Tag Archives: Pentagon

Foreign Policy reports: A pair of 20-something White House staffers will begin conducting interviews with political appointees at the Defense Department starting next week, three current and former U.S. officials told Foreign Policy, a move that some fear could lead to more dismissals of Pentagon officials considered disloyal to President Donald Trump. The White House liaison office sent an email …

From the military site Task & Purpose: The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has a message for America’s sailors: Please, for the love of Poseidon and the Seven Seas, stop buying hallucinogens in the dark corners of the Internet. NCIS last week issued a warning to sailors to the risks of acquiring LSD on the so-called “dark web,” the network of …

Via press release from the Pentagon: Secretary Esper has approved a Department of the Interior request for DOD support to the 2020 Salute to America. DOD will provide aerial, musical and ceremonial support to this year’s celebration in Washington, D.C. This year’s support will also include a flyover of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, as well an aerial salute to …

The Hill reports: A federal appeals court in California on Friday ruled that the Trump administration’s use of Pentagon funding to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border was illegal. In a 2-1 ruling, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Trump’s diversion of defense, military and other funding — billions of dollars that were not originally earmarked for …

The New York Times reports: A Navy investigation has concluded that the two top officers aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt made poor decisions in response to the outbreak of the coronavirus on board the warship, according to a congressional aide. As a result, Capt. Brett E. Crozier, will not be restored to command of the virus-stricken ship, and his …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Thursday said that he didn’t believe it was significant that the top U.S. general apologized for his role in the president’s photo opportunity outside St John’s Church last week. Trump, who defended the controversial appearance as a “beautiful picture” during an interview with Fox News’ Harris Faulkner, did not criticize Joint Chiefs of Staff …

NBC News reports: The Pentagon’s top general discussed resigning amid criticism over his participation in President Donald Trump’s controversial photo opportunity at a Washington church, three defense officials familiar with the matter told NBC News. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley spent hours looking at social media and reading news articles and saw dozens of people criticizing …

The Military Times reports: Hours after the president announced he would block all efforts to remove the names of Confederate leaders from prominent U.S. military bases, lawmakers in the House and Senate both pushed to force defense leaders to make the changes anyway, calling it an issue of respect and inclusivity. On Thursday morning, Reps. Anthony Brown, D-Md., and Don …

The military blog Task & Purpose reports: The Navy is following the Marine Corps in banning the display of Confederate symbols on its installations, including aboard warships and aircraft, the service announced on Tuesday. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday [photo] has directed his staff to “begin crafting an order that would prohibit the Confederate battle flag from all …

Reuters reports: President Donald Trump’s decision to cut U.S. troop levels in Germany blindsided a number of senior national security officials, according to five sources familiar with the matter, and the Pentagon had yet to receive a formal order to carry it out, Reuters has learned. Sources familiar with the matter said a number of U.S. officials at the White …

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 …