Senate Armed Services Committee
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The military's two top ranking officers said in a Senate confirmation hearing that the department has been working on the plan for the past two weeks and should complete it by October.
July 19, 2013 -
The Military Justice Improvement Act would shift the decision to prosecute sexual assault cases from the chain of command to independent military lawyers. A recently released DoD IG report also recommends changes in the investigation process.
July 17, 2013 -
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel put the ball in Congress' court this week when he released details of how the Pentagon would manage billions of dollars in cuts if sequestration continues into fiscal 2014 and beyond. But, there's not yet anything close to a winning strategy in Congress to avert or replace the automatic budget cuts.
July 11, 2013 -
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a letter to Congress that if spending caps continue under sequestration, marked cuts in DoD's budget would possibly lead to reductions in force. Hagel also said there could be severe cuts in operations and maintenance.
July 10, 2013 -
Amid nearly unanimous congressional opposition, the Defense Department says it needs to stop operating military facilities it no longer wants or needs.
June 14, 2013 -
By July 1, the Pentagon will provide the Senate Armed Services Committee its plan for managing reduced fiscal 2014 budget levels, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in a speech Wednesday. The committee had asked DoD to provide a list of spending reductions after the White House submitted a budget proposal for next fiscal year that simply ignored sequestration, ostensibly in the hope that the automatic budget cuts would be canceled or otherwise avoided in 2014.
June 06, 2013 -
The Pentagon insists it is paying to maintain much more military base infrastructure than it needs, and the problem will only get worse as the Defense Department shrinks due to budget reductions. Congress, however, remains unsympathetic.
May 06, 2013 -
Army leaders say the belated passage of a 2013 budget helped this year's fiscal picture, but the service still is more than $15 billion short of funds. If sequestration continues, the service will shrink by at least 100,000 soldiers.
April 24, 2013 -
U.S. Cyber Command is putting together dozens of groups to defend the military's network, to work with combatant commanders on offensive tactics and to respond to attacks against the nation. Gen. Keith Alexander, however, said budget cuts will delay DoD's ability to recruit and train team members.
March 13, 2013 -
Among the warnings the military's top uniformed officers delivered to the Senate Tuesday: Half of Marine Corps units will fall below readiness standards by the end of the year, the Army will have to curtail training for 80 percent of its ground forces and shipyards are already becoming short-staffed because of DoD's hiring freeze.
February 13, 2013 -
Jon Etherton, president of Etherton and Associates Inc., will talk about the congressional process and how its affecting acquisition. October 9, 2012
October 09, 2012 -
The top Republican on the Armed Services committee signaled Thursday that there's room for compromise toward a deal to avoid automatic budget cuts at the end of this year. But not everyone's sure the negative effects of sequestration can be avoided, or even that Congress would reach a deal.
June 22, 2012 -
Senate panel rejects Air Force's proposed decreases to National Guard aircraft and personnel, orders cutbacks in DoD civilian and contractor personnel and imposes contractor salary caps.
May 25, 2012 -
A top Air Force General outlined steps taken to make sure jet pilots don't black out. Two whistleblower pilots recently said the F-22 oxygen delivery system was faulty, causing a condition known as hypoxia.
May 10, 2012 -
The Senate Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Airland, which oversees issues related to the Army, Air Force and, Navy and Marine Corps tactical aviation programs, heard testimony this week on the F-35 Lightning II program.
May 09, 2012