Naval Advocates Face Pivotal Re-Election Battles

Sea Power, Oct 2006 by Scully, Megan

Cmdr. Jeff Carter, Coast Guard chief of media relations, said creation of the DOG unit stems from the strategy of Adm. Thad Alien, Coast Guard commandant, who wants to deploy specialized units as a "force package" accessible by field commanders and, in the event of disaster operations, federal officials.

To be led by Rear Adm. J. Timothy Riker, a retired reservist who has recently been reactivated, the DOG will bring fundamental change to the Coast Guard. Initial activation is scheduled in October; commissioning of the new group is slated for July 2007. The DOG is expected to be fully operational by July 2008, with the command staff based at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington.

Analyst: Navy at Risk For Lack of Message

The Navy is at risk for budget reductions unless it polishes its message about its role in the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the senior analyst in the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

"Rightly or wrongly, the Navy today is the most vulnerable of the four services to budgetary, programmatic and force structure reductions over the next 20 years," said Eric Labs, senior analyst for naval forces and weapons in the CBO's National security Division.

"The Navy does not have a coherent message in explaining what its role is in the long war," Labs said.

Rear Adm. Dan W. Davenport, director of the Assessment Division/ Capability Analyst Group for the chief of naval operations and director of the Navy Quadrennial Defense Review, agreed that, "We could do a better job selling it. Our [new] maritime strategy will help do some of that."

The Navy expects to publish its strategy in approximately nine months.

However, Davenport is less worried about the funding future.

"The nature of this war is such that the Navy's contribution is less visible than any other service, clearly, and we're okay with that," he said. "It's important to connect the story to the program, so that what we're trying to buy makes sense with what our defense contribution is. Most of our decision-makers in the Pentagon and the Hill get it."

More Support for Curbing Payday Loans

A legislative provision aimed at preventing predatory lenders from targeting service members and their families picked up steam just as Congress returned from the monthlong August recess, garnering the support of a bipartisan group of 31 senators who penned a letter to House and Senate conferees on the fiscal 2007 defense authorization bill, urging them to back a Senate provision that caps payday interest rates for military personnel at 36 percent. (see related story, Page 12)

At press time, House and Senate lawmakers still were negotiating differences in the two chambers' versions of the bills. But the strong Senate support - as well as the backing of several House members - bodes well for the provision.

Hunter said the military payday lender issue is "of great importance to us," and signaled that the final defense authorization bill will contain some sort of language on the issue.

No Fourth Star For Guard Chief