1 00:00:00,547 --> 00:00:06,320 - [Male Voice] Defense News is proudly  sponsored by Navy Federal Credit Union.   2 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:10,400 If you're a member of our nation's  armed forces, the Department of Defense,   3 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:14,120 or if your family is, we'd  be proud to serve you too. 4 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:19,600 - On this episode of Defense News Weekly, you  track your fitness and sleep at home. Now the   5 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:24,560 army wants to get into the action. We'll show  you how. Plus, we dig into the Marines' super   6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:29,840 squad competition. See what this year's winners  got for being the best, and we see who's training   7 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:34,560 with Americans as the Chinese threat looms in the  Pacific. Also, want some fresh career advice as   8 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:39,120 you're leaving the military? A newsletter aims  to deliver. We'll have that later in the show,   9 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:43,200 and an angry kitten? See who's planning to  bring this fighting feline to the battlefield.   10 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:57,840 It's the latest in news and analysis from Pentagon  to the platoon, here, on Defense News Weekly.   11 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:20,720 Welcome to Defense News Weekly. I'm  Daniel Woolfolk. Armies from the United   12 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:26,320 States and Indonesia held annual joint combat  exercises Friday on Indonesia's Sumatra Island.   13 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:30,320 That's after signs of growing maritime  activity by China in the Indo-Pacific region.   14 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:36,800 More than 5,000 soldiers from the US, Indonesia,  Australia, Japan, and Singapore joined this   15 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:41,200 year's exercises, making them the largest  since the drills were established in 2009.   16 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:46,880 The joint drills began early this month in  Indonesia on the island of Sumatra and Borneo.   17 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:52,640 China sees the expanded drills as a threat.  Chinese state media have accused the US of   18 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:57,760 building an Indo-Pacific Alliance similar to NATO  as a means to intentionally provoke conflict.   19 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:03,760 US Indo-Pacific commander, Admiral John Aquilino,  said, "Threats are what they're trying to avoid." 20 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:10,400 - The destabilizing actions by the PRC, as  it applied to the threatening activities and   21 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:18,160 actions against Taiwan, is exactly what we are  trying to avoid, and I can tell you from my seat,   22 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:25,200 I spend every waking minute doing everything to  ensure we are preventing conflict in the region. 23 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:29,280 - Aquilino said the 14 nations are  able to communicate and work together   24 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:30,240 should the need arise. 25 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,760 - Our desire is to build our relationships,   26 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:38,640 build our interoperability and be ready  should we need to respond to any contingency. 27 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:47,680 - A federal judge says a US army lieutenant can  go to trial against police officers in Virginia,   28 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,400 whose traffic stop drew  national attention and outrage. 29 00:02:51,480 --> 00:03:00,080 - Get outta the car! Get outta the  car now! Get outta the car now! 30 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:05,040 - Caron Nazario was pepper sprayed, struck, and  handcuffed in the town of Windsor as they were   31 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:10,320 driving slowly to a well lit service station a  mile down the road. Judge Roderick Young ruled   32 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:15,520 Nazario can present the jury with his claims  of false imprisonment, assault and battery, and   33 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:20,240 illegal search under Virginia law, but the judge  says federal immunity laws shield the officers   34 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:25,040 from claims that their treatment of the black and  hispanic soldier violated the US constitution. 35 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,076 - This is fucked up. 36 00:03:27,076 --> 00:03:29,200 - Put your hands behind your back.  Put your hands behind your back. 37 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:33,360 - [Caron] This is fucked up. This is fucked up. 38 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:38,560 - You might be wondering if Ukraine is  in war, where do they train recruits?   39 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:44,000 Well the United kingdom's stepping up and as  part of its broader package to support Ukraine,   40 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:50,000 the British army has pledged to train a total of  10,000 recruits within 120 days on British soil. 41 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:54,000 - We're training them in the UK because  we're providing them a safe environment   42 00:03:54,720 --> 00:04:00,320 to deliver that training because, as we've often  heard, their training bases continually get   43 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:01,440 come under missile strikes. 44 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,600 - [Daniel] And the experience  from past wars are helping today. 45 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:10,880 - British instructors have a lot of experience  from Iraq, Afghanistan. We can adapt all this   46 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:17,520 knowledge to Ukrainian situation and use it well  to liberate our country from Russian invasion. 47 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:19,920 - The recruits will learn infantry and medical   48 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,160 skills that they can expect  to use when they return home. 49 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:28,080 - We are running a basic infantry course, which  takes a Ukrainian recruit and teaches 'em how to   50 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:32,960 shoot well, how to move and communicate within  any tactical environment, and to medicate well. 51 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:39,840 - I know that Ukrainian soldiers are  dying to protect our homes right now. So   52 00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:47,840 it's hard to know that I am not with them, but  Ukrainian Army needs only professional soldiers.   53 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:51,200 So I'm ready to train as hard as possible. 54 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:58,320 - In the winners of the Marines super squad  competition got an upgraded reward this year   55 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:03,600 when the top teams were flown to Washington DC for  an audience with the sergeant major of the corps.   56 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:09,840 For the first time in years, the winning squads  were treated with a trip to the nation's capital.   57 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,520 There, they got to meet the sergeant  major of the Marine Corps, Troy Black,   58 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:18,160 visited the historic marine barracks in DC,  and checked out the nearby Marine Corps Museum.   59 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:24,080 The super squad competition pitches  squads from each battalion in regimental   60 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:28,080 and division level competitions in a  range of tasks. Events include live   61 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:34,880 fire and casualty drills in simulated combat  conditions. Next up, in this week's MilTech,   62 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:39,840 Todd South explains how the army plans its own  version of sensors you might already have on. 63 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:48,880 -   64 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:54,320 So you've got a fitness tracker on your phone,  right? And on your watch and a sleep tracker and   65 00:05:54,320 --> 00:06:00,240 a diet nutrition tracker and a meditation app?  Okay, well that's probably it. Wait, do you have   66 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:05,040 an automatic link for workout guidance, trainer  assisted workouts, for scheduling a therapy   67 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:10,160 session or evaluation? Probably not. And I'm sure  you wanna sculpt those guns, but you actually need   68 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:14,880 to know if you're progressing enough to pass  that pesky army combat fitness test, right?   69 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:19,760 Well, a few troops are testing an  application and service support system to see   70 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:24,480 all that stuff come into one single hub, running  through a pilot program that's called CoachMePlus.   71 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,720 The application is based off years of  work with professional sports teams   72 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,840 and studies in recent years with soldiers,  airmen, and other service members.   73 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:37,040 Now pretty much every military service is uping  their physical fitness game with stricter PT   74 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:42,960 tests and better science on warmups, cool down,  hydration, nutrition, stretching, but the army   75 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:46,560 took an all around approach when it launched  holistic health and fitness program in 2020.   76 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:51,760 That effort seeks to revamp fitness by combining  mental, physical, nutritional, and even spiritual   77 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:56,240 aspects into how the service guides and improves  the health of its soldiers, but that's a lot to   78 00:06:56,240 --> 00:07:02,400 track. So that's where CoachMePlus comes in. So we  called the folks at CoachMePlus to talk about how   79 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:06,400 they got into this field, what they've done with  most non-military groups, and most importantly,   80 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:09,920 what they think they can bring to the table  to help troops get in shape and stay in shape. 81 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:16,720 - Our key factor in everything that we do is  really about enhancing the coach and athlete   82 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,960 relationship. You're able to go in much like  you are with any fitness app. I'm gonna track my   83 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:25,280 workouts. I'm gonna track my nutrition. I'm gonna  look at my wellness. I wanna integrate my Whoop   84 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:31,360 or my Garmin or Fitbit or Apple Watch or other  wearable device. I want to join a community of   85 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:37,680 people. I want to receive educational content.  All of those experiences happen to the athlete   86 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:43,280 in that athlete facing application, but for the  coach, when they log in and they experience the   87 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:49,920 application. They're more focused on are there  any problems today? Who do I need to focus on?   88 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:55,760 How can I help get them to where they need to  be as far as part of their fitness or wellness   89 00:07:55,760 --> 00:08:00,960 journey. It's a lot more than an app. It's  definitely a very large kind of experience.   90 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:10,720 In the military, the higher in rank you go,  the more finite amount of time you have to   91 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:17,440 be able to actually view information and act on  it, right? They may not be concerned about Soldier   92 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:22,960 Snuffy, the fact that he ate a bag of Cheetos  yesterday, right? They're more concerned like,   93 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:29,200 is my unit ready? What's the overall  trend of readiness? Is everybody sleeping?   94 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:35,600 How are they doing on their latest fitness  test? What's the percentage of injuries   95 00:08:36,560 --> 00:08:41,200 in my unit, and is that trending in the right  direction or in the wrong direction? When you   96 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:47,600 get into human performance, everybody, there's  no one-size-fits-all model to how you approach   97 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:54,560 wellness and care and fitness with your entire  group. So not only do you have to consider   98 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:59,280 how you're sharing information with commanders  and with individuals and things like that,   99 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:02,880 but you also have to understand the  context of the location that you're in,   100 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:10,240 what period you're training, are these folks  in a schoolhouse, are they in basic training   101 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:15,360 where they're gonna get fatigued and they're not  gonna sleep? We know that. That's not gonna be a   102 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:19,680 red flag for us. What's gonna be a red flag  is when something else goes out of whack.   103 00:09:19,680 --> 00:09:25,600 So you have to understand the context of where  and when and how these soldiers are performing,   104 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:33,760 and being able to deliver that information to key  people is more important than anything else that   105 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:39,120 we've ever done. You really have to shape the  information into a story that's usable by the   106 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:46,560 folks that are using it. 1,001, 1,002, oh, sorry.  I'm not sure you heard. I just did a thousand.   107 00:09:46,560 --> 00:09:52,080 Works the uvula. It kind of connects back. It's  not really important. So as you heard, CoachMePlus   108 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:56,080 is working on refining the product, and if they're  successful and the army likes what they deliver,   109 00:09:56,080 --> 00:10:00,800 it could be how future soldiers track, test, and  transform their total life fitness. I'm Todd South   110 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:09,760 with Military Times bringing all the news you need  to sculpt your guns. 1,005, 1,006, 1,007, 1,008.   111 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:15,040 Thanks Todd. Up next, we see who is  investing in high altitude balloon   112 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:20,080 technology for reconnaissance and what's  needed most in US missile defense. Stay tuned.   113 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:32,560 Welcome back to Defense News Weekly. I'm  Daniel Woolfolk, and this is Defense Dollars.   114 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:47,680 The Space and Missile Defense Symposium  was held last week in Huntsville, Alabama   115 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:51,040 where military and industry leaders  discussed the future of missile defense.   116 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:56,640 The commander of US strategic command, Admiral  Chaz Richard, spoke at the event. His command   117 00:10:56,640 --> 00:11:01,360 is responsible for nuclear deterrents and  global strike. What's his unit's biggest   118 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,920 need to complete the mission? Well, he said,  "It's a robust missile warning capability."   119 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:10,880 He said, "A missile warning is critical so that  he knows how "to posture and use his forces to   120 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:16,000 respond "to rapidly expanding missile threats,  "such as hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles,   121 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:21,440 "unmanned aerial systems, and several novel weapon  systems." He noted that a Chinese test last year   122 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:26,320 of a fractional orbit bombardment hypersonic  system was something the world hadn't seen.   123 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:32,560 The United Kingdom will have balloons provide a  stratospheric coms, intel, and reconnaissance.   124 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:38,720 Sierra, Nevada will demonstrate the balloons  capabilities as part of the UK's Project Eather.   125 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:43,680 That's according to an August news release  from the company that puts the contract at $121   126 00:11:43,680 --> 00:11:49,040 million. With their minimal weight, high altitude  balloons have attracted attention for their   127 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:54,480 ability to remain in the air for long periods of  time while conducting surveillance operations,   128 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:59,040 as well as their potential capability to  track hypersonic weapons, and back on this   129 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:03,440 side of the pond, US lawmakers have also  signaled their interest in the technology.   130 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:09,520 The Senate version of the national defense  authorization act, 4FY23, puts $15 million   131 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:15,520 towards stratospheric balloon research. The bill  also includes an additional $10.2 million for   132 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:21,840 high altitude balloons for SOUTHCOM as an unfunded  requirement or wishlist item under its classified   133 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:27,840 programs list. If you've got electronics on the  battlefield, your biggest foe might be feline.   134 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:33,760 The US air force's air combat command is testing  Georgia Tech Research Institute's next generation   135 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:40,640 electronic warfare equipment, better known as the  angry kitten kit. That kitten isn't just cute,   136 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:45,200 it's also smart. During the evaluations  this year, the air force says the kit was   137 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:51,200 reprogrammed overnight to account for what it had  encountered in its previous mission. That's a big   138 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:55,920 accomplishment according to the air force, because  electronic warfare software tends to be rigid.   139 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:01,840 Researchers call this technology, cognitive  EW, which uses machine learning and other   140 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:06,800 sophisticated tech to select ways to jam  enemy signals and analyze its performance   141 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:12,800 before self-correcting. US officials have said  that dominating the electro magnetic spectrum   142 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:19,360 will be critical in a fight with China or Russia.  As Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine, NATOs   143 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:24,720 beefing up its air defenses along the alliance's  eastern flank. Member countries have deployed   144 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:29,120 more fighter jets and missile defense systems  to protect against air and missile threats.   145 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:35,680 NATO says, "This enhanced deterrent, it's purely  defensive. "It sets its air shielding deployment   146 00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:40,880 last from weeks "to months adding that its legacy  air policing mission "has not changed, and that   147 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:46,080 the allied fighter jets are "on alert 24/7 to  respond to any threat "in an allied airspace."   148 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:51,040 A fresh newsletter aims to make sure  your transition to the civilian world   149 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:55,360 gets what it needs. Last week was  the inaugural issue of the AARP   150 00:13:55,360 --> 00:14:02,720 Veteran Report. Here's more about the resource.  Toby, welcome to the show. AARP has a new   151 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:07,160 veteran report newsletter. It's a bi-monthly  newsletter, I believe. Who is this for? 152 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:12,240 - So it's for veterans. I mean, there  are 17 million or so in this country   153 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:19,760 of varying ages and demographics but  a very, very big community out there.   154 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:25,920 So what we're aiming to do is tell inspiring  stories of heroism and sacrifice and service, but   155 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:31,040 also combine that with practical tips that will  be useful for veterans in their everyday lives. 156 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:34,880 - And where did the need  come from for this product? 157 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:42,400 - Well, we've noticed that we have very  strong sort of veterans content across AARP,   158 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:49,520 and we have a number of practical tools, like we  have the health benefits navigator, for instance,   159 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:54,240 and we've noticed that while those things were  being used, they're not being used by enough   160 00:14:54,240 --> 00:15:00,160 people. So we feel that there are resources within  AARP that we want to get out to more people,   161 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:06,080 and also, we just want to build veterans  communities, cuz some veterans are very,   162 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:10,480 very connected with other veterans and are active  in veterans groups, but other people are just out   163 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:17,680 on their own. So we felt there was a need out  there to help build communities among veterans. 164 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:21,680 - And as we know, veteran  retirees are very diverse,   165 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:24,400 right? You get people even  down from their twenties up to   166 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:29,920 their fifties and sixties. What was kind of  bridging them all together in the newsletter? 167 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:38,160 - Well, I mean, as you can tell from the accent,  I'm originally British. American citizen for more   168 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:45,120 than well over a decade now, but I'm a veteran  myself, Royal Navy. I did 10 years, but one of   169 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:51,600 the things I've always found incredibly impressive  about the United States is how service is honored,   170 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:57,200 no matter what form, whether it was you were in  combat, whether you just spent a couple of years,   171 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:03,600 whether you spent 30 years, and so I think  there's, despite the diversity and the range   172 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:12,400 of age and income brackets and backgrounds, there  is the idea of service and the pride in service   173 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,840 in the United States really does unite  veterans almost like no other group. 174 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:22,080 - And speaking about a group, a group  within that group that I saw that you   175 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:26,320 target is military retirees going  into the workforce. Can you tell   176 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:29,680 me a little bit about what's unique  about that specific set of people? 177 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:32,080 - Yeah, absolutely. I mean, in our first   178 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:39,360 newsletter, we led with the Garrison East  interview, but we had a piece written by   179 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:48,800 Valley Gideons, who is the wife of a retired  marine colonel, who spent 30 years in uniform,   180 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:56,560 and so she, I mean, when I was commissioning the  piece, she was telling me about how, obviously,   181 00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:03,760 high functioning individuals, this guy was a  Colonel who commanded troops in war, but the sense   182 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:10,160 of grief, almost, leaving the military, a loss of  community, wondering about sense of purpose, and   183 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:16,400 also, their own, sort of, marital relationship had  changed, and so she gave a very sort of sensitive   184 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:24,320 and useful practical take on these are the things  you're gonna deal with, whether you've been in for   185 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:29,280 decades or just a short space of time, and here  are a few tips as to how you can navigate that. 186 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:34,240 - And Toby, where can somebody find  this newsletter and sign up for it? 187 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:42,880 - So aarp.org/veteranreport, you'll find  it there, and we're trying to build up our   188 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:48,480 subscribers. We have comments underneath the  articles. There's an email there so you can   189 00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:55,280 provide story ideas and feedback. So we're trying  to build a community. It's now out in the world,   190 00:17:55,280 --> 00:18:00,080 and so we're looking for reader  feedback and so we can, kind of,   191 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,080 make each issue every two weeks,  sort of, better than the last. 192 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,960 - There we go. Toby Hardin,  thank you for joining us. 193 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:11,760 - Thanks so much. Good to be with you,  Daniel. Stay tuned. After the break,   194 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:15,600 personal finance espert, Jeanette Mack, talks  about ways prepare for college expenses.   195 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:28,000 Welcome back. On this edition of Money  Minute, Navy Federal Credit Union and   196 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:32,760 personal finance expert, Jeanette Mack, talks  about ways to prepare for college expenses. 197 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:38,320 - There are literally thousands of colleges  out there, but there's one common denominator   198 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:44,000 between all of them, they're expensive. That's why  planning ahead is so vital in making the hopes of   199 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:48,160 earning a college degree more attainable.  It's also the most effective way to reduce   200 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:52,880 the anxiety that comes along with it, and there's  no reaching the goal of having money for college   201 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:57,840 without a budget. You have to gauge all your  potential expenses listing out what might be   202 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:04,000 necessary beyond tuition, like housing, meals, and  transportation just to name a few. If your student   203 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:09,200 will be working while studying, decide how much of  their pay can or should go towards certain costs.   204 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:14,400 Keep emergency money in an account for only those  times that's needed. The unexpected does happen in   205 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:20,000 college, too. Saving for higher education takes  some education as well. So do your research.   206 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:24,480 Learn what other options may be available to  you for financial aid. The free application   207 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:29,920 for federal student aid can unlock even more  financing options. Scholarships, state programs,   208 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:35,120 and specific school-to-school programs can be  viable too, but usually within a certain timeframe   209 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:41,040 and must be applied to by a certain date. So do  check on those. Start early and stay the course.   210 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:45,880 College may be expensive, but with careful  and purposeful planning, it can be done. 211 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:51,440 - Thanks Jeanette, we'll see you next time. To  get more coverage on military and defense issues,   212 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:55,840 make sure to check out our headlines every day at  Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps times.com   213 00:19:56,560 --> 00:20:00,400 and defensenews.com, and do you like  being the smartest person in your unit?   214 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:05,520 To get fresh headlines in your inbox every  weekday, subscribe to our early bird brief,   215 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,960 or if you prefer to get your news on  social media, follow us on Facebook,   216 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:13,680 Twitter, and Instagram, and when we come back,  the head of one of the military's most important   217 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:19,840 defense agencies talk to Defense News. It's  all about missile defense, so don't go away.   218 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:31,360 Welcome back. The Space and Missile Defense  Conference was recently held in Huntsville,   219 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:35,760 Alabama. We caught up with the commander  of the US Missile Defense Agency.   220 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:37,000 Here's more from that interview. 221 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:43,840 - In terms of the defense of Guam, your second  priority, the architecture is taking shape now.   222 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:48,800 Can you tell me more about what is  in the works, what you need to get   223 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:54,400 done in the next several years, and then  also, what you're hoping this will teach   224 00:20:55,280 --> 00:21:01,040 missile defense overall, what can be applied  to, potentially, homeland missile defense,   225 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:08,480 for instance, or other places in the Pacific,  Hawaii, for instance? So, we have seen that   226 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:14,560 Congress has backed off a little bit on the  homeland missile defense radar in Hawaii   227 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:19,360 and wants to see where things are going in  Guam. So obviously a lot of eyes are on this. 228 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:28,320 - Sure, yeah, so we learned a lot from Hawaii.  That radar was designed to really protect the   229 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:33,920 islands from the rogue threat, which we know  will continue to evolve and become more complex   230 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:40,560 over time. Our issue became sighting, and sighting  is tough. We dealt a lot with that when we were   231 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:45,280 building LRDR, long range discrimination radar,  up in Alaska, and they're all uniquely different.   232 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:52,160 So Guam will have sighting challenges of its own.  So I'm glad you asked or that you made the comment   233 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:59,280 earlier to, kind of, put the context of next  generation interceptor in the temporal space   234 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:06,480 that it's post-SRR on its way to PDR. So we still  have a long way to go on that program. So Guam is   235 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:14,720 a PB23 architecture. So we haven't really started  the program, but the nice thing about PB23,   236 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:20,720 it does lay down the basic architecture of the  systems that will go on to Guam. So I can talk   237 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:25,760 a little bit about that. The department did  fund us at a level that allows us to start   238 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:30,960 environmental impact surveys that allows us to  do the siting work. We just finished our second,   239 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:36,080 what we call, a sighting summit last week. My team  was out there for a couple weeks, met with all the   240 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:41,760 major leadership out in Hawaii and on Guam, and  then walked every single candidate site that's   241 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:48,480 out there. It's not final, but we have a very good  feel for at least, technically and operationally,   242 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:53,840 where things should go in order for it to function  as a system, and that partnership is pretty   243 00:22:53,840 --> 00:23:00,240 amazing. It's primarily with the army. So if you  look at the PB23 budget submittal, you will see   244 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:06,000 that there's a MDA portion, which is the ballistic  missile defense capability and the hypersonic   245 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:10,720 missile defense capability, and then the army  brings cruise missile defense, and what's great   246 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:16,080 is both systems, kind of, have a crossover in what  they can do, and so the integration of those into   247 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:20,880 a command suite with command and control battle  management on top of it is the basic architecture.   248 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:27,120 So you can think of a number of radars that ensure  we meet the requirement, which is persistent 360   249 00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:32,240 degree coverage because of the evolved threat,  and it's an island in a very interesting   250 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:38,480 geographic location. So that's what we're  doing now, working very hard across the army,   251 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:44,640 Navy as the executive agent on Guam. They own the  land. They're working with the territory there,   252 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:50,960 with the governor, to negotiate those spaces for  us to have the different system assets in place. 253 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:59,360 - Okay, and just to add to this in terms of the  lessons learned that you may be getting from Guam,   254 00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:05,360 what are you hoping this will answer for,  maybe, some other things you're looking at, like   255 00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:07,280 close missile defense of the homeland. 256 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:12,320 - Yeah, there's a laundry list of lessons, again,  cuz you haven't really even started, right?   257 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:16,480 There's a lot of lessons that you  learn from assumptions you make   258 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:20,800 before you ever get to the decision, and then the  reality hits when you get on the ground, right?   259 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:28,240 Sighting will be tough. That's a very constrained  space. So we know that to be a fact. We know the   260 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:35,040 sizing and the requirements on the sensors that  we will need. We know where you can and cannot put   261 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:40,960 live ordinance. That's always a constraining  factor. So when you think about transporting   262 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:46,000 yourself to some other location, whether it's in  the United States or abroad, you have to worry   263 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:49,920 about explosive arcs and those sorts of things  where you place those. You have to worry about   264 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:55,440 the electromagnetic interference of the radars. So  one of the first conflicts we had, and it's been   265 00:24:55,440 --> 00:25:00,080 in the press already, but I think it's resolved,  is if you're gonna build a hospital on this site   266 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:04,480 and you have a radar over here, is it okay to  put radar energy through that site where you   267 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:08,760 bring medevac helicopters in? Tthe answer's no.  So we have to go resolve those sorts of things. 268 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:13,760 - That's all we have time for this week.  Please visit us on militarytimes.com and   269 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:27,840 defensenews.com for more coverage. Thanks  for joining us, and we'll see you next week.