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January 2003

Washington Pulse

by Elizabeth Book

Czech Republic’s Chem-Bio Unit in Kuwait
An elite 250-man military unit from the Czech Republic, specializing in nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) weapons defense, is on the ground at Camp Doha in Kuwait. The unit is participating in training and exercises in conjunction with Operation Enduring Freedom, said a Czech diplomat in Washington.

The specialty of the unit is consequence management, said Vratislav Janda, deputy chief of mission at the Czech Embassy. “They are special troops like [the U.S. Army’s] Green Berets,” he said.

NBC defense has long been a niche specialty of the Czech armed forces. The Czech military’s NBC units were deployed in the same region during the Gulf War in 1991.

A member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Czech Republic is part of a cluster of Eastern European countries freed from communist governments following the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989. In recent years, it has not upgraded its weapon systems to become interoperable with U.S. and other NATO weapons systems, and instead has focused on downsizing its Soviet-era forces and weapons system, said Janda. The Czech military plans to complete its reduction from 120,000 to 35,000 soldiers in 2006, and will close 100 of its 150 outdated military outposts within the next several years, he said.

The Czech’s foray into niche specialization is indicative of a growing trend in European military policy, as they figure out ways to work with the United States in military coalitions.

Marines Tell Suppliers They’ll Be Treated Better
The chief of the Marine Corps Systems Command recently told contractors that it’s time to stop “whining” about how badly SysCom treats them.

“We have a reputation that SysCom is hard to deal with,” said Brig. Gen. William D. Catto, during an industry conference in Arlington, Va.

Catto said he is not particularly proud of that reputation and wants to make mends with unhappy suppliers.

Following are the top complaints Catto has heard since he became SysCom commander last July:

Contracting officers are difficult to communicate with, and make the process too complicated.
Contractors don’t often know the “go-to” guy.
There is a hostile anti-industry environment.
SysCom officials “stiff-arm” industry.
There is a culture of keeping industry at a distance.
Small businesses don’t get a fair opportunity.

“I am not going to tell you that none of that is true,” said Catto. But he promised contractors that he would work to reverse the negative perceptions about SysCom and that he and his staff would make an effort to devote more time to meet with industry representatives.

Assistant Commandant Gen. William J. Nyland told the conference that the Corps wants more “partnering” with industry. But it goes both ways, he said. The Corps, he said, needs high-quality suppliers, as much as the industry needs contracts to stay alive.

Former Polish Official: Military Reform Is Slow
Although Poland was admitted to NATO in 1997, it has been slow to modernize its armed forces, said a former Polish defense official. Radoslaw Sikorski, director of the New Atlantic Initiative at the American Enterprise Institute, in Washington, D.C., was previously deputy defense minister in Poland’s first democratically elected government in Poland. At a recent press briefing in Washington, he discussed the need for the countries of the former eastern bloc to invest in weapons systems.

“Ten years ago, we spoke about a fundamental slimming down of the armies, so as to spend more money on equipment, buying modern aircraft for our air force, various other things,” he said.

“I’m sorry to say that 10 years on — in other words, after twice the length of time of the second World War, it still hasn’t been done,” he said.

Part of NATO’s accession agreement stipulates that NATO countries must invest at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense and weapons system. However, internal parliamentary disputes as well as lagging economies in Eastern Europe have slowed spending.

Having to wait 10 years for the decision on buying a plane is not acceptable, he said. “I’m just embarrassed, quite frankly.”

JSF Will Be Expeditionary, Says Aviation Chief
At a recent industry meeting held by the Navy’s International Programs Office, Lt. Gen. Mike Hough, deputy commandant for Marine Corps aviation, explained some of his goals for the Joint Strike Fighter program, including his hope that it will enhance expeditionary maneuver warfare. But he also espoused the idea that the Joint Strike Fighter should be a high-performance, low-maintenance vehicle.

“What we’re trying to do with this airplane is make it like your car,” he explained. “When you turn the key it will work, at least 98.8 percent of the time.”

Hough relayed a recent conversation he had with then-commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, who just became the U.S. supreme allied commander Europe. The two discussed the fact that new Jaguar sports cars coming off the assembly lines today don’t need oil changes for at least a calendar year. The goal with the Joint Strike Fighter, he said, is to develop an aircraft that has similar characteristics. “We want it to go on and stay on, with very little support,” Hough said.

For the U.S. Defense Department, the Joint Strike Fighter is intended to be “the model acquisition program for joint service and international cooperation,” said Air Force Maj. Gen. John Hudson, the program’s executive officer.

Hudson’s goal is “to develop and produce an affordable next-generation strike fighter weapon system, and sustain it worldwide,” he told the Navy International Programs Office conference.

Among the program requirements for the fighter is short take-off and vertical landing capabilities, Hudson said. Other key performance parameters are improvements in the area of radio frequency signatures, combat radius, sortie generation, logistics footprints, mission reliability and interoperability.