Wampum

Coming to what's left of Maine near you

With the few exceptions of governments actually committed to the planned use of military assets to obtain policy objectives, "military necessity" is defined by local politics. The antenna farm at Cutler, which pumps out 50 characters/second of submarine command and control messages over Very Long Wave radio, has been short on mission since the end of Cold War.

The airfield at Brunswick, which flies long-range maritime patrol aircraft, has also been short on mission since the end of Cold War.

The shipyard at Portsmouth, which overhauls and repairs nuclear-powered submarines, has also been short on mission since the end of Cold War.

Being short on mission is common to every global thermonuclear war postured military asset. Which military assets continue to be funded is a political issue, there is no "rational necessity" test.

However, as long as there is funding to operate submarines as instruments of national policy, that is, covert placement of armed and instrumented engineering spaces just off any point of the Atlantic, Mediterranian, Baltic and Circumpolar coasts, or at any blue water intercept coordinate is necessary to achive national policy goals, funding for the antenna farm at Cutler is safe.

Similarly, as long as there is funding to operate long-range maritime patrol aircraft as instruments of national policy, that is, rapid placement of armed and istrumented engineering spaces at any point in the central and western North Atlantic, or at any blue water intercept coordinate is necessary to achive national policy goals, funding for the air field at Brunswick is safe.

Again, as long as there is funding to operate submarines as instruments of national policy, the Submarine Maintenance Engineering, Planning and Procurement activity (SUBMEPP) must also be funded. Whether it is funded at the yard at Bremerton, the yard at Pearl Harbor, the yard at Hampton Roads, or the yard at Portsmouth is a balence of Atlantic Fleet fictions between Portsmouth and Hampton Roads -- yard efficiency, economies of scale vs single point of failure, and the effectiveness of Congressional delegations as lobbiests -- and the dirty secret that all four yards are public, contrary to the ideologies of privatization and reduction of government.

The General Dynamics yard at Bath is not a DoD facillity, so it is not within the scope of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC), which needs 60 staffers in a wicked big hurry, to start four months of frenzied analysis and cross-country travel, obviously some to Maine, by May 16, when Secretary Rumsfeld’s realignment and closure recommendations must be given to the commission. Bath's problems lie elsewhere, nominally in the single-source cost-savings narrative, which is a rational for the Ingall's (Litton) yard in Passcagoula over the General Dynamics yard in Bath, but more fundamentally in the change of naval policy from blue water to brown water capabilities. In a nutshell, the Navy is trying to follow the Army down the special forces / asymetric forces / fast mobile rathole, because that's where the money is.

Where the Press Herald errs is in first accepting the assumption that the Base Realignment and Closure Commission is a rational process. There are dozens of very expensive bases, from Texas to North Dakota, that can not be postured as military assets except for fighting an intercontintal thermonuclear war. Most of the 8th Air Force, B-52 Wings in Texas, Louisiana, Missori, and the Dakotas, and most of the 12th Air Force, B-52 Wings in Nebraska, Montana, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, California and Washington, serve little useful purpose other than hauling cruise missiles and dumb bombs strategic distances to deploy in tactical theaters. Most of the 20th Air Force, the 90th Space Wing in Wyoming, the 91st Space Wing in North Dakota, and the 341st Space Wing in Montana, serve little purpose other than proping up claims that ICBMs are protecting America from something. And that's just the Air Force's obsolete "strategic" assets, overwhelmingly in Red States. The Atlantic SSBN fleet at King's Bay Georgia is wicked expensive, in a Red State, and a lot of it could be stood down and life-extended, because it too serves little present purpose other than proping up claims that ICBMs are protecting America from something.

Where the Press Herald errs next is accepting the assumption that necessity and utility evaluation is policy neutral. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld is set on recreating the Armed Forces as a light mobile active force, abandoning heavy armor and the concept of European and Korean Theater Commands. In a nutshell, more Marines-lite and no follow-on forces capable of operating against WARSAW-PACT equivalent forces. Secretary of the Navy Gordon England is set on the same course, transforming the blue water Navy organized around carrier strike groups into a brown water force organized around littorial missions in support of light mobile ground forces. As Cabinet and sub-Cabinet appointees of the Executive, they are acting within their authority to reorganize operational commands, to discard and replace training and doctrine, and to make recommendations to Congress on any subject whatsoever. However, it is Congress that appropriates Defense funding, and exercises its independent judgement on the fundamentals -- e.g., adding Blackhawk helicopters and keeping a production line open. Ultimately, it is Congress, and not the Pentagon, that decides what the Military is, and how and where it is used. There is no clause in the War Powers Act that allows the Executive Branch to commit the United States to ad hoc asymetric adventures and ignore symmetric challenges, or to assume that the Wars of 1990 and 2002/3 in West Asia against militaries functioning at or below the 1950s level of operational art and material preparedness, repeated, is the Challenge of the Future. The Secretary of Defense makes policy recommendations. Policy recommndations are not policy neutral. Congress, not the Executive, make policy choices through Defense Appropriations. Congress may choose to extend the life of the Los Angeles Class attack submarines, and it may choose to maintain a blue water capability in the northern hemisphere, the Secretary of Defense is free to ignore Congress, but he is not free to tell Congress what it can, and cannot do.

The BRAC is not objectivity from on high. George Bush had to use a recess-appointment on April 2nd to get Anthony Principi as the commission chair. Senator Trent Lott (R-MI) put a hold on the nomination because of his opposition to domestic base closings. On April 5th Charlie Battaglia was hired as the Commission’s chief of staff, and having no infrastructure left over from the series of Base Realignment and Closure C commissions in 1991, 1993 and 1995, the Commission moved into office space on Jefferson Davis Highway in Crystal City, Va., and has quickly hired 30 staff members, many of whom have been involved in previous BRAC processes. He still must recruit another 60 people — mostly administrative staff and associate analysts — for yearlong positions. These positions are sought by people who are either on their way out of government, or just entering government. They are Mac-Jobs.

Posted: April 20, 2005

The Base Closure and Realignment Commission is seeking qualified personnel for the following positions:

Associate Analysts – must possess writing and analytical skills toassist senior analysts in evaluating complex and extensive data. Ability to work under pressure and overtime. Very challenging assignment. Skilled in Microsoft Office Suite. Some travel. Position available from May 2 to October 8, 2005. Past experience as a legislative assistant a plus.

Commission Security Officer. Responsible for maintaining the physical security of the Commission office and documents. Process the security clearances of staff as required. Experience as a federal security officer a requirement.

Advance Team Member. Coordinate and prepare senior officials’ visits and arrange for field hearings over a two to three month period commencing in late May. Extensive travel within the United States.

Position assignment from May 2 to October 8, 2005.
Staff Assistants. Maintain executive calendars, prepare draft correspondence, maintain files and documents, expense records and other duties as assigned. Excellent oral and interpersonal skills, experience in operating Microsoft Office Suite. Administrative skills required.

Competitive salary commensurate with experience and skills. Send resume to: robert.cook@wso.whs.mil

That is what is coming to Kittery and Brunswick. Not anything more than that. That is what the Portland Press Herald should have written about.

Posted by EBW at April 21, 2005 08:53 PM | TrackBack