Defense

  • Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama is teaming with AT&T to use internet of things and smart city technologies to make the base run more smoothly. Federal News Radio’s Scott Maucione spoke with AT&T Air Force Client Executive Vice President Rocky Thurston and Maxwell’s 42nd Mission Support Group Commander Col. Don Lewis on Federal Drive with Tom Temin about the updates.

    July 17, 2017
  • The Army's Office of Energy Initiatives is the service's central hub for managing the financing and planning for "utility scale" renewable and alternative energy projects. Michael McGhee, OEI's executive director, talks with Jared Serbu about some of the major projects in the pipeline, and the Army's desire to use the power they generate to make its bases energy-independent.

    July 14, 2017
  • A bill authorizing $696 billion in spending for the Defense Department, raising military pay by 2.4 percent for service members and creating a new branch of the military for space operations passed the House by a vote of 344–81. The bill authorizes enough funds to go head-to-head with sequestration as it makes a return in 2018 unless a budget deal is reached.

    July 14, 2017
  • No piece of hardware exemplifies power projection quite like a U.S. aircraft carrier. But the fleet is aging. Replacements cost more than $10 billion apiece and they have basic performance problems. But the big question may be in an age when nearly every country has access to missiles, are carriers obsolete? Justin Bachman, aviation reporter at Bloomberg News, gives his take on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

    July 14, 2017
  • You've heard of agile software development? This Marine Corps engineer took an agile approach to re-designing body armor.

    July 14, 2017
  • Over the past five years, the Army has been busily building renewable power facilities on its bases in order to reach an overall goal of 1 gigawatt of renewable energy by 2025. But now, the Army is putting more of an emphasis on using that energy to make its bases entirely self-sufficient from the public electric grid, so they can continue to function in the event of an outage. Michael McGhee, executive director of the Army Office of Energy Initiatives, talked with Federal News Radio’s Jared Serbu on Federal Drive with Tom Temin about the technologies the Army’s pursuing to make that a reality.

    July 13, 2017
  • New legislative proposals from the Defense Department try to streamline the acquisition system, but do they compromise oversight?

    July 12, 2017
  • Richard Spencer and his favorite business theory sailed through a July 11 Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing.

    July 11, 2017
  • The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently saw one of its longtime employees off into retirement. Steve Lavie, had a long career working on a nuclear submarine in the Navy then at nuclear power plants on the East Coast and finally at the NRC. But when he enlisted in the Navy, he was just a few credits shy of receiving his college degree. His NRC colleagues saw to it that Lavie still had a chance to experience a college commencement, before his retirement this summer. Lavie tells his story to Federal News Radio's Nicole Ogrysko on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

    July 11, 2017
  • Representatives already submitted their amendments to the House Rules Committee for the bill and Federal News Radio compiled a list of the amendments you should watch when they get to the floor.

    July 10, 2017
  • Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, wants to make sure the Navy reaches its magic number of 350 ships. Wittman spoke to Federal News Radio’s Scott Maucione on Federal Drive with Tom Temin about a bill he introduced that will help the Navy do that.

    July 10, 2017
  • All of the Washington ways of getting things in and out of a defense budget are coming into play. Larry Allen, president of Allen Federal Business Partners, tells Federal Drive with Tom Temin, how contractors can at least keep track of the game.

    July 10, 2017
  • The House Armed Services Committee wants to expand the $40,000 Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay for DoD civilians to 2021.

    July 10, 2017
  • The Navy announced its bonus reenlistment numbers for pilots in 2018. Meanwhile, Congress is trying to give more money to the Air Force to retain pilots.

    July 10, 2017

On DoD

On DoD

WEDNESDAYS, 11 A.M. & 2 P.M.

Each week, Defense Reporter Jared Serbu speaks with the managers of the federal government's largest department. Subscribe on PodcastOne or Apple Podcasts.