Tools of transformation

George W. Bush made a central plank of his 2000 campaign platform the "transformation"of the U.S. military. The Administration cannot do the full job of transformation alone, however. If the promise of such changes is to be fully realized, Congress must give urgent and broadly favorable treatment to a package of legislative initiatives now under consideration on Capitol Hill.

Under the rubric of the "Defense Transformation for the 21st Century Act of 2003," Secretary Rumsfeld proposes literally to transform the way the Pentagon works in three critical areas: how it develops and buys military hardware; how it recruits, compensates and manages the department’s 750,000-person civilian workforce; and where and how it trains the troops.

On the face of it, there is an obvious need for clearing away much of the thicket of congressionally mandated restrictions, reporting requirements and associated regulations that today afflict the Department of Defense in each of these areas. Accordingly, the suggested revisions have generally found favor among legislators charged with overseeing the Pentagon. They are, predictably, running into resistance from others in Congress who are exceedingly sensitive to government watchdog groups, public employee unions and environmental activists for whom concerns about national security come second (if that) to their respective special interests.

The Defense Transformation Act is neither a panacea nor is it incapable of improvement by national security-minded professionals. Aspects of the bill bearing on foreign dependency, depot-maintenance and contracting-out of Pentagon activities, for example, are matters on which there will likely be disagreement and room for vigorous debate — even among people animated exclusively by the desire to secure the most transformed and capable U.S. military possible.

In a new op-ed Center President Frank Gaffney makes the bottom line clear: The Congress has a duty to do its part in securing such a transformation. Unless acquisition, personnel and training and readiness improvements are made in tandem with the sorts of changes Secretary Rumsfeld has put in train with respect to operating, equipping and overseas deployment of the armed forces, the full benefits of transformation will be denied the military and the nation they serve so well.