Defense

  • The 9-year struggle to fill federal jobs in North Dakota's oil-boom towns offers a stark example to the rest of the government of just how hard it can be to keep federal workers when private employers beckon.

    October 22, 2015
  • The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program has two new problems to deal with. According to Stars and Stripes, the program's manager, Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, told a House Armed Services subcommittee that his office wants to make the 5 1/2 pound helmet about 6 ounces lighter to prevent pilots that weigh less than 136 pounds from having their necks snap if they have to eject from the aircraft. The other problem is one of the international partners committed to buying the aircraft looks like it's going to bail out. New Canadian Prime-minster Justin Trudeau's campaign platform included cancelling Canada's participation in the F-35 program. Richard Aboulafia, vice president for analysis at the Teal Group, offers his take on In Depth with Francis Rose.

    October 22, 2015
  • The Navy is analyzing results from F-35 Joint Strike Fighter testing off the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower. The latest problems of the F-35 program are pilot weight limits due to ejector seat problems, a promise from the new prime minister of Canada to cancel his country's participation in the program, not to mention budget and scheduling issues with the Ford-class aircraft carrier program. Retired Navy Capt. Jerry Hendrix, senior fellow and director of the Defense Strategies and Assessments Program at the Center for a New American Security, talks the future of naval aviation with In Depth with Francis Rose.

    October 21, 2015
  • The Army is shrinking down to about 450,000 soldiers. Congress isn't likely to approve another round of base realignment and closure, but Federal News Radio's DoD reporter Jared Serbu tells In Depth with Francis Rose the Army has adopted a different strategy to get its base footprint in line.

    October 20, 2015
  • The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program has dragged on for nearly a decade, with bidders spending millions and millions just for run-off prototypes. No wonder there's a protest.

    October 19, 2015
  • As the Department of Defense continues to work toward achieving auditability, one sticking point might be the Navy. That's according to the Government Accountability Office, which has identified some risks to the branch's future audit readiness. Asif Khan is the director of financial management and assurance issues at GAO.

    October 19, 2015
  • The annual Doughboy Award recognizes infantrymen for their outstanding contributions to the U.S. Army infantry. It's also the highest honor bestowed by the Chief of Infantry. Ret. Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey Mellinger is an aircraft design liaison at Bell Helicopter, and one of three winners of this year's award. He told Federal Drive host Tom Temin more about what winning the Doughboy means.

    October 19, 2015
  • But both services say they hope to use the recompetition of NGEN to give commercial industry more of a hand in the IT services they're providing to sailors and marines.

    October 19, 2015
  • The service is implementing one of the few alternatives it has to a base realignment and closure (BRAC) round: moving soldiers and civilians out of its oldest buildings and shuttering them.

    October 19, 2015
  • With the convention wrapped up, here's a list of major factors the Army is tackling, and what they're doing to improve them.

    October 19, 2015
  • The Army works continuously to improve on a basic piece of gear, namely the helmet on top of a soldier's head.

    October 16, 2015
  • Hari Bezwada, the chief information officer of the Army’s Program Executive Office-Enterprise Information System, said he’s taking measured approach to migrate five ERP systems to a shared services provider.

    October 16, 2015
  • The Army's acquisition chief says program testing takes too long and needs to be streamlined. She says that industry's help may be the best way to solve the problem. Federal News Radio reporter Scott Maucione has more.

    October 16, 2015
  • The Navy and Marine Corps are still in the early planning stages for an overhaul of their Next Generation Enterprise Network contract. But both services say they hope to use the recompetition of NGEN to give industry a bigger hand in the IT services they provide to sailors and Marines. More now from Federal News Radio’s DoD reporter Jared Serbu.

    October 16, 2015

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.