Washington Pulse

January 2005

Washington Pulse

by Sandra I. Erwin and Roxana Tiron

Army Acquisition Agencies: Back to the Future
The Army’s procurement bureaucracy is undergoing yet another major reshuffle that is aimed at improving the flow of equipment to the front lines and expediting weapon maintenance.

Claude Bolton, the Army’s top acquisition executive, and Gen. Benjamin Griffin, head of the Army Materiel Command, are working on details of the new plan. The intent is to align major acquisition program offices and AMC’s subordinate commands under “life cycle commanders,” who would be responsible for procurement, fielding and logistics support of a weapon system. Insiders point out that the arrangement now sought would revert to the way things were 20 years ago, when AMC was in charge of all acquisition operations. The implementation strategy is due this month, says Griffin. “The war has caused us to look at how we can better operate,” he tells National Defense.

Marines Eye Expansion of Light Armor Units
Marine Corps war planners at the Pentagon are studying options to create more armored units in Iraq. Specifically, the Marines are looking for additional light armored battalions, says Col. Len Blasiol, director of materiel capabilities at the Marine Corps Combat Development Command. A “force structure review” is under way to consider the possibility of taking infantry reserve units and converting them to light armored battalions, Blasiol tells an industry conference.

Marines in Iraq are finding new ways to employ the light armored vehicles, explains Col. John J. Bryant, LAV program manager. Commanders have asked for additional LAV companies, at least one per battalion, he adds. As to how the Corps will come up with additional vehicles, Bryant says it remains an open question. “We don’t know what the strategy is yet.” He notes that the current Marine Corps budget has no dollars to buy any new LAVs.

Leatherneck Coins Available in May
The U.S. Marine Corps, meanwhile, will become the nation’s first military service to have its own legal tender. The U.S. Mint will unveil a Marine silver dollar coin on May 1, in commemoration of the Corps’ 230th anniversary.

The Mint will issue 500,000 $1 coins, each of which shall contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper. The coin will have a designation of the value of the coin, an inscription of the year `2005,’ and inscriptions of the words `Liberty,’ `In God We Trust,’ `United States of America,’ and

`E Pluribus Unum.’ It also will feature an image of the Iwo Jima monument.

A surcharge of $10 per coin will be turned over to the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation to help fund the construction of the Marine Corps Heritage Center, in Quantico, Va.

Congress Chided for Neglecting Ordnance Cleanup
Congress is neglecting its responsibilities to oversee the removal of dangerous unexploded ordnance from military bases around the United States, charges Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.

He estimated that the cleanup effort would cost up to $35 billion, but Congress funds about $106 million annually. At this rate, it could take up to 330 years for the Defense Department to clean up the sites. “It’s amazingly expensive, it has low visibility, and it sadly still has a low priority from Congress,” he says. Blumenauer is pressuring the 109th Congress to pay more attention to the issue and ensure that the Pentagon allocates proper resources. “There should be one person in charge of doing this on a full time basis for the U.S. government.”

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