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The Navy says it wants any extra funds to go to current ship maintenance before building to Trump's ideal 350 ship fleet.
The final details of the 2017 defense authorization bill remain a work in progress for the House and Senate, but one bargaining chip of the deal could undo some steep travel cuts for DoD employees.
Generals say current analyses show the U.S. will need more land forces for future conflicts, precisely at the time the Army is shrinking to its smallest size since before World War II.
The Army's 2017 budget would roughly double the funding line which pays for involuntary mobilizations of selected reservists within the National Guard and Army Reserve.
The Air Force had previously predicted it would be fully ready for high-end conflict by 2025. That date keeps slipping because its pilots and planes are busy in the Middle East.
The military's focus on present operations is letting future readiness languish, Marine Corps and Army officials told Congress.
U.S. Cyber Command hopes to increase the defensive posture of its networks by imposing more accountability on commanders. Future scorecards will grade local installations. Those with failing grades may face sanctions.
Gen. Ray Odierno, the departing Army chief, said he’s worried about the service because most U.S. forces are underprepared for some of the circumstances they might face, such as “hybrid” warfare against Russian proxies.
The military services say they've made some progress against the readiness levels they lost when sequestration first struck in 2013. The Pentagon's second- ranking official said Tuesday that momentum needs to be maintained, but DoD's challenges are as much about time as about money.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the new chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said his committee has more work to do before it draws up a broad acquisition reform package. But one element will be a more full-throated role for the uniformed military.
Troops start the new year with a 1 percent pay raise. That's a little less than the 1.8 percent raise they would have gotten automatically from the annual cost of living adjustment. A study on pay and benefits from the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission is due next month. Vice Adm. Norb Ryan is president of the Military Officers Association of America. He says some kind of reform is long overdue. He shared his Top 3 for 2015 on In Depth with Francis Rose. He says morale is still a top priority for the military, even with fewer commitments in Afghanistan.
The military has made some progress in reversing the training and maintenance shortfalls it underwent when sequestration first took hold in 2013. But Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said those gains will quickly reverse themselves if Congress lets the budget caps return next year.
Pentagon officials say the military services have made some progress in restoring readiness since the initial onset of sequestration caused a "readiness crisis." But they say gains made will go out the window if the budget is cut once again next year. Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu has the story.
After eight months on the job, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James tells Federal Drive with Tom Temin that even though the service is in good shape, it still faces uncertainty around its budget, overseas operations and readiness.