UPDATED Washington: Few things seem certain at this point from the budget deal struck yesterday. One point that three Hill sources agree on is that the Defense Department budget may well be frozen at or near 2011 levels. That means, a professional Hill staffer says, that the House Appropriations Committee will need to find another… Keep reading →

Washington: Sen. John McCain, son of an admiral and a legendary naval aviator in his own right, dispensed a little tough love today to the Navy on its management of its current and future fleet. The Arizona Republican blasted away at Navy’s less-than-stellar record in shipbuilding during today’s confirmation hearing for presumptive Chief of Naval… Keep reading →

Washington: Sometimes the Pentagon is just too easy to make fun of. While it is filled with Americans good and true who work their rear ends off to help keep us safe, it also has very little idea where the hundreds of billions that it gets from Congress is going. “I’m cautiously optimistic [they can… Keep reading →

Washington: American troops are preparing to leaving Iraq by the end of this year, and military officials worry that Iran will get credit for that withdrawal, Gen. Martin Dempsey told lawmakers. Dempsey, the White House’s pick to replace Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that Tehran is… Keep reading →

Washington: The Defense Department is busy planning on how to cope with our nation defaulting on its debt, should Congress abdicate its responsibility to the country. The good news is the Pentagon has money obligated and appropriated so it could pay its bills. The bad news is that Treasury and the White House’s Office of… Keep reading →

Washington: The armed services are tired, broke and running near empty. And if Capitol Hill looks to the Pentagon to shoulder any more of the debt burden, those forces will break, according to the vice chiefs of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and the Air Force. During today’s hearing of the House Armed Services Readiness… Keep reading →

Washington: The Pentagon faces a lot of threats, but according to the incoming Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the national deficit isn’t the biggest one. White House nominee Gen. Martin Dempsey told members of Senate Armed Services Committee today that the growing fiscal hole in the nation’s economy was not the biggest national security threat… Keep reading →

Washington: Those billions of wonderful dollars that live in the Overseas Contingency Operations funds — as war funding is known nowadays — may be the key to a final deal to raise the debt ceiling and save the United States from a default that could have enormous national security implications. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s… Keep reading →

Washington: With Gen. Martin Dempsey the Pentagon may have gotten just who it wanted for its new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, but he may not be the man who is really needed right now. The four-star general is set to go before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow morning to make his case to… Keep reading →

Washington: The Army’s Humvee has become a modern military icon, replacing the World War II-era Jeep as one of the most recognizable vehicles on the battlefield. It also provides just as much protection against improvised explosive devices and rocket-propelled grenades as those vehicles built by Henry Ford in the 1940’s. The introduction of up-armored versions… Keep reading →