Tag Archives: Pentagon

CBS News reports: In a heated and contentious debate in the Oval Office last Monday morning, President Trump demanded the military put 10,000 active duty troops into the streets immediately, a senior administration official told CBS News. Attorney General William Barr, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley objected to the demand, the official said. In an …

Posted to the website of the US Army: Over the past week, the country has suffered an explosion of frustration over the racial divisions that still plague us as Americans. And because your Army is a reflection of American society, those divisions live in the Army as well. We feel the frustration and anger. We felt it this week while …

Former Defense Secretary James Mattis writes: I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must …

Somebody really wants to keep his job: In an abrupt reversal, Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Wednesday overturned an earlier Pentagon decision to send a couple hundred active-duty soldiers home from the Washington, D.C., region, amid growing tensions with the White House over the military response to the protests. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The Associated Press that the reversal …

The Associated Press reports: Active-duty troops brought in to help if needed with the civil unrest in the nation’s capitol are beginning to return to their home base, after two days of more peaceful demonstrations in Washington, D.C., senior defense officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The active-duty troops were available, but were not used in response to the …

CNN reports: Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Wednesday that he does not support using active duty troops to quell the large-scale protests across the United States triggered by the death of George Floyd and those forces should only be used in a law enforcement role as a last resort, directly contradicting President Donald Trump. “The option to use active …

Axios reports: Glenn Fine, the Pentagon’s principal deputy inspector general, submitted his resignation on Tuesday. Why it matters: President Trump removed Fine as the Pentagon’s acting inspector general in April 7 after a group of independent federal watchdogs selected him to lead the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, which was set up to oversee the rollout of the $2 trillion coronavirus …

We knew that ban would not stand: The Defense Department has rescinded a policy that banned recruits from enlisting in the military if they have been hospitalized for coronavirus, the Pentagon’s head of manpower said Thursday. The original policy, released earlier this month, began as a total ban on recruits who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past. That …

The military site Task & Purpose reports: The Defense Department should prepare to operate in a “globally-persistent” novel coronavirus (COVID-19) environment without an effective vaccine until “at least the summer of 2021,” according to a draft Pentagon memo obtained by Task & Purpose. “We have a long path ahead, with the real possibility of a resurgence of COVID-19,” reads the …

NBC News reports: The U.S. Space Force launched a secret mission space plane into the stars Sunday morning, dedicating the flight to front-line workers and victims during the coronavirus pandemic. A rocket was used to carry the X-37B, a remote-operated space plane that uses solar power, which will orbit the Earth while carrying experiments into space. The Cape Canaveral launch …

The New York Times reports: Navy fighter pilots reported close encounters with unidentified aerial vehicles, including several dangerously close, in eight incidents between June 27, 2013, and Feb. 13, 2019, according to documents recently released by the Navy. While some of the encounters have been reported publicly before, the Freedom of Information Act releases include the Navy’s official records documenting …

Foreign Policy reports: In another move aimed at consolidating control over policy and messaging, the Trump administration is sending a White House loyalist to serve in a key Defense Department policy role that officials are worried is aimed at weeding out civilians not loyal to the president, Foreign Policy has learned. Michael Cutrone, who has been detailed as Vice President …

The Military Times reports: As the Defense Department negotiates its way through the coronavirus pandemic and its fallout, military entrance processing stations are working with new guidance when it comes to bringing COVID-19 survivors into the services. A past COVID-19 diagnosis is a no-go for processing, according to a recently released MEPCOM memo circulating on Twitter. “During the medical history …

CNN reports: Dozens of US military personnel are expected to receive Purple Hearts in recognition of traumatic brain injuries they suffered in a January Iranian missile attack in Iraq, according to three US defense officials. The officials describe the decision as extremely sensitive because of the attention the issue received after President Donald Trump dismissed the injuries as “not very …

The New Jersey Advance reports: The first of the two flyovers — a 40-minute flight — will start around noon at the George Washington Bridge before the planes fly south along the Hudson River and over parts of Bergen, Hudson, Union and Essex counties. The flyover will then turn east toward New York City and continue above parts of Connecticut …

The New York Times reports: Capt. Brett E. Crozier should be restored to command of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, the Navy’s top officials recommended on Friday. But Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, who was briefed on the recommendations, has asked for more time to consider whether to sign off on the reinstatement of the captain of the nuclear-powered carrier. …

The Military Times reports: The Defense Department has set a goal to be testing 60,000 service members a day for coronavirus by June, but they won’t get there all at once. The plan is to start testing the most at-risk and most essential troops first, then work their way toward the rest of the force as testing capacity increases. Of …

The Washington Post reports: The Pentagon is planning a multicity tour of the U.S. military’s top flight demonstration teams to “champion national unity” amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to senior U.S. officials and a memo obtained by The Washington Post. The Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds, the demonstration squadrons for the Navy and Air Force, will fly over some cities …

The Hill reports: The Pentagon will ask for billions of dollars in the next version of a stimulus package to help defense contractors hit by closures or other effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer said Monday. “We’re taking billions and billions on that one,” Ellen Lord, under secretary of Defense for acquisition and sustainment, said at …

NBC News reports: The Department of Defense announced Saturday that it would extend travel restrictions for all military personnel through June 30th due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The travel restrictions were initially in place through May 11th. The new date will go into effect on Monday, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Matthew P. Donovan told reporters …