News
Pilot error one cause of 2012 Predator crash
Pilot error and a propeller malfunction caused an armed MQ-1B Predator to crash into the Afghanistan countryside last fall, according to an accident report released today.
Iraq war contractors fight on against lawsuits, investigations, fines
Donald Rumsfeld declared war on the Pentagon bureaucracy on a quiet, sunny Monday seven months into his tenure as secretary of defense. Never known for his tact, Rumsfeld delivered his battle cry to a room full of Pentagon bureaucrats, who stared back at him in stunned silence. Few in the media took note of the speech, delivered on Sept. 10, 2001.
Business
Lockheed says 243 mid-level managers taking voluntary layoffs
Lockheed Martin said March 19 243 of 4,000 mid-level managers in its information systems and global solutions division have accepted voluntary layoffs, effective March 22.
BAE Systems freezes CEO’s salary after earnings drop
BAE Systems has frozen the salaries of Chief Executive Ian King and two other top executives, after group earnings were hit by U.S. budget cuts and delays to a deal with Saudi Arabia.
Defense
Air Force suspends security clearance updates
Budget cuts have forced the Air Force to suspend investigations into whether airmen with Top Secret clearances still meet the criteria to hold their security clearance.
Budgeters to DOD: Be ready for years of cuts
The Defense Department should be prepared for budget cuts every year through 2021 to remain within the spending caps set by the 2011 Budget Control Act, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office warns in a new report.
European troop cuts may be deeper than planned
The size of the U.S. military’s footprint in Europe could continue to shrink, the head of U.S. European Command said March 19.
Congress stands in way of cuts, DOD says
Amid accusations that the Defense Department still has bloated budgets — and protects them by hyping the potential harm of even modest cuts — the Pentagon’s top financial officer said big cuts are in fact being made and more are coming.
Veterans
Tomas Young, dying Iraq War veteran, pens ‘Last Letter’ to Bush, Cheney on war’s 10th anniversary
Days after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Tomas Young, then a 22-year-old from Kansas City, Mo., made a decision repeated by many other Americans around the country: He was going to enlist in the military in hopes of getting even with the enemies who had helped coordinate the deaths of nearly 3,000 men, women and children.
Space
Voyager 1 enters new region of space
The American Geophysical Union announced March 20 that the NASA probe, which was launched in 1977, had left the solar system after detecting sudden changes in radiation.
Former International Space Station commander Suni Williams has lifted the lid on how astronauts aboard go to the toilet in space. Personnel aboard the ISS often spend months at a time in space, so effective facilities for using the smallest room in zero gravity are essential.
International
Afghanistan, NATO strike compromise on pullout plan
Afghan President Hamid Karzai struck a compromise with NATO forces march 20, agreeing to a far more limited and gradual pullout from a key province than he had initially demanded, according to accounts from the NATO-led force.
Viewpoint
Never forget: Our invasion of Iraq was a breach of trust
by Richard A. Clarke
Former adviser to the President on Cyber Security
On Tuesday, at this 10th anniversary of the American Invasion of Iraq, we would do well to remind ourselves about some painful facts.
Iraq veterans’ thoughts on today’s anniversary
by Jon Soltz
Co-founder of VoteVets.org, Iraq War veteran
This week marks 10 years since the launch of the war in Iraq. I was a young captain at the time, and part of the force sent there just after the fall of Baghdad, in 2003.
