By GORDON I. PETERSON
Senior Editor
Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen has
announced that President Clinton has nominated Lt. Gen. James L. Jones for promotion and
assignment as the 32nd commandant of the Marine Corps. Jones, currently serving as Cohen's
military assistant, will relieve Gen. Charles C. Krulak at a change of command ceremony on
30 June at the historic Marine Corps Barracks in Washington, D.C. The president's
nomination is subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
Retired general officers who served with
Jones reacted favorably to news of his promotion. "General Jones did a great job as
my deputy J3 [director of operations]," said Gen. George A. Joulwan, former commander
in chief of the U.S. European Command and supreme allied commander, Europe. "He
learned much about the challenges we face in new missions in Europe and around the world,
and he is uniquely qualified to provide clarity in military advice to political
leadership," Joulwan added.
During his assignment at the U.S.
European Command (USEUCOM) from 1992 to 1994, Jones was posted as chief of staff to Joint
Task Force Provide Promise. He played a critical role in executing the first
humanitarian-relief airdrop missions in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1993, in coordinating U.S.
planning for that region with NATO allies, and in deploying U.S. Army infantry with U.N.
monitoring forces in Macedonia.
While serving as commanding officer of
the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) in 1991, Jones attracted the favorable attention
of senior commanders for his innovative conduct of joint U.S. operations in Northern Iraq
and Turkey. In his EUCOM and MEU assignments Jones was at the forefront in adapting to
changes in the world situation in an era in which U.S. military forces have frequently
been called upon to serve in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions.
For the Moment And the
Millennium
Retired Gen. Carl E. Mundy Jr., former
commandant of the Marine Corps and now USO president and CEO, told Sea Power,
"This was not a surprise to those of us who have watched Jim Jones through the
years." Mundy praised Jones's leadership as commanding general of the 2nd Marine
Division, as 24th MEU commander, and as director of the Expeditionary Warfare Division in
the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. He described the prospective commandant as
intelligent, steady, good-natured, and a devoted family man. "He has the intellect
and ability to analyze a situation, offer a course of action, and then pursue it--all
without being rattled," Mundy said. "When the attack is commenced, he will stand
up with a smile and say, 'Let's win!'"
Asked to describe the greatest hurdle
Jones will face as commandant, Mundy said it would be to follow through on the Corps'
modernization requirements. "It is a major challenge to get Marines rearmed,
reoutfitted, and reequipped in a way that it is not a 20-year program," Mundy
observed. "General Krulak leaves a wonderful focus on training and people,"
Mundy continued. "The Corps is riding a high right now in many respects, and Jones
will need to keep this up."
Mundy, speaking as a former member of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, asserted that Jones has "magnificent credentials" for his
new post and predicted that he would stand out in the joint community. "When an issue
comes up, his voice will be heard--the White House will take notice of him. Jim Jones is
the man for the moment--and the man to take the Marines into the 21st century," Mundy
maintained.
BMDO Plans Intercept Of Ballistic
Target
The Ballistic Missile Defense
Organization's National Missile Defense (NMD) Joint Program Office is scheduled sometime
this summer to conduct the first test involving an intercept of a ballistic missile
target. According to the Department of Defense (DOD), program officials project a
mid-to-late-August flight test--if all assets are ready to support the mission. The test
will involve the launch of a target missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., and a
prototype interceptor from Kwajalein Atoll in the Central Pacific.
The test originally was scheduled for
mid-June, but the NMD program manager and the Boeing Company lead systems integrator for
the NMD program, determined that additional time is needed to complete detailed systems
checks and inspections prior to the test. The test plans also had to take into account,
DOD said, the availability of the Kwajalein Missile Range, preparation of the target
missile, and the readiness and availability of the command and control, documentation, and
operational assets required for the test.
Gansler Announces DOD Priority
Business Goals
Jacques Gansler, under secretary of
defense for acquisition and technology, has announced the publication of Into the 21st
Century: A Strategy for Affordability. The document is described as the blueprint for
adapting DOD to the needs of the best world-class business and technical practices through
rationalizing infrastructure, restructuring support systems, and reducing both cycle times
and ownership costs while also improving readiness.
The business strategy was produced by the
Defense Systems Affordability Council (DSAC), DOD's forum for setting and monitoring
top-level goals, objectives, and metrics. The DSAC enumerated three high-priority goals in
its study:
- Field high-quality defense products
quickly and support them responsively by reducing the cycle time of DOD processes for
acquisition and support; this will produce cost reductions across the board while
improving readiness and responsiveness.
- Lower the total ownership cost of defense
products by reducing the investment cost of new systems; this will increase the purchasing
power of modernization funding, reduce operating and support costs of fielded systems, and
make more resources available for modernization.
- Reduce the overhead cost of DOD's
acquisition and logistics infrastructure so that savings can be reallocated for
modernization or mission-essential support.
The new DOD acquisition strategy
describes the DSAC's enterprise-level objectives and metrics for each goal and summarizes
major initiatives that will contribute to achieving them. The strategy also challenges DOD
to achieve some targets by 2005--including reducing the logistics-response time to five
days and lowering logistics-support costs by 20 percent.
Ports Applaud Passage Of WRDA
Legislation
U.S. public-port officials have voiced
strong support for the 29 April House passage of the Water Resources Development Act
(WRDA, H.R. 1480), which is expected to translate into deeper and more economically
competitive U.S. ports, an improved navigation infrastructure, and significant economic
returns at the local, regional, and national levels. The WRDA legislation authorizes,
among other things, the funding of extensive federal navigation projects at numerous U.S.
ports.
"We are very pleased that members of
Congress recognize that improved, deeper navigation channels translate into greater
employment and other economic benefits," said Kurt Nagle, president of the American
Association of Port Authorities (AAPA). "Passage of WRDA is integral to the nation's
competitiveness in international markets."
The Senate version of WRDA (S. 507),
passed on 26 April, authorizes major port-improvement projects along the Columbia River in
Oregon and Washington, and at the ports of Baltimore, Md., Oakland, Calif., Savannah and
Brunswick, Ga., and Jacksonville and Tampa, Fla. The bill also authorizes modification of
a project funded earlier for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Since enactment of WRDA '86, the federal
government's investment in improvements to U.S. navigation infrastructure has been matched
by a local share that varies depending on the depth of the project. These investments also
are matched in most cases by billions of dollars of additional local investment in
landside-terminal facilities. The federal government's authorization of the development of
U.S. marine-transportation system improvements plays an important part in the process by
providing local ports with predictable authorizations for navigation improvements.
AAPA was founded in 1912 and today
represents more than 140 public port authorities in the United States, Canada, Latin
America, and the Caribbean. |
