Department of Defense

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Mattis Stepping Down as Defense Secretary

Resignation letter implies criticism of Trump's Syria decision

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is stepping down from his post, President Trump announced Thursday, after the retired Marine general clashed with the president over a troop drawdown in Syria and Trump's go-it-alone stance in world affairs. Mattis, perhaps the most respected foreign policy official in Trump's administration, will...

The $7M Legwear to Turn US Troops Into 'Super Soldiers'

ONYX exoskeleton being developed by Lockheed Martin to reduce weight, help troops move better

(Newser) - The Army is pushing for a new generation of "super soldiers," and critical in that effort is a cutting-edge technology first used to help people with serious medical conditions (e.g., multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis) stay on the move. Reuters reports the Pentagon is pumping nearly $7 million into...

&#39;US Military Superiority Is No Longer Assured&#39;
'US Military Superiority
Is No Longer Assured'
NEW REPORT
Nov 14, 2018 8:05 AM CST

'US Military Superiority Is No Longer Assured'

Commission warns Russia, China could prevail in war

(Newser) - A new report to Congress delivers a "flashing red" warning of a national security crisis. It's no migrant caravan, but the general degradation of American military might. "The US military could suffer unacceptably high casualties and loss of major capital assets in its next conflict. It might...

US Troops Aren't Just Prepping for the Migrant Caravan

There are also armed militias and criminal organizations, documents show

(Newser) - Troops headed for the US-Mexico border aren't just aiming to help prevent migrant entry—they have unregulated militias and criminal organizations on their minds, too. According to planning documents obtained by Newsweek , the Department of Defense is aware of nearly 200 armed militias already operating along the southwest border....

Pentagon to Hackers: Go Ahead, Access Russia's Cyber Systems

It's reportedly part of DOD plan in preparation for cyberattack if Russia interferes with midterms

(Newser) - What may soon become a more "regular currency of war": cyberattacks, per the Center for Public Integrity , and it notes that the US Department of Defense may start cashing in as early as next week. Current and former senior US officials reveal to the investigative journalism nonprofit that the...

Audit: 'Nearly All' of DOD's New Weapons Systems Are Vulnerable

GAO analysis finds rampant cybersecurity issues at the Pentagon

(Newser) - A new report out of the Government Accountability Office says the Department of Defense is "just beginning to grapple" with vulnerabilities in most of its new weapons systems. The upshot of the 50-page GAO analysis , per NPR : that, based on five years' worth of tests, "nearly all" of...

After Child Deaths in Yemen, Democrats Write 3 Letters

House and Senate Democrats want info on US involvement in Yemen airstrikes

(Newser) - Three letters over the last three days. That's how many messages House and Senate Democrats have penned this week demanding the US be forthcoming with information on its involvement in Yemen after an airstrike there last week killed at least 40 kids . Critics say there could be thousands of...

Pentagon's Top Rep Probed Over Alleged Misuse of Staff

Dana White allegedly had staffers fetch her drycleaning, buy her pantyhose

(Newser) - The story of an allegedly inappropriate boss is garnering national headlines due to who she is: the Pentagon's top spokeswoman. CNN reports the Defense Department Office of Inspector General has been investigating Dana White, the assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, for a number of weeks...

Fitbits Pose 'Increased Risk' for Deployed Troops: DOD

Department of Defense says GPS data from fitness trackers too sensitive, bans them

(Newser) - The Pentagon has restricted the use of fitness trackers by deployed personnel after an app revealed the movement of troops in sensitive areas. Per CNN , Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan issued a memo barring use of the technology six months after a fitness tracking company called Strava released a global...

US Army Discharging Immigrants Without Explanation

Army, Pentagon cite a pending lawsuit

(Newser) - Some immigrant US Army reservists and recruits who enlisted in the military with a promised path to citizenship are being abruptly discharged. The AP was unable to quantify how many men and women who enlisted through the special recruitment program have been booted from the Army, but immigration attorneys say...

US Pacific Command Has a New Name
US Pacific Command
Has a New Name
May 31, 2018 3:33 AM CDT

US Pacific Command Has a New Name

Name change is 'symbolic nod' to ally

(Newser) - The US military's largest unified combatant command has a new name that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says honors the "increasing connectivity of the Indian and Pacific Oceans." Mattis announced Wednesday that US Pacific Command will now be known as US Indo-Pacific Command, CNN reports. "It is...

This Could Be US Military's Next Wild Weapon

Lasers that can mimic human voices and be projected miles away

(Newser) - The Pentagon is working on a funky new weapon that is, in the words of the estimable Popular Mechanics , "profoundly weird." In short, military scientists aim to use lasers to create what sound like human voices that could be projected afar. These "voices" could then be used...

Ex-Chief of Pentagon's UFO Program: We May Not Be Alone

Luis Elizondo, now in private sector, says US is ignoring a potential security threat

(Newser) - How's this for a bold statement on alien life: "My personal belief is that there is very compelling evidence that we may not be alone." It comes not from a conspiracist in a tinfoil hat but from the former Pentagon official who ran the Defense Department's...

Pentagon Never Admitted Having Secret UFO Program. Until Now

'What was considered science fiction is now science fact'

(Newser) - The truth, as they say, is out there. In 2007, former senator Harry Reid—along with former senators Ted Stevens and Daniel Inouye—used "so-called black money" to secretly fund a program inside the Defense Department to study and investigate reports of UFOs, particularly from US military personnel. Despite...

2,400 Auditors Are About to Descend on the Pentagon

Department of Defense is being audited for 1st time ever

(Newser) - The Department of Defense had a budget of $590 billion last year and will have one of nearly $700 billion next year. It has an estimated $2.4 trillion in assets. And yet the department has never been audited. That finally changes this month when the Pentagon undergoes its first-ever...

Pentagon Retweets Call for Trump to Resign

Spokesperson says message was 'erroneously retweeted'

(Newser) - See, this is why all those Twitter profiles are sure to note that retweets do not equal endorsements. CBS News reports the Pentagon's official Twitter account on Thursday retweeted a tweet calling for President Trump's resignation. "GOP: Stop making sexual assault a partisan issue," tweeted "...

US Hasn&#39;t Shown Military Bands Are Worth the Bill
US Hasn't Shown
Military Bands Are
Worth the Bill
GAO REPORT
Aug 17, 2017 1:14 PM CDT

US Hasn't Shown Military Bands Are Worth the Bill

GAO demands performance measures, Pentagon to oblige

(Newser) - A $437 million annual budget is allotted for US military bands. While that's less than 0.1% of the Department of Defense's total budget, it's also about as much as Latvia's entire defense budget, reports Fox News . The funds pay for instruments—the Air Force requested...

Pentagon Memo Alleges Body of John Glenn Was Mistreated

Dover Air Force Base branch chief allegedly offered peeks of body

(Newser) - Between John Glenn's Dec. 8 death and his April 6 burial at Arlington National Cemetery, his body was housed at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to "ensure an increased level of privacy and security for a renowned public servant," says a Pentagon rep. That's not...

Mattis Breaks From Trump on Key Iraq Issue

Defense secretary assures Iraq we want to help beat ISIS, not take its oil

(Newser) - President Trump has noted more than once he thinks we should've taken Iraq's oil when we had the chance (and suggests that option may still be on the table), but his secretary of defense is pushing a different message—what the New York Times characterizes as comments that...

DOD Jumps Into Mystery of Vanished WWII Sailors

More than 130 deemed 'missing' after ship explosion could be in Long Island cemetery

(Newser) - Could we be one step closer to finding more than 130 US sailors who went missing after a World War II catastrophe? More than 70 years after the USS Turner exploded and sank near New York Harbor—leaving about half of the 300 or so men aboard alive, the other...

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