Sebastian Sprenger

Sebastian Sprenger was the chief editor of Inside the Army until May 2016, where he primarily reported on land warfare and associated budgets, policies and technologies. A native of Siegen, Germany, he got is start in journalism at the now-defunct Westfälische Rundschau in Kreuztal. He studied at Universität Trier and elsewhere.

Archived Articles
Daily News | January 2, 2008

Pentagon officials are slated to wrap up a comprehensive analysis of the U.S. military's role in training foreign security forces this spring, and the results could help shape the Bush administration's final six-year defense spending plan, according to a Defense Department official.

Daily News | December 21, 2007

Army officials are preparing a recommendation for service leaders to permanently station a new type of Army unit at each of the geographical combatant commands to conduct the training of foreign security forces during peacetime, Army sources tell InsideDefense.com.

Daily News | December 19, 2007

Sue Payton, the Air Force's assistant secretary for acquisition, has instructed the service's acquisition workforce to be "more open" in its communications with companies competing for Air Force contracts, according to a memo she sent to all service components late last month.

Daily News | December 18, 2007

Senior administration officials are expected to release within weeks an implementation plan for a White House initiative that seeks to create a new breed of national security professionals with extensive interagency experience, defense officials say.

Daily News | December 14, 2007

The Army is considering a major reform to the way its soldiers train foreign security forces, including the Iraqi army, after a small team of ground service officials this fall found what it said were significant flaws in the current process, according to sources and documents.

Daily News | December 12, 2007

Pentagon officials are weighing plans to set up a new organization charged with overseeing the acquisition of goods and services for the military during war and stability operations, according to a recent Defense Department report to Congress.

Daily News | December 11, 2007

Congressional authorizers want the Defense Department to commission a study of how to improve cooperation among government agencies during national security crises, according to the conference report accompanying the fiscal year 2008 defense authorization bill.

Daily News | December 7, 2007

Soldiers and Marines deployed in Iraq said they have little use for an experimental software application fielded in October to help sort out electromagnetic spectrum conflicts between jammers against roadside bombs and regular communications gear, according to a series of test reports and documents obtained by InsideDefense.com.

Daily News | December 6, 2007

Defense Department officials have solved an impasse over the staffing of a new type of joint unit charged with quickly readying austere ports for the landing of U.S. troops and equipment during crises, an Army official tells InsideDefense.com.

Daily News | December 4, 2007

Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England is soon expected to sign the Pentagon's first-ever directive governing the use of biometric capabilities in the Defense Department, and a draft version of the document would give the Army a far-reaching role in developing and buying systems for the entire military, according to sources and documents.

Daily News | December 3, 2007

Pentagon officials are working on three separate studies that could shape how U.S. forces train indigenous security forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and in future conflicts, defense sources tell InsideDefense.com.

Daily News | November 30, 2007

Senior Defense Department officials have tentatively approved a proposal to consolidate the military's biometrics programs and fund them through the Pentagon's base budgets, breaking with the practice of funding this key growth area for the military through supplemental spending requests, defense sources say.

Daily News | November 29, 2007

After congressional appropriators declined funding for it in fiscal year 2008, questions remain about the fate of the Pentagon's strategic communication program.

Daily News | November 27, 2007

Army officials are expecting the threat of roadside bombs to continue well into the next decade, and they are looking to the military's science and technology community to develop "holistic solutions" capable of protecting vehicle crews against the weapons, according to an internal Training and Doctrine Command memorandum.

Daily News | November 21, 2007

The Defense Department's plan to allow its reserve forces five years of dwell time between mobilizations is "not feasible" because of the high demand for these forces in overseas operations, concludes a new report by the Pentagon's influential Defense Science Board.

Daily News | November 20, 2007

U.S. and Russian officials have laid out a plan for the implementation of a long-delayed program to dispose of 34 metric tons of surplus Russian plutonium, the Energy Department announced yesterday.

Daily News | November 20, 2007

Contractors working for the Defense Department in Iraq have improved the working conditions of laborers funneled into the country to work on DOD projects, but military investigators said earlier this year that they found continued cases of unfair labor practices and illegal recruiting schemes, according to a Jan. 27 DOD review obtained by InsideDefense.com.

Daily News | November 16, 2007

The Navy should work to enhance the intelligence value of biometric data by fusing it with geospatial information and knowledge about the social fabric of local populations where U.S. ground forces operate, a new study by the Naval Research Advisory Council recommends.

Daily News | November 15, 2007

Pentagon officials have missed a deadline for capturing information about all security contractors and translators working for the military in Iraq and Afghanistan in a central database, a Defense Department spokesman said this week.

Daily News | November 14, 2007

Biometric identification tools used by U.S. forces in Iraq to keep track of insurgents and criminals are ill-suited for everyday front-line use because they are slow and their data cannot be easily shared, according to a panel of Navy and Army experts.

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