The Air Force is no longer operating C-27J Spartan airlifters in Afghanistan and currently has no plans to return them to that theater, according to service officials. Earlier this week, officials at Kandahar AB, Afghanistan, inactivated the 702nd Expeditionary Airlift...

President Obama has nominated Lt. Gen. Paul Selva for promotion to the rank of general for an assignment that the Pentagon has yet to disclose, according to the Senate’s webpage of non-civilian nominations. Selva is a 1980 Air Force Academy...

Air Force officials relieved the commander of the 8th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla., following last week’s crash of one of the unit’s CV-22 Ospreys, reported AOL Defense June 21. “Loss of confidence” in the squadron commander’s “ability...

With the Presidential election creeping closer and both sides of the political aisle seemingly at an impasse for how to stave off budget sequestration, lawmakers should pass a continuing resolution and leave a new defense spending bill to the next...

Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), House Armed Services Committee chairman, said June 21 he is not in favor of tax hikes to pay for defense shortfalls. Further, any compromise to stave off sequestration can’t cut any more from the Defense Department...

The Pentagon needs to stop counting on efficiency savings that have yet to be realized or it could face even more problems in the future, analysts with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments told reporters June 21. After all,...

The Pentagon expects to save about $20 billion through efficiency measures in Fiscal 2012—a significant step toward the overall goal of $150 billion through 2016, said Pentagon spokesman George Little. “The Secretary is personally involved in the efficiencies effort. This...

Lockheed Martin is confident it can fix problems with the very sophisticated helmet that goes with its F-35 strike fighter, said Steve O’Bryan, the company’s F-35 business development vice president. The company is making strides in addressing jitter—the shakiness of...

The 11th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, released June 21, found that, in general, pay for service members "compares favorably" with similar civilian wages. However, the Pentagon needs to revamp its combat compensation to ensure those who are serving in the most hostile areas receive higher compensation than those in less hazardous environments, according to a Pentagon release summarizing the findings. "The QRMC concluded that the relationship between combat compensation and the degree of danger to which a member is exposed has eroded, with members most likely to be exposed to the hazards of combat receiving the smallest benefit," states the release. In addition to restructuring combat pay, the report recommended that the Defense Department replace the Combat Zone Tax Exclusion with a refundable combat tax credit and a refundable direct support tax credit, states the release. (Eleventh QRMC full report; caution, large-sized file.)

Defense Department archeologists set out to investigate the wreckage and remains of a military aircraft and its crew that were discovered on a glacier in Alaska earlier this month, announced the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. An Army National Guard UH-60...