Defense

  • 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
  • Declining federal spending, evolving customer requirements related to the changed threat environment and the increase of competition from nontraditional defense contractors, such as Accenture, Dell and Apple are just a few of the issues on the horizon, according to an analysis from Booz and Company.

    February 07, 2013
  • In one of the biggest moves yet in the battle against sequestration, the Pentagon is cutting its aircraft carrier presence in the Persian Gulf region. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has approved the plan to just keep one carrier there. The U.S. has maintained two aircraft carrier groups in the Gulf for most of the last two years. Pentagon Press secretary George Little said in a statement the deployments of the USS Harry S Truman and the USS Gettysburg, a guided-missile cruiser, have been delayed because of budget uncertainty.

    February 07, 2013
  • John Wagner of CBP talks about his agency's new customer service kiosk. Allyson Robinson of OutServe-SLDN discusses legal hurdles facing gay service members seeking equal treatment. Gary Barlet of USPS' Inspector General Office talks about smartphones and tablets. Greg Juneman of IFPTE discusses the impact of potential furloughs on members of his union. Former NASA CIO Molly O'Neill discusses Fed-RAMP security testing.

    February 07, 2013
  • DoD's 2014 budget will ask Congress for a 1 percent increase in military pay, down slightly from previous projections.

    February 07, 2013
  • On this week's show, Federal News Radio's Jared Serbu talks about the impending cuts with two members of Congress, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), the chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on readiness, and Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), whose suburban Washington district includes a high concentration of DoD civilian employees.

    February 06, 2013
  • The two departments are looking for "quick wins" in their integrated health-record strategy, aiming to bring the most important capabilities online three years early.

    February 06, 2013
  • Forrest Morgeson, director of research at the American Customer Satisfaction Index, has some good news for some agencies. Agriculture Department official Kevin Concannon says USDA is claiming victory in its battle against fraud. Jordy Yager of The Hill newspaper explains why some on Capitol Hill are talking about Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) Tom Day, USPS' chief sustainability officer, shares news of the Postal Service's successful conservation efforts.

    February 06, 2013
  • A little more than 15 months after the Pentagon repealed its ban on openly gay service members, the military is on the brink of extending some benefits to the same-sex partners of service members, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta hasn't made a final decision on which benefits will be included, but the Pentagon is expected to allow same-sex partners to have access to the on-base commissary and other military subsidized stores.

    February 06, 2013