The Pentagon on Nov. 17 formally announced the plan to withdraw thousands of forces from Afghanistan and Iraq, just two months before President Donald J. Trump is expected to leave office. The drawdown is set to be complete by Jan. 15, 2021, but some leaders ...
Acting Defense Secretary Christopher C. Miller on Nov. 16 issued a three-pronged set of priorities for his time leading the Pentagon, intended as an annex to his Nov. 13 message to U.S. troops that called for a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. “Building on the message ...
The Pentagon is reportedly preparing to further withdraw forces from Afghanistan and Iraq by mid-January, despite warnings from the former Defense Secretary and an independent watchdog that violence remains high. CNN first reported Nov. 16 that the Pentagon has issued a “warning order” to begin ...
Although the Pentagon has contemplated designating the Electromagnetic Spectrum as a combat domain, it is no longer thinking that way, the officer in charge of developing an EMS strategy implementation plan said Nov. 12. Air Force Brig. Gen. Darrin P. Leleux said EMS is considered ...
The Senate Appropriations Committee’s version of the fiscal 2021 defense spending bill looks to continue shaping the young Space Force with provisions on personnel and acquisition. Lawmakers are offering the Space Force $2.6 billion for operations and maintenance, $2.2 billion for procurement, and $10.4 billion ...
Michèle A. Flournoy, the former under secretary of defense for policy, has emerged as the frontrunner to take over as Defense Secretary once the presumptive President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January. If nominated and confirmed, she would lead a Pentagon facing down either flat ...
China and Russia are making troubling gains in electromagnetic spectrum warfare, and this is one reason the Air Force is forming a new spectrum warfare wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Air Combat Command boss Gen. Mark D. Kelly said in a recent interview. ...
The Senate Appropriations Committee wants to keep a closer eye on the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons program. Lawmakers added multiple provisions to the committee’s version of the fiscal 2021 defense spending bill that call for more reports on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, as well ...
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper sent a “Final Message to the Department” shortly after President Donald J. Trump fired him in a tweet Nov. 9. In the letter, Esper writes that his time as leader of the Pentagon was the "honor and privilege of a ...
President Donald J. Trump on Nov. 9 fired Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, announcing on Twitter that he was appointing Christopher C. Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, to serve as the acting Pentagon boss. “Chris will do a GREAT job! Mark Esper ...
A member of the Texas Air National Guard died of COVID-19-related issues, the first uniformed member of the Department of the Air Force and ninth service member overall to die of the disease. The Air National Guardsman has not been identified. The death was reported ...
The Senate on Oct. 26 confirmed Maj. Gen. Robert J. Skinner as the next head of the Defense Information Systems Agency, as well as for promotion to lieutenant general. Skinner, who currently oversees command, control, communications, and cyber operations for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii, was ...