Tuesday, December 5, 2023
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 Senate Armed Services Committee has passed a fiscal year 2015 defense authorization bill authorizing $514 billion in base funding and protecting a variety of acquisition programs that were slated for budgets cuts, according to lawmakers who spoke at a May 22 press conference.
The Army, after nearly a decade, has officially completed its transformation from a division-based structure to a brigade-oriented force and will no longer be required to provide annual reports to Congress on matter, according to a Federal Register notice released on May 22.
A Senate subcommittee has moved to recommend the establishment of an independent commission to study the proper size and force structure of the Army, though lawmakers were short on specifics.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), co-chair of the Senate National Guard Caucus, has introduced legislation that would establish an independent commission to determine the size and composition of the Army, putting him and his 18 co-sponsors at odds with the Army secretary and chief of staff.
The Defense Department is weighing the creation of a new ground vehicle technology consortium aimed at increasing cohesion between industry and the military in a variety of research and development projects, according to a Pentagon official.
The House Armed Services Committee outlined its budgetary handiwork this week in the panel's full mark of the fiscal year 2015 defense authorization bill, laying out acquisition program reductions and increases.
House lawmakers have proposed legislation that would direct the Army to provide Congress with a report on the service's plans to replace existing M113 infantry carriers with non-developmental Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles, withholding 20 percent of the program's funding until the report is delivered.
The National Guard Bureau this week laid out a proposal for how it might implement the Army's controversial aviation restructure initiative, which would transfer all AH-64 Apache helicopters from the Guard to the active force, according to government officials and documents obtained by InsideDefense.com.
High-ranking Pentagon officials have been visiting Capitol Hill to make the case for shrinking the Army and to support the service's controversial aviation restructure initiative, which have put the Army at odds with the National Guard, according to congressional sources and documents obtained by InsideDefense.com.
The Army has moved the award date for its Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle contract from the first quarter of fiscal year 2015 to the second quarter, a move that coincides with General Dynamics Land Systems' decision to forgo protesting the service's AMPV acquisition strategy with the Government Accountability Office.
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has ruled against AM General's protest of a Ground Mobility Vehicle contract awarded last year by U.S. Special Operations Command to General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, according to a court document.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno told Senate lawmakers today that he does not want Congress to form an independent commission to determine how to structure the Army and reduce the service's number of active and reserve troops, but National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Frank Grass welcomed Capitol Hill intervention in a discussion Odierno characterized as a "family spat" over resources.
Army Materiel Command has denied a protest filed by General Dynamics Land Systems which alleged that the service's request for proposals for the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle program was unfairly tilted in favor of BAE Systems, according to a statement from GDLS.
The Army has submitted to Congress a list of unfunded priorities totaling $10.6 billion for fiscal year 2015, $7.5 billion of which accounts for the service's portion of the Defense Department's Opportunity, Growth and Security Initiative, according to documents obtained by InsideDefense.com.
Army leaders told Congress today that the service's fiscal plans already assume significant risk and warned that prolonged sequestration would "gut" vital resources and capabilities if it is not overturned.
One of the Army's top budget officials said today that the service's current fiscal footing is a "glass half-full," but cautioned that the deepest spending cuts were likely still on the horizon.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno last week said he was in discussions with the other service chiefs about an effort to establish a new Global Strategic Landpower Network that would enable the Army to rapidly fall in on prepositioned equipment and quickly deploy in the case of an emergency contingency.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno continued to dig in his heels today on his position that the service will be unable to execute the Pentagon's Defense Strategic Guidance if it shrinks to a sequestration-level end strength of 420,000 -- and he plans to take that message to Capitol Hill.
The Army has made no secret of its intent to take increased risk in many modernization programs, and its fiscal year 2015 budget request reflects that plan with the service backing away from the Ground Combat Vehicle, canceling a next-generation scout helicopter program and delaying enhanced on-the-move networking capabilities, according to budget documents released today.
The Army and National Guard continued to prepare for confrontation last week after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced cuts to the service's end strength and committed the Army to a controversial aviation restructure.