This Week in the DoD: Weekly News Roundup for Sept. 30

Filed under DoD News, Emerging Media by on September 30, 2011 at 3:35 pm {2 comments}

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In the “This Week in the DoD” podcast for September 30:

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen retired from military service today. His successor as chairman is Army Gen. Martin Dempsey.

Robert Gordon, Deputy Secretary of Defense (Military Community and Family Policy) joined a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable Thursday to discuss a new the Military Spouse Employment Porgram, which aims to provide career and education options for spouses.

Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month and DoDLive is commemorating the month with “Profiles in Heritage,” highlighting notable historic hispanic service members.

After eight years of broadcasting, American Forces Network Radio-Iraq, known as “Freedom Radio” has gone off the air. “Freedom Radio” has provided service members stationed in Iraq music and other entertainment since March of 2003.

Listen to the podcast here.

Admiral Mullen on the Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Filed under DoD News by on September 22, 2011 at 4:44 pm {3 comments}

“We are an institution of values, and one of those values is integrity…I [am] unable to reconcile an institution that on the one hand does value integrity, and on the other hand has individuals who come to work and sacrifice and die in the face of these wars and have to lie about who they are every single day.”-Adm. Mike Mullen



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Officials Discuss Changes to Military Retirement

Filed under DoD News by on August 15, 2011 at 4:11 pm {one comment}

By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service
From www.defense.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – The military retirement isn’t going to change any time soon, Defense Department officials said.

“There’s no immediate plan to affect retirement,” Navy Adm. Mike Mullen told service members at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, July 31.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said any changes to military retirement should be studied carefully and should be “grandfathered” so the military doesn’t break faith with those in the service.

Pentagon officials are reviewing all areas of the defense budget, and the goal of the review is to “inform the decisions and strategies that we have to make,” Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Aug. 4.

“So that’s going to be key to what decisions we make and what areas we look to for savings,” the secretary added.

To read the full article, click here.

 

Episode #97: Weekly News Roundup for August 5

Filed under DoD News, Emerging Media by on August 5, 2011 at 5:53 pm {2 comments}
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In the “This Week in the DoD” podcast for August 5:

President Barack Obama has announced a proposal to provide incentives for businesses who hire veterans.  He stated that many veterans find military skills don’t qualify them for civilian jobs, and this new program will help them adjust to their new life.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta held is first press briefing Thursday at the Pentagon.  He discussed current budget issues, withdrawal activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, and what this could mean for the future of the Department of Defense.

For the first time in history, a combatant command has officially cased it colors. In an plan initiated by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates to find $100 billion in savings, the Joint Forces Command received the budget ax and was officially dissolved as of Thursday, August 4.

The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff formerly stepped down this week.  The nation bid farewell to Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright in a formal ceremony. He is replaced by Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr.

Listen to the podcast here.

Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell – Statement by Admiral Mike Mullen

Filed under DoD News by on July 22, 2011 at 4:57 pm {no comments}

Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

I believe the U.S. armed forces are ready for the implementation of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.  I conveyed that opinion yesterday to the President and to the Secretary of Defense, and today we certified this to Congress.

My opinion is informed by close consultation with the Service Chiefs and the Combatant Commanders over the course of six months of thorough preparation and assessment, to include the training of a substantial majority of our troops.

I am comfortable that we have used the findings of the Comprehensive Review Working Group to mitigate areas of concern and that we have developed the policy and regulations necessary for implementation — consistent with standards of military readiness, military effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention.

Certification does not mark the end of our work.  Ready though we are, we owe it to ourselves and to the nation we defend to continue to train the remainder of the Joint Force, to monitor our performance as we do so, and to adjust policy where and when needed.

My confidence in our ability to accomplish this work rests primarily on the fact that our people are capable, well-led and thoroughly professional.  I have never served with finer men and women.  They will, I am certain, carry out repeal and continue to serve this country with the same high standards and dignity that have defined the U.S. military throughout our history.

Adm. Mike Mullen
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

 

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    An United States Air Force C-130J Hercules cargo aircraft from the 146th Airlift Wing, California Air National Guard, conducts flare training off the Ventura County coast. The flares are used as tactical infrared countermeasures to confuse and redirect heat-seeking missiles.

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    Famed Yankees pitcher “Lefty Gomez” once remarked “I’d rather be lucky than good,” but for one Tuskegee Airman, luck and good combined to make him one of the most successful combat pilots of World War II.

    During the summer of 1944, 2nd Lt. Clarence D. “Lucky” Lester was flying the P-51 Mustang over the skies of Italy’s Po Valley providing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers with cover support on their way to attack airfields in southern Germany.

    Lester was assigned to the 100th Fighter Squadron, a part of the 332nd Fighter Group, and had earned the nickname “Lucky” “because of all the tight situations from which I had escaped without a scratch or even a bullet hole in my aircraft.”

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    The only African-American ace of World War II, and a former Tuskegee Airman, went on to have a career in the Air Force, as well as success in the business world.

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