The Defense Department has asked Congress to provide $14.6 billion for its classified and unclassified intelligence activities next fiscal year, announced Pentagon officials on Wednesday. This amount represents DOD’s base request for the military intelligence program; department officials will submit a separate MIP funding request for overseas contingency operations in Fiscal 2014 at a later date, states the April 10 release. Defense officials “determined that releasing this figure does not jeopardize any classified activities within the MIP,” states the release. However, they will not release additional details “for national security reasons.” The Pentagon spent a total of $21.5 billion in Fiscal 2012 and $24 billion in Fiscal 2011 on the MIP, which comprises the projects and activities that support the Defense Secretary’s intelligence, counterintelligence, and related responsibilities.
A recent seven-day exercise sent Air Force F-22s—along with other USAF aircraft—to austere, challenging environments across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Agile Reaper, taking place for the second time after its inaugural edition last year, featured 800 Airmen and 29 aircraft across five different locations from April 10-16, training…