The Navy’s top two leaders said it didn’t matter much if Independence-class littoral combat ships were more fuel-efficient than the Freedom class, because any disparity would only exist at flank speed, and the ships wouldn’t spend much time going that fast. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., that better fuel...
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Despite meeting all recruiting and retention goals, the service personnel chiefs pleaded with a House panel Wednesday to keep paying enlistment and selective re-enlistment bonuses. Clifford Stanley, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said military pay and benefits generally are competitive with the private sector, and that large across-the-board increases are not...
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Back in June 2006, “ Boeing, Raytheon Teams Readying US Border Security Submissions ” covered preparations for a big border surveillance contract. It was all part of the USA’s Secure Border Initiative (SBI), a comprehensive plan to secure U.S. borders and reduce illegal immigration, including an array of technical aids and elements on...
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WASHINGTON — The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday that it remains the goal of U.S. troops to capture Osama bin Laden alive and “bring him to justice.” The comment by Gen. Stanley McChrystal to reporters was in contrast to remarks made a day earlier by Attorney General Eric Holder. Holder told...
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Efforts to lay political and security groundwork in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar have already begun, even as the U.S.-led coalition continues efforts to pacify Marjah, the U.S. general leading the effort said Wednesday. Both goals are key to the Obama administration’s campaign to secure Afghanistan and establish credible governance. The campaign to...
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MARJAH, Afghanistan — A month after losing control of their southern base in Marjah, the Taliban have begun to fight back, launching a campaign of assassination and intimidation to frighten people from supporting the U.S. and its Afghan allies. At least one alleged government sympathizer has been beheaded. There are rumors that others...
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On March 17/10 DLA’s Defense Supply Center Philadelphia awarded 2 contracts to Cardinal Health , a Dublin, OH-based pharmaceutical and medical products supplier, worth up to $807.1 million for drug distribution to US military medical facilities worldwide. Under a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity prime vendor contract (SPM2DX-10-D-0001), Cardinal Health will distribute drugs to medical facilities...
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Reports of sexual assaults within the military were up 11 percent in fiscal 2009, a Defense Department report shows. The report does not attempt to explain whether the increase is attributable to more incidents or more victims coming forward, but Kaye Whitley, who is in charge of the DoD's prevention efforts, said the latter...
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A month after losing control of their southern base in Marjah, the Taliban have begun to fight back, launching a campaign of assassination and intimidation to frighten people from supporting the U.S. and its Afghan allies.
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Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday that she will freeze funds for expanding the virtual fence that originally was supposed to monitor most of the 2,000-mile southern U.S. border by 2011 but now covers only a portion of Arizona's boundary with Mexico.
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The commanding officer of the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Sacramento has been temporarily relieved of duty, five months after several crewmen died in a collision between one of the station's aircraft and a Marine Corps helicopter.
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A Pakistani court charged five young Americans on Wednesday with planning terrorist attacks in the South Asian country and conspiring to wage war against nations allied with Pakistan, their defense lawyer said.
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SAN DIEGO — The Navy identified the officer killed in a weekend vehicle crash here as Ensign Zackery Norrbom. Norrbom, 24, was speeding in a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro about 12:45 a.m. Sunday when the car went off the road in the coastal village of La Jolla and hit a sign and then a...
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At least one in six service members is on some form of psychiatric drug. And many troops are taking more than one kind, mixing several pills in daily “cocktails” — for example, an antidepressant with an antipsychotic to prevent nightmares, plus an anti-epileptic to reduce headaches — despite minimal clinical research testing such...
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Thursday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that bars open service by gays — the second in six weeks — will feature three outside witnesses who are all former commissioned officers. Two were booted out for being gay, and a retired Marine Corps four-star general will testify...
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