23 January 2001 Rumsfeld Expected to be Briefed on NMD in Near Future Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has not yet scheduled a briefing on a proposed national missile defense system, spokesman Admiral Craig Quigley said January 23, but "that will be a topic of near-term interest to him." He noted Rumsfeld's familiarity with the system from his past experience on leading a commission to assess the ballistic missile threat to the United States. Despite his experience and background of serving as defense secretary in the Ford Administration, Quigley said, "He wants to make sure that he has a thorough understanding of the current state of play of the program as it exists today that we have in place." Quigley described a typical Rumsfeld day as beginning with a secure conference call with Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Then he meets with Deputy Secretary Rudy De Leon (who has been asked to stay on until his successor is nominated and confirmed). The meeting is spent on operational and intelligence updates. Speaking of Defense staffers who are staying in their jobs with the new administration, Quigley said "You've got a lot of experience and corporate memory in all of the key positions within the staff." January 23, Rumsfeld met with the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, George Tenet, who has also been asked to stay, as well as senior members of the CIA, and with the chairman of the joint chiefs, the vice chairman, and senior service chiefs for "a good exchange of views" on the topic of transformation and how they "view transformation efforts ongoing today within their services." The afternoon of January 23, Rumsfeld was to be briefed on computer security and the use of classified systems, and later to meet with senior enlisted advisers of each of the services "to hear from them what's on the mind of service men and women around the world." Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Website: http://usinfo.state.gov/) Return to the Washington File