The Pentagon has released a directive aimed at ensuring the declassification of national security information receives “equal attention” as the classification of information.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Thursday, April 25, 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.
The Pentagon has released a directive aimed at ensuring the declassification of national security information receives “equal attention” as the classification of information.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) confirmed Thursday that his committee seeks to shift $18 billion from the Pentagon's warfighting account and use it to pay for increases in weapons procurement, an additional 20,000 Army soldiers, and a variety of training and maintenance.
The House Armed Services Committee is pursuing a fiscal year 2017 defense authorization bill that would transfer $18 billion of planned overseas contingency operations spending into the Defense Department's base budget to pay for increased procurements of weapon systems, according to multiple sources.
Defense Department acquisition chief Frank Kendall received support from two key Senate appropriators Wednesday as he defended the controversial strategy to wean the Pentagon off Russian-made rocket engines, setting the stage for another possible showdown with Senate authorizers over the issue.
The House Armed Services Committee has again declined to authorize a new round of politically radioactive base realignments and closures, though the Defense Department, which believes it is operating at 22 percent excess capacity, has explicitly requested BRAC.
House Armed Services Committee lawmakers recognize that commercial technology companies are an untapped resource for the Pentagon, but proposed legislation seeks to put the brakes on Defense Secretary Ash Carter's premiere initiative to promote greater partnerships with Silicon Valley startups.
The Defense Department is asking Congress to establish a pilot program for acquisition program "set-asides" to encourage commercial technology companies to do business with the Pentagon.
Congress will buzz with activity this week as the House Armed Services subcommittees debate the fiscal year 2017 defense authorization bill, while the Defense Department's acquisition chief speaks to appropriators about the Pentagon's innovation investments.
The Congressional Research Service issued a report to lawmakers April 12 detailing the fiscal year 2017 defense appropriations and authorization picture, finding that "deferral" has emerged as key theme among the military services' budget requests.
The Pentagon has released a report detailing "significant" excess infrastructure capacity in the hopes of nudging a reluctant Congress to support another round of base realignments and closures.
The Defense Department is seeking legislation from Congress that would direct the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to adopt timeliness rules mirroring those of the Government Accountability Office, thereby forcing defense contractors to file bid protests with one or the other, but not both as current law allows.
The House Armed Services Committee has released its schedule for marking up the fiscal year 2017 defense authorization bill.
The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission issued a joint statement Tuesday reaffirming that existing policy regulating defense industry consolidation is "sufficiently flexible," months after Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's acquisition chief, announced he was seeking greater government authority to review proposed merger-and-acquisition activity in the defense sector.
Specific recommendations for reforming the Defense Department's organizational structure have emerged from an internal Pentagon working group, detailing some of the broad proposals Defense Secretary Ash Carter unveiled last week, though how DOD would implement many of the actions remains unclear as Congress prepares to offer its own path forward.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter during his ongoing visit to India laid groundwork for future weapon system collaborations by agreeing to initiate two new “pathfinder” projects with the Indian military.
After four years at the helm, Air Force Chief of Staff. Gen. Mark Welsh is slated to retire July 1, according to a service statement.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter is traveling to the Asia Pacific this week, while congressional defense committees have a series of posture hearings scheduled on the fiscal year 2017 budget request.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter said today that a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system will definitely be stationed in South Korea to protect from North Korean missile threats regardless of objections raised by China.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter will travel to India next week to discuss opportunities to begin co-developing and producing aircraft carriers, jet fighters and jet engines, along with several "exciting new projects."
Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Saturday will embark on a two-week trip to the Asia Pacific and Middle East, with stops in India, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, according to Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook.