Austin Directs 'Zero-based Review' of DOD Advisory Committees

 Feb. 2, 2021 | BY Jim Garamone , DOD News

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has directed a "zero-based review" of all Defense Department advisory committees, DOD officials said today.

The officials, speaking on background, also said Austin directed all members of the committees to resign from the committees by Feb. 16.

The action does not include presidentially or congressionally appointed committees. So, while the Defense Policy Board will be affected, the visitors boards of the military academies will not.

There are at least 42 committees containing hundreds of advisors who are covered by the secretary's ruling. These committees advise on a broad swath of issues within the department including policy, personnel, business, scientific education, training, health care and memorial activities, the official said.

The secretary was concerned "with the pace and the extent of recent changes to memberships of the department advisory committees done with a bit of frenetic activity in the final two months of the previous administration," the official said. "I think it … gave him pause to consider the broad scope and purpose of these boards and to think about how they can best be aligned and organized and composed to provide competent, technical professional advice."

Austin directed the interim director of administration and management, as well as the acting general counsel of DOD, to lead the study. They must have their recommendations to the secretary of defense by June 1. "These recommendations will include items such as retention, realignment, termination, changes to mission or function, membership, membership size, and even possible legislative changes to non-discretionary advisory committees," officials said.

Officials said there is some overlap in the studies of many of the committees. They look at this study as a way to address that.

Related Publication: DOD Advisory Committees Zero-Based Review

Raid Ready

 

Marines provide security during a simulated raid at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Jan. 20, 2021.

Djibouti Views

 

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Kalynn Fitzgerald looks through a pair of binoculars aboard the USS Hershel “Woody” Williams in Djibouti, Jan. 30, 2021.

Snowy Vigil

 

A soldier assigned to the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as “The Old Guard,” maintains the vigil at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, Va., Feb. 2, 2021.

Chief's Crew

 

A sailor is pinned to the rank of chief petty officer by family members during a ceremony at Marine Corps University in North Carolina, Jan. 29, 2021.

Getting Organized

 

A medical laboratory technician organizes vials at the 59th Medical Wing Armed Services Blood Donor Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, Jan. 30, 2021. Vials are taken before blood donations to ensure blood products are safe for transfusion. The blood donation center is seeking volunteers to donate COVID-19 convalescent plasma, which is collected from individuals whose plasma contains anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.

Needed Assistance

 

Army Pfc. Emmanuel Cabanila, assigned to the Oregon Army National Guard, holds a placard to have health care professionals assist a patient at a COVID-19 walk-in vaccination clinic at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore., Feb. 1, 2021. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown activated members of the Oregon National Guard on Jan. 8, 2021, to assist local partners throughout the state with vaccine distribution.

Command Senior Enlisted Leader Assignment

 Feb. 2, 2021

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The Office of the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (OSEAC) announced today the following assignment:

Army Command Sgt. Maj. James “J.R.” Cook, currently assigned as the command sergeant major, 3rd Operational Support Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina, has been selected to replace Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Andrew D. McCurry as the command senior enlisted leader for the Special Operations Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve.

DOD Announces Zero-Based Review of Advisory Committees

 Feb. 2, 2021

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On January 30, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III signed a memo directing a zero-based review of all DOD advisory committees, to include any advisory committee that is not subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C., Appendix). The review will focus the department’s advisory committee efforts to align with the most pressing strategic priorities and the National Defense Strategy. The review will be led by the Interim Director of Administration and Management (DA&M), in consultation with the Acting General Counsel of the DOD (GC DOD), and final recommendations will be made to the Secretary of Defense on each committee by June 1, 2021.

As an interim step, the Secretary directed the immediate suspension of all advisory committee operations until the review is completed unless otherwise directed by the Secretary of Defense or the Deputy Secretary of Defense. The Secretary also directed that all DOD advisory committee and subcommittee members currently serving on DOD advisory committees where the DOD approving authority is the Secretary of Defense or where statute authorizes another DOD civilian officer or employee, or Active Duty member of the Am1ed Services to act as the DOD approving authority for members, conclude their service no later than February 16, 2021.

The memo along with the list of the affected DOD advisory committees can be found here.

Blood Sample

 

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jimel Prudente, a medic assigned to 60th Medical Group at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., gives a patient’s blood sample to a nurse at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, Calif., Jan. 21, 2021. Northern Command through Army North remains committed to providing flexible Defense Department support to the whole-of-government COVID-19 response.

Aircraft Action

 

Soldiers conduct a simulated air assault from an Army CH-47 Chinook during training at Monte Romano Training Area, Italy, Jan. 27, 2021.

Raid Rehearsal

 

A Marine throws a line while returning from a boat raid rehearsal aboard the USS Ashland in the Philippine Sea, Jan. 28, 2021.

Control Class

A Marine kicks a shield during a riot control class aboard the USS Ashland in the Philippine Sea, Jan. 28, 2021.

 

Airborne Ops

 

Soldiers conduct an airborne operation from an Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft at Frida drop zone in Pordenone, Italy, Feb. 1, 2021.

Sports Heroes Who Served: Army Major, Baseball Player Advocated for Equal Rights

 Feb. 2, 2021 | BY David Vergun , DOD News

Sports Heroes Who Served is a series that highlights the accomplishments of athletes who served in the U.S. military.

Octavius Valentine Catto was born Feb. 22, 1839, in Charleston, South Carolina. His parents were African-Americans and were free.

The family later moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Catto played cricket in school and then later took up baseball.

He graduated from Philadelphia's Institute for Colored Youth, or ICY, in 1858 and then did a year of postgraduate study. Beginning in 1859, he taught English and Math at ICY.

In 1861, when the Civil War started, Catto joined with abolitionist and statesman Frederick Douglass to recruit black men to fight for the Union. Together, they helped to raise 11 regiments of U.S. Colored Troops in the Philadelphia area. At the time, Catto was commissioned an Army major.

After the Civil War, Catto helped establish Negro league baseball in Philadelphia. He was the captain and the star player of the Pythian team there. In 1867, the team applied to join the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Amateur Association of Base Ball Players.

The application was denied, which established a segregation precedent in U.S. baseball that continued for many decades, according to Ryan Swanson, author of the book "When Baseball Went White."

Nevertheless, the Pythian team, which was not an NAA member, played the all-White Olympics team on Sept. 3, 1869, losing to the Olympics 44-23. The event was significant because it was the first baseball game ever played between a "white and colored club," according to a New York Times newspaper article.

Catto also became the principal of ICY and worked to desegregate Philadelphia's streetcars.

Joining with Douglass, the two gave speeches calling for ratification of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed that no citizen could be kept from voting "on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude."

The amendment, which was the third and last of the Reconstruction Amendments, was ratified Feb. 3, 1870.

In 1871, Catto urged Blacks to vote, and it was the first time in Philadelphia's history that they voted, despite violence against them at voting sites.

During the voting site violence, Catto was shot and killed by a man who didn't want Black Americans to vote.

Frank Kelly was identified as the killer by multiple witnesses. He was captured and put on trial; an all-white jury exonerated him.

In September 2017, a 12-foot bronze statue of Catto was unveiled at Philadelphia's City Hall.

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