Precision Public Relations for Aerospace, Defense, and Veterans Affairs
Posts tagged Department of Defense
Compensation, Retirement Panel could re-define way of ‘supporting the troops.’
February 18, 2013
by John Grady
John Grady, Special Correspondent
While Congress is taking a “much needed break” from doing anything about the across-the-board budget cuts in federal spending that are to kick in March 1 or pass a defense spending bill by the end of March, the administration is wrapping up its budget submission for the next year that reduces the proposed military and civilian pay raise to 1 percent and promises another struggle over ways to contain skyrocketing personnel, medical and retirement costs.
And this time, the Defense Department may have new allies on Capitol Hill, including the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee in holding down costs of “supporting the troops.” Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon was quoted last week as saying, “We are going to have to look at health care,” now topping $53 billion annually. We are going to have to look at retirement,” questioning the fairness of having to serve More >
First shoe drops: Budget concerns cancel military health conference next month
January 22, 2013
by John Grady
By John Grady, Special Correspondent
The military’s largest health care conference has been canceled because of “ongoing federal budget issues” according to a memo signed last week by the senior health official in the Department of Defense.
This is the first shoe dropping in what likely will be a series of changes affecting military conferences and military attendance at trade shows this winter and spring – such as the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association and the Naval Institute’s conferences in San Diego and Virginia Beach, the Association of the United States Army’s winter meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla.; and the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space symposium at National Harbor, Md.
Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, and the three service surgeon generals signed the statement announcing the cancellation of the health care event scheduled for More >
Major changes in store for the ground forces in new defense budget
January 26, 2012
by John Grady
John Grady is a ScoutComms Special Correspondent
The Army is reviewing how many Brigade Combat Teams it will need in the future and how it will be organized as the fiscal year 2013 budget plan heads to Congress next month. It certainly will not need the 42 it now has and the service is already pulling two of its four BCT’s from Europe and their colors are likely to be cased as the department emphasizes Asia/Pacific and the Middle East.
The leaders of the Department of Defense and the Army have made it clear in the last two days that one of the largest bill payers in the budget cuts will be ground personnel numbers. The largest personnel cuts in the future will come from the active Army and Marine Corps, which will drop to 490,000 and 182,000 respectively.
While their force structure in Asia/Pacific will likely be stable, what these soldiers More >
The Scout Report 48th Edition
January 9, 2012
by Fred Wellman
Military, Veterans and Defense Industry Issues and Analysis
January 9, 2011
We are proud to announce that we will now be producing original stories and analysis to inform you of the issues, events ands trends in the aerospace, defense and veterans sectors. We are thrilled to have John Grady join our team as a special correspondent. Make sure to check out his first piece below on the new strategic guidance that has made a huge splash this past week. We encourage you to use the social network sharing buttons above to share the Scout Report with your friends and followers.
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The week ahead:
Themes: The defense media will be dominated by efforts to get a read on what the new strategic guidance means for the future ahead of the budget release More >
New strategic guidance leaves as many questions as answers
January 6, 2012
by John Grady
John Grady is a ScoutComms Special Correspondent
President Barack Obama announces a new defense strategy at the Pentagon on January 5, 2012 surrounded by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Deputy Secretary Ashton Carter, the military chiefs and service secretaries. (Official White House photo)
President Barack Obama in announcing the new Defense Strategic Guidance Jan. 5 offered few specifics on what it means to the federal budget for the coming fiscal year, but it was clear that the size of the active-duty components of the Army and the Marine Corps were coming down – perhaps earlier than projected.
The personnel cuts, expected to start in 2015, will be used to pay for future investments in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, cyberspace, counter-terrorism, to build up air and naval forces in the Pacific and Asia and to maintain “the ability to operate in environments where adversaries try to deny us More >
The Scout Report 47th Edition
January 2, 2012
by Fred Wellman
Military, Veterans and Defense Industry Issues and Analysis
January 2, 2012
Happy New Year to all of our readers! We have some really interesting stuff planned for 2012 that we think you will enjoy from new products to original reporting and events that will help build a better understanding of defense and veterans issues. These past holidays didn’t slow things down and produced a slew of big sales for U.S. defense manufacturers that should brighten the 2012 outlook quite a bit. Meanwhile the presidential campaign kicks off this week and will suck the oxygen out of much of the national conversation for months to come. We encourage you to use the social network sharing buttons above to share the Scout Report with your friends and followers.
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The week ahead:
Themes: More >
The Scout Report 42nd Edition
December 16, 2011
by Fred Wellman
The Scout Report 42nd Edition:
Military, Veterans and Defense Industry Issues and Analysis
Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers! We are truly thankful to have so many of you supporting our efforts. We encourage you to share this on your social networks and with your colleagues. This last week also marks the one year anniversary of ScoutComms founding. We are proud to have built a firm that is making a difference for our clients and informing our subscribers. This edition has some really good stories to read ranging from revolutionary uses for iPhones by soldiers, passage of a new jobs bill for veterans and the military’s use of social media to counter enemy propaganda.
The week ahead:
Themes: The Super Committee has likely failed so this short week will be all about who is to blame and a mad scramble to stave off the More >
The Scout Report 45th Edition
December 12, 2011
by Fred Wellman
Military, Veterans and Defense Industry Issues and Analysis
December 12, 2011
It was a rough weekend for ScoutComms with yet another loss by our beloved Army football team to storied rival Navy. It was a heck of a fight this time at least. We have made some more tweaks to the Scout Report dropping the opening summary section so you can get right to the stories. There is a lot to check out this week so take your time and please sign up to get this directly to your email on Monday mornings at http://bit.ly/ScoutReportSubscribe. We would love you to visit our homepage as well to learn more about what ScoutComms can do for your team at www.ScoutCommsUSA.com .
The week ahead:
Themes: Congress is close to coming up with an omnibus spending bill to keep the government functioning in the new fiscal More >
The Scout Report 44th Edition
December 5, 2011
by Fred Wellman
Military, Veterans and Defense Industry Issues and Analysis…and Beat Navy
December 5, 2011
This was one of those weeks where the hardest part was cutting down the long list of fascinating stories to choose from to paint a picture of what is going on in the aerospace, defense and veterans’ sectors. We recommend you follow our Twitter feed, @ScoutComms, to catch any stories we leave out of the Scout Report. Most importantly this week is the upcoming Army-Navy game at FedEx field in Landover, Maryland where the Army will finally break a nine year losing streak and stop embarrassing all of us grads! BEAT NAVY!
The week ahead:
Themes: There seems to be a lull in the budget battle right now as Congress tries to figure a way out of the hole they have dug themselves with the super committee failure. The departure from Iraq More >
The Scout Report 43rd Edition
November 28, 2011
by Fred Wellman
Military, Veterans and Defense Industry Issues and Analysis
November 28, 2011
The week ahead:
Themes: The Super Committee failed officially so Washington will be a burst of activity to stave off the sequestration in between blame game antics. There are two very interesting hearings this week on the controversial Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business certification program at VA and a look at mental health care programs for vets.
Tradeshows:
Society of Military Engineers Small Business Conference (28-30 Nov) National Harbor, MD
The SAME Small Business Conference for DOD Engineering, Construction and Environmental Programs provides business leaders an opportunity to identify key contracting partners, learn of upcoming projects and opportunities and generate new business. The Small Business Conference has grown in both size and influence over the past few years. Boasting an audience of more than 1,800 attendees and with More >