HASC Readiness Chair Pushes Panetta for AirSea Info

Capitol Hill: If you were to boil down a letter from Rep. Randy Forbes to Defense Secretary Leon about AirSea Battle, you might put in three words: Where’s the money? In a very polite Nov. 7 letter, Forbes asks Panetta how he planned to “make Congress part of” the process of implementing AirSea Battle. “More…

Boehner Signals Stand Against Super Committee Defense Cuts

Washington: If the Super Committee or anybody else in America wants to know how important keeping faith with the troops is to Buck McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, all they need do is watch the webcast of today’s readiness hearing. They will see a fairly rare occurrence: one of the top defense…

Pentagon Struggles To Keep Ships Sailing, Planes Flying As Budget Cuts Loom

The U.S. military faces a readiness crisis. A recent Congressional hearing generated headlines about the Navy’s surface fleet falling into disrepair. But that was news four years ago. Across all the services, long-standing readiness problems are worsening; breakdowns are happening more frequently. Several years ago, an Air Force F-15C literally broke in half during flight.…