Defense
Aircraft carrier crews and their families are devising creative ways to cope with the stresses and strains of increasingly long and frequent deployments. – Washington Times
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta sharply criticized lawmakers in Washington for failing to address looming defense spending cuts set to begin in March. – Defense News
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) exchanged some sharp, rhetorical barbs on Thursday over the congressional deadlock on how to avoid billions in looming budget cuts under the White House’s sequestration plan. – DEFCON Hill
The automatic budget cuts known as sequestration aren’t the only nightmare scenario looming in March for the Department of Defense, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said [yesterday] morning. If Congress keeps on funding the federal government on the current ad hoc basis, by simply extending the current “continuing resolution” — now set to expire March 27 — instead of by finally passing proper appropriations bills, the impact would be equally bad. – AOL Defense
The U.S. Army is delaying its next-generation Ground Combat Vehicle program by extending the technology development (TD) phase by six months, according to a memo obtained by Defense News. – Defense News
The LCS program has used this week’s Surface Navy Association conference in DC for a full-court messaging press against the ever-controversial platform’s critics. – DoD Buzz
The soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team have gone to war five times since 9/11, and 84 have been killed — including 13 during their current deployment to Afghanistan. But when members of the unit had a chance to ask Defense Secretary Leon Panetta questions Thursday, the top issue on their minds was jobs. – Associated Press
A rational procurement process is desperately needed, but there is little hope that one will emerge from the chaos of today’s system. As a consequence, the Air Force and Navy in particular are starving themselves of funds owing to the enormous costs of building planes and ships. Yet the two behemoth programs continue to be cobbled together like Frankenstein’s monster, with no one sure how the creature will act when brought to life. – NRO
NATO
With tensions between Moscow and Washington at higher-than-usual levels, the top military officers of the United States and Russia met for the first time in person this week while attending a NATO meeting of military chiefs in Brussels, diving right into a discussion of “irritants” between the two powers. – The E-Ring
