Defense Department
-
Maj. Gen. Gregg Martin, the president of the National Defense University for the past two years, quietly stepped down last week. The university's vice president will lead the institution in his stead until the Pentagon recruits a permanent replacement.
July 28, 2014 -
The Pentagon's main IT provider shuttered its large data center in Huntsville, Alabama. in May, leaving only 10 of its large Defense Enterprise Computing Centers in its inventory. The mission of those remaining DECCs, however, is growing, not shrinking.
July 25, 2014 -
The National Security Agency's top lawyer says the Edward Snowden disclosures not only hurt U.S. intelligence gathering capabilities - they may have also damaged the chance of Congress successfully passing cybersecurity legislation anytime in the near future.
July 25, 2014 -
The Defense and Homeland Security departments are pushing project managers to test technology or weapons systems earlier in the acquisition lifecycle to understand and solve potential roadblocks sooner. DoD submitted recommendations to Senate leaders for how to better integrate testing and evaluation into the acquisition lifecycle.
July 23, 2014 -
U.S.-Russia tensions over Ukraine haven't yet impacted the flow of critical rocket engines to the U.S. space program, but that could change at any time. The military's top space official says another reason to get going on an American-made alternative is to sustain a deteriorating portion of the defense industrial base.
July 23, 2014 -
The Office of Management and Budget requires federal agencies include more data in its 2016 budget requests for this fall. OMB wants benchmarks and timelines of financial investments so it can organize its cross-agency priority goals. Beth McGrath is director of Deloitte's Federal Practice. She's also former deputy chief management officer at the Defense Department. In a Federal News Radio op-ed and on In Depth with Francis Rose, McGrath said agencies should be making even more business decisions based on data.
July 22, 2014 -
The military is shrinking, but the Pentagon's personnel costs keep growing. In fact, it pays about $125,000 per active-duty service member, including both salary and benefits. Two Washington think tanks are raising alarms. They say the Pentagon needs to do something now so it doesn't have to cut other critical parts of its budget later on. Steve Bell is senior director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. He joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss why the personnel cost has become expensive.
July 22, 2014 -
Now is not the time to play 'small ball.' As budgets shrink, agencies should be bold as they look to improve mission effectiveness and modernize operations, says Beth McGrath, former deputy chief management officer at the Pentagon.
July 22, 2014 -
To maintain readiness under current budget pressure, the Defense Department needs to have a long-term mindset and rethink their force structure, according to Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), chairman of the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee.
July 18, 2014 -
Top Pentagon officials have been railing against the consequences of sequestration ever since the Budget Control Act was passed in 2011. And in their planning documents, they've also decided not to acknowledge the likelihood that the cuts are here to stay. For the last three years, officials have submitted budget requests that exceed the caps in current law, and they've indicated they plan to continue doing so in future years. Even if the Pentagon isn't building its military plans around sequestration, some outside analysts are taking a look at what various scenarios would look like under lower funding levels. One of them is Rob Levinson. He's a senior defense analyst for Bloomberg Government, and shared some financial predictions on In Depth with guest host Jared Serbu.
July 18, 2014 -
Congress has been urging the Pentagon to speed up finding and identifying remains of service members dating back to World War II. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has promised to fix deficiencies in the recovery process. As part of that effort, the Pentagon is consolidating two agencies that had roughly equal responsibilities. Michael Lumpkin is the assistant secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict. He joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss the objective of the new command.
July 18, 2014 -
Robert Work, the new deputy defense secretary, told members of the House Armed Services Committee that the Defense Department will experience a two-year trough in readiness as it resets its force,
July 16, 2014 -
The Defense Department has some significant blind spots when it comes to its ability to assess what's going on in the global technology landscape -- especially in the commercial and non-defense markets. DoD officials are keenly aware of the problem, and there's a nascent effort underway to help solve it. The new Technology Domain Awareness initiative is a project of DoD's Information Analysis Centers. Christopher Zember is the director of the Information Analysis Centers. And Jay Harrison is the director of the Center for Smart Defense at West Virginia University, which is helping DoD get the TDA effort of the ground. They explained the initial drive behind TDA on In Depth with guest host Jared Serbu.
July 16, 2014 -
Congress is mulling through a stream of feedback from outside groups on how to fix a labyrinth of defense acquisition policies. Chris Lamb is deputy director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. He recently testified before the House Armed Services Committee to share his ideas. On In Depth with guest host Jared Serbu, Lamb said a source of frustration is a disconnect between the top and bottom of DoD's chain of acquisition authority.
July 15, 2014 -
The Air Force will offer early retirement and buyouts to civilian personnel, in order to eliminate nearly 3,500 positions, officials announced Monday. The service estimates the cuts will save the Air Force $1.6 billion over the next five years.
July 15, 2014