Rumsfeld Details DoD Goals, Objectives in Testimony

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2001 - "Weakness is provocative," Donald H.
Rumsfeld told the Senate Armed Service Committee Jan. 11 during his
confirmation hearing to be the next defense secretary.

"Weakness invites people into doing things they wouldn't otherwise
think of," Rumsfeld said.

This goes to the heart of Rumsfeld's view of defense. President-elect
George W. Bush nominated Rumsfeld as defense secretary Dec. 28. If the
Senate confirms him, he will succeed Defense Secretary William S.
Cohen.

This is Rumsfeld's second set of confirmation hearings. He was defense
secretary from 1975 to 1977.

He told the senators that the world is a different and more peaceful
one with the Soviet Union gone, "but it is nonetheless a dangerous and
untidy world."

"We also know that the power of weapons today is vastly greater than it
was in earlier eras, and we know that with the relaxation of tension at
the end of the Cold War the proliferation of these capabilities is
pervasive," he said.

Rumsfeld said the world is entering the "era of globalization." He said
while it is a hopeful time it is also full of challenges. One main
challenge he needs to address, he said, is "the challenge of bringing
the American military successfully into the 21st century so that it can
continue to play its truly vital role in preserving and extending peace
as far into the future as is possible."

He called the struggle today not as obvious as the one against the
Soviet Union, but "just as noble." He said the U.S. goal is "to turn
these years of influence into decades of peace. And the foundation of
that peace is a strong, capable, modern military. Let there be no
doubt." The nominee said he will follow Bush's three over-arching goals
for bringing U.S. armed forces into the 21st century.

"First, we must strengthen the bond of trust with the American
military," Rumsfeld said. "The brave and dedicated men and women who
serve in our country's uniform - active, Guard and Reserve - must get
the best support their country can possibly provide them so that we can
continue to call on the best people in the decades to come."

Second, the United States must develop capabilities to defend against
missiles and terrorism, and newer threats aimed against space assets
and information systems. "The American people, our forces abroad and
our friends and allies must be protected against the threats which
modern technology and its proliferation confront us," he said.

Third, DoD must take advantage of the new possibilities that the
ongoing technological revolution offers to create the military of the
next century.

Rumsfeld said one of his first duties, if confirmed, would be to order
a comprehensive review of U.S. defense policy. This would be in
addition to the congressionally mandated Quadrennial Defense Review.

"This review will be aimed at making certain that we have a sound
understanding of the state of the U.S. forces and their readiness to
meet the 21st century security environment," he said. "We need to
ensure that we will be able to develop and deploy and operate and
support a highly effective force capable of deterring and defending
against new threats. This will require a refashioning of deterrence and
defense capabilities.

"The old deterrence of the Cold War era is imperfect for dissuading the
threats of the new century and for maintaining stability in our new
national security environment."

Rumsfeld told the senators he will pursue five key objectives to reach
Bush's goals for DoD. "First, we need to fashion and sustain deterrence
appropriate to the new national security environment," he said.

The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of
delivery must be acknowledged and recognized and then must be managed,
he said. The United States should still strive to slow proliferation,
but "a determined state may nonetheless succeed in acquiring weapons of
mass destruction" and missiles. This means there must be a change in
the policy governing deterrence, he said.

"Credible deterrence no longer can be based solely on the prospect of
punishment through massive retaliation," Rumsfeld said. "It must be
based on a combination of offensive nuclear and nonnuclear defensive
capabilities working together to deny potential adversaries the
opportunity and the benefits that come from the threat or the use of
weapons of mass destruction against our forces, our homeland, as well
as those of our allies."

The second objective is to assure the readiness and sustainability of
deployed forces. "The price of inadequate readiness is paid in
unnecessary risks to American interests and in unnecessary risks to the
lives of American service men and women," he said.

"Our armed forces today are all volunteers," he continued. "They are
men and women who have willingly answered the call to serve our country
and accept the burdens and dangers that go with that service. As
President Bush has said, even the highest morale is eventually
undermined by back-to-back deployments, poor pay, shortages of spare
parts and equipment, and declining readiness."

He said a volunteer military has only two paths to follow to fill its
ranks: One is to lower standards while the other is to "inspire the
best and brightest to join and stay," he said. "If confirmed, I look
forward to working with the president, and this committee that has been
so interested in the subject, to make sure that our country's service
is able to attract and retain the best of our country."

The third objective is to modernize U.S. command, control,
communications, intelligence and space capabilities. "A modern command,
control, communication, and intelligence infrastructure is the
foundation upon which U.S. military power is employed," Rumsfeld said.

He said he is committed to strengthening U.S. intelligence for both
short-term and long-term national security needs. "I will personally
make establishing a strong spirit of cooperation between the Department
of Defense and the rest of the intelligence community, under the
leadership of a director of central intelligence, one of my top
priorities," he said. "We simply must strengthen our intelligence
capabilities and our space capabilities, along with the ability to
protect those assets against various forms of attack."

The fourth objective looks to speeding research, development and
acquisition. "The need to swiftly introduce new weapons systems is
clear," Rumsfeld said. "The transformation of U.S. military power to
take full advantage of commercially created information technology may
require undertaking near-term investment to acquire modern capabilities
derived from U.S. scientific and industrial pre-eminence, rather than
simply upgrading some existing systems.

He said the present weapon system acquisition process is not well
suited to meet the demands posed by an expansion of unconventional and
asymmetrical threats. The current cycle time from program start to
initial operational capability is generally over eight years.

"Such processes are not capable of harnessing the remarkable genius and
productivity of the modern information-based commercial and industrial
sectors that have done so much to revolutionize our civilian economy,"
he said.

The fifth objective is the reform of DOD structures, processes and
organization. "The legacy of obsolete institutional structures and
processes and organizations does not merely create unnecessary cost,
which of course it does; it also imposes an unacceptable burden on
national defense," he said. "In certain respects, it could be said that
we are in a sense disarming or 'underarming' by our failure to reform
the acquisition process and to shed unneeded organization and
facilities. If confirmed, we will examine, in consultation with the
Congress, omnibus approaches to changing the statutory and regulatory
basis for the most significant obstacles to reform."

Senate committee officials said they must wait until after Bush's Jan.
20 inauguration and Rumsfeld's official nomination before members can
vote. The full Senate vote on his confirmation could come as early as
the week of Jan. 22, they said.