Pentagon

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Pentagon Opens More Jobs to Women

Females will still not be able to serve as infantry, however: sources

(Newser) - Defense Department rules are entering the 21st century. The Pentagon will recommend to Congress today that women in the military should be allowed to serve in a greater number of positions close to front lines. The AP notes that the rule shift would formalize a practice that has already been...

Pentagon Weighs Syria Options
 Pentagon Weighs Syria Options 

Pentagon Weighs Syria Options

Arming rebels not being considered 'right now'

(Newser) - As the slaughter continues in Syria, the Pentagon has begun looking at options for supporting the rebels fighting Bashar al-Assad's regime—though officials were quick to note that US policy remains focused on using only non-military options at present. Arming the rebels "is not being considered for now,...

Panetta: US Combat Role in Afghanistan Over in 2013

But American, NATO troops will still have 'robust' advisory role

(Newser) - At some point next year, the US will no longer be fighting a war in Afghanistan for the first time in a decade. "Hopefully by mid to the latter part of 2013 we’ll be able to make a transition from a combat role to a training, advise, and...

Panetta Plans to Shrink Size of Army, Marines

Defense chief outlines cuts for Pentagon

(Newser) - The Pentagon outlined a plan today for slowing the growth of military spending, including cutting the size of the Army and Marine Corps, retiring older planes, and trimming war costs. It drew quick criticism from Republicans, signaling the difficulty of scaling back defense budgets in an election year. The changes...

Philippines to US Military: Come On Back

Talks under way to increase presence as check against China: Washington Post

(Newser) - The US military might be returning to the Philippines in force, reports the Washington Post . It says the two nations are in talks to significantly beef up the American presence about 20 years after the US got evicted. The move would likely involve stationing ships in the South China Sea,...

Federal Workers Owe $1B in Back Taxes

2010 figure soars $32M from year before

(Newser) - Some 98,000 federal workers owed $1.03 billion in unpaid taxes at the end of the 2010 fiscal year. While that's fewer employees than in 2009, the amount of cash owed climbed by $32 million, the Washington Post reports. Defense Department workers owed the most, with more than...

We Can Overhaul Our Military-Industrial Complex
We Can Overhaul Our
Military-Industrial Complex
OPINION

We Can Overhaul Our Military-Industrial Complex

Smaller budgets can lead to leaner procurement process: Arthur Herman

(Newser) - Arthur Herman hopes the move toward smaller defense budgets will end at long last the Pentagon's bloated, wasteful, and outdated method of buying weapons and equipment. The system dates back to the days of "vacuum tubes and hi-fi sets" and it's precisely why an F-18 costs $90...

Obama Unveils 'Leaner,' 'Agile' Military

He wants to shift focus from ground troops to 'irregular warfare'

(Newser) - President Obama officially unveiled his plan for a slimmed-down military with a speech at the Pentagon today, promising that budget cuts and a reduction in conventional ground forces wouldn't harm the nation's security. "Our military will be leaner, but the world must know—the United States is...

Obama Cutting Thousands of Ground Troops

Military no longer expected to be able to fight two wars at once

(Newser) - The US military is going to end up with a lot fewer boots on the ground as a results of cuts included in the debt ceiling deal. As part of the Obama administration's military overhaul , to be unveiled today, air and sea forces will be boosted, but Army and...

Pentagon Trims Top Brass
 Pentagon Trims 
 Top Brass 

Pentagon Trims Top Brass

Nearly 30 positions gone, rivaling post-Cold-War reductions

(Newser) - The Pentagon is thinning its ranks from the top down: It has cut 27 positions for generals and admirals since March, which the Washington Post calls the biggest such reduction since the end of the Cold War. Military leaders are taking advantage of the end of the war in Iraq...

Brain-Injury Test for Troops May Be $42M Boondoggle

They go untreated in program plagued with problems: ProPublica, NPR

(Newser) - A military brain-injury testing program has cost $42 million thus far—but hardly any soldiers have benefited from the plan, according to a joint investigation by NPR and ProPublica . Their reports suggest the program has a been a huge waste of money that has fallen way short of its primary...

Pentagon: We're Not Planning for Spending Cuts

Says it'll instead pressure Congress to change course

(Newser) - The Pentagon has no plans in place to deal with the $500 billion in spending cuts theoretically heading its way thanks to the supercommittee’s failure —and it refuses to make any now. “We are not planning for the” cuts, a Pentagon spokesman tells the New York Times...

Panetta Pays Coach Fare for $30K Flights Home

Defense secretary required to travel on military jets

(Newser) - Leon Panetta usually heads home to California for the weekend, and the defense chief is racking up huge costs in cross-country travel, reports the Washington Times . Panetta has made the journey 14 times since taking the post in July, and the Times says each round trip in a military jet...

Solyndra Almost Scored Navy Deal

Pentagon pulled out ahead of bankruptcy filing

(Newser) - Solar-energy firm Solyndra was one of three companies picked for a $1 million Navy pilot program for new technologies—but the Navy cut ties to the firm the day before Solyndra declared bankruptcy. A top investor in Solyndra, RockPort Capital, also sits on the Pentagon's emerging technology panel. When...

FBI: Mass. Man Planned Drone Attack on Capitol, Pentagon

Rezwan Ferdaus allegedly also planned to attack US troops overseas

(Newser) - A Massachusetts man who authorities say planned to blow up the Pentagon and US Capitol using unmanned drones laden with explosives was arrested today. According to the US Attorney in Boston, Rezwan Ferdaus' plan included the use of three small drone planes filled with C-4 plastic explosives; six people would...

Soon, Drones Could Kill Without Human Guidance

Tests already under way for robot killers of the future

(Newser) - Could robots be the soldiers of the future? The Pentagon is currently working on drones that can identify—and will eventually be able to eliminate—targets without any human controlling them. The Washington Post details a demonstration last fall in which a pair of model-sized planes, working in tandem, located...

'Don't Ask Don't Tell' Dies at Midnight

Pentagon says it's prepared

(Newser) - After 18 years, "Don't Ask Don't Tell" is finally headed for the scrap heap. At 12:01am tomorrow morning, the military will be legally allowed to sift through an outstanding pile of applications from openly gay recruits, the AP reports. "No one should be left with...

Hackers Post 3K Intel Names, Emails

INSA had just published paper calling for greater online security

(Newser) - Hackers have grabbed and published the names and email addresses of thousands of high-ranking security officials, handing them over to an anti-secrecy website, reports NBC News . About 3,000 names belonging to the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, a nonprofit organization for members of the intelligence community, were posted to...

Obama Lays Wreath at Pentagon

Obamas mingle with family members of 9/11 victims

(Newser) - After visits to New York's Ground Zero and a memorial in rural Pennsylvania where Flight 93 went down, President and Michelle Obama continued their solemn remembrance of 9/11 today at the Pentagon, the AP reports. The president lay a wreath at a bench and small pool that memorialize the...

Former President Bush Lays Wreath at Pentagon to Mark 9/11 Anniversary
 Bush Lays Wreath at Pentagon 

Bush Lays Wreath at Pentagon

He will be in Pennsylvania later today and NYC tomorrow

(Newser) - The 9/11 ceremonies are starting to unfold across the nation, with George W. Bush laying a wreath at the Pentagon this morning as part of a silent tribute to the 184 people killed there a decade ago. Later today, he heads to Shanksville, Pa., to dedicate a memorial to Flight...

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