In the late 1980s, our light infantry battalions were issued the first man-portable GPS devices. Roughly the size of a cigar box at the time, they were largely left in the arms room and viewed with disdain by most infantry leaders as a crutch for the incompetent officer and NCO who simply needed to learn to land navigate by map, compass and stars.
Given the challenges of myriad new threats and the proliferation of tools and technologies that are now commercially available in cyber, semiconductors, analytics, drones, etc., the United States Department of Defense and Intelligence Community are increasingly challenged to maintain a level of innovation sufficient to counter rapidly changing threats.
In this essay by the brilliant business strategist Steve Blank, a major thought leader recognized as the father of the Lean Startup process, you can read some of the best thinking from Silicon Valley on what U.S. government agencies must do to meet these challenges. Ranging from organizational adaptability to maintaining their wartime agility in peacetime, click here for a thoughtful description of both the challenges and some detailed actions our defense and intelligence leadership can take to help organize their agencies for successful innovation. Like the recent B1-B strategic bomber overflights, America’s largest forward-deployed naval vessel, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, and the forward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Stethem demonstrate U.S. resolve as they maneuver alongside the Republic of Korea’s navy in a 40-ship flotilla stretching from the Yellow Sea into the Sea of Japan.
Denounced by North Korea as a “rehearsal for war,” both China and Russia have recently signaled support for increased U.N. sanctions against North Korea, which reinforces to the world, if not to North Korea, that this U.S. administration is not like previous administrations. While not widely publicized in the U.S., the Chinese recently hosted a senior delegation of American defense officials and military officers. Widely broadcast photographs inside of China show President Xi closely collaborating with this U.S. delegation as a way to reassure his population that China and the U.S. are not at odds but are working together on the North Korean challenge. It is hard to see how Kim Jong Un can self-arrest his breakout push for nuclear weapons or how the Trump administration can allow this hostile nuclear development to continue. Therefore, I believe war is inevitable. If that is true, these are some of the combined naval forces that will play a critical role. “During the Cold War, major efforts were undertaken by the Department of Defense to assure that the U.S. national command authority and U.S. strategic forces could survive and operate after an EMP attack. However, no major efforts were then thought necessary to protect critical national infrastructures, relying on nuclear deterrence to protect them. With the development of small nuclear arsenals and long-range missiles by new, radical U.S. adversaries, beginning with North Korea, the threat of a nuclear EMP attack against the U.S. becomes one of the few ways that such a country could inflict devastating damage to the United States. It is critical, therefore, that the U.S. national leadership address the EMP threat as a critical and existential issue, and give a high priority to assuring the leadership is engaged and the necessary steps are taken to protect the country from EMP.”
This is the opening paragraph of a statement for the record by Dr. Graham and Dr. Pry of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States From Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack delivered to Congress on Oct. 12. As the MSM continue to miss the fact that we are at greater risk today than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis, you cannot afford to ignore the threat of a weapons system that could lead to the death of almost 90% of the U.S. population. For example, you have heard the Intelligence Community and pundits argue that North Korea has not yet hardened a nuclear weapon for the stresses of re-entry but that misses the point. An EMP warhead doesn’t re-enter the atmosphere. It is detonated in space. That means that as of its detonation of a massive EMP-style weapon on Sept. 3, North Korea is already an existential threat to the U.S. For more details, Dr. Harald Malmgren, long-serving adviser to four U.S. presidents, describes the lessons learned in the Cuban Missile Crisis and his thoughts on North Korea’s efforts to develop an EMP weapon. Click here to listen to Grant William’s excellent interview with Dr. Harald Malmgren As first reported over two years ago by Israeli intelligence, the popular Kaspersky Lab antivirus software, relied on by over 400 million people globally, including U.S. government agencies, has been a “Google search [engine] for sensitive information.” Included in the Kaspersky network were hacking tools that appear to have been created by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).
The New York Times reported in one case an NSA employee had improperly stored classified documents on his home computer that was running Kaspersky antivirus software. After investigating, the NSA confirmed those sensitive hacking tools were in the possession of the Russian government. After over two years, the U.S. government just last month finally ordered the removal of Kaspersky software from government computers. But before you roll your eyes at the irony of NSA employees and U.S. government agencies trusting Russian security software, you might be surprised to learn how often you are falling into the same trap with your reliance on “secure” encryption and communications platforms sponsored by U.S. intelligence agencies. Click here for a disturbing read. Following their successful deployment in the Nogales, Arizona, area, Elbit Systems of America has passed the CBP system acceptance testing for their second major contract to deploy an Integrated Fixed Tower (IFT) border security system.
This IFT system deployed in the Douglas, Arizona, area of responsibility (AOR) integrates sensor towers with radar, day and night cameras and command and control software to fuse the sensor information into a 24/7 common operating picture for the CBP agents. Click here for more details in the Elbit press release. Announced by Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley, the reform of the Army’s acquisition system would be “the largest re-engineering of the institutional Army in four decades.”
Having studied best practices among U.S. Special Operations Command, the Air Force, Navy and even civilian industry, the Army announced plans to reorganize its currently stovepiped bureaucracies into one streamlined acquisition command and infuse real-world combat experience into every step of the procurement process. For those of us who have dealt with this particular leviathan, there will be a high wall of skepticism for the Army leadership to climb before combat soldiers and industry are convinced, but it is a welcome initiative. Click here for more details. As a follow-up to their previous requests for new engines to propel our next-generation rockets, now the U.S. Air Force has called for proposals to build the next generation “Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles,” or EELV.
With only a month before President Trump’s first visit to Asia and China as president, the U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Chafee (DDG 90) conducted normal maneuvering operations that challenge “excessive maritime claims” near the Paracel Islands.
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AuthorKevin Massengill is an entrepreneur, investor, and award winning Fortune 500 senior executive with a track record of massive business growth. Archives
September 2020
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