TODAY’S TOP 5
1. House panel seeks to halt controversial Army hair regulations
(Army Times) Black women aren’t the only group who have a problem with the Army’s new hairstyle standards — House lawmakers don’t like them either.
2. Guard's NASCAR deal leads to virtually no recruits
(USA Today) The National Guard has spent $88 million to sponsor NASCAR racing to bolster its marketing and recruiting in the past three years but has attracted few, if any, new soldiers to its ranks, according to data obtained by USA TODAY.
3. Ronald Reagan's Benghazi
(Jane Mayer in The New Yorker) Ever since militant jihadists killed four Americans, including the U.S. Ambassador, in an attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in that remote Libyan town two years ago, House Republicans have kept up a drumbeat of insinuation. They have already devoted thirteen hearings, twenty-five thousand pages of documents, and fifty briefings to the topic, which have turned up nothing unexpected. Kerry’s predecessor, Hillary Clinton, has already accepted responsibility for the tragedy, and the State Department has issued a critical independent report on diplomatic security, resulting in the dismissal of four employees.
4. Contractor KBR asks Supreme Court to rule on burn-pit lawsuits
(Military Times) Government contractor KBR will find out this year whether the Supreme Court will consider a group of lawsuits filed against the company for its operation of burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.
5. Congress Moving Toward Establishing US Army Structure Commission
(Defense News) The US Army wants no part of it and the top leadership of the Army Guard and Reserve remain split, but powerful factions in Congress are moving to set up an independent commission that would examine the sweeping force structure changes the active duty Army says are necessary.
INDUSTRY
Sikorsky Wins Presidential Helicopter Award
(Defense News) The US Navy has officially selected Sikorsky to develop the next-generation of presidential helicopters.
Treasury, State Back Air Force, ULA in RD-180 Purchases
(Aviation Week) The U.S. State and Treasury departments say there is no reason that U.S. dealings with a Russian rocket engine maker should be stopped because of the current U.S. sanctions regime.
SOFEX Closes After Flooding
(Defense News) The Special Operations Forces Exhibition shut down after stormy weather hit the city early Thursday, flooding the venue’s Jordanian pavilion.
U.S. general confident F-35 logistics system will work overseas
(Reuters) The computerized logistics system that controls the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jet still needs work, but it will be able to support three F-35s on their first overseas trip for two UK air shows this summer, a top Pentagon official said.
DoD Mulls Changes to Weapons Maintenance Contracts
(National Defense Magazine) The Pentagon's top weapons buyer Frank Kendall hammers home to his staff the importance of "incentivizing" contractors to cut costs in every way possible.
Top-Performing Companies Study Sees Rocky Horizon
(Aviation Week) At first glance, results of the 2013 Top-Performing Companies (TPC) study suggest that the aerospace/defense industry is prospering, and the outlook going forward looks equally auspicious—especially for U.S. companies.
Fincantieri Takes Steps Toward IPO
(Defense News) Italian state-controlled shipyard Fincantieri has filed a request to list shares on the Milan stock exchange, part of a plan to offer a minority stake in the firm to investors.
First Iraqi F-16 makes maiden flight
(IHS Jane's 360) The first of 36 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 52 Fighting Falcon multirole combat aircraft for the Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) has made its maiden flight, the company announced on 7 May.
APKWS on target
(IHS Jane's 360) As announced last week, Jordan has formally signed a letter of acceptance for the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) developed by BAE Systems (Hall 6, Stand A622). The laser-guided rocket (LGR) is being acquired to arm the AC-235 gunships that Jordan’s Special Operations Command has just received. For BAE Systems, the deal represents the first international sale for the system.
CONGRESS
Lawmakers move to block Navy plan to restrict tobacco sales
(Military Times) House lawmakers moved Wednesday to protect tobacco sales on military bases and ships, prohibiting Navy plans to drop the problematic products in the name of force health.
HASC Votes to Limit LCS Mission Mods Funding, Keep Cruisers
(Defense News) A US House panel wants the Pentagon’s testing chief to sign off before the Navy can spend any fiscal 2015 funds to buy littoral combat ship mission modules.
Panel greenlights aircraft carrier overhaul
(The Hill) The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday approved legislation that prevents the Defense Department from retiring a nuclear aircraft carrier.
HASC Endorses 2 Super Hornets Per Month, Wants Black Hawk Plan
(Defense News) A US House panel on Wednesday approved provisions restricting the Air Force’s ability to retire its E-3 warning aircraft, encouraging the Navy to build two F/A-18E/F Super Hornets each month, and ordering the Pentagon to hand over reams of information.
Panel to force Pentagon review of missile project
(The Hill) The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday approved a Democratic measure that forces the Pentagon to justify a new cruise missile project.
US House Panel Raises Concerns About Russian Satellite Monitoring Sites
(Defense News) The US House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday called on US national security officials to report back on the threat posed by Russian satellite monitoring stations.
House panel approves $52B for cybersecurity
(The Hill) The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday approved legislation that would provide $52 billion to the Pentagon’s cybersecurity operations.
How Congress Plans to Prevent Military Suicides
(National Journal) Jacob Sexton, a 21-year-old member of the National Guard, fatally shot himself inside an Indiana movie theater during a two-week leave from Afghanistan in 2009. Sen. Joe Donnelly will unveil legislation Wednesday named after Sexton that would require service members to get an annual in-person mental-health assessment.
Senator backs alternative treatments for vets' pain
(Military Times) Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in his position as chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, is pressing for expanded veterans’ access to treatments such as acupuncture, yoga, meditation and animal-assisted therapy for chronic pain.
Lawmaker pushes release of Pentagon misconduct reports
(The Hill) House Armed Services Committee member Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) on Wednesday introduced legislation that would force the release of Defense Department Inspector General investigations on misconduct by the military’s top brass.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Pentagon outlines plans to help rescue kidnapped girls in Nigeria
(Stars and Stripes) The U.S. military team will consist of fewer than 10 uniformed military personnel, who will advise and assist the Nigerians with communications, logistics, and intelligence, according to Warren.
Program aims to identify mental health issues in troops
(Military Times) If you saw a service member or veteran struggling with substance abuse, post-traumatic stress or depression, would you know how to encourage them to get help?
As Debate Goes On, the Military Prepares for Climate Change
(Defense One) The White House released its National Climate Assessment this week, a 1,100 page document by more than 300 experts examining the effects of man-made climate change on various aspects of American life. While 97 percent of climate scientists agree that climate change is occurring and that human factors are largely the cause, public debate persists around climate change, humanity’s role in it, and whether or not its effects will be as severe as the Obama administration and the scientific community are projecting.
ARMY
Inside the Army's growing Arctic Circle mission
(Army Times) With more than 70 pounds in his ruck and “bunny boots” on his feet, Staff Sgt. Kandom Moore jumped from the C-17 Globemaster and into the Arctic.
Prosecutor: Shooting of war vet was justified (With Video)
(Burlington Free Press; Vt.) The state is declining to seek criminal charges in the case of Kryn Miner, the Essex Junction war veteran killed by one of his teenage children April 26 after Miner threatened his family with a gun.
JBLM artillery battalion heading to Middle East again (With Video)
(Tacoma News Tribune) Army artillerymen training in the high desert of Central Washington this week can tell you they’re getting ready for a nine-month deployment to the Middle East.
UH presidential hopeful Wiercinski defends military record
(Honolulu Star-Advertiser) Retired Lt. Gen. Frank Wiercinski's decades-long military career was top of mind for students who protested a forum where he made his first public appearance Tuesday night as one of two finalists vying to be the next president of the University of Hawaii.
NAVY
O-6 chaplain results tossed - board to reconvene
(Navy Times) Promotion-eligible chaplain corps commanders will have to wait a bit longer to find out who will make captain in fiscal 2015, as the Navy secretary has tossed out the board results, requiring the panel to reconvene.
Enterprise sailor dies after self-inflicted wound on duty
(Virginian-Pilot; Norfolk) A Navy sailor assigned to the aircraft carrier Enterprise died Sunday night, apparently after shooting himself aboard the ship while on duty.
Court: Two accused of hacking Navy servers located in Tulsa to change plea
(Associated Press) Federal court records show that 27-year-old Nicholas Paul Knight of Chantilly, Virginia, and 20-year-old Daniel Trenton Krueger of Salem, Illinois, have asked to enter guilty pleas in the case.
New admiral to take charge of Guantánamo prison
(Miami Herald) Rear Adm. Kyle Cozad, a 1995 Naval Academy graduate, is expected to become the 14th commander of the operation of some 2,200 troops and Pentagon contractors assigned on temporary duty to the prison camps hold 154 foreign men as war-on-terror prisoners.
The Next Act for Aegis
(U.S. Naval Institute) The U.S. Navy’s Aegis program was born as the solution to a physics problem: Given that hostile variable-geometry wing Soviet Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire bombers travel at speeds approaching Mach 2, what would a ship-based radar and missile system need to do to hurl an object into the air to intercept an object flying at almost twice the speed of sound?
Driver who hit Va. Beach pedestrian faces DUI charge
(Virginian-Pilot) Peter Olin Teneyck, 29, a Navy petty officer, has been charged with DUI second offense and involuntary manslaughter as a result of driving drunk. He was arraigned by video Tuesday in General District Court, and he wore a blue surgical mask.
AIR FORCE
8,600 airmen apply for voluntary separation pay
(Air Force Times) More than 8,600 airmen applied for voluntary separation pay by the time the window closed May 1, the Air Force said Tuesday.
Robins airman faces court martial, possible death penalty
(Macon Telegraph; Ga.) A senior airman at Robins Air Force Base accused of killing his fiancee and their unborn child for $1 million in insurance money may face the death penalty.
After the twister: 'I knew we couldn’t just sit idly by and not do something'
(North Florida Daily News; Fort Walton Beach) Senior Airman Trenton Pettus knew bad weather was headed toward his family home near Athens, Ala. But, the 25-year-old didn’t know just how bad it was going to be.
D-M rescue group returns home after life-saving mission at sea
(Arizona Daily Star; Tucson) Two severely burned Chinese fishermen rescued by a group of Davis-Monthan airmen after their boat sank off the coast of Mexico could only say two words in English to the men who came to their aid: “Thank you.”
F.E. Warren is top ICBM wing
(Wyoming Tribune Eagle; Cheyenne) he Omaha Trophy is staying in Wyoming. A top military commander presented F.E. Warren Air Force Base’s 90th Missile Wing with the coveted award, which is given out annually to the top intercontinental ballistic missile wing in the country, during a ceremony Tuesday on base.
How would the Air Force react if Godzilla actually attacked? (Video)
(Washington Post) There’s a new “Godzilla” movie coming out next week, which raises an obvious question: Hey, if Godzilla actually attacked, what would we actually do? Who would try to deal with a massive monster that occasionally breathes fire?
MARINE CORPS
Sparse Afghan medical clinic characterizes Marine withdrawal
(Marine Corps Times) The medical clinic tent is sparsely appointed, a concrete-floored warehouse corridor, papered with a nursery-room print of starfish and dolphins.
General: Millennial Marines shun self-absorbed culture
(Washington Times) A four-star Marine general laments an American public that cannot comprehend why young Marines sacrifice their lives to defend the country, saying millennial Marines shun a popular culture that celebrates the self-absorbed and materialistic.
Holiday delayed work in hot NYC jail
(Associated Press) Jail officials asked for an excessive-heat problem to be fixed a day before a mentally ill inmate was found dead in a hundred-degree cell, but the repairs came too late because they were delayed by a long holiday weekend, according to documents obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.
Smedley Butler returns to Marine boot camp -- as a bulldog mascot
(Los Angeles Times) Smedley Butler is returning to the Marine boot camp here.
VETERANS
Shinseki to veterans: VA is here to care for you
(Military Times) Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki is promising “swift and appropriate” punishment for any employees who may have been involved with medical appointment delays and subsequent coverups at VA hospitals in Arizona and Colorado.
Latest insult to U.S. veterans: Wait times for medical care
(Washington Times) By the government’s own estimate just last month, the average American waits about 26 minutes in a hospital emergency room before being treated. But on average, war veterans must wait twice that long for the same care at Veterans Affairs hospital centers, and a string of internal investigations suggests the ER wait times for retired troops frequently can last hours.
Study: 25% of Minnesota vets may be going hungry
(Military Times) One in four recently separated U.S. veterans may not be able to consistently put food on their tables, according to a new report released Wednesday.
Son of Aliquippa veteran who contracted Legionnaires' diseases sues VA
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) The Veteran Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System delayed testing and treating a Marine Corps veteran who contracted Legionnaires' disease while he was being treated for small cell lung cancer, the man's son says in a federal lawsuit filed on Monday.
Vet hiring initiative sees swift progress
(Military Times) The 100,000 Jobs Mission, which has already surpassed its initial goal of hiring that many vets by 2020, is nearly three-quarters of the way to its revised goal of 200,000 vet hires, according to a project official.
The poignant process of etching new names into the Vietnam Wall
(Stars and Stripes) Lined row upon row, the names etched on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial’s polished black granite slabs are a somber reminder that more than 58,000 U.S. troops died — or were listed as missing-in-action — as a result of their involvement in the Vietnam War.
AFGHANISTAN
State Department approves more visas for Afghan interpreters
(Washington Post) The State Department has dramatically ramped up the approval of resettlement visas for Afghan military interpreters this year under a program that a bipartisan group of lawmakers is seeking to extend and expand, arguing that the system has failed many linguists who remain in mortal danger.
Afghan Taliban to launch summer offensive from 12th May
(Khaama Press) The Taliban militants group in Afghanistan said Thursday that the group’s annual summer offensive will be launched in Afghanistan by next week.
Afghanistan helicopter crash victims repatriated to UK
(BBC) The bodies of five UK service personnel who died in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan have arrived back in the UK.
MIDDLE EAST
Iraq: Unrest kills at least 295 in Fallujah
(Agence France Presse) Violence in and around the Iraqi city of Fallujah, held by anti-government fighters for months, has killed at least 295 people since late last year, a doctor said Wednesday.
Military exchanges fire with infiltrators on Syria border
(The Jordan Times) The military clashed with jihadists along the Syria border on Wednesday, security and Islamist sources say, marking the second high-profile incident in the border region in less than a month.
Al Qaeda Poses New Threat in Yemen
(Wall Street Journal) The al Qaeda branch with one of the global terror group's largest fighting forces pledged to step up attacks in Yemen's main cities as a government offensive forced the militants to yield ground.
Central Asian jihadist group joins ISIS
(Long War Journal) A jihadist group made up of Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Russians from the Caucasus that operates in Syria has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham.
AFRICA
Boko Haram attack kills hundreds in Nigeria
(Al Jazeera) A Boko Haram attack has killed hundreds in Nigeria's northeast, multiple sources have said, as police offered $300,000 for information leading to the rescue of more than 200 schoolgirls held hostage by the armed group.
U.S. Warns of Possible Terror Attack in Uganda
(Wall Street Journal) The U.S. Embassy in Uganda on Wednesday warned of a potential terrorist attack in the capital of the East African country.
Waging War in Nigeria, and Seeking New Battlegrounds
(New York Times) Boko Haram is an Islamist extremist group responsible for dozens of massacres of civilians in its five-year insurgency in Nigeria, including the brazen kidnapping last month of more than 250 schoolgirls and the abduction, reported Tuesday, of 11 more teenagers.
Eighth French Soldier Dies in Mali
(Wall Street Journal) France's defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Thursday that a French soldier has been killed overnight during an operation in northern Mali, where the French army has been conducting a huge offensive to tackle Islamist terror groups since January 2013.
Cost of Somali piracy slumps as attacks fall: report
(Reuters) The cost of Somali piracy to the global economy fell by almost half last year as attacks slumped, but piracy in West Africa was on the rise, an annual security report said on Wednesday.
Security Worries Cloud African Economic Picture
(Wall Street Journal) Africa's future looks bright to delegates gathering at the Nigerian capital's heavily guarded hotels for the continent's biggest gathering of political and business leaders. It is the present that is more troublesome.
EUROPE
Russia's Aggression Spurs Sweden to Boost Spending, Acquire New Capabilities
(Defense News) Russia’s military engagement in Ukraine has triggered a swift response by Sweden to shore up its military readiness and capability, with more spending expected on big-ticket fighter aircraft and submarine acquisition, and modernization programs.
Putin To Discuss Ukraine, Custom's Union With C.I.S. Leaders
(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) The Kremlin says Ukraine’s crisis and “collective security” will be the focus of talks in Moscow on May 8 between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
Horror in Odessa as Fire Shatters Jewel of Czarist Russia
(Bloomberg) Vladimir Kiriyev says he was walking with his children near their apartment in Odessa when he saw an attack on a pro-Russia camp as the assailants backing Ukrainian unity set tents on fire and beat everyone who tried to flee.
Ukraine crisis: Separatists to debate Putin referendum call
(BBC) Pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukraine are due to consider a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to delay referendums on autonomy.
ASIA-PACIFIC
Vietnamese Navy Confronts Chinese Ships in Oil Rig Dispute
(New York Times) Tensions in the South China Sea intensified Wednesday as Vietnamese vessels confronted Chinese ships that were working to place an oil rig off Vietnam’s coast, and Vietnamese officials claimed that their ships had been rammed by the Chinese vessels.
India’s New Carrier is ‘Operational’
(U.S. Naval Institute) India’s newest aircraft carrier — INS Vikramaditya — is underway on an operational deployment, according to the new head of the Indian Navy said on Wednesday.
25 hurt as fire, blasts rock Philippine army munitions depot
(Agence France Presse) A ball of fire and explosions ripped through a munitions depot at the Philippine army's headquarters near the financial district in Manila Wednesday, injuring 25 people, mostly soldiers and firemen, officials said.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Paging Dr. Abrams: Why This Soldier Thinks We Need a Commission on the Structure of the Army
(Adam Maisel in the Council on Foreign Relations) s markup of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 gets underway, senior leaders in the Army and Army National Guard are sharpening their knives. Stemming from a contentious aviation restructuring plan in the proposed budget in which the Army Guard would lose all of its attack aviation (as well as cuts to tens of thousands of soldiers, should sequestration return in FY16), both sides are girding for an Active-Guard war. Congress has responded in kind by advocating for an independent commission to study the force structure of the Army, similar in scope to the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force formed in 2013.
Is America's Air Force Dying?
(Mackenzie Eaglen in The National Interest) America’s Air Force is quickly shrinking before the nation’s eyes. Optimistic aircraft-purchase quantities are unlikely to materialize in the near-term, and the service’s upcoming “bow wave” of aircraft buys will come at the worst possible time, in the early 2020’s, when all other federal spending will squeeze defense budgets further and faster.
Shine Starting to Wear Off Unmanned Aircraft
(Sandra Erwin in National Defense Magazine) Unmanned aviation has enjoyed a decade-long honeymoon, during which the military poured billions of dollars into new drone fleets and the media ballyhooed their deadly precision in combat.
The Ultimate 360-Degree Evaluation
(Guy Snodgrass and Ben Kohlmann in War on the Rocks) In the past decade, much has been made about the retention of quality military personnel. In 2011, Tim Kane penned “Why Our Best Officers are Leaving” in The Atlantic, which served as a wakeup call for the military in the midst of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. His study, which documented the challenges faced by the Army in retaining its company command-level leaders, set off a firestorm of debate. His recommendations were even more controversial, but to many they resonated.
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