DOD Backs Down on NSPS: Pentagon officials have scaled back their timeline for the new performance-based payroll system, reducing the number of employees sought for the program’s first phase to 11,000. DOD originally scheduled the first phase of the National Security Personnel System to debut in February, but now has set the unveiling for April 30, according to the NSPS Web site. Officials had already put some training ventures on hold to provide more time to simplify the system.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.