The D Brief: US to end combat role in Iraq; Warfighting concept ‘failed miserably’; Austin vows to help Taiwan; VA to require staff vaccinations; And a bit more...

Pentagon revising its joint warfighting concept. A brutal loss in a wargaming exercise last October convinced the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. John Hyten to scrap the joint warfighting concept that had guided U.S. military operations for decades, Defense One’s Tara Copp reports.

“Without overstating the issue, it failed miserably,” Hyten told an audience Monday at a National Defense Industrial Association event. “An aggressive red team that had been studying the United States for the last 20 years just ran rings around us. They knew exactly what we're going to do before we did it.” 

Among the game’s lessons: first, the U.S. doctrine of massing forces is a recipe for 21st-century defeat; second, the networks that define modern American warfare disappeared almost instantly once combat began.

In response, the Joint Chiefs have since October been shifting the U.S. military to a new concept of warfighting operations they call “Expanded Maneuver.” Hyten wants the U.S. military to be ready to fight under the new operating concept by 2030, using many of today’s weapons, aircraft, and ships.

Earlier this month, Hyten released four directives to the services: one each for contested logistics; joint fires; Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or JADC2; and information advantage. On Monday, he revealed new details about these “functional battles.” Read more about them, here.


From Defense One

VA Mandates Vaccines for Health Care Workers // Courtney Bublé: “It’s the best way to keep veterans safe, especially as the Delta variant spreads across the country,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough.

‘We Will Not Flinch’: Austin Promises US Will Continue to Bolster Taiwan’s Self-Defense // Tara Copp: In Singapore, defense secretary chides Beijing for “aggression...coercion...genocide” but says he wants a “constructive, stable relationship with China.”

‘It Failed Miserably’: After Wargaming Loss, Joint Chiefs Are Overhauling How the US Military Will Fight // Tara Copp: In a fake battle for Taiwan, U.S. forces lost network access almost immediately. Hyten has issued four directives to help change that.

US Will End Combat Mission In Iraq, Biden Says // Tara Copp and Jacqueline Feldscher: US needs to 'divert more of our body on threats in China and Russia,' says Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Gen. Hyten

Lockheed Loses $225M on Secret Project, Lowers F-35 Production Forecast // Marcus Weisgerber: Company will press ahead on aeronautics project in hopes of turning it into a profitable production program.

Welcome to this Tuesday edition of The D Brief from Bradley Peniston and Jennifer Hlad. If you’re not already subscribed to The D Brief, you can do that here. On this day in 1942, Allied forces halted the Axis drive on Egypt at the first Battle of El Alamein.


The U.S. will continue to help Taiwan defend itself, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told an audience in Singapore, the first stop of an Asia trip that will include stops in Vietnam and the Philippines. “We will not flinch when our interests are threatened, yet we do not seek confrontation,” Austin said.

Austin declined to say whether he agrees with former Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. Phil Davidson’s belief that China is likely to attempt to seize Taiwan as early as 2027. But, Austin said, “We’ll stay focused on helping Taiwan to defend itself or having the capabilities to defend itself going forward.”  Defense One’s Copp has more, here

Read: Joint statement from Austin and Singapore’s defense minister: 

Elsewhere in the region: Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman visited China this week, marking what the Washington Post called “a small thaw in tense relations.” 

Food for thought: CBSA report says a “neighborhood watch” approach by U.S. allies and partners could keep a close and deterring eye on China. Read, here

Inside China’s largest detention center. AP journalists recently received the first onsite look at Urumqi No. 3 Detention Center in Dabancheng, which they estimate could hold 10,000 or more people. “Satellite imagery shows that new buildings stretching almost a mile long were added to the Dabancheng detention facility in 2019,” AP reported. “This site suggests that China still holds and plans to hold vast numbers of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in detention.” 

The prison is part of Beijing’s reaction to “a series of knifings and bombings by a small number of extremist Uyghurs native to Xinjiang,” AP reported.

Chinese officials long denied such prisons existed, then said all the occupants had “graduated.” But AP reporting shows that “some like this one were simply converted into prisons or pre-trial detention facilities. Many new facilities have also been built, including a new 85-acre detention center down the road from No. 3 in Dabancheng that went up over 2019, satellite imagery shows.” Read on, here.

And back in the U.S.: “A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is introducing a measure to trigger a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in China, over allegations that the country is committing genocide against its Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim minority groups,” ABC News reports.

North and South Korea are talking again. New York Times: “North and South Korea on Tuesday reopened ​military and other diplomatic communication hotlines after a hiatus of nearly 14 months, as the North said it wanted to improve ties “as early as possible” amid a deepening economic crisis.”

Kendall confirmed as Air Force Secretary. Frank Kendall’s nomination seemed on track after a breezy May 25 hearing. But then a senator from Michigan, angered that the Air Force decided not to put an F-35 training center in the state, held up Kendall’s confirmation until he promised to keep A-10s flying at Selfridge AFB. Air Force Magazine has more, here.

Kendall was the last defense undersecretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics; after he left in 2016, Congress divided the job into two: acquisition and sustainment. 

VA healthcare workers required to get COVID-19 vaccine.“The Veterans Affairs Department announced on Monday it will require all frontline healthcare workers to get vaccinated, making it the first federal agency to issue any sort of coronavirus vaccine mandate,” GovExec’s Courtney Bublé reported Monday. 

Lastly today: Was war in Afghanistan a mistake? Almost half of Americans say yes, according to a new poll from Gallup. The Hill: “The poll, conducted between July 6 and July 21, was the second time in history that fewer than half of Americans said U.S. involvement in Afghanistan was not a mistake, according to Gallup.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.