In a letter late last week to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-Tex.), leader of the committee’s readiness panel, call for a halt in converting DOD civilians to the Pentagon’s National Security Personnel System until “a thorough review of the system is concluded.” Skelton and Ortiz cite “widespread distrust and discontent” that NSPS has raised both within the ranks of those converted and those waiting in the wings, as highlighted in recent Government Accountability Office and Congressional Budget Office reports. They believe, too, that “questions have arisen over the last minute issuance of regulations (in the final weeks of the Bush Administration) which go beyond the intent of Congress” in NSPS revisions lawmakers made in the 2008 defense authorization act. The Pentagon, reportedly, is reviewing its options, before responding. As the Skelton/Ortiz letter points out, though, President Obama is no fan of the NSPS.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
