National Defense Briefs Dec 19

By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
December 19, 2013

Part-seven of the series, NATIONAL DEFENSE BRIEFS. Each week we are bringing to readers of LowcountryBizSC.com updates aimed at informing with timely military and homeland-security news briefs, trends, definitions, and short commentaries. Defense issues are inextricably connected to business. In that, we present the “National Defense Briefs” that matter.

• The New York Daily News reports, “The White House will release a task force report Wednesday of recommended changes to the National Security Agency’s data collection programs a month ahead of schedule. The review conducted by an outside panel has originally been slated for release next month, but White House spokesman Jay Carney said reports on the findings were ‘inaccurate,’ leading to the expedited schedule.”
• The Washington Times reports, “The highly anticipated document” – “an internal report on government surveillance efforts” – “will include recommendations for how the federal government can best balance its intelligence-gathering efforts with Americans’ right to privacy.”
• In the wake of “revelations about the vast U.S. electronic surveillance operations,” the White House plans to “keep one person in charge” of both the National Security Agency (NSA) and the U.S. Defense Dept.’s Cyber Command. According to Reuters, “Both the NSA and Cyber Command, which conducts cyber warfare, are now headed by the same man, Army General Keith Alexander, who is retiring in March. Given that the head of Cyber Command must be a military officer, the White House decision means that Alexander’s successor will be from the military as well.”
• Approximately 47,000 U.S. troops are presently serving in Afghanistan.
• In response to China’s recent disputed territorial claims and military expansion, Japan – the world’s sixth-biggest military spender for the past two decades – plans to spend $232.4 billion to fund its own expansion. That’s an increase of over five percent over the next five years to purchase unmanned aerial vehicles, and more combat aircraft and ships.
• Last week, China scrambled fighters to identify U.S. and Japanese aircraft penetrating disputed airspace over islands in the East China Sea (see previous National Defense Briefs).
• The Naval Weapons Station Yorktown is the site for a new $48.8 million Marine Corps Security Force Regiment complex, which will include a headquarters building, barracks, transportation facility, warehouse and armory. Naval Weapons Station Yorktown is currently home to Marine Corps Security Force Regiment headquarters staff and 2nd Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team Bravo Company. Two Marine companies stationed at Naval Station Norfolk will move into the new complex by 2018. According to Navy Times, “Marine Corps Security Force Regiment provides forward deployed, expeditionary anti-terrorism and security forces to protect national assets worldwide.” Groundbreaking on the new Yorktown complex begins this week.
• The U.S. Army War College is considering removing portraits of Confederate Army Generals Robert E. Lee, Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, and others from its halls after “at least one official questioned why the school honors those who fought against America,” according to FOX News. Semantics to be sure, but the Confederate Army was the ground-force component of the Confederate States of “America” during the war. So the more accurate statement might be “why the school honors those who fought against” the U.S. Army. Several military bases nationwide are named for Confederate generals, including Forts Benning, Bragg, Hood, and A.P. Hill.

– W. Thomas Smith Jr. is a military analyst and partner with
NATIONAL DEFENSE CONSULTANTS, LLC. Visit him at http://uswriter.com.