WASHINGTON (AFNS) — Defense Department officials have a zero-tolerance level for human trafficking and have stepped up awareness and education efforts to curb the crime overseas. In an interview with American Forces Press Service and the Pentagon Channel, Brian Chin — a program manager for the department’s effort to combat human trafficking, said DOD is…

WASHINGTON (AFNS) — The Defense Department announced Jan. 3, changes in imminent danger pay, or IDP, that will go into effect June 1, DOD spokesman Army Col. Steven Warren told reporters here. “This is a process that began (in 2011),” he said, and “included in-depth threat assessment from the combatant commands. It was made in…

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas (AFNS) –Separating service members can participate in the transition assistance program, or TAP, online, Department of Defense officials announced. TAP, now called Transition GPS-Goals, Plans and Success, is designed to help prepare separating and retiring members for life outside of the military. It includes a variety of seminars from dressing…

WASHINGTON – The Defense Department has expanded its zero tolerance for the use of illicit drugs to include synthetic marijuana, also known as “spice,” the director of DOD’s drug testing and program policy said here today. In an interview with American Forces Press Service and the Pentagon Channel, Army Lt. Col. Tom Martin said that…

The Defense Commissary Agency has implemented a new policy requiring a Department of Defense ID card bar code be scanned in order to make purchases at all commissaries throughout the military. “The purpose of the scanning IDs is to positively identify authorized patrons for the commissary, just like the Department of the Air Force or…

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas (AFNS) — Some Airmen who met a medical or physical disability evaluation board between Sept. 11, 2001 and April 30, 2012 prior to separating from the Air Force may be eligible for re-evaluation, Air Force Personnel Center officials said. When defense officials learned some diagnoses had been changed during board processing…

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas (AFNS) — Survivor Benefit Plan program enrollment is now available for eligible retirees in same-sex marriages. The program provides a monthly income to survivors of retired Airmen upon the retiree’s death when retired pay stops. Survivors of Airmen recalled to active duty from retirement who die while on active duty, may…

WASHINGTON – An amendment published yesterday to the Defense Federal Acquisition Supplement will require defense contractors to incorporate established information security standards on their unclassified networks and to report cyber-intrusion incidents that result in the loss of unclassified controlled technical information from these networks. The amendment will apply to all new contracts that will use…

Furloughs of civilian employees as a result of the government shutdown cost the Defense Department at least $600 million in productivity, the Pentagon’s top financial officer said. During a Pentagon news conference, DOD Comptroller Robert F. Hale said that in addition to the lost productivity, the shutdown generated a number of other costs that have…

WASHINGTON – Complaints to the Defense Department’s inspector general hotline have climbed by 125 percent over the past four years, a senior official in the office said, and the cases include everything from abuse in the workplace to the multi-million-dollar contracting investigation now underway within the upper reaches of the Navy. “We are marketing and…