DOD names Navy casualty
The Department of Defense announced May 6 the death of a U.S. Navy sailor who was in support of a Somali National Army-led operation with U.S. Africa Command.
Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Kyle Milliken, 38, of Falmouth, Maine, was killed during an operation against al-Shabaab on May 5 in a remote area approximately 40 miles west of Mogadishu.
He was assigned to an East Coast based special warfare unit.
Pentagon announces start of Ballistic Missile Defense review
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis May 5 directed the start of the department’s Ballistic Missile Defense Review, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana W. White said in a statement.
The review is conducted to identify ways to strengthen missile-defense capabilities, rebalance homeland and theater defense priorities and provide the necessary policy and strategy framework for the nation’s missile defense systems, White said.
Defending the nation and U.S. interests abroad from ballistic missiles is one of the department’s highest priorities, she added.
The review, running concurrent to the Nuclear Posture Review, will be led by the deputy secretary of defense and the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and include interagency partners, White said.
The process will culminate in a final report and will be delivered to the president by the end of the year, she said.
Lockheed Martin is moving ballistic missile jobs to Florida
Lockheed Martin plans to move about 300 ballistic missile program jobs from California to Florida’s Space Coast over the next two years.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. spokesman Matt Kramer told Florida Today that the employees moving to Brevard County will work on testing and maintenance for the Navy’s Trident II D-5 Fleet Ballistic Missile.
The Trident II D5 is the latest generation of the Navy’s submarine-launched fleet ballistic missiles. Kramer said Lockheed Martin also will move additional missile program employees from Sunnyvale, Calif., to Colorado over the next several years.
Lockheed Martin currently has nearly 1,000 employees in Florida. In January, the company completed renovations to a Cape Canaveral Air Force Station facility that had been built in 1961 for NASA’s first manned spaceflight program. AP
Candidate for secretary of Army pulls out amid controversy
President Donald Trump’s choice for Army secretary withdrew his nomination May 5 in the face of growing criticism over his remarks about Muslims, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.
Mark Green, a Republican state senator from Tennessee, said in a statement that “false and misleading attacks” against him had turned his nomination into a distraction.
“Tragically, my life of public service and my Christian beliefs have been mischaracterized and attacked by a few on the other side of the aisle for political gain,” Green said, expressing “deep regret” over the decision.
Green is the second Trump nominee for Army secretary to withdraw. The move to step aside came after a video began circulating of remarks Green gave in September to a tea party group in Chattanooga, Tenn. AP
Air Force rescue exercise gets environmental clearance
Changes to an Air Force rescue training exercise have cleared an environmental review.
Officials at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz., say the military service’s Air Combat Command determined that an Angel Thunder exercise about to begin won’t have any significant environment impact.
The next exercise began May 6 and runs through May 20. The last exercise was held in 2015.
The Air Force decided to conduct Angel Thunder exercises more often and to reduce their size — changes that officials will better focus the training on the Air Force’s needs.
The three-week exercise is run from Davis-Monthan and involves up to 1,000 personnel with ground teams and aircraft using airfields and helicopter landing pads at a variety of locations in the Southwest. AP