[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 26 (Thursday, February 29, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S1464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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             THE RETIREMENT OF ADM. WILLIAM OWENS AND JROC

  Mr. COATS. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Adm. William A. 
Owens and his extraordinary efforts in developing the military's Joint 
Requirements Oversight Council, better known as JROC. Admiral Owens 
retires today after 33 years of service to our Nation, and as our 
military's third Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff--the second 
highest ranking officer in our Armed Forces.
  As Vice Chairman, Admiral Owens defined the role of the JROC in the 
defense requirements planning process--a process that has seen little 
change from the cold war planning process instituted by former Defense 
Secretary McNamara in the 1960's. The JROC as a forum, and a process, 
is little known and even less understood. But I believe it is essential 
to leveraging the tremendous capabilities that can be gained through 
joint planning and operations. I believe it also signals the need for a 
fundamental change in the way America plans for its future defense. 
This need for change is not a challenge limited to the Defense 
Department, but rather will provoke many of us to reflect what means to 
be pro-defense today--in a daunting era of emerging new technologies, 
uncertainly over future threats, an expanding continuum of military 
operations, and scarce and competing resources.
  The JROC evolved in response to these challenges. But the JROC was 
also largely motivated by the Goldwater-Nichols' Defense Reorganization 
Act of 1986. Goldwater-Nichols required the Chairman of the Joint 
Chiefs of Staff to conduct net assessments to determine our military 
capabilities. The act also required that the Chairman provide the 
Secretary of Defense with alternative program recommendations and 
budget proposals--recommendations alternative to decisions derived from 
business as usual.
  To assist the Chairman in this role, Goldwater-Nichols created the 
position of the Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. As Vice Chairman 
for the past 2 years, Admiral Owens has chaired the JROC and its 
members--the Air Force and Army Vice Chiefs of Staff, the Vice Chief of 
Naval Operations, and the Assistant Commander of the Marine Corps. 
These senior military leaders now devote 10 to 15 hours each week to 
review issues generated by various joint warfighting capability 
assessments, or JWCA's. The JWCA's, which Admiral Owens initiated, 
comprehensively evaluate 10 distinct warfighting capabilities across 
military service lines. The purpose of these assessments is to enhance 
interoperability among programs and services, and to identify those 
new technologies, organizational changes, as well as deficiencies and 
redundancies, that will improve our military's warfighting 
capabilities.

  Through his leadership and vision, Admiral Owens transformed the JROC 
into what it is today--a forum where our military's senior leadership 
undertakes the critical process of reviewing, debating and planning our 
military's future warfighting capability. The JROC has given our 
military service members a greater awareness of other services' 
programs, requirements and operations, as well as the capabilities 
required by each of the warfighting commanders. Because it 
comprehensively assesses the overarching military capability as a 
whole--compared to the well-rooted program by program review of the 
past--the JROC can better assess how much warfighting capability is 
enough and how much redundancy is acceptable.
  The JROC is in a state of evolution and its recommendations will not 
always be popular. But what's remarkable about the JROC is its ability 
to address military requirements across service lines--across the lines 
of parochialism that have, in the past, inhibited the military's move 
toward greater jointness, to greater effectiveness and to greater 
efficiencies. Admiral Owens and the JROC have been a catalyst for 
moving defense planning away from business as usual--shifting the focus 
of the defense debate away from defense spending levels, and move 
toward a process that collectively addresses a kaleidoscope of defense 
challenges, and will ensure that defense investment decisions and force 
structure changes are wise, attainable and affordable.
  At one of our last meetings, Admiral Owens left with me a booklet 
entitled ``New York Habits for a Radically Changing World.'' There is 
one particular quote in this book which perhaps best captures Admiral 
Owens' concern and vision for the future of our armed forces. I quote:

       Organizations can't stop the world from changing. The best 
     they can do is adapt. The smart ones change before they have 
     to. The lucky ones manage to scramble and adjust when push 
     comes to shove. The rest are losers, and they become history.

  Our Nation owes a debt of gratitude to Admiral Ownes for effecting 
change before it was compelled, and for his stewardship in ensuring our 
Armed Forces are well-equipped, well-trained, and well-prepared in this 
century and beyond.

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