DoD News 
Top News
- IRS to pay $70M in bonuses, Grassley says
- Senators push Tangherlini for assurances GSA is improving
- As VA works to eliminate one backlog, one more might emerge
- BRAC-like commission proposed to hunt down government cost savings
- Senators seek cost cuts for F-35 fighter jet
- Fed pens new furlough song
- Web guru Dorris brings new life to government websites
- Navy strikes enterprise licensing deal with Oracle
- Contractors with security clearances lack path to report problems
- NSA leak case gives vendors reason to reevaluate personnel
- 8 contract executives guilty of 8(a) contracting fraud
- Whistleblower suit leads to $12M false claims settlement by SAIC
- USPS reaches energy reduction goal ahead of schedule
DoD using flawed approach to calculate $1.1B in improper payments
The Defense Department reported making just $1.1 billion in improper payments in fiscal 2011, a small fraction of the Pentagon's total outlays of more than $1 trillion. But, in a new report, the Government Accountability Office said those estimates are neither reliable nor statistically valid because of "longstanding and pervasive" weaknesses in DoD financial-management practices as well as specific deficiencies in the department's procedures for estimating improper payments.
WikiLeaks trial shifting to Afghan war video
The court-martial of a U.S. Army private who gave troves of classified material to the website WikiLeaks is shifting in its second week to specific items he sent.
Pentagon preparing 2014 spending plan that factors in sequestration
By July 1, the Pentagon will provide the Senate Armed Services Committee its plan for managing reduced fiscal 2014 budget levels, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in a speech Wednesday. The committee had asked DoD to provide a list of spending reductions after the White House submitted a budget proposal for next fiscal year that simply ignored sequestration, ostensibly in the hope that the automatic budget cuts would be canceled or otherwise avoided in 2014.
Tons of cocaine entering U.S. due to sequestration cuts, rear admiral says
Coast Guard Rear Adm. Charles Michel, director of the Joint Interagency Task Force South told the Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Emily Kopp that cuts from sequestration are limiting the resources available to stop large amounts of cocaine from entering the country.
Post-war budget cuts and Michael Froman
This week's guests on BGov's Capital Impact show include Robert Levinson and Sanford Reback.
Kevin Geiss leads Air Force toward energy efficiency
The Partnership for Public Service nominated Kevin Geiss, the Air Force's deputy assistant secretary for energy, for a 2013 Service to America Medal. Geiss' planning helped the service find $1 billion in savings through more efficient fuel usage.
House passes budget bill boosting vets' programs
The House on Tuesday passed the first of 12 spending bills for the budget year beginning Oct. 1, a popular measure providing more money for veterans' programs like health care.
Senators blast military response to sex assaults
Pentagon brass calls sexual assault 'like a cancer,' but insists commanders keep authority
Navy acquisition chief Branch discusses procurement strategies
This week on "Off the Shelf," Elliott Branch, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Acquisition and Procurement discusses the Navy's procurement strategies.
June 4, 2013
From left, right and center, analysts beg DoD to tackle overhead costs
In an open letter to congressional leaders and to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, a broad array of military scholars argue the cost of running the Pentagon bureaucracy soon will crowd out the spending necessary to fight and win wars.
Sequestration slows network modernization that Navy can't wait for
In the initial round of installations, the Navy hoped to outfit 15 ships with the new standardized IT architecture. But fiscal 2013 budget problems will cut the number of ships roughly in half.
Marine Corps prepares to cut cord on NMCI
The Marine Corps will transition on Saturday to a government-owned, government-operated IT network, ending its 12-year reliance on the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI). The Navy said it expects to award the follow-on contract to NMCI by June 30.
Chinese cyber army holding exercises
China's rolling out its digital army. Xinhua, the official state news agency says next month they're going to conduct their first "digital" technology military exercise. It'll take place in north China's remote Inner Mongolia region. They're going to focus on digitalized combat, special operations forces, army aviation and electronic counter forces.
Navy targets billions more in IT savings
Navy CIO Terry Halvorsen says the Navy and Marine Corps have already reduced IT spending by $2 billion, and will soon target billions more in technology spending.
Pentagon programs target of China cyber threat
Pentagon aircraft, missile defense programs said target of China cyber threat
DoD furlough decision driven by readiness concerns
Roughly 680,000 DoD civilians will be forced to take one day off per week without pay between July 8 and the end of the fiscal year as a result of the automatic budget cuts, known as sequestration. Jessica Wright, acting undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, told In Depth with Francis Rose the decision wasn't an easy one.
Air Force rolls out more aggressive energy efficiency plan
After reaching one of its energy efficiency goals three years early, the Air Force has adopted a more ambitious plan. On this week's edition of On DoD, Dr. Kevin Geiss offers an update on where the Air Force is at now.
Kendall offers update on DoD's Better Buying Power Initiative
Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics; and Dr. Ash Carter, Deputy Secretary of Defense, recently gave an update on the agency's Better Buying initiative at an event held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
DoD responds to claims that weapons systems were compromised
The Pentagon is responding to a Washington Post article claiming key weapons systems have been compromised by Chinese espionage. Spokesman George Little says, "We maintain full confidence in our weapons platforms." Little also says, "The Department of Defense takes the threat of cyber espionage and cyber security very seriously, which is why we have taken a number of steps to increase funding to strengthen our capabilities, harden our networks, and work with the defense industrial base to achieve greater visibility into the threats our industrial partners are facing." He says, "suggestions that cyber intrusions have somehow led to the erosion of our capabilities or technological edge are incorrect."
DoD waging 'continuing war' on unproductive acquisition bureaucracy
The Pentagon will begin tracking how much time its acquisition managers spend performing and responding to oversight in an effort to remove "non-value-added" processes from the procurement system.
