Defense officials say they are eagerly awaiting next year's report from a congressionally-chartered commission that's currently examining military compensation. But officials say intense pressure on the top-line defense budget demands significant changes to personnel spending.
The most expensive defense program ever, the F-35 fighter plane, is running into more problems. The Government Accountability Office says software delays could force the Marine Corps to push back its roll out scheduled for next year. What's more, the auditors say the Defense Department will have to spend more than $12 billion annually on the program for the next 22 years. For more on the future of the F-35 program, Federal Drive host Emily Kopp spoke to Rob Levinson, a senior defense analyst for Bloomberg Government. Read our related story.
A new Government Accountability report finds that the DoD will have to spend $12 billion annually over the next 22 years on the F-35 program. Rob Levinson, Bloomberg Government senior defense analyst, explains the impact.
Rob Carey, the principal deputy CIO at the Defense Department, will retire after 31 years in government. He is at least the seventh high level and long-time federal technology official to leave government in the last six months.
The Army says it is now replacing funds in its readiness accounts that were depleted when cuts under sequestration first kicked in a year ago. But last year's readiness problems are likely to repeat in 2016 and beyond if Congress allows the automatic Defense cuts in current law to persist.
The hallways of a building at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling echoed with the sounds of gunfire last month as part of a training exercise to help base law enforcement personnel prepare for an active-shooter event.
The Army has a wardrobe problem. For years, the service has tried to improve its camouflage uniforms. But the process has been plagued by financial, technical and political problems. While that project stalls, the Army's PEO Soldier Unit is developing armor, helmets and other equipment for warfighters. Col. Robert Mortlock, program manager for the Army's Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment office, spoke with the Federal Drive's Tom Temin and Emily Kopp about the latest efforts on the Army's wardrobe front.
If you ask the Defense Department, its acquisition process for missile defense is a glass half full. The Government Accountability Office says that might be an overly optimistic way of looking at it. Cristina Chaplain, director of acquisition and sourcing management issues at the Government Accountability Office, talks to In Depth with Francis Rose about a new GAO report.
Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of Naval Operations, is creating a task force to draw up recommendations for alternatives to the Littoral Combat Ship. That program has driven controversy since its inception from both a cost and operational perspective. Retired Vice Adm. Lou Crenshaw, principal of Crenshaw Consulting Associates, discussed the program on In Depth with Francis Rose.
The Army gears up for its first large-scale financial audit.
The Pentagon will complete the Joint Regional Security Stacks in the European theater by the end of this year, two years earlier than planned. DoD already has begun to construct this regional cyber approach in the U.S. as part of its Joint Information Environment program.
GSA, NASA and NIH are providing agency customers more insight into what they are buying, how they are buying it and what prices they are paying. OFPP plans to launch the Prices Paid Portal later this year. But others say it's not about the data, but the outcomes agencies are trying to achieve.
The Army hopes to follow behind the Marine Corps in successfully passing a partial audit of its financial statements. While the service acknowledges it's unlikely to get a clean opinion on the first go-round, it is confident enough in its internal controls to give it a try.
The Army says it's ready to undergo its first major financial audit.
A six-step plan for acquisition reform for the Defense Department.