March 29, 2024

Budget Haggling Threatens Defense

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Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River Morning Coffee logoeconomic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

Congressional budget delays give our enemies the advantage, according to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy. He said budget haggling allows enemies a leap-ahead advantage preparing for the next fight, reports Military.com. The government is currently running on a  continuing resolution passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in September, which keeps defense spending at the 2019 level of $716 billion.

The National Bureau of Economic Research finds combat troops are at higher risk for opioid and heroin addiction, reports Military Times.
Combat exposure adds substantial risk for prescription abuse. The study determined that opioid abuse among combat-exposed veterans was 7% higher than among those who deployed but didn’t see combat.

US forces scramble for Syria exit as Trump announces economic sanctions on Turkey, reports Military Times. US-trained, 60,000 Syrian Democratic Forces crumbles in a week under heavy Turkish assault, reports Military Times. The SDF’s sustained counter-terrorism campaign to knock out ISIS sleeper cells is in jeopardy of ending as Turkish warplanes reportedly destroyed a coalition-trained, SDF commando camp tasked with taking out ISIS leaders and financiers.

SecDef Mark Esper seeks, next week, to demand NATO members implement tough punishments on Turkey’s incursion into Syria, reports Breaking Defense. Turkey defends invasion into Syria as self-defense under the UN Charter, reports Defense News.

Kevin McAleenan to resign as acting secretary of Homeland Security, adding another top-level vacancy at DHS, reports FCW. McAleenan took on the acting secretary job after his predecessor, Kirstjen Nielsen, was forced out in April of this year.

Veterans, military retirees to see a 1.6 percent cost-of-living boost in benefits, reports Military Times, about half last year’s increase. Officials from the Social Security Administration announced the COLA boost based on inflation and consumer spending calculations over the last few months. Last year’s COLA was a 2.8% boost, the second year in a row above 2%.

Patients in the military health system should see improvements in the next couple of years, reports Military Times, as the Defense Health Agency implements a standardized system for making appointments, navigating between primary and specialty care and interacting with Tricare contract managers.

Iran oil tanker damage from apparent missile attack is captured in new photos, reports Fox News, showing a pair of gaping holes in its hull. Tehran claims it was hit by two missiles off the coast of Saudi Arabia in a mysterious attack last week that threatens to further escalate tensions between the regional adversaries.

Inside Big Navy’s war on beards, Navy Times reports on finds that just a few days of stubble might obstruct a face mask’s seal.

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