Raven appointed lead senior defense official for Guam

Under Secretary of the Navy Erik Raven is the Department of Defense's Lead Senior Defense Official for Guam to help address a gap in the military infrastructure in the region.

According to a Jan. 9 memo from Radha Iyenga Plumb, deputy under secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, U.S. states and territories in the Indo-Pacific are “critical to meeting operational requirements consistent with the National Defense Strategy.”

“A critical element of operationalizing the NDS is building the military capabilities and associated infrastructure to support critical missions in the Territory of Guam,” Plumb wrote. “However, in Guam, a lack of key military and civilian infrastructure have created obstacles to meeting these requirements. Addressing these issues requires senior leader attention and requires clear governance, clear roles and responsibilities, and appropriately assigned authorities across the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Military Departments, and other Department of Defense Components.”

The Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks designated Raven, according to a Feb. 6 press release. The assignment includes serving as the DoD senior representative when meeting with key leaders in Guam; providing senior leader oversight, advocacy, and support to Commander, Joint Region Marianas in the execution of its installation management mission; and bringing senior military leaders together to align efforts to meet operational requirements consistent with the National Defense Strategy, ensure resources are programmed and de-conflicted across DoD components, and to develop and deliver new capabilities to meet logistics, environmental and infrastructure requirements.
 
Next step will include the establishment of the Guam Synchronization and Oversight Council, which Raven will serve as co-chairperson. The primary function of the GSOC will be to ensure senior level cross visibility and, where needed, prioritization of key issues related to the missions and associated requirements for Guam, to include military construction, according to the press release.
 
Commander, U.S. INDOPACOM will have a leadership role in the GSOC supporting the co-chairs, as the combatant commander with responsibility for Guam.

Other members of the GSOC will includes Under Secretary of the Army, Under Secretary of the Air Force, Under Secretary of Defense - Research & Engineering, Under Secretary of Defense -Personnel & Readiness, Under Secretary of Defense -Policy, Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, and the Under Secretary of Defense - Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer.
 
The GSOC will have a formal charter and will meet quarterly. Following each quarterly meeting, the co-chairs will update DoD leadership on key activities. mbj