Washington: The top two lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee today demanded assurances that DoD is ready, willing and able to push the White House’s debt reduction plan through Capitol Hill. Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin and Ranking Member Sen. John McCain DoD acquisition chief Ash Carter to task today on why the department… Keep reading →

Let’s face it: The debt ceiling debate that consumed Washington D.C. this summer may not have been policymaking at its finest, but at least it focused attention on the nation’s problem with runaway government spending. Americans realize there’s a problem with government spending and expect the nation’s leaders to take real action. Unfortunately, some in… Keep reading →

Washington: Defense hawks and defense industry supporters are ramping up the rhetoric as they prepare to battle for defense dollars on Capitol Hill. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta plans to meet tomorrow with top defense industry leaders as Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee prepares to weigh in on defense spending levels for fiscal year 2012. “The Secretary… Keep reading →

America’s soldiers have learned a lot over the last 10 years, most of it the hard way, but that irreplaceable expertise could walk out the door in the coming drawdown if the Army doesn’t figure out how to manage its people better. Despite everything else that’s changed since September 2001, the ugly reality of 2011… Keep reading →

Washington: The Navy says it will be able to crank out two new Virginia-class submarines within 60 months, or almost two years faster than in the past. The Naval Sea Systems Command has already begun construction on SSN 787 this month, which NAVSEA officials anticipate will be completed within 65 months, according to a command… Keep reading →

Washington: In his first speech as the Army’s new Chief of Staff, Gen Ray Odierno warned that large, rapid reductions to the service would put the nation at risk. Odierno officially took the reins from former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, who is replacing Adm. Mike Mullen as the Chairman of the Joint… Keep reading →

Washington: A Lockheed Martin-built aerial cargo drone is one step closer to hitting the skies above Afghanistan this fall, after completing a key Marine Corps evaluation this month. The Marine Corps recently ran the K-MAX through a five-day Quick Reaction Assessment test in Yuma, AZ. The tests put the helicopter-like drone through a number of… Keep reading →

Washington: After a 25-year career in the national security arena, much of it spent in Washington, defense analyst and Oklahoma native Dakota Wood is heading home. Wood, a former Marine Corps officer and now defense analyst at the prestigious Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, has joined the growing pool of GOP candidates vying to… Keep reading →

We all know the White House has issued guidance to the federal agencies, including the Defense Department, to start planning for the “doomsday” budget scenario where Congress stalls on debt reduction requirements and triggers a set of automatic spending cuts. The challenge facing senior military officials is whether planning for those cuts is the right… Keep reading →

Washington: Failure to fix the way DoD does business on the battlefield will fall squarely on the shoulders of the congressional Super Committee tasked with trimming the national security budget, a former lawmaker said today. Former Rep. Chris Shays, a moderate Republican, said if the committee does not at least consider adopting the recommendations made… Keep reading →