The SysAdmin function gets a new, bigger suite of offices in the Pentagon
ARTICLE: "In Sweeping Overhaul, DOD Reorganizes Policy Office," InsideDefense.com, 28 August 2006.This is largely the world of Ryan Henry, who's proving to be an interesting historical force within DoD under Rumsfeld.
Best overall description:
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is seeking congressional approval to establish a new assistant secretary for global affairs position as part of a far-reaching reorganization of one of the Pentagon's most important shops -- the office of the under secretary of defense for policy.To me, this is just another sign of the SysAdmin's inevitable rise within DoD: not because the Pentagon wants it, but because it cannot escape it.This bureaucratic shake-up, which requires new legislation to increase the ranks by one assistant defense secretary, is intended to bring a key Defense Department office more in line with the growing emphasis on managing international military coalitions, equipping partner nations to fight terrorists, and managing the U.S. military response to a growing array of transnational threats.
The reorganization is also designed to: improve coordination with the Joint Staff's policy team and streamline relationships with combatant commanders; rebalance workloads across the secretary's policy shop; and divest the policy organization from program-management activities.
"The organizing principles are, basically, the global war on terrorism," Ryan Henry, principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy and a primary architect of the new structure, said in an interview with InsideDefense.com.
Along with a new assistant secretary, a number of new deputy assistant secretary posts will be established to manage everything from international military coalitions to helping train and equip partner nations to fight terrorists, as well as adding new senior officials to manage the entire portfolios of strategic capabilities and conventional capabilities. A new deputy assistant secretary of defense for support to public diplomacy will also be established to spearhead the U.S. military's strategic communications efforts.
In order to create new positions without increasing the size of the organization or its budget, some posts are being eliminated.
For instance, the positions of deputy assistant secretaries for negotiations policy -- which oversees the U.S. government's marquee nonproliferation effort, the Cooperative Threat Reduction program -- and forces policy -- which is wrestling with how to "tailor" nuclear deterrence to deal with terrorists and rogue states -- will be removed and renamed and their portfolios folded into new organizations.
The office of the deputy assistant secretary for counternarcotics is in for a major overhaul that will widen its focus to also oversee all transnational threats -- a change that will affect the substance of its daily efforts.
"The activities that we are de-emphasizing are those Cold War mechanisms that are no longer relevant in today's world," according to Pentagon briefing slides outlining the changes.
More:
New ASD for Global Security AffairsAll logical moves that lay the groundwork for the next administration.The new organization would expand the number of assistant secretaries in the policy shop from four to five -- two assistant secretaries will focus on regional issues and three assistant secretaries will have largely so-called "functional" responsibilities that reach across the regional portfolios.
One of the most significant changes is the establishment of a new assistant secretary of defense for global security affairs, a shop that will take up the mantle of the Pentagon's new focus -- as articulated in the Quadrennial Defense Review of "building partnership capacity" -- on improving the ability of foreign militaries to fight terrorists within and near their own borders. It also will be the focal point in the policy shop for transnational threats.
Two new deputy assistant secretary positions will be established: one for security cooperation and another for coalition management. The calculations underneath the creation of these posts is that they will remove from country desk officers responsibilities such as shepherding requests for equipment and other forms of military assistance from allies and partners that have steadily grown since the opening shots of the war against Afghanistan in late 2001.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which manages foreign military sales and equipment transfers, as well as other forms of training and military assistance, will work with the new deputy assistant secretary of defense for security cooperation and also directly report to the under secretary.
And that's my continuing take on Rumsfeld: he's changing the Pentagon to make possible much of the SysAdmin stuff that he still so clearly abhors. So his role as change agent won't be appreciated until a crew comes in that knows better how to manage such stuff.
Still, hats off to Ryan Henry. He is pushing some serious history here.
And thanks to a Pentagon-based reader for this article tip.
Comments
As important as the SysAdmin function is to furthering national and international security, it is a shame that the function must reside in DoD. I understand that they are the dept. with the most logistical capacity and experience (sadly State is a dinosaur), but furthering that divide between State and DoD does not seem to be wise. Linking diplomatic, and potentially development related tasks to the military has too many negative consequences to be functional in the long term. Establishing and maintaining real firewalls between these D's is the only way to ensure a reliable post-conflict reconstruction phase that effectively wins the peace.
Posted by: A. Kishbaugh | August 29, 2006 11:52 AM
i think Tom would agree. His Department of Everything Else is envisioned as filling the gap between DOD (effectively, the Department of War) and State. this is one of those 'take what you can get' sort of things, and hope for better developments down the road...
Posted by: Sean | August 29, 2006 7:04 PM
I wonder how the State Department's new Active Response Corps will fit in with DoD plans.
Active Response Corps
Posted by: Mark in Texas | August 29, 2006 9:59 PM
Sounds like the Army just got its own State Dept. But if what Mark in Texas says is true does this mean that the left-hand and the right-hand aren't talking to each other? Are the two dept's duplicating efforts or is somebody actually driving the bus?
Posted by: CBiggs | August 29, 2006 11:34 PM
The proposed new office would not be responsible for diplomacy and development. Those remain the purview of the State Department and the USAID. The DOD is responsible for security cooperation. The purpose of security cooperation is to help partner nations build the capacity to secure their sovereign territory and combat terrorism on their own so that the US can mitigate the need for future "Operation (insert country name) Freedoms." Geographic Combatant Commands conduct security cooperation with friendly governments which includes but is not limited to Foreign Military Sales, International Military Education and Training, Exercises, and limited Civil Military Operations (Humanitarian Assistance, Disaster Relief). The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA)assists with the procurement and contracting necessary to conduct these programs. The check and balance against abuse of this system lie in the fact that the State Department controls the funds for these efforts. Traditionally, despite the best efforts of very talented people, the system has been uncoordinated, underfunded (Congress hates foreign aid), unresponsive to emerging needs and was focused on external defense for allies and friendly nations. The new office would better coordinate these efforts to allow us to "drain the swamp" before extremists can take advantage of ungoverned spaces and use them as safe havens. Dr Barnett's idea of a Department of Everything Else would go a step further and provide a bureaucratic center of gravity for the effort.
Posted by: BJ | August 30, 2006 5:02 AM