Defense
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This edition of On DoD focuses mostly on one bump in the road in the military-to-civilian career transition: the higher education step. When it comes to paying for college, Congress has solved that problem, at least in theory. The relatively generous Post-9/11 GI bill gives recent veterans essentially a full ride scholarship for an undergraduate degree — paying their tuition up to the rate of the most expensive public university in a veteran's home state.
August 01, 2012 -
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency mission is to maintain the technological superiority of the U.S. military and prevent technological surprise. So what they are planning to do now to meet that mandate is promoting research to study chatter certain groups of Internet users. They want to track how online groups evolve on certain social media sites and learn how criminal organizations and hacker collectives evolve.
August 01, 2012 -
The developing field of using social media to gather information can provide benefits to the intelligence community, but it also involves challenges. The changing environment of open source intelligence requires agencies and companies plan their approaches carefully.
August 01, 2012 -
Ever watch an inept team of trainees assemble then take apart an explosive device? If not, move to D.C. or watch live coverage of Congress on TV. With Congress, you get the political version which, more often than not, ends in a whimper rather than a bang, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
August 01, 2012 -
Lt. Gen. Larry Spencer was pinned with his fourth star and was officially sworn in as the Air Force's vice chief of staff. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz did the honors during a Pentagon ceremony Friday. Spencer previously served as the director of force structure, resources and assessment with the Joint Staff.
July 31, 2012 -
New mobile application helps military personnel and veterans undergoing post-traumatic stress disorder treatment to relieve stress and work through traumatic memories.
July 31, 2012 -
Are we looking at a new Cold War in the Arctic? Russian President Vladimir Putin as he launched the construction of Russia's latest generation of submarines vowed to boost nuclear naval forces to safeguard the country's position as a leading sea power and he warned that the Navy will protect Russia's interests in the oil-rich Arctic. Putin also sent a message to the U.S. directly saying they're aiming for naval nuclear parity.
July 31, 2012 -
With a tighter defense budget and the threat of sequestration, defense contractors say they may have to lay off thousands of workers and look for business overseas.
July 31, 2012 -
Small and medium-sized contractors and suppliers receive 75 percent of appropriated dollars for defense or military programs. But these small businesses, who lack the lobbying power of top- tier defense contractors, may suffer more from sequestration than big companies.
July 30, 2012 -
Vibrant Response 13, a major field exercise conducted by U.S. Northern Command and led by Army North got underway late last week. It tested the fictitious detonation of a 10-kiloton nuclear device in a major Midwestern city. It's a national catastrophic incident exercise designed to test more than 9,000 service members and civilians in 11 training locations and airfields spread across 5,000 square miles in southern Indiana and northern Kentucky.
July 30, 2012 -
Civilian employees in the Defense Department could receive notices of potential layoffs four days before the election if automatic military cuts aren't averted. The Associated Press reports, "Congress would be notified in mid-September and employees told of the possibility of job losses 60 days before the cuts. The Defense Department has about 800,000 civilian employees, heavily concentrated in the presidential battleground state of Virginia."
July 30, 2012 -
Last month, the Supreme Court struck down a law that made it a crime to lie about receiving the Medal of Honor and other military decorations. So in response, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says a new Pentagon website will list the names of those Americans who have earned the Medal of Honor since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He made the announcement Wednesday at a House hearing. The justices ruled that the Stolen Valor Act of 2006 infringed upon free speech.
July 30, 2012 -
Panetta's request is falling on highly skeptical ears. A bipartisan group of two dozen representatives sent Panetta a tough letter.
July 30, 2012 -
NSA director Gen. Keith Alexander gave the keynote at this year's Defcon in Las Vegas.
July 30, 2012 -
Two years after U.S. Cyber Command became operational, the military services that provide its cyber forces are beginning to more tightly define their respective responsibilities in the joint cyber environment. Gen. Keith Alexander issued a memo recently giving each of the services a lead cyber role for specific geographic areas of the world.
July 30, 2012