Showdown over military justice reform as Austin endorses removing prosecution of sexual assault and domestic violence from chain of command

Austin said he also endorses the commission’s recommendation that other “special victims crimes,” including domestic violence, also be handled by independent prosecutors instead of commanders. “I support this as well, given the strong correlation between these sorts of crimes and the prevalence of sexual assault,” Austin said.

INHOFE OPPOSES WIDER REFORM: Sen. Jim Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been working to kill the more expansive changes included in the proposed Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act, which has the bipartisan backing of 66 senators.

The bill, championed by New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, would give independent prosecutors responsibility not just for sexual assault but for all major crimes, defined as felonies that carry a punishment of more than a year in prison.

Yesterday, Inhofe released letters from seven of the eight members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, each expressing concerns about removing authority from the chain of command for all but relatively minor crimes.

“It is my professional opinion that removing commanders from prosecution decisions … may have an adverse effect on readiness, mission accomplishment, good order and discipline, justice, unit cohesion, trust, and loyalty between commanders and those they lead,” wrote Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley.

“My best military advice continues to be that removing commanders’ case disposition authority would be detrimental to the good order and discipline,” said Army Chief Gen. James McConville, who recommended a three-year trial period for change that would only apply to rape and sexual assault.

The Gillibrand bill “erodes the ability of commanders to create and maintain the environment necessary to effectively exercise mission command,” wrote Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday.

“The scope of the offenses covered should be specific to the sexual assault and harassment,” wrote Air Force Chief Gen. Charles Q. Brown. “Implementation should reinforce commander’s responsibilities in the process, not relieve them from it.”

“The bill would challenge the timely administration of military justice in combat and forward-deployed environments by creating delays and procedural uncertainty, distracting commanders from their combat mission,” wrote Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger.

GILLIBRAND: ‘DISAPPOINTING, BUT NOT SURPRISING’: In a blistering response, Gillibrand accused the Joint Chiefs of once again being on the wrong side of reform.

“From racially integrating the armed forces to enabling women to serve in combat to allowing LGBTQ service members to serve openly, the chain of command has always fought to protect the status quo, just as they are doing here,” Gillibrand said in a statement. “Their arguments are recycled talking points from the battles for progress in the past and are void of any coherent argument beyond the disingenuous ‘good order and discipline.’’

“The content of these letters is disappointing, but not surprising,” she wrote. “It is time for Congress and the administration to exercise their constitutional oversight duties and professionalize and reform the military justice system to reduce bias, increase efficiency and restore the confidence of our service members.”

WHEN A BIPARTISAN SUPERMAJORITY IS NOT ENOUGH: Despite garnering the support of 43 Democrats, two independents, and 21 Republicans, Gillibrand’s bill has been effectively derailed by Inhofe and Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed, a retired Army major and 1971 West Point graduate.

Reed and Inhofe have so far prevented the bill from getting the committee vote it needs to send it to the Senate floor, where it would likely pass.

Nevertheless, California Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier plans to introduce a companion bill in the House today.

If Gillibrand is unsuccessful in passing a stand-alone bill, she and the bipartisan co-sponsors could try to enact the provisions as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, the annual must-pass policy bill.

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NOTE TO READERS: Daily on Defense will not publish on July 5 as we observe the long Independence Day holiday weekend. Back on July 6.

HAPPENING TODAY: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley will face more pointed questions today about President Joe Biden’s proposed $715 billion Pentagon budget, which has come under withering attack from Republicans as woefully inadequate given the challenges from a rising China.

Republicans point to the billions of dollars of unfunded priorities submitted by each of the services, which are essentially wish lists of what the military would buy if money were no object.

“I don’t call them a ‘wish list.’ I call them a ‘risk list,” said Sen. Jim Inhofe at yesterday’s Armed Services Committee hearing on the Navy and Marine Corps budget. “You’re not getting an adequate budget, and I can say that you can’t. Anyway, we’re going to do everything that we can to try to make this happen,” Inhofe said, addressing Adm. Michael Gilday and Gen. David Berger.

Austin and Milley appear before the House Armed Services Committee at 10 a.m.

‘DIVEST TO INVEST’: BIDEN NAVY SHIPBUILDING PLAN LEAVES LAWMAKERS AND ANALYSTS BEWILDERED

ALSO TODAY: At 11 a.m., President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the funeral ceremony of former Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John Warner at the Washington National Cathedral.

At 1 p.m., Chief of the National Guard Bureau Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson briefs reporters at the Pentagon.

And at 1:30 p.m., U.S. Central Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie discusses how nonmilitary factors, such as environmentally sustainable public utilities, advance U.S. security interests in the Middle East at a Center for Strategic and International Studies web event.

MORE THAN HALFWAY OUT: In its weekly Tuesday update, the U.S. Central Command now says the United States and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan has passed the halfway mark.

The statement, which is devoid of any significant details, said simply, “U.S. Central Command estimates that we have completed more than 50% of the entire retrograde process.”

So far, the U.S. has flown the 763 C-17 loads of materiel out of Afghanistan and has turned over nearly 14,790 pieces of “federal excess personal property” to the Defense Logistics Agency for disposition.

“Most of this equipment is not defensive articles or considered to be major equipment,” CENTCOM said.

TALIBAN GAINS CONTINUE: The Central Command made no mention of the latest gains by the Taliban, which come as the peace process has stalled, and the Taliban seem intent on a takeover of the country.

On Monday, Taliban fighters took control of a key district in Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz province, one of dozens of districts that have fallen to the Taliban since U.S. and NATO troops began to leave in May.

“Their significance often lies in their proximity to roads and major cities,” reports the Associated Press. The latest district to fall “is strategically located near Afghanistan’s northern border with Tajikistan, a key supply route from Central Asia.”

On Friday, President Joe Biden meets here in Washington with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the country’s High Council for National Reconciliation.

The talks will center on “how we can work together to ensure that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorist groups who pose a threat to the U.S. homeland,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday.

AS GOES IRAQ, SO GOES THE MIDDLE EAST: That’s the thrust of a new analysis from the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War.

“The United States cannot stabilize — or safely deprioritize — the Middle East without first stabilizing Iraq. Regional powers treat Iraq as a battleground to carry out proxy conflicts that harm U.S. interests and exacerbate instability through the region,” the ISW report states, advocating that the U.S. should not disengage from Iraq

“The United States should continue to strive for a stronger, more democratic, and more independent Iraq that can provide a regional buffer to mitigate future conflicts,” say the authors, arguing, “Iraq is not moving toward increased stability” and that its “corrupt political system” is “ultimately unsustainable.”

“The Iraqi state cannot afford to keep creating government jobs to appease its underemployed, ever-growing, and increasingly dissatisfied population barring a dramatic and sustained increase in oil prices.” Read the full report here.

IN YOUR FACE, CHINA: The U.S. Navy reported yesterday that the guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur sailed through the disputed Taiwan Strait on what the U.S. calls a routine Freedom of Navigation mission, aimed at guaranteeing the 100-mile waterway remains international waters.

“The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said the Navy in a statement. “The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.”

YOU BREAK IT YOU BUY IT: Sens. Jim Inhofe, Tammy Duckworth, and Mike Rounds are still smarting from last year’s decision by the FCC granting Ligado Networks permission to operate a terrestrial wireless network that the Pentagon says will threaten the reception capability of hundreds of millions of GPS devices.

The three senators have introduced the Recognizing and Ensuring Taxpayer Access to Infrastructure Necessary for GPS and Satellite Communications Act, which would require Ligado to cover the cost for correcting any interference its operations create for the public or private sector.

While the FCC’s decision required Ligado to upgrade or replace government devices, it did not apply to the millions of private devices that could be affected.

“However, 99 percent of the more than 900 million GPS devices found in the United States are used by the private sector, consumers, as well as state and local governments; under the current Order, they — or their consumers — would have to bear the costs,” said the senators in a statement.

SHUTTING DOWN IRAN’S DISINFO NETWORK: The Justice Department says the U.S. has seized 33 websites used by the Iranian Islamic Radio and Television Union and three websites operated by Kata’ib Hezballah to spread disinformation and that attempted to sow discord during the 2020 election campaign.

According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the sites targeted the U.S.’s electoral process “with brazen attempts to sow discord among the voting populace by spreading disinformation online and executing malign influence operations aimed at misleading U.S. voters,” according to a press release.

THE PUSH TO BAN LAND MINES: Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy and Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern, both Democrats, have sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to put the U.S. on a path to ban land mines.

In the letter, signed by 21 members of Congress, they ask Biden to reinstate an Obama policy that banned the production of land mines and limited their use to Korea.

“We further urge you to direct the Pentagon to expeditiously review its plans for the defense of the Republic of Korea and provide a classified report to you and the Congress describing the options for defending the Republic of Korea with alternatives to anti-personnel mines, and of finally putting the United States on a definitive path to accede to the treaty – an important U.S. foreign policy goal announced by President Clinton and reaffirmed by President Obama – by 2024.”

LATEST SASC APPROVALS: The Senate Armed Services Committee has voted by voice to report out a list of 2,932 pending military nominations in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force, including:

• Caroline Krass to be general counsel of the Department of Defense
• Gina Ortiz Jones to be undersecretary of the Air Force
• Ely Ratner to be assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs
• Shawn Skelly to be assistant secretary of defense for readiness
• Meredith Berger to be assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations, and environment

LATEST DOD NOMINEE: Yesterday, President Joe Biden nominated Celeste Wallander, president and CEO of the U.S.-Russia Foundation, to be assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.

Wallander served as special assistant to the president and senior director for Russia/Central Asia on the National Security Council from 2013-2017 and as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia/Ukraine/Eurasia from 2009 to July 2012.

LATEST SENATE CONFIRMATION: The Senate has confirmed Chris Fonzone for general counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

NEW AUSA CEO: The Association of the U.S. Army’s board of directors has appointed retired Gen. Robert Brown as its new president and CEO, succeeding retired Gen. Carter Ham, who has led AUSA since 2016, the association’s board of directors announced.

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: ‘Divest to invest’: Biden Navy shipbuilding plan leaves lawmakers and analysts bewildered

Washington Examiner: Full circle: Biden may preside over the end of the wars he voted for

Washington Examiner: Defense Department closes last federal vaccination site amid continued vaccine hesitancy

Washington Examiner: Tom Cotton warns against ‘new China lobby’ as ODNI lawyer is confirmed despite Huawei links

Washington Examiner: Not so fast: GOP taps brakes on revoking 2002 war powers

Washington Examiner: White House: Khamenei still ‘decision-maker’ after presidential election in Iran

Washington Examiner: Iran’s incoming president shoots down Biden plan to expand nuclear deal to missile program

Washington Examiner: Just 145 miles of Texas border have a wall — here are the 1,100 miles Abbott vows to build

Washington Examiner: Life in Uniform: From the cornfields to the desert

Washington Examiner: Merkel heir warns Biden not to start ‘new cold war with China’

Washington Examiner: Opinion: Germany’s Armin Laschet is ready to be China’s puppet

Reuters: China Condemns Latest U.S. Warship Transit Of Taiwan Strait

New York Times: North Korea Delays Restart of U.S. Talks

Military.com: Space National Guard Proposal Headed to Congress Soon, Top Leaders Say

Air Force Magazine: USAF Would ‘Greatly Value’ Congressional Boost for Sustainment, Flying Hours

USNI News: U.K., U.S. F-35Bs Launch Anti-ISIS Strikes from HMS Queen Elizabeth

CNN: U.S. Warplanes Fly First Combat Missions Off Foreign Aircraft Carrier Since World War II

Air Force Magazine: Which Wings Would Lose A-10s Under USAF Plan

Bloomberg: U.S. Navy Ships Close to Getting Interceptors That Could Stop an ICBM

AP: Pelosi signals new panel to investigate Jan. 6 Capitol riot

Military.com: The Military Has A Watchdog For Stopping Extremism. Now, It Wants Teeth — And Independence

Breaking Defense: Hicks Will Send AI/Data Experts To Combatant Commanders

Washington Post: In Afghanistan, Militias Take Up Fight Against The Taliban

AP: Putin hails WWII heroes, warns of degrading Europe security

AP: Almost 900 Secret Service employees were infected with COVID

Forbes Opinion: How China Will Try To Unmask U.S. Submarines In The Western Pacific

Calendar

WEDNESDAY | JUNE 23

8:15 a.m. — Joint Artificial Intelligence Center virtual DOD Artificial Intelligence Symposium and Technology Exchange: “Competitive Challenges – Technological Opportunities,” with Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Air Force Gen. John Hyten; and Army Gen. Richard Clarke, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command. https://www.ai.mil/ai2021.html

9 a.m. — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace virtual 2021 International Nuclear Policy Conference, with Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks. https://carnegieendowment.org

9 a.m. — Arab Center virtual conference: “Looking Toward Peace in Afghanistan After the U.S.-NATO Withdrawal,” with Fatima Gailani, negotiator for the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. http://arabcenterdc.org/events/looking-towards-peace

9:30 a.m. — House Homeland Security Committee hearing on “Building the Coast Guard America Needs: Achieving Diversity, Equity and Accountability within the Service,” with Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. https://homeland.house.gov/activities/hearings

10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee hearing: “The Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Budget Request from the Department of Defense,” with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

10 a.m. — Council on Foreign Relations “CEO Speaker Series,” Kathy Warden, Chairman, CEO, and president, Northrop Grumman; and Frances Fragos Townsend, executive vice president, corporate affairs, Activision Blizzard; member, Board of Directors, Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/webinar

1 p.m. Pentagon Briefing Room 2D972— Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau briefs reporters.

1 p.m. — Defense One Tech Summit, with Rob Joyce, director of the Cybersecurity Directorate, National Security Agency; Maj. Steven Harvey, director of partnerships and technology, Marine Corps Installation Next; Randy Clark, Business Development and Strategic Planning for DOD and Public Safety, Verizon Business Group; and Lt. Col. Brandon Newell, director of technology and partnerships, Marine Corps Installation Next. https://d1techsummit.com

1 p.m. — Red River Chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association virtual discussion, with Air Force Gen. Timothy Ray, commander of Global Strike Command. https://www.ndia.org/events

1:30 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “Why Sustainable Public Utilities Are a Security Issue,” focusing on the Middle East, with Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command; Melani Cammett, professor of international Affairs in Harvard University’s Department of Government; Franck Bousquet, deputy director of the IMF Institute for Capacity Development; Tessa Terpstra, former regional envoy for water and energy security in the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Jon Alterman, director of the CSIS Middle East Program https://www.csis.org/events

12 p.m. — Hudson Institute virtual event. “Are Iran and the IAEA Headed for Confrontation?” with David Albright, founder and president, Institute for Science and International Security; Olli Heinonen, distinguished fellow, Stimson Center and former deputy director-general for safeguards, International Atomic Energy Agency; and Joshua Block, adjunct fellow, Hudson Institute. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-event

2 p.m. 222 Russell — Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber hearing on recent ransomware attacks, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy Mieke Eoyang, Air Force Maj. Gen. Kevin Kennedy, director of operations, U.S. Cyber Command, and Rear Adm. Ronald Foy, deputy director for global operations, Joint Staff. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov

2 p.m. — Association of the U.S. Army “Thought Leaders” webinar: “The Army’s growing role in the Indo-Pacific,” with retired Gen. Robert Brown, AUSA executive vice president and a former commanding general of U.S. Army Pacific; retired Navy Adm. Scott Swift, former commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet; Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute and chief executive officer of Source Associates; and Tom Karako, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. https://info.ausa.org/e/784783/my-s-Role-in-the-Indo-Pacific

2:45 p.m. — Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference with Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy. https://carnegieendowment.org

THURSDAY | JUNE 24

9 a.m. — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace virtual International Nuclear Policy Conference discussion: “Alliances, Proliferation, and Escalation Risks in Northeast Asia,” with former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea retired Adm. Harry Harris. https://carnegieendowment.org

12 p.m. — R Street Institute virtual discussion: “When You Wish Upon a DOD Budget,” focusing on the Pentagon’s unfunded priorities list, with Mark Thompson, defense analyst at the Project on Government Oversight; Sheila Weinberg, founder and CEO of Truth in Accounting; Andrew Lautz, director of federal policy at the National Taxpayers Union; Ramesh Ratnesar, opinion editor at Bloomberg; and Jonathan Bydlak, director of the R Street Institute’s Governance Program. https://www.rstreet.org/event/pentagon-purse-strings

1 p.m. — Defense One virtual Tech Summit, with Mieke Eoyang, deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy; Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I.; and Chris Lynch, CEO and co-founder, Rebellion Defense. https://d1techsummit.com

FRIDAY | JUNE 25

12 p.m. — Heritage Foundation virtual discussion: “Preview of the Heritage Foundation’s 2021 China Transparency Report,” with Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio; former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Feith, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security; Chad Wolf, visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Davis Institute; and Walter Lohman, director of the Heritage Asian Studies Center https://www.heritage.org/asia/event/virtual-preview

1 p.m. — Defense One Tech Summit, with Tim Grayson, director, Strategic Technology Office, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; and Lisa Sanders, director of science and technology for special operations forces, acquisition, technology and logistics, U.S. Special Operations Command. https://d1techsummit.com

TUESDAY | JUNE 29

2 p.m. — Association of the U.S. Army’s Thought Leaders webinar, with retired Col. Tom Vossler and retired Col. Jeff McCausland to discuss their book, Battle Tested! Gettysburg Leadership Lessons for 21st Century Leaders. Register at : https://info.ausa.org/e/784783/s-Webinar-Series-Battle-Tested

11 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee hearing: “The Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Budget Request for the Department of the Army,” with Christine Wormuth, secretary of the Army; and Gen. James McConville. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

4 p.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems hearing, “Department of Defense Information Technology, Cybersecurity, and Information Assurance for Fiscal Year 2022,” with John Sherman, acting Pentagon chief information officer. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

WEDNESDAY | JUNE 30

3 p.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces Hearing: “Fiscal Year 2022 Rotary Wing Aviation Budget Request,” with Douglas Bush, acting assistant secretary of the army for acquisition, logistics and technology; Maj. Gen. Walter Rugen, director, Future Vertical Lift Cross Functional Team, Army Futures Command; Frederick “Jay” Stefany, acting assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, and acquisition; Lt. Gen. Mark Wise, deputy Marine Corps commandant for aviation; Rear Adm. Andrew Loiselle, director, Air Warfare Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; Darlene Costello, acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology, and logistics; Brig Gen. Mark August, director, Air Force Global Reach Programs. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings