The beltway was hopping this week with major moves and mergers. Across our media properties, we tracked news at the FBI, a changing of the guard at DoD and the changing faces at some of GovCon’s executive tables. ExecutiveGov topped the news this week with reports that Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta will replace [...]
On Sept. 1, President Barack Obama announced the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq and declared it was time for America to “turn the page.” While a 50,000-strong force will remain in theater in an advisory role through the end of next year, training the nascent post-Saddam Iraqi military, the question remains: What will [...]
The Obama administration’s design to cut down “wasteful” spending is lurching toward reality. In a bid to curb wasteful spending, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition Ashton Carter is making good on Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ call to tighten the defense spending budget, while President Barack Obama’s budget and technology braintrust has put at least [...]
At CNAS’ 2010 conference: Shaping the Agenda, military and policy leaders shared their views on how America’s armed forces will need to evolve to meet the changing needs of an increasingly unstable international environment. Keynote speaker Michele Flournoy, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, said that despite significant progress in Iraq and Afghanistan, “we have a [...]
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates “winced with pain” when he heard President Obama was planning to nominate Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence James Clapper to the vacant DNI position. He knew he was about to lose one of his best. “I think the president could not have found a better person, a more experienced person, [...]
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen has made it clear he stands in agreement with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates that China’s military is standing in the way of improved U.S.-China relations. “From what I see, in the request to visit [with Chinese military leaders in China] that has been [...]
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates sat down with John King of CNN to discuss his thoughts on a number of crucial areas of national interest including Pakistan, Iraq, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and his stance on the defense spending budget. Gates noted improved relations with the nation of Pakistan, underscoring the sometimes tense times with [...]
