Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) Airman Julian Fernando, from Yonkers, N.Y., directs an E-2D Hawkeye assigned to the "Wallbangers" of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 117 on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. U.S. Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Michael Singley
The Naval Brief: Guam defense; Contaminated drinking water; Justice reform; and more...
Welcome to The Naval Brief, a weekly look at the news and ideas shaping the sea services’ future.
Defending Guam. The threat to Guam will grow over the next five years from adversaries like China, and the military must start implementing a comprehensive missile defense system for the strategically important U.S. territory, Defense One reports. “Those aren't idle threats. Those are based off of events that we're seeing unfold around us right now,” said Marine Lt. Gen. Stephen Sklenka, deputy commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
Polluted water affects Hawaii military families. The Navy will stop operating its World War II-era underground fuel storage facility until it finishes investigating how petroleum leaked into local drinking water, the Associated Press reports. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday toured the facility Monday and promised to fix the leak.
Military justice reforms. Senators are hoping to push for more military justice reforms in a separate bill after several reforms were left out of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, Defense One reports. The defense bill falls short of removing commanders as the convening authority and drops the number of crimes managed by special prosecutors to 11 from 38.
Sign up to get The Naval Brief every Thursday from Caitlin M. Kenney, Defense One’s military services reporter. On Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, killing 2,403 people and damaging or destroying 19 ships. This year’s 80th anniversary also is the end of a program to identify the remains of those killed that day, the Washington Post reports.
From Defense One
New National Defense Strategy to Be Released Early 2022 // Caitlin M. Kenney: The Pentagon's NDS will follow the release of a new National Security Strategy from the White House, officials said.
Austin Rejects ‘Red Lines’ for Taiwan, Ukraine // Tara Copp: As crises loom, defense secretary reveals a bit of his diplomacy-first thinking.
‘Slow-Boil Crisis’: DIA Needs More Capability to Track Russian, Chinese Tech Work // Patrick Tucker: It takes years to train intelligence analysts, but the Pentagon doesn’t have “that kind of time.”
How China Is Challenging US Central Command, Digitally // Patrick Tucker: The Pentagon may have “CENTCOM fatigue,” but Beijing is pushing into the Middle East, warns the command’s communications chief.