Published: 10/12/2012

The nation’s second-highest ranking military officer honored two wounded warriors during a Purple Heart ceremony at the Warrior and Family Support Center here today.

Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also visited with patients at the Center for the Intrepid and San Antonio Military Medical Center.

Army Maj. Gen. M. Ted Wong, commander of Brooke Army Medical Center and Southern Regional Medical Command, opened the Purple Heart ceremony followed by Winnefeld, who presented the Purple Heart medals and certificates.

“It is great to be back in Texas,” the vice chairman said during the ceremony. “There is no place other than Texas that truly supports our airmen, soldiers, sailors, and Marines like the way they do here.

Winnefeld welcomed the Purple Heart recipients, Army Sgt. Paul T. Roberts and Army Spc. Jason Smith, with words of praise for their courage, dedication and sacrifices they made to defend the nation.

Roberts was assigned to Company D, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, serving as a water treatment specialist in Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device detonated, resulting in his combat injuries on Nov. 24, 2011. Smith, an infantryman, was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team when he stepped on a pressure plate IED on July 25, 2012, in Afghanistan, resulting in his combat injuries.

The vice chairman also recognized and acknowledged the wounded warriors whose injuries are not as visible.

“We are going to take care of them [wounded warriors] for many decades to come,” he said.

After the ceremony, Winnefeld visited with about 15 wounded warriors at the Center for the Intrepid, a state-of-the art outpatient rehabilitation facility. The admiral said he was impressed with the wounded warriors who were participating in sports with their leg brace called the IDEO–Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis.

“This is what I came to see,” he said.

Winnefeld visited with and provided patients at the medical center with words of encouragement, praise and gratitude.
 

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Published: 10/11/2012

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta spelled out in detail the Defense Department’s responsibility in cybersecurity during a speech to the Business Executives for National Security meeting in New York, today.

Panetta has stressed the importance of cybersecurity since taking office last year. In addition, the secretary has warned about a “cyber Pearl Harbor” many times, including during testimony before Congress.

The speech before BENS aboard the USS Intrepid Museum is the secretary’s clearest discussion to date of DOD’s responsibility in the cyber domain.

“A cyber attack perpetrated by nation states or violent extremist groups could be as destructive as the terrorist attack of 9/11,” he said in prepared remarks. “Such a destructive cyber terrorist attack could paralyze the nation.”

The secretary pointed to denial of service attacks that many large U.S. corporations have suffered in recent weeks, but also cited a more serious attack in Saudi Arabia. In that attack a sophisticated virus called “Shamoon” infected computers at the Saudi Arabian state oil company, ARAMCO.

“Shamoon included a routine called a ‘wiper,’ coded to self-execute,” he said. “This routine replaced crucial system files with an image of a burning U.S. flag. It also put additional ‘garbage’ data that overwrote all the real data on the machine. The more than 30,000 computers it infected were rendered useless, and had to be replaced.”

There was a similar attack later in Qatar. “All told, the Shamoon virus was probably the most destructive attack that the private sector has seen to date,” Panetta said.

Enemies target computer control systems that operate chemical, electricity and water plants, and guide transportation networks.

“We also know they are seeking to create advanced tools to attack these systems and cause panic, destruction and even the loss of life,” he said.

“An aggressor nation or extremist group could gain control of critical switches and derail passenger trains, or trains loaded with lethal chemicals,” he said. “They could contaminate the water supply in major cities, or shut down the power grid across large parts of the country.”

Cyber attacks could be part of a major attack against the United States, and this could mean the cyber Pearl Harbor the secretary fears. This is “an attack that would cause physical destruction and loss of life, paralyze and shock the nation and create a profound new sense of vulnerability,” he said.

DOD has a supporting role in cyber defense, he said. The Department of Homeland Security is the lead federal agency, with the FBI having lead on law enforcement. Still the overall DOD mission is to defend the United States.

“We defend. We deter. And if called upon, we take decisive action,” the secretary said. “In the past, we have done so through operations on land and at sea, in the skies and in space. In this new century, the United States military must help defend the nation in cyberspace as well.”

DOD has responsibility for defending its own networks, and can also help deter attacks. “Our cyber adversaries will be far less likely to hit us if they know we will be able to link them to the attack, or that their effort will fail against our strong defenses,” he said. “The Department has made significant advances in solving a problem that makes deterring cyber adversaries more complex: the difficulty of identifying the origins of an attack.”

DOD has improved its capability of tracking attacks to point of origin. “Potential aggressors should be aware that the United States has the capacity to locate them and hold them accountable for actions that harm America or its interests,” he said.

But improved defenses will not stop all cyber attacks. “If we detect an imminent threat of attack that will cause significant physical destruction or kill American citizens, we need to have the option to take action to defend the nation when directed by the President,” Panetta said. “For these kinds of scenarios, the Department has developed the capability to conduct effective operations to counter threats to our national interests in cyberspace.

“Let me be clear that we will only do so to defend our nation, our interests, or our allies,” he continued. “And we will only do so in a manner consistent with the policy principles and legal frameworks that the Department follows for other domains, including the law of armed conflict.”

DOD is finalizing a comprehensive change to rules of engagement in cyberspace. “The new rules will make clear that the Department has a responsibility not only to defend DOD’s networks, but also to be prepared to defend the nation and our national interests against an attack in or through cyberspace,” he said. “These new rules will make the Department more agile and provide us with the ability to confront major threats quickly.”

The private sector, government, military and international partners operate in cyberspace. “We all share the responsibility to protect it,” he said. “Therefore, we are deepening cooperation with our closest allies with a goal of sharing threat information, maximizing shared capabilities, and deterring malicious activities.”

All U.S. leaders have discussed cyber security with foreign leaders. Panetta raised the issue with Chinese leaders during his recent trip to Beijing. “I underscored the need to increase communication and transparency so that we can avoid misunderstanding or miscalculation in cyberspace,” he said. “That is in the interest of the United States, and it is in the interest of China.”

But businesses have the greatest interest in cybersecurity. Businesses depend on a safe, secure, and resilient global digital infrastructure, and businesses own and run many of the critical networks the nation depends on. “To defend those networks more effectively, we must share information between the government and the private sector about threats in cyberspace,” the secretary said.

While there has been progress in sharing public-private cyber information, “we need Congress to act to ensure this sharing is timely and comprehensive,” he said. “Companies should be able to share specific threat information with the government without the prospect of lawsuits hanging over their head. And a key principle must be to protect the fundamental liberties and privacy in cyberspace that we are all duty-bound to uphold.”

Baseline standards must be set for cyber security and that means Congress must act, Panetta said. He said the bipartisan Cybersecurity Act of 2012 “has fallen victim to legislative and political gridlock. That is unacceptable to me, and it should be unacceptable to anyone concerned with safeguarding our national security.”

One option under consideration, Panetta said, is an executive order to enhance cybersecurity measures. “There is no substitute for comprehensive legislation, but we need to move as far as we can in the meantime,” he said. “We have no choice because the threat we face is already here. Congress has a responsibility to act. The President has a Constitutional responsibility to defend the country.”

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Published: 10/12/2012

A new, five-year strategic plan unveiled today at U.S. Transportation Command will posture it to ensure the military maintains its global mobility edge entering a post-war future, Air Force Brig. Gen. John E. Michel, Transcom’s chief change and learning strategist, told American Forces Press Service.

Air Force Gen. William M. Fraser III, Transcom’s commander, shared the most-sweeping strategic planning effort in the command’s 25-year history today with his staff at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., and, via teleconference, with all of Transcom’s components and partners around the globe.

Calling the plan “a vision for smart change,” Fraser said its bottom line is to enhance a capability unique to the United States: “the extraordinary ability to rapidly project national power and influence -- anywhere, at any time.”

Fraser praised his organization for its hard work and dedication that has sustained the force over the past decade of conflict. But looking ahead, he emphasized that Transcom will remain the crucial, although largely unsung, driving force behind everything the military does.

“Transcom is the secret sauce of every other combatant command,” said Michel, who led the strategy development effort. “We make others go. We are kind of invisible, but you can’t get to the fight, you can’t be sustained in the fight, and you can’t return to the fight unless we are there to make it happen.”

As the United States draws down forces in Afghanistan and “pivots” toward the Asia-Pacific, that applies whether “the fight” involves humanitarian assistance and natural disaster responses, civic-action engagements or kinetic operations, he said.

Posturing for that future, particularly in light of fiscal uncertainties, took some serious soul-searching at Transcom, Michel explained. He and his team spent nine months developing the new strategy -- the command’s first to span more than a single year. They reviewed every process and procedure, he said, leaving no stone unturned as they challenged basic assumptions about how the command operates and allocates its resources.

It also required an analysis of what the future will look like and what demands are likely to be put on Transcom.

“The expectation of Transcom comes down to, we have to be able to project national power and influence. We provide the mobility … that makes that happen, ” Michel said. “So an effort like this asks, ‘What are the conditions of the future and how can we go farther, faster and more efficiently than we have ever done before?’”

Toward that end, the new strategy identifies four basic priorities.
-- Preserve readiness capability through both organic and commercial assets. Michel called ensuring unparalleled global mobility Transcom’s “no-fail business,” regardless of the nature of the mission it supports. “It is what we do in response to anything that happens in the world where America wants to have a presence,” he said.

-- Guaranteeing access to information technology to promote good decision-making. “In the future, the question becomes: ‘How do we get people the information we can, in a timely fashion so they can make smart choices?’” Michel said. “I don’t care if they are in Afghanistan, in Washington or down the hall. We are in a world awash in data. So how can we help turn that data into something meaningful?”

-- Improve Transcom’s business model, better aligning resources and processes to support the mission. The new strategy introduces “a whole new corporate governance process,” Michel said, with a commitment to create efficiencies and reduce operating costs. “We need to come up with up with a reinvigorated process … to improve the internal work we do, to make sure we continue to be world-class in delivering what others expect of us,” he said.

-- Develop “enterprise-focused professionals” within a work culture focused on customer requirements. The biggest strength within Transcom isn’t its aircraft, ships and moving parts, Michel emphasized. It’s the people behind them. “So we are in the process of creating a culture that focuses on serving others,” he said. “It all begins and ends with people.”

“Transformation of this magnitude will not be easy,” Fraser recognized in releasing the new strategy, “especially given the rapidly changing operating environment and the challenging fiscal landscape

“But we clearly recognize change is necessary,” Fraser continued. “We will build on past successes and position ourselves to reliably deploy, sustain and redeploy your nation’s forces more effectively and efficiently -- all while keeping a keen eye on improving collaboration and creating a climate of trust, innovation and empowerment throughout our workforce.”

Working toward priorities identified in the new strategy, Transcom will shape itself to better provide that support, regardless of what command or organization requires its serves, Michel said.

“I don’t care if I am doing that in Africa or I am doing that in Guam,” he said. “People want to be able to reach Transcom. They want to really quickly be able to say what they need and have Transcom move into action.”

Ensuring that process goes as smoothly, efficiently and cost-effectively as possible is the heart of the new strategic plan, he said. It provides a blueprint that leverages the command’s strengths and identifies areas for improvement to better-translate customer requirements into “the most appropriate, cost-effective modality to achieve the effect they want,” he said.

“We have to be much more deliberate and thoughtful about how we position ourselves for the future. That’s why it was important for Transcom to undertake what we are proud to say is the most comprehensive strategic planning and change effort ever,” Michel summarized.

“With this plan, we have a clear understanding of where we are today,” he said, “and we are pretty compelled about where we need to go tomorrow.”
 

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Published: 10/12/2012

In what U.S. Pacific Command’s logistics chief calls a groundbreaking development, officials from the United States and China plan to meet to discuss sharing logistical resources, including fuel, as they operate together during counter-piracy and humanitarian assistance and disaster response missions.

The United States has officially extended the invitation for a team of senior Chinese logisticians to visit Washington in early 2013 to discuss the possibility of a first-ever logistics cooperation agreement between the two countries, Air Force Brig. Gen. Mark M. McLeod told American Forces Press Service.

If adopted, the arrangement would enable the United States and China to share fuel, food, supplies, and even vessel parts to support their joint operations, he said.

Pacom officials pitched the idea last month during the 41st Pacific Area Senior Officer Logistics Seminar in Perth, Australia.

The forum of senior logistics and national security officers from Pacific, Asian and Indian Ocean area nations meets annually to exchange information, pursue bilateral and multilateral initiatives and encourage closer regional cooperation. This year, PASOLS participants focused on ways to promote multinational and multiagency logistics collaboration.

Navy Rear Adm. Yang Jianyong of the People’s Liberation Army, who led the Chinese delegation at this year’s seminar, called the U.S. proposal “a good area for future discussion [and] cooperation,” McLeod reported.

Such an arrangement was floated in the past, but didn’t get traction because of strained U.S.-Chinese relations.

But the timing could now be right, McLeod said, as both countries begin looking for ways to strengthen their military-to-military relationship. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Pacom commander Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III recently visited China to promote closer cooperation and collaboration.

Logistics cooperation with China provides a perfect forum for that relationship-building, McLeod said, particularly as China assumes a growing global role. For example, in addition to counter-piracy operations, China periodically deploys its naval hospital ship, the Peace Ark, to provide medical services in other nations.

“As they go from an internal defense-focused military and begin to push off their shores and take on more regional security roles, they are finding that their logistics chains are kind of strained,” McLeod said.

PASOLS, and a potential logistics agreement with the United States, offer China an opportunity to learn from the experience of the regional partners it now operates with, he said.

“Based on them reaching out and starting to perform some of these more joint missions that other nations are doing,” he said, “we thought this was an opportunity for us to enter into an agreement with them to share resources.”

McLeod called the potential agreement a great foundation for other military-to-military cooperation that supports both the United States’ and China’s national security strategies.

“Obviously, both militaries are interested in regional security. Both militaries are interested in freedom of passage through areas. There are a lot of things going where we share common interests,” he said.

“But this is the first time, at least from a logistics standpoint, that we have reached out and they have been very receptive to those ideas,” McLeod said. “That is pretty groundbreaking for us.”

McLeod called these developments important building blocks toward closer logistics collaboration that enables regional nations to partner together and respond more effectively to natural disasters and other contingencies.

Responses to regional natural disasters and other contingencies will be far better, he said, if the nations understand how each other’s operations, share basic principles and learn from each other’s experiences. “There are things that each of us can bring to the fight that ultimately helps all of us provide support,” he said.

McLeod said he will share the lessons from PASOLS with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other regional organizations. “What we are trying to do is operationalize what we do in the theater by branching out to some of these other large organizations,” he said.

Ultimately, he hopes to promote sharing arrangements that enable more countries to participate in regional operations. “Many nations have difficulty when they reach beyond their logistics chains and have to go about gathering supplies and equipment,” he said.

Setting up an infrastructure so nations can share resources, water, even cybersecurity expertise could help eliminate that roadblock, he said.

But McLeod said he sees particular promise in operationalizing fuel across the theater. “That is an interest area that many, many nations have, from our high-end partners all the way down to our developing partners that are expanding their capabilities as they go forward,” he said.

“That helps you not only during operations, when transiting vessels or operating equipment in that [particular] nation, but it [also] can be important when there is a supply interruption because of a typhoon or some other natural disaster,” McLeod said. “In essence, you diversify your fuel capabilities so, no matter where you go, you have that capacity.”
 

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Published: 10/12/2012

Over the past six or seven years, cyberspace has undergone a tremendous transformation, the commander of U.S. Cyber Command said Oct. 11 at the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation’s GEOINT 2012 conference in Orlando, Fla.

Network convergence -- the consolidation of analog networks into a digital network -- is driving cultural change and commercial innovation, Army Gen. Keith B. Alexander, also the director of the National Security Agency, said.

Everyone is connected to the network, Alexander said, even his two-year-old grandson, who on his own has figured out how to turn on an iPad and use Skype to call his grandmother.

“Now think about that,” the general said. “Think about the tremendous change and the opportunities.”

Commerce and communications are increasingly reliant on the digital network, he said, noting global mobile traffic has already reached 20 petabytes of data sent this year. A petabyte is equal to one quadrillion [1 followed by 15 zeroes] bytes.

“The opportunities are endless,” Alexander said. “This is something we should welcome with open arms.”

But with these opportunities come some “huge” vulnerabilities, he said.

According to a study by Symantec Corp., maker of Norton anti-virus products, 72 percent of Americans have been hacked, Alexander said.

“My assessment is it’s actually higher,” he added. “That’s what we know about. What we see is most companies don’t know that they’re hacked.”

Companies that have been hacked in the past two years include Master Card, Visa, Symantec, Google, Citi and Sony, Alexander said. The intellectual property being stolen amounts to the greatest transfer of wealth in history, he added.

The costs of cybercrime are huge, Alexander said, averaging about $290 per victim and resulting in billions of dollars in losses a year.

Malware, or malicious software, is on the rise, he said, noting a study by the McAfee Co. that reported 1.5 million new pieces of malware since the first quarter of 2012.

Botnets send approximately 89 billion spam emails every day, Alexander continued. Botnets are collections of computers whose firewalls have been breached by malware and are being controlled by a third party for malicious purposes.

“Roughly 25 percent of what we see on the network is spam,” he said.

Mobile malware also is on the increase, Alexander said. In one four-month period, the number of exploits for Google Android phones increased 500 percent, Alexander said.

Government and industry need to join together to combat the ongoing theft of personal data, intellectual property and other resources, he said.

“Ninety percent of cyberspace is owned and operated by industry,” Alexander said. “But the government depends on that space to operate.”

Hackers are shifting from theft to destruction, he said, and this represents a serious threat for which the U.S. needs to prepare.

The first step in preparing the country is better training for the people who defend the network, Alexander said. The second is defensible architecture.

“That starts out with a thin-virtual [-client] cloud environment,” the general said. The NSA, he added, has built a cloud system called Accumulo using a hybrid of both open-source and encrypted software.

“[When] you have a patch, you push it out to the cloud and ... at network speed you can essentially patch the network,” Alexander said. “You have erased that vulnerability from your system. That’s huge.”

The speed with which patches are applied is crucial to ensuring network security, he said, because hackers use news about vulnerabilities to exploit unpatched computers and networks.

“We need to close that window,” Alexander said.

To do that there needs to be a way of sharing information between the government and industry, he said.

“That’s a problem,” Alexander said. “How do you do that? The answer is, ‘Well, we can’t do that easily.’ So, we need legislation.”

There are ongoing efforts to obtain such legislation, he said, adding, “noting that he expects Congress to address cybersecurity legislation again next year.

An attempt to develop national cybersecurity legislation failed in Congress earlier this year, he said. The failure was due, in part, Alexander said, to Congressional concerns revolving around the roles of the Department of Homeland Security and the NSA.

The government doesn’t want to hamper industry, Alexander said, noting it just makes sense for government and industry to work together because “everybody’s being hacked.” The issue comes down to the role of business and the role of government, he said.

“We need to solve this before there’s a big problem,” the general said, “because after there’s a big problem, we’re going to race to the wrong solution.”
 

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Published: 10/12/2012

For Djibouti, location is everything.

The small African nation hosts the one forward operating base the United States maintains on the African continent, and that is due to its unique location, said Amanda J. Dory, deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs.

Djibouti hosts about 3,000 U.S. service members at Camp Lemonier -- a former French base adjacent to the capital of Djibouti City. The U.S. service members work to build military capabilities with Djibouti and neighboring nations. The base also is a training and logistics hub.

Yet, it is not a model for how the United States will interact on the African continent, Dory said. “The DOD strategy in Africa has moved toward flexible operating concepts,” she said in a recent interview. “[We will] focus on maintaining a small footprint on the continent that is flexible and low cost.”

The U.S. military footprint will be different in each African nation, the deputy assistant secretary said.

“Each country will work with us to see what capabilities they need, how much they can commit to developing, and how fast they want to work,” she said. “They will also work with us to determine the process of working with us.”

U.S. troops, she said, will visit these nations for short periods of time for specific tasks or training cycles.

“We do not want permanent bases,” Dory said.

The U.S. military effort on the continent is being accepted by many African leaders, she said. When U.S. Africa Command first stood up, there was concern among some leaders that it signified a “militarization” of U.S. foreign policy and a sort of creeping colonialism. Those fears have subsided, she said.

“Most [African] nations welcome our contributions,” Dory said.

Djibouti is unique because it lies on the seam between U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Central Command, officials said, and it is situated at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. Vessels transiting through the Suez Canal to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean sail close to Djibouti, which boasts a natural harbor and roads that link the interior with the coast.

The country has interest from four U.S. combatant commands -- U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Central Command and U.S. Transportation Command, officials said. In addition, other nations work with the Djiboutian government to ensure security in the area.

Djibouti and Camp Lemonier represent a strategic gold mine, Dory said. But Camp Lemonier, she added, will remain an expeditionary base.

“It will remain an austere base. “We will make improvements for force protection, but you will not see a golf course at Camp Lemonier, ever,” she said.
 

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Published: 10/11/2012

The Defense Department is driving innovation across all defense intelligence functions, the Pentagon’s intelligence chief said yesterday.

Michael G. Vickers, undersecretary of defense for intelligence, discussed defense intelligence priorities and partnerships during remarks at the annual Geospatial Intelligence Symposium in Orlando, Fla.

When he took the job in early 2011, Vickers said, he set four priorities:

-- Operationally dismantle and strategically defeat al-Qaida and its affiliates;

-- Set conditions for a successful security transition in Afghanistan;

-- Prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, principally, but not exclusively, in Iran and North Korea; and

-- Defend the nation against cyber threats.

Vickers said he would now add a fifth: “Enabling the Syrian people to determine their own destiny, and shaping the political transitions that are under way across the Arab world in ways supportive of U.S. interests.”

The “big five” strategic priorities spur a need for innovation in four areas, Vickers said:

-- Counterterrorism and counterproliferation;

-- Projecting power in anti-access and area-denial environments;

-- Expanding global coverage and global reach; and

-- Rapidly building cyber capabilities to outpace existing and emerging threats.

Defense intelligence capabilities are building in all of those areas, Vickers said, adding that the highly classified nature of initiatives permits discussing them only in general terms.

In countering terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, he said, the U.S. fleet of Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles – what he called “the signature weapon” -- is enabling the most precise campaign in the history of warfare.

Over the next five years, the department will substantially improve the resolution of its geospatial intelligence sensors, and add new signals intelligence packages, Vickers said. The department also will improve its precision-strike and foliage-penetrating capabilities, he added.

In addition, Vickers said, defense intelligence officials will develop and field robust and resilient intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities that can address anti-access and area-denial challenges.

Department doctrine lists key anti-access capabilities U.S. forces may face as ballistic and cruise missiles, long-range reconnaissance and surveillance systems, anti-satellite weapons, submarines, cyber and terrorist attacks, and special operations forces.

“This is a critically important area for us – it is the operational dimension of our strategic shift to Asia,” Vickers told the Florida audience.

The department has two major initiatives aimed at increasing global coverage, he said. First is an overhead architecture “that will provide us with a truly integrated system of systems for the first time, along with much greater persistence.”

Second, he added, is the Defense Clandestine Service, which defense officials said provides increased integration between the Defense Intelligence Agency and the broader intelligence community. Vickers said the service “enable[s] us to be more effective in the collection of national-level clandestine human intelligence across a range of targets of paramount interest to the Department of Defense.”

In the cyber realm, defense intelligence is building a force “to defend our nation when called upon, and to exploit the full potential of this important new warfare domain,” Vickers said.

In all areas of effort from counterterrorism to cyber, Vickers said, he emphasizes four key approaches: intelligence integration from the national to the tactical levels, partnership between DOD and the CIA, intelligence sharing with foreign partners, and fostering a closer partnership with Congress on intelligence matters.

Geospatial intelligence entered a new era with the Predator and Raptor unmanned aircraft, Vickers noted, with the transition from still imagery to full-motion video. That technological leap, integrated with other forms of intelligence, “has effected a revolution in counterterrorism operations,” he said.

Geospatial intelligence capabilities “will remain central to most, if not all, of our core national security challenges,” Vickers said.

“It provides responsive warning, situational awareness and insight to our policy makers and operators, and provides a unique source of analysis of enduring and emerging challenges,” he said.

The next big leap in geospatial intelligence capabilities, Vickers said, will include platforms and architectures with greater persistence, resilience and intelligence integration systems; more affordable optics; and more sensitive sensors.

Defense intelligence professionals face a challenge, he acknowledged, as “threats expand in scope and complexity while budgets remain flat or decline.” The principal task is ensuring that evolving capabilities align with top national security challenges, Vickers said.

“I believe that we are focused on the most important challenges confronting defense intelligence, and that we are aggressively pursuing innovative solutions to these challenges,” he said.
 

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Published: 10/11/2012

The director of the Defense Intelligence Agency shared his vision of accelerating change and building capacity within the agency during a symposium yesterday in Orlando, Fla.

Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn spoke to the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation about reshaping defense analysis and professional development of the workforce, but began with his plan to use the Defense Clandestine Service to integrate the intelligence community.

"I’m going to use this to integrate the entire agency,” Flynn said. “This is not a marginal adjustment for DIA. This is a major adjustment for national security.”

The idea is increasing partnerships, he said, as well as increasing capacity and capabilities while putting the agency’s presence where it’s needed.

It’s also about offsetting risk, preventing strategic surprise and retaining U.S. competitive advantage, Flynn said, “and I think that’s really important.”

Flynn discussed reshaping defense analysis for the agency and lauded the operational community for its understanding of intelligence.

“The operational community understands intelligence, [in] many, many cases, particularly in the surveillance and reconnaissance realm, much more than they did five years ago,” Flynn said, “[and] definitely [more] than they did 10 years ago.”

The general also touched on professional development, in particular, focusing on the civilian side of the workforce, which until recently, hasn’t had the same opportunities as their military counterparts.

“I went and studied post-World World II, post-Korea, post-Vietnam and post the collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War,” Flynn said. “In all four examples, the Department of Defense killed training and professional development.”

Flynn noted DIA has a “fairly healthy budget,” and he said he has made professional development one of his priorities.

“It’s an area that I’m very comfortable with, and it’s something that we will invest in -- particularly, leader training,” he said.

Flynn also emphasized the importance of building capacity within DIA, and the intelligence community at large.

“When we’re getting ready and adjusting for whatever the next conflict is going to be, we have to use our training and education system to drive change, build trust and instill this culture,” he said.

“Everything is under attack, [and] everything is challenged,” Flynn added. “One of the things that we have a responsibility to do is understand some of [the] issues and then prioritize accordingly, based on the direction that we are given from our leadership.”

The general underscored the value of DIA in the U.S. national defense strategy.

“It is [an] indispensable element of the military dimension of our national defense posture,” Flynn said. “[This is] what the Defense Intelligence Agency gives this nation.”
 

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