WASHINGTON, D.C. – Led by Chairman Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Ranking Member Trent Kelly (R-Miss.), the Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations today released their proposals for the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Subcommittee will meet at 2:00pm ET on Thursday, July 29 in Rayburn 2118 and via the WebEx platform. The markup will be live streamed on the committee’s website. The Subcommittee's mark is available here. 
 
Specifically, this year's proposal:
 
Intelligence
  • Requires reforms to certain intelligence processes and procedures to better support the ability of combatant commanders to counter in the public domain malign activities of adversaries of the United States. 
  • Requires Congressional notification when the Secretary of Defense determines with high confidence that an official of a foreign government plans or takes some other substantive step that is intended to cause the death of, or serious bodily injury to, any member of the United States Armed Forces.
  • Requires a briefing on steps being taken within the Defense Intelligence Enterprise to prioritize collection of emerging technologies being pursued by strategic competitors and adversaries of the United States.
  • Requires a report on the intelligence sharing agreements between the United States and Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom; and opportunities to expand intelligence sharing with South Korea, Japan, India, and Germany.
  • Requires a report on the intelligence collection capabilities and activities of the United States in the U.S. Forces Korea area of operations. 
  • Requires a briefing on plans for retention and utilization of intelligence and operational data from the past two decades in Afghanistan. 
 
Special Operations Forces/U.S. Special Operations Command
  • Directs the Comptroller General of the United States to provide an assessment of U.S. Special Operations Command’s Armed Overwatch concept. 
  • Directs establishment of an academic research consortium to study irregular warfare and responses to irregular threats.
  • Modifies and extends the pilot program established by section 851 in the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, enabling U.S. Special Operations Command to expand participation by small business concerns in the development of technology-enhanced capabilities for special operations forces.
  • Directs a briefing on progress made to support the Department's efforts towards institutionalizing irregular warfare as a core competency for the Joint Force.
  • Directs a briefing on efforts underway by Air Force Special Operations Command to incorporate autonomous capabilities into SOF-peculiar capabilities.
  • Directs a report on all instances of the use of military force by U.S. special operations forces under the notion of collective self-defense of foreign partners. 
  • Directs a report on the current and projected deployment to dwell ratio for all special operations forces, to include support and enabling personnel.
 
Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction
  • Directs the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs to provide a briefing on the status of the destruction of the U.S. inventory of lethal chemical agents and munitions, as required by the Chemical Weapons Convention.
  • Directs a report on the Department of Defense strategy for acquiring vaccines to protect U.S. service members against the full range of biological agents.
 

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