DOD and New Zealand Ministry of Defence Conduct 7th Annual Policy Dialogue

 Dec. 10, 2020

---

U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense David F. Helvey and New Zealand Deputy Secretary for Defence Policy and Planning Michael Swain met virtually to conduct the annual U.S. – New Zealand Defense Policy Dialogue, Dec. 8 (Washington, D.C.) and Dec. 9 (Wellington, New Zealand).

Officials reaffirmed their commitment to the bilateral relationship and agreed to advance defense and security cooperation on matters of common interest to support and defend the rules-based international order.

Officials emphasized the role of regional partners and multilateral institutions in maintaining a stable, secure and prosperous region.

They also discussed opportunities to engage with Southeast Asian and South Pacific partners to further strengthen relationships, build resilience, and address shared challenges to regional security including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, illegal unreported and unregulated fishing, and climate change.

Finally, officials committed to enhance coordination, collaboration and de-confliction on activities in the region to address existing and emerging security challenges, and to advance common interests.

Read-Out of U.S. Acting Secretary of Defense Miller's Virtual Meetings With ASEAN and ADMM-Plus Counterparts

 Dec. 10, 2020

---

U.S. Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher C. Miller participated virtually in the U.S.- Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defense Ministers’ Informal Meeting and the 7th ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus), Dec. 8-9. 

In those fora, he and regional counterparts discussed mutual security challenges including maritime security, stability in the Mekong region, terrorism, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and the need to uphold international rules and norms.
 
The Acting Secretary emphasized that the Indo-Pacific region remains the U.S. Department of Defense’s priority theater.  He stressed the United States’ commitment to a free and open region, which reflects the values, history and economic ties we share with our ASEAN allies and partners.  He highlighted the United States’ belief in multilateral approaches to advance shared principles, pursue common goals and promote security and prosperity for all.  He also shared how the U.S. has supported ASEAN nations with COVID-19 relief and offered further partnership on this issue in the future. 
 
Acting Secretary Miller commended Vietnam’s leadership as the ADMM-Plus Chair during an unpredictable and exceptionally difficult year, and he applauded ASEAN’s show of unity.  Finally, the Acting Secretary offered U.S. support to Brunei during its upcoming chairmanship.

Study Calls for Building Navy Force Structure to Counter Great Power Competitors

 Dec. 10, 2020 | BY Jim Garamone , DOD News

The world of great power competition requires a United States Navy and Marine Corps capable of deterring foes, reassuring allies and ensuring trade. To continue to maintain U.S. maritime superiority, the Department of the Navy released the annual 30-year shipbuilding plan, Dec. 10.

The plan outlines a larger, modernized force that is fiscally informed.

"The plan calls for a larger fleet of both manned and unmanned vessels prepared to face greater challenges on, above or under the sea by accelerating submarine construction, modernizing aircraft, extending the service life of cruisers and increasing the number of destroyers," David L. Norquist, deputy secretary of defense said.

"Our updated 30-year shipbuilding plan is a credible, affordable road map for achieving maritime supremacy — all while tightening our belts — and sending a strong message to our adversaries like China," Russell Vought, office of management and budget director, said.

The plan is based on the classified Future Naval Force Structure study presented to Congress earlier this month, which looks for the best ways to keep the peace today and in the future, defense officials said.

The United States is the dominant naval power on the globe today. In order to maintain maritime dominance, the study found the naval force needs to grow in capacity and modernize to continue to outpace global threats. 

"Our vision of a free and open international order depends upon our ability to maintain U.S. maritime dominance and freedom of maneuver," Norquist said. "To build this future force, the United States must expand its industrial base to support the fleet we need and not limit the future fleet to the capacity of the industrial base we have."

The Department of the Navy worked with the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff to conduct the Future Naval Force Structure Study. This looked at three different fleets that would be required in fiscal 2045. The Navy calls it "Battle Force 2045."

The study sees a huge growth in unmanned vessels both surface and subsurface. "Although we reach 355 ships by the 2030s, the plan is about more than numbers of ships. It is about equipping our future force for the enduring defense of our nation," Norquist said.

The study looks to assess naval force options to ensure U.S. Navy and Marine Corps maritime dominance in the era of great power competition. "The focus of the study was to identify the benefits and associated risks of three alternate future fleet architectures in order to inform future naval force structure decisions and the 30-year shipbuilding plan," officials said.

The Navy will still sail proven, traditional capabilities, such as attack submarines, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and air wings, and logistics forces. But the study also looked at building more small multi-mission combatants such as Constellation class frigates. This would enable more efficient distribution of missions across the surface fleet, freeing other assets for critical high-end missions. 

The study also looked at large unmanned surface vessels, which would add substantial offensive and defensive fire capacity to the fleet at an affordable cost, officials said. "In the near term, LUSVs are best employed as adjunct fires magazines, with further development potential in future iterations," officials said. 

The study also looked at medium unmanned surface vessels, which show promise as low-cost forward sensors and command-and-control nodes.

Related News Release: Statement From Deputy Secretary of Defense David L. Norquist on the Department of the Navy's Report to Congress on the Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels

Force Fire

A soldier fires a weapon during Menton Week at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., Dec. 8, 2020. The team competition is an annual remembrance of the deactivation of the First Special Service Force during World War II.

Joint Training

 

U.S. and Italian troops operate a vehicle at a dig site while training in Udine, Italy, Dec. 9, 2020.

Skill Fair

 

Airmen participate in a nursing skill fair at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., Dec. 7, 2020. The skill fair helps service members develop and maintain important skills needed for rapid response events and deployments.

Menton Week

 

Soldiers helocast into water during Menton Week at Joint Base Lewis-Mcchord, Wash., Dec. 8, 2020. The annual team competition honors the legacy of the First Special Service Force, the predecessor to today's Special Forces.

Holiday Delivery

 

Santa speaks with a child while joining the Blue Angels, the Navy’s flight demonstration squadron, to support the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program by delivering toys and games to families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple hurricanes in Lake Charles, La., Dec. 8, 2020.

Rocket Fire

 

Marines fire a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System at Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range, Calif., Dec. 9, 2020, during Steel Knight/Dawn Blitz. The exercise ensures the 1st Marine Division remains lethal, combat-ready, interoperable and deployable on short notice.

Decontamination Duty

 

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Alexander Camarana participates in a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear decontamination exercise at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Dec. 9, 2020. The event was part of Steel Knight/Dawn Blitz, an exercise that gave the 1st Marine Division the opportunity to showcase its readiness within the education, planning and execution continuum.

Army Medical Logistics Takes Lead for Military COVID-19 Vaccine Orders

 Dec. 10, 2020 | BY Ellen Crown

Medical logistics experts at the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency have started receiving COVID-19 vaccine orders from throughout the Defense Department in anticipation of the Food and Drug Administration's emergency use authorization of a vaccine or multiple vaccines.

USAMMA, which reports directly to Army Medical Logistics Command, is the lead for all services, working in collaboration with the Defense Health Agency's Immunization Health Care Division.

The USAMMA team is collecting COVID-19 vaccine orders from all service branches and submitting them to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

USAMMA will also track vaccine shipments from the vendor to each military site. If required, the team will monitor the redistribution of vaccines to additional sites throughout the military.

USAMMA Distribution Operations Center Deputy Director Liz Andrews said the vaccine will ship directly from the vendor to several military medical treatment facilities throughout the U.S. — where it will be used to immunize troops, as well as military beneficiaries — and bolster their immunity against the pandemic.

There are known logistical challenges. For example, at least one of the vaccine candidates has to be kept at ultra-cold temperatures of minus-80 degrees Celsius.

Andrews said she and her team will not only track the vaccine's movements, but also its temperature throughout shipment to ensure it arrives safe and ready for use.  

"This is a challenging mission but also very exciting," Andrews said. "We are prepared to execute this mission and proud to be a part of Operation Warp Speed."

Spotlight: Operation Warp Speed

Operation Warp Speed, of which the Army's senior logistician Gen. Gustave F. Perna is the chief operating officer, is a public-private partnership developed to deliver safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines.

In a Defense.gov press release, Perna said he is committed to streamlining processes that will allow manufacturing and distribution to deliver medical countermeasures at an unprecedented rate.

The USAMMA team is uniquely equipped for the mission because of their expertise in vaccine distribution and cold chain management. USAMMA currently serves as the service lead for ordering and distribution of other military vaccines, such as anthrax and smallpox.

"The military hospitals are already used to working with us, so this made the process smoother for them as they were familiar with our systems and forms," Andrews said.

Andrews also said the USAMMA Distribution Operations Center web development team also played a crucial role by swiftly adapting USAMMA's existing vaccine ordering system, so it could be used for COVID-19 vaccine order processing.

"This was a total team effort," she added, "and we are just honored to be a part of this whole-of-government campaign.""

(Ellen Crown is assigned to the U.S. Army Medical Logistics Command.)

Statement From Deputy Secretary of Defense David L. Norquist on the Department of the Navy's Report to Congress on the Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels

 Dec. 10, 2020

---

Today, the Department of the Navy released the annual 30-year shipbuilding plan.  Over the last four years, the Trump administration has steadily increased the number and readiness of battle-force ships.  This plan moves to continue that buildup and is resourced to achieve a 355-ship naval fleet.

The 30-year shipbuilding plan is consistent with the National Defense Strategy (NDS) which recognizes China and Russia as near peer threats.  To ensure that we maintain superiority over these threats, the NDS requires a modern, ready force to operate in the Pacific maritime region.  The Department has realigned more than $45B over the Future Years Defense Program to Navy Shipbuilding and other priorities as described in the Office of Management and Budget’s fiscal framework.

The shipbuilding plan is based on naval operational experience and extensive analytics. The Department of the Navy, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation recently completed a comprehensive Future Naval Force Study – an extensive analytical effort to inform the design of the future of America’s naval force. The team assessed various naval force structure options to maintain our current overmatch and identified the need for a larger, more modern fleet. Another key finding was the need to expand the U.S. industrial base to support new ship construction and modernization.

The plan calls for a larger fleet of both manned and unmanned vessels prepared to face greater challenges on, above, or under the sea by accelerating submarine construction, modernizing aircraft, extending the service life of cruisers, and increasing the number of destroyers. Although we reach 355 ships by the early 2030s, the plan is about more than numbers of ships. It is about equipping our future force for the enduring defense of our nation.

Read the Department of the Navy’s Report to Congress on the Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels here.