"There really is former-general-officer fatigue, bordering on apprehension, on the Hill – on both sides of the aisle," a former Senate staffer says. "Trump really burned out a lot of folks."
Our elite close combat forces are outnumbered. As a national priority we must increase the numbers of those capable of doing these hazardous jobs by transferring the skills of JSOC warriors to Army and Marine conventional infantrymen.
Breaking Defense Europe will launch May 4 with Tim Martin and Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo as co-editors.
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.
"Transparency (canopy) supply shortages continue to be the main obstacle to achieving this. We are seeking additional sources to fix unserviceable canopies," Esper said in response to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee.
With Esper's nomination, the Pentagon gets its third Acting SecDef in one month, underscoring the continued turmoil at the top of Trump administration's national security machine.
“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."
The Sixth Domain is not defined by geography. It’s a new kind of conflict in which autonomy and networked systems allow thousand-dollar consumer electronics to destroy multi-million-dollar conventional weapons systems.
Mark Esper got on a plane to NATO just 24 hours after taking over at the Pentagon. There are two main reasons why.
The moves at the top of the Pentagon power structure will create openings elsewhere, as officials continue move in and out of the Trump administration
The Acting Defense Secretary, with less than two years of national security experience under his belt, is poised to take over a department in the throes of a rapid modernization project, while rattling sabres with Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, China, and Russia.
"F-35 aircraft performance is falling short of warfighter requirements—that is, aircraft cannot perform as many missions or fly as often as required. This lower-than-desired aircraft performance is due largely to F-35 spare parts shortages and difficulty in managing and moving parts around the world"
Do more with less: streamline workflows, reduce duplication, invest upfront to save long-term.
Are big, expensive vessels like amphibious ships and carriers too vulnerable in a long-range missile war with Russia or China?
Shanahan spent much of his first formal (albeit off-camera) Pentagon pressroom briefing as SecDef emphasizing continuity with his ousted predecessor, Gen. Jim Mattis. He made a point of praising Mattis’s National Defense Strategy, America’s allies, and even the press – not exactly favorites of President Donald Trump.
“The Army has aligned itself with Secretary Mattis’s National Defense Strategy, which we will not walk away from,” Gen. Milley told an Association of the US Army breakfast. “It’s a solid strategy, it’s written in history, it’s written in the blood of generations past, and we subscribe to it.” And allies are key to the strategy.
Croatia, a NATO member, was ready to sign off on the largest defense deal in its history: $500 million for 12 Israeli F-16 fighters. But the State Department didn't like the looks of the deal.