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Officials: General fired over alcohol, sex charges
Defense officials: Army general fired over alcohol, sexual misconduct charges
Army uses dashboard technology to combat suicides
System aggregates data from various Army components to help commanders detect risk factors for suicide.
Army employee shot, killed at Fort Knox in Ky.
Army civilian employee shot, killed at Fort Knox in Ky.; police seeking person of interest
A Visiting Colonel in the German Army
Wolfgang --a visiting Colonel in the German army had an interesting question for Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel after his speech at the National Defense University on Wednesday. He said instead of sequestration budget cuts, "wouldn't it be wiser to allow U.S. officers to travel overseas to learn about other countries." The audience erupted with thunderous applause. Hagel's amused response was, "you'll make General very soon."
Hagel tells Pentagon to brace for more cost cutting
In his first policy speech, new Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel praised the military, but acknowledged DoD has grown older and more expensive in almost every way. While not a tacit acceptance of the automatic budget cuts imposed by sequestration, Hagel acknowledged it was time for the military to reassess how it can operate in the new budgetary environment where there will be fewer dollars available.
Military declines to award Purple Hearts
The U.S. Army has formally declined to award Purple Heart medals to the victims of Major Nidal Hasan's shooting rampage at Fort Hood, saying the move would damage his ability to receive a fair trial. According to the Army, "U.S. military personnel are organized, trained and equipped to combat foreign, not domestic, forces or threats. To expand the Purple Heart award criteria to include domestic criminal acts or domestic terror attacks would be a dramatic departure from the traditional Purple Heart award criteria."
Cost-conscious DoD reduces pricetag of big-ticket acquisition programs
The size and cost of the Defense Department's portfolio of major weapons acquisition programs have fallen to their lowest levels in five years, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. DoD's major weapons portfolio decreased by 10 programs in 2012 -- to 86 programs -- while the total cost of DoD's big-ticket procurements fell by $152 billion to $1.6 trillion.
US military deaths in Afghanistan at 2,063
As of Tuesday, April 2, 2013, at least 2,063 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count.
Hagel forecasts more cooperation with Singapore
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Pentagon yesterday. Pentagon spokesman George Little said, "The meeting was an opportunity for Secretary Hagel to hear the Prime Minister's views on regional security issues including how nations can work with one another to peacefully resolve territorial issues in the East and South China Seas. Hagel made clear the United States is committed to its allies in the region. "Secretary Hagel made clear the United States and the Department of Defense remain committed to the rebalance towards the Asia-Pacific region and that in the future there will be even more opportunities for closer collaboration between the United States and Singapore," said Little.
Iraq cracks down on weapons trafficking
Iraq says it will stop more aircraft moving through its airspace and vehicles traveling overland to search for weapons being sent to the Syrian civil war, a senior Iraqi official said Friday. Government spokesman Ali al-Moussawi, told the Associated Press, Iraq would conduct more random searches to check for weapons heading for the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad or rebels seeking to topple his regime.
Hagel defends US actions
Secretary Chuck Hagel says North Korea's provocative actions and belligerent tone had "ratcheted up the danger" on the Korean peninsula, but he denied that the United States had aggravated the situation by flying stealth bombers to the region. "We have to take seriously every provocative, bellicose word and action that this new young leader has taken so far" since coming to power, referring to Kim Jong-un.
CBS criticized by veterans group
Some veterans are not happy about an episode of the CBS reality show "Amazing Race." The show recently aired footage of contestants using a downed B-52 memorial in Hanoi as a prop, and requiring them to learn a Vietnamese song praising their communist system. In a letter to CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves, the Veterans of Foreign Wars said CBS failed to exercise executive oversight about a time in American history that continues to be misunderstood, misrepresented and stereotyped.
Doomed US Navy ship removed from Philippine reef
A crane lifted the 250-ton stern of the dismantled USS Guardian on Saturday from the reef, where it accidentally got stuck Jan. 17, officials said.
Defense Dept. employee arrested on bribery charges
Department of Defense employee who oversaw construction contracts at Camp Pendleton used his position to extort bribes from businesses seeking to work on the California Marine Corps base, federal prosecutors said Monday.
No civilian furloughs in 2014, Pentagon promises
DoD says it's committed to making sure civilians are not furloughed in fiscal 2014, which begins in October. But if sequestration remains in place, the alternative would almost certainly be involuntary reductions in force for both civilian workers and uniformed service members, officials say.
VA-DoD health record saga becomes fodder for comedy show
The promise of a single a joint electronic health record system has long stymied the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. And now it's drawn the attention of late-night comedy show "The Daily Show."
DoD releases more details on revised furlough timeline
Furlough notices will now be sent to employees in early May. Actual furloughs will begin in mid-to-late June, placing most Defense civilians on unpaid leave roughly one day per week for the final seven pay periods of the fiscal year.
APNewsBreak: Pentagon cuts number of furlough days
APNewsBreak: Congress funding shift allows Pentagon to cut number of unpaid furlough days
VA pushes DoD to adopt VistA as starting point for electronic health record
Under a revised strategy for creating an interagency e-health record, VA will use its current system, VistA. The department believes DoD should adopt it too.
Pentagon cuts number of furlough days to 14
The Pentagon will sharply cut the number of unpaid furlough days civilians will be forced to take over the next several months from 22 to 14. According to defense officials, Secretary Chuck Hagel made the decision Wednesday. DoD said last week it would review its furlough plan after Congress shifted more than $10 billion to military operations and maintenance accounts as part of the bill funding agencies through the remainder of 2013.




