Notes on Defense Spending and Military Operations

National Guard Deployment in Los Angeles

• Severe Concern: Expressed regarding the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles without consulting the state of California.
• Conditions of Troops: Concerns raised about photographs showing troops sleeping on the floor without adequate fuel, food, or water provided by the DOD.
• Deployment Duration and Preparedness: Questions about the duration of the deployment and the lack of preparedness in providing basic necessities to the troops.
• Defense Secretary's Response:
  • The commanders and troops were well-prepared and responded rapidly to a deteriorating situation.
  • Ensuring housing, food, and water capabilities for the troops in real-time.
  • Dismissed the claim that they don't care about the troops as a disingenuous attack.
• Troop Welfare: Secretary stated that nobody cares more about the troops than the secretary and the chairman.
• Deployment Duration: Publicly stated as 60 days to ensure rioters, looters, and thugs know they are there to maintain peace on behalf of law enforcement.
• Estimated Deployment Cost:
  • Estimated cost is $134,000,000$, primarily for TDY costs (travel, housing, food).
  • Funding will come from their O&M accounts and the funding that was pulled for this year was largely FSRM.
  • Looking to plus that funding backup to backfill that for the troops and their families.
• Justification for Military Use:
  • Every American citizen deserves to live in a safe community, and ICE agents need to be able to do their job.
  • President Trump believes in law and order and has the authority to mobilize National Guard or active-duty troops under US code to protect federal agents.
• Legal Basis:
  • Cited 10 USC 12406 as the legal basis, mentioning three circumstances: invasion, rebellion, or inability of the President to execute the laws.
  • The speaker suggested all three apply due to millions of illegals, foreign flags, and assaults on police officers.
  • Claimed the governor of California has failed to protect his people.

Border Funding

• $268,000,000$ goes on top of the billion was taken from the border.

Military Family Challenges and PCS Reform

• Addressing Challenges: Acknowledgment of challenges military families face under the global household goods contract.
• Directive Review: Directive to review the contract and raise rates during peak PCS season.
• PCS Process Reform:
  • The new attempt to reform the PCS (Permanent Change of Station) process had failed.
  • The person in charge was fired, and reimbursement amounts were increased during peak season to ensure families are properly reimbursed.
  • Both the legacy system and the new system are being used to meet the needs of military personnel.
• Thorough Reform: Commitment to a thorough reform of how the PCS process happens.
• Real-Time Delivery: Examples of delivering goods to far-flung places vs. the failure the unreliable movement of an E4 from California to New York.

Defense Industrial Base and Munitions

• Rising Tensions: With rising tensions involving Russia and China, steps are being taken to ensure the defense industrial base can meet surge demands across multiple theaters.
• Investment in Munitions: Ensuring adequate investments in munition stockpiles, logistics, and supply chain resilience, especially for critical inputs like rare earths and other essential minerals.
• Munitions, Supply Chain, and Materials:
  • The previous administration didn't pay enough attention to sourcing from adversaries.
  • Changing the approach to make tough calls based on threats, matching capabilities, and challenging the status quo.
• Input and Collaboration: Welcoming input but willing to make tough calls on personnel, systems, platforms, and modernization.

Hypersonic Weapons and Defense Systems

• Investment in Hypersonics: The defense budget will continue to invest in hypersonic weapons and defense systems, including unmanned HIMAC and next-gen aviation technologies.
• Long-Range Fires: Autonomous systems and hypersonics are part of the warfare of the future.
• Superior Capabilities: Aiming to be better than adversaries, enhancing capabilities to stay ahead of the curve.

Munitions and Tactical Readiness

• Munitions Investment: Investing effectively strengthening the deterrence posture against China, Russia, and threats in the Middle East.
• Joint Force Readiness: Ensuring the joint force is properly armed at scale at the tactical edge and that service members have what they need.

Army Transportation and Acquisition Reform

• Prepositioned Stocks: Expanding preposition stocks of equipment to the Indo-Pacific.
• Industrial Base Capacity: Need to enhance industrial base capacity to support this effort.
• Capabilities and Location: Working with allies and partners to secure prepositioning locations.
• Supply Chain Reliance: Reducing reliance on supply chains that reach back to The States, Hawaii, or Guam.
• Munitions Investment: Historic investments in munitions, focusing on priority munitions for the priority theater.
• Budget Increase: A 13% increase in the defense budget allows for investing in the president's priorities and fast-tracking needed munitions.

Contested Logistics and Operational Resilience

• Challenging Operations: Forces face growing challenges sustaining operations across contested environments, especially in the Indo-Pacific.
• Adversary Capabilities: China is investing in capabilities designed to disrupt supply lines and target critical logistic nodes.
• Strengthening Logistics: Taking steps to strengthen contested logistics capabilities.
• Historical Perspective: Professional talks about logistics and the big differentiator between the US and its adversaries in World War II was logistics power.
• Joint Force Collaboration: Coordinate with teammates within the joint force to defeat adversary threat arrays and move combat capacity.
  Communicating early, often, and always about the needs of the armed forces, including for contested logistics and forward supply points on the First and Second Island Chain.

Parts and Inventory

• Parts Shortages: Addressing issues where equipment is cannibalized due to lack of parts and storage.
• Manufacturing and Inventory: Ensuring a manufacturing industrial base and having parts and inventory available.
• Air Force Initiatives: Air Force is working to ensure the right stuff is on the shelf prior to that we need.
• Additive Manufacturing: Innovation in additive manufacturing (3D printing) for on-the-spot part creation.
• Future Force: The force of the future will fix on the spot, requiring the ability to sustain the force at the edge.
• Mission Command: Delegating authorities and responsibilities to younger commanders for complex command and control problems, including sustaining the force.