TODAY’S TOP 5
1. Navy moves carrier amid talks on Iran
(The Hill) The U.S. Navy has reduced its carrier presence in the Persian Gulf as the Obama administration seeks to complete a nuclear deal with Iran.
2. Roadside bomb blasts' effects on brain still a mystery
(USA Today) Too little is known about how or whether bomb blasts cause long-term damage to the human brain and body, according to a scientific panel focusing on wounds caused by roadside bombs, the most common enemy weapon used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
3. Al-Qaeda is Alive and Well in Afghanistan and Pakistan
(Michael Kugelman in War on the Rocks) In his State of the Union address, President Obama declared, “we’ve put al-Qaeda’s core leadership on a path to defeat.” Yet, he acknowledged that “the threat has evolved as al-Qaeda affiliates and other extremists take root” across the Middle East and Africa.
4. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier guards unfazed by weather
(USA Today) The federal government is closed and the snow-covered roads in the Washington area are quiet, but the soldiers guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier are braving the elements.
5. White House Sees Longer Wait for Afghan Agreement
(Associated Press) The White House is dropping its insistence that Afghanistan sign a crucial security pact within weeks, suggesting it could be willing to wait to see whether Afghan President Hamid Karzai's successor might be easier to work with in deciding how many U.S. and international troops remain in Afghanistan when combat concludes at the end of the year.
INDUSTRY
Boeing looks to U.S. Congress to fund fighters after Navy skips orders
(Reuters) Boeing Co is mounting a last-ditch campaign to convince U.S. lawmakers to buy more fighter jets and stave off a shutdown of a St. Louis production line after the U.S. Navy failed to fund the jets.
BAE Takes Aim at F-15 and F/A-18 Upgrade Work
(Defense News) With a substantial contract under its belt to upgrade South Korea’s fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16s, BAE Systems is now looking to extend its activities in the market for modifying other nations’ aircraft by looking at Boeing’s F-15 and F/A-18 jets, said executives from the US arm of the British-based company.
Curbs shut US drone makers out of export markets
(Associated Press) Military brass shopping at Asia's biggest defense expo this week have drones high on their to-buy list. But for U.S. manufacturers including General Atomics, which makes the Predator hunter-killer, there's one problem: they can only sell to a few countries because of tight export restrictions.
Singapore Airshow 2014: AFSOC explores gunship-variant Osprey, marines show interest
(IHS Jane's 360) The US Air Force Special Operational Command (AFSOC) is to develop a gunship variant of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor that also has the US Marine Corps (USMC) interested, a senior service official revealed on 13 February.
Alenia Aermacchi Sets Its Sights on Thai Trainer Contest
(Defense News) Thailand is the next regional target for the M-346 jet trainer maker Alenia Aermacchi, according to Giovanni Timossi, the company's vice president of sales in Asia.
AgustaWestland signs helicopter support agreement with Singapore Technologies
(IHS Jane's 360) AgustaWestland has signed an agreement with a subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Engineering (ST Engineering) that will lead to Singapore becoming a maintenance and repair centre for AgustaWestland helicopters in operation in the Asia-Pacific.
CONGRESS
Broad veterans' bill faces uncertain fate in Senate
(Military Times) The repeal of planned reductions in military retirement pay by Congress has left the Senate’s wide-ranging veterans’ legislative package in limbo.
Democrats Clash In Military Sexual Assault Debate
(National Public Radio) The Capitol Hill crackdown on sexual assaults in the U.S. military has been a rare mission on which Republicans and Democrats have found common ground over the past year.
Senator presses Afghanistan commander on critical audits
(USA Today) The top commander in Afghanistan is being asked to explain why his staff attempted to diminish the findings of the government watchdog overseeing billions in construction projects there.
Senate bill would provide clean service records for discharged gay, lesbian troops
(Stars and Stripes) A bill that would upgrade the service records of gay, lesbian and bisexual troops discharged due to sexual orientation and open the door to veterans’ benefits has been introduced in the Senate and referred to the Armed Services Committee for review, officials said.
INTELLIGENCE
NSA employee implicated in Snowden probe resigned, memo says
(Washington Post) A National Security Agency employee has resigned from his job after admitting to FBI investigators that he allowed Edward Snowden, then an NSA contractor, to use his personal computer credentials to gain access to classified information, according to an agency memo.
Report: Intelligence community can’t keep track of its contractors
(The Hill) The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is unable to account for “core” intelligence contractors and their work, according to a group of senators who released a government report on Thursday.
Rand Paul files lawsuit to halt NSA phone surveillance
(USA Today) Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and a libertarian group Wednesday asked a federal court to halt the National Security Agency's collection of telephone data and to purge what already has been stored since 2006.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
America’s top soldier visits Guantánamo’s prisons
(Miami Herald) Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, took a three-hour tour of the U.S. Navy base and two prison buildings at Guantánamo Bay this week — the first visit by America’s highest-ranking officer in six years.
Defense Officials Step Up Rhetoric Against Cuts
(National Defense Magazine) Military leaders are launching preemptive strikes as a new round of budget battles heats up in Washington over defense spending beyond 2015.
Military bases cope with harsh winter storm
(Military Times) From the South through the Mid-Atlantic, military installations are grappling with a wintry mix of snow, ice and sleet that has created dangerous road conditions, prompting some bases to close.
DoD still hesitant about mobile devices
(C4ISR & Networks) The Defense Information Systems Agency’s work with other Defense Department components to develop an enterprise-wide mobile device network could help address longstanding concerns about mobile devices, according to Daniel Risacher, associate director of enterprise services and integration at DoD.
ARMY
AUSA boss takes stand on Congress' push to protect Guard
(Army Times) The Association of the United States Army is pushing back against legislation that would create a commission to determine the future makeup of the Army.
Defense Plans Secret Global Socia Media Data Mining Project Based in Europe
(NextGov) The Army wants a contractor to conduct detailed social media data mining to “identify violent extremist influences” around the world that could affect the European Command, responsible for operations in Europe as well as Iceland, Israel, Greenland and Russia.
2 JBLM soldiers awarded Silver Stars for defending base in Afghanistan
(Army Times) When the explosion tore a hole into the east perimeter wall of Forward Operating Base Ghazni, Afghanistan, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Mark Colbert and Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Busic rushed to the scene.
U.S. government denies wrongdoing in 2012 death of Fort Bragg infant
(Fayetteville Observer) Santino "Sonny" Degenhard died March 15, 2012, according to the couple's complaint, which alleges Santino was neglected by a worker at the Pope Child Development Center on Fort Bragg.
HRC takes down personnel systems for weekend
(Army Times) Human Resources Command will upgrade its mainframe operating system during Presidents’ Day weekend, requiring some personnel management applications to be taken down temporarily.
Fort Bragg soldier dies from wounds received in Afghanistan
(Fayetteville Observer) A Fort Bragg soldier has been killed in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense announced the death of Spc. Christopher A. Landis on Thursday.
NAVY
West: Cutting Carriers Will Put More Stress on Sailors
(U.S. Naval Institute) The Navy has to strike a tricky balance on the numbers of carriers it fields between providing forces for U.S. military and finding enough money to operate and maintain the high dollar ships, the commander of U.S. Fleet Forces said during a question and answer session following a Wednesday speech at the West 2014 conference in San Diego, Calif.
Quarterback Rafi Montalvo won't return to Navy or seek to play elsewhere
(Baltimore Sun) Rafi Montalvo, whose career as a Navy quarterback was put on hold when he was seriously hurt in a car accident on Thanksgiving night in 2012, said Wednesday that he has left the academy and will no longer try to play football.
Through Google Glass, Pacific Fleet Commander Explains Need for Cutting Edge Technologies
(National Defense Magazine) The U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander delivered his remarks to the AFCEA West conference through a pair of the latest in wearable computing technology.
Navy’s UCLASS Could Be Air to Air Fighter
(U.S. Naval Institute) Could the U.S. Navy’s future Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) aircraft have an air-to-air role? The service’s director of air warfare Rear Adm. Mike Manazir posed that it could during a Dec. 20 interview with USNI News.
Navy sealift command worker admits to taking bribe
(Virginian-Pilot; Norfolk, Va.) A civilian employee of the Military Sealift Command pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to taking a $25,000 bribe from a contractor in exchange for steering government work to the company.
AIR FORCE
For New Air Force Secretary, a Baptism by Fire
(New York Times) Deborah Lee James had been Air Force secretary for less than three weeks when the email crash-landed in her inbox.
Are You Smarter Than a Nuclear Launch Officer?
(Time) Remember when you took your driver’s test and had to answer all those questions about who had the right-of-way at an intersection? If you’ve been paying attention in recent weeks, you know that the Air Force is investigating nearly half of the 200-airman force that commands the 150 nuclear-tipped Minuteman III missiles at Montana’s Malmstrom Air Force Base for allegedly cheating on their monthly proficiency tests.
Air Force Maps Out Strategy For Upgrading All Early-Lot F-35As To Block 3F
(Inside Defense) The Air Force is planning a single- or multi-block upgrade of at least 80 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft delivered with software packages that include limited or no combat capability, with the aim of making them fully combat-capable. The move will add yet more near-term cost to the F-35 program but, the service hopes, lower the life-cycle cost of those aircraft over time and prevent the airplanes from being relegated to daytime training missions.
1,499 first lieutenants, captains face July force shaping board
(Air Force Times) The Air Force is planning to cut 520 overmanned first lieutenants and captains in the biomedical sciences corps, dental corps, medical services corps and nurse corps categories this year through force shaping boards.
Air Force looks to shared services for help with IT acquisition
(FCW) Air Force officials are admitting it: The service is struggling with how it buys technology, and leaders are looking to outside options to bolster its IT buying power.
Delaware prosecutor drops child sex abuse charges against staff sgt.
(Air Force Times) Delaware authorities have dropped charges against a former Dover Air Force Base staff sergeant who was accused of sexually abusing a young child in 2007 and 2008.
MARINE CORPS
Marine Commandant Renews Call for Amphibious Vehicle, Offers Development Funding
(National Defense Magazine) Less than a month after conceding that the Marine Corps could not afford a high-speed amphibious tracked vehicle, Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James Amos renewed the call for industry to provide an affordable “connector” that can move Marines from ship to shore.
U.S. Marine aviator receives British Distinguished Flying Cross, rare honor
(Times-Picayune; New Orleans, La.) For only the second time since World War II, a U.S. Marine Corps aviator has received the British Distinguished Flying Cross. Capt. Brian Jordan was given the award Wednesday in Washington D.C. for his actions in Afghanistan in 2012, when he was credited with landing his UH-1Y Venom helicopter in the middle of a firefight to rescue two wounded British soldiers, according to the American Forces Press Service.
Murtha retires, Buck takes over Beaufort air station command
(The Beaufort Gazette, S.C.) After nearly three years of overseeing Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort's preparations to receive new F-35B fighter jets, Col. Brian Murtha relinquished command of the base to Col. Peter Buck in a ceremony Thursday.
Okinawa mayor plans to block Marine base, says re-election gives him mandate
(Stars and Stripes) The mayor of a small city in Okinawa took his case to the world media Thursday in Tokyo, portraying the plan to build a Marine base there as one that fosters destruction of an ecological paradise and undermines democratic values.
Marines May Ditch DISA for Private Cloud to Host Combat Support System
(NextGov) The Marine Corps is considering using a commercial cloud service provider instead of the Defense Information Systems Agency to host its version of the Global Combat Support System.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Obama signs order to raise contractor minimum wage
(Federal Times) President Obama signed an executive order Feb. 12 that would raise the minimum wage for federal contractors to $10.10 an hour.
To Rent Or Buy? For The Federal Government, It's Complicated
(National Public Radio) The Bureau of Indian Affairs has been in the hot seat in recent weeks for mishandling the leases for some of its office space. The Department of the Interior's inspector general found that BIA violated multiple rules, including overpaying for space and renting too much of it — in some cases without government authority to do so.
NTEU launches federal employee awareness campaign
(Federal Times) Would life would be better without federal employees? A new video poses that question rhetorically, but leaves the viewer with a distinct impression the answer is no. The video is just part of the National Treasury Employees Union’s new campaign to showcase the importance of federal workers, according to an announcement Feb. 12.
AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN
Amos: Delays in Afghanistan agreement could force Marines to abandon equipment
(Marine Corps Times) Marines may be forced to leave military equipment behind in Afghanistan if delays in signing a bilateral security agreement stretch into late spring or summer, the commandant of the Marine Corps warned Tuesday.
Karzai: US Must Respect Afghan Sovereignty
(Associated Press) Afghan President Hamid Karzai says the United States must stop "harassing" his country's judicial authority and "respect Afghanistan's sovereignty" over its release of prisoners.
Afghan High Peace Council spokesman says US 'martyred' bin Laden
(Long War Journal) Just when you thought relations between the US and Afghan governments couldn't sink any lower, along comes the spokesman for Afghanistan's High Peace Council, who blames the US for insecurity in Afghanistan and praises Osama bin Laden.
Taliban Take Toll on Pakistan's Biggest City
(Wall Street Journal) The Pakistani Taliban have tightened their grip over the country's commercial hub, officials and residents said, despite a five-month government crackdown here.
9 anti-Taliban fighters killed execution-style in Pakistan
(Los Angeles Times) Nine members of an anti-Taliban militia were killed execution-style at a house on the outskirts of this troubled provincial capital, in the latest violence to mar the Pakistani government's effort to open peace talks with outlawed Islamist militants.
MIDDLE EAST
Iraq turns to Sunni tribes, but distrust remains
(Associated Press) Iraqi officials have begun recruiting thousands of Sunni fighters on the government payroll, supplying weapons to other volunteer tribal fighters and pledging millions of dollars in aid to restive Anbar province as they try to beat back extremist Sunni jihadi militants.
Russian Support of Assad Upends Peace Talks
(Wall Street Journal) Russia upended talks on Syria's civil war Thursday by explicitly rejecting a proposal to begin discussing the possible removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power during any political transition, said a person close to the talks, making a peace deal even more unlikely.
Russia offers Egypt no-strings-attached arms deal
(USA Today) Russia's proposed arms deal with Egypt and its endorsement of Egypt's military ruler's run for president are a signal to Arab rulers that, unlike the United States, Russia will back anti-terrorist strongmen who trample human rights, analysts say.
AQAP storms prison in Yemen's capital, frees al Qaeda operatives
(The Long War Journal) Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula freed several of its operatives from the central prison in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a in a complex assault that involved suicide bombers and an assault team. Nineteen AQAP operatives were among the 29 prisoners who were freed during the attack.
ASIA-PACIFIC
Navy Chief: US Would 'Help' Philippines In South China Sea
(Defense News) The United States will “help” the Philippines in the event that China occupies disputed islands in the South China Sea, the US Chief of Naval Operations said Thursday.
Obama to Visit East Asia Amid Crackling Tensions
(Wall Street Journal) U.S. President Barack Obama will encounter a host of security tensions when he makes a tour of four East Asian nations in late April, the first time the president is visiting the region since China and Japan clashed over an air-defense zone established by Beijing.
Kerry pushes China on North Korea nukes
(Washington Post) Secretary of State John F. Kerry said he had held a very constructive meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping on Friday as he sought Beijing’s help in deterring North Korea from pursuing nuclear weapons.
Mass evacuation in Indonesia as Java volcano erupts
(BBC) Thousands of people are evacuating their homes in Indonesia after a volcano erupted in east Java.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
The U.S. Military's Ethics Crisis
(James Joyner in The National Interest) Military officers behaving badly have been making headlines. But, rather than a sign of widespread corruption, the fact that they're being caught and disciplined is an indication of how seriously the profession takes its ethical responsibilities.
Senate must pass reforms to help end epidemic of sexual assault military
(San Jose Mercury News Editorial Board) The way sexual assaults are handled in the military is a disaster -- even the top brass concede this point. The Associated Press provided more evidence of that this week, adding support to the bipartisan push in the Senate to take decisions about prosecuting serious crimes, including rape, outside the chain of command.
North Korea's Theater of the Absurd and the New Number Two's
(Robert Collins in War on the Rocks) It seems as though North Korea’s “number two candidates” are the star roles for the Kim Regime’s version of Pirandello’s “Six Characters in Search of an Author.” Jang Song-thaek’s recent execution has raised a number of questions about the Kim Family Regime: What drives these purges? What do they mean? What do they say about the stability of the regime and how it functions? These are all the right questions, but most of the analysis out there is not providing the right answers.
No news is good news from Afghanistan
(Tom Vanden Brook in USA TODAY) The problem isn't so much the message as it is the substance. And the substance and messaging of the last few days have been bad and worse.
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