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 is gritting its teeth for cuts to modernization programs in fiscal year 2017 to help address a $17 billion shortfall between what the Defense Department planned on spending and what is allowed under a recent congressional budget deal, according to Frank Kendall, DOD's acquisition chief.
The Office of the Secretary of Defense will launch a deep-dive review of the Air Force's next-generation Global Positioning System ground segment this Friday, according to the Pentagon's top acquisition official.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter told the House Armed Services Committee Tuesday that the United States is at war with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and is prepared to increase airstrikes and special forces operations.
The Pentagon is planning a "significant" increase in fiscal year 2017 funding meant to deter Russian military activity in Eastern Europe, but expects to "slow down" some modernization programs, Defense Department Comptroller Mike McCord said Monday.
Pentagon Comptroller Mike McCord and a host of congressional hearings are scheduled for the post-Thanksgiving week of Nov. 30.
Col. Steve Warren, the Pentagon's top spokesman for operations to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, confirmed this morning that two Turkish fighter planes downed a Russian jet over an alleged violation of Turkey's airspace, adding that Russia is guilty of executing “sloppy military work.”
The Pentagon is facing a $17 billion gap between the budget it initially sought for fiscal year 2017 and what it expects to receive under a new, two-year congressional budget deal, a sum $3 billion more than previously stated and attributed to President Obama's decision to extend the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan beyond 2016.
Pentagon officials are slated to meet with the White House Office of Management and Budget on Dec. 4 to begin finalizing President Obama's fiscal year 2017 defense budget request, according to a statement from Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work.
This Thanksgiving week is dominated by an exit interview with outgoing Air Force acquisition chief William LaPlante.
Defense Department Comptroller Mike McCord, speaking Thursday about the potential impact of the Paris attacks on Pentagon budgets, pointed out that DOD's wartime spending accounts remain flexible and available to address global events, as a recent congressional deal has shown.
A few must-reads from this week's Inside the Pentagon.
DOD intends to produce a strategy to sustain the minimum workloads required to keep its three manufacturing arsenals operational amid a shortage of sufficient revenue, but ongoing budget constraints may still require DOD to seek help from Congress, according to a recent memo.
Officials from OPM, DHS and OMB declined to appear before Congress today for a classified briefing on the security breach earlier this year that compromised the personal information of 21 million Americans, many of whom work for DOD.
A team of House GOP committee chairmen has been asked by the majority leader to craft new policy proposals to address the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, some of which could be attached to an upcoming omnibus spending bill in December, according to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX).
Fifty-five House lawmakers have sent a letter to Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall asking that he withdraw a proposed pricing policy that defense industry advocates say would hamper commercial companies seeking to do business with the Defense Department.
In the wake of attacks in Paris that left at least 129 people dead, the United States plans to "bolster" its intelligence-sharing program with the French government, per new guidance from high-ranking defense officials, according to a statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook.
The Pentagon has released a 160-page report identifying excessive costs imposed on the defense industry, as well as recommendations on how to begin eliminating them.
Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said today that Defense Secretary Ash Carter expects President Obama to sign the newly passed $607 billion defense authorization bill, despite language prohibiting the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
Promising to "first, do no harm," Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) has begun a review of the U.S. defense organization, specifically with an eye toward updating the landmark Goldwater-Nichols reform legislation passed 30 years ago.
Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work over the weekend laid out the basic vision for the Pentagon's planned fiscal year 2017 investments in the so-called "third offset" innovation strategy, saying that human-machine collaboration is at the heart of most internal budgetary discussions on the matter.