Secretary of the Navy the Honorable Richard V. Spencer delivers remarks to students, staff and faculty during a Secretary of the Navy Guest Lecture (SGL) at the Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPS) King Hall. US NAvy Photo
CAPITOL HILL – Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer told the House Armed Services Committee March 20 that he would use the additional acquisition authority Congress has given the service to find savings that could be used to buy more ships. Read More
The following is the May 27, 2015 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, Sequestration: Documenting and Assessing Lessons Learned Would Assist DOD in Planning for Future Budget Uncertainty. The report was called for in the Fiscal Year 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to review the “implementation and effects” of the FY 2013 sequestration cuts levied on the Department of Defense. Read More
A unit for the future aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) rests on the assembly platen at Newport News Shipbuilding on March 5, 2014. US Navy Photo
Mike Petters — chief executive officer of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) — said delays in U.S. Navy contracts for the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of USS George Washington (CVN-73) and construction contracts for the second Gerald Ford carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) are causing the shipbuilder concern, during a Thursday call with investors. Read More
Four D.C. think tanks took a crack at cutting the Pentagon’s budget under sequestration. CSBA Image
The following is from the four way defense budget game played by the American Enterprise Institute, Center for a New American Security, Center for Strategic and International Studies and Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment. Read More
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) during a live-fire exercise in April. US Navy Photo
The Navy plans to deploy USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) on Monday from Naval Station Norfolk, Va. to the Middle East and the Mediterranean, Navy officials told USNI News on Thursday.
Truman — along with Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Bulkeley (DDG-84), USS Mason (DDG-87) and Ticonderoga-class cruisers USS Gettysburg (CG-64), USS San Jacinto (CG-56) — will relieve the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group (CSG), which is currently in the Navy’s Middle East-based 5th Fleet area of operations. Read More
The following is a Monday open letter to Pentagon leaders and Congress from a bi-partisan group representing ten D.C. think tanks that focus on national security issues. The groups are calling for reform on the most politically sensitive defense expenditures: Military compensation, closing excess military facilities and the size of the Pentagon civillian workforce. The letter appeared as an advertisement in The Hill newspaper.
Dear Secretary Hagel, Chairman Levin, Ranking Member Inhofe, Chairman McKeon, Ranking Member Smith,
Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member Cochran, Chairman Young, and Ranking Member Visclosky:
A striking bipartisan consensus exists today across the think tank community on the need for Pentagon and Congressional leaders to address the growing
imbalances within the defense budget that threaten the health and long-term viability of America’s volunteer military.
It is our shared belief that the Department of Defense urgently needs to close excess bases and facilities, reexamine the size and structure of the DoD civilian
workforce, and reform military compensation. While we do not all agree on the best approach to reform in each case, we agree that if these issues are not addressed, they will gradually consume the defense budget from within. Read More
Four D.C. think tanks took a crack at cutting the Pentagon’s budget under sequestration. CSBA Image
Four D.C. think tanks took a crack at balancing the Department of Defense’s budget if the Pentagon has to weather ten years of ten percent across-the-board sequestration budget cuts sequestration on Wednesday.
The consensus of the four (American Enterprise Institute, Center for a New American Security, Center for Strategic and International Studies and Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment) was unanimous.
First, cut the Department of Defense’s civilian employees – including shipyard and depot workers. Then reduce the services’ end strength – particularly the Army’s. Read More
