WASHINGTON, D.C. — After weeks of review, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has concluded budget cuts will require most of the department’s civilian employees to be furloughed beginning in July, but that because of other efforts to deal with the shortfall, only half of the 22 days originally envisioned as temporary layoffs will now be necessary. During…

FORT MEADE, Md. — Recent approval of secure technical implementation guides for BlackBerry and Samsung Knox devices means that Defense Department organizations will be able to use those devices in conjunction with a secure enterprise mobility environment. The May 2 release of the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Samsung Knox STIG provisionally allows DOD to use the…

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is vowing to change the culture that allows sexual assault to be a serious problem for the Defense Department. In a memo released May 7, Hagel announced a number of initiatives to eradicate sexual assault. “While the department is putting in place important new programs to combat this crime,…

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Internet posts making the rounds claiming that the Defense Department will court-martial service members who espouse Christianity are not true, a Pentagon spokesman said today. “The Department of Defense places a high value on the rights of members of the military services to observe the tenets of their respective religions and respects, [and…

WASHINGTON, D.C. — When Fort Carson, Colo., reduced its identification card waiting time from 45 minutes to five minutes, it was a mile marker in the Defense Department’s goal to cut the waiting process, a DOD official said. Carson won a DOD award for its numerous successes in the ID card program, known as RAPIDS,…

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new publication series designed to educate civilians on the specialized needs of military and veteran families in their neighborhoods launched April 15. Charles E. Milam, the acting assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy, spoke at the launch event at the Army-Navy Club for the “How to Help…

WASHINGTON (AFPS) — Defense Department officials are working to standardize a program designed to help service members get care for family members with chronic health issues or special needs who otherwise might face forgoing an assignment or having to cut short a deployment because of an inability to find such care. The Exceptional Family Member…

WASHINGTON (AFNS) — Sexual assault has no place in the Defense Department, a senior Pentagon official said April 2 here, calling on the workforce to be part of the solution. In a keynote address kicking off Aberdeen Proving Ground’s observance of National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, acting Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and…