TODAY’S TOP 5
1. DoD budget seeks cuts in BAH, commissary, Tricare benefits
(Military Times) The Pentagon on Monday proposed the deepest and most far-reaching cuts to military compensation in the 40-year history of the all-volunteer force, explaining that such cuts are necessary in order to pay for more modern gear and high-tech weaponry.
2. Soldiers survive combat, then lose their jobs
(USA Today) For thousands of career-military troops who endured combat and family separations during a dozen years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the end of hostilities brings a new directive from the government — your services are no longer needed.
3. Little uniformity in military health care
(Walter Pincus in the Washington Post) A new series of critical reports highlights the need to speed up unification of the military services’ separate approaches to health care, which is one of the fastest-growing budget items but still lacks common standards for dealing with some medical issues.
4. A Conversation with the Chairman: General Martin E. Dempsey
(War on the Rocks) We sat down with General Martin E. Dempsey in his office to talk, the profession of arms, military compensation reform, and professional military education.
5. Pentagon: Ground Forces Can Fight in One Theater, Support Air, Sea Forces in Another
(Defense News) When it comes to the US Army and Marine Corps, there were no real surprises in Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s peek today of the 2015 defense budget.
INDUSTRY
Pentagon Budget Plan Seen Boosting Contractors' Business
(Wall Street Journal) The Pentagon is proposing to reverse a four-year slide in its weapons-buying and research spending, lifting prospects for higher revenue at hard-hit military contractors including Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp.
Defense Sector Won't Push GOP on Immigration Reform
(Defense News) Immigration reform is a long shot in the US House, and defense firms are doing next to nothing to change that — despite possibly tens of billions of dollars in business for new border-securing systems.
Cracking Found in Marine Joint Strike Fighter Won’t Delay Program
(U.S. Naval Institute) Lockheed Martin and the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) have discovered additional structural cracks on the U.S. Marine Corps version of the tri-service stealth fighter during durability testing. However, the cracks are not expected to delay the USMC’s 2015 Initial Operational Capability date.
Lockheed/Piasecki Team Tackles Cargo UAV
(Aviation Week) What was once a Pentagon research program to demonstrate a flying jeep has been given a new name and a new direction. Formerly called Transformer, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's (Darpa) rechristened Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded Systems (ARES) program will now fly a modular, unmanned vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) delivery system.
Report: Airbus Wants Money for Germany's Scrapped Eurofighter Order
(Defense News) Airbus is demanding €900 million ($1.2 billion) in compensation from Germany for canceling an order for a batch of 37 Eurofighter jets, according to a newspaper report Monday.
CONGRESS
US Lawmakers Push Back Against DoD Budget Plans
(Defense News) Congress and others in the defense community pushed back on Pentagon plans to cut 120,000 personnel from the active and reserve Army ranks, retire entire fleets of Air Force aircraft and sideline Navy ships.
Obama's Defense Budget Proposal Sets Stage for Major Battle With Congress
(National Defense Magazine) Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is sending Congress a budget proposal for fiscal year 2015 with few sacred cows. He is recommending steep cuts across all branches of the armed services, he is truncating and terminating major weapon systems, and trimming popular military benefits.
Ayotte: Decision To Cut A-10 'Serious Mistake'
(Defense News) Calling the Air Force’s decision to retire the A-10 combat jet a “serious mistake,” Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., is pledging to fight the retirement in Congress.
GOP block votes on military sexual assault bills
(The Hill) Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) objected Monday to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) attempt to bring up two military sexual assault bills.
McKeon: Finish NDAA by Oct. 1 - or Politics Will Kill It
(Defense News) US House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon wants to finish the last Pentagon policy bill of his career with less of the political drama that nearly killed the last one.
Massive veterans bill heading toward Senate vote
(USA Today) What has been characterized as the most sweeping veterans legislation in decades could reach the Senate floor for a vote as early as Tuesday.
Russia’s Nuke Cheating Could Blow Up a Top Pentagon Pick
(The Daily Beast) Two GOP senators wrote to the White House Thursday to demand more information about the administration’s knowledge Russian violations of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The letter is being sent in advance of Senate hearings on the confirmation of Brian McKeon, the current chief of staff at the National Security Council, to a top position at the Pentagon.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
DoD seeks to raise Tricare fees for active-duty family members
(Military Times) The Pentagon’s proposed 2015 budget, unveiled Monday, includes a surprise proposal to raise health care fees for active-duty family members which, if approved, would mark the first increases in health care costs for those beneficiaries since Tricare was established nearly 20 years ago.
Hagel's Military Budget Focuses on Changing Threats
(Wall Street Journal) Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel proposed a defense budget designed to turn the military's attention away from the long ground war in Afghanistan and toward emerging cyberthreats from China and increasing challenges from al Qaeda-affiliated groups in Africa.
DoD plan would slash commissary budget, raise prices
(Military Times) The often-touted 30 percent average savings that troops and families enjoy in military commissaries would shrink considerably under the Pentagon’s plan to slash taxpayer subsidies for the stores by two-thirds.
Nuclear Triad to Survive Hagel Cuts in Pentagon Spending
(National Journal) U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday said the nation would keep its air-land-sea approach to the nuclear arsenal, despite new Pentagon spending cuts.
US military's new tactic to curtail sexual assaults: nab serial 'predators
(Christian Science Monitor) The Pentagon, under pressure to show progress on bringing down rates of sexual assault, is putting new emphasis on ferreting out serial predators within the ranks, as military officials become increasingly convinced that relatively few people are responsible for the bulk of sex crimes.
ARMY
Pentagon Officials Say They’re Willing to Assume Risks of a Reduced Army
(New York Times) In shrinking the United States Army to its smallest size since 1940, Pentagon officials said Monday that they were willing to assume more risk the next time troops are called to war.
The Army Force Cuts: 3 Truths, 4 Fallacies
(Breaking Defense) here are three things you need to know about the administration’s new budget plan and what it means for the Army. Most importantly, the fact the Army will be its smallest since before World War II is not one of them.
Pentagon plan to downsize Army: a sign of US reluctance to nation-build
(Christian Science Monitor) Bringing US ground forces to their lowest level since before World War II makes sense given that troop-intensive, nation-building operations are unlikely for the foreseeable future, the Defense secretary said Monday in discussing his Pentagon budget plan.
Conditions of two soldiers injured during training Friday still unchanged
(Fayetteville Observer) Sgt. Cory Muzzy, 25 was in critical but stable condition at Duke University Medical Center, while 30-year-old Spc. Scott Yeates was in serious but stable condition at Womack Army Medical Center, according to a Fort Bragg spokeswoman.
Branstad to Obama: Don't cut National Guard
(The Hill) Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) hopes to deliver a message to President Obama on Monday on behalf of all governors: Don’t cut the size of the National Guard.
NAVY
Pentagon Changes Course, Halts LCS at 32 Ships
(Defense News) The Pentagon leadership doubled back Monday on its direction for the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program, returning to where things stood at the beginning of the year: End procurement at 32 ships — 20 short of the previously planned goal — and begin work on development of a new small surface combatant.
DoD budget to lay-up 11 cruisers but keep all flattops
(Navy Times) The Navy is advancing a plan to temporarily lay-up half of its cruisers, freeing crews to plus-up other hulls and dollars to build new ships and subs, according to a budget outlined Monday by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
Prowlers Depart on Last Carrier Deployment
(Seapower) The Feb. 14 departure of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush on its current deployment from Norfolk Naval Station, Va., marks the final scheduled carrier deployment of the EA-6B Prowler electronic attack aircraft.
Little Creek CMC fired after allegations emerge
(Navy Times) The top enlisted sailor at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Va., was fired for undisclosed reasons Monday, according to a Navy spokesman.
NASA scrubs spacecraft test off San Diego
(San Diego Union-Tribune) A mission that was meant to restore the Navy's ability to recover spacecraft from the ocean was cancelled off San Clemente Island Thursday after a technical problem prevented the amphibious warship San Diego from moving the Orion capsule into the water.
AIR FORCE
Pentagon, Air Force Doubles Down on Engine Technology
(Defense News) In his preview of the Pentagon’s 2015 budget request, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel made a clear statement that the Air Force plans to invest heavily in new engine technology.
Special tactics airman dies in parachuting accident
(Air Force Times) A decorated special tactics airman who survived 10 deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan was killed in a parachute training accident in Eloy, Ariz., on Friday, the Air Force announced.
New $20M supercomputer to double Wright-Patt computing power
(Dayton Daily News) A $20.8 million supercomputer will nearly double the computing power at the Air Force Research Laboratory Department of Defense Supercomputing Resource Center.
Master sgt. faces hearing on multiple rape charges
(Air Force Times) A master sergeant accused of raping three people between 1992 and 2007, including a former Air Force recruit, faced a brief evidentiary hearing Monday.
MARINE CORPS
'Relentless' in Afghanistan: Four Marines get medals after 6-day battle
(Marine Corps Times) The mood was calm as two platoons with Company D, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, conducted a nighttime air assault into Qaleh-ye Gaz, a rural town in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
In Japan’s Drill With the U.S., a Message for Beijing
(New York Times) In the early morning along a barren stretch of beach here last week, Japanese soldiers and American Marines practiced how to invade and retake an island captured by hostile forces.
Marine helo pilot earns DFC from British allies
(Marine Corps Times) A pilot from Camp Pendleton, Calif., has become just the second Marine aviator since World War II to receive the British Distinguished Flying Cross.
Marine crossing freeway when fatally struck
(San Diego Union-Tribune) The California Highway Patrol released new details Monday about a multiple-vehicle crash that killed a 20-year-old Marine early Saturday morning.
Rep. Hunter, Marine family dispute Washington Post story
(Politico) Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and the family of a fallen Marine are criticizing The Washington Post for what they describe as gross inaccuracies and factual omissions in a recent article about the Marine's death.
Military Times announces key personnel moves
(Marine Corps Times) Military Times announced Monday two key moves in its news organization: the promotion of Andrew deGrandpre from managing editor of Marine Corps Times to a new role as the company’s first digital news director, and the addition of Geoff Ingersoll as Marine Corps Times’ new managing editor.
VETERANS
Veterans advocates prepare for new budget fights
(Military Times) Cuts to annual cost-of-living adjustments in military retired pay are gone. Now comes the next fight.
Will partisanship derail veterans benefits bill?
(CBS News) The Senate is preparing to tackle a major veterans bill this week, a process that will test whether the chamber is still stuck in a feud over a rules change last fall that reduced the power of the Republican minority.
Local Tuskegee pilot to be honored on a U.S. stamp
(Philadelphia Inquirer) Long after he piloted a plane that transported first lady Eleanor Roosevelt to the skies above the Tuskegee Institute, C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson sometimes sidestepped the limelight.
AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN
Analysis: 3 Issues Define Obama-GOP Chasm Over Afghanistan Policy
(Defense News) US House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon on Monday passionately defended America’s lengthy Afghanistan mission, and warned the White House not to “abandon Afghanistan to the wolves.”
Grief and Anger Over Killing of 21 Afghan Soldiers
(New York Times) A public outpouring of grief mixed with patriotic anger whipped through Afghanistan on Monday in the aftermath of the killings of 21 Afghan soldiers by Taliban insurgents in Kunar Province.
Good days, bad days: Life as a chaplain's assistant in Afghanistan
(Northwest Florida Daily News) For Army Staff Sgt. David George, Afghanistan has its good days and its bad ones. There are days when the chaplain’s assistant from Fort Walton Beach feels like he is making a difference, helping people. And then there are those when he wants to slam his head against the wall.
Senior Taliban commander gunned down in North Waziristan
(The Long War Journal) Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani, a senior leader who was appointed interim emir for the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan last fall after the death of the group's leader in a drone strike, has been gunned down in the Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan.
Pakistan Bombs Militant Area as Fears Grow of Wider Conflict
(New York Times) Pakistani jets bombed what were believed to be militant hide-outs in Waziristan on Tuesday morning as the cabinet met to consider possible broader military action in the volatile border region, officials said.
MIDDLE EAST
Exclusive: Iraq signs deal to buy arms, ammunition from Iran - documents
(Reuters) Iran has signed a deal to sell Iraq arms and ammunition worth $195 million, according to documents seen by Reuters - a move that would break a U.N. embargo on weapons sales by Tehran.
Egyptian cabinet resigns, paving way for military chief to run for president
(Washington Post) Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi announced Monday that his cabinet was resigning, marking yet another abrupt shift in a nation that has been wracked by insurgency and political and economic uncertainty.
Syria War Stirs New U.S. Debate on Cyberattacks
(New York Times) Not long after the uprising in Syria turned bloody, late in the spring of 2011, the Pentagon and the National Security Agency developed a battle plan that featured a sophisticated cyberattack on the Syrian military and President Bashar al-Assad’s command structure.
Israel hits Hezbollah on Syria border
(The Daily Star; Lebanon) Israeli warplanes bombed a Hezbollah stronghold in the east Lebanon border area of Janta, targeting a “qualitative” weapons shipment en route to the party, a security source told The Daily Star Monday.
Israel Hosts German Cabinet in Jerusalem
(Defense News) Third-term German Chancellor Angela Merkel and 16 ministers in her new coalition government arrived Monday evening for inter-governmental consultations with Israeli counterparts in Jerusalem.
AMERICAS
Venezuela protests rage on; ally criticizes President Nicolas Maduro
(Los Angeles Times) Protests continued Monday across Venezuela amid growing reports of police repression and scarcities of basic goods, which provoked rare public criticism of President Nicolas Maduro by a political ally.
In Venezuela, Protest Ranks Grow Broader
(New York Times) As dawn broke, the residents of a quiet neighborhood here readied for battle. Some piled rocks to be used as projectiles. Others built barricades. A pair of teenagers made firebombs as the adults looked on.
With 'El Chapo' gone, Mexicans brace for drug cartel turf war
(Los Angeles Times) Now that the Mexican government has nabbed the country's most-wanted drug lord, Fernando Antonio Robles is worried about the future.
Drug Lord's Arrest Shifts Focus to 'El Mayo'
(Wall Street Journal) The capture of Mexico's most-wanted drug-cartel boss puts Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, an alleged partner in the Sinaloa cartel, in a leadership role, analysts and government officials said.
Vigilantes, Once Welcome, Frighten Many in Mexico
(New York Times) They have been hailed as saviors, vigilantes marching into town with military-style rifles and submachine guns, wearing no uniforms and threatening to whip miscreants as they bring order to this lawless Mexican region known as Tierra Caliente, or hot lands.
ASIA-PACIFIC
North Korean Ship Crosses Into South Korean Waters
(Wall Street Journal) South Korea said Tuesday a North Korean warship strayed into South Korean waters late Monday, in the first reported maritime incursion of 2014.
India Postpones Purchase of 145 Ultra Light Howitzers
(Defense News) India’s Ministry of Defense has deferred a decision on the purchase of 145 ultra light howitzers from the US subsidiary of BAE Systems because of issues relating to offset obligations, said an MoD source, although the program has not been canceled.
JPAC considers dig at Koh Tang site to find missing from Vietnam War
(Stars and Stripes) The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command has potentially found evidence related to Americans still missing from the final battle of the Vietnam War and may head back to Koh Tang island for an excavation in the near future, officials said.
Philippines Says China Fired Water Cannon at Disputed Shoal
(Defense News) The Philippines’ military chief on Monday accused China’s coast guard of firing water cannon at Filipino fishermen for the first time to drive them away from a disputed sea shoal.
EUROPE
Ukraine needs $35 billion in aid to avert default, interim leaders say
(Los Angeles Times) Ukraine’s interim leaders said Monday that the country will need $35 billion in foreign aid over the next two years to avert default and called for an international donors’ conference to craft a rescue plan.
Russia cries ‘mutiny’ over change in Ukraine
(Washington Post) Russian leaders expressed their distrust and dislike of Ukraine’s new government on Monday, saying it came to power through “armed mutiny,” just hours after the authorities here announced a nationwide manhunt for ousted president Viktor Yanukovych on charges of “mass murder of peaceful civilians.”
French lab identifies US soldier's remains after JPAC refuses to investigate
(Stars and Stripes) France’s national crime laboratory has positively identified the remains of an U.S. Army soldier missing from World War II after the U.S. Defense Department’s own accounting agency refused to exhume the body and conduct a DNA test.
French AF To Take 2 MRTT Versions
(Defense News) The French Air Force has agreed to take two versions of the A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft due to be ordered soon, with the first type to be equipped with off-the-shelf avionics and refueling system, Chief of Staff Gen. Denis Mercier said Feb. 20.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Another QDR Failure?
(U.S. Rep. J. Randy Forbes in The National Interest) The QDR has had a mixed history. They have certainly served to guide the Department in new directions on important issues like the future of long-range strike, security assistance, and the size and shape of our special operations community, among others. However, while they were intended to bring consistency to long-range defense planning and investments, they have instead been employed by various Secretaries as rubber-stamps to justify a lowest-common-denominator approach to national security.
The Future of Military Force
(Robert Kozloski in Real Clear Defense) “Killing people and destroying things for some political purpose” is how prominent defense scholar Richard Betts describes the essence of military force. Betts’ description reflects the pervasive view of military force held by most military and foreign policy experts. However, it does not account for a variety of non-lethal options that policy makers will have to consider using in future conflicts.
What's so bad about a defense budget that gives peace a chance?
(Paul Whitefield in the Los Angeles Times) Guess we’re finally going to reap that “peace dividend,” courtesy of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who Monday proposed reducing the Army to its lowest troop level since before World War II. It’s all part of the Defense Department’s plan to scrape by on about half-a-trillion dollars next year.
Pakistan Mustn't Surrender
(Haider Ali Hussein Mullick in the New York Times) Last week, a Pakistani Taliban commander reported the execution of 23 Pakistani frontier troops held hostage; two weeks ago, a suicide bomber killed nine Shiite Muslims in Peshawar. In response, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government has conducted retaliatory airstrikes but has only suspended, not abandoned, its foolhardy strategy for peace: keep trying to talk the Pakistani Taliban into disarming, in exchange for halting military operations against them.
Walang komento:
Mag-post ng isang Komento