The scene following the March, 11 crash of a EA-6B Prowler outside of Harrington, Wash. taken by Stan Dammel, manager of the nearby Odessa Municipal Airport.
A U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General Manual Investigation (JAGMAN) into the March 11, 2013, crash of a VAQ-129 Grumman EA-6B Prowler that killed three sailors in rural Washington has found that the accident was the result of pilot error. Read More
The following is from the executive summary of the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review, released on March, 4 2014.
The United States faces a rapidly changing security environment. We are repositioning to focus on the strategic challenges and opportunities that will define our future: new technologies, new centers of power, and a world that is growing more volatile, more unpredictable, and in some instances more threatening to the United States. Read More
Members of the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee said repeatedly during a Wednesday hearing that their work on reforming the way the Department of Defense treats military sexual assault cases was not over—further questioning the so-called “good soldier defense” in weighing an accuser’s testimony against a superior. Read More
Robert Work at the Pentagon. US Navy Photo
The Senate Armed Services Committee held a confirmation hearing for incoming deputy secretary of defense Bob Work on Tuesday. Read More
President Barack Obama presents the Medal of Honor to Capt. William D. Swenson on Oct. 15, 2013. US Army Photo.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is kicking off a department-wide review of how the U.S. military awards battlefield commendations to American service members. Read More
Popular support of the U.S. military over the last few decades has helped lead to an increase in personnel-related costs across the force. If left unchecked, these increasing costs will overwhelm the Defense Department budget. Yet, there is no political will in Congress to implement change. Read More
Adm. Kinnaird R. McKee at the 1984 commissioning USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN-730). National Archives Photo
Retired Adm. Kinnaird Rowe McKee — the former head of Naval Reactors and the U.S. Naval Academy superintendent who oversaw the introduction of women to the school — died on Dec. 30.
He was 84. Read More
The last minute budget deal reached by the House and the Senate restores readiness shortfalls for the Pentagon and provides a firmer base of fiscal stability for the Department of Defense, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told reporters in a Thursday press conference. Read More
From the Dec. 16, 2013 Congressional Research Service report: Defense: FY2014 Authorization and Appropriations.
President Obama’s FY2014 base budget request of $552.0 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Department of Defense (DOD) and defense-related programs of other agencies (excluding war costs), exceeds by $53.9 billion the legally binding cap on defense funding for FY2014 that was enacted in 2011 as part of the Budget Control Act (P.L. 112-25). Unless the Budget Control Act (BCA) is amended, either Congress will have to cut the Administration’s National Defense request by $53.9 billion (about 9.8%) to meet the BCA cap of $498.1 billion, or else the BCA law will reduce the appropriation to the level set by the cap through a process of sequestration, beginning in January 2014. Read More
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) addressing the US Naval Institute Defense Forum Washington on Dec. 10, 2013. US Naval Institute Photo
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) expressed optimism in a pending congressional deal that may provide the Pentagon a modicum of fiscal stability. Read More
