Legal changes
are needed to ensure the Army Reserve can break through the red tape in
responding to national disasters and other emergencies, helping to keep the
force's skills sharp and saving money in the process, the Army Reserve chief
said last week.
Reserves
July 29, 2011
June 16, 2011
CIA Director
Leon Panetta, the nominee to be the Pentagon's next chief, opposes making the
National Guard Bureau's leader a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- a
belief that puts him in the same camp as Defense Secretary Robert Gates, but at
odds with a presidential campaign promise and legislation now circulating on Capitol
Hill.
June 9, 2011
A recently signed multilateral search-and-rescue agreement that involves the Coast Guard and the Defense Department underscores the increased attention the Arctic region is receiving from governments around the world.
June 2, 2011
House lawmakers are voicing concern about a widening gap between active-duty and Reserve forces' capabilities for military information support operations, formerly called psychological operations.
May 13, 2011
Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp defended plans to
eventually ask for over $2 billion in one year to cover the Offshore Patrol
Cutter and National Security Cutter before lawmakers last week.
April 15, 2011
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- The commandant of the Coast Guard sees
plenty of reasons the United States will need polar icebreakers for the
"foreseeable future," despite speculation that thinning ice in the Arctic could
make the icebreakers replaceable with other ice-hardened ships, the admiral
said last week.
February 2, 2011
The chief of the Army Reserve predicted today that his force would likely add a greater mix of capabilities as the active force begins to cut its end strength in the next five years. But he is also concerned that future belt tightening could adversely impact investments in training.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Jan. 6 that he wanted to begin trimming the Army's end strength by 27,000 troops in 2015.
January 21, 2011
The Coast Guard awarded Northrop Grumman an $89 million
contract for long-lead time materials for the fifth National Security Cutter
last week.
January 14, 2011
The commandant of the Coast Guard stressed last week that the
service is still committed to funding all eight National Security Cutters in
the class, despite past delays and speculation in the blogosphere that the
class could be truncated.
December 23, 2010
The Coast Guard's efforts at modernization may take another
blow under the continuing resolution passed by Congress last week, which makes
provisions to sustain the service's operations, but does not include increased
funds for acquisition.
December 17, 2010
A new
report recommending a closer relationship between the Army's active and reserve
components also pitches the idea of taking maneuver forces from the Army
Reserve to increase combat formations throughout the service's brigade combat teams.
December 9, 2010
Due to unexpected cost increases, the Coast Guard has been forced to dip into long-lead materials for its fifth National Security Cutter to pay for NSC-4, and may be forced to deal with operational gaps with both the NSC and Offshore Patrol Cutter, according to an acquisition official.
November 30, 2010
The Coast Guard today awarded Northrop Grumman a contract worth about $480 million for the fourth National Security Cutter.
The fixed-price contract includes long-lead materials for the fifth and sixth vessels in the class, as well as an option for the construction of NSC-5.
According to Coast Guard spokeswoman Maureen Schumann, NSC-4 is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of fiscal year 2015.
August 27, 2010
The Coast Guard will do its best to bring in assets that were formerly part of the Deepwater acquisition program on budget, according to commandant Adm. Robert Papp, but the four-star conceded that factors beyond the service's control may inflate costs.
August 27, 2010
The Commandant of the Coast Guard says that he may have short-term solutions to the shortage of ice breakers in the service's fleet, but has yet to discuss with the White House whether to extend the lives of the existing icebreakers or build new ones from scratch.
August 13, 2010
A new RAND study proposes changes in the preparation of reserve component units to ensure these formations can undergo important training together and absorb high levels of personnel turnover in the months leading up to their deployment.
July 30, 2010
Cost baselines for four of the assets in the Coast Guard's ill-fated acquisition program -- including its largest planned buy, the Offshore Patrol Cutter -- have not been re-examined since the service took over the project from Integrated Coast Guard Systems three years ago, according to the Government Accountability Office.
July 23, 2010
The Coast Guard has announced its schedule moving forward with the Offshore Patrol Cutter, which is expected to make up the largest portion of its acquisition budget.