Daily Report

TSgt. Larry D. Bunn, 43, of Bossier City, La., died on March 7 as a result of a non-combat-related incident at an undisclosed base in Southwest Asia, announced the Defense Department on Monday. Bunn was assigned to Air Force Reserve...

The Air Force on Monday defended its decision to award the Light Air Support contract to the team of Sierra Nevada and Embraer and not to Beechcraft. “We are confident that this best-value decision is well supported and that the...

Amid lawmakers' outcry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has directed Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Defense Department Acting General Counsel Robert Taylor to look into the decision by 3rd Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin that overturned the sexual-misconduct conviction of a former officer at Aviano AB, Italy. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) announced Hagel's action on Monday, releasing the March 7 letter that he sent her. Hagel wrote Boxer that he wanted Donley and Taylor "to determine how the factual basis" for Franklin's decision "can be made more transparent" and to review the case "to assess whether all aspects of the [Uniform Code of Military Justice] were followed." He wants them to report to him—after they consult with the Army and Navy Secretaries—whether DOD should consider UCMJ changes. Hagel also told Boxer he's prepared to work with lawmakers to "help ensure the effectiveness" of DOD's responses "to the crime of sexual assault." Franklin was the convening authority for the court-martial of Lt. Col. James Wilkerson, former 31st Fighter Wing inspector general found guilty last November of improper sexual conduct with a female civilian base employee. Upon reviewing the case, Franklin overturned the conviction, citing lack of sufficient evidence. Under the UCMJ, the convening authority's decision is final; no one, including the Defense Secretary can change it, according to Hagel's missive. Hagel said the case "does raise a significant question" about the convening authority's role.

US and South Korean forces on Monday kicked off the annual Key Resolve exercise on the Korean peninsula against the backdrop of increasingly bellicose rhetoric from the North Korean regime of Kim Jong Un. Key Resolve, which runs through March...

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the withdrawal of US combat forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 will be challenging, but obtainable. “We will manage . . . in partnership with our coalition partners and with the Afghan forces,”...

Lt. Gen. William Etter assumed command of the Continental US NORAD Region-1st Air Force (Air Forces Northern) during a ceremony at Tyndall AFB, Fla. Etter, an Air National Guardsman, took the reins from Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke during the March...

President Obama next month will award the late Capt. Emil J. Kapaun, a Roman Catholic priest who served as an Army chaplain during the Korean War, a posthumous Medal of Honor, announced the White House on Monday. Kapaun’s nephew, Ray...

Furloughs of Defense Department civilian employees may commence on April 26, unless Congress acts to end budget sequestration, said Defense Department Comptroller Robert Hale on Monday. If the furloughs do take effect, civilian employees would lose pay for a total...

Air Force Reserve Command’s 477th Security Forces Flight at JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, earlier this month transitioned to a squadron, announced base officials. The change to the 477th Security Forces Squadron took place on March 1, with the new unit now...

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) that the new Distinguished Warfare Medal is appropriately ranked despite the protests from lawmakers and some veterans’ groups, according to the senator. “This is a disappointment,” said Toomey in a March...