At the Pentagon, the standard drill: Turn Trump’s tweets into cogent policy

“I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea,” tweeted Trump, who in the past criticized President Barack Obama for being weak in the face of Iranian provocations.

“With Iran, when they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats and they make gestures at our people that they shouldn’t be allowed to make, they will be shot out of the water. Okay, believe me,” Trump promised at a Florida campaign rally in 2016.

DOES THIS MEAN WAR? Trump tweeted his “shoot and destroy” order just hours before a previously scheduled briefing on the Pentagon’s coronavirus response by Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist and Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Gen. John Hyten, the Pentagon’s No. 2 civilian and military leaders, respectively.

Both assured reporters in a roundabout way that nothing would change, that commanders of U.S. ships in the Gulf would still have the discretion to decide when it is appropriate to use lethal force in response to Iranian harassment.

“The president issued an important warning to the Iranians,” said Norquist. “What he was emphasizing is all of our ships retain the right of self-defense, and people need to be very careful in their interactions to understand the inherent right of self-defense.”

“What that means is if we see a hostile act, if we see hostile intent, we have the right to respond up to and including lethal force,” added Hyten. “And if it happens in the Gulf, if it happens in any way, we will respond with overwhelming lethal force, if necessary, to defend ourselves, and it’s really that simple.”

HOSTILE INTENT VS. HARASSMENT: What was unclear about the Pentagon’s interpretation of Trump’s tweet was whether harassment, as in taunting and rude gestures, would now require U.S. warships to open fire.

Hyten insisted there was no confusion and that under the current rules of engagement, the Navy has “very specific guidance on how we can use lethal force.”

“We, as the military, have to apply that clear direction from the commander in chief into lawful orders that we execute, and we know what that means. We have no doubt what that means,” he said. “Now, if you come across, and you’re in a safe distance and you’re waving, that’s one thing. If you have a gun and you point it at me, that’s another thing. We know exactly what that means. So if you cross that line, we know what that line is, and we will respond. We don’t need any more direction in order to do that.”

THE ‘PERFECT’ ANSWER: Hyten was careful not to contradict the president in any way; in fact, he endorsed the tweet using one of Trump’s favorite adjectives. “What the president says sends a great message to Iran, that’s perfect,” he said. “We understand that direction, and every commander that’s deployed has the ability to execute that.”

“I like that the president warned an adversary. That’s what he’s doing. He’s providing a warning,” he said. “If you want to go down that path, we will come and we will come large, so don’t go down that path. That is what he’s saying.”

ESPER — ‘NOT GOING TO TOLERATE THAT BEHAVIOR’: Last night on Fox, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he was aware of Trump’s tweet beforehand, having discussed the latest provocation by Iranian gunboats with the president yesterday. The United States, he said, would be adjusting its tactics to make sure American ships can protect themselves.

“I was aware of it. He and I discussed it,” Esper said. “We are looking at making modifications to our practices to make sure the Iranians know to stay clear of our warships and our personnel.”

But when questioned, Esper stopped short of saying a repeat of an April 15 encounter in which 11 Iranian boats circled U.S. ships in the Persian Gulf, making multiple “dangerous and harassing approaches,” would result in the boats being shot and destroyed.

“I’m not going to get into the exact tactics,” he said, “but they need to be well warned, the Iranians, that we are not going to tolerate that behavior.”

The State Department posted a fact sheet listing what it called “Iran’s History Of Naval Provocations.”

Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by David Sivak and Tyler Van Dyke. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.

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COVID COUNT: The current number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 among U.S. military members, DOD civilian employees, contractors, and their dependents is 5,734 as of Wednesday, an increase of 159 cases. Of those, 1,595 have recovered, 252 are in the hospital, and the death toll is now at 25, with three more deaths, two civilians and one dependent, since yesterday’s report.

On the virus-infected aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, 99% of crew members have now been tested for COVID-19, with 777 total positive and 3,919 negative results. Of the total positive cases, 63 sailors have recovered. In its latest update, the Navy reports that 4,196 sailors have moved ashore. Six sailors from the ship remain at U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, but none are in the intensive care unit.

THE FATE OF CAPT. CROZIER: Meanwhile, Esper says he expects to be briefed today or tomorrow on the results of the investigation into the handling of the coronavirus outbreak on the ship and the firing of commanding officer Capt. Brett Crozier.

The Navy is considering whether to reinstate Crozier as the Roosevelt’s skipper, but Esper told Fox the final decision will be his.

“The Navy completed its investigation last week. They are coming to see me. They will back-brief me on their findings, their recommendations. I can’t comment on it beyond that because I am in the chain of command,” Esper said. “I’m sure the Navy is gonna make the right recommendations, and I will have to assess those, and we will move forward from there.”

RAMPING UP TESTING: The Pentagon says it is implementing a new coronavirus testing regime that includes both diagnostic tests and screening with questionnaires and thermometers to identify at-risk individuals. Military personnel will also be quarantined between 14 to 21 days and then given a swab test and a temperature check to identify asymptomatic individuals who are infected but are not yet showing it.

“As the unit then moves to its mission, we’ll keep the group together but limit outside interaction to prevent introduction of infection from outside,” said Norquist at yesterday’s briefing. “These interim measures enable us to reduce the risk so we continue to operate until we develop therapeutics and vaccines.”

As more tests are available, more tests will be conducted, with forces divided into four tiers to prioritize testing for the most critical units. “Tier one: critical national capabilities like our strategic deterrent, our nuclear deterrent; tier two, engaged fielded forces around the world; tier three, the forward-deployed and redeploying forces; and tier four, the other forces,” said Hyten.

FIX THIS OR WE WILL: The bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are threatening legislation if the Federal Communications Commission doesn’t reverse its unanimous decision to allow Ligado Networks to deploy a terrestrial 5G network using the L-band spectrum that has the potential to interfere with commercial and military GPS signals.

In an op-ed published yesterday, Sen. Jim Inhofe, Sen. Jack Reed, Rep. Adam Smith, and Rep. Mac Thornberry, the chairmen and ranking members of the two committees, wrote, “It’s clear the FCC commissioners made the wrong decision regarding Ligado’s plan, which will set a disastrous precedent while impeding ongoing work on spectrum sharing. The vulnerabilities to our national and economic security are not worth the risk, particularly for a band of spectrum that isn’t necessary to secure a robust 5G network.”

“We expect the FCC to resolve Department of Defense concerns before moving forward, as required by law,” the lawmakers wrote. “If they do not, and unless President Trump intervenes to stop this from moving forward, it will be up to Congress to clean up this mess.”

“The signals interference Ligado’s plan would create could cost taxpayers and consumers billions of dollars and require the replacement of current GPS equipment just as we are trying to get our economy back on its feet quickly — and the FCC has just allowed this to happen,” they said.

HAS N. KOREA BECOME A COVID DEATH TRAP? In an op-ed in the New York Times, the American Enterprise Institute’s Nicholas Eberstadt suggests that whether or not Kim Jong Un is gravely ill, the coronavirus may pose a grave risk to the survival of his regime: “Three generations of totalitarian misrule have left North Korea woefully incapable of containing, or even suppressing, a coronavirus epidemic. The same intelligent (and malevolent) design that has turned the country into the world’s most exquisitely oppressive police state has also inadvertently converted it into a prospective infection deathtrap.”

“We outsiders have no real way of gauging whether the COVID-19 epidemic is a threat to the North Korean regime’s very survival, but the leadership seems to be reacting as if it thinks so,” he writes. “The North Korean military seems to have been stricken by some sort of outbreak. Without notice or explanation, festivities were unexpectedly scrapped for Army Day on Feb. 8. The chief of the military’s general staff appears to have been quarantined for 20 days in February. Military exercises and drills came to a halt for a month.”

NO WORD ON KIM: Kim still hasn’t been seen in public, but top U.S. officials insist they have no idea if he is ailing, as unconfirmed reports suggest.

“I don’t have anything to confirm or deny anything along those lines, so I assume that Kim Jong Un is still in full control of the Korean nuclear forces and the Korean military forces. I have no reason not to assume that,” said Hyten, the nation’s second-highest ranking military officer.

Over at the State Department, Secretary Mike Pompeo also said he has no insight into what was happening with the leader of North Korea. “As the president said last evening, I think it was, we’re watching closely what’s taking place there. But I don’t have anything to add.”

IRAN’S SATELLITE LAUNCH: Pompeo did sharply criticize the Wednesday launch by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard of its first satellite into space, rejecting Iran’s contention that its space program is a purely commercial enterprise, separate and apart from its military program.

“I think today’s launch proves what we’ve been saying all along here in the United States: The IRGC, a designated terrorist organization, launched a missile today,” Pompeo said. “I think every nation has an obligation to go to the United Nations and evaluate whether this missile launch was consistent with that Security Council resolution. I don’t think it remotely is.”

“We view this as further evidence of Iran’s behavior that’s threatening in the region,” said Norquist at the Pentagon, while Hyten, the former U.S. nuclear commander, refused to say if he thought the Iranian launch had been a success.

“I’m not going to talk about what happened in the endgame of a rocket that just happened because I’ve been launching rockets my whole life. There’s a lot that has to happen before a satellite becomes operational or whether it even works or not, and it takes a long time to characterize that because it goes around the world,” Hyten said.

TATA NAMED TO REPLACE ROOD: Anthony Tata, a retired Army brigadier general and Fox News commentator, will be named to the No. 3 job at the Pentagon, Bloomberg reported last night.

“Tata, a West Point graduate who has published several novels, would become undersecretary of Defense for policy, if confirmed by the Senate,” the report said. Tata would fill the spot left vacant when John Rood was ousted in February.

DOD ALLOWS REMOTE EXTENSION OF ID CARDS: In recognition of the social distancing and telework requirement prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pentagon will be allowing military and civilian workers to extend their military ID and common access cards, known as CACs, online through Sept. 30.

The extension applies to cards that expire on or after April 16. Individuals must continue to visit an ID card office for first-time CAC issuance, for replacement of a CAC that has already expired, and for CAC PIN resets, according to the new guidance.

COMIC BOOK HERO: The National Medal of Honor Museum and D.C. Comics have teamed up to tell the real-life story of Army Spc. Salvatore Giunta, the first living service member to be awarded the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War.

The story, published in the anthology comic book series Our Fighting Forces Giant #1, was co-authored by Giunta and New York Times best-selling author and museum board member Brad Meltzer.

Medal of Honor is an eight-page comic story that begins, seemingly about Batman, but transitions to chronicle the heroic actions that earned Giunta the highest decoration available to members of the military.

“This is also an amazing opportunity to reach new audiences with the true story of Specialist Giunta’s courage and patriotism while hopefully inspiring readers to learn more about the bravery of other Medal of Honor recipients as well,” said Meltzer in a news release.

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: ‘Crystal clear’ guidance from Trump tweet encouraging attack on Iranian vessels

Washington Examiner: Iran saber-rattling in the Persian Gulf despite coronavirus woes

Washington Post: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard capitalizes on pandemic to strengthen grip on the country

Washington Examiner: Trump offers air shows and July 4 parade while his scientists prepare for second coronavirus wave

Washington Examiner: Pompeo calls for international inspections of Chinese labs that study viruses

Washington Examiner: ‘Voicing my surprise’: Richard Grenell repels criticism from Adam Schiff

CNN.com: 26 U.S. Navy Ships Currently Have Coronavirus Cases

New York Times: U.S. Sailors’ New Reality: Confinement On Land And At Sea

Bloomberg: Boeing Can Fix Flawed $44 Billion Tanker, Air Force Chief Says

AP: Philippines Protests China’s Sea Claim, Weapon Pointing

USNI News: Panel: North Korea Intent On Flexing Military Muscle During Pandemic

Defense News: 20 Empty Seats: Coronavirus May Slow Pentagon’s Push To Fill Vacancies

Washington Post: Pentagon plans to dispatch Blue Angels and Thunderbirds in coronavirus tribute

Just the News: Quarantined Theodore Roosevelt crew erupts into cheers for the Marines taking care of them

Marine Corps Times: Congressman Asks Commandant To Relax Grooming Standards

Seapower Magazine: Corps Requests Proposals For Tropical Uniforms; Plans To Field Later This Year

Calendar

NOTE: Many events in Washington have been canceled or moved online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Pentagon has been conducting almost-daily pop-up briefings, which are often only announced at the last minute. Check https://www.defense.gov for updates to the Pentagon’s schedule.

THURSDAY | APRIL 23

8:15 a.m. — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification symposium via webcast, with Katie Arrington, chief information security officer in the Office of the Defense Undersecretary for Acquisition and Sustainment; Dwight Deneal, director of the Defense Logistics Agency’s Office of Small Business Programs; Coast Guard Rear Adm. Michael Johnston, assistant commandant for acquisition and chief acquisition officer at the U.S. Coast Guard. https://www.afcea.org/event/CMMCWelcome

11 a.m. — Atlantic Council webcast on a new report, “Moving Out: A Comprehensive Assessment of European Military Mobility,” with Army Europe Commander Gen. Christopher Cavoli and former Supreme Allied Commander Europe retired Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti. https://atlanticcouncil.org/event

1 p.m. — Heritage Foundation webinar: “Nuclear Stability or Russian Advantage: Will Extending New START Serve the U.S.?” with Tim Morrison, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute; Frank Rose, senior fellow for security and strategy at the Brookings Institution; Patty-Jane Geller, policy analyst for nuclear deterrence and missile defense at Heritage; and Michaela Dodge, research scholar at the National Institute for Public Policy. https://www.heritage.org/arms-control/event

2 p.m. — Hoover Institution webcast: “COVID-19: Geopolitical and Geoeconomic Implications,” with former national security adviser retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. https://www.hoover.org/events/hr-mcmaster

2 p.m. — The Korea Economic Institute of America webinar: “Diplomacy or Readiness? U.S.-South Korea Military Exercises and Denuclearizing North Korea,” with Terence Roehrig, director of the Naval War College Asia-Pacific Studies Group; and Kyle Ferrier, director of academic affairs at KEI. http://www.keia.org/event/diplomacy-or-readiness

3 p.m. — SETA Foundation webinar: “U.S. Global Leadership in the Age of Coronavirus,” with Patrick Cronin, chairman for Asia-Pacific security at the Hudson Institute; Charles Kupchan, professor of international affairs at Georgetown University; and Kilic Kanat, research director at SETA. https://tinyurl.com/y8n96kwr

FRIDAY | APRIL 24

9:30 a.m. — Webcast of the Mitchell Institute’s Space Power Forum: “U.S. Space Command/NRO Operations,” with Army Brig. Gen. Thomas James, Joint Task Force-Space Defense Commander and U.S. Space Command J3; and Maj. Gen. Michael Guetlein, deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office. Register at https://zoom.us/webinar/register. A recording will also be posted afterward at https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org.

MONDAY | APRIL 27

8:30 a.m. — NATO Deputy Secretary-General Mircea Geoana discusses NATO’s response to COVID-19 in an online event with Jamie Shea, former NATO spokesman and senior fellow at Friends of Europe. Steamed live at https://www.friendsofeurope.org/events.

WEDNESDAY | APRIL 29

8 a.m. — Northrop Grumman Corporation webcasts its first-quarter 2020 financial results conference call, with Kathy Warden, chairman, chief executive officer, and president; and Dave Keffer, chief financial officer. http://investor.northropgrumman.com

9 a.m. — General Dynamics webcasts its first-quarter 2020 financial results conference call on www.gd.com.

10:30 a.m. — The Boeing Company releases its financial results for the first quarter of 2020 during a conference call, with David Calhoun, president and chief executive officer; and Greg Smith, chief financial officer and executive vice president of enterprise performance and strategy. Webcast at https://services.choruscall.com.

10 a.m. — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group conference call with Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. https://nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu