Category Archives: Veterans Affairs

2013 Prowler Crash That Killed Three Found to Be Result of 'Pilot Error'

2013 Prowler Crash That Killed Three Found to Be Result of ‘Pilot Error’

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.

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

Document: 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review

Document: 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review

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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

Senate Panel Examines Aftermath of Military Sexual Assault

Senate Panel Examines Aftermath of Military Sexual Assault

cap_shutdownMembers 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

Document: Report on FY 2014 U.S. Defense Budget

Document: Report on FY 2014 U.S. Defense Budget

PentagonFrom 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

Kaine, Forbes Optimistic on Defense Deal by Friday

Kaine, Forbes Optimistic on Defense Deal by Friday

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.) 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