Radar Sweep
The Air Force’s First Software Chief Stepped Down—But He Won’t Be Quiet
As he settles into post-government life, Nicolas Chaillan still expects to call out the foreign competitors and domestic roadblocks that he says increasingly endanger U.S. security and informed his decision to publicly resign as the Air Force’s first chief software officer.
VC Firm Signs Cooperative Agreement With US Space Force
Embedded Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in space startups, has signed a cooperative agreement with the Space Force, the company announced Oct. 13. Under the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, or CRADA, Embedded Ventures will work with SpaceWERX, a new Space Force organization created to build ties with commercial industry and startups. The terms and the length of the agreement were not disclosed.
Top Pentagon Arms Sales Official, Heidi Grant, Exits Post
Heidi Grant, the head of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, has “announced her transition from the federal government,” according to an Oct. 12 release. She will continue to serve until Nov. 7, when Jed Royal, the DSCA deputy, will take over as acting director.
Catholic Troops Can Refuse COVID Vaccine, Archbishop Declares
Catholic U.S. troops should be allowed to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine based solely on conscientious objection and regardless of whether abortion-related tissue was used in its creation or testing, the archbishop for the military declared in a new statement supporting service members who are seeking religious exemptions.
Military Retirees, Disabled Veterans to See Largest Pay Raise in Decades for 2022
Military retirees and veterans receiving disability payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs will see their paychecks go up by 5.9 percent for 2022, triggered by inflation and an annual adjustment to the federal Cost of Living Allowance. That annual adjustment has averaged around 1.5 percent for the last 10 years.
Thurgood: Hypersonic Missile Program Demonstrates How Fast Army Can Move
The Army is moving quickly to develop an offensive hypersonic missile—and it doesn’t plan to revert back to its slower ways for future weapons development efforts, according to one senior official. Lt. Gen. L. Neil Thurgood, who oversees Army rapid acquisition efforts, likened the four-year timeline to design, test, and field a hypersonic weapon to the space race of the 1950s, saying the U.S. hasn’t been so united around a rapid technology development program since then—nor so willing to ditch common practices for revolutionary ones.
Small Numbers of Military Extremists Can Still Pose a Large Threat, Experts Warn
Experts studying violent extremist organizations warned that even if the number of veterans and military members who participate in such groups is small, they can still be very dangerous to the country. The comments came at a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing Oct. 13 on the targeting of veterans by extremist groups, an issue that drew national headlines after a significant percentage of rioters involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol Building were found to have military experience.
Air Force Rescue Personnel Support NEO Weeks Before the Fall of Kabul
“The hair on the back of your necks should be standing up; this is not the Afghanistan we all knew,” Col. Russell Cook, HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue pilot and 23rd Wing commander, told his young A-staff as they prepared to synchronize the Secretary of Defense's vocal order to deploy a personnel recovery task force, including rescue units from Moody Air Force Base, Ga., Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., to provide combat search and rescue during the U.S. non-combatant evacuation operation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.
William Shatner Gets Emotional After Historic Blue Origin Flight: 'I Hope I Never Recover'
William Shatner can now say he's gone boldly where no man (his age) has gone before. He's certainly not the first person to visit space, but as of Oct. 13, the "Star Trek" veteran is the oldest. At 90, the actor joined Blue Origin for its second human spaceflight. Shatner and three others were launched in a New Shepard rocket from the aerospace company's West Texas launch site just before 11 a.m. Eastern Time. The crew landed safely back on Earth several minutes later, when Shatner could be heard saying the experience was "unlike anything they described."