Morihei Ueshiba"A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind."
Pentagon Warns That Inaction in Deficit Panel Talks Could Devastate the Military, Economy
If Congress' so-called deficit "super committee" fails to agree to more than a trillion dollars of cuts to the budget by Christmas, it will prompt an automatic $650 billion in cuts to the defense budget
Pentagon may cap executive pay reimbursement at $694,000
Lockheed Martin and other defense contractors won’t be able to bill the government for more than $693,951 a year in total salary and compensation for any executives under a proposal headed for congressional approval.
The Senate is mulling an expansion to all executives from current rules limiting the cap to contractors’ top five executives. The House has approved a cap on all employees of defense vendors. While the full Senate has yet to vote on its committee-approved version, and the two chambers must still reconcile their differences, the expanded executive pay limit has a good chance to survive.
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Pentagon extends program to defend corporate networks as cyberattacks get more sophisticated
WASHINGTON — As hackers and hostile nations launch increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks against U.S. defense contractors, the Pentagon is extending a pilot program to help protect its prime suppliers.
That program could possibly serve as a model for other government agencies. It is being evaluated by the Department of Homeland Security, as part of a potential effort to extend similar protections to power plants, the electric grid and other critical infrastructure.
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U.S. announces details of planned arms package for Taiwan
The Obama administration announced details Wednesday of its planned arms package for Taiwan even as China lodged formal protests and Taiwanese officials said they may begin pushing for another deal that would include state-of-the-art fighter jets.
The $5.85 billion arms package proposed by the Obama administration would retrofit Taiwan’s aging fleet of 145 F-16 A/Bs and provide pilot training and spare parts to maintain the nation’s even older F-5 jets and C-130 transport planes. Administration officials have described the sale as a sign of enduring commitment to Taiwan.
View Entire Story » | 0 CommentsA future for drones: Automated killing
One afternoon last fall at Fort Benning, Ga., two model-size planes took off, climbed to 800 and 1,000 feet, and began criss-crossing the military base in search of an orange, green and blue tarp.
The automated, unpiloted planes worked on their own, with no human guidance, no hand on any control.
After 20 minutes, one of the aircraft, carrying a computer that processed images from an onboard camera, zeroed in on the tarp and contacted the second plane, which flew nearby and used its own sensors to examine the colorful object. Then one of the aircraft signaled to an unmanned car on the ground so it could take a final, close-up look.
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Iraq drawdown to 3,000 troops would be ‘a mistake,’ Feinstein says
The chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Tuesday that she would oppose any move by the Obama administration to draw down troops in Iraq to 3,000 by the end of the year.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) made the remarks to reporters at the Capitol hours after Fox News reported that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had already signed off on the number, according to “multiple sources familiar with the inner workings and decisions on U.S. troop movements.” Panetta maintained Tuesday that “no decision has been made” on the troop levels.
View Entire Story » | 0 CommentsPetraeus to Be Sworn In as CIA Director
David Petraeus, the newly retired general with the megawatt media profile, is taking up his post running the CIA, leaving behind his uniform and his military brain trust.
Over $2.2 Billion in Retroactive Agent Orange Benefits Paid to 89,000 Vietnam Veterans and Survivors for Presumptive Conditions
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced today that more than $2.2 billion in retroactive benefits has already been paid to approximately 89,000 Vietnam Veterans and their survivors who filed claims related to one of three new Agent Orange presumptive conditions. On August 31, 2010, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amended its regulations to add ischemic heart disease, hairy cell leukemia and other chronic B-cell leukemias, and Parkinson's dise
Reducing waste in wartime contracts
At least one in every six dollars of U.S. spending for contracts and grants in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade, or more than $30 billion, has been wasted. And at least that much could again turn into waste if the host governments are unable or unwilling to sustain U.S.-funded projects after our involvement ends.
Those sobering but conservative numbers are a key finding of the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, which will submit its report to Congress on Wednesday. All eight commissioners agree that major changes in law and policy are needed to avoid confusion and waste in the next contingency, whether it involves armed struggle overseas or response to disasters at home.
View Entire Story » | 0 CommentsU.S. Official Warns About China’s Military Buildup
Michael Schiffer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, said the pace and scope of China’s military buildup was “potentially destabilizing” in the Pacific.
View Entire Story » | 0 CommentsRadical overhaul of military retirement eyed
Pentagon considers a controversial plan to replace traditional military pensions with a 401(k) style matching plan - saving $250 billion over the next two decades
China tests first aircraft carrier
China began sea trials on Wednesday for its first aircraft carrier, a ship that has come to symbolize the nation’s growing military and maritime ambitions.
The aircraft carrier – a retrofitted former Soviet ship called the Varyag – has long been seen as the first step in China’s plan to eventually build a handful of carriers as part of a wider development of naval might.
On the same day China’s carrier set sail, Taiwan brandished its most advanced missile at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition. The display was accompanied by billboard calling the missle, Hsiung Feng III, an “aircraft carrier killer.” An image of it appeared alongside a picture of a craft closely resembling the Varyag crippled and aflame.
View Entire Story » | 0 CommentsYes, cut defense spending — but by how much?
Fareed Zakaria makes a reasonable case in his Aug. 4 op-ed column, “Yes, let’s cut defense,” that military spending should be reduced as part of any deficit reduction deal. In fact, it surely will be. But he is almost cavalier about the amount of that reduction, blurring the line between cuts of some $350 billion to $500 billion over 10 years (which are doable) and those closer to a trillion dollars over the same period (which are not). Yes, let’s cut defense. But let’s do it strategically. The amount matters a lot.
View Entire Story » | 0 CommentsIraq, Afghanistan war veterans win PTSD settlement
A class action settlement between the federal government and a group of disabled veterans will award lifetime health-care benefits to more than 1,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who were discharged from the service because of post-traumatic stress disorder.
In a motion filed last week with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the National Veterans Legal Service Program and the government jointly asked the court to approve lifetime disability retirement benefits to 1,029 veterans with PTSD who were denied those benefits upon discharge from the military after their wartime service.
View Entire Story » | 0 CommentsPentagon in cross hairs of debt ‘trigger’
The prospect of $600 billion in additional defense cuts over the next decade is enough to make Pentagon generals wince and to compel the U.S. military to make big changes to its global strategy. But the cuts can be made without gutting the current force, defense budget analysts said.
The White House already has ordered the Pentagon to come up with about $400 billion in savings over the next 12 years, a reduction that would slow the growth in defense spending to about the current rate of inflation.
View Entire Story » | 0 CommentsU.S. Report Finds Security Deteriorating in Iraq
Released ahead of the withdrawal of American troops, the report paints a bleak picture of the country’s stability.
View Entire Story » | 0 Comments27 rifles stolen from California military base
FORT IRWIN, Calif. (AP) — More than two dozen assault rifles have been stolen from a Southern California military base, and investigators sought the public's help as they looked to arrest suspects and recover the weapons, federal officials said Friday.
Twenty-six AK-74 assault rifles and one Dragunov sniper rifle were stolen from a supply warehouse at Fort Irwin in San Bernardino County on July 15, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says in a statement.
Some arrests have been made and one rifle has been recovered, but the agency is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to further arrests, the statement said.
"Community participation is necessary to improve the likelihood that ATF and our law enforcement partners will track down the firearms as well as the criminals who have sought to destabilize our community through illegal activity," ATF Special Agent in Charge John A. Torres said in the statement.
ATF spokesman Special Agent Christian Hoffman could not say when reached by phone how many were arrested, whether they were military or civilian or what motive they may have had.
He referred those questions to military officials, who made the arrests.
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World War II bomber making run
It's a big, loud, one-of-a-kind piece of American history, and it's headed to Washington County. A restored World War II B-17 bomber will descend on the county airport Aug. 9-10 as part of the Experimental Aircraft Association's 2011 "Salute to Veterans" tour.
View Entire Story » | 0 CommentsMilitary to certify ready for repeal of gay ban
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon will announce on Friday that the military is ready to repeal the ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces, the last major hurdle to formally ending the policy, U.S. officials said on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Dakota Meyer To Receive Medal Of Honor
Dakota Meyer, a Marine from Adair County, will receive the nation’s highest military award, the Medal of Honor, from President Barrak Obama for his heroic actions during a firefight in Afghanistan.
View Entire Story » | 0 CommentsGen. Petraeus Hands Over Command in Afghanistan
Gen. David Petraeus handed over command of American and coalition forces in Afghanistan to Gen. John Allen on Monday, transferring responsibility for the nearly 10-year war as Kabul's international allies draw up exit plans from the conflict.
View Entire Story » | 0 CommentsPentagon to unveil cybersecurity strategy
The Pentagon is set to unveil Thursday a strategy for protecting its computer systems that goes beyond erecting firewalls and stresses the use of sensors, software and data collected by U.S. intelligence, U.S. officials said.
At the same time, officials have labored to make their “Cyber 3.0” strategy not appear too bellicose in an effort to counter perceptions that the United States is militarizing cyberspace, according to people briefed on the process.
Those perceptions have been driven by the creation of U.S. Cyber Command, a military organization that is allied with the government’s largest and most technologically sophisticated spy agency, the National Security Agency. The Pentagon also has declared that cyberspace is a new “domain” of warfare — alongside air, land, sea and space.
View Entire Story » | 0 CommentsFirst Afghan female military pilots arrive in U.S. for training
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - Sourya Saleh, wearing a black scarf to cover her hair and an olive drab Afghan Army uniform, doesn't look like a cultural warrior.
Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry awarded Medal of Honor
President Obama on Tuesday awarded the Medal of Honor to an Army Ranger for his courageous actions during combat in Afghanistan, just the second time since the Vietnam War that a living service member from an ongoing conflict has received the distinction.
Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry, now 31, who had been shot in both legs, lost his right hand after tossing aside a live grenade during a 2008 firefight in Afghanistan’s Paktia province. His body was also riddled with shrapnel, according to Army field reports, but his actions spared the lives of his fellow Rangers.
View Entire Story » | 0 CommentsBoehner says debt talks scaled back over tax rift
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A broad $4 trillion deal on U.S. deficit reduction appeared out of reach on Saturday as Republican leader John Boehner cited a rift with the White House on taxes and proposed pursuing a more modest package.