Latest news with #BorderMission
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pentagon Orders Services to Cut PCS Moves by 50% Over Next 5 Years
The Pentagon has directed the military services to cut the amount of money they spend on permanent change-of-station, or PCS, moves for troops in half by 2030 as part of an ongoing effort to reduce spending. The services are tasked with cuts that amount to an initial 10% of the $5 billion PCS budget in 2027 and that increase annually -- hitting 50% by 2030, according to a May 22 memo that was publicly released Wednesday. The memo, by the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, says the services should target 'discretionary move' budgets. Pentagon leaders framed the push to cut those PCS moves as a way to reduce costs and provide stability for families. However, department officials did not offer clear definitions on what moves are discretionary and what guardrails will be put in place to keep the cuts from affecting families or careers. Read Next: Pentagon Diverts $1 Billion from Army Barracks to Fund Border Mission Tim Dill, a top official in the Pentagon's Office for Personnel and Readiness, told reporters that the department is giving the services four months to come up with plans to 'reduce the frequency of PCS moves for service members, driving much needed efficiencies for the department and improving the quality of life for warfighters and military families.' The memo charges each service to consider altering troop career pathways or just how many opportunities service members get to serve outside of their specialties. Dill wants the service to 'look at where is a move absolutely necessary to accomplish' giving troops 'the right leadership opportunities,' and where 'a move [is] not necessary to accomplish it.' While the emphasis is being placed on 'discretionary moves,' officials at the Pentagon on Wednesday struggled to define the term, and one explained it as moves that include operational travel inside the U.S., rotational travel to or from overseas, and individual service member training travel -- three categories that include a broad majority of military moves. The memo and Pentagon officials stressed the outcome of the changes should be a boon for families, but they stopped short of offering guarantees on all possible scenarios. The overall idea is also not entirely new. Several years ago, the Marine Corps made a push to offer more opportunities for families to stay put for longer as part of an overhaul of its retention policies. When asked whether a possible outcome of the new policy would be more family separations, given the tightening budget for moves, Dill said they were 'not dictating the way in which this needs to be done and we would want to hear from the services, their concerns … about some of the examples you named.' 'We understand there's some risks associated with some of the methods,' Dill added. Dill also pushed back on the idea that the new policy, framed as protecting military families, would result in single service members bearing the brunt of the burden to support jobs in less popular or less family friendly locations. 'This is not a policy where we just think we need to take the moves away from the families and put it on someone else -- it's for everyone,' he said. Dill also said he is aware that some military locations are just broadly unpopular, and the department is 'very open' to talking to the services about those dynamics. But Dill also said he thought 'that there are service members out there that are perfect for any installation, but we want to make sure that where we can, we match up with service member preferences as much as possible.' According to officials, cutting PCS moves is separate from another effort to address problems with the privatization of PCS household goods shipments and shortcomings with the contractor that is taking over those shipments. In a memo Tuesday to senior leaders and combatant commanders, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced he ordered U.S. Transportation Command to address what he called "recent deficiencies" in performance by the company that manages the $7.2 billion contract to run the department's moving process. Military families have reported numerous issues with scheduling and executing moves that included issues such as packers not showing up, delayed pickups and deliveries, and surprise cancellations. Related: Hegseth Orders Review of Defense Department's Support for Homeschooling
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Marine Corps Releases New Details on Drone Competitions Coming to Bases Around the World
Five Marine Corps bases will host drone competitions to test Marine teams from across the fleet on "hunter-killer" drone employment, speed and agility, with the first event occurring at Quantico, Virginia, in November, according to a service message last week and a Marine Corps spokesperson. The Marine Corps is calling on units across the fleet to stand up their own drone teams to participate in competitions at these installations located around the world starting this year, a massive step the service says will foster a new culture around unmanned systems as it races to build its drone repertoire. All Marine Corps units can participate. The teams will consist of at least six Marines, including one officer, a staff noncommissioned officer and four first-person-view drone operators who need to be approved by their command to participate, pass a drone operator physical and "possess the maturity and competence to safely" fly the drones, the message said. Read Next: Pentagon Diverts $1 Billion from Army Barracks to Fund Border Mission Service leaders and experts have said in recent months that this type of competition will give more Marines the chance to get their hands on drones and test emerging capabilities in a way that accelerates the Corps' ability to fight future conflicts as the war in Ukraine rages on and rivals such as China, Russia and Iran have ramped up their own unmanned fleets. "There is a clear recognition that the competition model closes the traditional gap between warfighter and drone capability -- moving traditional, bureaucratic requirements and acquisitions process[es] to the sideline," Nathan Ecelbarger, the president of the United States National Drone Association, or USNDA, told on Wednesday. The service established the Marine Corps Attack Drone Team, or MCADT, in January, which has become the epicenter of the amphibious branch's tactical unmanned systems effort. Ecelbarger described the team as "first to fight" in the competition model, but added that other services are expected to soon announce their own competitive teams. The MCADT will compete in the first "Drone Crucible Championship" against the 75th Ranger Regiment's team this summer, which is expected to further inform the fleet on best practices and requirements to field teams across the force. The event will be hosted by the USNDA in Florida. "This is a different type of competition we're building from the ground up; it isn't as simple as a 'service volleyball team' where we can copy and paste traditional rules," Ecelbarger said. "Competition for the sake of competition isn't the end state; it's the means to the end state," which is "accelerating the warfighting capabilities of the nation." He added the USNDA is developing two different efforts across the Department of Defense, which include the Drone Competition Program, where all service members can test and build their skills, and the Drone Crucible Program, where "pro teams" from the services will go head to head while engaging simulated enemy squads and convoys, as well as aerial and maritime targets. Units that want to participate in the fleet-wide competitions, which are in conjunction with the service's marksmanship competitions, need to get their drones approved by the MCADT. Those drones need to be "man-packable," meaning they can be carried by Marines to the competition, under 20 pounds, built with law-compliant parts and under $2,000, not including goggles, controllers, radios or other supporting equipment, the message said. Marine Corp Bases Quantico; Butler in Japan; Hawaii; Camp Pendleton in California; and Camp Lejeune in North Carolina are charged with hosting regional competitions and need to start deconflicting frequencies, ranges and other logistics for the events that will occur throughout the next year, according to the message. Maj. Hector Infante, a service spokesperson, said the USNDA is not involved with the planning and coordination of those events at this time. The message also announced a "Summer Augment Program," which will include high-performing Marines across the force participating in competitions between April and August with the MCADT, with the potential to be recruited onto the team full time. Ecelbarger said that while services are working through the logistics of setting up their competitive programs, individual troops should be getting "stick time," or practice with drones in commercial simulators or in civilian competitions. They should also study "every single piece of literature and research coming out of Ukraine." "As soon as you're done reading, you aren't finished," he added. "Something new has emerged. Embrace the mindset of checking your own assumptions." Marine leaders and experts alike have described numerous challenges in building military drone capabilities. Those include the slow acquisition process as new technologies proliferate and units working with or around existing policies so troops can schedule range time, coordinate air space and frequencies, or navigate what is commercially available but compliant with the law. "We can't afford to close our grasp around today's shiny capability while tomorrow's countermeasure is lost, just out of reach, ready to be employed by our adversaries," Ecelbarger said. Related: Marine Corps Drone Team Competitions Are Coming to a Unit Near You Soon
