Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Tony Bertuca is chief editor of Inside the Pentagon, the flagship publication of InsideDefense, where he focuses on defense budget and acquisition policy. He previously worked for the Sun-Times News Group in his hometown of Chicago, IL, and at the New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester, NH. Tony has also served as managing editor of Inside the Army. He has a master's degree in journalism from Boston University.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis appointed several new Pentagon senior executive service officials Wednesday, including a new director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, according to a Defense Department announcement.
House and Senate negotiators have crafted a final fiscal year 2018 defense authorization bill that blows past statutory budget caps by nearly $80 billion and continues the Capitol Hill trend of reforming Pentagon acquisition and bureaucracy.
The Senate voted 91-7 today to confirm John Gibson as the Pentagon's next deputy chief management officer.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) today urged the nominee tapped to serve as the Pentagon's next chief weapons tester to pay special attention to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.
The White House has sent Congress a budgetary amendment seeking an additional $6 billion in defense spending for fiscal year 2018, with $4 billion requested for missile defense to counter threats from North Korea, $700 million going to repair damage to Navy ships and $1.2 billion to finance the U.S. buildup in Afghanistan.
Several nominees for senior Pentagon posts are scheduled to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee next week.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis embarks Sunday on a trip to Europe that will include stops in Finland, Belgium and the United Kingdom, according to a Pentagon announcement.
A tactical live-fire exercise featuring Patriot and Stinger missiles is underway at a NATO installation in Greece, according to a statement from the Army.
The Defense Department is requiring multifunctional teams charged with supporting services acquisition contracts to begin attending workshops provided by Defense Acquisition University, according to a memo from Shay Assad, the director of defense pricing and defense procurement and acquisition policy.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) remains concerned about the number of the Trump administration's Pentagon nominees coming directly from the defense industry.
Here are some must-reads from this week's edition of Inside the Pentagon:
The Pentagon continues to rely on Congress to inject funding into its controversial Overseas Contingency Operations account to skirt legislative budget caps, especially with partisan gridlock over federal spending likely to continue, according to the Defense Department's chief of cost assessment and program evaluation.
U.S. forces in Afghanistan have begun classifying information previously available to the public, including “important measures” of performance of the Afghan military, according to a new government report.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis asked lawmakers today to either refrain from changing existing authorizations for the use of military force, or, if they must, replace them with one that does not restrict U.S. operations in terms of geography or length of time.
The Defense Department has spent approximately $1.46 trillion on war-related operations since 9/11, according to a Pentagon report.
The Defense Department is embarking on what could be among the most complex financial audits in history, involving approximately $2.4 trillion in assets and more than 1,000 auditors, according to Pentagon Comptroller David Norquist.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are scheduled to visit Capitol Hill this week to discuss the Authorization for Use of Military Force, while several defense contractors will hold quarterly earnings calls.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, standing a stone's throw from the North Korean border today, castigated the regime of Kim Jong Un for "reckless, outlaw behavior."
The budget resolution adopted by Congress is a "major victory" for the defense industry because it paves the way for increased military spending and new tax cuts, according to the Aerospace Industries Association.
Here are some must-reads from this week's edition of Inside the Pentagon.