Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Inside The Pentagon
August 14, 2008
Pg. 1
With Election Day fast approaching, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is busily laying the foundation for a smooth transition to the next administration, aiming to ensure military matters are well managed when either Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) or Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) enters the White House.
Several major moves made behind the scenes in recent days will shape how the Bush administration’s appointees at the Defense Department hand off responsibilities to their successors, Inside the Pentagon has learned.
Gates established a key task force that will manage DOD’s transition plans.
He also created a separate, high-level panel to oversee and steer the effort.
In addition, the Pentagon issued a directive that DOD describes as its first comprehensive transition-policy framework.
In an Aug. 7 memo not intended for public release, Gates outlines his plans for an “orderly transition” of the Pentagon’s leadership. ITP reviewed a copy of the document, which puts meat on the bones of a policy framework for the transition that was publicly issued without fanfare the following day.
Effective Aug. 1, Gates established the DOD Transition Task Force within his office, the memo states.
The task force will be led by Thomas Tesch, the memo says. He has been serving as the head of the Navy’s office of program appraisal.
The DOD Transition Task Force will “orchestrate support for transitioning the operations” of DOD to the control of the incoming administration on Jan. 20, 2009, Gates writes.
A chart included with the memo puts the task force on par with the transition team being chaired by Marine Brig. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen.
Specifically, the memo instructs Tesch to focus on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of transition efforts to help maintain the continuity of national security, “minimize the turmoil” associated with the departure and arrival of key civilian leaders, and sustain smooth operations within DOD by contributing to the proper flow of information support, as required.
He will communicate with the service secretaries, OSD principal staff assistants and Mullen, as needed, through their DOD transition assistance coordinators.
Tesch’s staff will include a small core, plus the coordinators named by the military departments and the OSD principal staff assistants. Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Brian Maka said the coordinators have not yet been named.
Tesch reports to, serves as the deputy for, and receives instructions from Robert Rangel, who is officially known as the “head of DOD transition.” He is a special assistant to Gates and Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England.
Rangel reports to Gates, who assigns guidance and direction on transition matters.
According to the memo, Rangel oversees and directs all DOD transition matters, both internal and external to the department, for the transition of presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed officials and non-career Senior Executive Service members of OSD and the military departments.
In addition to supervising Tesch and the task force, Rangel communicates with the service secretaries, OSD principal staff assistants and Mullen, as needed, to coordinate and communicate transition requirements consistent with Gates’ direction.
Notably, Rangel is also supposed to serve as the sole interface with the Bush administration, the president-elect’s focal point for DOD transition issues, and Congress for all matters pertaining to DOD’s shift to the new administration.
Near the summit of the Pentagon’s transition hierarchy, second only to Gates and England, is the DOD Transition Senior Steering Group.
This new group, the memo says, consists of the secretaries of the military departments, the under secretaries of defense, the chairman or vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Rangel, the special assistant to the deputy defense secretary and potentially other officials. Tesch also serves as the executive secretary of this group, which will advise Gates and England on transition matters.
The Aug. 8 directive makes no mention of the senior steering group, but it institutionalizes the roles played by the head of DOD transition, the director of the task force, the president-elect’s DOD focal point and other officials to lay the foundation for transitions beyond this one.
“What is notable is that for the first time the department has established a transition policy framework in a single authoritative document,” said Maka. By and large the directive formalizes previous practices and codifies traditional responsibilities, he said. Newly established positions have new titles, but such roles have existed before, he said.
-- Christopher J. Castelli
August 14, 2008
Pg. 1
With Election Day fast approaching, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is busily laying the foundation for a smooth transition to the next administration, aiming to ensure military matters are well managed when either Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) or Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) enters the White House.
Several major moves made behind the scenes in recent days will shape how the Bush administration’s appointees at the Defense Department hand off responsibilities to their successors, Inside the Pentagon has learned.
Gates established a key task force that will manage DOD’s transition plans.
He also created a separate, high-level panel to oversee and steer the effort.
In addition, the Pentagon issued a directive that DOD describes as its first comprehensive transition-policy framework.
In an Aug. 7 memo not intended for public release, Gates outlines his plans for an “orderly transition” of the Pentagon’s leadership. ITP reviewed a copy of the document, which puts meat on the bones of a policy framework for the transition that was publicly issued without fanfare the following day.
Effective Aug. 1, Gates established the DOD Transition Task Force within his office, the memo states.
The task force will be led by Thomas Tesch, the memo says. He has been serving as the head of the Navy’s office of program appraisal.
The DOD Transition Task Force will “orchestrate support for transitioning the operations” of DOD to the control of the incoming administration on Jan. 20, 2009, Gates writes.
A chart included with the memo puts the task force on par with the transition team being chaired by Marine Brig. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen.
Specifically, the memo instructs Tesch to focus on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of transition efforts to help maintain the continuity of national security, “minimize the turmoil” associated with the departure and arrival of key civilian leaders, and sustain smooth operations within DOD by contributing to the proper flow of information support, as required.
He will communicate with the service secretaries, OSD principal staff assistants and Mullen, as needed, through their DOD transition assistance coordinators.
Tesch’s staff will include a small core, plus the coordinators named by the military departments and the OSD principal staff assistants. Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Brian Maka said the coordinators have not yet been named.
Tesch reports to, serves as the deputy for, and receives instructions from Robert Rangel, who is officially known as the “head of DOD transition.” He is a special assistant to Gates and Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England.
Rangel reports to Gates, who assigns guidance and direction on transition matters.
According to the memo, Rangel oversees and directs all DOD transition matters, both internal and external to the department, for the transition of presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed officials and non-career Senior Executive Service members of OSD and the military departments.
In addition to supervising Tesch and the task force, Rangel communicates with the service secretaries, OSD principal staff assistants and Mullen, as needed, to coordinate and communicate transition requirements consistent with Gates’ direction.
Notably, Rangel is also supposed to serve as the sole interface with the Bush administration, the president-elect’s focal point for DOD transition issues, and Congress for all matters pertaining to DOD’s shift to the new administration.
Near the summit of the Pentagon’s transition hierarchy, second only to Gates and England, is the DOD Transition Senior Steering Group.
This new group, the memo says, consists of the secretaries of the military departments, the under secretaries of defense, the chairman or vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Rangel, the special assistant to the deputy defense secretary and potentially other officials. Tesch also serves as the executive secretary of this group, which will advise Gates and England on transition matters.
The Aug. 8 directive makes no mention of the senior steering group, but it institutionalizes the roles played by the head of DOD transition, the director of the task force, the president-elect’s DOD focal point and other officials to lay the foundation for transitions beyond this one.
“What is notable is that for the first time the department has established a transition policy framework in a single authoritative document,” said Maka. By and large the directive formalizes previous practices and codifies traditional responsibilities, he said. Newly established positions have new titles, but such roles have existed before, he said.
-- Christopher J. Castelli