Selva Discusses Threats, Capabilities During Confirmation Hearing

By Jim Garamone

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2015 – Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are the nations most able to threaten the United States, according to the president’s nominee to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In his confirmation hearing today, Air Force Gen. Paul Selva told the Senate Armed Services Committee that while terror groups like al-Qaida and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have the desire and capability to attack the American homeland, they do not present an existential threat to the United States.

If confirmed by the Senate, Selva, who is currently the commander of U.S. Transportation Command, will succeed Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr. to become the tenth vice chairman.

Types, Degrees of Threat

Selva hastened to add that these nations do not present a clear and present danger today. “In that order, you see the countries that are peer and near-peer competitors who are developing conventional and nuclear weapons that match our own,” he said. “You see opaque governments that have ideologies that we don’t agree with, and you see the broad base of terrorist threats that might threaten our interests abroad, our interests abroad and our homeland.”

Russia is the preeminent threat, the general said, because that nation possesses conventional and nuclear capabilities, should Russian leaders choose to use them.

Selva said the threat posed by ISIL and similar extremist organizations is one that must be dealt with, but it's regional in nature. “ISIL does not possess the tools or the capabilities to threaten the existence of the United States as we know it,” he said.

The United States is also increasingly at risk in space and across the networks of cyberspace, he added.

“Effectively confronting these threats, as diverse as they are, requires a whole-of-government approach,” Selva said. “Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Cost Guardsmen truly are the heart and soul of our competitive advantage, and they are far more effective when the full weight of our country’s power is working in unison.”

Budget Concerns

Selva noted another direct threat to the U.S. military: sequestration -- spending caps that will take effect Oct. 1 in the absence of congressional action to change budget law.

“We see the effects of sequestration and the potential declines in the defense budget affecting readiness," he said. "They affect our ability to train those young men and women to do their work. They affect our ability to maintain and reset the equipment that they have been using for the better part of the last decade and a half in Iraq and Afghanistan. And they affect our ability to retain the best of those soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines."

Selva called overseas contingency operations funding -– money appropriated outside the DoD base budget -– “a one-year incremental fix to a long-term problem.”

The general said he is concerned about Iran and its policy of sponsoring terrorism.

With the agreement on Iran’s nuclear program finalized, “the sequential lifting of sanctions will give Iran the access to more economic assets with which to sponsor state terrorism should they chose to do so,” he said. “I think we need to be alert to that possibility, and, as the military, we have an obligation to provide the president with a full range of options to respond.”

Finally, Selva stressed the importance of military-to-military ties. “I think it is very important that our senior military leaders maintain an open dialogue with the senior military leaders of competitor nations so that we can minimize the chance of miscalculation or missteps,” he said.

“In any military operation anywhere in the world -- that goes for Russia and China, specifically, and for any other country that might wish us ill -- we need to open those dialogues to make sure that we don’t miscalculate,” the general said.

Airman Missing from WWII Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors. 

Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Samuel E. Lunday, of Marianna, Fla., will be buried today, at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, DC.  On April 24, 1943, Lunday and four other U.S. servicemen were flying a C-87 Liberator Express aircraft over the Himalayan Mountains, from Yangkai, China, to their home base in Chabua, India.  After losing radio communications following take-off, the crew was never heard from again.  Eleven aerial search missions were unable to locate the aircraft or crew due to intense snows on the mountains at high altitudes, and dense jungle growth at lower altitudes. 

As part of the war effort against the Japanese, U.S. Army Air Forces cargo planes based in India continually airlifted critical supplies over the high mountain ranges that comprise the Himalayas -- known as “The Hump” -- in support of American airbases in China.  The amount of materiel flown over the Himalayas was a logistical achievement unparalleled at the time.

Almost 60 years later, in 2003, an American citizen discovered the wreckage of the C-87 aircraft while trekking in the mountains, approximately 100 miles from Chabua, near the Burmese border.  He recovered the aircraft’s identification plate, military equipment and human remains.  The artifacts and remains were turned over to U.S. officials for analysis.  Attempts to excavate the site are being negotiated with the Indian government.

To determine the identity of the remains, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial evidence and mitochondrial DNA -- which matched that of Lunday’s nephews.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died.  Today, more than 73,000 are unaccounted-for from the conflict.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, call 703-699-1169 or visit the DPMO Web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo .

Panetta Shares Perspectives From Latest Trip

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2012 – In a message to the men and women of the Defense Department, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta shared his perspectives from his recent trip to the Asia-Pacific region.

Here is the secretary’s message:

This week I returned from a week-long trip to Japan, China, and New Zealand, my third trip to the Asia-Pacific region as Secretary of Defense.

The underlying purpose of the trip was to support our new defense strategy, which calls for the Department of Defense to increase our focus on the Asia-Pacific region. This strategy is part of a government-wide effort that includes increased economic, diplomatic, development, and security efforts – all in order to renew and revitalize America’s role in a region that is becoming more critical to our future security and prosperity.

My first stop was Tokyo, a city that I have visited a number of times in previous capacities, and on my first trip to Asia as Secretary of Defense last year. I am always appreciative of the warm hospitality and genuine friendship that the people of Japan extend to me and all their American visitors. It reflects the fact that Japan is a very close ally in the region, and that our Alliance has served as the cornerstone of peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific for more than 50 years.

This trip took place during a time of increased tensions between China and Japan over competing claims to the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea – an episode that serves as a reminder of the important role the United States military continues to play in ensuring peace and security in the region. My message to the Government of Japan, which I would later repeat in China, was simple: the United States doesn’t take a position on competing sovereignty claims but we urge both sides to exercise calm and restraint, and we have an interest in seeing this dispute resolved peacefully and through diplomatic means.

While in Japan, I had very productive meetings with Foreign Minister Gemba and Defense Minister Morimoto that allowed us to make progress on two key issues for our Alliance. First, we agreed to pursue an additional ballistic missile defense radar, directed at protecting the people of Japan, U.S. forward-deployed forces, and the U.S. homeland, from the North Korean missile threat. Second, we set the stage for an agreement, announced later in the week that reconfirmed the safety of the MV-22 Osprey aircraft, enabled the commencement of flight operations, and paved the way for the deployment of the aircraft to in Okinawa. The Osprey is an important new capability that will greatly enhance our ability to defend Japan and respond to crises in the region – with twice the speed, three times the payload, and four times the range of the platform it replaces.

Before departing Tokyo, I had the opportunity to visit with several hundred American service members stationed at Yokota Air Base – a critical hub for our activities in the region. I had the chance to describe our new defense strategy and point out that the key to our strength rests with them – the men and women in uniform serving our Nation. It’s always a highlight for me to have the opportunity to interact with service members wherever I travel in the world.

My next stop was Beijing, a visit that marked my first trip to China as Secretary of Defense. The goal of this visit was to build on the progress we have made toward establishing a military-to-military relationship with China that is healthy, stable, reliable, and continuous. Our two nations have had a series of high-level interactions this year – from the visit of Vice President Xi to the Pentagon earlier in the year to General Liang’s visit in May – that have helped to build sustained and substantive interactions between our leaders. My visit continued this trend. One of the highlights was an elaborate welcome banquet General Liang hosted in my honor at the State Guest House in Beijing, which even included a magic show and a few hundred toasts that we all survived.

In my discussions with key military and civilian leaders, the thing that most impressed me is that we are building the kind of relationship where we can talk openly and candidly about our disagreements. At the same time, we are increasingly able to identify areas where our militaries can cooperate more – such as counterpiracy and maritime security, humanitarian relief and disaster assistance, and peacekeeping operations. In that spirit, I invited China to send a ship to RIMPAC 2014 – the world’s largest multilateral Naval exercise.

I was also encouraged by my interactions with young officers and cadets at the Engineering Academy of PLA Armored Forces, where I gave a speech focusing on the United States rebalance to Asia-Pacific region and had the opportunity to join students for lunch in the cafeteria. The questions that I got from the young cadets were candid and thoughtful, and it was clear that they appreciated my message that a stronger defense relationship between the U.S. and China is critically important to security and prosperity in the 21st century.

On my third and final day in China, I was able to fly to the coastal city of Qingdao and visit the headquarters of the North Sea fleet. There, I toured a PLA frigate and a diesel powered submarine. I was impressed with the professionalism and discipline of the PLA sailors, and it is clear that they are working to modernize their military. Throughout my visit, I stressed the importance of increasing their transparency as they undergo this modernization, so it was a positive step for me to be given a tour of these ships.

From Qingdao, we boarded our plane for the final time in China and took an overnight flight down to Auckland, New Zealand, the final stop on this trip.

It was the first visit I’ve ever made to New Zealand, and I was struck by the similarities in landscape between Auckland and my native Northern California. It was a special honor to be in Auckland because I was the first United States Secretary of Defense to visit New Zealand in 30 years.

Soon after I arrived, New Zealand’s Defence Forces hosted a welcome ceremony for me that befitted the historic nature of this visit. During the ceremony, a group of Maori tribesman approached me with a ceremonial challenge. My job was to pick up a dagger while not smiling and maintaining eye contact in order to signal that I came in peace. Luckily, I passed the test.

My broader purpose in traveling to New Zealand was first and foremost to recognize that New Zealand has been a stalwart friend over the past decade of war. In Afghanistan, New Zealand has made a variety of contributions to the war effort and continues to lead the Bamiyan provincial reconstruction team. During my visit, I paid tribute to New Zealand’s war heroes at their National War Memorial Museum, and I had the opportunity to recognize five individual soldiers from the New Zealand Defence Forces with Army Commendation Medals.

New Zealand also plays an important role as a provider of security in the South Pacific, and as the United States rebalances to the Asia-Pacific region we are looking for new ways to partner together to enhance regional security. To that end, I was pleased to be able to announce while in New Zealand that the U.S. government is changing some policies that govern interactions with New Zealand’s military, which were put into effect after New Zealand passed nuclear-free legislation in the mid-1980s. Specifically, we have eliminated restrictions on discussions and exercises between our two militaries, and we have established a mechanism to authorize individual visits by ships of New Zealand’s Royal Navy to U.S. military and coast guard facilities, both in the United States and around the world.

These changes sent a strong signal that we are entering into a new era of defense cooperation with New Zealand. More broadly, my entire week-long trip sent the message that the United States is following through with our strategy to rebalance towards the Asia-Pacific region. Throughout the week, it was heartening to hear Allies, friends and partners in the region welcome the Department’s renewed focus on Asia-Pacific. The high regard they have for the U.S. military is a reflection of the dedication and professionalism of all our men and women in uniform, and the civilians who support them. I am proud of what we have accomplished together and grateful for your continued service to a strong and secure America.

Panetta Visits Chinese Navy Fleet, Tours Vessels

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

QINGDAO, China – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta visited the headquarters of one of China’s three naval fleets on his final stop in China today before heading to New Zealand.

Panetta, the first defense secretary to visit the People’s Liberation Army’s Navy North Sea Fleet headquarters, toured a Chinese frigate and a submarine, according to a defense official traveling with the secretary. Reporters traveling with Panetta were not permitted on the tours.

The secretary met with fleet commander Vice Adm. Tian Zhong, the official said, and the two discussed the importance each country places on its navy, the desirability of increasing engagement and exercises, and the invitation the secretary extended to China to send a ship to the multilateral maritime exercise Rim of the Pacific 2014. The vice admiral seemed pleased at the invitation, the official added.

The official noted that the North Sea Fleet, established in 1960, is based on five installations in northern China and performs a range of missions, including patrolling and protecting the seas in the area, protecting fisheries, conducting rescue missions and supporting scientific research. Fleet activities increasingly focus in international engagement, the official said.

While in Qingdao, the official said, the secretary toured the frigate Yantai, which holds a crew of 172, and recently supported Gulf of Aden counter-piracy operations. Panetta also toured the Great Wall 197 submarine, a conventionally powered sub which holds 55 crews, commissioned in 2003 with torpedo, minelayer and reconnaissance capabilities, the official added.

While the secretary toured the frigate and submarine and attended a command briefing on the fleet, Chinese navy spokesman Sr. Col. Huang Xueping spoke with the traveling press.

He explained the North Sea Fleet is one of three PLA navy fleet headquarters; the others are the East Sea and South Sea fleets.

Generally speaking, Huang said, the fleet’s primary mission is to “safeguard national sovereignty, territory and integrity. Second is to coordinate with other services … [and] third is to participate in national humanitarian [and] disaster relief [efforts].” The fleet also performs other missions as directed by the government, he added.

Asked about his reaction to the secretary’s invitation for the Chinese navy to send a ship to Rimpac 2014, Huang said, “This message is quite positive. So we will staff carefully the request, the invitation, and we will make the response.”

The People’s Liberation Army welcomes the opportunity to participate in international exercises and exchanges, he said. “We think it’s a good chance for us to participate in such kinds of activity, and learn from our colleagues,” he said.

After leaving Qingdao, the secretary flew to New Zealand for the last leg of his third Asia tour, which has also included Japan.