Department of Defense

Biden Announces Nominations for New N9, Naval Surface Forces

Rear Admiral Brendan McLane, Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic is piped aboard during a retirement ceremony for Captain Zoah Scheneman on Aug. 12, 2022. U.S. Navy Photo

President Joe Biden has nominated the next deputy chief of naval operations for warfighting requirements and capabilities, the commander of Naval Surface Forces and the deputy commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, the Pentagon announced Monday.

Biden nominated Rear Adm. James Pitts to serve as the deputy chief of naval...

https://news.usni.org/2023/04/24/biden-announces-nominations-for-new-n9-naval-surface-forces

Latest Military Sexual Assault Report Shows ‘Tragic’ Rise in Cases, Pentagon Officials Say

Sailors underway on May 24, 2022. US Navy Photo

THE PENTAGON — One in 10 female sailors experienced unwanted sexual contact in Fiscal Year 2021, one of the worst rates among the service branches, according to the Department of Defense’s annual Sexual Assault and Prevention Report released on Thursday.

That’s an increase from 7.5 percent of female sailors in FY 2018, according to slides from a DoD briefing Thursday afternoon. FY 2021 saw 2.1 percent of male sailors experiencing unwanted sexual...

https://news.usni.org/2022/09/01/latest-military-sexual-assault-report-shows-tragic-rise-in-cases-pentagon-officials-say

GAO’s 2022 Weapons Systems Annual Assessment

The following is the June 8, 2022, Government Accountability Office report Weapon Systems Annual Assessment: Challenges to Fielding Capabilities Faster Persist.

From the report

What GAO Found

For over 20 years, GAO has assessed the Department of Defense’s (DOD)
weapon programs and noted significant changes in its acquisition policies and
practices. GAO’s first assessment in 2003 highlighted challenges, such as
committing billions of taxpayer dollars before obtaining key information, including
relia...

https://news.usni.org/2022/06/09/gaos-2022-weapons-systems-annual-assessment

Yellow paying $6.8M to settle DOD overcharging claim

Yellow settles overcharging lawsuit with Defense Department

Yellow Corp. announced Thursday it has settled a dispute with the Department of Defense in which the less-than-truckload carrier was alleged to have incorrectly charged for freight shipments from 2005 to 2013.

The Defense Department complaint alleged overcharging for carrier services, “unjust enrichment or a payment by mistake” and “failing to comply” with contractual terms and government procurement rules.

Specifically, the government alleged that Yellow operating companies — YRC Freight, Yellow...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/yellow-paying-6-8m-to-settle-dod-overcharging-claim

Pentagon’s Director, Operational Test & Evaluation 2021 Annual Report

The following is the Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) 2021 annual report. It was released On Jan. 27, 2022.

From the report

As we start the third decade of the 21st century, the United States remains the world’s preeminent military power, thanks to our dedicated all-volunteer force, who are committed to their oath to support and defend the Constitution, and the civilians who stand beside and behind our women and men in uniform. Our Armed Forces’ intellect, creativity,...

https://news.usni.org/2022/01/28/pentagons-director-operational-test-evaluation-2021-annual-report

National Airlines delivers US-made Javelin missiles to Ukraine

An Air Force service member loads a pallet in the hull of a big cargo airliner.

All-cargo carrier National Airlines is delivering anti-tank Javelin missiles, launchers and other U.S. weapons to Ukraine to help the country withstand a possible invasion by Russia, according to government photos and social media posts.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said on Twitter that 300 Javelin missiles arrived Tuesday in the Ukrainian capital, the third shipment of $200 million in security assistance to the Eastern European nation in response to a buildup of 100,000 Russian troops on the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/national-airlines-delivers-us-made-javelin-missiles-to-ukraine

Navy to Begin Processing Separation for Sailors Refusing COVID-19 Vaccination

Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jackson Adkins, from Evans, Georgia, assigned to USS Gerald R. Ford’s (CVN-78) media department, receives a COVID-19 vaccine at the McCormick Gym onboard Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on April 8, 2021. US Navy Photo

The Navy can now begin to separate active-duty sailors who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to Navy guidance released Wednesday.
Active-duty sailors who refused to get the vaccine were set to be separated if they continued to...

https://news.usni.org/2021/12/15/navy-to-begin-processing-separation-for-sailors-refusing-covid-19-vaccination

Robotic Research pulls in $228M to expand off-road autonomy business

Robotic Research, best known for its leader-follower autonomous military trucks, made it 20 years without raising outside money. Defense contracts and other pay-as-you-go customers put black ink on its balance sheet and cash in the bank.

Now it has more. The private Clarksburg, Maryland, company has completed a $228 million Series A funding round. 

Watch now: A plug-and-play approach to autonomous trucking

“We’re unique in the sense that we are probably the only company in autonomy that has always...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/robotic-research-pulls-in-228m-to-expand-off-road-autonomy-business

97% of Active-Duty Sailors Fully Vaccinated With Four Days Until Deadline

U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Emily Pierce, left, from Bremerton, Washington, assigned to the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), administers the COVID-19 vaccine to Information Systems Technician 1st Class Correy Bushman, from Rochester, Minnesota, assigned to the John C. Stennis, during a Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic led vaccination effort in conjunction with Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. US Navy Photo

The Navy has 97 percent of its active-duty sailors fully...

https://news.usni.org/2021/11/24/97-of-active-duty-sailors-fully-vaccinated-with-four-days-until-deadline

+ More