FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – American Defense News (ADN) – in collaboration with the Center for American Defense Studies (CADS) – provides our readers the PDB:

Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – Paul’s Daily Briefing.

Today’s Expanded Edition PDB includes a variety of critical issues such as – CNP: Removing photos from promotion boards has hurt diversity. No. 2 US diplomat says Iraq war authorization ‘should be repealed.’ The National Guard needs funding, not platitudes. To counter China, the Navy should retake the high ground. Biden’s careful approach to Iraq is built on all that’s absent in Afghanistan.

The National Guard needs funding, not platitudes.

The Taliban commander who led an attack on Afghan city was released from prison last year.

The Army’s buying 500 million COVID vaccine doses, but they’re not for soldiers.

Navy: Large Unmanned Surface Vessels (LUSVs) will require small crews for the next several years.

How birds use magnetic fields could one day help troops navigate without GPS.

And MORE.

TODAY’S PDB:

Pentagon Watch
Officer dead, suspect killed in violence outside Pentagon. A Pentagon police officer died after being stabbed Tuesday during a burst of violence at a transit center outside the building, and a suspect was shot by law enforcement and died at the scene, officials said.

CNP: Removing photos from promotion boards has hurt diversity. Removing photos from promotion and selection boards has had adverse effects on diversity, according to Vice Adm. John Nowell Jr., the chief of naval personnel.

National Security

Enabling the fifth column and the relevancy of unconventional warfare. Although the concept of enabling resistance movements as a supporting effort to a broader military campaign is centuries old, the concept did not formally appear in U.S. military doctrine as Unconventional Warfare until 1955.

No. 2 US diplomat says Iraq war authorization ‘should be repealed.’ U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Tuesday the Biden administration supports repeal of the war authorization Congress provided in 2002 to invade Iraq, teeing up action in the Senate on Wednesday.

Top Navy officer: Civilian and military officials must come together to secure capabilities like GPS. Vice Adm. Jeffrey Trussler worries about vulnerabilities in critical capabilities such as position, navigation and timing that aren’t controlled by a single entity.

Homeland Security

The National Guard needs funding, not platitudes. Can the National Guard continue to retain talent at the level needed in the era of “great power competition” when more lucrative, time-saving opportunities present themselves in the civilian world?

China Threat

To counter China, the Navy should retake the high ground. This week’s SeaAirSpace convention comes at a challenging time for the US Navy, which faces criticism about everything from its lack of strategy to subpar readiness. Lost in the wave of proposed solutions, however, is a fix to the growing shortfalls of naval airpower.

Iran Threat

Biden’s careful approach to Iraq is built on all that’s absent in Afghanistan. The Biden administration, after a rushed and chaotic withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan, is taking a more careful and successful approach in Iraq.

It’s time for Biden to leave a bad deal in the past. When Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei selected Ebrahim Raisi to be the next president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Khamenei was sending Washington a message akin to Nikita Khrushchev’s infamous 1956 pronouncement: “We will bury you.”

Afghanistan

Taliban commander who led attack on Afghan city was released from prison last year, officials say. U.S. pressed Kabul government to free thousands of Taliban fighters in bid to encourage peace talks and many have returned to the battlefield

Military

SPACECOM head touts space, high seas parallels. Space, including cislunar space, is as strategically important as the high seas, and Space Command has much to learn from naval operations over the years — including how to develop, and enforce, international norms of behavior, Gen. Jim Dickinson, SPACECOM head, said on Tuesday.

The Army’s buying 500 million COVID vaccine doses, but they’re not for soldiers. The Army recently inked a $3.5 billion contract with Pfizer Inc. for the pharmaceutical company to produce 500 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. But those shots are not planned for soldiers’ shoulders.

Technology

Navy: Large USV will require small crews for the next several years. The emerging fleet of U.S. military Large Unmanned Surface Vessels (LUSV) are set to navigate the open seas, avoid other vessels and carry out complex directives from a land-based command center over a secure commutations network. What they can’t do yet is pump their own gas.

Soldiers might never have another flat tire with these ‘Tweels.’ Forget what kind of rims are on your ride, the Army is testing a new kind of airless tire they’ve dubbed “Tweels.”

How birds use magnetic fields could one day help troops navigate without GPS, researchers say. U.S. military-funded research on how birds migrate in the winter could one day allow troops to navigate using the Earth’s magnetic fields.

END of PDB

Paul Crespo

Paul Crespo is the Managing Editor of American Defense News. A defense and national security expert, he served as a Marine Corps officer and as a military attaché with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) at US embassies worldwide. Paul holds degrees from Georgetown, London, and Cambridge Universities. He is also CEO of SPECTRE Global Risk, a security advisory firm, and President of the Center for American Defense Studies, a national security think tank.