The services and industry need to take the Defense Department’s drive for efficiency seriously, warned Ash Carter, Pentagon acquisition czar. He told attendees at AFA’s Air & Space Conference on Wednesday that the drive to find $100 billion in savings is solely focused on having “growth in that part of the budget that really matters”—recapitalizing worn-out systems and providing new cutting-edge technologies. The alternative, he said, is “broken and canceled programs” and “erosion of the taxpayer’s confidence” in DOD’s capacity to spend tax dollars wisely, which is “not good for us.”
Active-duty transgender troops have until June 6 to self-identify and begin the voluntary separation process or wait and risk possible involuntary separation later—even as questions linger over how that decision might affect their security clearances for future employment.