TODAY’S TOP 5
1. Nearly half of missileers at Malmstrom now tied to cheating investigation
(Air Force Times) Ninety-two officers are now connected to the cheating investigation at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., the Air Force announced Thursday.
2. Poll: Grim assessment of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan
(USA Today) As two of the nation's longest wars finally end, most Americans have concluded that neither achieved its goals.
3. President Karzai’s Perfidies
(New York Times) President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan seems to have decided that there is nothing lost, and maybe something to be gained, in destroying his relationship with the United States. While such behavior may serve his interests, it does not serve his long-suffering country’s.
4. One year later, military criticized for progress on women in combat
(Stars and Stripes) A year after the Pentagon opened combat jobs to female servicemembers, plans for integrating women into these jobs remain problematic, women’s advocates said this week.
5. Panel: Commanders should retain authority in sex assault cases
(Military Times) Commanders should retain their authority to prosecute military sexual assault cases, a key subcommittee of a congressionally mandated Pentagon panel has concluded.
INDUSTRY
Northrop profit, sales top view; eyes higher EPS in 2014
(Reuters) Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N), maker of surveillance drones and other military equipment, on Thursday reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings despite a drop in revenues and said share buybacks would drive earnings per share higher in 2014.
Lockheed powers up second GPS III satellite
(C4ISR & Networks) Lockheed Martin has powered up the second GPS III satellite. The satellite's power was turned on at the company's GPS III Processing Facility in Denver on December 19, 2013.
Raytheon fourth-quarter earnings beat estimates, foreign sales strong
(Reuters) U.S. arms maker Raytheon Co (RTN.N) reported higher-than-expected earnings in the fourth quarter on Thursday, although revenues fell short of estimates with U.S. military spending in decline.
Lockheed, Army demo capabilities of unmanned vehicle convoys
(United Press International) The ability of fully autonomous convoys made up of differing vehicles to operate in urban areas has been demonstrated by Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Army.
Turkey Extends Deadline for US, European Missile Bidders
(Defense News) US and European bidders still interested in winning Turkey’s air defense contract now have until April 30 to submit their proposals, following a three-month extension instituted by Turkey.
Growing UN Demands Spur Continued Expansion of Ghana Air Force Capabilities
(Defense News) The Ghanaian Air Force (GAF) says it will soon acquire an undisclosed number of fixed- and rotary-winged aircraft. These are added to a shopping list that includes Airbus C-295 troop transports, Alenia Aermacchi C-27J Spartan transports, Mil Mi-35M Hind assault helicopters, Cessna Grand Caravan helicopters, HAI Z-9 utility and Airbus AS365 Dauphin utility helicopters to fulfill its airlift contract obligations with UN peacekeeping and stabilization missions across Africa.
CONGRESS
Issa to probe Navy bribery scandal
(The Hill) House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said Thursday that his committee would investigate the bribery scandal that rocked the Navy and ensnared senior officers.
Military-pensions hearing raises alarm on cost of pay
(Virginian-Pilot) The uproar last month over changes to military pensions may have worked – senators from both parties indicated Tuesday they want to repeal the measure and put money back into the pockets of working-age retirees. But another message came out of the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, too: a warning that military pay and benefits can’t continue growing the way they have for the past decade.
The Veterans-Benefits Bandwagon Is Getting Mighty Crowded
(National Journal) Congress's effort to repeal its own $6 billion cut to veterans benefits has a bizarre problem: It has too much support.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
The Military Has Cataloged Its Ethical Failures, and They're Kind of Awesome
(Foreign Policy) Did you hear the one about the first lieutenant who had to pay $120,000 in fines for accepting bribes from contractors he'd awarded with lucrative Defense Department deals? Or the Navy civilian who asked a defense contractor for a $5,000 payment so the contractor could be "recommended" for a $153,000 contract? What about the four senior officials, including two Air Force generals, a Marine general, and a Navy admiral, who extended their stay in Tokyo to play golf at an illegal cost of $3,000 to the government?
Do the Military’s Nuclear Operators Need More Incentives?
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel summoned top leaders at the Pentagon on Wednesday to talk about ways to get a handle on the growing spate of scandals within the military’s nuclear enterprise. One possible solution? To give out more incentives and accolades to nuclear force workers who many say feel bored and underappreciated.
No Plans In The Works To Close Base Commissaries, Says Top Military Official
(KPBS, San Diego) The rumor mill has been circulating the same piece of information for months - that the Department of Defense plans to close all stateside base commissaries. However, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey is denying the Pentagon has such plans in the works.
ARMY
Soldiers can use new online tool to get fit
(Army Times) ArmyFit was launched by the Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness program. It provides videos, information and other resources based on a soldier’s individual needs.
Proposed Army plan would cut Florida Guard, Reserve by 10 percent
(The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville, Fla.) The cuts would mean a reduction in force for the Florida arm of the Guard from roughly 10,000 to 9,000 soldiers, as well as a loss of helicopters often used for rescue missions.
Fort Bragg soldier found unresponsive in Hope Mills home, later dies
(Fayetteville Observer) A soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division was found unresponsive at his Hope Mills home early Tuesday and was later pronounced dead.
Fort Carson troops learn how they could wing their way to war
(Colorado Springs Gazette) Long tied to missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, troops at Fort Carson are learning a way to fight that will have them winging their way to battle against enemies. The philosophy isn't new; airborne units practiced rapid deployments throughout the Cold War.
New rodent lab at Detrick could advance PTSD research
(The Frederick News-Post, Md.) The red lights in the Army’s newest lab at Fort Detrick are not designed to set the mood. Rather, they allow human researchers to work without throwing off their subjects’ nocturnal nature.
Formerly clandestine unit of Green Berets from Cold War gets public recognition
(Fayetteville Observer) Detachment A Berlin Brigade was a clandestine unit of about 90 Green Berets based in West Berlin. They wore civilian clothes, spoke fluent German and stayed on high alert 24 hours a day.
A Medal Of Valor, 30 Years In Coming
(National Public Radio) The year was 1984: A Soviet defector dashed across the Korean border — chased by North Korean troops. American troops shielded him and opened fire on the North Koreans. There were dead and wounded on both sides.
NAVY
White House Pushing Against Proposed Pentagon Carrier Cut
(US Naval Institute) According to sources familiar with the back and forth, administration officials asked the Pentagon on Wednesday evening to leave carriers alone and look for savings in other parts of the Defense budget.
SSBN Replacement Program Receives First Tester Report
(Seapower) The Navy’s program to replace its current force of Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarines received its first analysis by the Pentagon’s test directorate, which is analyzing the Navy’s Early Operational Assessment (EOA) conducted last year.
Rogers Nominated To Helm NSA/Cyber Command
(Defense News) President Obama has nominated Vice Adm. Michael Rogers, the US Navy’s cyber chief and long viewed as the likely successor to US Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) and National Security Agency (NSA) head Gen. Keith Alexander, to take over for Alexander when he retires later this year, the Defense Department announced late Thursday.
AIR FORCE
Commission: Move Manpower Into Reserve, Guard Components
The US Air Force should look at moving as much manpower into the Reserve and Air National Guard components as possible, according to a new report from a congressionally mandated panel.
AFSOC one-star relieved of command amid IG investigation into 'alleged inappropriate relationship'
(Air Force Times) The one-star general who was in charge of the Air Force Special Operations Air Warfare Center was relieved of command earlier this month due to “loss of trust and confidence in his leadership,” according to Air Force Special Operations Command.
Shaw captain considered a deserter apprehended in Alabama
(Air Force Times) U.S. Marshals have arrested a captain from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., whom the Air Force Office of Special Investigations considers a deserter.
13 more barrels dug up near Kadena schools
(Stars and Stripes) The Japan Ministry of Defense said Thursday an additional 13 corroded barrels were found beneath a soccer field adjacent to Kadena Air Base’s primary and intermediate schools.
MARINE CORPS
The Marine Corps will be faced once again with doing more with less this year
(Defense One) The Marine Corps are facing an uphill fight heading into 2014, as budget pressures tied to the Obama administration's sequestration plan will force the Corps to do more with less -- less troops, less training and less equipment -- just as service leaders are preparing to shift fire from the battlefields of Afghanistan to Asia, Africa and elsewhere across the globe.
Sochi-Bound Marine Vet Strives for Gold in Paralympics (With Video)
(ABC News) Growing up in warm Guadalajara, Mexico, winter cross country skies were not part of any sport for Omar Bermejo. It wasn’t until his family immigrated to Grand Rapids, Mich., that he was introduced to snow and winter sports. “We moved when I was pretty young. I was just about to start high school,” says Bermejo, 31. He loved the snow very much and became a recreational snowboarder. “Being in Michigan you grow up in the snow and I liked that kind of stuff,” he says.
Young enlistees prepare for U.S. Marine Corps service at Laurel Highlands YMCA
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) Jennifer Bensen, a fitness instructor at the Regional Family YMCA of Laurel Highlands, recently volunteered to work with 25 young men and women, as part of a U.S. Marine Corps boot camp training workout at the East Huntingdon facility.
VETERANS
Online complaints system will police colleges over GI Bill benefits
(Stars and Stripes) Federal officials on Thursday launched an online complaints system designed to root out colleges taking advantage of student veterans and their military education benefits.
Veterans group says military suicide rate is 'out of control'
(Gannett Washington Bureau) Suicide prevention is the No. 1 legislative priority this year for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, says Paul Rieckhoff, the group’s founder and CEO.
A Troubled Marine's Final Fight
(Time) His final firefight was on his suburban street 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Chicago, and the enemy was local police. When it ended, he'd traded 17 years in uniform for 16 years behind bars.
Fresno teen accused of robbing, beating 92-year-old WWII vet to be tried as adult
(The Fresno Bee) Found unfit to be tried as a juvenile, a 16-year-old Fresno boy made his first appearance Wednesday in Fresno County Superior Court in connection with the home-invasion robbery of 92-year-old World War II veteran Josef Martin.
AFGHANISTAN
Military yanks leash of critical government watchdog
(USA Today) In an attempt to blunt a critical audit, U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan praised a hospital built in eastern Afghanistan with $600,000 in U.S. funds, although Army officials thought the hospital was in an area too dangerous to visit for an inspection, documents obtained by USA TODAY show.
U.S. Aid to Afghans Flows On Despite Warnings of Misuse
(New York Times) With billions of dollars in American aid increasingly flowing straight into Afghan government coffers, the United States hired two global auditing firms three years ago to determine whether Afghanistan could be trusted to safeguard the money.
2 al Qaeda commanders killed in December airstrike in Afghanistan
(The Long War Journal) Two al Qaeda operatives who were associated with a top terrorist leader were among seven jihadists killed in a US airstrike along the Afghan-Pakistan border in December 2013. The al Qaeda operatives were traveling with members of the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban.
Media: Ex-Canadian Top General in Afghanistan Detained
(Defense News) A former Canadian brigadier general and head of Canadian forces in Afghanistan is being detained in Afghanistan for alleged gun smuggling, media said Thursday.
VOA Exclusive: Report Shows Afghans Overwhelmingly Against Taliban Rule
(Voice of America) A study obtained by VOA shows that Afghan citizens overwhelmingly oppose Taliban rule and believe their living conditions have improved over the last 10 years.
After billions in U.S. investment, Afghan roads are falling apart
(Washington Post) They look like victims of an insurgent attack — their limbs in need of amputation, their skulls cracked — but the patients who pour daily into the Ghazni Provincial Hospital are casualties of another Afghan crisis.
IRAQ
To retake cities, Iraq turns to Sunni tribes
(Washington Post) In his battle against an al-Qaeda-led insurgency in western Iraq, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is providing arms and funds to unnatural bedfellows — Sunni tribesmen who complain of being neglected by his Shiite-dominated government.
Fugitive Iraq VP warns Anbar conflict may spread over crackdown on Sunnis
(Reuters) Iraq's fugitive vice president warned that an armed stand-off in Anbar province could spread to other parts of the country as Sunni Muslim opposition to Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki grows.
Iraq's Abject Lessons for Mexico's Self-Defense Forces
(Foreign Policy) Paramilitary groups are growing like weeds in the blood-soaked soil of Mexico's cartel hotspots. Across the country, self-defense groups have banded together to take on the country's cartels, and now the government faces a problem all too familiar to veterans of the American military adventure in Iraq. How to go about bringing these groups under the umbrella of the central government?
Baghdad, Erbil continue their struggle for authority
(Al Monitor) What are the prospects of a permanent solution for governing relations between the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the federal government in Baghdad? This is a question without an answer in Baghdad or Erbil. With each successive crisis, the two sides exchange accusations and threats, which are followed by conciliation based on the principle of postponing the crisis instead of finding solutions to it.
MIDDLE EAST
Syria peace talks end first round in deadlock
(The Daily Star, Lebanon) A first round of peace talks on Syria wraps up Friday with both sides in entrenched positions and the U.N. mediator expressing frustration that he had not even produced agreement for an aid convoy to rescue trapped civilians in a besieged city.
Hagel urges Syria to comply with chemical weapons plan
(The Hill) Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel urged Syria on Thursday to comply with a plan to destroy its chemical weapons, after failing to meet several deadlines.
Syria Talks May Yield Little, but Give Cover to Those Defying Hard-Liners
(New York Times) The images from spotless, quiet Geneva were striking — Syrian government and opposition figures sitting down together for the first time to discuss ending their country’s war — but inside war-torn Syria, patience wore thin as the talks dragged on with few results.
Peace plan would allow 75 percent of Jewish settlers to remain in West Bank, envoy says
(Washington Post) Roughly three-quarters of Jewish settlers in the West Bank would be included in redrawn Israeli borders envisioned under U.S.-backed peace negotiations, the lead U.S. envoy told American Jewish leaders on Thursday.
ASIA-PACIFIC
China Making Air Force Upgrades, U.S. Official Says
(Bloomberg) China’s air force is fielding new precision-guided cruise missiles, long-range bombers and conventional and stealth drones in a modernization of its weaponry, according to a U.S. military intelligence official.
North Korea: Kim Jong-Un Official Speaks
(Sky News) A senior North Korean diplomat has told Sky News that the United States is to blame for the tense situation on the Korean peninsula but relations between the two countries could be "normalised" if Washington gave up its "hostile policy".
Will American Troops Return to Philippine Bases?
(Foreign Policy) When Typhoon Haiyan cut a devastating swathe of destruction through the central Philippines last November, the U.S. military was among the first to respond. In a matter of weeks and days, the United States delivered nearly 1,000 personnel, 50 ships and aircraft, and tens of millions of dollars of aid to the hardest hit areas. The relief effort was swift and substantial, but so too were the political maneuverings that followed.
The Philippines Learns from US Marines
(The Maritime Executive) Senior Philippine and US officials observed a maritime domain awareness demonstration at the Philippine Coast Guard Headquarters this week as part of the the first Philippine-US initiative to enhance Philippine security and defense capabilities.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
The Army's Combat Vehicle Mood Swings
(Daniel Goure in Real Clear Defense) What is it with the U.S. Army and its inability to manage major acquisition programs? The history of Army acquisition over the last twenty plus years is littered with failed attempts to define, develop and build new armored fighting vehicles and tanks. Does anybody remember the Future Combat System (FCS), the system of systems which promised to deploy a set of lightly-armored vehicles that would rely on superior situational awareness and mobility rather than armor for survival?
Falling short on Afghanistan
(Washington Post Editorial Board) President Obama returned in his State of the Union address to a familiar slogan: The war in Afghanistan “is finally coming to an end.” That, of course, is not true: As 29 million Afghans could testify, there is no end to the conflict in sight. Mr. Obama equates the end of the war with the end of U.S. combat operations. “Together with our allies,” he told Congress on Tuesday, “we will complete our mission there by the end of this year.”
Americans Can Be Proud of What Was Achieved in Iraq
(Stephen J. Hadley in the Wall Street Journal) Iraq has returned to the headlines, with parts of Ramadi and Fallujah again under al Qaeda control. American servicemen and women who helped liberate these cities are understandably frustrated. Is everything they accomplished in Iraq unraveling?
Enable the Warrior-Diplomat
(Karl Kadon in War on the Rocks) Given the failed imposition of a centralized counterinsurgency approach to a decentralized problem in Afghanistan, this author would argue that the need for well-trained “warrior-diplomats” is key for future deployments in resource-constrained environments. COIN doctrine itself was not the problem. The strategy was the problem. The lack of a clearly defined political endstate gave rise to interagency parochialism and regional interpretations of “progress” and “stability.”
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