A-10 Mess Worsens: ACC Deputy Canned For ‘Treason’ Comments
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WASHINGTON: Want to know how fractious the debate over the retirement of the A-10 has gotten? With an eye clearly on Congress, the canny head of Air Combat Command, Gen. Hawk Carlisle, today canned his deputy who had made dumb comments about the subject. They were especially stupid because Maj. Gen. James Post told the audience at an Air… Keep reading →
Shyu Mum On More Acquisition Powers For Odierno
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HUNTSVILLE, ALA: There seems to be little support for Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno‘s push for the four service chiefs to get greater authority over procurement — not even from the Army’s civilian head of acquisition Heidi Shyu. It’s not actually clear exactly what Odierno wants. “We’re still working through the exact authorities” in response to a congressional request for more detail, Odierno… Keep reading →
McCain Launches Goldwater-Nichols Review; How Far Will He Go?
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UPDATED: With Thornberry Comment Supporting Reform WASHINGTON: Sen. John McCain plans a long-term review of the law underpinning the modern American military, the Goldwater-Nichols legislation that created the current chain of command from president to defense secretary to combatant commanders. “The Committee will be conducting a preliminary examination of the structure, roles, and missions of civilian… Keep reading →
Cut Red Tape: HASC Chair Thornberry Rolls Out 1st Major Acquisition Changes
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UPDATED: Here Is Bill That Thornberry Introduced On March 25 CAPITOL HILL: After over a year of preparation, House Armed Services chairman Mac Thornberry will announce Monday a plan to fix Pentagon procurement. In intentional contrast to past efforts at sweeping acquisition reforms, Monday’s child will be a relatively modest “increment one,” a committee aide… Keep reading →
House GOP Splits On Defense Sequestration
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CAPITOL HILL: Tensions within the GOP over the mandatory budget caps set by the Budget Control Act burst into the open today. The chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee repeatedly warned colleagues and the leaders of the Air Force this morning that they had no choice and must live within the Budget Control Act’s spending limits. Then,… Keep reading →
4,817 Targets: How Six Months Of Airstrikes Have Hurt ISIL (Or Not)
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[UPDATED with McCain comment] The war is escalating. But what have six months of airstrikes against the self-proclaimed Islamic State actually achieved so far? Last week, Jordan launched its retaliation against the Islamic State for burning a Jordanian pilot alive. Yesterday, we learned ISIL had murdered hostage Kayla Mueller. This morning, President Obama formally proposed a… Keep reading →
Hill To Kendall On New Acquisition Laws: Nice But…
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WASHINGTON: Congressional reaction to the first tranche of proposed new acquisition laws from the Pentagon’s acquisition czar, Frank Kendall, is unenthusiastic. Kendall and Rep. Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, have separately worked on a range of legislative and policy acquisition fixes for much of the last year. We haven’t heard much from… Keep reading →
Acquisition Reforms Don’t Cut Costs: Kendall Cites Study
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WASHINGTON: Most Americans think it’s obvious: Change the rules to ensure the Pentagon will save money and it will save money. Congress after Congress has tried this, most recently in the form of the widely praised Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act. Sadly, the assumption that acquisition reform makes things better does not appear to stand up to… Keep reading →
Thornberry Worried By Uniforms Leaving Military
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WASHINGTON: The new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee sounded pretty sympathetic today to the Navy’s plan for a separate budget line to fund a new generation of nuclear missile submarines. But Rep. Mac Thornberry, known for his close attention to detail, also said he understood it was very important to use the right… Keep reading →
Thornberry: Slow & Steady Saves The Pentagon
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WASHINGTON: Mac Thornberry won’t save the world. The soft-spoken Texan faces high expectations as the new head of the House Armed Services Committee, but he spent his first DC speech as chairman lowering them on what’s become his signature issue, reforming how the Pentagon buys weapons. After more than a year working quietly on acquisition… Keep reading →