Daily Report

June 4, 2013

Hagel in Brussels for NATO Meetings

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in Brussels on Monday for two days of meetings with the defense ministers of the NATO alliance. Discussion topics will include the alliance’s post-2014 train-assist-advise role in Afghanistan, a potential Libya training mission, and future...

McKeon Issues His Mark of Fiscal 2014 Defense Legislation

p, .Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), House Armed Services Committee chairman, on Monday released his version of H.R. 1960, the Fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill, in preparation for the full committee’s mark-up on June 5. McKeon’s mark authorizes $552.1 billion for...

Pushing Partisanship Aside

In an open letter on Monday, a bipartisan group of 25 members of the national security think-tank community urged Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and congressional defense overseers to address the “growing imbalances within the defense budget” before they “threaten the...

Too Bad It’s Not Going to Happen

Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces panel, said on Monday he doubts “very little, if any” of the ideas discussed that day during a bipartisan panel of think tank representatives on fixing...

US Eyes Increased Rotational Presence in Philippines

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and his Philippine counterpart Voltaire Gazmin discussed deepening bilateral defense cooperation, including increasing the rotational presence of US forces in the Philippines. The increased rotational presence would consist primarily of air and naval assets, with some...

Second-to-Last C-17 Arrives in Charleston

The Air Force’s second-to-last factory-fresh C-17 transport arrived at JB Charleston, S.C. This airframe is the 222nd C-17 that manufacturer Boeing has supplied to the service. Airmen of Charleston’s 437th Airlift Wing and Air Force Reserve Command’s 315th AW will...

All in the AFCENT Family

Fifteen airmen with assignments at the undisclosed air base in Southwest Asia that hosts the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing are taking advantage of the opportunity to serve there for two years accompanied by family members, according to a release from...

Temporary Eagles’ Nests

Due to scheduled runway construction this summer, F-15s from the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes ANG Base in Westfield will temporarily split operations between Otis ANG Base on Cape Cod and Westover Air Reserve Base near...