Trump Extols ‘My Friend,’ Gen. Milley; CJCS Promises ‘Candid’ Advice

Trump Extols ‘My Friend,’ Gen. Milley; CJCS Promises ‘Candid’ Advice
Trump Extols ‘My Friend,’ Gen. Milley; CJCS Promises ‘Candid’ Advice

Subtle, significant differences in what the two men said about foreign allies reveal one of the potential fault lines between Trump and Milley.

Transparent & Apolitical: SecDef Esper’s Pledge

Transparent & Apolitical: SecDef Esper’s Pledge
Transparent & Apolitical: SecDef Esper’s Pledge

In a media-wary administration, the big news from Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s formal press briefing was that he actually held one, and pledged to keep doing so.

Tectonic Shift As NRO Moved Under Space Command In Wartime

Tectonic Shift As NRO Moved Under Space Command In Wartime
Tectonic Shift As NRO Moved Under Space Command In Wartime

US Space Command will officially stand-up on Aug. 29, with four main missions: “missile warning, satellite operations, space control and space support,” says JCS Chair Gen. Joseph Dunford.

25 Army Brigades Ready; End Of Cold War Weapons: Acting SecArmy On Next CJCS

25 Army Brigades Ready; End Of Cold War Weapons: Acting SecArmy On Next CJCS
25 Army Brigades Ready; End Of Cold War Weapons: Acting SecArmy On Next CJCS

Under Gen. Milley the Army went from two ready brigades to 25 and it finally — after at least three false starts — began to shed the heavy weight of the Cold War weapons known as the Big Five.

Gen. Milley Pledges To Speak Truth To Trump

Gen. Milley Pledges To Speak Truth To Trump
Gen. Milley Pledges To Speak Truth To Trump

“Arlington is full of our comrades, and we understand absolutely full well the hazards of our chosen profession … and we are not going to be intimidated into making stupid decisions. We will give our best military advice, regardless of the consequences to ourselves.”

HASC Chair Smith To White House: Forget Your Space Force

HASC Chair Smith To White House: Forget Your Space Force
HASC Chair Smith To White House: Forget Your Space Force

The day before Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahn appears before the HASC, Chairman Smith hammers White House Space Force.

The Secretary Of Reassurance Has Resigned: Farewell To Mattis

The Secretary Of Reassurance Has Resigned: Farewell To Mattis
The Secretary Of Reassurance Has Resigned: Farewell To Mattis

WASHINGTON: After two years of reassuring US allies that Donald Trump’s America would not abandon them, Jim Mattis finally had enough. Even before Trump was sworn in as president, the announcement that he would pick Mattis as his Secretary of Defense was met with delighted relief “from the right, from the left, and from overseas.”…

The US & China: A Colder Peace or Thucydides’ Trap?

The US & China: A Colder Peace or Thucydides’ Trap?
The US & China: A Colder Peace or Thucydides’ Trap?

As President Trump pushes Beijing on trade and cyber espionage, the United States and China are on a collision course. The U.S. urgently needs a new strategy to avoid the traditional fate of rising and status quo powers: catastrophic war.

$750 Billion Or Bust? Trump’s (Latest) Big Defense Budget Bound For Big Fights

$750 Billion Or Bust? Trump’s (Latest) Big Defense Budget Bound For Big Fights
$750 Billion Or Bust? Trump’s (Latest) Big Defense Budget Bound For Big Fights

Few of the experts we spoke to expect the administration to actually see the full $750 billion President Trump will reportedly propose this week. Between Trump himself calling the figure a “negotiating tactic” and the potential for it driving a $1.2 trillion deficit, the odds are awfully long.

Sen. Warner, Gen. Dunford Question Google, Silicon Valley For Helping China

Sen. Warner, Gen. Dunford Question Google, Silicon Valley For Helping China
Sen. Warner, Gen. Dunford Question Google, Silicon Valley For Helping China

The Pentagon and, increasingly, Congress have grown frustrated with tech giants who shy away from US government work while flocking to Beijing to tap a massive — but authoritarian — market.

Pentagon Frustrated By Silicon Valley Rejection: Joint Chiefs Chairman

Pentagon Frustrated By Silicon Valley Rejection: Joint Chiefs Chairman
Pentagon Frustrated By Silicon Valley Rejection: Joint Chiefs Chairman

HALIFAX: The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs expressed frustration Saturday over the refusal of some tech giants to work with the US military. “I have a hard time with companies that are working very hard to engage in the market inside China,” said Gen. Joe Dunford at the Halifax Security Forum, “then don’t want to work…

Joint Experiments Will Pick Budget Winners & Losers: Dunford

Joint Experiments Will Pick Budget Winners & Losers: Dunford
Joint Experiments Will Pick Budget Winners & Losers: Dunford

ARLINGTON: To cut $33 billion from the 2020 budget – as President Trump has ordered – and still compete against Russia and China, the Pentagon’s political and joint leadership must take a firmer hand with the four armed services, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs said this afternoon. [Read how a Tea Party congressman turned…

Russia’s Strategy, ISIS’ Future & Countering China: CJCS Dunford Speaks

Russia’s Strategy, ISIS’ Future & Countering China: CJCS Dunford Speaks
Russia’s Strategy, ISIS’ Future & Countering China: CJCS Dunford Speaks

  Gen. Joe Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Staff, spoke last week with a small group of traveling reporters after attending a conference of NATO Military Chiefs in Warsaw, including Breaking Defense contributor James Kitfield. Dunford described Russia’s strategy for pulling NATO apart and reiterated that Moscow poses the single greatest global threat to the UnIted…

Mattis Supports Saudi War in Yemen, Rejects Privatizing Afghan Fight

Mattis Supports Saudi War in Yemen, Rejects Privatizing Afghan Fight
Mattis Supports Saudi War in Yemen, Rejects Privatizing Afghan Fight

“The training we have given them we know has paid off,” Mattis said of the Saudis. “We have had pilots in the air who recognize the danger of a specific mission and declined to drop even when they get the authority. We have seen staff procedures that put no-fire areas around areas where there’s hospitals or schools.”