Daily Report

Nov. 6, 2013

Hagel Outlines Strategic Priorities

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel outlined six priorities for the Defense Department as it looks toward a new era of dwindling budgets. They include, institutional reform, re-evaluating military force structure, prolonging military readiness, protecting investments in emerging technologies, balancing capabilities and...

Locklear Makes Case for Full Theater Engagement

US Pacific Command boss Adm. Samuel Locklear arrived in Washington D.C. this week for meetings with senior officials and briefings to pitch his command’s stepped-up security engagement in Asia. Locklear says the US must stretch its footprint beyond its traditional...

Rasmussen Urges Pakistan to Keep Supply Routes Open

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged Pakistani officials Nov. 4 to keep supply lines open. His comments came the same day a Pakistani opposition party voted to block the transit routes commonly used by NATO and the US to...

Flournoy Assumes Command of 4th Air Force

Brig. Gen. John Flournoy Jr. assumed command of 4th Air Force during a Nov. 3 ceremony at March ARB, Calif. Flournoy, who previously led the Air Reserve Personnel Center at Buckley AFB, Colo., replaced Maj. Gen. Mark Kyle who now...

The Post-9/11 Era

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Tuesday addressed long-term national security challenges in the post-9/11 era. “Not since the decade after World War II has mankind witnessed such a realignment of interests, influences, and challenges,” said Hagel during his keynote address...

Benefits Talk Not Just a Budget Drill

Representatives from several military service organizations, including the Air Force Association, testified before the congressionally-mandated Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission in Arlington, Va., Tuesday. The Association of the United States Army’s Guy Swan, a retired lieutenant general and AUSA’s...

Time To Think About Tricare

Representatives from various military service organizations on Nov. 5 urged the congressionally-mandated commission on military compensation reform to take a serious look at health care spending accounts as a means of cutting costs. Commissioner Peter Chiarelli, former Army Vice Chief...

Mock Trial Teaches Junior Airmen Consequences of Sexual Assault

The 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahelm AB, Germany, held a mock trial in late October to teach junior enlisted airmen about the consequences of sexual assaults. About 30 junior enlisted members participated in the simulated scenario, dubbed “Got Consent?” Twelve...

Defining the Line

Finding a surveillance consensus post-Edward Snowden will require looking at transparency, oversight, and overall scope of data collection, said Chan Park, general counsel for the Senate judiciary committee. Speaking on a panel at a Center for Strategic and International Studies...

F-35 on the Red Carpet

The F-35 strike fighter has just added another blockbuster movie to its screen credits, and finally gets some hero treatment. It features in “Ender’s Game,” the Harrison Ford space epic that hit theaters on Nov. 1. In this film (don’t...