Pentagon awards Glaxo $342 million contract for COVID vaccines

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon on Thursday announced a $342 million contract has been awarded to British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline to deliver "mass quantities of COVID-19 vaccines" to US troops.

It said GSK was the only company to make a bid for the contract, which will consist of supporting "military locations and personnel throughout the continental US and outside the continental US."

The work will be carried out in North Carolina "with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2021," the Pentagon said.

The US Army will supervise execution of the project.

Agence France-Presse

US Navy confirms demotion of captain of virus-hit carrier

WASHINGTON, United States - The US Navy said Friday it would not reinstate the captain of a coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier, saying he was in part to blame for the severity of the crisis on the warship.

Brett Crozier, who was fired as captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt in April, was guilty of "questionable judgment" in handling an outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the nuclear-powered ship in March, said Admiral Michael Gilday, chief of naval operations.

Gilday likewise faulted Rear Admiral Stuart Baker, Crozier's direct supervisor as the carrier's strike group commander, for poor leadership.

"It is my belief that both Admiral Baker and Captain Crozier fell well short of what we expect of those in command," Gilday said.

"In reviewing both Admiral Baker's and Captain Crozier's actions, they did not do enough, soon enough, to fulfill their primary obligation" to keep the ship's 5,000 crew safe.

After a two-month investigation, the Navy decided that Crozier would not return to the Roosevelt and not be eligible to captain another ship.

Baker's expected promotion, meanwhile, has been placed on hold, pending further review.

The coronavirus outbreak on board the Roosevelt was one of the first US crises of the pandemic, crippling the massive ship and forcing it to hold for more than a month in port in Guam.

It raised questions about US war-fighting readiness and worries about potential outbreaks on other ships.

More than 1,000 of the crew, including Crozier, ultimately tested positive for the disease, though few showed serious symptoms and only one died.

The case broke into the news after a letter written by Crozier complaining of lack of support in dealing with the outbreak was leaked to the media at the end of March.

While an initial probe seemed to support Crozier's complaints, a deeper investigation showed Crozier and Baker both failed to take good command in the face of the crisis, Gilday said.

They "failed" in evacuating sailors off the ship into sequestered facilities in Guam quickly, he said.

Crozier was focused more on the sailors' comfort, arranging hotel rooms rather than accepting facilities already prepared in gyms, Gilday said.

"Get them off quickly was the primary thing," he said.

"The issue here is really standards of performance particularly in crisis."

Questions Raised

The Roosevelt episode raised questions about the US government's and Pentagon's readiness to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

Crozier's communications suggested that he was being prevented from evacuating the ship in Guam for cleaning and quarantine.

"The spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating," Crozier wrote on March 30. "We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die."

The publication of the letter sparked a backlash. Then-acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly fired Crozier and flew to Guam to deliver a defiant speech to the ship's crew, in which he accused Crozier of "betrayal."

When that became public, Modly himself was forced to resign.

Gilday's criticisms of Crozier Friday sparked questions of whether the Pentagon leadership was covering for other officials' mistakes, including the order to have the Roosevelt visit Vietnam in early March, where many suspect the shipboard COVID-19 outbreak originated.

"Everyone up and down the chain of command had a role to play in the inadequate response – including then-Acting Secretary of the Navy Modly said Congressman Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

"The Department's civilian leadership portrayed Captain Crozier's decision-making aboard the Roosevelt as the critical weakness in the Navy’s response, but the truth is that civilian leadership was also to blame."

Agence France-Presse

Amazon alleges Trump abused power in huge Pentagon contract

SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon is alleging that US President Donald Trump abused the power of his office to deny the company a massive military cloud computing contract, court documents released Monday showed.

The technology giant is challenging the awarding of a $10 billion Pentagon cloud computing contract to Microsoft, alleging "unmistakable bias" in the process.

The 10-year contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure program, better known as JEDI, ultimately will see all military branches sharing information in a system boosted by artificial intelligence.

A heavily redacted filing detailed alleged errors that ended with Microsoft being chosen over its Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing division, part of the technology group led by Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, a frequent target of the US president.

"They were the result of improper pressure from President Donald J. Trump, who launched repeated public and behind-the-scenes attacks to steer the JEDI contract away from AWS to harm his perceived political enemy -- Jeffrey P. Bezos," the filing maintained.

"DoD's substantial and pervasive errors are hard to understand and impossible to assess separate and apart from the president's repeatedly expressed determination to, in the words of the president himself, 'screw Amazon.'"

The bid protest filed in US Court of Federal Claims urges that the rival JEDI bids be re-evaluated and a new decision reached.

"The question is whether the president of the United States should be allowed to use the budget of DoD to pursue his own personal and political ends," Amazon said.

Amazon was considered the lead contender to provide technology for JEDI, with AWS dominating the cloud computing arena and the company already providing classified servers for other government outfits including the CIA.

But the Pentagon delayed awarding the hefty contract, saying the process would be reviewed by newly appointed Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who was selected by Trump.

A recent book on the tenure of Esper's predecessor James Mattis, written by his speechwriter Guy Snodgrass, contends that Trump told Mattis to "screw Amazon" out of the contract.

The Pentagon has maintained that the bidding process was fair and in keeping with the normal way of awarding contracts.

"There were no external influences on the source selection decision," defense spokeswoman Elissa Smith said in response to an AFP inquiry.

"The department is confident in the JEDI award and remains focused on getting this critical capability into the hands of our war-fighters as quickly and efficiently as possible. "

Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Amazon and company founder Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post. The newspaper is among US media outlets most critical in its coverage of Trump and his administration.

Agence France-Presse 

Amazon files lawsuit contesting Pentagon's $10-billion cloud contract to Microsoft

Amazon.com Inc on Friday filed a lawsuit in the US Court of Federal Claims contesting the Pentagon's award of a cloud computing contract worth up to $10 billion to Microsoft Corp.

An Amazon spokesman said that the company filed a complaint and supplemental motion for discovery. The filing was under seal.

"The Complaint and related filings contain source selection sensitive information, as well as AWS's proprietary information, trade secrets, and confidential financial information, the public release of which would cause either party severe competitive harm," Amazon said in a court document seeking a protective order.

"The record in this bid protest likely will contain similarly sensitive information."

Last week, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper rejected any suggestion of bias in the Pentagon's decision to award Microsoft the contract after Amazon announced plans to challenge it.

Amazon was considered a favorite for the contract, part of a broader digital modernization process of the Pentagon, before Microsoft emerged as the surprise winner.

The company has previously said that politics got in the way of a fair contracting process. US President Donald Trump has long criticized Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Microsoft beats Amazon for Pentagon's $10 billion cloud computing contract

WASHINGTON - Microsoft Corp. has won the Pentagon's $10 billion cloud computing contract, the Defense Department said on Friday, beating out favorite Amazon.com Inc.

The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure Cloud (JEDI) contract is part of a broader digital modernization of the Pentagon meant to make it more technologically agile.

But the contracting process had long been mired in conflict of interest allegations, even drawing the attention of President Donald Trump, who has publicly taken swipes at Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos.

Oracle Corp. had expressed concerns about the award process for the contract, including the role of a former Amazon employee who worked on the project at the Defense Department but recused himself, then later left the Defense Department and returned to Amazon Web Services.

In a statement, an Amazon Web Services (AWS) spokesman said the company was "surprised about this conclusion."

The company said that a "detailed assessment purely on the comparative offerings" would "clearly lead to a different conclusion," according to the statement.

AWS is considering options for protesting the award, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Although the Pentagon boasts the world's most potent fighting force, its information technology remains woefully inadequate, according to many officials.

Officials have complained of having outdated computer systems and being unable to access files or share information as quickly as they might be able to in the private sector.

Some companies were also concerned that a single award would give the winner an unfair advantage in follow-on work. The Pentagon has said it planned to award future cloud deals to multiple contractors.

This week, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper removed himself from reviewing the deal due to his adult son's employment with one of the original contract applicants, IBM Corp. IBM had previously bid for the contract but had already been eliminated from the competition.

Microsoft said it was working on a comment. IBM and Oracle did not immediately return requests for comment.

The Washington Post on Wednesday reported that retired Navy commander Guy Snodgrass, who served as a speech writer and communications director to former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, said in a forthcoming book that Trump sought to “screw” Amazon by awarding the cloud computing contract to a rival.

"We’re not going to do that," Mattis told Pentagon officials, according to The Post's report on the book, which is due to be published on Oct. 29. "This will be done by the book, both legally and ethically."

Reuters could not immediately obtain a copy of the book to verify the Post's report.

In a statement announcing Microsoft as the winner, the Pentagon underscored its view that the competition was conducted fairly and legally.

"All (offers) were treated fairly and evaluated consistently with the solicitation's stated evaluation criteria. Prior to the award, the department conferred with the DOD Inspector General, which informed the decision to proceed," it said.

Microsoft shares were up 2.5 percent to $144.35 in after-hours trading after the news. Amazon shares were down 0.98 percent to $1,744.12.

The Pentagon said it had awarded more than $11 billion across 10 separate cloud contracts over the past two years.

"As we continue to execute the DOD Cloud Strategy, additional contracts are planned for both cloud services and complementary migration and integration solutions necessary to achieve effective cloud adoption," the Pentagon said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Pentagon steps up efforts to counter China's rising power

WASHINGTON, United States - Maritime operations, missile tests, landing exercises: the Pentagon has been sharply stepping up its efforts to counter China's growing military power, seen increasingly as a threat.

On Friday an American warship approached the Paracel Islands, an island chain claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea, to affirm international "freedom of navigation" in the region.

The USS Wayne E. Meyer, a guided-missile destroyer, passed near the islands to contest Beijing's sweeping claims to the seas around the archipelago, which is also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.

The Chinese claim would block "innocent passage" by other countries' ships and is "not permitted by international law," a US Seventh Fleet spokeswoman, Commander Reann Mommsen, said.

Friday's was the sixth "freedom of navigation operation" -- or FONOPS in naval jargon -- this year, a clear acceleration in pace.

There were a total of eight in 2017 and 2018, and only six during the entire Obama presidency.

On Wednesday, the US Marine Corps announced it had conducted exercises on the Japanese islet of Tori Shima, hundreds of miles south of Tokyo, to practice landings on "hostile" shores and the seizure of landing strips.

The exercises were clearly designed to highlight the ability of the American military to invade a disputed island and establish a supply base for aerial operations.

"This type of raid gives the commanders in the Indo-Pacific region the ability to project power and conduct expeditionary operations in a potentially contested littoral environment," one of the officers in charge, Commander Anthony Cesaro, said in a statement.

Such a forthright description, coming from a Pentagon hardly known for unguarded talk, reflects the fresh impetus Defense Secretary Mark Esper has given to the US policy of "strategic rivalry" with China and Russia.

Esper, who chose Asia for his first overseas trip only weeks after being sworn in as Pentagon chief, has made clear that the US wants to rapidly deploy new missiles in Asia -- possibly within months -- to counter China's rising military power.

TO 'CHANGE THE GEOMETRY'

On Thursday, acting US army secretary Ryan McCarthy, speaking in a Senate confirmation hearing, defended the development of such new missiles.

He said the new medium-range conventional missiles Washington wants to develop -- now that the US is no longer constrained by the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which the Trump administration abandoned last year -- would "change the geometry within Southeast Asia."

"If we can get the appropriate partnerships, expeditionary basing rights with partners within the region," McCarthy said, "we can change the geometry and basically reverse anti-access, area-denial capabilities that have been invested by near-peer competitors" -- jargon for pushing back against sovereignty claims by China and Russia.

Last month the Pentagon chose the Pacific Ocean for its first test of a conventional medium-range missile since the end of the Cold War -- effectively driving a nail into the coffin of the INF treaty, which banned the use of land-based missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,400 miles).

And in late August, Washington formally established its Space Command, or Spacecom, a new unified command charged with ensuring US domination in space, where China has been increasingly active.

Beijing rattled US military officials in 2007 when it launched a missile that located and then destroyed a Chinese satellite, in a dramatic demonstration of China's growing ability to militarize space.

sl/bbk/jm

source: news.abs-cbn.com

World commemorates 911 attacks

A man walks by the Tribute in Light, lit to commemorate the 18th anniversary of September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, USA, Tuesday. The world commemorates the 911 attacks, where nearly 3,000 people were killed after 19 hijackers crashed commercial jets into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Sexual assaults spike in US military, hit new record -Pentagon

WASHINGTON - The US Defense Department said on Thursday the estimated number of sexual assaults in the military climbed nearly 38 percent in 2018 compared with a survey 2 years earlier, data that critics say laid bare broken Pentagon promises of a crackdown.

The Pentagon said there were 6,053 reports of sexual assaults last year, according to an anonymous, bi-annual survey. It is the highest since the US military began collecting this kind of survey data in 2004.

Taking into consideration unreported cases as well, the military survey estimated 20,500 male and female service members experienced some kind of sexual assault last year. The estimated number in 2016 was 14,900.

The campaign against sexual assault in the military again gained momentum in March when Republican Senator Martha McSally, the first female combat pilot in the US Air Force, said she had been raped by a superior officer. She said she did not report it because she blamed herself and did not trust the system.

McSally said she would introduce legislation in the next few weeks that would incorporate many of the recommendations made by Pentagon officials highlighting the need for dedicated, trained and experienced counsels, advocates and investigators, and called for military lawyers and investigators to be teamed up from the beginning.

"I believe this is a readiness issue," McSally said after the report's release. "And just like when we have other readiness issues where we need bombs and bullets and training hours, we need to invest more resources into this process to make sure that we're addressing the shortfalls that we've seen throughout the different bases I visited and talking to others."

The odds of a woman in the US military between the ages of 17 and 20 being sexually assaulted were 1 in 8, the report said.

"It is time for Congress to stop giving the failing military leadership the benefit of doubt and pass real reform empowering military prosecutors. Enough is enough," said Don Christensen, a retired colonel and former chief Air Force prosecutor who now leads the advocacy group Protect Our Defenders.

The Pentagon said it was going to make changes to deal with the spike.

"To put it bluntly, we are not performing to the standards and expectations we have for ourselves or for each other," acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said in a memo. "This is unacceptable. We cannot shrink from facing the challenge head on. We must, and will, do better."

In a briefing on Thursday, a senior official told reporters the Pentagon was looking to make sexual harassment a crime in the military, something that would potentially elevate the punishment.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democratic presidential candidate who has been an advocate for overhauling rules for prosecution of sex crimes in the US military, said the report made clear that it was time for Congress to act.

"Sexual assaults continue to increase dramatically while the number of cases going to trial goes down," she said. "The status quo is not working." 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Pentagon looks to exoskeletons to build 'super-soldiers'

WASHINGTON - The US Army is investing millions of dollars in experimental exoskeleton technology to make soldiers stronger and more resilient, in what experts say is part of a broader push into advanced gear to equip a new generation of "super-soldiers."

The technology is being developed by Lockheed Martin Corp with a license from Canada-based B-TEMIA, which first developed the exoskeletons to help people with mobility difficulties stemming from medical ailments like multiple sclerosis and severe osteoarthritis.

Worn over a pair of pants, the battery-operated exoskeleton uses a suite of sensors, artificial intelligence and other technology to aid natural movements.

For the US military, the appeal of such technology is clear: Soldiers now deploy into war zones bogged down by heavy but critical gear like body armor, night-vision goggles and advanced radios. Altogether, that can weigh anywhere from 90 to 140 pounds (40-64 kg), when the recommended limit is just 50 pounds (23 kg).

"That means when people do show up to the fight, they're fatigued," said Paul Scharre at the Center for a New American Security, who helped lead a series of studies on exoskeletons and other advanced gear.

"The fundamental challenge we're facing with infantry troops is they're carrying too much weight."

Lockheed Martin said on Thursday it won a $6.9 million award from the US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center to research and develop the exoskeleton, called ONYX, under a 2-year, sole-source agreement.

Keith Maxwell, the exoskeleton technologies manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said people in his company's trials who wore the exoskeletons showed far more endurance.

"You get to the fight fresh. You're not worn out," Maxwell said.

Maxwell, who demonstrated a prototype, said each exoskelelton was expected to cost in the tens of thousands of dollars.

B-TEMIA's medically focused system, called Keeogo, is sold in Canada for about C$39,000 ($30,000), company spokeswoman Pamela Borges said.

The United States is not the only country looking at exoskeleton technology.

Samuel Bendett at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNAS), a federally funded US research and development center, said Russia and China were also investing in exoskeleton technologies, "in parallel" to the US advances.

Russia, in particular, was working on several versions of exoskeletons, including one that it tested recently in Syria, Bendett said. 

The CNAS analysis of the exoskeleton was part of a larger look by the Washington-based think tank at next-generation technologies that can aid soldiers, from better helmets to shield them from blast injuries to the introduction of robotic "teammates" to help resupply them in war zones.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

U.S. approves possible $330-M military sale to Taiwan -Pentagon

WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department has approved the possible sale to Taiwan of spare parts for F-16 fighter planes and other military aircraft worth up to $330 million, the Pentagon said on Monday.

U.S. military sales to self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its sacred territory under its "one China" policy, is an irritant in the relations between the world's two largest economies.

"This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security and defensive capability of the recipient, which has been and continues to be an important force for political stability, military balance, and economic progress in the region," the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement.

China is deeply suspicious of U.S. intentions toward Taiwan, which is equipped with mostly U.S.-made weaponry and wants Washington to sell it more advanced equipment, including new fighter jets.

Military experts say the balance of power between Taiwan and China has shifted in favor of China, which could probably overwhelm the island unless U.S. forces came quickly to its aid.

The $330 million request covers spare parts for "F-16, C-130, F-5, Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF), all other aircraft systems and subsystems, and other related elements of logistics and program support," the Pentagon said, adding that it notified Congress of the possible sale.

The Pentagon said the proposed sale is required to maintain Taiwan's "defensive and aerial fleet," and would not alter the military balance in the region.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring what it sees as a wayward province under its control.

Chinese President Xi Jinping told U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis during a visit to Beijing in June that Beijing was committed to peace, but could not give up "even one inch" of territory that the country's ancestors had left behind. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Trump's military parade could cost more than $90 million

WASHINGTON - A military parade requested by U.S. President Donald Trump could cost more than $90 million, a U.S. official said, citing provisional planning figures.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the cost estimate of about $92 million had not yet been approved by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and could still be changed. The parade is expected to take place in November

In February, Trump asked the Pentagon to explore a parade in celebration of American troops, after the Republican president marveled at the Bastille Day military parade he attended in Paris last year.

Earlier this year, the White House budget chief said the parade would cost U.S. taxpayers between $10 million and $30 million.

A Pentagon memo from March said the parade route would have a "heavy air component at the end of the parade."

It added that the event would focus on the contributions of the U.S. military throughout history, starting from the American Revolutionary War.

Critics have ridiculed the idea of a costly display of troops and weapons at a time when the Pentagon is struggling to cover the expenses of training, support and personnel.

Military parades in the United States are generally rare. Such parades in other countries are usually staged to celebrate victories in battle or showcase military might.

In 1991, tanks and thousands of troops paraded through Washington to celebrate the ousting of President Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces from Kuwait in the Gulf War. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Pentagon: US military to accept transgender recruits on Monday

WASHINGTON - Transgender people will be allowed for the first time to enlist in the US military starting on Monday as ordered by federal courts, the Pentagon said on Friday, after President Donald Trump's administration decided not to appeal rulings that blocked his transgender ban.

Two federal appeals courts, one in Washington and one in Virginia, last week rejected the administration's request to put on hold orders by lower court judges requiring the military to begin accepting transgender recruits on Jan. 1.

A Justice Department official said the administration will not challenge those rulings.

"The Department of Defense has announced that it will be releasing an independent study of these issues in the coming weeks. So rather than litigate this interim appeal before that occurs, the administration has decided to wait for DOD's study and will continue to defend the president's lawful authority in District Court in the meantime," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In September, the Pentagon said it had created a panel of senior officials to study how to implement a directive by Trump to prohibit transgender individuals from serving. The Defense Department has until Feb. 21 to submit a plan to Trump.

Lawyers representing currently-serving transgender service members and aspiring recruits said they had expected the administration to appeal the rulings to the conservative-majority Supreme Court, but were hoping that would not happen.

Pentagon spokeswoman Heather Babb said in a statement: "As mandated by court order, the Department of Defense is prepared to begin accessing transgender applicants for military service Jan. 1. All applicants must meet all accession standards."

Jennifer Levi, a lawyer with gay, lesbian and transgender advocacy group GLAD, called the decision not to appeal "great news."

"I’m hoping it means the government has come to see that there is no way to justify a ban and that it’s not good for the military or our country," Levi said. Both GLAD and the American Civil Liberties Union represent plaintiffs in the lawsuits filed against the administration.

"COSTS AND DISRUPTION" 

In a move that appealed to his hard-line conservative supporters, Trump announced in July that he would prohibit transgender people from serving in the military, reversing Democratic President Barack Obama's policy of accepting them. Trump said on Twitter at the time that the military "cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail."

Four federal judges - in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Seattle and Riverside, California - have issued rulings blocking Trump's ban while legal challenges to the Republican president's policy proceed. The judges said the ban would likely violate the right under the US Constitution to equal protection under the law.

The Pentagon on Dec. 8 issued guidelines to recruitment personnel in order to enlist transgender applicants by Jan. 1. The memo outlined medical requirements and specified how the applicants' sex would be identified and even which undergarments they would wear.

The Trump administration previously said in legal papers that the armed forces were not prepared to train thousands of personnel on the medical standards needed to process transgender applicants and might have to accept "some individuals who are not medically fit for service."

The Obama administration had set a deadline of July 1, 2017, to begin accepting transgender recruits. But Trump's defense secretary James Mattis postponed that date to Jan. 1, 2018, which the President's ban then put off indefinitely.

Trump has taken other steps aimed at rolling back transgender rights.

In October, his administration said a federal law banning gender-based workplace discrimination does not protect transgender employees, reversing another Obama-era position.

In February, Trump rescinded guidance issued by the Obama administration saying that public schools should allow transgender students to use the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Pentagon sets up panel to study transgender military ban

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said on Friday that it had created a panel of senior officials to study how to implement a directive by President Donald Trump to ban transgender individuals serving in the U.S. military.

In the meantime, existing policy would remain in force, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Robert Manning told reporters.


Last month, Trump signed a memorandum that directed the military not to accept transgender men and women as recruits.

It also ordered Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to determine in the coming months how to handle transgender individuals currently serving, using criteria including "military effectiveness and lethality," budget constraints, and law.

Trump's move appealed to his conservative political base but was heavily condemned by advocates of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. It has also created uncertainty for thousands of transgender service members.

The Pentagon has until February to provide an implementation plan to the White House and until then transgender service members can serve. Under Obama last year, the Pentagon ended its ban on transgender people serving openly, calling the prohibition outdated.

"Current transgender service members will continue to serve throughout the military and continue to receive necessary medical treatment as prescribed by their medical provider," Manning said.

Mattis had directed the deputy secretary of defense and vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff to develop an implementation plan, Manning said. The panel would include other senior military officials, including outside experts.

Separately, four U.S. senators, including John McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, introduced legislation that would not allow the Pentagon to remove present service members based on their gender identity.

"When less than 1 percent of Americans are volunteering to join the military, we should welcome all those who are willing and able to serve our country," McCain said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US high school student scores Mattis interview scoop

Washington, United States - A US high school student has scored an exclusive interview with Pentagon chief Jim Mattis after an aide of President Donald Trump inadvertently exposed the defense secretary's cell phone number.

The Washington Post in May ran a photo of Trump and his bodyguard Keith Schiller walking outside the White House, with Schiller clutching a bunch of papers.

Sharp-eyed readers noticed that atop the papers was a yellow sticky note that said "Jim, Mad Dog, Mattis" along with a phone number.

Retired four-star Marine general Mattis has been nicknamed "Mad Dog" by some in the media and by troops that served under him.

The newspaper quickly took the photo down but not before Teddy Fischer, a sophomore (about 16 years old) from Mercer Island High School saw the number and called Mattis with an interview request.

"I called it to see if it was him, because I was pretty curious if this is actually his number or is it kind of a joke," Fischer told the King 5 local news channel in his home state of Washington.

He didn't leave a message but went on to text an interview request.

To his surprise, Mattis called back and agreed to schedule an interview, which ultimately would last for about 45 minutes.

What followed was a far-ranging conversation across political topics and history.

"Especially if you study history, you realize that our country has been through worse," Mattis said when asked what advice he would give a current high schooler scared about what they see on the news.

When asked why he had chosen to call Fischer back, Mattis said it was partly because he too comes from Washington state.

"I've always tried to help students because I think we owe it to you young folks to pass on what we learned going down the road so that you can make your own mistakes, not the same ones we made," Mattis said.


The full transcript of the interview can be viewed at the high school's The Islander newspaper here.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US military unveils mobile devices strategy

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military on Friday released a new strategy aimed at tapping the full potential of smartphones and other mobile devices while maintaining adequate security and reliability.

Details must still be worked out, but the policy lays the groundwork for big battles between Research in Motion, which makes the Pentagon’s most commonly used BlackBerry device, and competitors like Apple and Google.

The strategy aims to better coordinate an array of pilot programs and other initiatives already under way across the Department of Defense and the various military services.

Teri Takai, the Pentagon’s chief information officer, said the Pentagon hoped to leverage the technology of smartphones and other mobile device technologies to improve information sharing, collaboration and efficiencies across the military services and other Pentagon agencies.

Dennis Moran, a retired Army general and vice president for communications equipment maker Harris Corp, welcomed the new strategy and said it would help clarify the U.S. military’s approach to mobile devices.

“People have been calling for this for years,” said Moran, who once ran the White House Communications Agency. “It’s acknowledging that the world is moving toward mobility and the department’s got to move in that same direction,” he said.

The U.S. military already uses more than 250,000 BlackBerry devices built by Research In Motion, and has begun piloting the use of several thousand devices made by Apple or powered by Google’s Android software.

Takai said the new strategy would take advantage of existing technology, the ability to use or build custom applications, and a workforce increasingly comfortable with using smart phones and other devices.

“This strategy is not simply about embracing the newest technology – it is about keeping the DoD workforce relevant in an era when information and cyberspace play a critical role in mission success,” she said.

Most commercial devices do not have the level of security, access protocols and other security features required by the U.S. military.

RIM’s BlackBerry has long been the default device where security is key, but its dominance has been eroded in recent years as popular consumer devices such as Apple’s iPhone have their security credentials bolstered by third-party software.

The Pentagon remains RIM’s single biggest customer.

Fixmo Inc, one third party software provider, said the Pentagon had recently announced support for its first Android device – a Dell Streak running a hardened version of Android with Fixmo and Good Technology Inc providing security and ensuring compliance.

At the same time, RIM has moved to counter the threat to its market dominance, unveiling its Mobile Fusion product earlier this year that can manage rival devices as well as BlackBerry products. The Canadian company is planning to extend BlackBerry-like security to those devices later this year.

source: interaksyon.com

Pentagon suffers Internet access outage

WASHINGTON — An unspecified number of Defense Department personnel in the Washington D.C. area and in the Midwest were cut off from the public Internet for nearly three hours on Thursday because of technical problems, a department spokeswoman said Friday.

The outage was not caused by any malicious activity, said the spokeswoman, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel April Cunningham. She said the networks are back up and operating at normal capacity.

Defense Department users were cut off “due to technical issues at three of the (Department of Defense) gateways interfacing to commercial Internet access points,” Cunningham said in an email.

The department’s Defense Information Security Agency worked with commercial vendors and “mission partners” to reroute critical DoD traffic and to mitigate the issue until technical issues were resolved, she said.

The number of people affected by the outage was not known, “but is estimated in the thousands, given the number of people who work in the Pentagon,” Cunningham told Reuters.

source: interaksyon.com