Overnight Defense: Lawmakers grill Navy official on collisions | Senate report finds military sexual assault ‘pervasive as ever’ | Official warns of slowdown to F-35 program

THE TOPLINE: The Navy’s No. 2 official told lawmakers Thursday that it was “absolutely the case” that constrained military budgets caused a lack of training that led to two ship collisions and 17 sailor deaths this summer.

Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. William Moran said, however, there was no excuse for the June USS Fitzgerald collision and the similar USS John S. McCain accident in August.

“No matter how tough our operating environment, or how strained our budget, we shouldn’t be and cannot be colliding with other ships and running aground,” Moran told two House Armed Services subcommittees. “That is not about resourcing; it is about safety and it is about leadership at sea.”

Moran said in the prepared remarks that he was “shocked” by the two incidents, which triggered a Navy investigation into readiness and safety.

Check back for more here.

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GILLIBRAND: MILITARY SEXUAL ASSAULT ‘PERVASIVE AS EVER’: Sexual assault in the military remains “as pervasive as ever” despite “incremental” reforms passed by Congress in recent years, according to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in a report released Thursday.

“After reviewing yet another year’s worth of sexual assault case files at four of the biggest military bases in the country, I was appalled to see that sexual assault in our military is still as pervasive as ever: levels of civilian survivors remain high, overall prosecution rates of military sexual assault cases remain flat, and my office received no retaliation cases from the DoD despite six out of 10 survivors reporting that they had been retaliated against last year,” Gillibrand said in a statement accompanying the report.

Gillibrand released her third annual report on sexual assault in the military the week before the Senate is expected to take up the annual defense policy bill. The senator, a member of the Armed Services Committee, hopes to get her proposed reforms to the military justice system attached to the bill.

The Hill’s Rebecca Kheel has more here.

TOP NAVY ADM KEPT SPOKESMAN AFTER SEXUAL PREDATOR WARNINGS: Gillibrand’s report comes out as the spokesman for the Navy’s top admiral was found to be allowed to stay on in his position even after he was accused of sexual misconduct while dressed as Santa Claus at a holiday party inside the Pentagon.

Fellow officers and a civilian accused Cdr. Chris Servello, 41, of making unwanted sexual advances at the December 2016 office party for Navy public affairs officials, USA Today reported, citing documents it had obtained.

Servello, who was the spokesman for Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, was not reassigned until mid-August despite written warnings.

The Hill’s Ellen Mitchell has more on the USA Today report here.

OFFICIAL WARNS OF F-35 DEVELOPMENT SLOWDOWN: The head of the Pentagon’s F-35 fighter jet program is warning that program development and testing will slip if a continuing resolution (CR) for the annual defense budget lasts until spring, Defense News reported.

“Right now, based upon the current plan, we should see no major impact until the April time frame,” Vice Adm. Mat Winter told reporters Wednesday at a defense conference.

“Right now, it won’t look like anything different. We’ll be on track as we’re executing through December. In January, we’ll see where we are.”

A CR would mean the Lockheed Martin-made F-35, the Pentagon’s most expensive program to date, would not receive as much funding as planned for the next fiscal year. The program office would have to submit a request in January for more dollars above CR levels to stay on pace.

Read the rest here.

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW:

The Atlantic Council will hold a discussion with Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) on whether Russia’s RT news network should register as a foreign agent at 9 a.m. at its office at 1030 15th St. NW.

Brookings will hold a panel on national security concerns surrounding election security in the United States at 10:30 a.m. at 1775 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies will hold a panel on the non-military components of the United States’ Strategy in Afghanistan at 10 a.m. at CSIS headquarters, 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW.

The Heritage Foundation will hold a discussion on the current state of Islamist terrorism and how it has changed in the 16 years after 9/11 at 12 p.m. at its office at 214 Massachusetts Ave NE.

ICYMI:

— The Hill: Top government official: Murderers, rapists getting interim security clearances

–The Hill: Watchdog warns of increasing safety concerns with Navy ships

— The Hill: Twitter to give analysis of Russian activity to Congress

— The Hill: Trump says Mideast peace deal will be difficult to achieve

— The Hill: South Korea warns North Korea may fire another ICBM

–The Hill: Mnuchin: Executive order ready to sanction countries trading with N. Korea

— Defense News: McCain opposes disaster relief bill, saying it could hurt the military

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