Military News

The House Armed Services Committee and its Senate counterpart have finally passed their respective versions of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, with the House coming in at $733 billion and the Senate matching, in general terms, the Trump administration’s request for $750 billion. While the $17 billion difference between the two is a significant…

The Democrat-controlled House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces is advancing policies on nuclear weapons and missile defense that would make the U.S. and its allies less safe. This is evident in the markup (or the subcommittee’s version) of the National Defense Authorization Act, which it released Tuesday. For example, the markup prohibits funding for…

The Department of Defense’s Indo-Pacific Strategy Report, released June 1, is most remarkable for its clarity. It underscores America’s enduring commitment to the region, which some of us have been trying to explain to our friends abroad since the presidential election in November 2016. It’s also crystal clear on the China challenge in ways that…

There’s been a lot of conversation these days among America’s wealthy class about whether capitalism can—or even should—survive in an age of increasing wealth disparity. Some, like billionaire hedge fund owner Ray Dalio, seem downright ambivalent about their wealth. Dalio, whose net worth stands at about $14 billion, believes that wealth disparities between rich and…

House appropriators have now released their budget top lines for every government agency, and their number for the Department of Defense shows they acknowledge the defense budget needs an increase. But that increase still isn’t enough, as it falls short of the president’s budget request and of what the military needs to continue its rebuild….

The long arm of the PC police has reached back to the ’30s and arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced the late singer Kate Smith. Smith, who popularized Irving Berlin’s song “God Bless America” and was a female pioneer in early television, recorded songs that today in hindsight are viewed as racist. An old friend, Harry Covert,…

The Pentagon commemorated the 36th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative in dramatic fashion March 25 by reaching a new technological milestone. The military conducted a successful test of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system against the most complex simulated threat to date.    On March 23, 1983, in that historic speech to the…

Will the Trump administration be able to continue rebuilding our military? That depends in large measure on whether Congress passes the National Defense Authorization Act for the upcoming fiscal year. In his inaugural hearing as the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., delivered a message of committee unity and commitment…

In normal usage, “discrimination” is an ugly word. But discrimination has two meanings. The first and more familiar definition is “the treatment of a person or particular group of people differently, in a way that is worse than the way people are usually treated.” Discrimination of that sort is clearly unacceptable. The second, less common…

Despair filled the eyes of the mother next to me in the Senate committee hearing room as she showed me a picture of her son. She explained he will need lifelong medical care because she was unknowingly exposed to lead paint and mold in her home during her pregnancy. To my surprise, she wasn’t living…

Amid reports that Russia is developing new cruise and ballistic missiles—including one that violates the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty—and assessments that North Korea now has a missile that can reach the United States, President Donald Trump visited the Pentagon on Thursday to release a report on America’s preparedness to combat global missile threats, the 2019…

November is Military Families Month and today we’re recognizing the achievements of R. Riveter, a handbag company founded and run by military spouses. On today’s show, we feature an interview with Lisa Bradley, a finalist for this year’s Small Business Award for Veteran and Military Spouse Employment from Hiring Our Heroes.  Bradley, along with fellow military spouse…

Americans often assume their military is the strongest in the world, capable of handling any threats that come its way. But a new report by the National Defense Strategy Commission challenges that idea. It points out how significantly the U.S. military has deteriorated, placing the U.S. in an increasingly precarious position compared to its potential…

The Air Force recently came under scrutiny for spending $1,280 apiece on hot cups. The cups have become a symbol of two facts that shape our military: The military needs to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars, and an older military leads to increased costs. The cups in question were being used in KC-10…

With a so-called “caravan” of several thousand individuals trekking through Mexico and bound for the U.S., President Donald Trump is considering the option of sending U.S. troops to help close the southern border. Here are the basics of how the military can and can’t be used at the border. What laws govern the use of…

We place a lot of demands on our fine military, and the good news is—at home and in many places around the world—it’s meeting those demands. Now the bad news: We’re wearing it out. After 17 years of continuous combat operations, it’s in desperate need of a rebuild. To be sure, Congress recently provided some…