A newly developed dashboard is feeding the U.S. Department of Defense data-driven insights on its own activities, including implementation of the National Defense Strategy and other critical endeavors. The analytics program, known as Pulse, was created by the department’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, led by Craig Martell, in collaboration with the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, headed by Colin Kahl, and others.
A discussion this week by a United Nations working group on space security highlighted emerging international accord about the importance of norms and data sharing for space operations, but also became a forum for complaints by China, Russia, and Iran targeting everything from U.S. military space activities to the role of commercial firms in the war in Ukraine to the very existence of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.
Republicans have launched a two-front campaign to pressure the Biden administration in the coming months into sending more advanced weapons to Ukraine, including some the president has so far been reluctant to provide. But the conservatives' push comes with the expectation of more and faster progress by Ukraine, as polls indicate declining support for the effort to arm Ukraine, particularly among Republicans.
“Our military’s ammunition lines are cranking up manufacturing again. Taking advantage of new authorities provided by Congress, the Army will soon sign multiyear procurement contracts for munitions and launchers, energizing sluggish production lines and in some cases reopening them. The Army’s playbook should be copied by the Navy and Air Force to quickly beef up their stocks of munitions sent to Ukraine and bolster America’s flagging inventories of things that blow up,” writes Mackenzie Eaglen, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, and Bill Greenwalt, a nonresident senior fellow at AEI.
The Guardsmen faced all of the issues of Active-Duty service members returning from deployment, but their squad leaders didn’t see them at each morning formation. Their platoon sergeants couldn’t recommend military services specific to each individual because they couldn’t determine the needs. And their brothers-in-arms weren’t there daily to put things in perspective.
The White House on Feb. 3 announced the appointment of new members to President Biden’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. Among the newly selected members of the NSTAC are Johnathon Caldwell, vice president of military space at Lockheed Martin, and Mark Dankberg, chairman and CEO of telecommunications satellite operator Viasat.
The Chinese balloon drifting into U.S. airspace “is not an inconsequential act,” says retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, “and it should have been shot down prior to violating the sovereign airspace.”
The European Union (EU) has announced member states will train an additional 15,000 Ukrainian armed forces personnel, bringing the bloc’s overall commitment to 30,000, as it looks ahead to signing off on a tenth Russian sanctions package within weeks. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during a European and Ukraine summit in Kyiv on Feb. 2 that the EU plans on approving the new sanctions by Feb. 24, one year after Russia’s invasion started.
Biden administration officials on Feb. 4 claimed Chinese spy balloons soared above the United States while former President Donald Trump was in office. Yet officials from that era have responded in singular fashion: Not on our watch. It took just one briefing to shift the debate from President Joe Biden’s handling of the aerial vehicle—specifically over the decision not to shoot it down over land—to whether the Trump administration missed multiple illegal Chinese incursions into American airspace. POLITICO spoke with five senior Trump administration officials who said they were never told of such incidents occurring when they were in office.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War conflict. It was March of 1973 when the Paris Peace Accords were finalized, ending the Vietnam war and American involvement in it. The City of Linden organized a commemoration of the end of the Vietnam War at the old downtown courthouse. Hundreds turned out, many of them Vietnam veterans and their families, to remember the sacrifices made by those who fought in the war. “Thank you to each Vietnam vet, and welcome home,” said Cass County Judge Travis Ransom. “Your service and sacrifice then continues to make an impact on the lives of many that serve today.”
