Defense

  • In this week's edition of On DoD, Lt. Gen. Bill Phillips, the military deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, talked with Federal News Radio's Jared Serbu about the Army's concern about automatic budget cuts, and the service's recently-unveiled 30-year modernization strategy.

    February 13, 2013
  • Former Senator Chuck Hagel has been approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee to be the nation's defense secretary. His nomination has been sent to the full Senate where the Democrats, hold a 55-45 edge. More than a dozen Republicans oppose the nomination, and the committee's ranking Republican, Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, is insisting that any confirmation be based on 60 votes rather than a majority of the Senate.

    February 13, 2013
  • Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) talks about his plans as the new chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Greg Kutz of TIGTA discusses new progress being made by the IRS in recruitment and hiring. Jennifer Martinez, staff writer at The Hill newspaper, discusses the new Executive Order on cybersecurity. Don Kettl of the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy offers insight on the State of the Union speech.

    February 13, 2013
  • Among the warnings the military's top uniformed officers delivered to the Senate Tuesday: Half of Marine Corps units will fall below readiness standards by the end of the year, the Army will have to curtail training for 80 percent of its ground forces and shipyards are already becoming short-staffed because of DoD's hiring freeze.

    February 13, 2013
  • Senior administration officials say the Executive Order is not a replacement for comprehensive cybersecurity legislation, but the start of a new conversation for how best to protect the nation's critical infrastructure. NIST released an RFI Tuesday as part of its effort to create a voluntary, flexible framework. And DHS will expand the number of companies the government shares classified and unclassified cyber threat information with through the Defense Industrial Base pilot.

    February 13, 2013
  • As sequestration draws nearer, contractor groups have pointed to alarming studies that show the 9 percent in across-the-board Defense cuts would throw at least 1 million people out of work and potentially cripple the defense and aerospace industries. But in a new report, the Center for International Policy, a nonprofit group which advocates reducing military spending, presented evidence that far fewer defense-sector jobs would be lost than industry has claimed and that defense companies would likely be able to absorb the defense cuts.

    February 12, 2013
  • The head of Guinea's armed forces, was killed on Monday in a plane crash near the Liberian capital Monrovia. Investigators and United Nations peacekeepers found the wreckage in a grove of palm trees near Charlesville, about 25 miles southeast of the Liberian capital Monrovia. There were no survivors. General Souleymane Kelefa Diallo, who was on a security mission to Liberia.

    February 12, 2013
  • Dr. Mark Maybury, the Air Force's chief scientist, discusses a wide-ranging study of potential future "game changers" and best practices in each of the service's core mission areas.

    February 11, 2013
  • President Barack Obama draconian government spending cuts that will go into effect on March 1 unless Congress stops them, could have a "severe impact" on U.S. military preparedness. "There is no reason, no reason for that to happen," Obama said. He made the remarks at a farewell ceremony for outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. "Putting our fiscal house in order calls for a balanced approach, not massive indiscriminate cuts that could have a severe impact on our military preparedness," he said.

    February 11, 2013
  • The Air Force's long-range planning and modernization takes back seat to preparations for near-term crises, including contingency plans to scale back civilian workforce. Civilian furloughs would be "breach of faith," Air Force says.

    February 08, 2013
  • Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue and Linda Cureton of NASA talks about their upcoming retirements. Register employee benefit consultant Ed Zurndorfer explains what feds can expect from possible furloughs. White House Historical Association Vice President of Research talks about possible renovations at the White House.

    February 08, 2013
  • Television personality Montel Williams is joining Army scientists at Fort Detrick in a medical research deal.

    February 08, 2013
  • Cancellations of in-person meetings press DoD's Web conferencing system past its limits. The Defense Information Systems Agency will complete upgrades by Feb. 15.

    February 08, 2013
  • The U.S. continues to support French operations in Mali. The Pentagon says since French operations began on January 11th, the U.S. has been sharing intelligence with the French., providing airlift support to the French Army. As of Feb. 6th the U.S. Air Force had flown 36 C-17 sorties, moving French personnel, supplies and equipment into Bamako. So far, they have carried more than 912 tons of equipment and supplies and 665 passengers.

    February 07, 2013