National & World Headlines

  • The Associated Press is reporting that "a year before he was caught on an intercept discussing the terror plot that prompted this week's sweeping closure of United States embassies abroad, al-Qaida's top operative in Yemen laid out his blueprint for how to wage jihad in letters sent to a fellow terrorist. In what reads like a lesson plan, Nasser al-Wahishi provides a step-by-step assessment of what worked and what didn't in Yemen. But in the rare correspondence discovered by the Associated Press, the man at the center of the latest terror threat barely mentions the extremist methods that transformed his organization into al-Qaida's most dangerous branch."

    August 13, 2013
  • Just back from a trip to Egypt, Sen. John McCain is expressing concern that Egypt may be headed toward a period of prolonged violence if the Arab country's military and the Muslim Brotherhood cannot start a political dialogue, according to the Associate Press. McCain and fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham pressed their case over meetings this week with Egypt's top army brass, interim political leaders, youth groups and allies of Egypt's ousted and now imprisoned president, Mohammed Morsi. The AP says McCain acknowledged that top Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi was unhappy with some of the "straightforward" suggestions they offered.

    August 13, 2013
  • The U.S. Navy is going to deactivate a nuclear-powered submarine damaged by an arsonist last year rather than repair it, saying the $700 million repair cost could not be justified in a time of tight budgets. The decision to scrap the USS Miami nuclear attack submarine, which had been scheduled for another decade of service, is another example of the choices facing the Pentagon as it attempts to deal with large huge across-the-board budget cuts.

    August 13, 2013
  • AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) – The first woman to lead the Air Force Academy took over the job Monday, but Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson said she’s not dwelling on the significance of the milestone.…

    August 13, 2013
  • The most recent commander of U.S. submarines in Asia and the Middle East took command on Wednesday of the entire Pacific Fleet submarine force.

    August 12, 2013
  • The Defense Information Systems Agency will issue several contracts under a unified capabilities initiative to move virtually all of DoD's communications onto Internet Protocol-based networks, and to better integrate voice, video and data services.

    August 12, 2013
  • Todd Harrison, senior fellow for Defense Budget Studies at the Center for Strategic and Budetary Assessments, will discuss how the defense industry is being impacted by sequestration. He will also give us an update on the U.S. military satellite communications system. August 9, 2013

    August 09, 2013
  • Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale told In Depth with Francis Rose Friday the Defense Department will not be cutting any more furlough days for Fiscal 2013. Now, DoD is waiting for Congress to finish marking up the president's budget request. If it fails to do that before Oct. 1, Hale said his agency may be forced to trim $52 billion from next year's budget to offset automatic cuts from the Budget Control Act.

    August 09, 2013
  • Defense Department's decision to centralize management of mobile technology is borne out of painful lessons from regular old wired IT networks. Budget pressure, officials say, makes it easier to sell the concept of doing things once and sharing the results.

    August 09, 2013
  • Federal officials say the budget environment — with or without sequestration — is leading agencies to come to grips with the idea that no matter how much they cut, no matter how much they work to become more efficient, they still will not have enough people or money to get everything done. The goal is to install discipline and data into the decision making process.

    August 09, 2013
  • This week on Pentagon Solutions, Francis Rose listens to highlights from a recent event at the Brookings Institution.

    August 08, 2013
  • Dave Bennett, the DISA chief information officer, is reducing the number of classified and unclassified networks to reduce costs and improve capabilities. At the same time, he's ready to expand the use of wireless capabilities across Fort Meade, Md. August 8, 2013

    August 08, 2013
  • A recent briefing between the House Veterans Affairs Committee, VA IT executives and DHS ended with the lead majority staff member walking out before the meeting ended. The rising tensions between the House Veterans Affairs committee's majority and VA come as a report surfaced showing veterans are at a higher risk of identity theft than the average citizen.

    August 07, 2013
  • Al-Qaeda in the Arabian is a militant Islamist organization, primarily active in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. AQAP was formed in January 2009 from a merger of al Qaeda's Yemeni and Saudi branches. It's widely believed to be the most dangerous of all Al Qaida branches. It's leadership has been responsible for several high profile bomb attempts against the U.S. It has also has been a frequent target.

    August 07, 2013