A FIRESTORM OF OUTRAGE: “This has the attention of our leadership,” was the succinct response from Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis Monday to the rapidly mounting outrage over the revelation that some 10,000 California National Guard troops are being forced to repay enlistment bonus that they were given a decade ago. The payments, $15,000 or more, were made to soldiers to go back to war who had no idea they didn’t actually qualify for the bonuses. Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter’s reaction was typical. “Disgraceful and insulting,” he wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Ash Carter. “I find it difficult to believe that either you or your leadership team was aware that such a boneheaded decision was made to demand repayment.” All together, 20 GOP lawmakers have signed a letter demanding the Pentagon halt all attempts to reclaim $20 million in bonuses that were improperly given by recruiters. Hillary Clinton pronounced herself “appalled,” and called on Congress to “right this wrong.” Yet the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Congress was warned about this problem two years ago.
The Pentagon has a process whereby individuals can appeal to get a waiver to have the debt forgiven, but officials are scrambling to find a way to issue a blanket amnesty that would end the repayment fiasco, rather than make it the soldiers’ problem to fix this mess. Already more than $6 million has been collected from Guard veterans who have been coerced under threats of tax liens, interest charges and wage garnishment. No word if they would get their bonuses back. More here on how this happened and what the Pentagon has to say about it.
CARTER IN PARIS: Carter is in Paris this morning speaking at the opening of a meeting of the countries that are major players in the counter-Islamic State coalition. The meeting will offer Carter another opportunity to meet face-to-face with his Turkish counterpart to try again to broker a detente in the dispute between Ankara and Baghdad over the 500 Turkish troops who Iraq claims are violating Iraqi sovereignty north of Mosul. Meanwhile, Turkey kept bombing some of the Kurdish YPG militias in Syria, fighters the U.S. says are helping in the battle against ISIS. Carter holds a joint news conference with his French counterpart late morning Eastern Time.
“SOLID GAINS, HEAVY RESISTANCE” That’s how the Pentagon described the progress of Iraqi and Kurdish forces as they slowly advance on Mosul. As we begin week two, the liberation armies are facing a determined Islamic State foe, whose strategy seems not so much to win, but rather to lose as slowly as possible, while inflicting maximum casualties on the attackers. The ISIS fighters are making use of suicide vehicles packed with explosives, and hiding in the massive network of tunnels they have dug over the past two years. Kurdish forces are beginning to dig in on the outskirts of the city. The plan is for some of Iraq’s best troops to “leapfrog” over them so Iraqi Sunni forces will be the ones to enter the city.
MOSUL BLOWBACK: Critics were quick to push back on Donald Trump’s weekend Twitter assertion that the battle to retake Mosul from ISIS is a “total disaster” and that the U.S. is “looking so dumb.” At the White House, spokesman Josh Earnest said “It’s far too early to reach that kind of conclusion.” And on the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton reminded supporters that “This is a guy who says he knows more about ISIS than the generals. I don’t think so. He’s basically declaring defeat before the battle has even started. He is proving to the world what it means to have an unqualified commander in chief. It’s not only wrong, it’s dangerous and it needs to be repudiated on Nov. 8.”
Good Tuesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre), National Security Writer Jacqueline Klimas (@jacqklimas) and Senior Editor David Brown (@dave_brown24). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll be sure to add you to our list.
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THIS WEEK: In our weekly video, the Daily on Defense team discusses Carter’s trip to Iraq and his failure to secure an agreement between Ankara and Baghdad on Turkish deployments. We also talk about Carter’s travel to Europe this week, Trump’s take on the Mosul operation and the California National Guard repayment flap.
ISIS OR TALIBAN? There are conflicting claims of responsibility for a deadly attack on a police academy in the Pakistani city of Quetta. The AP reports 59 people were killed and more than 100 wounded, mostly cadets who were asleep in their beds at the time of the attack, but that the death toll could go higher. Militants wearing suicide vests stormed the academy and engaged in a fierce firefight that lasted four hours into the early morning. The Islamic State posted a claim of responsibility on its media outlet the Amaq news agency. Earlier, a little-known breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban also issued a statement claiming responsibility.
LAWMAKERS HOT FOR ENCRYPTED APPS: Some of the same unhackable applications that have become the “favorite technologies” of the Islamic State and other terrorist groups have gained popularity in Washington, in part because the federal government is still struggling to find ways to protect government communications, Joel Gehrke writes. Wickr, Telegram, and similar apps that promise the ability to send encrypted, self-destructing messages have a certain appeal throughout the political class, but especially within the intelligence community. Rep. Mike Pompeo uses one such app because hackers might gain valuable information from something as innocent as a conversation with a family member. “I use [an encrypted messaging app] for my personal stuff, not for my official work,” he told the Washington Examiner. “Foreign governments want to know what elected officials around the world are doing. I want them to know less and not more about who I am and how I interact with others.”
DRONE DILEMMA: The Air Force last week had to take down an enemy commercial drone in theater, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said Monday. The action shows how cheap drones, which can be loaded with explosives, are a growing problem in war that needs to be solved faster than the traditional acquisition cycle allows. James said the Pentagon needs to put its best minds at the problem and look at whether any available technology can be used in a new way for this challenge.
AT LEAST THE SHIPS WILL STILL FLOAT: Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said climate change and rising sea levels pose a serious risk to coastal Navy bases, including just a couple hours south of D.C. in Norfolk, Virginia. It also impacts the service’s responsibilities as larger storms require a more frequent response to humanitarian crises. “Climate change and things like that, it’s a risk to things like Norfolk and our bases, but it’s here today in terms of increasing our responsibilities, in terms of what we got to respond to, in terms of how we have to position ourselves and how we have to think about our roles,” Mabus said.
WE CAN WORK IT OUT: The U.S. alliance with the Philippines will survive President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for a “separation,” the State Department said following diplomatic meetings about the recent comments, Joel Gehrke reports. Secretary of State John Kerry and Assistant Secretary Daniel Russel, who traveled to the Philippines as part of a previously-scheduled trip, warned Filipino leaders not to undermine “our rich people-to-people ties” and reiterated the U.S. commitment to honor defense treaties with the Philippines.
“I think they both came away from the discussions realizing that the relationship remains stable and solid and that we obviously both are going to have to work to sustain it and keep it going,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
IT’S Q3 EARNINGS WEEK: Lockheed Martin will release its third quarter earnings today. That report will be followed by Boeing, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics on Wednesday and Raytheon on Thursday.
OBAMA’S TRUMP RETORT: President Obama, appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” last night, responded to Trump’s assessment that Obama “will go down as perhaps the worst president in the history of the United States.” Said Obama, “At least I will go down as a president.”
THE RUNDOWN
Air Force Times: Meet the Air Force’s ‘ultimate battle plane’ and your new close-air support
Reuters: Philippines Duterte tells U.S. to forget about defense deal ‘if I stay longer’
Defense News: Raytheon Chooses Mississippi for T-X Final Assembly Site
Defense One: Kendall: The Pentagon’s Spending Less on Weapons, So Let Me Keep My Job
UPI: Test of Russian cyber defense system completed: Report
Associated Press: First transgender soldiers seek formal Army recognition
Defense One: Get Ready to Walk Away from Incirlik
Washington Post: Iraqi Sunnis fleeing Islamic State rule in Mosul brace for revenge
Associated Press: Iraqis press toward Mosul, face questions about airstrike
Reuters: Islamic State steps up counter-attacks as fighting edges closer to Mosul
Washington Post: Why it’s taking so long for the U.S. and its allies to finish off the Islamic State in Libya
Marine Corps Times: More than 300 Marines heading to Norway in January
Military.com: Air Force Studying Ohio State Football Players to Aid Special Forces
Calendar
TUESDAY | OCTOBER 25
7 a.m. Paris. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is scheduled to make opening remarks at the counter-ISIL defense ministers meeting in Paris. Live streamed at www.defense.gov
9:45 a.m. 1250 South Hayes St. Arlington. Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, commanding general, Marine Corps Combat Development Command; Vice Adm. David Johnson, principal military deputy, assistant secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition and other senior Navy officials provide remarks at the Unmanned Systems Defense show at the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City.
1 p.m. Livestream. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper speaks about lessons learned during his six years on the job. cfr.org
3 p.m. 740 15th St. NW. A panel including Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer speaks about how social media impacts the public response to terrorist attacks. newamerica.org
WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 26
12:30 p.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. The Stimson Center release its new report, “Military Budgets in India and Pakistan: Trajectories, Priorities, and Risks.” stimson.org
12:30 p.m. 901 17th St. NW. A group of experts talks about the defense relationship between the U.S. and Sweden, especially amid mounting Russian tension. atlanticcouncil.org
THURSDAY | OCTOBER 27
9 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. A representative from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides keynote remarks at an event looking at root cause of conflict in the Middle East. atlanticcouncil.org
1:30 p.m. 529 14th St. NW. The Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans released a data-driven assessment of Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal. press.org
FRIDAY | OCTOBER 28
8 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Robert Work, the deputy secretary of the defense, and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Paul Selva speak about the third offset strategy. csis.org
MONDAY | OCTOBER 31
1:30 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. A panel of experts discusses the relationship among the U.S., Israel and Iran in the wake of the nuclear deal. wilsoncenter.org
2 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The Brookings Institution hosts a panel on what nuclear arms choices the next president will face. brookings.edu
TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 1
8:15 a.m. The Brookings Institution hosts its fourth and final podcast recording about preparing for the next president with a look at how the next administration should counter violent extremism. brookings.edu
10 a.m. Pacific. USS Midway Museum, San Diego. Rep. Scott Peters speaks at an event commemorating the beginning of National U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier month. www.aircraftcarrier.com
