Non-Commissioned
Officers to improve their expertise in joint
operations. In a similar fashion, I directed
the National Defense University to
revise the CAPSTONE curriculum for newly
selected Flag and General Officers. My goal
is to ensure our new Flag and General Officers
gain a better foundation of joint, interagency
and multi-national operations at the
operational level.
I charged the Joint Staff with developing
recommendations for several areas of Joint
Officer Management and Joint Professional
Military Education that I believe need to be
revised. We need one set of effective and
enforceable rules for how the Services assign
and manage joint billets. We must also bring
the tour length requirements and recognition
of joint credit in line with current
operations. The Combatant Commanders and I
should be the driving force in the production
of Joint Specialty Officers. Finally, my goal
is to make the annual report to Congress a
more meaningful set of metrics that more
accurately reports each Service's support of
the joint community. We look forward to
working with you and your staffs this year, to
incorporate these changes along with those of
the independent study.
In addition, joint doctrine provides the foundation for joint education, training and exercises. We are developing Joint doctrine for Homeland Security, Civil Support, Joint Close Air Support, Joint Planning, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High Yield Explosives Consequence Management; and Intelligence Support to Targeting. The new Joint Doctrine Electronic Information System ensures the warfighters have the most current joint doctrine. This system also provides joint doctrine to education and training audiences. Joint doctrine continues to improve the readiness of the Joint Warfighter to operate effectively and efficiently in a complex operational environment.
TRANSFORMATION OF THE US ARMED FORCES
As the US military meets the
challenges of the 21st Century, we
must transform how we organize, support and
fight as joint warfighters. Transforming the
Joint Force requires embracing intellectual,
cultural, as well as technological, change.
We are in the process of revising our Joint
Vision. This new vision will provide a broad
description of what our Armed Forces must and
can become. From our Joint Vision and the
Defense Strategy, we are crafting a Joint
Operations Concept. It will link the tasks
given our Armed Forces to the Joint Vision,
joint operating concepts and Joint Warfighter
architectures. These joint concepts and
architectures will provide further guidance to
each Service.
In its broadest sense, the Joint Operations
Concept will describe how the Joint Force will
operate, while helping transform the US Armed
Forces to a capabilities-based force.
The Joint Operations Concept cannot shape the
future Joint Force alone. It requires
experimentation and assessment to determine
the value of the Service and Joint warfighting
concepts in the context of future joint
operations and the future environment. From
these efforts, we will identify the doctrine,
organization, training, materiel, leadership
and education, personnel and facilities
changes needed to create the future joint
force. In this manner, we can scrutinize
current capabilities and proposed systems to
highlight gaps and identify overlapping
capabilities.
Using these architectures, the Joint
Requirements Oversight Council will implement
methodologies to assess both legacy and
proposed systems in the aggregate. As a
result, the Joint Requirements Oversight
Council will define and validate desired joint
capabilities and derive mission area
requirements. The Joint Requirements
Oversight Council shall consider the full
range of doctrine,
organizations, training, materiel, leadership
and education, personnel, and facilities
solutions to advance joint warfighting. In
this manner, the Joint Requirements Oversight
Council will further reorient our force
planning to a capabilities-based framework.
The Joint Operations Concept will allow the
Joint Requirements Oversight Council to adopt
a synchronized, collaborative and integrated
systems engineering approach to sizing and
shaping our Forces.
In
support of our transformation efforts, JFCOM
spearheaded the Nation's first major joint
field experiment with Millennium Challenge 02.
Millennium Challenge 02 demonstrated a variety
of new concepts and systems that enabled
critical command and control, collaborative
information sharing and time-sensitive
targeting capabilities. These systems are
essential to the fielding of the Standing
Joint Force Headquarters. While Millennium
Challenge 02 focused on materiel capabilities,
it yielded insights critical for non-materiel
changes in
doctrine, organizations, training, materiel,
leadership and education, personnel and
facilities.
One example was the Joint Fires Initiative,
which offered an interim automated capability
to manage time-sensitive target engagement.
The Joint Fires Initiative enabled the Joint
Task Force, Component Commanders and their
staffs to use available information
technology, web-based collaborative tools to
accelerate the Joint Force's ability to
identify, attack and assess priority targets.
It blended intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance resources, combat units and
Commanders' decision processes to permit
real-time execution.
A second initiative in Millennium Challenge 02
was Joint Enroute Mission Planning and
Rehearsal System-Near Term. This system
enables Theater and Joint Task Force
Commanders to remain connected with their
forward and rear headquarters when enroute to
or from contingency locations. It permits a
wide scale of communications and collaborative
tools to prevent a "leadership blackout"
during a Commander's travel.
The Joint Fires Initiative and Joint Enroute
Mission Planning and Rehearsal System-Near
Term are part of fielding a broader
Collaborative Information Environment.
Today's Collaborative Information Environment
is powered by high-speed connectivity and
real-time collaborative tools to share
information in an unprecedented manner. This
environment will permit Commanders to receive
more accurate information faster. As such, it
will be critical part for US Forces to operate
faster than our adversaries.
To meet this challenge, the Joint Force must
have access to superior information. This
requires long-term investment to meet the
demands of responsive, targeted, intrusive and
persistent collection. Our current
operational environment and the nature of
these dynamic threats demand that our Joint
Force have the real-time ability to monitor,
track, characterize and report on moving
objects and events. We must capitalize on
emerging technology such as small, expendable
satellites and long-dwell UAVs. These
promising platforms will enable the Joint
Force to gain persistent surveillance. The
information gained from these platforms must
not flow into stovepipes, but must be part of
a "system of systems" that blends with human
and technical data from strategic, theater,
tactical and commercial programs.
With this improved and more complete data, the
Intelligence Community must develop tools to
assist in information management that can
accommodate "analytic discovery" and data
visualization techniques. Our military
intelligence community requires a highly
skilled work force trained to mine,
manipulate, integrate, and display relevant
information. To effectively employ these
collection opportunities, new techniques and
tools must be developed.
While we are expending considerable effort to
make sure we procure systems that are
interoperable across the services, we must
continue placing emphasis on systems that
allow interoperability with our Allies. A way
to do this is to allow Allies to participate
in many of our procurement projects. This
will have the dual advantage of helping to
lower project cost to the American taxpayer
and increasing interoperability with those
allied forces that will accompany us into the
breach. The Joint Strike Fighter reflects one
success story of allied and US combined
procurement. The Joint Strike Fighter set the
standard for how we should approach new
procurements, welcoming key Allied
participation in the development and
production of future systems. Such an
acquisition strategy will increase
interoperability, help Allied transformation
and reduce direct US development costs.
Transforming military forces to meet a dynamic
21st Century security environment
is not a unique American task. At the Prague
summit, NATO leaders agreed to establish an
Allied Command for transformation in Norfolk,
Virginia. The proposed NATO Command will work
with JFCOM. This close and cooperative
relationship will allow the US and our NATO
allies to keep abreast of advances in
contemporary warfare.
Our efforts to improve our allies' warfighting
capabilities reach far beyond NATO. The
Combatant Commanders and I share the Secretary
of Defense's vision of a long-term plan to
balance burden sharing, leverage US
technological superiority and use a proactive
Theater Security Cooperation strategy to
transform allied forces into lethal,
offensive-minded, combined-arms forces. This
initiative is as much about doctrine,
warfighting mindset and organizational
structure as it is about platforms and weapon
systems. Theater Security Cooperation will
allow the US to modify force structure and
posture to optimize the mobility, lethality
and interoperability of our forward forces.
Conclusion
With Congress' support, this past year we have made progress in the War on Terrorism, specifically, and overall capabilities. Al Qaida and their global network were not created in a single day, but over a decade. At the same time, the Nation's Armed Forces must be prepared for other threats to our interests. Confronting them will require determined and disciplined use of all instruments of American power. Congressional support ensures that our military forces are the most competent and capable military tools possible.
The men and women of our Armed Forces have performed in a magnificent manner this past year. They stand ready for the challenges ahead. They deserve our best efforts in training, equipping and caring for them and their families. Thank you for the opportunity to provide my report on our Nation's finest - our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coastguardsmen.
2120 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
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