Daily Report

May 7, 2014

Joint Chiefs Unite for Pay, Compensation Reforms

The Joint Chiefs of Staff unanimously supported pay and compensation reforms included in the Fiscal 2015 budget, stressing serious fiscal impacts if Congress does not permit their passage. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, JCS Chairman Army...

Readiness Will Foot the Bill

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said USAF is already cutting its modernization program by 50 percent, and in Fiscal 2016 it plans to return to sequester-level funding. Speaking to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on...

Sequestration Endangers National Security

Sequestration is “destroying military readiness and endangering national security,” AFA President retired Gen. Craig McKinley told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. In his prepared testimony, McKinley said sequestration “has normalized a dangerously low level of defense...

Yell Loudly, We’re Carrying a Twig

Congress will be forced to “whittle our ‘big stick’ down to a twig” if sequestration and budget cuts continue, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said in a speech on Tuesday. “Through smart planning, rearrangement of capital...

Chess with an Old Adversary

Under Rep. Buck McKeon’s mark-up of the Fiscal 2015 budget, the US military would permanently sever cooperation with Russia unless the Kremlin pulls forces from Ukraine and begins honoring arms control treaty commitments. “For reasons known only to Mr. Putin,...

In Djibouti for Good

President Barack Obama secured basing rights in the Horn of Africa by agreeing to a 20-year lease deal for US forces to continue using Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. “Obviously, Camp Lemonnier is extraordinarily important not only to our work throughout the...

NATO’s Strategic Airlift Capability Achieves Milestone

The Strategic Airlift Capability’s Heavy Airlift Wing recently flew its first combined C-17 personnel and materiel airdrop in operational conditions, according to a May 6 release. The HAW, stationed at Pápa AB, Hungary, airdropped “parachute-assisted” cargo and personnel to two...