Wednesdays, 3:00 p.m.

Hosted by Francis Rose, Pentagon Solutions is a deep-dive conversation series that calls on defense experts both inside and outside of DoD to share ideas to solve the big challenges the defense community faces.

Latest on sequestration and military budgets

On this week's edition of Pentagon Solutions, host Francis Rose looks at the latest information on furloughs at the Defense Department as well as the 2014 budgets for the Army and Air Force.

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DoD Deputy Secretary Ashton Carter on DoD fiscal challenges ahead

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter discussed the budget challenges facing the Defense Department and how Pentagon leaders plan to manage through the "era of fiscal uncertainty" in a speech at the National Press Club May 7. Francis played highlights from Carter's speech on Pentagon Solutions.

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Experts discuss DoD's challenges in reaching a clean audit

Former DoD Deputy CFO Al Tucker and Asif Khan from the Government Accountability Office join Francis Rose on this week's edition of Pentagon Solutions to discuss the challenges DoD has in reaching a clean audit by 2017.

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Pentagon Solutions: CJCS reflects on challenges in Gulf

With the 10th anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq this week, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey reflected on the war as well as current and future challenges in the Gulf region in a Center for Strategic and International Studies event.

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Sequestration no longer unthinkable, former Pentagon insider says

With sequestration set to go into effect in fewer than two weeks, many in the Defense Department are concerned the looming cuts are likely and will have a devastating effect on military readiness. Former Deputy Defense Secretary Bill Lynn, now the CEO of DRS Technologies, told Pentagon Solutions with Francis Rose the cuts will have a long-lasting impact on Pentagon planning.

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Former Deputy Defense Secretary Bill Lynn on the timeline of defense sequestration planning

Bill Lynn, former deputy secretary of Defense and now chief executive officer of DRS Technologies, joins Pentagon Solutions with Francis Rose to discuss how the Pentagon has prepared for the automatic, across-the-board budget cuts.

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Defense industry poised for change, challenges

Declining federal spending, evolving customer requirements related to the changed threat environment and the increase of competition from nontraditional defense contractors, such as Accenture, Dell and Apple are just a few of the issues on the horizon, according to an analysis from Booz and Company.

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Pentagon Solutions: DoD faces many layers of budget challenges

Two former Pentagon officials, Rudy deLeon and Dov Zakheim, join Pentagon Solutions with Francis Rose to discuss a range of challenges facing the Defense Department, including the threat of sequestration.

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Pentagon Solutions: Military Officers Association focuses on key priorities

Retired Vice Adm. Norbert Ryan, president of the association, joined Pentagon Solutions with Francis Rose to discuss the group's priorities for the year.

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Congress revises DoD's sequestration starting point

When lawmakers and the White House kicked sequestration two months down the road, they also made changes to how the cuts would be calculated. The Pentagon estimates the impact on the Defense budget would be gentler than before.

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Pentagon Solutions: Longstanding challenges plague federal acquisition personnel

Stan Soloway, the President and CEO of the PSC, and Phil Kangas, a principal with Grant Thornton, joined Pentagon Solutions with Francis Rose to discuss the findings of a survey of federal acquisition personnel.

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Pentagon Solutions: DoD's evolving cyber posture

William Lynn, the former deputy Defense secretary played a significant role in improving DoD's cyber posture. Now, the CEO of defense contractor DRS Technologies, Lynn joined Pentagon Solutions with Francis Rose for a deep-dive discussion into the Pentagon's cyber readiness and the changing nature of the cyber threats it faces.

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Pentagon Solutions: How DoD should plan strategy amid downsized budget

Dr. Andrew Krepinevich, president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, joined Pentagon Solutions for an in-depth discussion of how the Defense Department can manage budget cuts without harming its strategic goals.

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Pentagon Solutions: Sequestration becoming likely scenario

The authors of a new report from the Center for a New American Security, "Countdown to Sequestration: Why American Leaders Could Jump Off the Fiscal Cliff" argue "there is a strong possibility that sequestration will take effect" in January.

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DoD's Wennergren on innovation, leadership

Dave Wennergren, assistant deputy chief management officer at the Defense Department, joined Pentagon Solutions for a deep-dive discussion into technology, innovation, management and improving business processes at the Defense Department - and across the federal government.

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Pentagon Solutions: CSIS points to latest defense contracting trends

Guy Ben-Ari, the deputy director of the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group at CSIS, and Greg Sanders, a senior fellow with the group, joined Pentagon Solutions to discuss the latest DoD contracting trends identified in the group's annual report.

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DISA plots out five year plan to keep DoD's cyber edge

The Defense Information Systems Agency's recently released five-year strategic plan takes a multi-pronged approach to building what DISA Director Lt. Gen. Ronnie Hawkins calls "information superiority." Tony Montemarano, director of DISA's Strategic Planning and Information Directorate, joined Pentagon Solutions hosted by Francis Rose, to discuss how DISA leaders developed the new guidance.

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Pentagon Solutions: DoD has only 'limited flexibility' to handle sequestration

The Defense Department's undersecretary of Defense (Comptroller), Robert Hale, told a House Armed Services Committee hearing last week that Defense officials have only "limited flexibility" to handle the automatic, across-the-board budget cuts, known as sequestration, that go into effect next year.

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Pentagon Solutions: DoD strategy, Air-Sea Battle and sequestration

Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, discussed the Obama administration's revised defense strategy, which indicated a shift toward the Asia Pacific region and the Air-Sea Battle concept of overseas military operations.

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Army under secretary: With or without sequestration, DoD will shrink

Army Under Secretary Joseph Westphal said if the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration go into effect, the impact to the Defense Department will be "devastating." At the same time, the DoD still must plan for cuts as tight budget continue and combat operations shrink.

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