Free Republic

PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVES In January 2012 the Department published a paper -- “Defense Budget Priorities and Choices” – identifying the major budgetary changes made in response to the new defense strategy. Changes in the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget support U.S. defense strategy and are organized around four major themes: 1. Making more disciplined use of defense dollars. 2. Applying strategic guidance to force structure and investment. 3. Ensuring the quality of the all-volunteer force. 4. Fully supporting deployed warfighters. Disciplined Use of Defense Dollars The FY 2013 budget continues the reform agenda advanced in the Department’s previous three budgets. The FY...

A retired U.S. lieutenant general who made comments some consider disparaging to Islam withdrew Monday from speaking at a West Point prayer breakfast after a progressive veterans’ advocacy group — VoteVets.org — along with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) asked the Army chief of staff to rescind the invitation.Last week The Blaze reported VoteVets.org told Gen. Raymond Odierno in a letter that allowing retired Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin to speak at West Point next week would be anathema to Army values and disrespectful to Muslim cadets. According to the Associate Press, late Monday afternoon, West Point issued a...

The Pentagon doesn’t know what happened to more than $100 million in cash held at Saddam Hussein’s palace in Baghdad during the Iraq war, according to a new report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.What’s more, the Pentagon can’t find documents to explain what it spent as much as $1.7 billion on from funds held on behalf of the Iraqi government by the New York Federal Reserve, the report says. The missing records raise new questions about how the US government handled billions of dollars in Iraqi funds during the war. The new report, the latest in a...

As a result of the December 31 presidential signing of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA; H.R. 1540), the Department of Defense, or DOD, is prohibited from funding any LEED Platinum or Gold certification of new buildings for the current fiscal year, unless it submits notification of intent 30 days before the money is allocated. The only exception to the rule is if LEED Gold or Platinum certifications don’t involve additional expense. Under the same legislation, the DOD is required to submit a report to Congress (Sec. 2830) no later than June 30 on energy efficiency and sustainability standards used...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5, 2012 – With election activity steadily picking up, defense officials are in the process of issuing regular election-year guidance to remind military and Defense Department civilians that they're subject to rules regulating their involvement in political activities. This issue -- one the department regularly addresses during election periods -- came to light earlier this week after an Army Reserve soldier in uniform appeared endorsing a political candidate. Several sets of rules help to protect the integrity of the political process, DOD officials said. DOD Directive 1344.10 applies to members of the armed forces, whether they serve on...

The Finnish authorities have impounded an Isle of Man-flagged ship bound for China with undeclared missiles and explosives, officials say. Police are questioning the crew of the MS Thor Liberty after what were described as 69 Patriot anti-missile missiles were found aboard. Interior Minister Paivi Rasanen said the missiles were marked "fireworks". The MS Thor Liberty had docked in the Finnish port of Kotka after leaving Germany last week. Dock workers became suspicious after finding explosives poorly stored on open pallets, and the missiles were then found in containers marked "fireworks". The managing director of the ship's owner, Thorco Shipping,...

There's been a lot of controversy in the non-mainstream media concerning the latest iteration of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, specifically the provisions of Senate Bill 1867 (Indefinite Detention). The law was passed by the full congress after several modifications concerning detention of enemy combatants. Without a full reading of the full statute, I too was alarmed, especially after it was passed with so little fanfare. However, this controversy appears to be much ado about nothing. A closer examination reveals that this is effectively a modification of the orginial Authorization to Use Military Force that was...

Herman Cain is no longer running for president. He doesn't think he's likely to be picked as the eventual nominee's running mate, either. But he does have a Cabinet post in mind should the GOP win the White House next fall: secretary of Defense. [....] Cain shared the idea with ABC's Barbara Walters during her annual special on the "10 Most Fascinating People." And the veteran journalist was just a bit surprised. Cain said he thought he'd be a good pick because he wants to "influence rebuilding our military the way it should be." Walters, still stunned, reminded Cain of...

Erik Prince built and developed Blackwater Worldwide into a major private military company, starting with an idea to improve national security in the United States, his education from Hillsdale College and training as a SEAL. Blackwater Worldwide was renamed Xe Services, which he sold in 2010 to USTC Holdings. He is planning on starting a private equity firm to deliver necessary commodities to countries in need. Erik Prince built and developed Blackwater Worldwide into a major private military company, starting with an idea to improve national security in the United States, his education from Hillsdale College and training as a...

Lawmakers reached an agreement Monday on the $662 billion Defense authorization bill they believe will satisfy White House demands to avoid a veto over the detention of terror suspects. House and Senate Armed Services Committee leaders changed the bill to add a provision saying that FBI and other law enforcement’s national security authority would not be affected by provisions mandating military custody of terror suspects. A White House veto threat has been hanging over the Pentagon policy bill for the past month, but House and Senate Armed Services Committee leaders said Monday the new language would address the Obama administration’s...

Pentagon budget cuts almost certain to affect F-35 By Bob Cox rcox@star-telegram.com The stealth design of the F-35 joint strike fighter is supposed to make it nearly invisible to enemy radar, but the super high-tech combat aircraft may not be able to avoid the bull's-eye of Pentagon budget-cutters. Congress' failure last month to agree on $1.2 billion in additional deficit reduction measures means the Defense Department is facing enormous funding cuts mandated by law. Without new congressional action to restore funding, experts say, the Pentagon will be forced to make big cuts in spending on new weapons. And the F-35...

F-22 upgrades in deficit crosshairs By Richard Burnett, Orlando Sentinel 3:58 PM EST, November 27, 2011 Advertisement The deficit-reduction stalemate in Washington has put the Pentagon on a collision course with $500 billion in "automatic" budget cuts over the next 10 years. But even before last week's failure of Congress' "supercommittee" to find an alternative solution, the Defense Department faced potential cuts of as much as $400 billion over 10 years. Any chance that might trigger some "rush orders" to get a jump on the historic budget ax that's likely to fall? That question seemed especially relevant last week when...

<p>PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR STATION, Fla. — The Navy's Blue Angels have been thrilling audiences for more than six decades with their acrobatic flying in fighter planes, but a new era of federal budget worries and proposed deficit cutting has some inside and outside the military raising questions about the millions it costs to produce their shows.</p>

With Operation Fast and Furious headlining the news, there is no doubt civilian arms have been trafficked into Mexico. However, many of the arms used by Mexican cartels are NOT supplied by civilian gun outlets in the United States. Based upon the statistics I have compiled, our State and Defense Departments may be the premier suppliers of weaponry to Mexican drug cartels — not the US civilian.From 2003-2009, over 150,000 Mexican soldiers deserted from their ranks. Drug cartels became so confident in their recruitment of military personnel that they posted help wanted ads for hit men, traffickers, and guards. When...

This one's really off the radar. Wind farms, along with solar power and other alternative energy sources, are supposed to produce the energy of tomorrow. Evidence indicates that their countless whirring fan blades produce something else: "blank spots" that distort radar readings. Now government agencies that depend on radar -- such as the Department of Defense and the National Weather Service -- are spending millions in a scramble to preserve their detection capabilities. A four-star Air Force general recently spelled out the problem to Dave Beloite, the director of the Department of Defense’s Energy Siting Clearinghouse. "Look there’s a radar...

Circle your calendars for Nov. 23. That's the deadline for Congress to pass -- and the President to sign -- major budget changes being drawn up by a bipartisan "super-committee." Recall that the last agreement, struck in early August, tasked this group with a huge challenge: Come up with a wide range of chosen budget cuts, or live with the consequences of automatic spending cuts that leave no stone unturned. That's bad news for investors, as we could see history repeating itself in a very unpleasant way.At this point, Democrats and Republicans are far from an agreement. Democrats have offered...

"Three Days In August" by Bob McCarty U.S. Army Special Forces Sgt.1st Class Kelly A. Stewart admitted to having a one-night stand with a 28-year-old German woman the night of Aug. 22, 2008. She did, too. Both knew sex was part of the plan when they left the discotheque near Stuttgart. Two months later, however, her story changed and the highly-decorated combat veteran found himself facing rape and kidnapping charges. During court-martial proceedings one year later, Stewart faced an Army court-martial panel comprised of soldiers who had recently returned from a 16-month deployment with the Army attorney serving as Stewart’s...

Pentagon counternarcotics and counterterrorism operations around the world were abruptly suspended this month when the Defense Department officials overseeing the programs failed to ensure they were funded by congressional authorizations, according to documents obtained by The Washington Examiner. The lapse has caused serious national security and diplomatic problems for the U.S. military, according to Defense Department officials. The authorizations cover joint counternarcotics operations with foreign governments, as well as federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in the U.S. The mix-up occurred when the anti-narcotics programs were not included on a list provided to Congress of operations that needed to...

The Pentagon will permit military chaplains to perform same-sex marriage as long as such ceremonies are not prohibited in the states where they reside, it said Friday. Defense Department guidance issued to military chaplains said they may participate in ceremonies on or off military bases in states that recognize gay unions. Chaplains are not required to officiate at same-sex weddings if doing so is counter to their religious or personal beliefs, the guidance said. And regardless of the Pentagon guidance, military chaplains will still need to take cues from their religious order, said Gary Pollitt, spokesman for the Military Chaplains...

SUBJECT: Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces References: (a) DoD Directive 1344.10, “Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces on Active Duty,” August 2, 2004 (hereby canceled) (b) Sections 973, 888, 101, and Chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code (c) DoD Instruction 1334.1, “Wearing of the Uniform,” October 26, 2005 (d) Section 441a of title 2, United States Code (e) through (i), see Enclosure 1

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2011 – As U.S. and allied forces dismantle the core of al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan, intelligence officials are studying the degree to which terrorist splinter groups are working together, Defense Department officials said today. “They’ll remain a concern,” one of three Defense Department officials told Pentagon reporters during an afternoon background briefing to explain the nature of regionalized, radical Islamist groups that have proliferated in the Middle East and North Africa. “There is an element of defeating the organization … that is separate from the ideological component. You can get them to be operationally incapable, but...

The Disfranchisement of Our Military Voters By Hans A. von Spakovsky and Eric Eversole Published September 07, 2011 | FoxNews.com Time and again, Eric Holder’s Justice Department and its Civil Rights Division has shown how highly partisan it is. From its dismissal of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case, to its harassment of jurisdictions with voter ID laws, the Division has proven that its far-left liberal ideology determines whether it will enforce (or not enforce) the law. Now it is ignoring the plight of military voters.

Whether it is the delayed release of the 2011 Department of Defense (DOD) report on Chinese military and security developments or Vice President Joe Biden’s statements regarding Chinese human rights, it is becoming clear that the Obama Administration has an utterly incoherent view of the People’s Republic of China. Biden apparently sees his statement (“Your policy has been one which I fully understand—I’m not second-guessing—of one child per family”) as actually arguing against the Chinese policy. Similarly, even as the Administration was signaling, just before the Vice President’s trip, that it was not going to sell Taiwan badly needed F-16...

The United States military budget accounts for over 40% of the world's annual military expenditures and, at around $700 billion per year, more than 20% of the federal budget. The Federal government wants to curb that spending as part of deficit reduction.

BREAKING: Rep. Peter King Asks For Probe Into White House’s Role in Bin Laden Movie Posted By Hollywoodland On August 10, 2011 @ 9:23 am In Featured Story, Military, Politics | 79 Comments Politico: House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) on Wednesday demanded an investigation into a report that the White House is cooperating with a film on the mission to kill Osama bin Laden. In a letter to the Defense Department and the CIA, King asked for a probe and classified briefing about any cooperation or consultation between the agencies and the film, set to be directed by...

DoD Prepares Follow-Up to $15 Billion Global Counterdrug ContractsA privately contracted, five-year global counterdrug program valued upwards of $15 billion is one year away from expiring—and the U.S. Dept. of Defense (DoD) wants to assess the capabilities of potential prime contractors in advance of the August 23, 2012, expiration date. The DoD Counter Narco-Terrorism Program Office (CNTPO) on Aug. 2 issued a Special Notice (Solicitation # W9113MCNTPO) announcing its intentions to “issue a follow-on procurement” to perpetuate that endeavor. The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command, on behalf of the CNTPO, in 2007 issued a multiple...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- A concert event organized by atheist, agnostic and other non-theist soldiers has been cleared by the Army to take place next spring at Fort Bragg, concert organizers and a spokesman for the post said Monday. Organizers planned to hold the Rock Beyond Belief event this year, but they canceled after saying Bragg leadership was not providing the same support it gave to an evangelical Christian concert last fall. Supporters hailed the Army's decision

Rosa Brooks serves as Counselor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Michele Flournoy. In May 2010 she also became Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and then Special Coordinator for Rule of Law and Humanitarian Policy. She is running a new Pentagon office dedicated to those issues. She is on leave from her job as a law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center. Brooks is known as a columnist (most recently with the LA Times) and at the Pentagon her portfolio has included both human rights issues and global engagement and strategic communication. Her mother, Barbara Ehrenreich, is...

State news agency Xinhua said unless the US cut its "gigantic military expenditure and bloated welfare costs," another downgrade would be inevitable. But other countries, such as Australia, France and Japan, said they retained their faith in US bonds.

Though it is unrelated to their mission, the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce and Housing are among the federal agencies that will focus on helping minorities get green under an Obama Administration plan that aims to bring “environmental justice” to poor and underserved communities nationwide. The effort was launched by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last fall and the agency has doled out millions of dollars in “environmental justice grants” to dozens of leftwing groups, including some dedicated to helping illegal immigrants. Earlier this year the administration dedicated an additional $7 million to study how pollution, stress and social...

Sources have confirmed that the U.S. Department of Defense over recent months purchased 59,000 microchips to use in Navy equipment that control everything from missiles to transponders, according to report in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. But all of the chips turned out to be cheap knock-offs from China, and they ultimately were not installed, according to sources. Besides being subject to failure, the chips also were designed with a "back door" which would have allowed the chip, and the device it controlled, to be shut down remotely at any time, sources report. Had the flaw not been detected, the chips...

COAL GROVE, OH (WSAZ) -- Mass radiation poisoning is the overwhelming concern after a state and federal raid today on a local doctor and imaging center. We’re talking about suspected medical insurance fraud on a grand scale - linked to maybe thousands of unneeded cat scans. The raid Wednesday morning involved numerous agencies, everybody from the local sheriff - to the department of defense, because patients connected to the military are involved. Click here to find out more! We’re told the raid on a Coal Grove, Ohio medical center involves multi-millions in suspected Medicaid and Medicare fraud. And agents say...

A local business is currently being raided for what the Department of Defense tells WSAZ.com is a multi-million dollar billing fraud investigation. COAL GROVE, Ohio (WSAZ) -- Two local business are currently being raided for what the investigators on the scene tell WSAZ.com is a multi-million dollar billing fraud investigation. 40 local, state and federal agencies are involved in a raid at Dr. Peter Tsai's Medical Office and the Watkins-Tsai Imaging Center in Coal Grove. Click here to find out more! The two businesses are located just off US 52 at the Coal Grove exit on Marion Pike. Investigators tell...

President Obama overruled top Defense and Justice Dept. lawyers in his interpretation of legal authority to continue the U.S.’s role in the war in Libya, the New York Times reported late Friday citing sources familiar with the deliberations. Obama chose to adopt the advice of senior members of his own legal team over top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Dept., arguing that U.S. involvement in the NATO operation fell short of “hostilities,” which would have resulted in Obama having to seek congressional approval to continue American participation in the conflict.

PORTLAND - U.S. Sen. Susan Collins was approached at a reception Friday by several veterans who were eager to thank her for her role in helping to repeal the military's "don't ask don't tell" policy, which banned openly gay, lesbian and bisexual people from serving. Collins said their gratitude was misplaced. "It is I who thank them for serving our country," said Collins. The Maine Republican made her remarks as the guest of honor at EqualityMaine's celebration of the repeal of the policy, one of the events in the 25th Southern Maine Pride Week.

At his confirmation hearing Thursday, Secretary of Defense nominee Leon Panetta faced questions from Democrats and Republicans alike about President Barack Obama’s intention, hastily announced in April, to cut $400 billion from national security spending over the next 12 years. Unfortunately, Panetta seemed to have little concrete information about the president’s plans. What Panetta was willing to say, however, was that such defense cuts should not be undertaken lightly. Asked whether he agreed with outgoing Secretary of Defense Robert Gates about their potential impact, Panetta said: “I share his concerns about the possibility of hollowing out our force. I think...

Media blackout: CIA director accused of links to Communist spy contact -- scandal ignored Wes Vernon June 13, 2011 If you have been depending on the mainstream media for your news the past few days, you are probably learning here for the first time that CIA Director Leon Panetta has been called out for his links to an important open member of the Communist Party. Some background When this writer first arrived in Washington, D.C., as a reporter in 1968, one of my assignments was to cover the congressional delegation from Washington State. Occasionally, both Democrat and Republican members of...

SNIPPET: "There are some good reasons for allowing at least a few jihadi forums to operate." SNIPPET: "However, there are limits to our ability to exploit all the intelligence opportunities a forum may present. To put it another way, jihadi forums contribute to future terrorism in ways that are unpredictable and/or beyond our ability to control. This would be the view held by those other government agencies who prefer to seek out and destroy forums and to take down forum activists. For my part, I can live with keeping online those forums we have sufficient access to monitor and resources...

WASHINGTON—The coming round of Pentagon budget cuts will force lawmakers to consider reducing military pay and benefits, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday, raising an issue that could prove politically sensitive in a time of war In what was billed as Mr. Gates's last major policy speech, the outgoing Pentagon chief said the government would have to "re-examine military compensation," consider altering the retirement system to bring down costs, and address spiraling health-care costs. Trimming Pentagon spending, Mr. Gates said, "will entail going places that have been avoided by politicians in the past."

The White House on Thursday is expected to unveil its proposal to enhance the nation's cybersecurity, laying out plans to require industry to better protect systems that run critical infrastructure like the electrical grid, financial systems and nuclear power plants. The Obama administration also is insisting that companies tell consumers when their personal information has been compromised. According to cybersecurity experts familiar with the plan, the administration's proposed legislation also would instruct federal agencies to more closely monitor their computer networks. Several House and Senate committees have been working on cybersecurity legislation for the past two years, while waiting for...

Five years ago, a Comair flight taxied onto the wrong runway at the airport in Lexington, Ky., and crashed on takeoff, killing 49 of the 50 people aboard. It turned out that the lone air controller on duty who should have caught the mistake was operating on two hours of sleep. Two years before that, a tired controller nearly let two commercial jets collide on an LAX runway. Now, in the wake of a raft of air traffic controllers caught sleeping on the job, the Federal Aviation Administration issued new rules to combat fatigue. But this problem has dogged the...

The Defense Department is refusing to do a speedy review of a Freedom of Information Act request for graphic photos of Osama bin Laden's corpse, setting the stage for a protracted battle over access to the images. In a letter to The Associated Press, the department said the AP did not demonstrate an urgent or compelling need for the photos or show that the information has a particular value that would be lost if not provided in an expedited manner. As a result, it is not clear when or if the photos will be provided. The AP received the letter...

Meeting the needs of the warfighter from the air By James H. Flatley, IV - 05/04/11 08:59 AM ET Over the past four years much has been written, debated and proposed about the need for a light attack turboprop aircraft that’s ideally suited for irregular warfare in Afghanistan. Yet here we are four years later without a deployable solution. The leading contenders from day one have been the Embraer A-29 Super Tucano and the Hawker Beechcraft AT-6. And, they are today, both vying for the contract to supply aircraft and training for the Air Force’s Light Air Support program in...

In a major national security reshuffle, President Barack Obama is sending CIA Director Leon Panetta to the Pentagon to replace Robert Gates, a widely praised Bush holdover, and replacing Panetta at the spy agency with Gen. David Petraeus, the high-profile commander of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Obama's changes, expected to be announced at the White House on Thursday, also will include a new ambassador and war commander in Afghanistan. However, they don't signal any major adjustment in the president's Afghan strategy or the fight against violent extremism. The moves cement a planned drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan in...

Should Americans believe Janet Napolitano’s rosy picture of a U.S.-Mexico border that’s “as secure as it has ever been” or a Pentagon assessment that it’s actually a gateway for Mexican criminal organizations that have infiltrated the entire country and joined forces with terrorist groups? For months the nation’s Homeland Security Secretary has repeatedly insisted that everything is hunky dory on the southwest border, even as violence escalates and overwhelmed federal agents are increasingly attacked by heavily armed drug smugglers. Just last month Napolitano declared that violence along the Mexican border is merely a mistaken “perception” because the area is...

Leon Panetta is happy as CIA director and has not been asked by President Barack Obama to consider changing jobs, the agency said on Thursday, as speculation swirled over changes in top U.S. security posts. Robert Gates has made clear he plans to step down as defense secretary this year and the military's top officer is expected to retire, prompting speculation about who will move where in Mr Obama's impending reshuffle of military and intelligence chiefs. One scenario being speculated has Mr Panetta – who turns 73 in June – replacing Mr Gates and the director's office on the seventh...

WASHINGTON, April 1, 2011 – Beginning June 1, Social Security numbers on military identification cards will begin to disappear, said Air Force Maj. Monica M. Matoush, a Pentagon spokeswoman. The effort is part of a larger plan to protect service members and other DOD identification card holders from identity theft, officials said. Criminals use Social Security numbers to steal identities, allowing them to pillage resources, establish credit or to hijack credit cards, bank accounts or debit cards. Currently, the Social Security number is printed on the back of common access cards, and on the front of cards issued to dependents...

In February 2006, with roadside bombs killing more and more American soldiers in Iraq, the Pentagon created an agency to defeat the deadly threat and tasked a retired four-star general to run it. Five years later, the agency has ballooned into a 1,900-employee behemoth and has spent nearly $17 billion on hundreds of initiatives. Yet the technologies it has developed have failed to significantly improve U.S. soldiers’ ability to detect unexploded roadside bombs and have never been able to find them at long distances. Indeed, the best detectors remain the low-tech methods: trained dogs, local handlers and soldiers themselves. A...

The U.S. Defense Department ordered GE and Rolls-Royce to stop production on a second engine for the F-35 joint strike fighter Thursday. The government said they want them to wait until the fiscal 2012 budget is complete and there is a better direction of how the project will look. Hundreds of employees in Indiana are directly tied to the project. Rolls-Royce is the city`s second largest manufacturer behind Eli Lilly. In a statement from the fighter engine team they said they are "disappointed with the U.S. Department of Defense decision which goes against the precedent to continue funding for this...

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley has resigned after publicly crossing swords with the Pentagon over the treatment of an Army soldier accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified military reports and sensitive diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks. The chain of events that led to Crowley’s exit was set in motion Thursday when Crowley appeared at a Massachusetts Institute of Technology seminar and called the Pentagon’s handling of Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is detained at the brig at Quantico, “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.” Crowley’s public criticism angered some at the Pentagon and others across the administration because it put him...