Washington pulse

August 2007

By Sandra I. Erwin

Arms Suppliers to Get Tighter Scrutiny

In another sign of the times, the Justice Department appointed its first federal prosecutor in charge of export control enforcement. Stepping into this job is Steven W. Pelak, a U.S. attorney, who will be responsible for investigating illegal exports of U.S. arms and sensitive technology. Pelak hosted a national export control conference earlier this year where federal prosecutors received detailed instruction and guidance. In recent years, the Justice Department has prosecuted arms suppliers for illegally selling missile technology, military night vision data, fighter jet components and combat helicopter data to foreign nations.

Chairman Decides to Finally Ditch ‘Metrics’

While at the helm of the Defense Department, Donald Rumsfeld obsessed about what “metrics” should be applied to measure progress in Iraq. The military leadership at the Pentagon also tried to come up with various methods for gauging success. After all, the U.S. military historically has favored the scientific approaches and measurable aspects of war. But as the situation in Iraq deteriorates, enough with the metrics, said Gen. Peter Pace, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “It isn’t about X number today, Y number tomorrow,” he told reporters. The enemy renders all that meaningless, he said. “He will take a look at what you’re measuring and try to defeat that measurement, so to speak.”

Massive Volumes of ‘Lessons Learned’ Not Put to Use

The Defense Department compiles huge databases of “lessons learned” from every military engagement. Enormous amounts of resources are spent collecting and archiving the data. For various reasons, however, Pentagon planners fail to apply past lessons in future contingencies — particularly in the area of “stability operations” and “interagency coordination,” concluded the Government Accountability Office after a two-year investigation.

“Defense planners are not using lessons-learned information on a consistent basis as plans are developed or revised,” a GAO study said. Among the reasons is that Joint Staff guidance does not specifically require that planners include lessons learned. Also, accessing and searching lessons-learned databases is cumbersome, said GAO.

In recent months, the Pentagon has started to develop an information system to improve access to lessons learned within the department and between non-defense agencies, the study noted. “Although this is a positive step, this effort is in its early stages.”

Air Force Strikes Quickly, But Not Quickly Enough

The Air Force has spent decades and billions of dollars perfecting its abilities to locate, identify and strike targets immediately after getting the go-ahead orders. Under the “time-sensitive targeting” rubric, the Air Force has acquired a formidable arsenal of advanced fighter jets, bombers and smart munitions. This wealth of technology has made it possible to hunt and kill a target within minutes, said Gen. Ronald Keys, the outgoing chief of the Air Combat Command. “The time-sensitive targeting loop is down to seven minutes,” he said. But even that prowess doesn’t necessarily help win wars. Iraq is a case in point, Keys said. “The people I really want to kill get away within two minutes.”

Pentagon More Oil Dependent Than Previously Thought

One of the most widely circulated statistics about U.S. military dependence on foreign oil is that the Pentagon only consumes 1.5 percent of the 20 million barrels the nation expends each day. But that share may be grossly underestimated, contends Air Force Lt. Col. Michael J. Hornitschek. In a paper published by the Air War College, he argued that the 1.5 percent only includes the actual petroleum that is pumped into military combat systems, but that figure does not reflect additional oil consumption by defense contractors, commercial shippers and other civilian organizations that support the Defense Department. “Fueling national defense goes beyond just the direct use of petroleum by armed forces and into a much deeper supply chain dependency.”

“If their predictions are correct, we can expect improvised explosive devices on U.S. highways and city streets in the near future, a lot like the daily reports coming out of Baghdad.”

Please email your comments to SErwin@ndia.org

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