Defense
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For the past decade, the Defense Department has operated its own 24/7 cable news channel. But as of today, what was once known as the Pentagon Channel has gone dark. Cost was one factor. But officials say they also decided they could do a better job of reaching their audience if they focused their resources on an all-online, on-demand and streaming video format. Col. Andrew Mutter is the deputy director of the Defense Media Activity, and Gene Brink is the director of DoD News, the new name for the cross-platform media operation. On In Depth with Francis Rose, they explained to guest host Jared Serbu why the Pentagon Channel was launched in the first place, and why they decided to ditch the broadcast format.
April 17, 2015 -
Midshipmen defeat service academy rivals for top cyber prize.
April 17, 2015 -
New research suggests military children are more likely to be under-immunized against preventable disease than the public at large. Defense officials dispute the findings, saying seemingly-low vaccination rates are due in part to shortcomings in data collection.
April 17, 2015 -
Janice Glover-Jones, the Defense Intelligence Agency\'s chief information officer, said she brought in a training expert from the CIA to help create courses to meet the agency\'s need for soft and technical skills.
April 17, 2015 -
Carol Bonosaro, president of the Senior Executives Association, explained her organization\'s concerns, saying Congress doesn\'t need to micromanage SES performance reviews at VA.
April 16, 2015 -
The Army\'s electronic warfare capabilities have been an important tool during the war in Iraq. They\'ve taken a big evolutionary step with the new Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool. It\'s designed to give soldiers more options in dealing with improvised explosive devices, and it won\'t necessarily destroy local infrastructure when deployed. Col. Joseph Dupont, the Project Manager of the Electronic Warfare office, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more on the tool.
April 16, 2015 -
VA told Congress Wednesday that it wants to complete construction on its controversial hospital complex in Aurora, Colorado, by tapping into a fund that was supposed to cut down on patient wait times. Some members of Congress expressed frustration with the plan. \"You\'ve put us in the ultimate catch-22, because we don\'t want to go forward and we can\'t quit,\" Rep. David Roe told VA officials at yesterday\'s hearing.
April 16, 2015 -
The Department of Veterans Affairs is asking Congress for more than a $1 billion more than its original budget for a hospital in Denver, Colorado. The House Veterans Affairs Committee looked at the problems with the hospital, and other construction project problems at the VA, at a hearing today with officials from VA. Sen. Johnny Isakson (D-Ga.) is the chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he said he\'s about to start following the VA\'s construction problems very closely.
April 15, 2015 -
The Senate votes 54-43 today to start budget negotiations with the House of Representatives to work out a compromise on a budget resolution. But the Appropriations committees and the committees of jurisdiction over the agencies still have a lot of work to do. A lot of that work will revolve around the defense budget. Bob Hale is former Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller, and now a Fellow at Booz Allen. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he offered a caution about jumping to conclusions about the budget.
April 15, 2015 -
Tracking munitions is a costly and time-consuming process for military units. They can\'t afford to waste cartridges, missiles or grenades. Lockheed Martin has developed a new system that works around many of the challenges of tracking RFID tags remotely. It\'s called the Rubee Weapon Shot Counter, and it could potentially save the Defense Department millions. Dr. Rob Smith, the vice president of C4ISR Systems for Lockheed Martin\'s Information Systems and Global Solutions, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to dive deeper into the Rubee\'s uses.
April 15, 2015 -
Marine Corps leaders say the forthcoming policy will emphasize commanders\' responsibility to understand cyberspace, build it into their operational plans, and integrate it with existing concepts for electronic warfare.
April 15, 2015 -
On the road to better, more cost-effective government, Congress will have to consider consolidating military health care and ramping up tax enforcement at the Internal Revenue Service, the comptroller general says.
April 14, 2015 -
The Navy and Air Force contemplate partnering up to develop the next generation of fighters, which are currently due out in 2030. Rear Adm. Mike Manazir is the director of Air Warfare for the Navy. He says the goal is to develop a successor that fits both services\' goals. On the Federal Drive at the Sea-Air-Space 2015 conference at National Harbor, Manazir gave Federal News Radio\'s Emily Kopp his vision for the future of naval aviation.
April 14, 2015 -
What are the U.S. Army\'s key strategic and operational objectives? How is the Army restructuring its aviation portfolio? How is the Army using analytics to inform decision-making and resource allocation? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores these questions and so much more with Brigadier General John Ferrari, Director, Program Analysis and Evaluation, Office of the U.S. Army\'s deputy chief of staff.
April 14, 2015 -
The Defense Department is creating a new commodity technology shared service provider to serve the Pentagon and other locations in the Washington, D.C. area. DoD will issue a memo in the coming weeks to merge the Army\'s IT agency and other IT service providers into the Defense Information System Agency. In his biweekly feature, \"Inside the Reporter\'s Notebook,\" executive editor Jason Miller has exclusive details of this new shared services set up. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to review them.
April 13, 2015