i'm vago muradian. how should the united states respond to china's quickly modernizing navy? plus, a top industry executive on the most promising international defense market. but first, the u.s. military's promotion system has long been criticized for being too rigid, automatically advancing too many while at the same time limiting opportunities for innovative leaders. our next guest argues that it's time to change a system that he says breeds mediocrity by taking some cues from multinational civilian organizations while at the same time more actively weeding out bad ones. in an article published by the armed forces journal brigadier general mark arnold from the 100th training command at fort knox, kentucky argues for a series of commands including scrapping a structure that forces everyone to move up or leave in uniform. general arnold joins us from houston where in his civilian life he is the president and ceo of gse environmental, a multinational manufacturing company. sir, welcome tothe show. >> hel

i'm vago muradian. to date almost 350,000 troops have been wounded in iraq and afghanistan, we take a look at what the paralyzed veterans of america is doing to help them. but first, congress has left washington for five weeks of vacation and campaigning before the november elections without resolving the single biggest issue over u.s. defense. sequestration. unless congress enacts a deal by january 2nd another $500 billion will be cut over the next decade on top of nearly $500 billion already cut. officials summoned congress and industry leaders say that would devastate national security. instead of the deal however lawmakers proposed a continuing resolution to keep the military funded for the first six months of the fiscal year that started october 1. what's the outlook for sequestration and what will it lean for the pentagon and industry? to discuss that and more is the round table with rick mays the congressional editor for the times newspapers, todd harrison with the center, mackenzie england an, a

♪[ music ] >>> welcome to this week in defense news, i'm vago muradian.s syria totters toward regime change, securing its chemical weapons becoming a critical concern. first, jobs and the threat of administration. top pentagon administration -- are being increasingly vocal about the damage those cuts would inflict on the u.s. military, and the u.s. economy. up to 2 million jobs are on the line, unless congress resolves the crisis by january 2. losing those high paying jobs nows, as the economy struggles to regain its footing, could push the u.s. back into a recession. virginia's republican governor bob mcdonald was there along with three virginia congressmen representing both parties. after the rally, i caught up with wes bush, the chairman, ceo of northrup grum unled. i asked him what needs to happen to avoid sequestration. >> this could be avoided by congress coming together, and recognizing that this is an issue that they can solve. this is an issue that would have a devastating impact on our country. we need to compromise. i think the american people

i'm vago muradian. with defense spending dropping and the threat of sequestration looming, we will talk to one analyst who says that the pentagon could save big money by getting rid of outmoded regulations. plus, a top lockheed martin executive on the future of long- running programs like the f16 fighter and the c130 transport. but first, counterfeit parts making their way into the global supply chain is a worldwide program in virtually every industrial sector, from automobiles to commercial aerospace, and from health care to handbags. that these fake components end up in weapons used by american war fight ares and their international allies is causing a headache for the defense department and its contractors. how big is the problem and what is the pentagon doing to solve it? here to tell us are gerald brown, head of the anticounterfeit working group at the pentagon, and christine met the technical and >>> thanks very much for joining us today. i want to start off with finding out exactly how big a prob