The Pentagon is undertaking a 120-day review of military family programs to determine how to minimize the impact and stress of sequestration and the budget continuing resolution on service members and their families, said Jessica Wright, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, on Wednesday. “We recognize . . . that after 10 years of protracted war and the development of multiple programs that support our families, some are excellent and some may not produce the results we need,” she told the House Armed Services Committee’s military personnel panel. Upon completing the review, Wright said her office would have a better understanding of where it may need to shift its efforts. Eliminating or combining some activities might yield a bigger “bang for our buck” for service members and their families, she said. While Defense Department officials have evaluated many of these programs on an individual basis in the past, the current review will provide a broader, OSD-wide perspective and include input from the Military Family Readiness Council, on which the services, military families, and nongovernmental organizations are represented, she said during the March 13 hearing. (Wright-Woodson prepared statement)
The advanced F-47 sixth-generation fighter remains on track to fly in the next two years, the senior Air Force acquisition officer overseeing the program said Feb. 25, as the service continues on its ambitious schedule to debut the air superiority-focused fighter by 2028—only three years after the contract was awarded…
