DefenceTalkWith the outbreak of the coronavirus, we’re living in uncertain times. More and more schools and businesses are closing to reduce the spread of COVID-19. As a result, many people are working from home or out of work indefinitely. If you feel you’re in a precarious financial situation, you’re not alone. George Katsinis, a personal […]https://www.defencetalk.com/weathering-covid-19-financial-resilience-74905/

DefenceTalkMost Soldiers will receive a one-percent increase in basic pay in January along with a 2.9-percent increase in their basic allowance for subsistence. The new rates for basic pay, basic allowance for housing, basic allowance for subsistence, and the cost of living allowance rates for the contiguous United States were announce today by DOD, and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/soldiers-to-get-one-percent-pay-raise-in-new-year-61196/

DefenceTalkGetting audited is something most taxpayers admit they dread. But those same citizens might be heartened to know that government agencies that receive their tax dollars are audited just the same, to ensure that money is properly spent. The Army and the rest of the Defense Department are on notice from Congress that they will […]https://www.defencetalk.com/army-preps-for-first-audit-ever-says-top-finance-leader-59724/

DefenceTalkAs the budget shrinks and as the active Army draws down to 490,000, elimination of excess infrastructure is needed, say leaders from Army Installations, Housing & Partnerships. There are a lot of spaces and facilities at installations throughout the U.S. that are not being utilized or are just partially utilized, said Paul Cramer, deputy assistant […]https://www.defencetalk.com/new-brac-round-would-save-money-increase-army-readiness-58782/

DefenceTalkThe Army’s rapid fielding of network systems to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan led to vastly improved communications capabilities on the battlefield — but also increased network complexity. The service is now moving to simplify and reduce the number of network management tools its communication officers, known as S6s, use to manage the tactical […]https://www.defencetalk.com/combining-network-management-tools-makes-managing-network-easier-saves-money-50041/

DefenceTalkDuring a Senate hearing yesterday on President Barack Obama’s $9.5 billion military construction budget request for fiscal 2014, Defense Department Comptroller Robert F. Hale said the severe and abrupt budget cuts imposed by sequestration are devastating the U.S. armed forces. Hale and John Conger, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment, testified on […]https://www.defencetalk.com/dod-comptroller-sequestration-devastates-u-s-military-readiness-47759/

DefenceTalkSenior Defense Department officials testified yesterday before Congress highlighting the activities the department has undertaken to save an estimated $1 billion and provide a balanced national security space program. Gil I. Klinger, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space and intelligence, and Douglas L. Loverro, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, appeared before […]https://www.defencetalk.com/dod-officials-detail-1-billion-in-space-program-savings-47630/

DefenceTalkDefense acquisition professionals need to apply common-sense thinking as they make decisions, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics said here today. Frank Kendall issued a memo on the “Better Buying Power 2.0” that re-emphasized the power people have in the acquisition process and seven common-sense ways that acquisition and contracting personnel can […]https://www.defencetalk.com/top-acquisition-official-unveils-better-buying-power-2-0-47618/

DefenceTalkLarge and sudden U.S. spending cuts and an unstable budget environment promise long-term damage to a critical segment of the defense industrial base, the Defense Department’s top maintenance official recently told a congressional panel. John Johns, deputy assistant secretary of defense for maintenance policy and programs, testified last week before the House Armed Services readiness […]https://www.defencetalk.com/budget-cuts-threaten-defense-industrial-base-official-says-47050/

DefenceTalkBeggars can’t be choosers. When a government accumulates trillion-dollar deficits year after year, eventually there is a day of reckoning. For the U.S. military, that day is now. Although the Pentagon continues to see a global landscape brimming with security challenges, it appears the political system has stopped listening. Or perhaps it just prefers the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/defense-downturn-which-missions-will-go-away-47055/