Lawmakers Want Answers that U.S. May Send 14,000 More Troops to Middle East
U.S. airmen finish unloading a baggage truck and begin the process of finding their bags at Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB), Saudi Arabia, on November 26, 2019. The U.S. is partnering with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at PSAB to enhance operational flexibility while maintaining security and stability in the region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Matthew Zakrzewski)
December 6, 2019 --- Military.com | By Oriana Pawlyk
Lawmakers called on Defense Secretary Mark Esper to clarify whether the Pentagon is considering sending as many as 14,000 U.S. troops to counter Iranian threats in the Middle East. A Wall Street Journal report, published Wednesday, said the Defense Department is weighing an increase in force posture, but Pentagon spokeswoman Alyssa Farah tweeted that the article was inaccurate.
"To be clear, the reporting is wrong," Farah said. "The U.S. is not considering sending 14,000 additional troops to the Middle East." But lawmakers want to be sure. During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday, Republican Senators Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Josh Hawley of Missouri repeatedly grilled Under Secretary of Defense for Policy John Rood about the news report.
Related: Thousands More Troops Deploying to Saudi Arabia as Iran Threatens
"Are you considering sending more troops to the Middle East?" Blackburn asked. "We're concerned about the threats that we're seeing," Rood said, adding that Pentagon officials plan to brief lawmakers next week in a closed-door session about Iran's activities in the region. When again pressed by Blackburn on whether the Pentagon is considering sending additional troops, Rood responded: "Yes."
"Is 14,000 the correct number or is there a lesser number?" she asked. "Esper has not made any decisions," Rood said. "He continues to evaluate with the advice of others what the appropriate number of forces to be deployed to the Middle East is. … Based on what we're seeing with ... the threat picture, it is possible we would need to adjust our force posture." However, Hawley was dissatisfied with the answer, asking for a yes or no response.
Rood reiterated that the Pentagon has not made a decision and frequently reassesses troop numbers. But Hawley defended The Wall Street Journal report, saying it is clear the Pentagon is considering the action. "What you're telling me now is that Farah misspoke," Hawley said. "I think at this point it would be helpful to hear from Esper on this issue, and I'd like to hear from him today on this issue."
He added, "Some clarification is in order, and I'd like to have it in public, because now the Pentagon has made multiple, public contradictory statements." The point of contention lies with how many troops are needed to deter Iran's antagonistic actions in the Middle East at a time when DoD officials have made clear that the Pentagon's focus should turn to aggressors such as Russia in China, as part of the National Defense Strategy (NDS). Trump has said his administration's vision is to reduce the U.S. troop presence in the Middle East, especially in Afghanistan, focusing instead on counterterrorism and peace negotiations with a smaller footprint in the region.
Since May, roughly 14,000 troops have deployed for the counter-Iran mission. "We've heard a lot from Pentagon leaders about prioritizing China and Russia," Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Senator Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, said in a statement Thursday. "But with 14,000 troops deployed to the Middle East since May, we must ask if the urgent is once again outweighing the important. I'd like to hear from the department about how it is prioritizing China and Russia in new ways since the NDS came out. I'd also like to hear more about achieving a 'more resource-sustainable approach' in the Middle East as called for in the NDS."
The Trump administration announced May 5, 2019 that it was sending the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and a B-52 Stratofortress bomber task force to the region as part of a force buildup. Since then, U.S. troops have reopened the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia's east central desert, which had been in disuse since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
In October 2019, Esper announced that the DoD would begin another increased rotation, sending 2 fighter squadrons, an Air Expeditionary Wing, 2 Patriot missile batteries, and 1 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, known as THAAD, to act as a force stabilizer -- bringing the number of additional troops who have had deployments authorized or extended since September to 3,000.
During an October 11, 2019 press briefing, Esper stressed that there were additional military units on alert ready for these regional missions "if necessary." This is "to send a message to the Iranians, 'Do not strike another sovereign state, do not threaten American interests, American forces,' or we will respond," he said. "Do not mistake our restraint for weakness. If you will, you will regret that," Esper added. Following the hearing, Farah issued a new statement regarding the potential deployment.
"As discussed in the hearing today, we are constantly evaluating the threat situation around the world and considering our options,” Farah said. "We adjust our force posture and troop levels based on adversary action and the dynamic security situation. "Secretary Esper spoke to Chairman Inhofe this morning and reaffirmed that we are not considering sending 14,000 additional troops to the Middle East at this time," she added.
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Navy Changes Tour Lengths for 50,000 Sailors and Boosts Reenlistment Bonuses
Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley (DDG 101) man the rails as the ship prepares to moor pier side in New York as part of a scheduled visit on August 30, 2019. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cameron Stoner)
December 4, 2019 --- Stars and Stripes | By Joshua Karsten
MANAMA, Bahrain -- More than 50,000 sailors will see changes in their planned sea and shore tour lengths, the Navy announced an updated policy that will affect more than half of all job fields. The changes to the Sea Shore Flow policy, announced in an administrative message, will affect 47 ratings: 20 will have longer sea tours, 22 will see shorter sea tours and seven will have longer shore tours.
"This was a necessary adjustment to ensure that we have the right people in the right billets to maintain our operational readiness across the fleet," Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Admiral John B. Nowell Jr. said in a statement. The Sea Shore Flow system maps out a path to balance each sailor's time on land and at sea over the course of a hypothetical 30-year career.
Related: Navy Awards Massive $22.2 Billion Contract for 9 New Attack Submarines
Factors that impacted the changes to tour lengths included initial training, available duty billets and retention, the Navy said. Minemen will serve on a ship for an extra year during their first sea tour, the largest average increase among all ratings; however, they'll serve 6 months less of their third projected sea tour. Machinist's mates will see a 12-month average increase on their second sea tour.
Fire controlmen will have less sea duty across their careers, with decreases between nine and 12 months during each of their first four sea tours. Mass communications and religious program specialists will each be spending, on average, an extra year in their first 3 shore duties. The new policy will not affect sailors within 12 months of their next rotation date, but those who fall outside that window will have their tour dates adjusted in their records, the announcement said.
In a separate announcement released Monday, the Navy said it will be adding more than 60 select reenlistment bonuses for critical billets, ranging from $30,000 to $100,000, to try to keep talented sailors in the service. The special warfare ratings, including SEALs, and nuclear-trained ratings are receiving the biggest offers.
The bonus announcement also highlighted an expansion of the Pay for Performance pilot program for seven engineering ratings, helicopter crewmen and submarine culinary specialists. The administrative messages announcing the tour changes and new bonuses are available at the Navy Personnel Command website.
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U.S. Military Bold Statement in First-of-its-Kind Exercise with India
U.S. Marines and Indian soldiers prepare to depart Kakinada, India at the conclusion of exercise Tiger TRIUMPH, November 21, 2019. During Tiger TRIUMPH, U.S. and Indian forces conducted valuable training in humanitarian assistance disaster relief operations by inserting a joint and combined Indian and U.S. force from ship-to-shore in response to a hypothetical natural disaster. While on shore, the forces conducted limited patrolling, moved simulated victims to medical care and produced and distributed drinking water. Military exercises like Tiger TRIUMPH improve partnership, readiness and cooperation. (Tori Sharpe/U.S. Marine Corps)
December 2, 2019 --- Military.com | By Gina Harkins
A new milestone was reached last week in the growing U.S.-India partnership when nearly 2,000 troops from the 2 countries completed a military exercise in the Bay of Bengal. About 500 Marines and sailors aboard the dock landing ship Germantown joined roughly 1,200 Indian troops for Exercise Tiger Triumph. It was the first time all of India's military services, including the army, navy and air force, participated in a training exercise with U.S. troops.
The 9-day exercise ended on November 21, 2019. The U.S. and India signed a defense agreement last year. Then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said at the time the 2 countries would "work together for a free and prosperous Indo-Pacific." Military leaders and defense experts have stressed the importance of a strong partnership between the U.S. and India as China's influence in the Asia-Pacific region expands. A January 2019 Pentagon news release calls the U.S.-India defense relationship "indispensable in promoting peace, prosperity and stability in the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean region." The U.S. declared India a major defense partner in 2016.
Related: Admiral: Don't Sanction India for Buying Russian 'F-35 Killer' Missiles
During Tiger Triumph, U.S. troops sailed aboard Indian ships and Indian troops on the Georgetown to "gain exposure to their partners' naval capabilities," according to a U.S. Marine Corps video on the exercise. The ships sailed from Visakhapatnam along India's east coast about 100 miles south to Kakinada. An Indian UH-3H Sea King helicopter landed aboard the USS Germantown during the exercise, and there was live-fire training on the ship. The troops also practiced moving ashore to respond to a humanitarian crisis. President Donald Trump spoke about the exercise during a September rally in Houston where he appeared alongside India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The event was billed as "Howdy, Modi: Shared Dreams, Bright Futures." "In November, the United States and India will demonstrate a dramatic progress of our defense relationship, holding the first-ever tri-service military exercise between our nations," Trump said. "It's called 'Tiger Triumph.' Good name. ... We honor all of the brave American and Indian military service members who work together to safeguard our freedom."
While many see a U.S.-India partnership as a vital step in countering China, the relationship has been complicated when the country decided to move forward with a decision to purchase S-400 Triumf anti-air missiles, which Moscow bills as "F-35 killers." But last year, Admiral Phil Davidson, head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, warned Congress against the U.S. sanctioning India over the move, saying the partnership between the 2 countries to counter China should take precedence.
"If the United States decides to sanction these partner nations for their purchases of Russian equipment, this decision may hinder the growth of each developing partnership and increase each partner's dependence on Russia," Davidson told lawmakers. Last year, Mattis announced that U.S. Pacific Command was being renamed INDO-PACOM "in recognition of the increasing connectivity between the Indian and Pacific oceans." As Reuters noted, the move was seen as a symbolic nod to India and its growing importance to the Pentagon.
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Navy Secretary Ousted Over Handling of SEAL's Trident Dispute
July 12, 2018 file photo, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer delivers a speech during a re-dedication ceremony for the USS John S. McCain at the U.S. Naval base in Yokosuka, southwest of Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
November 25, 2019 --- Military.com | By Hope Hodge Seck
The Secretary of Defense (Esper) is stepping into the commotion over disgraced Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, asking for the resignation of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer over the matter and directing that Gallagher keep his trident, the Pentagon announced late Sunday night. Esper lost trust and confidence in Spencer, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman said in a statement, "regarding his lack of candor over conversations with the White House" concerning Gallagher.
Over the weekend, the New York Times reported that Spencer and Rear Admiral Collin Green, the head of Navy special operations, had said they'd resign or be fired rather than comply with an informal directive from President Donald Trump, via tweet, to end efforts to strip Gallagher of his trident pin. Speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia Saturday, Spencer categorically denied that he'd threatened to resign.
Gallagher was acquitted in July of stabbing to death an ISIS prisoner of war in Mosul, Iraq, but found guilty of inappropriately taking a photograph with a corpse and demoted to Petty Officer 1st Class. Earlier this month, Trump moved to grant clemency to two soldiers in war crimes cases and restore Gallagher's rank to Chief Petty Officer.
According to the new statement, Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley met with Trump on Friday over the Gallagher case. Following that meeting, Esper "learned that Secretary Spencer had previously and privately proposed to the White House - contrary to Spencer's public position - to restore Gallagher's rank and allow him to retire with his Trident pin," Hoffman said in the Pentagon statement.
Despite that, according to the statement, Spencer never told Esper of this proposal. "I am deeply troubled by this conduct shown by a senior DOD official," Esper said in the statement. "Unfortunately, as a result I have determined that Secretary Spencer no longer has my confidence to continue in his position. I wish Richard well."
A spokeswoman for the office of the Secretary of the Navy referred all comment to the office of the Secretary of Defense. In a resignation letter first published by CNN, Spencer described his departure as the result of a stand on principle. While the Pentagon's statement alleged Spencer secretly had offered to deal with Trump over Gallagher, Spencer's letter implied he'd refused to follow Trump's order regarding the SEAL in favor of letting justice play out.
"I have striven to ensure our proceedings are fair, transparent and consistent, from the newest recruit to the Flag and General Officer level," Spencer wrote. "Unfortunately, it has become apparent that in this respect, I no longer share the same understanding with the Commander in Chief who appointed me, in regard to the key principle of good order and discipline.
I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violated the sacred oath I took in the presence of my family, my flag and my faith to support and defend the Constitution of the United States." An hour after the Pentagon issued its statement, Trump responded in a series of tweets with his own, different perspective on the matter, saying Spencer was "terminated" amid the president's displeasure not only with the handling of the Gallagher trial but with "large cost overruns from past administration's contracting procedures."
This is an apparent reference to Spencer's oversight of the technology on the Gerald R. Ford, the first in the Navy's newest class of carriers. Earlier this year, Spencer testified that he'd made a deal that Trump could fire him if the Ford's weapons elevators weren't fully working by the end of the summer. When that deadline passed without a full complement of working elevators, Spencer said he planned to remain in the job, attributing delays to the shipbuilder.
Esper has directed that Gallagher retain his trident "given the events of the last few days," according to the Pentagon's statement, and plans to meet on Monday with Thomas Modly, former Navy Under Secretary and now acting Secretary, and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Michael Gilday. Esper is proposing that Kenneth Braithwaite, the U.S. Ambassador to Norway and a retired rear admiral in the Navy reserve, be the next secretary of the Navy, according to the statement.
In his tweet series, Trump endorsed the proposal. "Admiral and now Ambassador to Norway Ken Braithwaite will be nominated by me to be the new Secretary of the Navy," he tweeted. "A man of great achievement and success, I know Ken will do an outstanding job!" Spencer, a career investment banker and former Marine Corps aviator, became Navy secretary in August 2017.
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These Are This Year's Best Jobs for Veterans
Hundreds of representatives from businesses small and large attend the 2019 Small Business Forum in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL., October 24, 2019. (U.S. Army/Catherine Carroll)
November 5, 2019 --- Military.com | By Richard Sisk
Jobs in health care topped the list of the 10 best career employment opportunities for the estimated 250,000 service members who transition out of the military each year, according to a survey released by Navy Federal Credit Union, in partnership with the nonprofit Hire Heroes USA.
In line with numerous studies by the government and other organizations, the Best Careers After Service survey of veterans who were already employed found that many transitioning service members leave their first job within a year. It added that its top 10 list of jobs offered the chance for lasting employment.
"As we started researching Best Careers After Service, we discovered that factors like the overall mission of the organization and a support structure for veterans are often just as important as compensation and benefits," said Jaspreet Chawla, vice president of membership with Navy Federal Credit Union.
Related: The Veteran Jobless Rate Just Dropped Again
"With nearly half of U.S. veterans leaving their first civilian job within a year, it's important for transitioning service members to reflect on what motivates them and to know which industries offer opportunities that align with their personal career drivers," Chawla said.
The top 10 career paths identified by the survey include:
· Health care
· Government/Public Administration
· Defense Contracting
· Information Technology
· Financial Services
· Education
· Law Enforcement
· Retail
· Manufacturing
· Transportation/Warehousing
The Best Careers After Service study was fielded online among 1,001 veterans between August 29 and September 10, 2019. All veterans who participated were employed full-time or part-time, self-employed or working as an independent contractor. According to the survey, the competitive salaries in health care and the match with military experience put the health care category at the top of the list.
"Two other benefits that stood out were the strong sense of community and teamwork within the health care industry and its opportunities to help people," the survey states. Among the most popular career paths in health care are hospital operations and logistics, registered nurse, medical research and administration, it adds.
Although ranked No. 7, "law enforcement is one of the industries most suited for, and comparable to, military experience and skills," the survey found. "It's particularly popular among those living in the western U.S. and those who transitioned in 2001 or later." The most popular career paths in law enforcement identified by the survey include police officer, crime scene Investigator, emergency dispatcher and corrections officer.
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