Healthcare and the NASA Budget

Are the above two items related? Not at first glance, but I felt that a comment was necessary about just how political circumstances might cause American “healthcare reform “and NASA to be very intimately related.

First, a comment. After 25 years in defense and aerospace I have made some observations about the politics of said industries. [Others might say that my observations reflect nothing more than accumulated cynicism, something I can’t really disagree with.] The observation– one man’s opinion, certainly disputable in official circles – is that NASA’s budget, since the 1960s, while prepared by each Administration in complete sincerity, is nothing more than management reserve for the Pentagon. Meaning that the NASA budget is routinely siphoned away for defense priorities or defense emergencies. It is not overtly stolen; but it does mean that in times of military crisis, or budget challenges, NASA’s growth is small, zero, or negative while defense grows. Just the size of the two budgets reveals that the contest isn’t fair. To wit: defense will consume $650 billion in FY2010 while NASA is budgeted at around $20 billion. Meaning, if a crisis hits somewhere else in the world, or a military satellite program overruns by 50%, the savings will be “found” elsewhere, often in NASA’s budget for space exploration, manned space flight, or the Space Station.

Well then. How does healthcare relate to NASA? Mightily, I postulate. Especially if a “government option” becomes reality, and especially if such option eventually mutates into single-payer healthcare delivery in the USA.

One might find many reasons to oppose single-payer healthcare, but one very salient reason is that it will probably cause NASA to wither into irrelevance. The damage done will be worse than that done by defense. The linkage is as follows.

(1) Once the Federal Government is responsible for healthcare, the party in power, regardless of political affiliation, will be continually trying to balance cost control with expanded coverage.

(2) Healthcare czars in 2015 will be wrestling with matters such as hip replacements for seniors and in-utero surgery for babies with heart defects.

(3) Public sentiment will demand that regulations allow for these treatments, and the Congress and President will be making tough budget choices.

(4) Now there will be two compelling needs – national defense AND healthcare – looking for funds in times of crisis. And of all the budget line items for non-essential programs, NASA will look mighty inviting as a source of free money.

Under the current Administration we can already see this happening. The deficit doubled in a single year to $2 trillion. The Obama Administration spent $780 billion on an economic stimulus package mostly focused on “shovel-ready” projects in Congressional districts. Many other hundreds of billions were spent bailing out failing banks, shoring up General Motors and Chrysler, and subsidizing the renegotiation of bad mortgages. The Administration recently spent $4 billion in 60 days subsidizing relatively wealthy people who decided to replace the old Suburban with a fuel-efficient Lexus. Yet the Obama Administration announced in August that the necessary funding for a new manned moon mission ($3 billion per year), calling it “over-ambitious and no longer viable.”

How sad this is, and how great the loss to the nation. In June the nation celebrated the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11’s successful mission to the moon. My previous post revealed just how marvelous are the images from space taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The awe and national pride that derives from the release of awesome space photos or a Mars Rover video are priceless. Equally valuable are the technological advances achieved. The space program, when in favor, has also meant a huge surge in students who pursue aerospace as a career.

But imagine today’s Congress making budgeting decisions each year. Do we provide more healthcare benefits because of the upcoming midterm elections? Or do we fund NASA? You know what the answer will be.

Healthcare should remain the domain of the private sector and personal decisions by millions of citizens. Because once it becomes a Federal Government responsibility, America’s aerospace leadership will continue to erode, and we might well be marveling at photos taken by Chinese space telescopes by 2030.

Remarkable Images from Space -- Courtesy of Hubble

I could not pass up the opportunity to present some images recently released by NASA, taken by the upgraded Hubble Space Telescope. All represent images of stardust or galaxies from remote parts of the universe. All reflect the glory and majesty of space, and are a testament to American technology and the adventurous spirit that leads us to explore beyond our own planet. Behold the grandeur of our universe:

This photo of two galaxies is a "perfect 10."















Space butterfly --streams of gas emerging from a dying star, also called a planetary nebula.












Cat's Eye -- bizarrely-formed gas streams stare at us across space.













A star bursts into life in the Carina Nebula







A family of galaxies called Stephan's Quintet. Look closely and you'll note that the central galaxy is actually two galaxies in close proximity. Red specks in the spiral arms indicate star formation.

Cybersecurity Update

The Obama Administration announced, last month, a cybersecurity initiative that would cover both defense and federal civilian networks and would include the appointment of a cybersecurty "czar" in addition to the formal appointment of a Cybersecurity Command within the Department of Defense. [I discussed the DOD appointment in a previous post.] The Administration's move follows on the Bush Administration's cybersecurity initiative, announced last year, which was more detailed and provided for both Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security involvement in 12 specific areas of interest:

• Intrusion detection

• Intrusion prevention

• Research and development

• Situational awareness

• Cyber counter intelligence

• Classified network security

• Cyber education and training

• Implementation of information security technologies

• Deterrence strategies

• Global supply chain security

• Public/private collaboration

Federal dollars pledged last year to support the initiative were estimated at $20 billion, however, don't take that to the bank just yet.

The focal point for all cyber decision authority, and presumably much of the contract work, will in the WDC metro area, specifically Fort Meade. I expect that this will be true for non-DOD programs and efforts also. Why Fort Meade? Because the Cyber Commander will be dual-hatted as the Director of NSA.

Some other facts to note:

Much of the work will be highly classified. While this can be an impediment, the right connections and/or partnering can help get around this sometimes impenetrable wall.

The DOD now considers cyberspace to be the 5th domain for national defense, the first four being land, sea, air, and space.

The cyber command is expected to grow exponentially over the next 10 years.

To quote a local Information Operations Technical Director with the Navy, the holy grail for cybersecurity are attribution and location -- e.g., the who and the where. There are many commercial solutions for masking one's mischief on the internet. Staying one step ahead of these commercial solutions, and more clever upgrades, will be of the highest priority.

Reviewing the 12 items above, consider that beyond protection of the networks the highest priorities, from the defense perspective, will be deterrence and countermeasures. Any other information could not be conveyed on this blog but this is probably the best advice for interested software companies and entrepreneurs.

Cyberattacks Continue -- New Implications

Recent news reveals that North Korea has been the source of the recent wave of cyberattacks against the West. While the specific target was South Korea, US Government web sites were also attacked including viruses and outages extended further than their brethren in the southern part four Federal departments which experienced periodic outages this week: the Secret Service, the Treasury Department, the Federal Trade Commission, and Transportation. Curiously, the Defense Department was not attacked.

US Government networks have been the target of attacks every day for years, mostly from China and Russia. What's new about this latest wave of attacks is their origin and their relentlessness over a three-day period. The web sites mentioned earlier were down periodically over the July 4th weekend and outages continued into this week. And while the attacks appear to have minor technological effects, they have major implications for long-term policy, economics and military training.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, ADM Mike Mullen, acknowledged the attacks and said that "we are responding." No doubt with hacking techniques that will make the North Koreans regret their actions.

Still, this latest round only points to the continued need for, and priority, of national defense centered around cybersecurity. The problems are deeper and more complex than traditional defense. For example, should the DOD protect private networks (e.g., those of IBM and General Motors) in addition to Government networks? Would this protection jeopardize civil liberties?

I will discuss this in future posts.

Independence Day Observations -- From a Great American

As I was deliberating upon my holiday choice of words, I came across the following video from President Ronald Reagan, delivered and recorded on January 11, 1989 during his last month in office.

I found that the President's words exactly reflect sentiments of mine dating back many years, so I will not cheapen Reagan's oratory by writing more here. Suffice it to say that the President cautions us that if we stop teaching love of country to our children, we will lose our collective memory about what makes America great.

Without further ado, President Ronald Reagan.



Credit: freedomslighthouse.com

For a stirring rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, watch Sandi Patty. The video dates back at least ten years but the content, of course, is timeless.



And if any readers are lacking in patriotic music today, here's that well-known modern American patriot, Lee Greenwood, singing his hit ballad about our country>

Always a Market for Good Ideas -- DARPA

Publicity is beginning to emerge about DARPA's latest cool program, a "robotic hummingbird" they call an Ornithopter. In actuality, it is a nano-UAV whose largest dimension is about 4 inches with flight characteristics more like a bird than an aircraft. This is significant because, frankly, birds are vastly more flexible in flight than fixed wing, or even rotary wing aircraft.

The nano-UAV will be able to provide reconnaissance and surveillance in urban environments -- listening and recording, or even depositing spy devices and then leaving them in place.

Yea, the bird looks pretty hokey but what's important is that it is quiet and can just alight in a tree and stay put. No one would notice it then.

GROAN -- Reactive, not Proactive

In an earlier post about North Korea's saber-rattling, I mentioned that it was time for the US to show this bully -- admittedly a pipsqueak bully, but a bully nonetheless -- what real strength we had. I suggested locating the Navy's Standard Missile offshore in international waters, technically not in violation of international law but close enough to blow the North Korean missiles out of the sky during their launch phase. So, Kim Jong Il and his generals could watch their precious missiles disintegrate in front of their eyes and learn, like the Libyans did 20 years ago, that they can "mouth off" all they want but once they get militarily aggressive, America is unafraid to take action.

Today, the US Army announced that we are using missile defense in the event that the North Koreans launch toward Hawaii, on July 4th, as they did a few years ago. But we are using the Ballistic Missile Defense system, which intercepts missiles thousands of miles after they've been launched. It is effectively a defensive weapon.

The difference to the world -- using BMD instead of the Standard Missile -- will be clear. BMD will protect the homeland. But it is not aggressive and certainly cannot be interpreted as an offensive weapon.

This point will not be missed by the North Koreans. Using the Standard Missile is equivalent to shooting out their windows and destroying their guns in the rack. Using BMD is equivalent to putting plywood on your own windows so the bad guy's bullets can't hurt you, while cowering behind the furniture.

The North Koreans only respect strength. They get away with their belligerency because they know the Western World is afraid to use its military might. So the question is, as we approach July 4th, what message will we send them?

Incredibly Cool Technology -- Beyond Artificial Intelligence

A recent press release by DARPA discusses a new program called, "Machine Reading Program." Despite this boring and non-descriptive title, the program's goal is to surpass what technologists call Artificial Intelligence (AI). The ideal output of the Machine Reading Program isn't just a smart computer, but one which can read War and Peace or even the Encyclopedia Britannica, and then answer intelligent questions about content. Meaning, once the book is read (in seconds), you can ask the computer to "write a Cliff's Notes summary" or "compare and contrast the primary characters' morality" and the machine would spit out the answer as well as any college professor.

The full capability is still in the future. That's why DARPA is funding companies $30 million to develop the MRP. But progress continues. It's about the language algorithms, the speech topology, and providing the computer with a capabilty to learn each time it "reads" more.

This is not a new need. Scientists identified it as a priority in the 1960s when IBM computers filled an entire room and cost millions of dollars.

Imagine the value from an intelligence perspective. Suppose you could read millions of web pages in Arabic and then answer intelligently questions which might lead to finding that one dangerous needle in the haystack.

Software firms with new ideas for making this initiative successful will have many potential funding sources, and good ideas will get well-deserved attention from the various intelligence agencies who so desperately need a solution.

Defense Budget 2009 Update

The FY2010 DOD budget is still being tossed about between both houses of Congress but the general outlines are clear. There will be an approximately 5% increase in the DOD basic budget (approximately $535 billion) plus a supplemental authorization of another $130 billion, which represents a significant overall increase in defense spending.

Clients who ask me for general guidance receive the following general answer.
For the next year at least, the Obama Administration will be kind to the defense industry. FY2010 is not really the President's budget anyway, so even to peaceniks it should not be surprising that there are no major cuts.

FY2011 will be President Obama's first DOD budget, and all betting is that there will not be major cuts in the overall number. The fact that Obama appointed Gates to be DOD Secretary is a sign that he recognizes that the world remains very dangerous in spite of the sentiments of the left wing of his party.

FY2011 and beyond budgets will depend significantly on the President's, and the public's, perception of danger in the world. The fact that North Korea and Iran are both acting belligerently is keeping the lights on late in the Pentagon and the situation room at the White House.

That said, expect significant shifts in the allocation of defense dollars.

Winners: the intelligence community, information solutions, cyber security, and software that continues a general trend toward more efficiency and automation of function. That does not only includes military systems; more mundane functions such as data sharing between agencies continues to be a huge priority.

Losers: makers of military hardware including vehicles, aircraft, and ground equipment. For the next few years at least, there is no expectation that the nation will be fighting a traditional ground war.

Unknown impact: military space and NASA.

Stay tuned. Remember that good ideas always have a market in the DOD at those agencies whose sole raison d'etat is to raise the technology bar.

Pentagon Approves Creation of Cyber Command

"WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - The Pentagon will create a Cyber Command to oversee the U.S. military's efforts to protect its computer networks and operate in cyberspace, under an order signed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates."

The creation of the cyber command at the Pentagon is long overdue. In today's information age, it is axiomatic that information is key and the war on information will only continue to grow.

For example, it is not well-known among the public but there are millions -- millions -- of attempted cyber attacks on Defense networks daily. DAILY. Most come from China but a signficant number come from the former Soviet Union republics and Islamic nations. Any one of these would love to poison our military's computer networks.

I was once speaking with an Air Force colonel responsible for cybersecurity, during 2008, and he remarked that while all his colleagues were fighting the enemy of radical Islam, he was the only one he knew fighting a Chinese enemy, and fending off this enemy's assaults, every day. Every day.

I will be commenting more on this signficant milestone in months to come. Suffice it to say that companies with cybersecurity solutions will continue to be very attractive to those defense agencies (DARPA, IARPA, intel agencies) that are responsible for developing solutions to this evolving and very real problem.

Update: North Korea and Missile Defense (June 18, 2009)

North Korea continues to rattle sabres since my last post. Today, Japanese intelligence officials revealed that North Korea plans to test-launch a long-range missile toward Hawaii on July 4th, Independence Day.

This is not the first time North Korea has done something equally reckless on a date of national significance to we Americans -- on July 4th, 2006, they launched a far less capable missile and the launch was a dud. There is little risk from a missile launch this time also; the Taepodong-2 missile range is 500 miles less than the distance to Hawaii, and the accuracy will be dreadful. Nonetheless, Defense Secretary Gates announced that he is deploying a mobile ground-based missile defense system to Hawaii (called THAAD).

North Korea's move, while sophomoric, is certainly extremely provocative. In the past year they have made multiple missile launches and have conducted another underground explosion of a nuclear device, to condemnation by the US and the United Nations.

In this humble man's opinion, it is time to whack the bully. Position our naval missile defense system (called the Standard Missile) in international waters off the coast of North Korea and destroy the Taepodong-2 missile in the launch phase, moments after ignition. Kim Jong Il and his North Korean military leaders will watch their precious missile blow up in front of their eyes, victim to American technology and American resolve.

Think this is an overreaction? Think again. If it wasn't for Israeli and American military intelligence, the Syrians would have an atomic bomb by now, courtesy of the North Koreans. That atomic reactor the Israelis bombed in 2007 was filled with North Korean scientists. It didn't get much media coverage, and the fact that the Syrians didn't protest very heavily showed quite clearly that they didn't want any more Israeli military action. (The fact that you possibly had no idea that the Israelis brilliantly, and preemptively, destroyed Syria's nuclear capability is evidence of a biased media. And how much credit did the Israelis get for a measured response to that threat? Nil. The Times of London has a good summary article; see http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2461421.ece.)

It's time to show the North Koreans that they are nothing more than a two-bit bully. In the meantime, the U.S. Congress is still looking to cut missile defense funding drastically. This is the same Congress whose leader calls the CIA liars for political advantage.

Sheesh.

D-Day 1944 -- The Liberation of Europe

Today, the 65th anniversary of the invasion of Europe on beaches of Normandy, is a reflective one. When I was a boy, in the 1960s, the invasion of Europe still hadn't happened very long ago -- less than 20 years -- yet today, the memory is fading. Europe has changed; America has changed; the world has changed.

In 1944, America was so much better united than it is today. Back then, young men were willing to fight Germany (and Japan) and give their lives for the concept of freedom, on a continent 3,000 miles away fighting an enemy that had not invaded us. Back then, liberating countries for freedom's sake alone was not controversial; political parties did not split over the concept that America had a duty to the world. Many of us have grown up with, or met over the years, refugees or the descendants of refugees, who came to America and proclaimed that they would rather be free yet poor, than rich and a slave. Having grown up in Los Angeles, a melting pot city, I heard this story as a boy from naturalized Americans from countries across the globe -- Jewish, Polish, Hungarian, Filipino, Russian, and Chinese. These people were eternally grateful that America intervened in a global war in two theaters; that America sacrificed 400,000 lives fighting two enemies because of a precipitating event costing 3,000 lives.

I'm not certain that freedom is as central to the American spirit today, nor to the desires of other peoples around the world. Those of us who still believe that freedom trumps everything else -- everything -- are perhaps old-fashioned, or a dying breed. Hopefully not.

But the June 6th, 1944 sacrifice of those men who died for the freedom of people they did not know, and fought enemies that did not attack us, will never be forgotten. Across America, England, Canada, and other free countries, church bells rang and people flocked to churches to pray for victory and, ultimately, peace WITH freedom, albeit a costly one. Back then, we understood that freedom is not free, and that we can't be the land of the free if we are afraid to be the home of the brave.

Americans had guts in 1944. General Eisenhower's order of the day to the paratroopers was, "Full victory -- nothing else."

But we as a nation were reverent as well. All of America listened to these (excerpted) words from their leader, Franklin Roosevelt.

My Fellow Americans:

[Our sons] will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war ...

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home ...

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be ...

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose ...

Franklin D. Roosevelt - June 6, 1944


Remember those who sacrificed so much so that today, their children and grandchildren can live free.

Recent News and Upcoming Events (June 2, 2009)

DefCon will open the San Diego office of NeoSystems, Inc., in an agreement signed June 2009. This will be a very satisfying partnership between the two companies. NeoSystems is a financial services company that provides a full suite of offerings to small and medium-sized businesses doing work with the Department of Defense and the Federal Government. More information may be found at http://www.neosystems.net/. The company will become heavily involved in the San Diego small business community, and a major press release will coincide with the opening of the office at the upcoming Navy Gold Coast conference in San Diego on August 4-5, 2009.

Other agreements are in discussion with a major defense and aerospace publishing company; and a bioengineering company with powerful technology that can transform biofuel development.

Productively Used Stimulus Money?

First there was DARPA ... then HSARPA ... then IARPA ... and now ARPA-E.

If this is confusing, what I mean is that the very successful DARPA model has been cloned by the Department of Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence, and now the Department of Energy.

ARPA-E currently has an open RFQ for tranformational ideas that help them realize their mission of energy independence for the USA and a reduction in carbon emissions. Total funding amount is $150 million, and the funds are actually part of the stimulus package passed by the Congress in February.

What's even more amazing is that ARPA-E doesn't even have a director yet! Maybe this will be the most productive use of stimilus money that is focused purely on technology.

North Korea -- Dangerous or Just Looking for Attention?

North Korea has undertaken what the world calls two provocative acts during the past 60 days. The first was their launch of a short-range ballistic missile during early April; the second was their successful underground test of a nuclear bomb, with an estimated yield of 20 kilotons, larger than the bomb that exploded over Hiroshima.

Why the inscrutable North Koreans have undertaken these acts at this time is know today only to Kim Jong-Il and, in the future, to historians. Suffice it to say that the sequence of negotiation, acceptance of treaty terms, violation of treaty terms, and belligerent acts is a pattern that began twenty years ago and continues today. Republicans and Democrats both blame each other; with Democrats in control, Republicans claim that the North Koreans are exploiting American political weakness. When Republicans were in control, Democrats claimed that American belligerence was provoking the North Koreans. Both are right, and wrong.

The North Koreans march to their own drummer. They want respect on the world stage but, because they are the last Stalinist dictatorship on earth, their leader can make dangerous decisions without consequence.

That these acts were tests of the new Obama Administration there can be no doubt. The United States has the wherewithall to stop them. Will we negotiate or will we act?

Memorial Day 2009 -- Honoring the Brave

"If we really care about peace, we must stay strong. If we really care about peace, we must, through our strength, demonstrate our unwillingness to accept an ending of the peace. We must be strong enough to create peace where it does not exist and strong enough to protect it where it does."
- Ronald Reagan, Memorial Day, May 26, 1986

"Freedom is not free."
- General Tommy Franks (and many others)

"Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. "
- John 15:13

Future Combat System (FCS) May be Doomed

Rumors are strong that the Pentagon is set to "break up" the FCS prime contract while keeping its separate elements alive. Excepting the Manned Ground Vehicle element, which will be cancelled, the program will be renamed the Army Brigade Combat Team Modernization (ABCTM). The prime contractors, Boeing and SAIC, will be "yanked off the job" ( in the words of Defense News' Kris Osborn) after having spent tens of billions as lead systems integrators.

I have some nostalgia for FCS, having had a hand in helping Boeing win the program back in 2002. My company at the time, SM&A, managed Boeing's competitive effort to a very successful and surprising win over Lockheed Martin and other defense primes. I sold the SM&A effort to Boeing senior executives at the Paris Air Show in 2001. The win transformed Boeing into a key Army contractor, a claim that formerly could be made only by Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, General Dynamics, and handful of other primes.

More Pentagon Oversight?

President Obama signed a bill yesterday creating a Senate-confirmed independent position, "Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation," within the Pentagon. The law also provides for greater field commanders input into the development and ordering of weapons systems. Congress voted for this bill unanimously in both houses (!).

The President expects that this new position will "end waste and inefficiency," "limit cost overruns before they spiral out of control," and "reform a system where taxpayers are charged too much for weapons systems that too often arrive late."

In this humble observers opinion:

• Every new Administration, Democrat or Republican, undergoes an initiative to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse. The Pentagon is the typical target, even though fraud is equally rampant in other Government agencies, e.g., Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Veterans.

• The new position will in all likelihood have little impact. It might delay certain weapons procurements due to the increased scrutiny, but will not save money. In fact, if the increased scrutiny impact procurements underway, it will increase costs.

But it looks and sounds good. And the Congress voted unanimously (House 411-0, Senate 93-0) to approve the measure. Ah, politics.

NASA’s Hubble Repair Success

The completion of Servicing Mission 4 in space yesterday, 300 nautical miles above the earth, is a technical achievement for NASA. As Daniel Henninger of the Wall Street Journal writes, “Hubble is the Washington Monument of US science.” The mission to extend its life 5 additional years will reap huge bonanzas in data and imagery from space. The astronauts each had repair specialties and their work was a space variant of a typical Saturday working in one’s garage at home: repairing a camera, replacing six gyroscopes, and installing new insulation. They struggled getting bolts loosened -- can you use WD-40 in outer space? -- yet after some delays they are on their way home.

We Americans tend to take NASA for granted when times are good. This benign neglect is occurring today. The Obama Administration proposed a 5% increase for FY2010 versus FY2009 -- good news which included the continuation of Constellation, Ares 1, and Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. But NASA followers are very cautious. There is a sense that the new Administration might not take space exploration seriously and that the increased figures are placeholders until further review occurs. Five months have passed and the Administration has yet to appoint a NASA Administrator. And, the tension created by the transition team late in 2008 still gnaws at NASA veterans, largely because the assigned transition staff were non-technical.

NASA watchers, including contractors, are right to feel uneasy for now.

Intelligence Community (IC) Update

The IC will continue to be a very promising market for small technology companies with new, novel ideas that align with the IC's priorities. Just returned from two days at the INSA (Intelligence and National Security Alliance) conference (May 18-19, 2009; Chantilly VA) and heard several Directors outline their technology needs and their open invitations for solutions.

IC budgets will continue to grow under the Obama Administration. The appointment of Gates as Secretary of Defense and Admiral Blair as Director of National Intelligence ensures stability in funding for the next two fiscal years at least. It is axiomatic that Defense and Intelligence funding is both political and dependent on threats to the nation. Both of these factors are in the market's favor.