Former Vice President Biden has yet to fully outline his national security program, but as he sets up a team to take over the Presidency, you can find a brief outline of those things, at least now, that may be part of that foundation.
One of the better datapoints is the brief statement he made on his long waited announcement of who he wants to be his Secretary of Defense; General Lloyd Austin, USA (Ret.)
You can read the full statement over at The Atlantic, which I recommend more than the video. In this statement you can find what motivated Biden to select Austin, what tasks the SECDEF should expect from his President, and what the major threats Biden sees in the world. There is also what was not said, but I’ll cover that at the end of the post.
Inside the natsec chatteratti a primary topic has been questionable selection of a recently retired General, and the subsequent need for legislative action to receive a waiver, and the resulting worries about the tradition of civilian control of the military. Mid-statement, Biden addresses this concern directly;
Lloyd Austin retired from military service more than four years ago. The law states that an officer must have left the service at least seven years before becoming secretary of defense. But I hope that Congress will grant a waiver to Secretary-designate Austin, just as Congress did for Secretary Jim Mattis. Given the immense and urgent threats and challenges our nation faces, he should be confirmed swiftly.
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I respect and believe in the importance of civilian control of our military and in the importance of a strong civil-military working relationship at DoD—as does Austin. We need empowered civilians working with military leaders to shape DoD’s policies and ensure that our defense policies are accountable to the American people. Austin also knows that the secretary of defense has a different set of responsibilities than a general officer and that the civil-military dynamic has been under great stress these past four years. He will work tirelessly to get it back on track.
Why Austin? It appears it is mostly for personal reasons … which backed up with his professional background in defendable. A President should be comfortable with and have trust in his most senior cabinet officials;
He played a crucial role in bringing 150,000 American troops home from the theater of war.
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He served as a statesman, representing our country with honor and dignity and always, above all, looking out for his people.
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…he is a true and tested soldier and leader.
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Above all, I chose Lloyd Austin as my nominee for secretary of defense because I know how he reacts under pressure,
Some have read a lot about that first part, and there may be something there. Will a President Biden continue this withdraw of forces we have scattered around the globe? Not much has been stated on this topic, but that statement about Austin’s qualifications may be a hint. We will see.
In the announcement, you can clearly see four tasks and four global threats as CINC-to-be direction and guidance.
Let’s look at tasks;
1. COVID Vaccine:
immediately quarterback an enormous logistics operation to help distribute COVID-19 vaccines widely and equitably
This will be a turnover from the acting SECDEF. This is already planned and the wheels are already in motion. Good lead though, as this is what the nation is focused on.
2. OPTEMPO:
ensure the well-being and resilience of our service members and their families, strained by almost two decades of war
Will he end 7-11 month deployments? Double-pumping CVN? That will be my acid test.
3. Diversity:
make sure that our armed forces reflect and promote the full diversity of our nation. Austin will bring to the job not only his personal experience, but the stories of the countless young people he has mentored. If confirmed, he will ensure that every member of the armed forces is treated with dignity and respect, including Black, Latino, Asian American, Native American, women, and LGBTQ service members.
There should be a “.” after respect, but there you go. I am not a fan of going out of the way to break a body you are trying to make one in to sectarian pods, antithetical to good order and discipline, unity, and equal treatment under the law … but this socio-political theory was part of Biden’s platform, so this boilerplate is expected. We’ll consider this block checked and assume a serious professional like Austin will give it the attention it deserves relative to other pressing challenges.
4. Lead from the Back:
share a commitment to empowering our diplomats and development experts to lead our foreign policy, using force only as our last resort.
This is a great priority and one I hope to see most successfully executed. We have been too easily seduced in to deploying the military … and deploying them too long. We are long overdue for an attitudinal reset towards global challenges.
Next the global threats:
rallying the world to meet global threats to our security—from pandemics to climate change, from nuclear proliferation to the refugee crisis.
OK, let’s detail that:
1. Pandemics: the military is a supporting and not the supported – and mostly logistics at that. As outlined above, the hard work for this one has mostly been done. Only the execution is left … and that’s the easy part.
2. Climate Change: the climate has been changing since the first hunter-gather band organized the first raid against a neighboring band – and every military organization since has had zero ability to change climate cycles … so again, supporting … with … well, they’ll let us know.
3. Nuclear Proliferation: again, this is a military in a supporting, vice supported position. The diplomats have this for the lead. As a last resort the military can take direct action – but that is not a preferred COA to lead with.
4. Refugee Crisis: I’m not sure which refugee crisis he is referring to. Future refugee crisis? The US military has been dealing with supporting this since our revolution against the British crown … so, we have the template. I helped in a few NATO led consequence management exercises. This is a known known. He may mean something else here, but again, we’ll see.
What is missing? No mention of China, Russia, Iran, India, Africa or Afghanistan. Perhaps more on that later. Until then, we have this to chew on.
There’s my takeaway from the speech. If there’s something important I missed, let me know in the comments.
