The Senate passed the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill 84-13 on Dec. 11 after a bumpy few weeks for the key annual legislation. “We must protect freedom, democracy and peace, and support our troops. This is the heart of the National Defense Authorization Act, and ...
President-elect Joe Biden called on Congress to “swiftly” confirm Lloyd J. Austin III as the next Defense Secretary, rebutting concerns that his plan to nominate the recently retired Army general chips away at civilian control of the military. Introducing Austin at a Dec. 9 event ...
Lawmakers weighed in on three of the Air Force’s top-priority technology development efforts in the final draft of the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill, offering more money and more oversight as the programs mature. The Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft Technology initiative, hypersonic weapons, and the Next-Generation ...
President-elect Joe Biden will nominate retired Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III to be his Defense Secretary, the transition team announced Dec. 8. Austin, who left the military in 2016 as the four-star head of U.S. Central Command, would be the first-ever Black man to ...
The U.S. military will withdraw the “majority” of its personnel and assets from Somalia by early 2021, the Pentagon announced without providing specifics. President Donald J. Trump ordered the move, though the Defense Department in a Dec. 4 statement said the “U.S. is not withdrawing ...
New Pentagon acquisition rules are making it possible to field the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) hypersonic missile five years faster than would be possible under the old rules, top USAF uniformed acquisition official Lt. Gen. Duke Z. Richardson said Dec. 3. He also ...
Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers, a leading Space Force proponent, will become the top Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee, his office said Dec. 3. “It’s an honor to be selected by my colleagues to lead the Republicans as Ranking Member of the House ...
The Pentagon needs to take a look at the need for overseas bases, deployments, and exercises as the country grapples with the fiscal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and other priorities, the military’s top officer said Dec. 2. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ...
Defense Department officials have started meeting with President-elect Joe Biden's representatives after the Government Services Administration on Nov. 23 made government resources available to begin the transition. Washington Headquarters Services Director Thomas M. Muir, in a Nov. 24 briefing, told reporters that while the initial ...
The Defense Department deployed dozens of medical personnel to two states and one territory to bolster civilian medical facilities battling COVID-19, and hundreds more remain on standby as the pandemic surges. Sixty-seven Air Force nurses and other personnel deployed to hospitals and long-term care facilities ...
The Pentagon is again increasing its COVID-19-related restrictions amid a jump in positive cases in the region and more positive test results inside the building itself. Beginning Nov. 26, the Pentagon will limit the number of workers inside the building and mandate face coverings if ...
Victoria Coleman is an outlier. The new director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has spent most of her career outside of the Pentagon, looking in. A native of Greece, she’s one of the few foreign-born people tapped to lead the military’s secretive band ...