Defense Communities 360 Headlines

Warning that the readiness of the Armed Forces is “at a tipping point,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff exhorted Congress to provide adequate resources to the military to avoid creating a “hollow force.” The threat of sequestration and the likelihood that DOD continues to be funded under a stopgap spending bill for the rest of the fiscal year could trigger a cut in operating budgets of more than 20 percent across the joint force, compared to the president’s original budget request …

Despite Sen. James Inhofe’s (R-Okla.) decision to oppose President Obama’s nominee for defense secretary, Capitol Hill insiders do not believe the incoming ranking member of the Armed Services Committee will undercut work on the defense authorization bill or cause a rift on the panel between the two parties. In fact, several congressional aides told CQ that Inhofe would be expected to follow the lead of his predecessor on the committee, John McCain (R-Ariz.), who established a cordial relationship with Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) over the annual defense policy bill …

The Army on Wednesday ordered senior commanders to trim spending on a broad array of installation support functions, including community and recreational activities, utilities and the delivery of other services. Overall, commanders are directed to carry out “across-the-board efficiencies” to achieve at least a 30 percent savings in fiscal 2013 base operations support compared to FY 2012 spending levels …

The Pentagon will delay a planned drawdown at Lajes Field on the Portuguese island of Terceira in the Azores, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday. The move, which will shrink the current workforce of 1,100 U.S. and Portuguese personnel at the base by at least half, now will be pushed back to October 2014 …

The Senate confirmed Keith Kelly, commissioner of the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, earlier this month to be the Labor Department’s assistant secretary for the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS). “Keith Kelly’s appointment is welcome news for Montana’s and our nation’s veterans. Keith’s experience as an infantryman and as Montana’s labor commissioner will serve him well in his new role …

After applauding Walmart’s pledge to hire any honorably discharged veteran, First Lady Michelle Obama challenged the private sector to look for “innovative solutions” that will “make a difference for our veterans and their families.” At the National Retail Federation’s annual show Tuesday, Walmart U.S. President and CEO Bill Simon pledged to hire more than 100,000 veterans over the next five years. Simon said the company will offer a job to any honorably discharged veteran in his or her first 12 months off active duty …

Sierra Vista, and surrounding Cochise County, have benefited tremendously from a steady increase in defense spending at Fort Huachuca since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, helping to buffer southeastern Arizona from the most recent recession. Climbing DOD budgets, however, are a thing of the past, forcing the region to accommodate a decline in defense employment and payroll …

Despite rhetoric from the Pentagon’s top officials that deeper spending cuts to the defense budget will jeopardize national security, the effort announced last week to trim non-essential activities and other operating costs is the logical first step to dealing with a long-term decline in defense spending, Gordon Adams writes in Foreign Policy’s blog. The need to address the potential for sequestration “is not a crisis, it is sound contingency planning …

The new vision document released last week by the Air Force focuses on airmen, mission and innovation. “It highlights airmen as the source of our strength as a service, and it outlines the five enduring contributions that will continue to guide us as we move forward, no matter what happens in — with the fiscal realities of the future,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh III told reporters last week. The five enduring contributions — rooted in the original roles and responsibilities assigned to the service in 1947 — are air and space superiority; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; rapid global mobility; global strike; and command and control. “They will be our contribution to the nation’s defense and they’ll remain the Air Force’s calling cards,” Welsh said.

Plans to locate a community college campus and affordable housing at the former Onizuka Air Force Station in northern California are moving ahead, after the Department of Housing and Urban Development last month approved the site’s redevelopment plan. A local housing agency has proposed building 120 family housing units for residents earning less than $64,000 …