Editor’s Note
The Daily Report will not publish Monday, May 26, in observance of Memorial Day. We will be back in your inboxes Tuesday, May 27.
Military Spouses Fed Up With PCS Struggles, Survey Says
A new survey found that record rates of Active-duty military spouses want to leave the military community, with a large number of them frustrated by the difficulty of finding employment, child care, and reimbursement for moving costs after a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move.
Allvin to Congress: USAF Will Have More Control of New F-47 Fighter
The F-47 fighter will be run differently than previous fighter programs and share the same mission systems architecture as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin told the Senate Armed Services Committee. That means advances in one will fuel advances in the other.
GOP Spending Bill Heads to Senate With $150 Billion for Defense Programs
Republicans aim to funnel billions of dollars into some of the Air Force’s top-priority programs as part of a divisive bill the GOP may be able to enact without Democratic support.
Agreement Ensures Access to UK-US Base on Diego Garcia for Next Century
The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.
B-52s Kick Off Bomber Deployment to Spain
B-52H Stratofortress bombers have arrived in Spain to kick off a new European deployment as the Air Force looks to make its nuclear-armed fleets more flexible.
Radar Sweep
The DOD’s Tech Agency Braces for 10 Percent Workforce Cut
Defense One
The Pentagon’s IT agency will lose nearly 10 percent of its total staff as part of the Trump administration’s push to slash the federal workforce, the agency’s director told senators May 21.
US Considers Withdrawing Thousands of Troops from South Korea
The Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration is weighing a withdrawal of thousands of American troops from South Korea, according to defense officials familiar with the discussions, a move that could stir new anxiety among allies worried about the White House commitment to Asia. An option being developed by the Pentagon is to pull out roughly 4,500 troops and move them to other locations in the Indo-Pacific region, including to Guam.
AI ‘Unchained’: NGA’s Maven Tool ‘Significantly’ Decreasing Time to Targeting, Agency Chief Says
Breaking Defense
As the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) rolls out its AI-powered imagery analysis software system Maven to more and more users, it also is seeing a sizable reduction in targeting times in exercises, according to the agency’s director.
Cots, MREs, Per Diem: Army Offers New Details for Soldiers Sent to Massive DC Military Parade
Military.com
Thousands of soldiers flying or busing into Washington, D.C., next month from more than a dozen Army divisions across the force will be sleeping on cots, eating mostly MREs (and hot chow for dinner), and showering in contracted trailers during the Army's multimillion-dollar 250th birthday festivities, service officials said.
L3Harris Breaks Ground on New Rocket Motor Plant in Virginia
Defense News
L3Harris has begun clearing forest and carving out roads deep in the Virginia countryside, breaking ground on a major expansion at its Orange County facility to produce small and medium solid rocket motors—key components for the Javelin antitank weapon
Private Plane Crashes into San Diego Military Housing Neighborhood
Air Force Times
A private jet crashed into a neighborhood of U.S. Navy-owned housing in San Diego during foggy weather early May 22, igniting cars and homes and killing two people while injuring multiple others
The Pentagon Seems to Be Fed Up with ULA’s Rocket Delays
Ars Technica
In recent written testimony to a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees the military, the senior official responsible for purchasing launches for national security missions blistered one of the country's two primary rocket providers.
Bipartisan Bill Would Nix Federal Taxes on Military Bonuses
Task & Purpose
A bipartisan House bill would remove federal taxes from military bonuses. The bill, nicknamed the BONUS Act, would exempt servicemembers’ enlistment, reenlistment, and performance bonuses from being taxed by the federal government.
More Than 1,100 Troops Approved to Deploy to US-Mexico Border
Stars and Stripes
More than 1,100 troops have been approved to deploy to the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Northern Command announced May 22. Some of the duties for the approximately 1,115 service members with Joint Task Force-Southern Border will include coordinating logistics, providing food and water to personnel in the field and constructing mobility routes and force protection infrastructure.
Pentagon’s UAP Investigators Exploring New Options to Better Track and Manage Confidential Reports
DefenseScoop
The Pentagon wants to hear from contractors that can produce and maintain a secure software-based platform to track data, interactions, and other records associated with its All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office’s ever-growing caseload of investigations into unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) that could pose a threat to U.S. national security.
When the US and Israel Bomb the Houthis, Civilians Pay the Highest Price
The New York Times
Mohammed Omar Baghwi was working the evening shift April 17 at Ras Isa port in Yemen’s northwestern Hudaydah Province when the American military began bombing. As a manager, Mr. Baghwi, 45, was responsible for a department that filled cooking gas cylinders. He was one of at least 74 people killed during the strike, making it one of the deadliest attacks by the United States on Yemen.
Deported Migrant Detainees Are Holding at a US Naval Base in Djibouti Amid Court Fight, Officials Say
CNN
Eight migrant detainees who were on a U.S. flight destined for South Sudan are currently at a US military base in Djibouti, awaiting next steps as details over their case are hammered out in court. It’s unclear when or how the detainees—who have criminal records and come almost entirely from countries other than South Sudan—will move on from the U.S. Navy base in Djibouti, Camp Lemonnier.
Trump’s Military Parade Includes a Dog and Pony Show. And the Dog Is Named Doc Holliday
ABC News
When the Army celebrates its 250th birthday on June 14, a date that just so happens to be President Donald Trump's 79th birthday, the streets of Washington, D.C., will be filled with marching troops and tanks as World War II airplanes and Vietnam War-era helicopters swoop overhead. Also included in the parade will be 34 horses, two mules, one wagon, and a dog.