Pentagon

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The Pentagon Finally Gets a Permanent Leader

Mark Esper confirmed by Senate as defense secretary

(Newser) - The Senate has confirmed Army veteran and former defense industry lobbyist Mark Esper as secretary of defense. The 55-year-old won Senate confirmation on Tuesday by a vote of 90-8 and is to be sworn in by day's end. His confirmation ends a stretch of seven months the Pentagon didn'...

Court Rules Against Border Wall Funding

Appeals court says Trump can't use Pentagon cash

(Newser) - An appeals court on Wednesday upheld a freeze on Pentagon money to build a border wall with Mexico, casting doubt on President Trump's ability to make good on a signature campaign promise before the 2020 election. A divided three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in...

Pentagon to White House: Stop Politicizing the Military

But a top Trump aide calls it 'much ado about nothing'

(Newser) - The Pentagon has told the White House to stop politicizing the military, amid a furor over a Trump administration order to have the Navy ship named for the late US Sen. John McCain hidden from view during President Donald Trump's recent visit to Japan, the AP reports. A senior...

Pentagon Has Plan to Reinforce Security in Middle East

Officials will make presentation to White House Thursday

(Newser) - The Pentagon on Thursday will present plans to the White House to send up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East, in a move to beef up defenses against potential Iranian threats, US officials said Wednesday. The officials said no final decision has been made yet, and it'...

War With Iran? 'I Hope Not,' Says Trump

Diplomats move to de-escalate situation

(Newser) - Going to war with Iran is not on the to-do list of President Trump, officials say. Sources tell the New York Times that the president—who strongly criticized America's Middle East entanglements during his 2016 campaign—told Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan during a Wednesday morning briefing that he...

Shanahan Reveals Plan for Border Security

The acting defense secretary wants to leave the Pentagon behind

(Newser) - On a trip to a border city in Texas, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Saturday he intends to accelerate planning to secure the border and bolster the government's ability to accomplish that without the Pentagon's continuous help, the AP reports. Shanahan told reporters traveling with him to...

Pentagon Fires Gitmo Commander
Pentagon Fires
Gitmo Commander
Apr 29, 2019 10:20 AM CDT

Pentagon Fires Gitmo Commander

John Ring is out soon after hosting controversial media visit at Guantanamo

(Newser) - Gitmo is getting a new commander, earlier than expected. The Pentagon has fired Navy Rear Adm. John Ring, citing a "loss of confidence in his ability" to lead, reports the New York Times . Ring had been scheduled to rotate out of the job anyway in June, but he already...

Dems Cry Foul as Pentagon Transfers $1B for Border Wall

Defense chief Shanahan will be grilled by a House panel over the move

(Newser) - "Christmas came early this week," Donald Trump Jr. tweeted Monday night after the Pentagon authorized the transfer of $1 billion to build 57 miles of border wall. The transfer is the first under the emergency declared last month by President Trump, who retweeted his son's remark. In...

US, South Korea Make Big Change to Military Drills

The two governments are scaling them down

(Newser) - South Korea and the US are eliminating their massive springtime military drills and replacing them with smaller exercises in what they call an effort to support diplomacy aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis, the AP reports. The decision announced by both countries Sunday came after President Trump complained...

Threats Are 'Very Real,' but Not From Mexico, General Says

Senators question diverting Pentagon money to build a wall

(Newser) - Under pointed questioning from senators, the top US general for homeland defense said Tuesday that he sees no military threat coming from the southern border with Mexico, but his focus is on "very real" threats from China and Russia in the north. Air Force Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, commander,...

Pentagon: Our Bases Are Flooding
Pentagon Has Bad
News About Its Bases
Jan 20, 2019 11:40 AM CST

Pentagon Has Bad News About Its Bases

Seems climate change is affecting mission-critical installations

(Newser) - A new Pentagon report says wildfires, drought, and flooding fueled by climate change are threatening two-thirds of key US military bases, the Military Times reports. Posted online Friday, the report looks at 79 mission-critical installations across the Army, Air Force, and Navy, but not the Marine Corps. The report says...

Days After Mattis Leaves, Another Resignation at the Pentagon

'Time to return to private sector:' Rear Adm. Kevin Sweeney is out as chief of staff

(Newser) - Just days after Jim Mattis' last day as Defense secretary, another member of the Pentagon's top brass has abruptly stepped down, reports CNN . Defense Department chief of staff Kevin Sweeney, a retired rear admiral who has served in his current role since January 2017, is stepping down. "I'...

The $7M Legwear to Turn US Troops Into 'Super Soldiers'

ONYX exoskeleton being developed by Lockheed Martin to reduce weight, help troops move better

(Newser) - The Army is pushing for a new generation of "super soldiers," and critical in that effort is a cutting-edge technology first used to help people with serious medical conditions (e.g., multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis) stay on the move. Reuters reports the Pentagon is pumping nearly $7 million into...

Pentagon Has Novel Spin on Results of First Audit

Yes, we failed, but we knew we would, says Pentagon official

(Newser) - The Pentagon has just provided every kid who brings home a lousy test score with a possible new defense: "We failed the audit, but we never expected to pass it." So says Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan in putting the best possible spin on the results of a...

Trump Wanted It. The Pentagon Said No. Here's Why

Defense officials wouldn't let troops enforce domestic law, officials say

(Newser) - The Trump administration asked, and the Pentagon said no—to using troops on the southern border for law-enforcement purposes, CNN reports. Two defense officials say the Department of Homeland Security wanted US troops to provide "crowd and traffic control" and protect Customs and Border Protection officers from the so-called...

Pentagon to Hackers: Go Ahead, Access Russia's Cyber Systems

It's reportedly part of DOD plan in preparation for cyberattack if Russia interferes with midterms

(Newser) - What may soon become a more "regular currency of war": cyberattacks, per the Center for Public Integrity , and it notes that the US Department of Defense may start cashing in as early as next week. Current and former senior US officials reveal to the investigative journalism nonprofit that the...

Pentagon Plans to Send Hundreds of Troops to Border

Defense chief Mattis expected to sign order as migrants approach

(Newser) - President Trump on Thursday again declared the situation at the US-Mexico border a "national emergency" and promised to get the military involved. Now it appears the Pentagon is preparing to do just that. Defense chief James Mattis is expected to sign an order authorizing at least 800 troops to...

Audit: 'Nearly All' of DOD's New Weapons Systems Are Vulnerable

GAO analysis finds rampant cybersecurity issues at the Pentagon

(Newser) - A new report out of the Government Accountability Office says the Department of Defense is "just beginning to grapple" with vulnerabilities in most of its new weapons systems. The upshot of the 50-page GAO analysis , per NPR : that, based on five years' worth of tests, "nearly all" of...

Pentagon's Ricin Scare Wasn't Caused by Actual Ricin

But envelopes did contain castor seeds

(Newser) - Tuesday's ricin scare turns out not to have actually been ricin. Officials announced Wednesday that the suspicious substance found in two envelopes sent to the Pentagon was actually castor seeds, from which ricin is made, but was not ricin itself. The envelopes, which were addressed to the chief of...

Mail Sent to Pentagon Tests Positive for Ricin

Meanwhile, 'white powdery substance' gets Ted Cruz campaign HQ placed on lockdown

(Newser) - Ricin has been detected in two pieces of mail that arrived at a Pentagon mail distribution center, defense officials announced Tuesday. The building is near, but not in, the Pentagon; the mail was addressed to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Adm. John Richardson, the Chief of Naval Operations. After the...

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