“This is our 64th Congressional Round Table. This is on missile defense policy. We had the honor on Friday, this last Friday night, to be in Colorado Springs and honor and recognized our best of the best in the missile defense warning and the missile defense systems for the United States Homeland. This was our 10th event and in that event on Friday we talked about becoming world champions again and we treat world champions like world champions to become world champions. It’s this time in our history that we have to challenge that again.
We’re going to start off the discussion with John Rood and I want to just read what his accomplishments are and why his expertise is credible. Under President Trump, from January 2018 to February 2020, Mr. Rood served as the undersecretary of defense for policy where he led formulation and coordination of national security policy with the Department of Defense as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense. He managed a team of over 2,000 civilians and military service members and was responsible for building partnerships and defense cooperation with US allies including overseeing the $55 billion foreign military sales program and export controls. Mr. Rood managed the implementation of strategies including the defense [unintelligible]. He oversaw development of a new Cyber strategy authorities and approach a Space strategy for the newly established space force, completion of the missile defense review, nuclear posture review, and counterterrorism strategy for the defeat of ISIS.
Our other speaker, retired General Glen VanHerck, was the commander of the United States Northern command and North American Aerospace Defense command from August 2020 to February 2024. US NORTHCOM conducts Homeland defense, civil support, and security cooperation to defend and secure the United States and its interests. NORAD conducts Aerospace warning, Aerospace control, and Maritime warning in the defense of North America. Glenn and John were both at the same place when Glenn was the plans and policy J5 for the joint staff July 2017 to August 2018 and then Glenn became the vice director of the Joint staff for the chairman August 2018 to September 2019. So, we certainly have the honor and privilege of two spectacular policy analysts that can give us guidance and give us their thoughts on what the situation is today on missile defense and its policy.”
-Mr. Riki Ellison, MDAA Founder and Chairman
“So, what do I think the missile defense policy ought to be; I think we need a new one when the new president, whoever that is, takes office. Let’s start with some fundamentals. We have to protect the Homeland and protect the American people, after all the purpose of our Armed Forces, our military establishment, our defense establishment is to protect the American people. So we need to prioritize that and there needs to be a policy that they can be protected and we will organize training equip to protect against missiles of all types of all ranges from any origin. I would explicitly begin shaping the size and scale of our missile defenses to deal with China. To pretend that that’s not the largest existential threat facing the United States is you know not a wise policy. So, we need to begin along at that fundamental level and then we need to begin also organizing ourselves and unfortunately there’s been a weakness in our ability as a defense establishment to make these decisions to drive and to execute. Typically we’ve made the most progress when we’ve organized along the lines of a central organizing and authority that’s the systems architect like the missile defense agency but you know their authorities have been so weakened, and candidly some of the executions been rather weak here in some areas so that needs to be revitalized. The services are not working in a coherent way because I think there’s a dearth of leadership driving that. Unfortunately, we spent four years and I don’t know how many billions of dollars, we don’t really have a better defense to show in a place like Guam. Well, you know people are responsible, that happened because people didn’t manage the system appropriately and leadership ultimately needs to be held accountable for those results. So, we’ve lost ground over the last four years five years to our adversaries, we’re not treating missiles and missile defense as a primary area of warfare, the funding for that level has declined over the last five years. Which is you know shocking at a time when missiles are being used by our adversaries every day as a primary instrument of war.”
-Mr. John Rood, MDAA Board of Directors Member, Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
“So what must we defend? When I got to NORAD and NORTHCOM in August of 2020 I looked for that and surprisingly there was no policy on what you will defend, and you can’t defend everything, and it says you’re going to defend the Homeland. So I approached it from a different perspective because really to approach building plans and resourcing those plans you have to know exactly what you’re defending and it can’t be just the continental United States or North America. I looked at it from a picture of, it should be those things that could bring us to our knees and it’s not everything and everybody but just think of things, critical infrastructure, such as our ability to execute continuity of government, our nuclear force posture, our nuclear command and control, single points of failure for the defense industrial base, power projection nodes. Those are obviously critical things that we must defend but you don’t have to defend it all. So, I sought policy, and it took about two years to get some of it. But I would encourage this next Administration to look forward on what are we going to defend and it’s not only for DOD, it’s Homeland Security, it’s FEMA, it’s a lot of other organizations that have to pitch into this to understand strategic deterrence and how are we going to do this holistically. But that policy has to be provided.
One thing I do want to talk to you about also is threat warning and attack assessment. We can go back and talk about missile defense, but I think the most strategic mission that I did as the Commander of NORAD NORTHCOM was in my NORAD hat and that is threat warning and attack assessment. Is North America and the United States of America under attack? From a missile or could be from the air, could be from various platforms. That’s crucial for multiple reasons; it provides strategic stability because you can identify who’s attacking you, gives you the option to respond, it allows you to survive your key nodes of continuity, or your nuclear force posture for an assured second strike. That is being challenged today Riki. As we go forward hypersonics, low observable cruise missiles, UAS, all kinds of platforms and capabilities are challenging our ability to know when we’re under attack and that reduces strategic stability.
So, we have to go look at that with policy, I think we have to go to space for those capabilities sooner than later and we have to ensure those space capabilities are resilient or quickly replenishable to make sure we can have the ability to know when we’re under attack. We also have to go back from a missile defense standpoint, and I’ll spell out how I view missile defense in a minute, but who are we defending from? I believe most people understand that current policy has us defending against Rogue Nations. Think of North Korea or Iran. Is that good enough today? The world is fundamentally changing; we need to go revisit that policy and ensure sure that we’re comfortable with where we are or do, we have a new need to change what we’re going to defend from.
I have a personal opinion, I think certainly we need to look at that and I agree with Secretary Rood, I don’t think it becomes strategically destabilizing to be able to defend yourself. I think it’s exactly the opposite. If you can’t defend yourself and you can’t provide a warning, I think it begs a potential adversary to actually think about taking that next step and attacking.”
-Gen. Glen D. VanHerck (ret.), Commander, United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command
“I just want to end, can each of you just give me what your two best policy changes would be for this next Administration. If you could quickly, what would you do John, if you had the opportunity to change policy for the United States of America in this next Administration, what two policies would you chase or create.”
-Mr. Riki Ellison, MDAA Founder and Chairman
“Sure, I mean two big ones would be first our missile defense capability needs to be oriented to defend against China and we need to have the ability given to our combatant commanders and others to defend against missiles of all ranges all types hypersonic, cruise, ballistic, including directed towards the United States. So, that’d be thing one. It’s very fundamental but that’s not the present policy. Thing number two would be embrace space as a full domain and let’s go to space with missile defenses and other capabilities, for sensing, for command and control, for including we’re going to have to be able to fight and win in space. I don’t think we should beat around the bush anymore about that. This needs to be kind of embraced as an open policy. Those would be two you know major changes to our present situation, but I think they’re long overdue.”
-Mr. John Rood, MDAA Board of Directors Member, Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
“Yeah, I agree with John on the space. I think that the first thing we need to do is come up with what are we going to defend, what is that critical infrastructure that allows then operational plans to be developed and budgets to be built based on what you’re going to defend. Next would be integrated air and missile defense and include what all is included, look at counter UAS, drone, and give somebody the responsibility to advocate, budget, do everything they’re going to do to get after that problem. I’d go look at the acquisition system and the policies or laws that limit, what I would say is innovation and speed, and then the budget, the same thing, what can we do differently in the budget to give more flexibility and the ability to go faster.”
-Gen. Glen D. VanHerck (ret.), Commander, United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command
“Thank you. That was a great discussion, timely, the depth of it, the breadth of it was phenomenal. To have this a week prior to the election and your thoughts, your leadership on those thoughts are appreciated greatly.”
-Mr. Riki Ellison, MDAA Founder and Chairman
Click here to watch the virtual event
Click here to read the transcript
Speakers:
Gen. Glen D. VanHerck (ret.), Commander, United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command
Mr. John Rood, MDAA Board of Directors Member
Mr. Riki Ellison, Chairman and Founder, Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
