Defense Workforce

‘We Want to Be the Last Resort,’ Says Defense Secretary

Pentagon’s Esper says the U.S. military is ready to help fight the coronavirus, but may not be the best — or fastest — solution.

  • Patrick Tucker, Defense One

GovExec Daily: How the Pentagon is Responding to Coronavirus

Defense One's Brad Peniston joins the podcast to explain the Defense Department's moves during the early stages of the pandemic.

  • Ross Gianfortune and Adam Butler

Pentagon Bars Most Guests, Travelers Starting Monday

New restrictions apply to visitors, foreigners, ceremonies. International travelers must wait 14 days for entry.

  • Kevin Baron, Defense One

When Your Work Is Classified, ‘Work From Home’ Doesn’t Work

That’s just the start of the problems for defense employees, contract workers, and their bosses who are trying to take coronavirus precautions.

  • Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One

Pentagon Halts Domestic Travel by Troops to Slow Coronavirus Spread

The late-Friday edict goes much farther than Wednesday's limits on international travel.

  • Bradley Peniston, Defense One

Periodic Reinvestigations Are Out, Continuous Vetting Is In for Security Clearance Holders

The shift is part of an effort to identify potential security risks as they occur.

  • Lindy Kyzer

Pentagon Audit Shows Progress, But Also Deep Challenges in Financial Management

Defense auditors are finding new problems faster than solving old ones, accountability group says.

  • Courtney Bublé

OPM and Defense Dept. Issue Guidelines for Civilian Employees on Coronavirus

New memos spell out expanded telework flexibilities, leave policies, alternative work schedules and more.

  • Courtney Bublé

GovExec Daily: How Unions Are Protecting Feds From Everything from Relocation to Coronavirus

Courtney Bublé and Erich Wagner spoke to the podcast about the state of public service unions and their place in the federal ecosystem.

  • Ross Gianfortune and Adam Butler

The President Is Winning His War on American Institutions

How Trump is destroying the civil service and bending the government to his will.

  • George Packer, The Atlantic

Warren, Sanders Warn Defense Chief Against Using New Collective Bargaining Authority

Democratic senators demand that Esper “commit, in writing,” not to act on his new authority to abolish unionization at the Pentagon.

  • Erich Wagner

Senators From Both Political Parties Urge Trump to 'Reconsider' Defense Union Memo

Lawmakers say the president’s January decision to give Defense Secretary Mark Esper blanket authority to abolish collective bargaining runs counter to congressional intent.

  • Erich Wagner

Defense Chief Says He Didn’t Ask for Union Memo, Declines to Say How He Will Use New Power

Esper told lawmakers he would wait for staff recommendations before using the newly granted authority to outlaw collective bargaining among Pentagon civilian workers.

  • Erich Wagner
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Trump’s New Spy Chief Failed to Report $100,000 from a Group Funded by Hungary

Richard Grenell’s past clients could raise concerns about his access to state secrets, according to his own office’s rules.

  • Isaac Arnsdorf, ProPublica

Pentagon Defends Handling Of Traumatic Brain Injuries In Iranian Attack

TBI symptoms are often “nonspecific,” the Joint Staff surgeon said.

  • Katie Bo Williams, Defense One

Military Family Members and Retirees Could Lose Medical Clinic Access under Pentagon Plan

The Defense Department this week published a plan to downsize dozens of military treatment facilities and make many accessible only to active duty troops.

  • Erich Wagner

Trump Administration Publishes Memo That Could End Defense Unions

More than three weeks after President Trump signed a memo authorizing Defense Secretary Mark Esper to effectively outlaw collective bargaining at the Defense Department, the White House has posted the document to the Federal Register.

  • Erich Wagner

Senator Denies Threatening to Make Defense Secretary's Life 'Hell' If He Cuts AFRICOM Troops

"No, I never said that," Graham said in a brief phone call with Defense One. "It was a good conversation."

  • Katie Bo Williams, Defense One

Warship Accidents Left Sailors Traumatized. The Navy Struggled to Treat Them.

Recent wars have forced the U.S. military to acknowledge and treat the psychological wounds caused by trauma. But some sailors who survived 2017’s deadly crashes say the Navy’s efforts to help them sometimes fell short.

  • T. Christian Miller, Kengo Tsutsumi and Megan Rose, ProPublica

100 U.S. Soldiers to Transfer into Space Force in 2021

The Army is the first branch outside the Air Force to announce initial plans regarding the new branch of service.

  • Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One

Viewpoint: The U.S. Military Is Not Ready for a Constitutional Crisis

When I joined the Navy, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. But not once, in all of my training, did I receive meaningful instruction on the document to which I had pledged my life.

  • Ken Harbaugh, The Atlantic