Subcommitttee on Emerging Threats & Capabilities Markup FY16 NDAA

I should have highlighted this from the actual mark-up at this link http://docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/AS26/20150422/103282/BILLS-114HR1735ih-U1.pdf 

Section 10XX—Department of Defense Strategy for Countering Unconventional Warfare 

 This section would required the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the President and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to develop a strategy for the Department of Defense to counter unconventional warfare threats posed by adversarial state and non-state actors. This section would require the Secretary of Defense to submit the strategy to the congressional defense committees within 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. The committee is concerned about the growing unconventional warfare capabilities and threats being posed most notably and recently by the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The committee notes that unconventional warfare is defined most accurately as those activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt, or overthrow a government or occupying power by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary, or guerrilla force in a denied area. The committee also notes that most state-sponsors of unconventional warfare, such as Russia and Iran, have doctrinally linked conventional warfare, economic warfare, cyber warfare, information operations, intelligence operations, and other activities seamlessly in an effort to undermine U.S. national security objectives and the objectives of U.S. allies alike. 

The only thing I would have added to this last sentence is that this might best be described as political warfare.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Maxwell <David.Maxwell@georgetown.edu>
Date: Tue, Apr 21, 2015 at 4:09 PM
Subject: Subcommitttee on Emerging Threats & Capabilities Markup FY16 NDAA
To:

Some very interesting topics in this mark-up of the NDAA.  It will be  interesting to see what makes it into the final NDAA but at least this subcommittee is thinking about some critically important topics.  Among them:

Direct the Secretary of Defense to provide a strategy to counter unconventional warfare threats being posed by Russia, Iran, and others;

Provide the Secretary of Defense with authority to establish a pilot program to counter adversarial propaganda efforts, like those undertaken by Russia, al Qaeda, and ISIL;

In addition to the above these are some SOF specific points:

Fully resource and authorize U.S. Special Operations Command programs and activities; 

Extend for two years a family support pilot program for Special Operations Forces and their families;

Fully resource the U.S. Special Operations Command Preservation of the Force and Families program;

Make permanent the authorization for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Special Operations Headquarters, placing an enduring emphasis on this partnership comprised of more than 26 countries; 

And the most important one that should be able to lead to a reduction in DOD, Joint and Service staffs (we can dream in a our naiveté) :

Streamline reporting requirements placed on DoD by eliminating or modifying a number of mandated annual reports.

http://armedservicesforms.house.gov/news/email/show.aspx?ID=HTCIKS5UUYOF74OFBKY7XMVV2Q

For Immediate Release: April 21, 2015      Contact: Claude Chafin (202) 225-2539

Subcommitttee on Emerging Threats & Capabilities Markup FY16 NDAA WASHINGTON- Led by Chairman Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Ranking Member Jim Langevin (D-RI), the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Subcommittee for Emerging Threats and Capabilities (ETC) released its proposals for the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) today.  The Subcommittee will meet at 2:30 PM on Wednesday, April 22nd, in Rayburn 2118.  The markup will be webcast on the Committee’s YouTube page and at the HASC OpsCenter.  The ETC mark is available here: Subcommittee Mark. The ETC proposal is a vital part of the NDAA through which the Committee enacts oversight of counter-terrorism programs and initiatives, U.S. Special Operations Forces, related Intelligence support,  DoD science and technology programs and policy, information technology and Cyber operations and programs, homeland defense, force protection policy and oversight, and combating weapons of mass destruction.  Specifically, the ETC proposal will: Fully resource and authorize U.S. Cyber Command programs and activities, as well as all Military Service cyber programs and science and technology Cyber initiatives to enhance a Cyber mission force that defends our national security objectives; Direct the Secretary of Defense to identify and assess Cyber vulnerabilities on legacy weapons systems and mission systems; Direct GAO to review DoD technology transitions efforts to ensure effective and timely transition of technologies developed by industry and the DoD laboratories to war-fighters; Direct GAO to review U.S. policies and technologies to improve the ability to produce advanced semiconductors and microelectronics to mitigate security risks from procuring those items from foreign sources; Fully resource and authorize U.S. Special Operations Command programs and activities; Extend for two years a family support pilot program for Special Operations Forces and their families; Fully resource the U.S. Special Operations Command Preservation of the Force and Families program; Make permanent the authorization for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Special Operations Headquarters, placing an enduring emphasis on this partnership comprised of more than 26 countries; Extend DoD’s authority to assist in the recovery of isolated personnel overseas; Provides additional funding to energize counter ISIL technology and operations programs; Direct the Secretary of Defense to provide a strategy to counter unconventional warfare threats being posed by Russia, Iran, and others; Provide the Secretary of Defense with authority to establish a pilot program to counter adversarial propaganda efforts, like those undertaken by Russia, al Qaeda, and ISIL; Extend a critical authority for the Department of Defense to engage with foreign countries to enhance their own capabilities to respond to incidents involving weapons of mass destruction; Direct the Secretaries of Defense and State to notify and brief Congress when an embassy or consulate evacuation takes place, ensuring proper congressional oversight during these sensitive operations; and Streamline reporting requirements placed on DoD by eliminating or modifying a number of mandated annual reports.