Retired Gen. Robert Kehler, former commander of U.S. Strategic Command, on Friday emphatically championed sweeping investments in nuclear command, control and communications (NC3), and cautioned against segregating individual NC3 components from funding. Speaking at the Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit, Kehler joined a group of active leaders throughout the nuclear enterprise in endorsing an upgrade of NC3 architecture to 21st century technology, even as Pentagon officials this month identified Minuteman 3 command and control as a possible budget cut. “I would argue that we can no longer give our leaders three or four different phones that are each optimized for a certain scenario, and then ask them to switch as the scenario changes,” Kehler said. “We can no longer construct a system that is designed to get something from our leaders as opposed to getting something to them.” Kehler said during his command at STRATCOM from 2011 to 2013, he used at least four phones, three computer networks, six display screens, and split-screen TVs displaying multiple news channels.
Kehler underscored that NC3 should be modernized for the 21st century. Responding to a general question about NC3 funding, Kehler said a viable NC3 would be supported by budgets that incorporate all of its components. “I think there’s great risk in trying to cherry pick here,” he said. Kehler’s words come weeks after Maj. Gen. James Martin, Air Force Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget, said on Feb. 2 during a Pentagon press briefing that if Budget Control Act caps remain in place, the service could be forced to cut or reduce funding for ICBM command and control. The Air Force’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget request includes $287 million for modernization of nuclear command and control, about $147 million more than the FY 2015-enacted amount.
Kehler acknowledged the need for a “wise” NC3 funding strategy, involving leveraging government-wide investments in communications and information technology. While the government cannot leverage investments into necessary high-end space technology, it should prioritize the space portion of the NC3 architecture, Kehler said. “We’re not going to be able to go leverage high-end protected space-based communications,” he said. “That’s something the government has to do for itself. And I am of a mind that says that even as the threat to space increases, we should not walk away from space….I think it would be a grave mistake. I do believe you have to acknowledge that space platforms, like platforms in other domains, will have to operate in harm’s way.”
