Pentagon slowly moving to establish ‘new normal’ as coronavirus pandemic shows its staying power

“I think that we will be in a new type of normal for a period of time, measured in months at least, and we’re going to take it one step at a time to make sure we do everything possible to protect our people,” Esper said at a Pentagon briefing Tuesday. “For the foreseeable future, we will continue to exercise social distancing. We will continue to wear face coverings, at least to the point and time that we figure out other techniques to address that.”

GETTING PEOPLE WHERE THEY NEED TO BE: Many members of the military and their families had their lives put on hold by Esper’s stop-movement order, which froze personnel in place just as hundreds were preparing to end tours of duty or begin new assignments.

Later today, officials from the U.S. Transportation Command will brief reporters on new procedures that will allow families who have been stuck in place across the country and the world to move to their next assignment — or “PCS” in Pentagon lingo, for Permanent Change of Station. “We are announcing new safety measures through the unit’s Transportation Command to protect our troops and their families during the packing and moving process,” Esper said.

“Moving professionals will be required to adhere to the CDC’s COVID-19 health protection protocols, which include wearing face coverings, cleaning surfaces, and practicing social distancing,” he added. “Furthermore, DOD is requiring moving companies to provide certification to service members that their personnel have been screened for illness, in line with CDC guidelines.”

FURTHER EASING UNDER REVIEW: Last month, Esper extended domestic travel restrictions for U.S. military personnel, their families, and some DOD civilians until the end of June, with the promise to review the restriction based on the threat of the COVID-19 contagion.

“This week, I will conduct the first 15-day review to determine if adjustments are warranted as we work to ease the burden on the force as much as possible,” Esper said Tuesday. “We will continue to remain agile, flexible, and responsive to stay ahead of the needs of state and local authorities across the country. From the beginning of the outbreak, I have made protecting our troops, Department civilians, and their families a top priority.”

COVID-19 UPDATE: As of Tuesday, the Pentagon reported 7,525 cases of coronavirus infection among military members, DOD civilians, and their families — an increase of 92 since Monday, with 170 requiring hospitalization at some point and 2,937 listed as recovered. The death toll remains at 27, including two military members, 14 DOD civilians, four dependents, and seven contractors.

Esper continues to cite slightly different stats, referring to cases that are currently active and people who are currently in the hospital. “At this point in time, we have 3,100 cases of active-duty military. We’ve had fewer than 100 hospitalizations, and unfortunately, regrettably, we’ve had two deaths,” Esper said. “But those numbers fair very well compared against our civilian counterparts.”

COMFORT RETURNS: The Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort is back in Norfolk, where it is being “reset, cleaned, and prepared to deploy to the next potential hot spot as needed,” said Esper.

Good Wednesday 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.

Subscribe today to the Washington Examiner magazine and get Washington Briefing: politics and policy stories that will keep you up to date with what’s going on in Washington. SUBSCRIBE NOW: Just $1.00 an issue!

HAPPENING TODAY: As the Senate Armed Services Committee prepares to take testimony from top Pentagon officials on the recent decision to allow Ligado Networks to build a terrestrial 5G network, Esper is not letting up on his harsh criticism of the Federal Communications Commission, which has dismissed the U.S. military’s objection to the plan.

“The FCC’s actions disregard the many objections of industry and the interagency grounded in years of hard data and science. Ultimately, this will cause harmful interference to the GPS network, jeopardizing our nation’s security, prosperity, and way of life.” Esper said.

The FCC decision last month has met a wall of bipartisan opposition from both the House and Senate Armed Services committee. In response, the FCC posted comments from other government officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, supporting the decision.

“I commend Federal Communications Commission,” said Pompeo a few days before the final decision, calling the move “vital to our national security” and saying it “will help ensure that the United States is the global leader in advanced technologies such as AI, the ‘internet of things,’ edge computing, and the next generation of telemedicine.”

INHOFE — ‘FAILURE OF THE INTERAGENCY PROCESS’: Armed Services Chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe is hopping mad about the way the FCC’s decision came about.

“What I’m most upset about is the failure of the interagency process behind this decision. The FCC may not be in this committee’s jurisdiction, but the effects of its decision sure are,” Inhofe said in remarks prepared for this afternoon’s hearing.

“The FCC says Ligado will be forced to pay for any disruptions its service causes to GPS. The reality is that the FCC order only requires Ligado to replace government-owned devices,” Inhofe says. “Ultimately, the burden of mitigating harmful interference will be placed on the Department of Defense, and American taxpayers will be left footing the bill.”

FIRST IN-PERSON HEARING FOR SASC: Wednesday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing is the first to meet in-person since the coronavirus outbreak shut down much of official Washington. The hearing will not be open to the public, but reporters will be able to attend so long as they observe social distancing rules.

“For this hearing, the Senate Armed Services Committee will follow guidelines developed in consultation with the Office of the Attending Physician, the Senate Sergeant at Arms, and the Senate Rules Committee to protect the health of Members, witnesses, staff, and the public,” the committee said. “This includes maintaining six-foot social distance spacing in the hearing room.”

Senate office buildings are not open to the public other than official business visitors and credentialed press at this time.

RATCLIFFE PROMISES INDEPENDENCE: At Tuesday’s Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing for Rep. John Ratcliffe to be the next director of national intelligence, the Texas Republican promised to “speak truth to power” and deliver “timely, accurate, and objective intelligence” free from political bias.

“Let me be very clear: Regardless of what anyone wants our intelligence to reflect, the intelligence I will provide, if confirmed, will not be impacted or altered as a result of outside influence,” Ratcliffe told the committee. “Above all, my fidelity and loyalty will always be with the Constitution and the rule of law, and my actions at DNI will reflect that commitment.”

Ratcliffe is expected to be confirmed despite deep reservations from Democrats, who argue the three-term congressman does not meet the statutory requirement that intelligence directors have “extensive national security expertise” and was a highly partisan defender of the president during the House impeachment hearings.

“I have to say that while I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt during this hearing, I don’t see what has changed since last summer, when the president decided not to proceed with your nomination over concerns about your inexperience, partisanship, and past statements that seemed to embellish your record,” said Virginia Democrat Sen. Mark Warner, one of Ratcliffe’s harshest critics. “This includes some particularly damaging remarks about whistleblowers, which has long been a bipartisan cause on this committee.”

“I want to make it very clear: If confirmed as DNI, every whistleblower, past, present, and future, will enjoy every protection under the law,” Ratcliffe told Democratic Sen. Diane Feinstein. “I don’t want to relitigate old issues of what happened during the impeachment inquiry. My issue was not with the whistleblower. My issue was with what I perceived as a lack of due process in the House process.”

ANGRY WORDS: The letter 10 Democratic senators sent to Esper last month accusing the civilian leadership of the Pentagon of failing to act “sufficiently quickly” and “prioritizing readiness at the expense of the health of servicemembers and their families” isn’t sitting well with the Pentagon chief.

“I’m very disappointed that members of Congress, particularly those who sit on the armed services committee and who receive weekly updates from us, would write a letter that includes a number of misleading, false, or inaccurate statements,” Esper said at Tuesday’s briefing.

Esper says he’s heard nothing but praise from more than three dozen governors he has been talking to in recent weeks. “Every step of the way, we’ve been ahead of the curve, we’ve met their needs, and we’ve done everything we can to help the American people,” Esper said. “So the statements in that letter don’t match what I’m hearing from the governors.”

“We recognize Congress has an important oversight role, but it should be an informed oversight role, and we are committed to doing that to address any members’ concerns,” he said.

WHERE DID THE VIRUS COME FROM? Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley told reporters Tuesday that there is still no conclusive evidence that the COVID-19 virus came from a government laboratory in Wuhan, China, putting him at odds with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said Sunday there was “enormous evidence” that the contagion came from the lab.

“Did it come out of the virology lab in Wuhan? Did it occur in the wet market there in Wuhan? Did it occur somewhere else? And the answer to that is we don’t know,” Milley said. “Various agencies, both civilian and U.S. government, are looking at that. It would help a great deal if the Chinese government would open up and allow inspectors and investigators to go there in full transparency.”

Milley said the “weight of the evidence” is that the virus was not man-made or genetically modified but added that “nothing’s conclusive.” Another question, he said, is whether the virus was released accidentally, naturally, or intentionally. “We don’t have conclusive evidence in any of that,” he said. “But the weight of evidence is that it was probably not intentional.”

SOLDIER ID’D: The Pentagon identified on Tuesday the U.S. Army soldier who died in Iraq this week as Sgt. Christopher Wesley Curry, 23, from Terre Haute, Indiana. Curry died May 4 in Erbil, Iraq, from what was described as “a noncombat-related incident.”

He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

ANOTHER LOOK AT THE BUDGET: In his review of the proposed fiscal year 2021 defense budget, Lawrence Korb of the Center for American Progress argues the current $740 billion budget is adequate and that Esper’s call for 3% to 5% growth per year is unrealistic.

“If Secretary Esper’s recommendation were followed, the request for FY 2021 would have jumped to close to $800 billion,” Korb writes. “It is clear that there are at least eight reasons to believe that the proposed defense budget of $740 billion — if spent wisely — should be more than adequate to defend the United States.”

INDUSTRY WATCH: Fired Navy Secretary Richard Spencer has surfaced as the face of a new private investment fund that provides capital to technology companies whose products will benefit the national security sector.

Pallas Advisors, a Washington-based consulting firm started by Sally Donnelly, a former top aide to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, has dubbed the project Pallas Ventures.

“In just the last two years, we have come across several ground-breaking startups that are looking to maximize rapid growth and scale in the public sector,” said another Pallas founding partner, Tony Demartino.

Spencer was fired after he ran afoul of President Trump by trying to keep the White House out of the discipline process for Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher.

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: ‘No need to test the entire force’: Military sets new COVID-19 targets

Washington Examiner: US and Western allies offer disjointed response to China coronavirus calamity

Air Force Magazine: Goldfein: Time to ‘Dust Off’ the MOPP Gear Because COVID-19 Isn’t Going Away

Talk Media News: Front line troops clean of COVID-19 and ready to fight, Pentagon chief declares

New York Times: Virus Concerns Flare Up Again on Stricken Carrier Roosevelt

USNI News: SECDEF Esper: Theodore Roosevelt Outbreak Probe Will ‘Follow The Facts Wherever They Go’

Military Times: COVID-19 Hospitalization Rate 50 Times Higher In The Military Than In Overall U.S.

Virginian-Pilot: Demand For Mental Health Services In Military Community Surges Amid Pandemic Stress

Air Force Magazine: Can DOD Testimony Change FCC’s Mind on Ligado?

Wall Street Journal: U.S. Pushes EU to Back Inquiry Into China’s Handling of Coronavirus

Reuters: China Says Hong Kong Will Never Be Calm Unless Violent Protesters Removed

Time: The American Hostages Left Behind for Trump’s Taliban Peace Deal

CNBC.com: Pentagon Calls Iran’s Recent Military Satellite Launch A ‘Security Concern’ Amid Deteriorating Relations

Bloomberg: U.S. Targets Expiring Iran Arms Embargo At Risk Of Angering Allies

Military.com: 3 Marines Tackle, Subdue Threatening Passenger on Long-Haul Flight

Marine Corps Times: Commemoration Of VE Day 75th Anniversary Goes Virtual

Calendar

NOTE: Most events in Washington have been moved online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Pentagon has been conducting frequent daily briefings, which are often announced after 9 a.m. Check https://www.defense.gov for updates to the Pentagon’s schedule.

WEDNESDAY | MAY 6

7 a.m. — International Institute for Strategic Studies webinar: “New Missile Technologies: Old Arms Control Solutions,” with William Alberque, director of NATO’s Arms Control, Disarmament, and Non-Proliferation Center; Rear Adm. John Gower, former assistant chief of defense staff (nuclear, chemical, biological) in the UK Ministry of Defense; Pavel Podvig, senior researcher in the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research’s WMD Program; and Heather Williams, associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute https://www.iiss.org/events

11 a.m. — Space Foundation webinar: “America’s Space Force: Building the Future Today,” with Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett and Chief of Space Operations Gen. Jay Raymond. Registration at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register

12 p.m. — Hudson Institute webcast: “Analyzing the Impact of the ‘Maximum Pressure’ Campaign on Iran Amid Coronavirus,” with Scott Modell, managing director of the Rapidan Energy Group and former senior Iran operations officer at the CIA; Mohsen Sazegara, president of the Research Institute on Contemporary Iran; David Asher, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute; and Michael Doran, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. https://www.hudson.org/events

12:30 p.m. Pentagon Briefing Room 2D972 — U.S. Transportation Command Director of Defense Personal Property Rick Marsh; Ken Brennan, TRANSCOM director of acquisition; and TRANSCOM Senior Enlisted Leader Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Jason L. France brief reporters on Global Household Goods Contract and moving in a COVID-19 environment. https://www.defense.gov/Watch/Live-Events

1 p.m. — Women’s Foreign Policy Group webcast: “COVID-19’s Long Shadow: National and Global Security Challenges,” with former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence Carmen Medina; Karen Monaghan, principal at KJM Analytics LLC; Miyeon Oh, director of the Atlantic Council’s Asia Security Initiative; Jennifer Griffin, national security correspondent at Fox News; and Samantha Vinograd, national security analyst at CNN. https://wfpg.memberclicks.net

3 p.m. G50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing: “DOD spectrum policy and the impact of the FCC approval of Ligado’s spectrum proposal on national security,” with Dana Deasy, DOD chief information officer; Michael Griffin, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering; retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen; Chief of Space Operations Gen. Jay Raymond. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings

4:30 p.m. — Intelligence and National Security Alliance webcast with former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon. https://www.insaonline.org/event

THURSDAY | MAY 7

8:30 a.m. — Raytheon Technologies conference call to discuss its first quarter 2020 earnings. The earnings will be released prior to the stock market opening. http://www.rtx.com

9:30 a.m. G50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to consider the nominations of Kenneth Braithwaite to be secretary of the Navy, James Anderson to be deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, and Gen. Charles Q. Brown, to be chief of staff of the Air Force. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings

FRIDAY | MAY 8

11 a.m. — Brookings Institution webinar: “Global China: Assessing China’s Technological Reach in the World,” with Michael Brown, director of the Defense Department’s Defense Innovation Unit; and former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, visiting governance studies fellow at the Brookings Center for Technology Innovation https://www.brookings.edu/events/webinar

TUESDAY I MAY 12

5 p.m. — George Mason University National Security Institute “NatSec Nightcap” event with Rep. Will Hurd R-Texas and Jamil Jaffer, executive director National Security Institute. https://nationalsecurity.gmu.edu