The Defense Department has adopted a series of ethical principles intended to guide the development and use of artificial intelligence on and off the battlefield, including taking “deliberate steps to minimize unintended bias” and ensuring the ability to “deactivate” systems that aren’t behaving as expected. The ...
Defense Secretary Mark Esper
U.S. Strategic Command simulated the possibility of nuclear conflict in Europe for Defense Secretary Mark Esper during a visit this week to Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. The exercise is part of the Pentagon’s routine slate of wargames and other events that it uses to ...
The Pentagon’s top policy official will leave his position Feb. 28 at the request of President Donald Trump in another departure of top Defense Department officials in recent weeks. John Rood, who has served as the under secretary of defense for policy, wrote in a ...
The U.S. and Taliban are negotiating a seven-day “reduction in violence” so peace talks can move forward, though the specifics of the proposal aren’t being released as American officials discuss the proposal with allies, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said. Speaking at the conclusion of a ...
NATO has agreed “in principle” to send additional personnel to Iraq, potentially freeing up the U.S. to bring some of its training personnel home, Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced Feb. 13. NATO member states agreed to send more train, advise, and assist personnel to the ...
As the 2020 election season gears up, Pentagon leaders are urging military personnel to be on their best behavior, and reminding troops of their ethics requirements. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, in a Feb. 5 memo, writes that all Pentagon personnel “must be steadfast in our ...
The Pentagon’s Defense-Wide Review would shift $5.7 billion from non-military defense offices and agencies to higher priority missions such as nuclear deterrence and technology investment. The review, released this week, recommended “right-sizing” entities such as medical treatment facilities, reducing the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, and ...
The Pentagon is opening four additional bases, including two Air Force installations, to the Department of Health and Human Services for the possible quarantine of personnel as the coronavirus outbreak continues. On Feb. 1, the Pentagon agreed to provide housing at Travis Air Force Base, ...
The total number of U.S. forces suffering traumatic brain injuries following the Jan. 7 ballistic missile attack on al-Asad Air Base in Iraq continues to rise, with 64 troops now having been diagnosed with TBIs, the Pentagon announced Jan. 30. Senior officials initially said no ...
Only one-fifth of US Southern Command's intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance requirement is being met, and much of that doesn't even come from military hardware. SOUTHCOM boss Adm. Craig Faller told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Jan. 30 that of the roughly 20 percent of ...
The head of France’s military used her visit to Washington to press the Pentagon to maintain its operations in the Sahel region. “The US support is critical to our operation,” French Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly said during a Jan. 27 press briefing alongside ...
Service efforts such as the Air Force’s pitch days for rapid contract awards are just the beginning of the Pentagon's effort to move faster in its acquisition process, but much more work remains to make the five-sided building change its overall risk-averse culture, Defense Secretary ...