Tag Archives: Pentagon

Bloomberg News reports: Senator Tommy Tuberville says he’ll continue to block hundreds of US military promotions unless the Biden administration abolishes its new abortion policy and the Senate votes on the issue because “we are not a Communist country.” “They are starting to believe me that I meant what I said,” the Alabama Republican said Tuesday on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance …

NBC News reports: The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Sunday condemned Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s ongoing hold on hundreds of military promotions, calling it a “paralyzing” move that amounts to a “national security problem.” “The idea that one man in the Senate can hold this up for months — I understand maybe promotions, but nominations? — is …

The Military Times reports: The Marine Corps worked behind the scenes last month in an attempt to convince Fox News to retract its false story claiming a Gold Star family was forced to pay $60,000 to ship the remains of a Marine killed in Afghanistan, according to emails obtained by Military.com. A service spokesman notified the news network that it …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Navy on Monday became the third branch of the military to no longer have a Senate-confirmed leader for the first time in history, as a Republican senator continues to block military nominations. Retiring Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday gave up command on Monday. The Navy, Army and Marine Corps are now all without a …

CBS News reports: A group of LGBTQ+ veterans who were kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation filed a federal civil rights suit on Tuesday over the Defense Department’s failure to grant them honorable discharges or remove biased language specifying their sexuality from their service records following the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in 2010. The …

Politico reports: Tommy Tuberville’s abortion-related blockade of military promotions is uncomfortably splintering both the Senate GOP and Alabama Republicans. Now they’ll spend the summer stewing about it. The Alabama senator refused to allow any of the more than 250 stalled military promotions to quickly advance, retribution for the Defense Department allowing paid leave for abortions. Because of Tuberville’s blockade, the …

Forbes reports: The Pentagon is investigating what it has called a “critical compromise” of communications across 17 Air Force facilities by one of its engineers, according to a search warrant obtained by Forbes. The document also details evidence of a possible breach of FBI communications by the same employee, who worked at the Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee. The …

“We can embrace our role as leader of the free world to confront Russian aggression and Chinese provocations with a new military fitted to the challenges in the 21st century. And we can end the political correctness at the Pentagon, including reinstituting a ban on transgender personnel in the United States military.” – Mike Pence, to the cheers of the …

CNN reports: The Senate passed a critical national defense policy bill Thursday evening – setting up a showdown with the Republican-controlled House. The House passed its own version of the bill – known as the National Defense Authorization Act – earlier this month after adopting a series of controversial amendments pushed by hardline conservatives. Now that the Senate has passed …

The Associated Press reports: North Korea hasn’t responded to U.S. attempts to discuss the American soldier who bolted across the heavily armed border, officials in Washington said, underscoring that the serviceman’s prospects for a quick release are unclear at a time of high tensions and inactive communication channels. Pvt. Travis King, who was supposed to be on his way to …

Reuters reports: The U.S. military was scrambling on Wednesday to determine the fate of an American soldier who made an unauthorised crossing of the inter-Korean border into North Korea, throwing Washington into a new crisis in its dealing with the nuclear-armed state. The U.S. Army identified the soldier as Private Travis T. King who joined in 2021 and was facing …

The New York Times reports: Republicans on Friday rammed through the House a deeply partisan defense bill that would limit abortion access, transgender care and diversity training for military personnel, setting up a showdown in the Senate that could imperil the crucial annual measure to provide a pay raise for troops, set defense policy to counter U.S. adversaries and sustain …

The Washington Post reports: House Republicans have proposed a slew of amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act that would limit the Pentagon’s use of electric vehicles. The amendments come amid a debate over the merits of the military’s transition to EVs, which has accelerated under President Biden. Beyond the climate benefits, EVs emit less noise and heat, so they’re …

The Hill reports: Defense officials on Wednesday announced that, in the wake of junior Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira‘s alleged leaking of classified documents online, the Pentagon is changing how military personnel access classified information and implementing measures aimed at better identifying “insider threats.” A review of Pentagon policies and procedures concluded that the Defense Department “should improve its security …

Roll Call reports: Provisions to defund the Pentagon’s anti-extremism efforts are on tap for potential inclusion in the fiscal 2024 defense policy bill when members of the House Armed Service Committee hold their marathon markup session on June 21. Those amendments, along with a third to evaluate staffing levels within the Defense Department’s so-called diversity, equity and inclusion office, offer …

The New York Times reports: A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, who posted dozens of secret intelligence reports and other sensitive documents on a gaming server, on six counts of retaining and transmitting classified national defense information. The filing of criminal charges against Mr. Teixeira, 21, comes two months after F.B.I. agents arrested him …

The Washington Post reports: An authorized Defense Department plane caused a sonic boom heard across the D.C. region Sunday afternoon, officials in Maryland said. The sonic boom was related to an incident involving a Cessna that crashed in Virginia, three people with knowledge of the situation said. Two of them said the Cessna was unresponsive when hailed by authorities, causing …

The Hill reports: The Navy’s official Instagram and Twitter accounts have apparently taken down posts celebrating the start of Pride Month. The service’s Instagram account Thursday featured a post depicting a fighter jet with the LGBTQ flag colors in its wake, but by Friday morning the image was gone. In a statement to The Hill, a Navy spokesperson acknowledged the …

NBC News reports: Pentagon leaders have stepped in to stop a drag show scheduled for Thursday at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, according to two defense officials and a U.S. official. The show, which was in celebration of Pride Month, was approved by Air Force leaders, but Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of …

CNN reports: The Air National Guardsman who is accused of posting a trove of classified documents to social media was repeatedly warned by his superiors in the Air Force over his mishandling of classified documents, prosecutors say. In court documents arguing for Jack Teixeira’s continued detention, prosecutors said that the 21-year-old’s “willful disregard” of his obligation to protect classified information …