A Senate investigations committee has released a large compendium of acquisition reform proposals and essays penned by more than 30 current and former Pentagon officials.
Sunday, January 19, 2025
Sunday, January 19, 2025
Key Issues MADCAP SPY-6 radars Regional Sustainment Framework
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.
A Senate investigations committee has released a large compendium of acquisition reform proposals and essays penned by more than 30 current and former Pentagon officials.
The Pentagon announced today that U.S. Central Command has established a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force as part of the "new normal" in CENTCOM's area of operations.
Congress, by refusing to allow the Defense Department to cut aging weapon systems and enact compensation reform in fiscal year 2015, has put the Pentagon in a $70 billion budget hole as it contemplates the FY-16 budget submission, according to Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work, who sees DOD's embattled overseas contingency operations fund as a way to address the situation.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has launched a long-term analysis of how the Defense Department plans to fund its expanded campaign against Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria, but Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey already sees "budget problems" approaching the Pentagon.
The Defense Department is spending between $7 million and $10 million per day on operations in Iraq and Syria, though Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, stressed that those numbers were loose estimates.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI), who will retire in 2015, is working to leave behind a 'roadmap' to undo the automatic budget cuts triggered by sequestration, an effort he thinks will be boosted by those who are unsettled by the current threat environment in the Middle East.
The latest installment of Better Buying Power -- the Pentagon's marquee acquisition improvement initiative -- aims to stimulate technological innovation by increasing the involvement of defense contractors in the weapons program requirements process.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel this week acknowledged the Pentagon's overseas contingency operations budget is poised to expand in the coming months as the U.S. military is increasingly faced with new expenses related to combating violent extremism in Iraq and fighting Ebola in Africa.
The Defense Department has requested that Congress allow it to reprogram a total of $1 billion in fiscal year 2014 overseas contingency operations funds to launch a major effort to fight Ebola in Africa, a Pentagon official has confirmed.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sept. 16 that vehicles would be included in the equipment package slated to be given to Syrian rebels the Pentagon plans to train to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria as well as the regime of Bashar al Assad.
The House Armed Services Committee is unwilling to authorize the additional $500 million requested by the White House to train and equip Syrian rebels, though the committee has introduced a measure that would allow the Pentagon to pay for the effort by reprogramming existing funds.
The Pentagon is finalizing a plan to vet and train moderate Syrian rebels to combat militant extremists in Iraq as well as the regime of Bashar al Assad, according to a Defense Department spokesman.
The Pentagon believes the $500 million it has requested from Congress to begin training Syrian rebels in Saudi Arabia would be enough for 5,000 fighters over the course of one year, according to Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Defense Department's top spokesman.
While a plan to resource President Obama's new strategy to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has yet to fully emerge, the Pentagon remains focused on a $500 million request to Congress for the vetting and training of Syrian rebels as the House prepares to pass a stop-gap measure likely to fund the rest of the president's strategy.
President Obama is shifting the United States onto the offensive against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, pursing a new strategy that includes airstrikes in Syria; increased support for forces on the ground in Iraq; and an effort to train Syrian rebels inside Saudi Arabia, according to senior administration officials.
The Pentagon is trying to determine what path it will take to resource President Obama's new strategy to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which he expects to detail in a speech Wednesday.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency last week briefed an array of engineers and designers who are eying participation in the agency's new Ground X-Vehicle Technology program, which is intended to explore a variety of approaches, including autonomous technology, to decrease combat vehicle weight.
The Army and Marine Corps have approved Lockheed Martin's proposed production strategy for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, according to a company announcement.
Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's acquisition chief, saw the military services' proposed six-year spending plans this week and previewed some of the key priorities and themes that he and others at the Defense Department will be combing through in the coming months.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, meeting this week with U.S. allies at a NATO summit in Wales, will discuss the potential stand-up of a new, rapid-response force in Eastern Europe to counter Russian military provocations in and around Ukraine, as well as solicit assistance for combating militant extremists in Iraq, according to Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon's top spokesman.