Top Pentagon leaders signed the Military Housing Privatization Initiative Tenant Bill of Rights on Feb. 25, codifying steps to empower service members and families residing in homes owned by private landlords. The document, mandated by the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, comes after a ...
Mark Esper
Lawmakers on Feb. 26 signaled a harsh fight ahead over the Pentagon's plans to retire aging aircraft and shift spending from weapons systems to border wall protection. The Defense Department’s total $705.4 billion fiscal 2021 request looks to retire dozens of USAF aircraft. Defense Secretary ...
Think of the Defense Department’s new list of Ethical Principles for Artificial Intelligence as a starting framework to help guide the thinking of people who will ultimately make the hard decisions: what’s right or wrong, then how to teach a machine to tell the difference. ...
U.S. Air Force bases near outbreaks of the novel coronavirus are restricting travel and urging airmen to proactively protect their health as the virus spreads. In Italy, the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base has directed all airmen and soldiers to avoid travel to ...
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 ...
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 ...
