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: 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 →

Washington: The Pentagon must phase out its use of private security contractors, or find a way to make sure their presence on the battlefield does not put U.S. troops at risk, a former DoD official said yesterday. That recommendation was one of many included in the final report of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in… Keep reading →

Washington: While the Army may worry that its Ground Combat Vehicles may cost too much and get killed, you won’t hear any such concerns from one of Capitol Hill’s top defense lawmakers, Sen. Car Levin. In an interview clearly intended to signal to his colleagues what’s what before they return here next week, Levin said… Keep reading →

CORRECTION Washington: As the Army floats plans to substantially cut its combat force, lawmakers are watching anxiously, eager to protect Army bases in their home states. “If the Army Chief of Staff supports the plan, member opposition would most likely focus on the impact to individual bases,” a source familiar with Army deliberations tells Breaking… Keep reading →

Washington: Less than a week after the Army awarded multimillion development deals for its Ground Combat Vehicle, an industry protest has brought the program to a grinding halt. The protest was filed with the Government Accountability Office today by the SAIC-Boeing team, which lost out on the large Army contract. Last Friday, the Army awarded… Keep reading →

The nation’s first Secretary of Homeland Security said Congress has “failed” America’s first responders by not acting on legislation that would dedicate wireless communications spectrum to a nationwide, interoperable, public safety network and said it is unlikely anything will pass before the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. “It’s wrong. It’s really wrong for them… Keep reading →

Washington: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has moved to gag communications between the Pentagon and Congress on the highly sensitive issue of the congressional Super Committee. In an Aug. 18 memo to all senior officials, Panetta ordered them to “coordinate any contact with the ‘Super Committee’ through his assistant secretary for legislative affairs, Elizabeth King. We… Keep reading →