Rowan Scarborough

Pentagon has spent billions on doomed programs; cash looms large with budget cuts

The Pentagon has squandered billions of dollars over the past two decades on weapon systems it never produced and on rosy cost estimates that ballooned to sizes that ate up funds for other projects, according to government reports and defense analysts.

March 17, 2013

House bill calls for congressional medal for heroes in Benghazi attack

A House Republican introduced a resolution Thursday to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the two former Navy SEALs who were killed as they defended American diplomats and CIA officers from Islamic extremists in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11.

March 14, 2013

Unlike White House, Pentagon keeps up public tours

The Defense Department is keeping only one aircraft carrier in the strategically important Persian Gulf, but unlike the White House, the Pentagon is keeping its doors open for public tours.

March 13, 2013

Two Americans killed in ‘insider attack’ in Afghanistan

Two U.S. special forces personnel were killed Monday in a so-called "insider attack" in Afghanistan — shattering a lull in Afghan security forces firing on their American allies this year.

March 11, 2013

Revolving door of generals takes Afghanistan command

When Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford took command of the war in Afghanistan on Feb. 10, he succeeded a line of hard-luck officers who had succumbed to scandal or felt the White House's sting over requests for more troops.

March 10, 2013

Prices soar, enthusiasm dives for F-35 Lightning; pilots worry about visibility problem

The Pentagon's top brass are second-guessing the F-35 Lightning — the most expensive weapons system in history — as spending cuts tighten the military's budget and a new report says F-35 pilots can't see that well out of the cockpit.

March 6, 2013

Attacks by Afghan ‘insiders’ double in past year; NATO recalculation leads to new numbers

Afghan security personnel attacks against U.S. and NATO troops rose sharply last year despite a NATO command overhaul of how local army and police recruits are screened.

March 3, 2013

Military brass marching to Obama’s beat

The military leadership is proving to be a solid ally of President Obama in political Washington, adopting his social revolution and willing to serve as backdrops to the White House's campaign-style drive to win the budget battle with Republicans.

February 28, 2013

Decline for insurgent Afghan attacks was misreported

An officially reported downward trend in insurgent attacks that has underpinned President Obama's decision to pull 34,000 troops from Afghanistan did not actually happen last year.

February 26, 2013

Few women will qualify for land combat: report

A new report to Congress predicts that relatively few women will be able to perform land combat tasks on the same level as men, and it says the Pentagon's pledge to maintain "gender-neutral" physical standards has a loophole.

February 24, 2013

From Top Gun to Risky Business: Budget cuts to force Navy to shutter four active aircraft carriers

The U.S. Navy plans to shut down four of its active aircraft carriers in one of the worst-case scenarios presented to Congress by the service since the debate on budget cuts heated up this winter.

February 20, 2013

Pentagon aims ax to make a point with sequester cuts, uses worst-case scenarios to force deal

The Obama administration is putting attention-getting Pentagon projects on the chopping block in a bid to pressure Congress into making a deal that avoids $46 billion in military budget cuts March 1, analysts and congressional officials say.

February 17, 2013

Pentagon uproar over Panetta’s hero medals for drone operators, cybersleuths

Some warriors inside the Pentagon are reacting with amusement and anger over outgoing Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta's decision to create a prestigious heroism medal for cyber and drone combatants who sit inside stations outside a war zone.

February 15, 2013

NASA accused of technology transfers

One of NASA's renowned research centers has been under a four-year FBI investigation for the possible transfer of secret weapon-system technology to foreign countries, including China, two Republican congressmen have disclosed.

February 12, 2013

Military warns cuts would create ‘hollow force’ akin to 1970s

The U.S. armed services, widely recognized as the world's most ready and mobile military, is painting a picture of itself as a stagnant force trapped at home under automatic spending cuts just three weeks away.

February 10, 2013

Army warns Congress of decreased readiness amid budget shortfall

The Army is telling Congress that its combat brigades will not be ready to fight overseas outside of Afghanistan and Korea due to "a rapid atrophy of unit combat skills."

February 8, 2013

Military is advised against lower standards for women

With Republicans lacking the votes to reinstitute the ban on women in combat as federal law, conservatives are focusing on how to make sure the Pentagon does not lower the standards — and with them, combat readiness — to ensure that female service members graduate.

February 6, 2013

Four House Democrats hit Army’s battlefield intel system

Four House Democrats are asking fellow party members to consider blocking funds for the Army's battlefield intelligence processor, citing the system's huge costs and failed operational tests.

February 3, 2013

Washington Times gets action! Indiana Gov. spikes deal with Pakistani bomb supplier

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has suspended a deal to finance an in-state fertilizer plant to be built by a Pakistani conglomerate that the Pentagon has criticized for refusing to take steps to stop the flow of materials to makers of bombs that kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

January 31, 2013

House GOP pursuing bill to keep combat standards high

House Republicans are beginning to discuss legislation that would prevent the Pentagon from lowering physical standards for women to ensure an ample number get accepted in the most arduous combat jobs in the infantry and special operations.

January 29, 2013