Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford came of age on the battlefields of America’s post-9/11 wars. As a colonel, he led the 5th Marine Regiment during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, earning his nickname of “Fighting Joe” Dunford. Later, he commanded all U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan as commander of the… Keep reading →

PENTAGON: The United States and its allies have turned the tables on Daesh and the battle for Mosul is joined. While the battle will be grim and long, those opposed to the nihilists, murderers, rapists and apostates also known as ISIL now possess the momentum that had for so long been with the other side.… Keep reading →

CORRECTED: Model of the F-18. It’s an A. CAPITOL HILL: House defense Republicans really do seem worried that US weapons are so old, new gear so rare and training dollars so short that US troops may soon begin paying the ultimate price for the military’s creaky state after 15 years of war. As with every problem, you need… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The US is waging an outright cyber war against Daesh, the self-proclaimed Islamic State, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs made clear this morning. While Carter did not say so, we believe this is the first official confirmation by a senior military official that the United States has waged… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, top military advisor to the president, today proposed creation of a staff to help the Defense Secretary better plan and execute America’s war plans that involve huge swaths of the globe and outer space. “This is not the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs saying, ‘I need a… Keep reading →

When Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work unveiled what we are now, unfortunately, calling the JICSPOC, there were many many questions and few answers. Among the most important questions was: if spy and military satellites are being flown and monitored from the same place and a satellite appears to be under attack, who will command — the Intelligence… Keep reading →

PENTAGON: This may be one of those stories that turns on phrasing, but the Pentagon’s new spokesman, Peter Cook, said during yesterday’s briefing — his first — that the military is not reviewing how many F-35s it plans to buy. “Obviously, the budget situation here in Washington will have a big impact on that, but… Keep reading →

When Defense Secretary Bob Gates put the F-35B on “probation” and Sen. John McCain became his powerful echo chamber, we responded on the pages of Breaking Defense that these actions were misguided. We had spent many hours with the pilots, maintainers, builders, designers, and testers of the aircraft, and came to a very different conclusion: “The F-35B… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The first variant of the most expensive conventional weapons program ever is now officially ready for combat. In one of his last acts as Marine Corps Commandant, future Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford announced today that the Marine model of the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35B vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) version, has… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: UPDATE BEGINS The administration’s nominee for Marine Corps Commandant, Lt. Gen. Bob Neller, set off a firestorm from Sen. John McCain this morning. After two hours of an otherwise congenial confirmation hearing, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman erupted over Neller’s description of the current administration strategy against the Islamic State. That strategy relies on airpower and advisors… Keep reading →