June 17, 2009 -- The House Armed Services Committee's fiscal year 2010 defense authorization bill adds $308 million to the Defense Department's request for special operations efforts and establishes a congressional commission for critiquing the Quadrennial Defense Review, according to a summary of the bill released by the panel this morning.
The National Defense Panel's task would be to conduct an “independent review of the QDR's effectiveness and issue recommendations on how to improve the decision making process for determining national priorities,” the summary reads.
The panel would be the second congressional group on the QDR created by the House bill. The legislation also extends by 12 months the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States, led by former defense secretaries William Perry and James Schlesinger.
“This additional year will allow the commission to review and submit a report on the strategic security issues addressed by the pending Nuclear Posture Review and Quadrennial Defense Review, and any relevant congressional actions,” according to a June 11 statement by the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, where the provision originated.
The House bill also requires a review by the Government Accountability Office to determine whether defense officials conducted the QDR according to statutory guidelines. Should auditors determine that officials deviated from those guidelines, DOD officials must explain why, according to the legislation.
Another QDR-related provision requires a report from the Pentagon on the force-structure requirements used to “guide” the process.
The bill authorizes $9 billion for special operations efforts, including money for U.S. Special Operations Command projects outside the FY-10 defense budget request. Additional money goes to improved surveillance capabilities, communications systems and modifications to air and ground vehicles, according to the summary.
The legislation also “revises” the statute governing special operations activities. The new verbiage places “greater emphasis on unconventional warfare, irregular warfare, counterterrorism and counterinsurgency,” according to the summary.
The Irregular Warfare Support (IWS) program, managed by the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO), would get a funding boost of $100 million. The multi-agency office is managed by the assistant secretary of defense for special operations, low-intensity conflict and interdependent capabilities.
The IWS program helps conduct irregular warfare and counterinsurgency “programs” against “hostile human networks,” the summary states.
The funding plus-up would be taken from the budget for a core activity of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization -- the fight against the network of individuals behind IED attacks.
While the summary lauds JIEDDO's plans to spend more in this area, “the committee believes the [IWS] program is better positioned” for the work, the document states.
The bill also expands SOCOM's so-called Section 1208 program by $15 million, bringing its annual spending authority to $50 million. Officials use the program to bolster foreign militias helping U.S. forces in counterterrorism operations.
In the area of acquisition, the bill authorizes defense officials to create 10 pilot programs for buying information technology systems more quickly than the regular acquisition process would allow.
Officials have long decried the slow speed of the defense acquisition process for information systems. The field is particularly affected because improvements in information technology capabilities appear on the market more frequently than in other sectors.
In another information technology-related provision, House Armed Services Committee members want to authorize the temporary assignment of military IT experts to the private sector, and vice versa.
New reporting requirements include an annual assessment of Iran's military capabilities and a new section in the Pentagon's annual China report regarding military cooperation with Beijing.
The bill is expected to go to the House floor on June 25, according to House Armed Services Committee spokeswoman Lara Battles. -- Sebastian Sprenger
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