May 06 Acting Defense Secretary Shanahan says Iran must cease 'all provocation' By Associated Press Shanahan says the accelerated deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier group and some bombers to the Middle East is "prudent repositioning" of assets in response to what he said were indications of a credible threat from Iran. Continue reading
Mar 26 Lawmakers denounce plan to divert military money for border wall By Lolita Baldor, Robert Burns, Associated Press Both Republicans and Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee said there is little support for tapping military construction projects for the wall, about a week after Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan sent a list of vulnerable projects to Capitol… Continue reading
Dec 24 'Fix-it' man Shanahan, Mattis' successor, working to streamline defense spending By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press In the new year Trump wants to focus on streamlining purchases at the Pentagon, an issue on which Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has already been working, a White House official said. Continue reading
Dec 20 Pentagon scrambles to devise Syria exit amid outrage about abrupt pullout By Robert Burns, Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press The Pentagon, roiled first by the surprise withdrawal order from Trump and then the abrupt resignation of Mattis, offered no information about how the withdrawal will happen or how long it will take, apparently because they don't know. Continue reading
Oct 30 What the U.S. troops deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border can and can't do By Astrid Galvan, Associated Press The troops will not be allowed to detain immigrants, seize drugs from smugglers or have any direct involvement in stopping a migrant caravan that is still about 1,000 miles from the nearest border crossing. Continue reading
Aug 15 Watch 8:43 How the Pentagon joins forces with Silicon Valley startups By Mike Cerre The U.S. military has been closely connected with Silicon Valley since it "started-up" in the 1960s. More recently, the Defense Department has set up an innovation base of sorts to get closer to the new technology companies they need to… Continue watching
Dec 26 Cities sue Defense Department over gun-check system failures By Colleen Long, Associated Press Three large U.S. cities have filed a federal lawsuit against the Defense Department, saying many service members who are disqualified from gun ownership weren't reported to the national background check system. Continue reading
Sep 19 A Defense Department dictionary helped this poet write in the language of war By Mary Jo Brooks Solmaz Sharif says she has always been obsessed with state-sponsored language. But it wasn’t until 10 years ago when she stumbled onto a Defense Department dictionary that she began to write what would become an entire book of poetry using… Continue reading
Oct 18 U.S. confirms airstrike in Syria killed Al-Qaida commander By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press The U.S. military is confirming that an airstrike in Syria by the U.S.-led coalition has killed a top al-Qaida commander. Continue reading
Feb 17 Ash Carter pledges 'candid advice' after taking oath of office By Nedra Pickler, Associated Press Ash Carter, sworn in Tuesday as President Barack Obama's fourth secretary of defense amid multiple global threats, pledged to offer his most candid strategic advice and carefully consider decisions about sending troops into harm's way. Continue reading