Ideas
What to Ask Defense Leaders About the Border Deployment
On Tuesday, a Trump administration official will make his first appearance before a House Armed Services Committee led by Democrats.
Ideas
An Admiral Slammed the Shutdown. Can He Do That?
The Coast Guard commandant's viral video reminds us that senior military officers can speak out, carefully — and probably should do so more often.
Ideas
Don’t Play Mob Ball: What Acquisition Pros Can Learn from Kids Soccer
PEOs tend to grab onto a hot new contract approach like elementary schoolers chasing a ball.
Threats
Missile Defense Review Calls for Protecting US From Cruise Missiles
The long-awaited report calls for technology development, but stops short of calling for the deployment of hypersonic interceptors and space-based lasers.
Ideas
Trump Tried Partisan Applause Lines Inside the Pentagon. Nobody Applauded.
The president uses a missile-defense policy rollout to bash Democrats before the military’s senior leaders.
Science & Tech
Pentagon to Study Putting Anti-Missile Laser Weapons in Space
The long-anticipated missile defense review shies away from a full-scale push — which critics say underlines the idea’s folly.
Science & Tech
The Pentagon Has More than 250 Cyber Gaps in Its Networks, Watchdog Says
The Defense Department has a lot of work to do to remedy some years-old cyber issues.
Science & Tech
DARPA Thinks Insect Brains Might Hold the Secret to Next-Gen AI
They’re small, efficient and capable of basic reasoning, and researchers want artificial intelligence tools to do the same.
Business
Pentagon Owns Fewer Buildings Than Previously Thought: Audit
The Navy was counting buildings that were demolished and the Army was counting uninhabitable facilities on the books.
Policy
Can Pat Shanahan Serve as ‘Acting’ Defense Secretary Forever?
The law is unclear, and the situation all but unprecedented.
Policy
Trump Instructs Pentagon to Curb Watchdogs' Access to Secret Military Reports
Transparency groups decry move as hindering the work of inspectors general.
Ideas
Trump Escalates His Assault on Civil-Military Relations
The president’s public disparagement of retired generals compounds the damage he has done.
Ideas
Meet the New (Acting) US Defense Secretary
With no military experience and just a year and a half in government, the former Boeing executive Patrick Shanahan has yet to develop a foreign-policy vision of his own.
Ideas
A Giant Repair Job Awaits the First Post-Trump SecDef
It will be a rebuilding project the likes of which has not been seen since the Vietnam War.
Policy
Hard-Nosed Pentagon Negotiator Removed From Job; Racked Up Huge Travel Costs
Shay Assad also backed a controversial plan to slow payments to defense contractors.
Policy
The ‘Nightmare Scenario’ Has Happened and You’re to Blame
Trump’s withdrawal from from Syria is what military leaders feared — and exactly what he promised.
Ideas
James Mattis’s Final Protest Against the President
The defense secretary, who resigned on Thursday, was one of the last senior officials in the government who could constrain Donald Trump.
Policy
Mattis Resigns Over Disagreements with Trump
In two-page resignation letter, defense secretary cites need to treat allies with respect, potential adversaries with resolve.
Science & Tech
The Pentagon Doesn’t Know All the Software on Its Networks—And That’s a Problem
The Defense Department faces “unnecessary” risk without a complete software inventory, according to the agency’s inspector general.
Business