Defense Dept.

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Defense Chief Undergoes Another Medical Procedure

Lloyd Austin has already resumed duties after Friday procedure for ongoing bladder issues

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin underwent a medical procedure at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Friday evening and has resumed duties after temporarily transferring power to his deputy, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement. Austin is continuing to deal with bladder issues that arose in...

Pentagon: Nothing to See Here About Extraterrestrials

DOD reviewed decades' worth of UFO probes, found no evidence of alien technology, cover-ups

(Newser) - For at least two years, the Defense Department's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office has been reviewing nearly eight decades of government probes into alleged sightings of UFOs (also called UAPs, or unidentified anomalous phenomena) and other alleged extraterrestrial happenings, and on Friday, the office released a lengthy, 60-page-plus report on...

Defense Chief Offers Public Mea Culpa
Defense Chief Admits
His Mistake
Feb 1, 2024 11:39 AM CST

Defense Chief Admits His Mistake

'I should have told the president about my cancer,' says Lloyd Austin

(Newser) - Defense chief Lloyd Austin swears he's learned his lesson. In his first press conference since a hospital stay he kept secret , Austin issued a mea culpa for not being more forthcoming:
  • '"I want to be crystal clear: We did not handle this right. I did not handle this
...

Special Request in Lloyd Austin's 911 Call: Be 'Subtle'
911 Call for
Lloyd Austin
Is Out
Jan 17, 2024 7:21 AM CST

911 Call for Lloyd Austin Is Out

Aide asked for ambulance heading to defense secretary's home to be 'subtle' about it

(Newser) - Lloyd Austin was released from Walter Reed hospital on Monday, two weeks after being secretly admitted for complications following surgery for prostate cancer. Now, audio is out of the call requesting an ambulance be sent to the defense secretary's Virginia home on New Year's Day, with a special...

Questions Arise Over 'Evolving Situation' With Defense Secretary

Lloyd Austin's hospitalization on Jan. 1 for complications following surgery was kept quiet

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is already home after being hospitalized most of the week—except almost no one knew he'd been hospitalized in the first place. The Pentagon announced Friday that Austin, 70, checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on New Year's Day, after he suffered...

Pentagon: Footage Shows Chinese Jets' Risky Behavior

Says more than 180 intercepts of US warplanes by Chinese aircraft happened in last 2 years

(Newser) - The Pentagon has released footage of some of the more than 180 intercepts of US warplanes by Chinese aircraft that have occurred in the last two years—more than the total amount over the previous decade and part of a trend US military officials called concerning. The photos and video...

Pentagon Official Has Allegedly Been Dogfighting for 20 Years

Frederick Douglass Moorefield Jr. of communications team faces years in prison

(Newser) - A senior member of the Pentagon communications staff has allegedly spent the last two decades taking part in a dogfighting ring. Last month, agencies including the FBI and Department of Agriculture raided the Maryland homes of Frederick Douglass Moorefield Jr. and a friend, Mario D. Flythe, finding they kept five...

House OKs Defense Bill With Eyebrow- Raising Extras

Add-ons in annual legislation include restrictions on abortion, transgender health care, diversity training

(Newser) - The US House on Friday approved a sweeping annual defense bill that provides an expected 5.2% pay raise for service members but strays from traditional military policy with political add-ons from Republicans to block abortion coverage, diversity initiatives at the Pentagon, and transgender issues that deeply divided the chamber....

FBI Training Lesson: Go to Right Room Before Interrogation

Agents wake up, handcuff baffled airline pilot

(Newser) - Agents from the FBI and the Defense Department followed instructions during a training exercise Tuesday night a little too well. They banged on the door of a Boston hotel room around 10pm, waking up the guest inside—who was sincere when he told them he had no idea what was...

Pentagon Intros Secret New Bomber: 'Won't Really See It'

B-21 Raider is first US stealth warplane of its kind in more than 30 years, meant to combat China

(Newser) - America's newest nuclear stealth bomber is making its public debut after years of secret development and as part of the Pentagon's answer to rising concerns over a future conflict with China. The B-21 Raider is the first new American bomber aircraft in more than 30 years, per the...

National Guard Has New Rules for Use in DC

Approval responsibility shifts to defense secretary

(Newser) - The Pentagon said Thursday it has streamlined the approval process for urgent use of National Guard forces in the District of Columbia, after months of study following the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol. The changes give the defense secretary sole authority to approve requests that would involve DC...

Trump's Ex-DOD Chief Sues Pentagon Over Memoir

Mark Esper says Defense Department is blocking parts of his manuscript it thought were 'too candid'

(Newser) - Mark Esper's memoir, A Sacred Oath, is due out in May from William Morrow, but readers may not see everything he originally included in its pages, thanks to the Pentagon. The former defense secretary in the Trump administration is now suing the agency he once led, claiming that sections...

Suicides Increase, Puzzling Military

Possible contributors include pandemic and war-zone stress

(Newser) - The number of US military suicides jumped by 15% last year, fueled by significant increases in the Army and Marine Corps that senior leaders called troubling. They urged more effort to reverse the trend, the AP reports. According to data released Thursday, there were 580 suicides last year compared with...

Researchers See Signs of New Nuclear Missile Silos in China

This is what we've been warning about, Defense Department says

(Newser) - For the second time this summer, satellite images seem to show a field of silos under construction that could launch nuclear missiles. Researchers from the Federation of American Scientists spotted the construction in the western province of Xinjiang, the BBC reports. They saw sites for 14 silos, just under two...

FEMA Asked DOD for Help on Vaccines. The DOD Delivered

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has OK'd the deployment of 1K troops to vaccination sites

(Newser) - The Pentagon will deploy troops to assist getting Americans vaccinated against COVID-19, the White House said Friday. Coronavirus senior adviser Andy Slavitt announced that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has approved a request for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, per the AP . It means about 1,000 active-duty military...

From All 10 Ex-Defense Secretaries, an 'Exceptional' Op-Ed

They note Biden has won, warn the military has no place getting involved in any election disputes

(Newser) - "The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived." So reads an unusual op-ed that appeared Sunday in the Washington Post , co-signed by all 10 living ex-defense secretaries. The...

Biden's Pentagon Pick Already Controversial

Lloyd Austin is only recently retired from the military

(Newser) - President-elect Biden will nominate retired four-star Army general Lloyd J. Austin to be secretary of defense, according to four people familiar with the decision who spoke to the AP . If confirmed by the Senate, Austin would be the first Black leader of the Pentagon. Biden selected Austin over the longtime...

Flournoy May Not Be a Shoo-In for Defense After All

Sources tell Politico that Biden is still mulling his options for defense secretary

(Newser) - President-elect Joe Biden is hard at work making picks for his administration, with reports already circulating on his choices for secretary of state, Homeland Security chief, and director of national intelligence, among others. But one key role tied to national security is still up in the air: secretary of defense,...

Frontrunner for Biden Defense Chief Would Make History

Michele Flournoy, who served at Pentagon under Obama, would be first woman in role

(Newser) - As President-elect Biden starts to make picks for his administration, one name being floated for a Cabinet position would be a historic one. The Hill reports that a frontrunner to head the Defense Department is Michele Flournoy, who served as the department's undersecretary of defense for policy under President...

Under Fire, Trump Gives Reprieve to Military Paper

'Stars and Stripes' had been told to shut down this month

(Newser) - President Trump said Friday that he won't allow the Pentagon to cut funding for Stars and Stripes, effectively halting the plan to shut the military paper down this month. "The United States of America will NOT be cutting funding to @starsandstripes magazine under my watch," Trump tweeted...

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