Pentagon

  • The U.S. military almost launched fighter jets and discussed a possible shoot-down when an errant Navy drone briefly veered into restricted airspace near the nation\'s capital last month, a senior military official said Thursday. The Associate Press reports the incident underscores safety concerns with unmanned aircraft as defense officials campaign to use them more often during natural disasters and for homeland security. Navy Adm. James Winnefeld Jr., head of Northern Command, said Thursday that the August mishap could hamper the Pentagon\'s push to have the Federal Aviation Administration ease procedures for drone use by the military in domestic skies.

    September 10, 2010
  • The Army has a new track in Maryland to test safety for war-fighting vehicles. The Aberdeen Proving Ground north of Baltimore is the Pentagon\'s first contiguous, flat track for sustained high-speed vehicle testing. Convoys in warzones have to travel long distances at over 60 mph to counter enemy threats. But until now, the military has had no way to test all its vehicles at high speeds for extended periods.

    September 09, 2010
  • The Pentagon\'s top watchdog has abandoned efforts to do in-depth audits of defense contracts, leaving billions of dollars in taxpayer money at risk because of overpayments and fraud, according to an investigative report due to be made public Thursday.

    September 08, 2010
  • September 22nd at 11 AM Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is receiving significant attention within the information security community as individuals and organizations realize the importance of managing and protecting sensitive information. The impact of a data breach can be significant, resulting in lost productivity, failed audits, and negative press exposure. This session will review the benefits of identity-aware Data Loss Prevention and how these integrated solutions can help reduce IT risk, automate key security processes and enhance overall compliance posture.

    September 07, 2010
  • Federal News Radio asked you which agency has the best transportation and parking options as part of our Best of the Federal Government series. The results are now in.

    September 03, 2010
  • A Marine two-star general says the Taliban is experiencing a serious cash flow problem after losing an estimated half of its annual revenue from the drug trade in southern Afghanistan. The Associated Press reported Maj. Gen. Richard Mills says intelligence reports suggest that last year\'s poppy blight and government eradication efforts are keeping the Taliban from buying weapons and other supplies. Mills said at a news conference at the Pentagon U.S. troops still have a tough fight on their hands in Marjah.

    September 03, 2010
  • A U.S. official said yesterday, they notified the Dutch authorities early on that they had no derogatory information on two men, both of Yemeni origin, who had suspicious items in their luggage. Still the Dutch were not satisfied. A major concern was the fact that one of the men and his luggage with contained suspicious items were headed to separate locations. Analyst say that is a classic sign of either a system test or compartmentalized attempt to slip prohibited items aboard an airplane.

    September 01, 2010
  • You may have seen or heard about the movie Transformers and the military theme in the movie. It may soon be more than a movie. For several years now the Pentagon has been looking into flying cars. Now they\'re working on a flying humvee. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has chosen two companies to participate in project Transformer. It\'s a fully automated four-person vehicle that can drive like a car and then take off and fly like an aircraft to avoid roadside bombs. Lockheed Martin and AAI Corp., a unit of Textron Systems are moving to the next stage.

    August 30, 2010
  • U.S. Sen. Mark Warner says Virginia officials should keep up the fight against the closing of a defense command in Norfolk. According to the Associated Press, the Virginia Democrat also suggested a different tack during a stop in Portsmouth on Thursday. He said Virginia officials should convince the Pentagon that it makes military and economic sense to keep the Joint Forces Command in Hampton Roads. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced this month he wants to close the command, which employs some 6,000 military and civilian workers.

    August 30, 2010
  • The former chief of U.N. nuclear inspections worldwide, told Le Monde newspaper that Iran has stockpiled enough low-enriched uranium for 1-2 nuclear weapons. But Olli Heinonen, said it would not make sense for it to \"cross the bomb-making threshold with such a small amount\". He also said Iran\'s uranium reserve still represented a \"threat.\" Pentagon officials told Congress last spring Iran could produce enough highly enriched uranium for a one nuclear weapon in as little as a year.

    August 30, 2010
  • As part of our Best of the Federal Government series, we asked you to nominate the agencies with the best transportation or parking options. Vote now for your favorite!

    August 27, 2010
  • Canadian authorities say they\'ve broken up an al Qaida terror plot. Two residents from Ottawa have been arrested after one of them was preparing to leave the country. Authorities are tight-lipped about the investigation, but they say the plot involved at least one suspect who had traveled to the tribal territories of Pakistan and Afghanistan. They also indicated the plot involved explosives. Canada is the only one of the major countries on Al Qaida\'s list that they have yet to successfully attack.

    August 26, 2010
  • A failure by Navy air traffic controllers to follow standard procedures contributed to a midair collision that killed seven Coast Guard members and two Marines off Southern California last year, according to a Coast Guard report released Tuesday. The Associated Press says controllers at Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado, near San Diego, failed to notify the pilot of a Coast Guard C-130 plane that four Marine helicopters were in the area. The Marine flyers were also unaware of the Coast Guard plane\'s presence. The report said there is no single reason or person to blame for the crash on the night of Oct. 29, 2009. It made a series of recommendations to improve safety in the largely unregulated airspace.

    August 25, 2010
  • Guardsmen get new social media guidelines

    August 25, 2010