In Our Communities
The 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington recently hosted volunteer firefighter recruits from the region to train on base, according to a DOD story. “The purpose of the training is to increase our community partnership,”...
Austin Backs Removing Sexual Assault Cases from Chain of Command; Chiefs Warn Against Broader Reform
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will recommend to President Joe Biden that the military remove commanders from investigating sexual assault claims, AP reported Tuesday night. DOD has long opposed such a change. “As I made clear on my first full day in office, this is a...
DOD Leaders Continue Facing Lawmakers on Defense Budget
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley are once again testifying before lawmakers Wednesday morning about President Joe Biden’s $715 billion DOD budget request, this time at a House Armed Services Committee hearing. Here are some...
Hicks Driving Cross-Branch Collaboration on Innovations
DOD needs to bring its many innovations into a more unified ecosystem, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said Monday at the Defense One Tech Summit. “There’s lots of experimentation going on across the department,” Hicks said, according to Breaking Defense....
ADC Announces Session Lineup for 2-Day Conference in July
Attendees at ADC’s first in-person conference in a year and a half will take part in conversations about the defense budget, the impact of climate change on installations, how to redefine military value, and DOD’s efforts against extremism, among other topics,...
Study: Among Post-9/11 Troops, Suicide Deaths Far Outnumber Combat Casualties
More than four times as many post-9/11 service members have died by suicide than did in combat, according to a new study from Brown University. The authors argue that the federal government needs to do more work in defense communities to tackle the crisis. The study...
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PAST STORIES
In Our Communities
The state of Washington has launched a new COVID-19 vaccination lottery specifically for service members, military families and veterans, AP reported. Military-connected individuals who have gotten vaccinated or plan to will be entered to win cash prizes and gift...
PTSD Stigma Remains High, Even Among Military-Connected Americans
Service members, military families and veterans are twice as likely than other Americans to buy into myths that those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder are violent or dangerous, Military.com reported. About a third of military-connected respondents to a...
DOD Ready to Pilot In-Home Child Care Assistance
Military families in five regions will be contacted in early July with an offer to help pay for in-home child care costs. The outreach is part of the launch of DOD’s In-Home Child Care Fee Assistance Pilot. The program is rolling out in five regions where there is...
Austin: Readiness at Risk if Guard Isn’t Reimbursed for Deployment to D.C.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley urged lawmakers Thursday to reimburse the National Guard for months of deployment to secure the U.S. Capitol complex. The deployment of Guard members from all 50 states, three territories and...
Senate Dems Start Budget Resolution Work
Senate Budget Committee Democrats are drafting a budget resolution that may not match up with the one being drafted by House Democrats. Senate committee members huddled with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) Wednesday in preparation, according to CQ. The...
‘We Must Focus on Our Resilience,’ Biden Pick for Navy Installations Chief Says
President Joe Biden’s nominee to become assistant Navy secretary for energy, installations and energy told lawmakers Wednesday she sees the “urgency and the dynamic nature” of the job. “We face threats – both natural and manmade – a competitive energy market, and a...
Acting Air Force Secretary Says There Was ‘No Political Influence’ in Space Command HQ Decision
Acting Air Force Secretary John Roth again defended the service’s decision to move U.S. Space Command headquarters to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama during Hill testimony Wednesday. “I have personally no evidence that the decision was politically motivated,”...
DOD Will ‘Do Our Part’ in Biden’s New Anti-Extremism Policy, Austin Says
Ongoing efforts to understand and root out domestic extremism in the military is now part of a government-wide strategy to counter domestic terrorism, “a comprehensive approach to addressing the threat while safeguarding bedrock American civil rights and civil...
House Sets Appropriations Markup Schedule
House appropriators will begin work on fiscal year 2022 spending bills June 24, according to a schedule released Tuesday by Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.). The subcommittee overseeing military construction and Veterans Affairs will be among the...
HASC Lays Out Tight NDAA Timeline
The House Armed Services Committee will begin marking up the fiscal year 2022 defense authorization bill the last week of July, according to a schedule released by the committee. Four subcommittees, including military personnel, will conduct markups July 28. Three...
VA Scanning Vets’ Records for Easier Access
The Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Archives and Records Administration are teaming up to digitize millions of military personnel records currently stored in St. Louis warehouses, Federal News Network reported. VA said the project will help with the...
DOD Exploring How to Boost Guard, Reservist Pay
The Pentagon is working on a “reform effort” to boost pay for reservists and National Guard members, Military Times reported. “The joint force — active duty, Reserve and National Guard — it’s a total force,” Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley told the Senate Armed...
House Adopts Spending Cap, Kicking Off Appropriations Process
The House narrowly voted Monday night to adopt a $1.5 trillion spending cap requested by President Joe Biden. The language, part of a procedural measure on unrelated legislation, allows the House to proceed with appropriations bills even before debating a formal...
In Our Communities
Cape Cod Air Force Station in Massachusetts was officially renamed Cape Cod Space Force Station Friday…. Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma will use 3D printers to manufacture an aircraft engine part through Pacer Edge, the Air Force’s collaboration with General...
Biden Names Pick to Lead Navy
President Joe Biden plans to nominate Carlos Del Toro to become Navy Secretary, the White House announced Friday. Del Toro is a Havana native who came to the U.S. with his parents as refugees when he was young. He attended the Naval Academy and the Naval War College...
Dozens of Milcon Projects in U.S. to Continue with Money Redirected from Border Wall
DOD has reclaimed $2.2 billion in funding the Trump administration had moved from military construction projects to border wall, it announced Friday. A memo from Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks lists the projects that will be funded. Most of the money will be...
In Our Communities
Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota will be the main operating base for the B-21 Raider, AP reported. “It’s a once-in-a-generation, historic opportunity for South Dakota,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), said…. Huntington Ingalls plans to add 3,000 workers at its...
SASC Advances Nominations of Air Force Secretary and Others
The Senate Armed Services Committee approved several Biden Pentagon picks by voice vote Thursday, including: Frank Kendall to become Air Force secretary Susanna Blume to become director the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office Heidi Shyu to become...
Austin, Milley Defend Biden Budget on Hill
Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley agreed with lawmakers Thursday that the Pentagon is taking risk by cutting some legacy weapons systems to instead focus on forward-looking technologies. “It has to do with relevance and pivoting to the future,” Milley told the...
ADC Reconnect Registration Open to All
Registration for ADC Reconnect is now open to all potential attendees. The event, taking place in Washington, D.C., July 20 and 21, will be ADC’s first live, in-person event post-pandemic. The list of confirmed speakers includes at least 10 senior leaders from DOD and...
VA Asks for Big Budget Bump to Handle Post-Pandemic Care
The Department of Veterans Affairs needs to staff up to care for veterans who deferred care during the pandemic or were not able to get appointments over the past year, VA Secretary Denis McDonough told lawmakers this week. McDonough said the department needs to hire...
Lawmakers Talk Readiness with Service Vice Chairs
The vice chiefs of staff of the military services testified about the Pentagon’s budget at a Wednesday hearing of the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee. Lawmakers continued to question whether the budget leans too heavily on new technologies instead of...
From the ADC Studio: A Closer Look at the President’s Budget
Joe Gould, who covers Congress for Defense News, talked with ADC’s Matt Borron about what’s in the administration’s defense budget request and what to expect on Capitol Hill. Watch here.
In Our Communities
The Pentagon has shut down all but five of the mass vaccination sites it opened with FEMA. At one point there were 35 of the sites, administering 16 million vaccines, The Hill reported…. Camp LeJeune, North Carolina is offering four-day weekends to units that meet a...
Deadline Is Next Week for Defense Manufacturing Community Support Grants
The DOD Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation reminded communities that June 15 is the deadline for Defense Manufacturing Community Support funding proposals. The proposal solicitation and related documents are available on Grants.gov. As the proposal states,...