MORNING RECON - 20150205

Good Thursday morning and welcome to MORNING RECON. On this day in 1971, Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell landed on the moon in the Apollo 14 mission. It was the third mission to land on the moon.

OBAMA READIES WAR POWERS PITCH

From The Hill: “The White House is poised to send a formal request to Congress asking for a new authorization to use military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The request, expected within the next week, would come days after ISIS released a video showing a caged Jordanian pilot being burned alive — a further display of the group’s brutality that one Republican lawmaker described Wednesday as a “game-changer.” http://goo.gl/laqXVI

MCCAIN: WHITE HOUSE WON'T LISTEN TO CARTER

From Defense News: “A prominent GOP senator says Ash Carter's suggestion of changes to US policies on Afghanistan and Ukraine will matter little if he becomes secretary of defense because the White House will simply ignore him. "I'm confident that he has no influence whatsoever," Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., told reporters Wednesday during a break in Carter's confirmation hearing.” http://goo.gl/lFlveD

FEW SURPRISES, CONCERNS AT CARTER CONFIRMATION HEARING

From Military Times: “The Senate's confirmation hearing for the next secretary of defense was filled will familiar faces, familiar questions and unsurprising answers from a candidate expected to sail through a full chamber vote within days. Carter will be back on Capitol Hill to discuss budget issues in a few weeks, assuming he is confirmed. McCain said he thinks that vote could take place before the end of next week.” http://goo.gl/A9auaX

THE PENTAGON’S WEAPON WISH LISTS COULD DISAPPEAR

From Defense One: “The military’s billion-dollar wish lists for weapons that did not make it onto the Pentagon’s budget might disappear as lawmakers decide whether they’re worth it. “Actually I’m not really big on unfunded priority lists,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Defense One Wednesday. “I think they’re sort of a backdoor way of getting things done.”” http://goo.gl/wkFoJ0

NBC'S BRIAN WILLIAMS ADMITS HIS REPEATED IRAQ STORY WAS NOT TRUE

NEXT DEFENSE SECRETARY OPEN TO KEEPING A-10 IN AIR FORCE

From DoD Buzz: “Defense Secretary nominee Ashton Carter agreed Wednesday to hear arguments from Joint Tactical Air Controllers (JTACS) for keeping the A-10 despite renewed efforts by the Air Force to retire the Thunderbolt. Carter made no commitments on the A-10, but when asked by Ayotte if he would speak with representatives of the TACP, he said: “Absolutely, I will.” http://goo.gl/uTJVEA

PENTAGON BUDGET 2016: USD11 BILLION F-35 REQUEST WOULD FUND 57 MORE AIRCRAFT

From IHS Jane’s 360: “The US Department of Defense (DoD) has requested just more than USD11 billion in fiscal year 2016 (FY 2016) for continued development and procurement of 57 more Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, according to budget documents released on 2 February.” http://goo.gl/s0neq6

SCIENCE AND TECH CHIEFS: STOP EROSION OF U.S. TECH SUPERIORITY

From Military Times: “Science and technology chiefs for each service and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency urged a united effort with military, academia and industry to develop a "new technology offset" that will reverse the loss of technological superiority and overcome the resulting erosion of operational capabilities. Ultimately, scientists and researchers have to step up and "create technology surprise for our adversaries and potential adversaries," Shaffer told those assembled. "Give them something to think about. Give them something to worry about." http://goo.gl/PmIfll

WASHINGTON UNVEILS NATO WEAPON-SHARING PLAN

From Defense News: “The US State Department and the Pentagon's office for selling military equipment to foreign allies announced on Wednesday that they are embarking on a program that will for the first time allow NATO members to acquire and share American military hardware among members of the alliance.” http://goo.gl/wqt3gG

NAVY’S UCLASS COMPETITION DELAYED UNTIL NEXT YEAR

From Defense Tech: “The start of a formal completion among vendors to build the Navy’s carrier-launched drone has been delayed until sometime in 2016 pending the results of an ongoing Pentagon review, Navy officials said. The Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike System, or UCLASS, is envisioned as a next-generation platform able to deliver maritime-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technology along with weapons-strike capability.” http://goo.gl/CNEXDr

CNO GREENERT: ‘CYBER THEFT IS HEMORRHAGING US’

From USNI News: “While outlining is technology priorities for the service, Greenert cast cyber security of U.S. tech and military systems as one of his top three asks from industry science and technology sectors. “I need you to lock your IT doors… The losing of proprietary data on high technology from cleared defense contractors — it’s just driving me crazy,” he said during a keynote at the Office of Naval Research Naval Future Force Science and Technology Expo. “Cyber theft is just hemorrhaging us.” http://goo.gl/wgfoSj

SSBN-X SUBS: AMERICA GOING NUCLEAR TO REPLACE GRAYING BOOMERS

From Defense Industry Daily: “The Future Years Defense Plan calls for a $10 billion investment, split between research and long-lead-time procurement, over the next five years. After that, the real money really starts to add up. The Navy today estimates that it will cost $100 billion to replace the existing 14 boomers with 12 new ones – an amount equal to Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product at the end of the first cold war. Over their service life, they would be expected to cost roughly four times that. Several rear admirals have suggested that the navy will need budget relief to get this accomplished, yet still have funds to afford other shipbuilding programs. The idea of moving this big project off their books appears to be more and more frequently floated.” http://goo.gl/xswBPS

GREEN BERET OFFICER'S SILVER STAR REVOKED AS ARMY CITES INVESTIGATION

From The Washington Post: “Capt. Mathew L. Golsteyn was leading a Special Forces team in Afghanistan in 2010 when an 80-man mission he assembled to hunt insurgent snipers went awry. One of their five vehicles sunk into mud, a gunshot incapacitated an Afghan soldier fighting alongside the Americans, and insurgents maneuvered around them to rake the soggy fields with machine-gun fire.

“In a rare reversal, however, Golsteyn, now a major, no longer has either award. The Special Forces officer was later investigated for an undisclosed violation of the military's rules of engagement in combat for killing a known enemy fighter and bomb maker, according to officials familiar with the case. The investigation closed last year without Golsteyn being charged with any crime, but Army Secretary John McHugh decided to not only deny him the Distinguished Service Cross, but to revoke his Silver Star, too.” http://goo.gl/EStEKq

19 PERCENT PASS RATE FOR WOMEN IN RANGER PREP

From Military Times: “Five female soldiers successfully completed the Ranger Training Assessment Course at Fort Benning, Georgia, moving them one step closer to attending the Army's storied Ranger School this spring. A total of 58 soldiers — 53 men, five women — completed the two-week course Jan. 30, officials at Fort Benning announced Wednesday.

In all, 122 soldiers started the course, for a completion rate of almost 48 percent.” http://goo.gl/KZojYN

LOOPHOLE ALLOWS SEX OFFENDERS TO EVADE REGISTRATION

From NBC WXIA: “When a civilian is convicted of something as heinous as rape or child molestation, under the Adam Walsh Act, they are to be fingerprinted, have their DNA taken and name added to the sex offender registry before being released from prison. But in the military it's an honor system – ironically for those who've already proven dishonorable. When a sex offender is released from a military prison, the Department of Defense asks where they plan to go, then sends that community a letter. There's little oversight to make sure that they do.” http://goo.gl/yY1q0E

WARRIOR-SCHOLAR PROGRAM HELPS VETS SUCCEED

From Inside Higher Ed: “Several start-ups are stepping in to help the large numbers of veterans attempt to adjust to campus life. One, a non-profit dubbed the Warrior-Scholar Project, is an academic boot camp aimed at veterans who plan on attending or transferring to a 4-year college. A group of about 10 foundations and private donors pays for the project.” http://goo.gl/vot3qY

INTERNATIONAL

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION IS LEANING TOWARD ARMING UKRAINE

From AP: “As President Barack Obama's pick to run the Pentagon said Wednesday he's inclined to support lethal weapons transfers, Ukraine's president said he was confident the U.S. would do so. Meanwhile, outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry were flying to discuss Ukraine and other issues with allies in Europe. Vice President Joe Biden is due to follow them Thursday.” http://goo.gl/lwT0yL

MILITARY EBOLA MISSION IN LIBERIA COMING TO AN END

From Military Times: “President Obama is all but ending the U.S. military mission to Liberia to fight Ebola next month, as infection rates there fall to near zero. The number of troops deployed to the West African country, which reached nearly 3,000 in December, will fall to 1,300 this week and decline through the end of March as soldiers head home, according to a U.S. official familiar with the U.S. government efforts. The official declined to be identified because the government is not ready to disclose its plans to the public. The official said the returning troops would be replaced by a force of about 100 for at least the near term.” http://goo.gl/02Qeka

JORDANIAN KING PLEADS FOR US WEAPONRY

From Military Times: “King Abdullah of Jordan wants US lawmakers to speed delivery of sophisticated weaponry to fight the Islamic State after the group burned one of its military pilots to death. Abdullah huddled with several US congressional committees on Tuesday before heading home early after the release of an Islamic State video showing Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh being burned to death in a cage.” http://goo.gl/Etdkk1

JORDAN'S SPECIAL FORCES ARE SOME OF THE BEST IN THE MIDDLE EAST

From Business Insider: http://goo.gl/pc5SS6

FORMER MEMBERS OF FRANCE’S MILITARY HAVE JOINED ISLAMIC STATE

From McClatchy: “At least 12 former members of the French military are among the estimated 1,000 French citizens who’ve joined the Islamic State, including one highly trained special forces commando who was radicalized while working as a security contractor in the Persian Gulf, according to French officials and analysts as well as Arab security services.” http://goo.gl/HIr3u5

WESTERNERS JOIN KURDS FIGHTING ISLAMIC STATE GROUP IN IRAQ

From AP: “As Kurdish fighters gathered around a fire in this damp, frigid mountain town in northwestern Iraq, exhausted from battling the Islamic State group, a surprising recruit wearing a tactical vest with the words "Christ is Lord" scribbled on it joined them. The fighter, with a sniper rifle slung over his shoulder and Rambo-styled bandanna around his head, is 28-year-old Jordan Matson from Sturtevant, Wisconsin, a former U.S. Army soldier who joined the Kurds to fight the extremist group now holding a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria.” http://goo.gl/NDEisN

IRAN: THE ‘AMERICANS ARE BEGGING US FOR A DEAL’

From Washington Free Beacon: http://goo.gl/Gql2pB

RUSSIA'S MILITARY IS ADDING MORE PLANES THIS YEAR THAN MOST COUNTRIES OWN IN TOTAL

From International Business Times: “It will receive more than 200 new airplanes and helicopters this year, a staggeringly high number considering that most of the world's air forces have fewer warplanes than that in total. Russia will also introduce in service this year the most advanced version of its highly capable Flanker fighter jet.” http://goo.gl/s8RVRn

RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA STOKES ANTI-WEST SENTIMENT

From CBC News: http://goo.gl/WeP11V

CHINA VOICES CONCERN ABOUT US MISSILE DEFENSE IN SOUTH KOREA

From Agence France-Presse: “China expressed concern about the possible deployment of an advanced US missile defense system in South Korea during talks Wednesday between their defense chiefs, Seoul military officials said. Washington is considering whether to install the politically sensitive THAAD (Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense) system in the South, a close US ally which hosts 29,000 American troops.” http://goo.gl/KFqEdI

COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

BEATING THE PETRO DOLLAR

From RealClearDefense: “America’s long and complicated history with the Middle East is the subject of many lengthy books, with most suggesting that the American thirst for oil is what drives our role in the region. While the recent “shale boom” has the price of oil at its lowest in a decade, escaping the global influence of Middle East oil is not so easy. A source of instability since the 1970s, Americans would be unwise to assign the influence of the “petro dollar” to the dust heap of history.” http://goo.gl/AQ35OB

CROWDFUNDING THE WAR IN UKRAINE — FROM MANHATTAN

From Foreign Policy: “So far, the United States has sent only night-vision goggles, body armor, and other nonlethal aid to Ukraine, though President Barack Obama is thought to now be considering dispatching the lethal variety. According to a recent report put out by the Brookings Institution, the Atlantic Council, and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, what Ukraine needs most are defensive radars that can detect multiple-launch rocket systems, a type of munition that has so far been responsible for as much as 70 percent of Ukraine’s casualties; fortified Humvees; light anti-armor missiles; medium-altitude, medium-range surveillance drones for tracking the movement and deployment of separatist forces (as well as countermeasures for duping the separatists’ own drones); and secure communications gear.” http://goo.gl/yvsYs9

THE U.S. AIR FORCE IS DETERMINED TO JUNK HALF ITS BEST JAMMERS

From War is Boring: http://goo.gl/ewkZjE

OBAMA’S PENTAGON PICK IS ALREADY AT ODDS WITH THE WHITE HOUSE

From The Daily Beast: “One minute, the incoming Defense Secretary floats the idea of arming Ukraine to stop Putin. The next idea is being shot down from the White House podium. On Wednesday, Ash Carter, the man Obama picked to run the Pentagon, appeared to push the administration to escalate its involvement in Ukraine conflict when he told the Senate he was “very much inclined” to recommend the United States provide lethal weapons to the Ukrainian military.” http://goo.gl/RG1oYK

JORDAN’S RETALIATION IS THE REAL ARAB AWAKENING THE PENTAGON HAS BEEN WAITING FOR

From Defense One: “This is the moment the Pentagon has been waiting for. All those years of “building partner capacity,” to train, equip, fund, strengthen and professionalize the militaries of Middle East dictators and kingdoms, are about to pay off.” http://goo.gl/aFDUIE

INSIDE IRAQ'S IRANIAN-BACKED MILITIAS

From Bloomberg View: “On the bank of a canal across from a row of gated homes in the Iraqi village of Sinsil, a group of volunteers with the Badr Organization psych themselves up for battle with the Islamic State. In their loose-fitting camouflage fatigues, the men follow the lead of a commander in his mid-50s, raise their AK-47 rifles into the air and chant: “Crush the Islamic State and honor Sistani.” http://goo.gl/Y1lj4X

THE 5 MOST OVERRATED WEAPONS OF WAR

From The National Interest: http://goo.gl/jWX0Mx

OPINION: A BETTER LCS—OR AN ALL-NEW FRIGATE?

From Aviation Week: “The Navy has decided that the LCS’s speed is unnecessary—probably because a new generation of very accurate, automated, stabilized medium-caliber gun mounts emerged from the world of land warfare to provide an affordable counter-swarm defense. Is it a good idea to saddle the fleet, to 2050 and beyond, with the burden of the original speed requirement?” http://goo.gl/Km0jac

A SILENCED GENERATION IS FINALLY HEARD IN 'CENSORED VOICES'

From AP: “After nearly a half-century of censorship, the Israeli soldiers of 1967's Six-Day War are finally being heard in full in the illuminating documentary "Censored Voices." http://goo.gl/U1w9Lu

SEND RCD YOUR INPUT: Please send your tips, suggestions and feedback to [email protected] and follow us on Twitter @RCDefense. If you are receiving Morning Recon for the first time and would like to subscribe, sign up here.

John Waters is the Assistant Editor of RealClearDefense.