SPECIAL OPS/INTELLIGENCE: Michael Vickers Retiring from Pentagon Intel Post

Ex-Green Beret, Ex-CIA, Now Ex-Pentagon Official.

Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers (center) discusses U.S. counterterrorism strategy at the 2014 Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado with moderator Brian Ross of ABC News (left) and John Carlin, assistant attorney general for national security at the Justice Department.
(Defense Dept. photo by Claudette Roulo)

Michael Vickers, undersecretary of defense for intelligence for the past four years, announced Thursday (April 30) that he was stepping down.

A former U.S. Army Green Beret, CIA operations officer, and top Pentagon official since 2007, Vickers was the first person to hold the position of assistant secretary of defense for special operations/low-intensity conflict and interdependent capabilities from July 23, 2007 to March 17, 2011. President Obama asked Vickers to stay on in that post when his administration took office in 2009.

Vickers is probably best known as the principal strategist for the largest covert action program in the CIA’s history: the paramilitary operation that drove the Soviet army out of Afghanistan — popularly known from a non-fiction book and movie as “Charlie Wilson’s War.”

But success doesn’t come easy or all the time, Vickers told DoD News. He noted the United States and the West were caught by surprise by Russia’s aggressive behavior in Ukraine, slipping in Russian special ops soldiers pretending to be Ukrainians. But Vickers said “the intelligence community quickly adapted to the situation and was able to track things very well since then.”

He noted that the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS or simply the Islamic State) and their rapid advance through Iraq were also surprises.

Obama nominated Vickers to be the third Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence  on September 29, 2010, and he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on March 17, 2011. Vickers served as Acting USDI for about two months in early 20111. As USDI, he played a critical policy and planning role in the operation that hunted down and killed Osama bin Laden.

As the SO/LIC&IC assistant secretary, he was, in effect, the civilian chief of all U.S. Special Operations Forces, and the senior civilian adviser to the Secretary of Defense on counterterrorism, irregular warfare and special activities.  He played a central role in shaping U.S. strategy in the war with al Qaeda and the war in Afghanistan, and led the largest expansion of SOF capabilities and capacity in history.

From 1973 to 1986, Vickers served as an Army Special Forces enlisted man and officer, and CIA Operations Officer. He had operational and combat experience in Central America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia. His operational experience spans covert action and espionage, unconventional warfare, counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and foreign internal defense, according to his Pentagon bio.

WASHINGTON: Senate Confirms Ash Carter as Defense Secretary

New Pentagon Chief.

U.S. Senate confirms Ash Carter as 25th Defense Secretary.
(Defense Dept. photo)

The U.S. Senate today (February 12) confirmed the nomination of Ashton Carter to be Secretary of Defense — the fourth since Barack Obama became president.

Carter, 60, a former No. 2 civilian executive and acquisition chief at the Pentagon in the Obama and Clinton administrations, will replace Chuck Hagel as defense secretary.

As expected, Carter’s nomination by President Barack Obama made it through the Senate fairly swiftly. The president named him to succeed Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska and Vietnam Army combat veteran, in December. The Senate Armed Services Committee voted unanimously February 10 to recommend Carter to the full Senate, which approved the nominee, by a vote of 93-5, just two days later.

Carter will inherit an array of defense and foreign policy challenges that are likely to help define the remaining two years of Obama’s presidency, Bloomberg Business noted. He must guide the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan when many military officers and some members of Congress want to slow it. He also will be a central figure in the debate over Obama’s request for congressional authorization for the war against Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria.

In a White House statement, Obama praised Carter as “a key leader of our national security team in the first years of my presidency” adding that “with his decades of experience, Ash will help keep our military strong as we continue the fight against terrorist networks, modernize our alliances, and invest in new capabilities to keep our armed forces prepared for long-term threats.” Yet the president passed over Carter in favor of Hagel two years ago. Hagel, who announced his resignation in November, stepped down “under pressure from Mr. Obama,” the New York Times noted, “over the mounting conflicts in the Middle East and agitation from Republicans, including those with whom Mr. Hagel once served in the Senate.”

Carter will be back before the Senate Armed Services Committee early next month to defend Obama’s $585.2 billion defense budget request for fiscal year 2016 (October 1, 2015-September 30, 2016), which is about $35 billion above the funding cap set by the Budget Control Act of 2011 — which could impose severe budget cuts through the process known as sequestration again in FY 2016.

At his confirmation hearing, Carter called across-the-board sequestration cuts risky, adding that they cause “turbulence and uncertainty that is wasteful.” At that hearing Carter also said he was inclined to support giving “lethal arms”  to Ukraine’s military in its battle against Russian-backed separatists. He also said the violent extremist organization which the U.S. military calls ISIL (for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) is the “most immediate threat” among many facing the United States. Despite threats from the Middle East and pressure on NATO allies and partner nations from Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Carter said he supported the administration’s strategic pivot to the Asia-Pacific area.

WASHINGTON: Ashton Carter to Replace Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary [UPDATE]

Obama Makes Change at the Pentagon.

President Barack Obama introduces Ashton Carter as his nominee to be the next Secretary of Defense Friday (Dec. 5)

UPDATES with Obama announcing selection of Ashton Carter to be next Secretary of Defense — subject to Senate confirmation.

It’s official, President Barack Obama has picked veteran Pentagon official Ashton Carter as his nominee to succeed Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense.

In remarks at the White House, Obama characterized Carter as someone who knows the Defense Department “inside and out.” The president added that Carter would “hit the ground running” if the Senate confirms the nomination — which most observers expect.

Carter was deputy defense secretary under Leon Panetta, but Obama passed over him in early 2013 to tap Hagel as SecDef. Numerous news outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times indicated earlier this week that Carter was Obama’s choice this time around.

While he has never served in the military, Carter held key posts in the Clinton and Obama administrations at the Pentagon. In addition to serving as the No. 2 official at the Pentagon from October 2011 to December 2013, Carter, 60, has served as the Pentagon’s chief of acquisition, technology and logistics – the head weapons buyer for the military.

“As a top member of our Pentagon team for the first five years of my presidency, including two years as deputy secretary, he was at the table in he Situation Room; he was by my side navigating complex security challenges that we were confronting,” Obama said.

Then-Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter speaks to U.S. troops before a Patriot missile battery at a Turkish army base in 2013.
(Defense Dept. photo by Glenn Fawcett)

Carter is known for a keen, well-educated mind – he has a doctorate from Oxford in theoretical physics and degrees in physics and medieval history from Yale. Your 4GWAR editor was impressed by Carter’s candor, intelligence and laid-back but articulate manner at the 2013 Aspen Security Forum, explaining the expansion of cyber security in the wake of the mess caused by the National Security Agency revelations and other disclosures by rogue contractor Edward Snowden.

While the White House hasn’t confirmed Carter’s nomination, the choice isn’t expected to run into much opposition on Capitol Hill. From the moment Hagel’s resignation was announced last month, Carter was among the names Washington insiders considered most likely for the post. The reported front-runner, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Michele Flournoy, took her name out of contention, as did Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat and former Army Ranger who sits on the Armed Services Committee.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel discusses his resignation during a White House news conference with President Barack Obamal Nov. 24. Hagel will continue to serve as defense secretary until a successor is confirmed by the Senate.

The fact that Hagel’s departure was announced without a successor standing by, surprised Washington pundits, who speculated that it showed more disorder in an Obama White House, contending with a shooting war in Iraq, Russian belligerence, global jihad and Taliban resurgence while the United States is winding down its combat role in Afghanistan – all with less money from Congress.

But CNN reported that Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, declined to accommodate his resignation announcement until the White House settled on a nominee.  On Thursday (December 4) Hagel discounted reports that he resigned over differences with Obama, Reuters and other news outlets report. However, Hagel did not attend today’s White House event with Carter, according to The Hill.

All we can say is … Stay tuned.

FRIDAY FOTO (May 2, 2014)

The British Are Coming

Defense Dept. photo by Claudette Roulo

In bearskin headgear known as a busby, the pipes and drums of the British Army’s 1st Battalion, Scots Guards, performs in the Pentagon courtyard Thursday (May 1, 2014). The Scots Guards is the oldest unit in the British Army, tracing its lineage back to 1642 in the service of King Charles I.

The pipe band is made up of 12 bagpipers, 10 drummers and two dancers (see photo below) and is led by a pipe major.

In between performances, James Townsend Jr., deputy assistant secretary of defense for European and NATO policy noted that in addition to being the oldest infantry battalion in the United Kingdom, the unit has skills in engineering and combined arms, which have been displayed on the battlefield. “So while we enjoy your musicianship here, we [also] know being good Scots Guards you enjoy a scrap” he added.

The Scots Guards served alongside U.S. Marines in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province in 2012-2013, said British Army Brigadier General Douglas Chalmers, liaison officer for the chief of the U.K. defense staff.

The dancer below is attired in a kilt with the Regiment’s official tartan, Royal Stewart. If you click on the photo and enlarge it, look for the traditional dirk, or dagger, tucked into the stocking on his right leg.

One of the two Highland dancers attached to the 1st Battalion, Scots Guards band performs outside the Pentagon.
(Defense Dept. photo photo by Claudette Roulo)

There doesn’t appear to be any video/audio of this event yet, but to hear what the full band (brass and woodwinds) sounds like click here.

Or click here to see a YouTube video of the pipes and drums leading the 1st Battalion’s 2013 homecoming parade through the streets of Glasgow after their deployment in Afghanistan. We suggest skipping to the 2:00 or 3:00 minute mark of the 14:00 video.

 

WASHINGTON: Senate Confirms New Defense Secretary

Obama’s Choice Approved

Now Leon Panetta can finally retire to his farm in California. The U.S. Senate today (Feb. 26) voted to approve — by a narrow margin — the nomination of Chuck Hagel as the next Secretary of Defense.

Former Sen. Chuck Hagel speaking in 2012. (Defense Dept. Photo by Glenn Fawcett)

The Senate voted 58-to-41 to confirm Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska and Vietnam combat veteran, as the 24th Defense Secretary. It was the closest vote on a nominee for the Pentagon post since it was created in 1947, the New York Times reported.

The nomination was held up by his former Republican colleagues who staged a de facto fillibuster before Congress took a Washington’s Birthday break earlier this month.

In the end, only four Republicans voted for Hagel: Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Mike Johanns of Nebraska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Richard Shelby of Alabama, the Times reported.

Hagel’s opposition to the 2007 troop surge in Iraq and sanctions against Iran earned him the enmity of conservatives. And comments critical of Israel’s influence on Capitol Hill and an openly gay nominee for an ambassadorship created more enemies who sought to discredit him for what he had said or written in years past. Senate opponents also raised questions about whether — after leaving the Senate — he was paid by foreign governments and organizations hostile to the United States. No evidence was found.

The delay in Hagel’s nomination process forced Panetta to come back to Washington from an anticipated retirement to travel to a NATO defense ministers  meeting in Brussels this month. Hagel earned two Purple Hearts during service as an Army sergeant, and served as senator from Nebraska from 1997 to 2009. He is scheduled to be sworn in Feb. 27

WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Gates and the Press

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Robert Gates, The Long Goodbye

U.S. Navy photo

We saw an interesting, brief item on POLITICO this morning on U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ last scheduled press conference at the Pentagon.

Gates, who is retiring at the end of the month – after four-and-a-half years as head of the Defense Department – had some words of praise for the Pentagon press corps, calling reporters a “watchdog on behalf of the American people.”

Gates conceded that for Pentagon reporters who have been traveling with him in recent weeks to a series of command headquarters, forward operating bases, ships and airfields, it’s been The Long Goodbye.

In Washington, like most other places, people on their way out tend to say nice or at least respectful things about those they’ve worked with. While he did not have a stormy relationship with the press as did his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld did, Gates admitted he didn’t always like what he read in the press – especially if the information was leaked by someone within the Pentagon (transcript).

Defense Dept. photo

However, Gates said he gained an appreciation for the “important accountability role” the press plays early in his tenure when newspaper reports exposed what he called “two glaring bureaucratic shortcomings,” in the outpatient treatment of wounded troops at Walter Reed Hospital and resistance to purchasing armored vehicles, known as MRAPs, to protect troops from roadside bombs in Iraq.

It was because of his swift response to those issues – he fired the Army secretary and rushed more MRAPS into the field – as well as other steps to hold Pentagon leaders accountable that impelled this 4GWAR editor, when he worked at Aviation Week,  to recommend Gates as the magazine’s 2008 Person of the Year. Among Gates’ actions cited in the cover story, his push for more unmanned aerial vehicles to provide field commanders with needed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data.

But Gates has his critics, in and out of the press. One is Winslow Wheeler, a former Senate staffer and defense budget expert who has been a congressional-military-industrial complex gadfly. In an essay at AOL Defense, Wheeler, who is director of the Straus Military Reform Project for a Washington think tank, the Center for Defense Information, takes Gates to task for the opportunities he missed including real reform of the way the Pentagon keeps track of the billions it spends.

It’s time for you be the judge of Gates’ legacy. Please tell us what you think — either in the comment box below or by emailing us at:

4gwarblog@gmail.com