Roger That: Transcom’s McDew expresses concerns about mobility resources, cyber threats

Air Force Gen. Darren W. McDew, the commander of the U.S. Transportation Command, based at Scott Air Force Base, told the House Armed Services Committee’s readiness subcommittee on Tuesday that the pace of today’s operations requires the full effort of the nation’s nonmobilized air refueling and airlift fleets.

“Should the need arise to respond elsewhere in the world, the mobility resources required could exceed existing capacity,” the general said, according to a story on DefenseGov.com.

McDew said he also is concerned about the command’s ability to operate in the cyber realm. The cyber domain is an increasingly contested area, he said, and the command relies on commercial providers for about 90 percent of its traffic flow.

“Finally, we must remain vigilant and meet the long term recapitalization needs of tomorrow,” he said. “Highest among these priorities are the development of a viable, strategic sealift recapitalization plan and the on-time delivery of the KC-46 Alpha [aerial refueler].”

The cyber threat is evolving, he said. “All of us probably agree that we couldn’t foretell where we would be today with a cyber threat versus where we were just 10 years ago,” McDew said. “And I'm concerned — as are all of us — where we’ll be 10 years from now.”

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The U.S. Transportation Command, based at Scott Air Force Base, is preparing to welcome Army Brig. Gen. Kurt J. Ryan, who will become the next commanding general of the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, also based at Scott.

The SDDC is the U.S. Army service component of Transcom. Ryan currently serves as the commandant of the U.S. Army Ordnance School, at Fort Lee, Va.

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If the Marines were called today to respond to an unexpected crisis, they might not be ready, a top Marine general told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, according to Stars and Stripes.

Gen. John Paxton, assistant commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, testified to lawmakers that the Marines could face more casualties in a war and might not be able to deter a potential enemy.

“I worry about the capability and the capacity to win in a major fight somewhere else right now,” he said, citing a lack of training and equipment.

Paxton, along with the vice chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force, spoke to the Senate committee on the readiness challenges facing each service after 15 years of war and recent budget cuts.

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Military Times is reporting that the percent of disability claims approved by the Veterans Affairs Department for Persian Gulf War-related illnesses has declined steadily in the past five years, resulting in record lows, according to a new report from the advocacy group Veterans for Common Sense.

In the first two quarters of fiscal 2015, the VA denied nearly 82 percent of claims filed by Gulf War veterans for two main conditions presumed to be connected to their military service — chronic multi-symptom illness and undiagnosed illnesses.

In 2011, the denial rate was 76 percent, Veterans for Common Sense director Anthony Hardie said.

The low approval rates, which “approach the limited odds of winning a scratch-off lottery,” are a “complete contravention of 1998 laws passed to improve Gulf War veterans’ ability to have their claims approved,” Hardie wrote in testimony to two House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittees Tuesday.

This story was originally published March 16, 2016 at 11:56 AM with the headline "Roger That: Transcom’s McDew expresses concerns about mobility resources, cyber threats."