Winnefeld Urges 'Reset' in National Security Balance

By Lisa Ferdinando

Army News Service

SIMI VALLEY, Calif., Nov. 15, 2014 – Sharp cuts and continued uncertainty in the U.S. defense budget have upset the strategic balance of the nation's security, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today.

"If we’re wise, we’ll drive that strategic balance back to a favorable equilibrium before it’s too late," Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr. said. "If we’re not, then we’re going to have to live together with the consequences."

Winnefeld was the keynote speaker at a luncheon at the day-long Reagan National Defense Forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

"The trajectory of the security environment and the ongoing turbulence in defense funding have upset the strategic balance among the ends, ways, and means of our nation’s security and we need to reset it," he said.

Winnefeld spoke in place of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, who is visiting with U.S. troops in Iraq today.

Russia, China Among International Challenges

As the United States was engaged in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade, the "rest of the world did not stand idly by," Winnefeld said.

"Major states like Russia and China, convinced that the unipolar moment was fading fast, and capitalizing on our distraction, began asserting themselves," he said.

Russia's recent aggression in Ukraine is an example, but is by far not the only example, the admiral said.

"In protecting our allies against potential mischief from these powers, we've always counted on our overmatch in capability and capacity to offset the challenges of distance and initiative," Winnefeld said.

"That overmatch is now in jeopardy," he said.

Russia and China are investing in new capabilities, such as precision-guided weapons, stealth, unmanned platforms in traditional domains, and new capabilities in the space and cyber domains, Winnefeld said.

They are also modernizing their nuclear forces, the admiral said.

Meanwhile, he said, the United States "contends every day with two insecure, authoritarian regimes in North Korea and Iran, who covet weapons of mass destruction as insurance policies."

Other threats to the balance of national security include "violent extremism and deep instability" in North and East Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, Winnefeld said.

Other threats with other challenges include transnational criminal organizations, pandemics such as the Ebola crisis, and natural disasters and tensions exacerbated by droughts and food shortages.

"Our world remains a dynamic and very dangerous place," Winnefeld said.

Budget Uncertainty a Major Challenge

The U.S. strategic balance is being impacted by decreased defense spending, the admiral said, and continued budget uncertainty.

"We aren’t modernizing as fast as we should in a highly competitive technical landscape; our capability overmatch is slipping," he said.

While the United States is meeting its daily military deployment demands, the fiscal environment has put a "real dent in our ability to surge," the admiral said.

The budget challenges and reductions have "pushed us hard against the bounds of manageable risk," he said.

Meanwhile, the "sequester is a bet that went terribly wrong and its salami-slice method is the most-destructive way possible to reduce a budget," he said.

Winnefeld said the strategic balance "truly becomes untenable under sequester-sized cuts."

DoD Needs to 'Reach Even Harder for Efficiencies'

The Department of Defense, the admiral said, needs to find the next technological offset. He predicts that could be more about payloads than platforms, and involve every warfighting domain, and will likely be a combination of diverse technologies.

"We need to get to the far side of the whole ends, ways, and means discussion if we’re going to get ourselves back in balance," the admiral said.

Winnefeld said he would like to restore equilibrium by preserving the ends of the national security interests while maintaining manageable risk.

There are several things, he said, that need to be done.

The admiral said the Department of Defense needs to "reach even harder for efficiencies" and Congress should support it and remove some of the barriers in aiding the department in becoming more efficient.

The department needs to "embrace new operational plans, concepts, and technologies that could change the complexion of our force," he said.

U.S. Aided Afghan, Iraqi People

In response to a question from an audience member, Winnefeld said he believes United States military involvement has aided the people in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"What we did in Iraq was give the Iraqi people the chance to set themselves on a course that would allow them to have a government that would look out for the needs and the rights and the prosperity of all Iraqis," the admiral said.

Now, the United States is helping the Iraqi people battle Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists, the admiral said. ISIL, he added, possessed the potential to threaten the United States.

Winnefeld said he’s optimistic about the battle against ISIL, noting Iraqi security forces are ready to fight and the current Iraqi government will work with the United States and has said it has the goal of looking out for the interest of all the Iraqi people.

"We think they've a good shot of recovering from the disruption they've just been through," the admiral said.

The same thing has happened in Afghanistan, he said.

"We have given the Afghan people, through the blood and sacrifice of many American young men and women, an opportunity to have a brighter future," Winnefeld said.

The United States has put Afghanistan on a course where "success is in their hands," the admiral said.