After that, it’ll be up to the rest of the committee to turn them into law.

The quality of life panel — led by Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa. — was formed in early 2023 as a way to evaluate military policies and shortfalls that may be discouraging individuals from reenlisting.

Over the last nine months, the panel held a host of roundtables with Pentagon leaders, military families and outside advocates on ways to address those concerns. That included a briefing in late November on base daycare options.

Better pay for junior troops will be top focus of new House panel

At a Nov. 15 event hosted by the political action group With Honor, Bacon and Houlahan said they are considering a host of proposals to add into next year’s defense authorization bill debate, including military sabbaticals for outside job opportunities or family care, more tax exemptions for military pay, and more flexibility for troops in their future duty assignments.

They also are upset over continued reports of housing problems at bases across the country. Bacon blamed some of the problems on a lack of accountability for the issue among senior leaders.

Just how many of those ideas can advance into actual legislation remains to be seen. Senior Republican leaders said the quality of life changes will be key in recruiting and retention efforts. But they also spent most of 2023 focused on social issues in the personnel section of the annual defense budget bill.

Bacon and Houlahan are likely to be key voices throughout the spring in hearings on the quality of life topics. A draft of the authorization bill — including any possible recommendations from the panel — is expected in May or June.

The weapons, worth up to $250 million, include an array of air munitions and other missiles, artillery, anti-armor systems, ammunition, demolition and medical equipment and parts. The aid, provided through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, will be pulled from Pentagon stockpiles.

Zelenskyy asks Congress for more air defenses as Ukraine aid dwindles

In a statement, Marine Lt. Col. Garron Garn, a Pentagon spokesman said there is no more funding to replace the weapons taken from department stocks. And the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides long-term funding for future weapons contracts, is also out of money.

As a result, Garn said Wednesday, “Without the supplemental funding, there will be a shortfall in replenishing U.S. military stocks, affecting American military readiness.”

President Joe Biden is urging Congress to pass a $110 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other national security needs. It includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine, with about half to replenish Pentagon stocks. It also includes about $14 billion for Israel as it fights Hamas and $14 billion for U.S. border security. Other funds would go for security needs in the Asia-Pacific.

Due to an accounting error that overvalued some of the weapons sent to Ukraine over the past year or more, there is still about $4.2 billion in restored drawdown authority. But since the Pentagon has no money to replenish inventory sent to Kyiv, the department will have to “rigorously assess” any future aid and its implications on the U.S. military’s ability to protect America, Garn said.

This is the 54th tranche of military aid taken from department shelves and sent to Ukraine, and it is similar in size and contents to many of the other recent packages.

U.S. defense and government leaders have argued that the weapons are critical for Ukraine to maintain its defense and continue efforts to mount an offensive against Russian forces during the winter months.

In a Pentagon briefing last week, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder noted the recent letter that the Defense Department comptroller sent to Congress warning that the U.S. will be using up the last of its replenishment funds by the end of the year.

“Once those funds are obligated, we will have exhausted the funding available for us to provide security assistance to Ukraine,” said Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary. “We would, again, continue to urge the passage of the supplemental that we’ve submitted. ... It is imperative that we have the funds needed to ensure that they get the most urgent battlefield capabilities that they require.”

The latest aid package comes as the war in Ukraine drags on into its 22nd month. Russia fired almost 50 Shahed drones at targets in Ukraine and shelled a train station in the southern city of Kherson where more than 100 civilians were gathered to catch a train to Kyiv. And a day earlier, Ukrainian warplanes damaged a Russian ship moored in the Black Sea off Crimea as soldiers on both sides are struggling to make much progress along the front lines.

After passing a short-term budget extension in early November, lawmakers are again faced with the possibility of disruptions in military funding and government operations if they can’t come to an agreement over a full-year budget plan in the next few weeks. And their decisions in early January could cause problems for the fiscal 2025 budget before work on that spending plan even begins.

Fiscal 2024 began on Oct. 1, so federal agencies are already nearly three months into new spending cycles without appropriate changes in their funding plans. Pentagon leaders have said that means some new programs and purchases have been delayed until a new full-year budget plan is passed.

When that will happen is unclear. Congress actually faces a pair of potential shutdown deadlines in the next few weeks.

The short-term spending deal approved in November extended funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and a few other agencies until Jan. 19. If a budget deal is not reached before then, only those offices would be forced into partial closure.

House votes to prevent a government shutdown

Meanwhile, VA does have advance appropriations to keep hospitals, benefits offices and most other operations going past that date. So, a partial government shutdown in late January may have a limited impact on military and veteran families.

But Defense Department funding — as well as Homeland Security and the rest of the government — only runs until Feb. 2. If a budget deal is not reached before then, troops’ paychecks will halt, non-essential base services will shutter and family moves will be postponed.

Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have said they hope to avoid that, but they remain far apart on a compromise.

House Republican leaders have insisted that spending limits must be part of any full-year budget deal. White House officials have insisted that lawmakers follow the budget outlines agreed upon early last summer, as part of the debt limit extension deal.

Typically, work begins on the next year’s federal budget plan in early February. In 2024, lawmakers may still not have last year’s work finished by that time.

The entire Osprey fleet remains grounded following the Nov. 29 crash with the exception of limited Marine Corps flights in emergencies. More than 50 U.S. service members have died in Osprey crashes over the lifespan of the program, and 20 of those died in four crashes over the last 20 months.

Ospreys had history of safety issues long before they were grounded

The Osprey is a fast-moving airframe that can fly like both a helicopter and an airplane — but its many crashes have led critics to warn it has fatal design flaws.

The government of Japan, the only international partner flying the Osprey, has also grounded its aircraft after the Nov. 29 crash.

On Thursday the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requesting a massive amount of documentation on the Osprey’s safety record to be delivered to the committee by Jan. 4.

“Our servicemembers remain in harm’s way without resolution of known mechanical issues, " wrote the committee chairman, Kentucky Republican James Comer. “While, statistically, the Osprey is not considered as dangerous as some other military aircraft, the Committee remains alarmed that most fatalities involving the aircraft have happened during training exercises, not combat operations.”

On Friday Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Richard Neal, all Massachusetts Democrats, also announced they were also pressing Austin for answers on the Osprey’s safety record. The three lawmakers represent the home state of Staff Sgt. Jacob Galliher, one of the eight Air Force special operations service members killed in the Japan crash.

“We urge the Defense Department, and the Departments of the Air Force and the Navy to ensure that the V-22 Osprey is safe to fly before allowing servicemembers from across the Commonwealth and the United States back on board,” the lawmakers wrote.

The Osprey only became operational in 2007 after decades of testing. Since then, it’s become a workhorse for the Marine Corps and Air Force Special Operations Command, and was in the process of being adopted by the Navy to replace its C-2 Greyhound propeller planes, which transport personnel on and off aircraft carriers at sea.

Shortly after the Nov. 29 crash, the Air Force said that a malfunction of the aircraft, not a mistake by the crew, was probably the cause. If it is the case, it will be the second known fatal crash caused by a mechanical problem with the aircraft in a year.

The Osprey is produced through a partnership between Bell Textron and Boeing. Both companies have declined to discuss the most recent crash, but have said they will work with the military however needed to support the investigation.

All three versions of the Osprey, the Marine Corps’ MV-22; the Air Force’s CV-22 and the Navy’s CMV-22 programs are overseen by the Pentagon’s Osprey Joint Program Office.

The Joint Program office said in a statement to the Associated Press that its engineering team has been integrated into the Air Force Special Operations Command investigation team looking at the Japan crash, and “sharing as much information as possible without compromising the ongoing investigation to find a path forward for the V-22.”

The Osprey has faced persistent questions about a mechanical problem with the clutch that has troubled the program for more than a decade. There also have been questions as to whether all parts of the Osprey have been manufactured according to safety specifications and, as those parts age, whether they remain strong enough to withstand the significant forces created by the Osprey’s unique structure and dynamics of tiltrotor flight.

Marine Corps Ospreys also have been used to transport White House staff, press and security personnel accompanying the president. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said those Ospreys are also grounded.

Lawmakers earlier this year backed plans for a 5.2% pay raise for all service members on Jan. 1, the largest annual pay raise in 22 years. The boost is not a result of congressional or executive branch generosity, but instead reflects the federal formula tying military salaries to civilian pay trends.

By that formula, the 2025 pay raise for troops should be 4.5%, the third consecutive year of pay hikes above 4% for military members.

White House officials or members of Congress could change that increase in their budget battles over coming months, either raising it to make up for higher cost-of-living concerns or dropping it to save money for other military priorities. But that has not happened since the early 2010s.

Pay boosts for junior troops not yet a priority for Pentagon planners

Lawmakers are more likely to keep the 4.5% raise mark and instead focus on targeted increases for troops with high-demand skills and junior enlisted personnel, a group whose annual base pay typically does not top $30,000.

Last summer, House Republicans advanced legislation to guarantee that even the lowest-ranking service members make at least $31,000. But the legislation was opposed by the White House, in part because of questions surrounding the cost and the other compensation those troops receive — things like housing stipends and enlistment bonuses.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s special military quality of life panel, has said he plans to make the junior enlisted pay issue a key focus of the committee’s work on the annual defense authorization bill this summer.

Pentagon leaders have pushed to postpone the debate until they complete their Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, a periodic review of troops’ pay and benefits. But work from that group isn’t expected to be finished until January 2025. Bacon has said the issue needs to be addressed sooner.

Work on the authorization bill is expected to start in February, but delays in Congress passing a full federal budget for fiscal 2024 could delay some of those hearings and debates.

The video call between Brown and Gen. Liu Zhenli is the first senior military communications between the U.S. and China since August 2022, when Beijing suspended all such contacts after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. It comes on the heels of similar conversations between top U.S. and Chinese diplomats, all triggered by the meeting last month between U.S. President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping.

Biden’s meeting with Xi, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, was aimed in part at restoring the military talks amid escalating concerns about frequent unsafe or unprofessional incidents between the two nations’ ships and aircraft in the Pacific region.

Brown and Liu “discussed the importance of working together to responsibly manage competition, avoid miscalculations, and maintain open and direct lines of communication,” said Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey, Brown’s spokesman, in a statement.

The U.S. has consistently viewed military communications with China as critical to avoiding any missteps between their armed forces and to maintaining a peaceful Indo-Pacific region.

Brown’s call is the first Cabinet-level communication with China since Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Dec. 6 with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

While few other details about Brown’s call were released, a senior U.S. defense official and a senior military official said it was an important first step. These are the kinds of discussions that the U.S. needs to have with China, they said, in order to avoid misunderstandings or miscalculations as the two militaries interact. The two officials spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to provide information before the call.

They said the U.S. is talking with China at various levels to work out a series of calls and meetings in the coming weeks and months. They include plans to hold the bilateral Defense Policy Coordination Talks early next year and the possible resumption of the China-U.S. Military Maritime Consultative Agreement talks in the spring.

During the call Brown reaffirmed the importance of holding the policy and maritime talks as well as opening the lines of communication with top Pacific commanders from the two countries, Dorsey said in his statement.

In August 2022, Beijing suspended all military contacts with the U.S. when Pelosi became the highest-ranking American lawmaker to visit Taiwan since 1997, when then-Speaker Newt Gingrich traveled there. Her visit sparked a surge in military maneuvers by China. Beijing dispatched warships and aircraft across the median line in the Taiwan Strait, claiming the de facto boundary did not exist, fired missiles over Taiwan itself, and challenged established norms by firing missiles into Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

There also has been an increase in what the Pentagon calls risky Chinese aircraft and warship incidents. The Defense Department in October released video footage of some of the more than 180 intercepts of U.S. warplanes by Chinese aircraft that have occurred in the past two years — more than the total number over the previous decade. In one of the more recent incidents, a Chinese pilot flew within 10 feet (3 meters) of a U.S. Air Force B-52, which was conducting routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace.

While officials touted the Brown-Liu call as an important initial move, the Pentagon has continued to express concerns about China’s aggressive military interactions in the Indo-Pacific and has worked to build alliances with other nations in the region.

Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with defense chiefs from Australia and the United Kingdom to forge a new agreement to increase technology cooperation and information sharing, as part of a broader effort to counter China’s rapidly growing influence in the Indo-Pacific.

The new technology agreement is the next step in widening military cooperation with Australia that includes plans to help equip Sydney with a fleet of eight nuclear-powered submarines. And the defense leaders pointed to efforts by China to restrict freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific as a reason to bolster their cooperation.

Also, earlier this week, Adm. John Aquilino, head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, expressed concerns about the increased joint military actions by China and Russia in the region. Speaking in Tokyo, he said it is far beyond a “marriage of convenience” between Beijing and Moscow, and he urged China to stop escalating maritime confrontations with its neighbors.

China’s defense ministry, meanwhile, has criticized the U.S. for interfering in both Taiwan and the South China Sea, charging that American arms sales to Taiwan are making the situation more dangerous.

Included in the annual defense authorization bill passed by Congress earlier this month is language calling for “a study to assess and evaluate any health conditions and adverse events arising in service members on active duty one year after receiving the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.” Researchers will be required to report their findings back to lawmakers in December 2024.

The vaccine has been a target of conservative lawmakers for years. In the fiscal 2023 defense authorization bill, lawmakers repealed the Defense Department’s mandate for all troops to receive the vaccine. This year’s bill also contains a host of provisions related to potential reenlistment of individuals kicked out of the ranks for refusing the shots.

But the research mandate — inserted by Republican House members during debate on the legislation — takes that further, again calling into question the safety of the vaccine.

VA urging veterans, staff to get latest COVID-19 vaccine booster

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said that “serious problems [linked to the vaccine] are rare and long-term side effects unlikely.” They have also said that medical research thus far has not shown any increased risk of death associated with receiving the inoculation, while contracting coronavirus does carry an increased risk of death.

But the agency has documented allergic reactions and heart problems in a small percentage of vaccine recipients.

The study will look at “any health condition developed after receiving such first dose, regardless of whether the condition is attributable to the receipt of such first dose,” and “an accounting of adverse events including hyperimmune response” linked to the vaccine.

House Republicans had also pushed for language prohibiting military leaders from mandating masks to prevent the spread of future COVID-19 outbreaks, but that language was dropped in final deliberations over the bill.

President Joe Biden is expected to sign the authorization bill into law before the end of the month.

Tuberville earlier this month lifted his hold on more than 400 nominees whom he had blocked due to his objections over the military abortion access policies. At the time, he said he would keep his hold on the 11 four-star nominees in a continuation of that protest, but he relented this week amid additional pressure from Democratic and Republican leaders.

The individuals confirmed in group vote include the heads of three combatant commands and the second-ranking official for four of the five military services. (Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney was confirmed as the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps in November.) They are:

• Air Force Lt. Gen. Kevin B. Schneider, nominated to be commander of Pacific Air Forces;
• Air Force Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, nominated to be head of Air Combat Command;
• Air Force Lt. Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, nominated to be head of U.S. Northern Command;
• Air Force Lt. Gen. Timothy D. Haugh, nominated to be head of U.S. Cyber Command;
• Air Force Lt. Gen. James C. Slife, nominated to be Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force;
• Army Lt. Gen. James J. Mingus, nominated to be Vice Chief of Staff of the Army;
• Navy Vice Adm. James W. Kilby, nominated to be Vice Chief of Naval Operations;
• Navy Vice Adm. Stephen T. Koehler, nominated to be head of U.S. Pacific Fleet;
• Navy Vice Adm. William J. Houston, nominated to be director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program;
• Space Force Lt. Gen. Michael A. Guetlein, nominated to be Vice Chief of Space Operations;
• and Space Force Lt. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting, to be head of U.S. Space Command.

Pentagon officials in recent days had said the positions are critical for national security and had urged senators to find a way to get them confirmed before the end of the year.

The Senate was scheduled to leave town last week, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., extended the chamber’s session by a few days in part to get the military confirmations cleared.

Officers whose nominations were blocked in Senate could get back pay

If the senior officers had not been approved by the end of the month, the White House would have needed to resubmit their nominations for consideration in 2024. In the end, military leaders saw their senior officials confirmed without making any of the changes demanded by Tuberville to the abortion access policy.

Senate leaders could have moved any one of the 430-plus nominees held up by Tuberville since his blockade started in late February, and the chamber did approve a handful of individuals in stand-alone votes in recent months.

But Schumer and other Democrats argued the moves broke chamber precedent for non-controversial military promotions and nominations. They also worried that given the large number of officers involved, typical Senate procedures would have taken months of time-consuming work on the Senate floor.

Thanks to Tuberville’s reversal, late last week Senate leaders cleared a handful of lower-ranking nominees held up by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., over concerns he had about Defense Department diversity training programs. They also advanced legislation to give back pay and retroactive benefits to officers whose nominations had been held up by Tuberville’s protests.

Schumer said that providing back pay “is the very, very least the Senate could do to right this awful wrong.”

However, House lawmakers will have to approve that legislation before the senior leaders receive any money. The House began its holiday recess on Dec. 15 and will not consider the bill until members return in January.

Tuberville has promised to continue to hold all senior civilian Pentagon nominees in protest of the abortion access policy, which grants leave time and travel stipends to troops forced to travel across state lines for abortions or related procedures.

Currently, that hold applies to only one individual: Ronald Keohane, President Joe Biden’s pick to be assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs.

WASHINGTON, LONDON and PARIS — Several nations have announced their contributions to Operation Prosperity Guardian, a new multinational security initiative in the Middle East to help protect merchant ships in the Red Sea area from drones and missiles.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin formally announced the effort Dec. 18, after previously hinting that collective action is required to protect civilian ships in the region.

To date, Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched at least 100 attacks with one-way drones and ballistic missiles, targeting 10 merchant vessels that represent more than 35 different nations, according to a readout of a virtual meeting between security group participants.

“Operation Prosperity Guardian is bringing together multiple countries to include the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain to jointly address security challenges in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, with the goal of ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security and prosperity,” Austin said Dec. 18.

He noted this effort will fall under the purview of the Combined Maritime Forces — a multinational maritime partnership based in Bahrain — and its Task Force 153. The CMF is made up of 39 nations, and its various task forces help secure the Gulf of Oman, the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Some task forces also focus on countering piracy across the region as well as and training and partner-building activities.

About 20,000 commercial vessels transit the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden every year, according to the French Navy. Task Force 153 specifically covers the Red Sea and was established in 2022 to address human trafficking and smuggling of both legal materials like coal and illegal weapons and drugs, Defense News previously reported.

The readout of Austin’s meeting noted that task force “could be leveraged to deter attacks under the CMF,” but the Defense Department declined to provide additional information.

Here are some details about forces participating in Operation Prosperity Guardian.

Britain

Britain has committed a Type 45 destroyer equipped with air defense weapons to the international task force.

The Defence Ministry announced Dec. 19 the destroyer HMS Diamond will lead the Royal Navy’s contribution to Operation Prosperity Guardian.

HMS Diamond has been in the region for a little more than two weeks and moved to the Red Sea on Saturday. It was almost immediately called into action to shoot down a suspected Houthi drone aimed at a commercial ship in the area. This was first time the Royal Navy shot down an aerial target since the Gulf War in 1991.

“This is an international problem that requires an international solution. That is why HMS Diamond has joined Operation Prosperity Guardian,” Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said while announcing the work with the security group.

British forces have been on hand with a small fleet of ships in the region. For example, the military operates a flotilla out of Bahrain that includes the frigate HMS Lancaster, three mine-hunting vessels and a Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ship.

Italy

Italy will do its part to counter “destabilizing terrorist activity” by sending the multimission frigate Virginio Fasan to the Red Sea, the country’s Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto and Austin discussed maritime security in a video call Tuesday, including options for securing shipping routes to avoid economic repercussions and “dangerous impacts” on commodity prices.

“It’s necessary to increase the presence in the area in order to create the conditions for stabilization, to avoid environmental disasters and also to avoid a resurgence of the inflationary push,” Crosetto said in the statement.

France

The French multimission frigate Languedoc has been patrolling the Gulf of Aden and the southern area of the Red Sea since Dec. 8 to secure freedom of navigation, the French Navy said in a Dec. 15 statement.

The Languedoc shot down two drones coming from the direction of Yemen that appeared hostile on the second day of its patrol duty. The frigate destroyed a drone threatening the Norwegian oil tanker Strinda on Dec. 11, before moving in to protect the stricken tanker and prevent a hijacking, according to the Navy. A fire aboard the Strinda was brought under control without injuries.

Norway

Norway will dispatch as many as 10 staff officers to the Combined Maritime Forces, the Norwegian Defence Ministry said.

Marita Isaksen Wangberg, a ministry spokesperson, told Defense News the country isn’t sending any vessels.

The Netherlands

The Netherlands plans to contribute two staff officers to the operation. The country doesn’t have any vessels in the area at this time, and the contribution of ships is under review, Navy spokesperson Alex Kranenburg told Defense News.

Spain

Spain has not made a decision regarding its participation in Operation Prosperity Guardian, the Defence Ministry’s spokesperson, Nuria Fernández de la Fuente, told Defense News. Any participation by Spain, the representative added, would not be unilateral but within the framework of NATO or the European Union.

The legislation, expected to be signed into law later this month, allows military leaders to boost the Family Separation Allowance from $250 a month to $400, the first such increase for the stipend in two decades.

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, and a Navy veteran who was one of the sponsors of the provision, called the adjustment “much-needed relief” for families dealing with extra expenses caused by the separate living arrangements.

Under Defense Department rules, sailors who are on duty away from their home port for more than 30 continuous days are eligible for the payouts, as are troops on temporary duty away from their permanent duty station for more than 30 days.

Troops set for largest pay boost in 22 years under defense plan

However, troops who voluntarily choose to serve an unaccompanied tour of duty are not eligible for the extra payouts.

For junior enlisted service members with dependents, the extra stipend can be a much-needed boost to family finances. An E-2 with two years in service makes about $2,150 a month. An E-4 with four years service collects just under $3,000.

The authorization bill also requires a full review of the stipend as part of the Defense Department’s quadrennial review of military compensation, to ensure the payouts are adequately covering the needs of military families.

Lawmakers also included in the legislation language to study whether junior enlisted pay and military housing stipends are large enough to ensure military families are in good financial health. The bill also provides for a 5.2% increase in military base pay in 2024, the largest annual boost in 22 years.

President Joe Biden has voiced support for the authorization bill, but White House officials have not said when the measure will be officially signed into law.

MANAMA, Bahrain — The U.S. and a host of other nations are creating a new force to protect ships transiting the Red Sea that have come under attack by drones and ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced early Tuesday in Bahrain.

The seriousness of the attacks, several of which have damaged the vessels, has led multiple shipping companies to order their ships to hold in place and not enter the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until the security situation can be addressed.

The U.S. military’s Central Command reported two more of the attacks on commercial vessels Monday. A strike by attack drone and ballistic missile hit a tanker off Yemen, at roughly the same time a cargo ship reported an explosive detonating in the water near them, the military said.

“This is an international challenge that demands collective action,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in statement released just after midnight in Bahrain. “Therefore today I am announcing the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an important new multinational security initiative.”

The United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain will join the U.S. in the new mission, Austin announced. Some of the countries will conduct joint patrols while others provide intelligence support in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Several other countries have also agreed to be involved in the operation but prefer not to be publicly named, a defense official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss additional details of the new mission that have not been publicly announced.

The mission will be coordinated by the already existing Combined Task Force 153, which was set up in April 2022 to improve maritime security in the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb and the Gulf of Aden. There have been 39 member nations in CTF 153, but officials were working to determine which of them would participate in this latest effort.

Separately, the United States has also called on the United Nations Security Council to take action against the attacks.

In a letter to council members obtained Monday by The Associated Press, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Houthi attacks targeting commercial vessels legally transiting the international waterways continue to threaten “navigational rights and freedoms, international maritime security, and international commerce.”

The 15 council members discussed the Houthi threat behind closed doors Monday but took no immediate action.

Two U.S. warships — the USS Carney and the USS Mason, Navy destroyers — have been moving through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait daily to help deter and respond to attacks from the Houthis.

The move to set up the expanded operation came after three commercial vessels were struck by missiles fired by Iranian-back Houthis in Yemen on Dec. 3. Those attacks were part of an escalating campaign of violence that also included armed and other drones launched in the direction of U.S. warships.

To date the U.S. has not struck back at the Iranian-back Houthis operating in Yemen or targeted any of the militants’ weapons or other sites. On Monday Austin did not answer a question as to why the Pentagon had not conducted a counterstrike.

Baldor reported from Washington. Edith M. Lederer contributed from the United Nations and Ellen Knickmeyer from Washington.

Still, there was no sign that a shift in the war was imminent after more than two months of devastating bombardment and fighting. Fierce battles raged in northern Gaza, where residents said rescue workers were searching for the dead and the living under buildings flattened by Israeli strikes.

Pressure is growing, as France, the U.K. and Germany — some of Israel’s closest allies — joined global calls for a cease-fire over the weekend. Israeli protesters have demanded the government relaunch talks with Hamas on releasing more hostages after three were mistakenly killed by Israeli troops while waving a white flag.

U.S. officials have repeatedly expressed concern about the large number of civilian deaths in Gaza. But after talks with Israeli officials Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, “This is Israel’s operation. I’m not here to dictate timelines or terms.” The U.S. has vetoed calls for a cease-fire at the U.N. and has rushed munitions to Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will keep fighting until it ends Hamas rule in Gaza, crushes its formidable military capabilities and frees hostages still held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7 attack inside Israel that ignited the war. In the unprecedented attack, militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 240 men, women and children.

The 10-week-old war has killed more than 19,000 Palestinians and demolished much of the north into a moonscape. Some 1.9 million Palestinians — nearly 85% of Gaza’s population — have fled their homes, with most packing into U.N.-run shelters and tent camps in the southern part of the besieged territory.

Hostage talks

In an apparent sign that talks on a hostage deal were growing more serious, CIA Director William Burns met in Warsaw with the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and the prime minister of Qatar, a U.S. official said.

It was the first known meeting of the three since the end of a weeklong cease-fire in late November, during which some 100 hostages — including a number of foreign nationals — were freed in exchange for the release of around 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the talks were not “at a point where another deal is imminent. We are working literally every day on this.”

Aiming to increase public pressure on the Israeli government, Hamas released a video showing three elderly Israeli hostages, sitting in white T-shirts and pleading for Israel to bring their immediate release.

The comments were likely made under duress, but the video signaled Hamas wants to move on to discussions of releasing sick and elderly men in captivity. Israel has said it wants around 19 women and two children freed first. Hamas says the women include soldiers, for whom it is expected to demand a higher price in terms of prisoner releases.

Hamas and other militants are still holding an estimated 129 captives. Hamas has said no more hostages will be released until the war ends.

Scaling down the war

Austin, who arrived in Israel with Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown, said he and Israeli officials exchanged “thoughts on how to transition from high intensity operations” and how to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

American officials have called for targeted operations aimed at killing Hamas leaders, destroying tunnels and rescuing hostages. Those calls came after U.S. President Joe Biden warned last week that Israel is losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing.”

Speaking alongside Austin, Gallant said only that “the war will take time.” Last week, Gallant said Israel would continue major combat operations for several more months.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the Israeli chief of staff met with Austin and Brown and presented “plans for the continuation of the battle in the coming stages.”

European countries also appear to be losing patience. “Far too many civilians have been killed in Gaza,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell posted on X. “Certainly, we are witnessing an appalling lack of distinction in Israel’s military operation in Gaza.”

Under U.S. pressure, Israel provided more precise evacuation instructions earlier this month as troops moved into the southern city of Khan Younis. Still, casualties have continued to mount and Palestinians say nowhere in Gaza is safe as Israel carries out strikes in all parts of the territory.

Israel reopened its main cargo crossing with Gaza to allow more aid in — also after a request from the U.S. But the amount is less than half of prewar imports, even as needs have soared and fighting hinders delivery in many areas. Israel blocked entry off all goods into Gaza soon after the war started and weeks later began allowing a small amount of aid in through Egypt.

Human Rights Watch on Monday accused Israel of deliberately starving Gaza’s population — which would be a war crime — pointing to statements by senior Israeli officials expressing the intent to deprive civilians of food, water and fuel or linking the entry of aid to the release of hostages.

Unprecedented death and destruction

At least 110 people were killed in Israeli strikes Sunday on residential buildings in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, Munir al-Boursh, a senior Health Ministry official, told Al Jazeera television.

Fierce fighting continued Monday in Jabaliya and the Gaza City districts of Zaytoun and Shijaiyah, where tens of thousands of Palestinians remain trapped, crowded in homes or schools.

In Jabaliya, first responders and residents searched the rubble of many collapsed buildings. “They use their hands and shovels,” said Amal Radwan, who is staying at a U.N. shelter there. “We need bulldozers and above all the bombing to stop.”

More than 19,400 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Health Ministry, which has said that most are women and minors and that thousands more are buried under rubble. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.

Israel’s military says 127 of its soldiers have been killed in the Gaza ground offensive. It says it has killed thousands of militants, without providing evidence.

Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas, saying it uses them as human shields. But the military rarely comments on individual strikes.

Regional tensions

Yemen’s Houthi rebels continued attacks on shipping in the Red Sea in a campaign that has prompted a growing list of companies to halt their operations in the major trade route. The latest company was oil and natural gas giant BP, which said Monday it was suspending shipments through the Red Sea.

Austin said he would hold talks Tuesday morning with his counterparts in the Middle East and beyond on an international coalition to respond to the attacks. “It is an international problem. That’s why it deserves an international response,” he said.

Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah have traded fire along the border nearly every day since the war began. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, over 300 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, including four overnight during an Israeli military raid in the Faraa refugee camp, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

This has been the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2005. Most have been killed during military raids, which often ignite gunbattles, or during violent demonstrations.

Lidman reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo.

The findings come as the Department of Veterans Affairs continues to see its annual disability compensation costs rise each year. In fiscal 2022, those payouts totaled $125 billion, almost 45% of all department spending.

Veterans with disability ratings can span a range of ailments, including physical wounds, illnesses linked to military toxic exposure, traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2022, about 30% of all veterans in America had some compensable service-connected disability.

CBO researchers found that contrary to stereotypes, a veteran collecting disability payouts is more likely to be younger than the average veteran, be married, and to have a college degree. About one in five veterans with any disability rating are not in the American workforce.

Most Americans respect vets but would not recommend enlisting

Based on census reports and available VA data, CBO said the average earnings for male veterans with a disability rating in 2019 was $52,200 — roughly $10,200 (16%) below that of non-disabled veterans.

However, the range of earnings for those injured and infirm veterans varied widely. Veterans with low disability ratings (10% or 20%) averaged about $3,100 more than their non-disabled peers, a 5% increase. Those with ratings 70% or higher earned nearly 40% less than non-disabled peers.

The report found similar trends with women veterans. Non-disabled veterans averaged $42,900 in annual earnings. Women veterans with a 10% or 20% rating were about $2,300 higher (5%), while those with a rating of 70% or more were $16,000 lower (38%).

The difference typically comes down to an individual’s ability to work, according to the report. Veterans with low disability ratings average about $2,300 in payouts from VA over the course of a year, but have been able to maintain full-time jobs and keep pace with their peers.

“Veterans with a rating of 10 percent or 20 percent probably had relatively minor service-connected medical conditions (such as scars or tinnitus) that did not affect their ability to work,” researchers wrote.

Conversely, veterans with high disability ratings averaged $29,200 in payouts but “had the lowest labor force participation rate,” restricting them to part-time employment or no steady work.

Researchers found similar earnings trends among veterans attending college full-time or part-time, although income from other sources — such as the VA’s GI Bill benefits — played a large role in those financial totals.

Report authors did not draw any conclusions about whether any changes are needed in the veterans compensation system but said that the findings will “allow policymakers and others to compare the financial security of veterans receiving disability payments with that of veterans not receiving payments as a way to gauge the importance of that compensation.”

The full report is available online at the CBO website.

One of the American warships assigned to the Ford carrier strike group, the destroyer USS Carney, “successfully engaged” 14 one-way attack drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. Britain reported that a Royal Navy destroyer downed another drone that was targeting commercial ships.

USS Carney takes out drone swarm in the Red Sea

It was the latest in a series of attacks threatening commercial and U.S. Navy ships in the Red Sea that have escalated after Israel intensified its response to the Hamas’ strike against Israel on Oct. 7. Israel is stinging from the deadliest attack ever on its homefront and has pledged that its offensive will not cease until Hamas is destroyed.

U.S. defense leaders are hoping to prevent the risk of wider regional conflict, both through a sustained high level of U.S. military presence and by engaging with the Israelis to get them to move beyond the massive bombardment campaign.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown, who are heading to Israel, served in leadership roles as U.S. airpower and ground forces moved from major combat to lower-intensity counterterrorism operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. But it is not clear how deeply their advice from lessons learned will resonate with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Their trip highlights the increased efforts by the Biden administration to convince Israel that it should scale back its offensive, which has flattened much of Gaza’s northern region, displaced millions and killed more than 18,700 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Israel’s push has been complicated by the dense urban population and Hamas’ network of tunnels, and the militants are accused of using civilians as “human shields.” The sustained intensity of Israel’s campaign has led President Joe Biden to warn that the U.S. ally is losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing.”

U.S. officials have been telling Israel for several weeks that its window is closing for concluding major combat operations in Gaza without risking the loss of even more backing.

In a meeting Thursday, Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, urged Netanyahu to shift to more targeted operations by smaller military teams hunting specific high-value targets, rather than the sustained broad bombardment that has occurred so far. In response, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said his country would continue major combat operations against Hamas for several more months.

There are implications for the tens of thousands of U.S. service members deployed in the region.

Austin on Friday extended the deployment once more of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and a second warship in order to retain a two-carrier presence in the Mediterranean Sea. The ships are seen as vital to deter Iran from widening the Israel-Hamas war into a regional conflict. The approximately 5,000 sailors aboard the Ford were originally due home in early November.

There are 19 U.S. warships in the region, including seven in the eastern Mediterranean. A dozen more stretched down the Red Sea, across the Arabian Sea and up into the Persian Gulf.

The missile and drone attacks have led at least two major shipping companies, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk, to order their commercial vessels to temporarily pause transits through the strait.

“This is a worldwide problem that affects Israel, too,” Gallant said the Houthis blocking shipping in the Red Sea. “We are ready to act. We know what to do. And we will find the right timing to act. We are giving a chance, in the maritime issue, to the international system. If we reach a situation where we are the final option, we will know what to do,” he said about a possible military response.

Mohammed Abdel-Salam, the Houthis’ chief negotiator and spokesman, wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that the Houthis would keep targeting Israel-linked vessels “until the aggression stops; the siege on Gaza is lifted; and humanitarian aid continues to flow into the Strip.”

Austin is expected also to visit Bahrain and Qatar and further work toward establishing a new maritime mission to provide increased security for commercial ships sailing in the southern Red Sea. Bahrain is the home of the U.S. Navy’s Central Command headquarters and the international maritime task force charged with ensuring safe passage for vessels in the region.

Qatar has been vital in helping keep what has been a deadly localized war from boiling over into a regional conflict and negotiating hostage release.

Earlier in his Army career, Austin oversaw the drawdown of forces in Iraq in 2011. He visited Israel days after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and has spoken to Gallant, his Israeli counterpart, more than two dozen times since then.

In his meetings in Israel, he is likely to continue discussions on how Israelis define different military campaign milestones, to be able to assess when they will have sufficiently degraded Hamas to ensure their own security and shift from major combat operations, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters traveling with Austin.

Associated Press writer Sam Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.

According to data released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development on Friday, officials saw an increase of more than 2,400 veterans without stable housing during their annual point-in-time count conducted last January.

That put the total number of veterans experiencing homelessness that night in cities across America at 35,574. Advocates for homeless veterans have noted that the actual number of veterans dealing with housing issues is likely even higher, given the limitations of the single-night survey.

The increase in homeless veterans, meanwhile, was less severe than the rise in homelessness in the general population (12%) and is still 4.5% below veteran levels reported in 2020. The 35,574 estimate is also less than half the 74,000 estimate in 2010, when the White House and Department of Veterans Affairs launched a series of high-profile initiatives targeting the problem.

VA again found homes for 38K struggling vets in 2023

But the point-in-time count took place several months before the expiration of pandemic programs offering extra assistance to veterans facing financial hardships, a move that advocates have warned may have driven up homelessness totals even further in the last half-year.

In a statement, VA Secretary Denis McDonough announced the White House plans to increase a pair of grant programs designed to prevent housing issues among veterans.

“One veteran experiencing homelessness will always be one too many, and we will do everything in our power to ensure that veterans get the safe, stable housing that they deserve,” he said. “These new grants are a critical part of that effort, empowering VA and our partners to provide more housing and wraparound services to more homeless and at-risk veterans than ever before.”

Last month, VA leaders announced that for the second year in a row they had met their goal of permanently housing 38,000 veterans facing financial problems and uncertain shelter options. However, those efforts in 2022 were not enough to help reduce the national numbers.

VA and HUD officials said they are still researching the reasons for the increase, including the rising cost of housing in communities across the country and the end of COVID-related support programs.

Earlier this week, HUD leaders announced the number of grants to homeless service organizations rose 15% from the end of 2022 to the end 2023. That translates into more than 330,000 individuals who sought assistance.

In a statement, officials from the National Coalition of Homeless Veterans called the new homelessness report disappointing but not surprising.

“These numbers reflect what many have long known, we are facing a crisis of housing affordability,” they said. “NCHV, our members across the country, and our national partners have long sounded the alarm regarding the seriousness of this crisis and the need for further and deeper federal investment in solutions.

“The administration and Congress should heed continued warnings that a lack of investment and programmatic change will continue to be disastrous for veterans facing housing instability. Congress must restore expired pandemic-era legislative provisions to improve veteran access to both transitional housing and supportive services.”

Veterans seeking help with homelessness or related financial problems can call 877-424-3838 for help or visit the department’s web site.

Those are the seemingly contradictory findings of a new report from the RAND Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute released this week. Researchers found that while most Americans had generally positive views of veterans and few negative stereotypes about them, they also were reluctant to recommend that others follow their example.

“It is one thing to hold military members in high esteem in the abstract, but it is something altogether different to recommend military service as a career path,” the researchers wrote. “Having an all volunteer force means that serving is an occupational choice, one that fewer and fewer Americans appear to be willing to make.”

The 2022 survey of more than 2,400 people found that roughly 54 percent said they would discourage someone they know from enlisting in the military, although more than 61 percent said they would encourage those same individuals if they wanted to attend a service academy or enter a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program.

Most young vets think it’s time to retire ‘Thank you for your service’

Researchers said they did not collect clear data on the reasons for the split, but said that across all questions, about one-quarter of individuals surveyed would not recommend signing up for any military service.

That comes despite findings that “perceptions of veterans by the public are overwhelmingly positive,” according to the report. Roughly 67% of respondents stated that veterans are more hardworking and more reliable than the rest of society. More than half described veterans as self-disciplined, responsible, practical and self-reliant.

“There is a general feeling of deservingness of respect and policy support from the public and government among the public when it comes to veterans, stemming from perceptions of sacrifice,” the report stated.

“The survey data we examined suggest that fears about the public holding outsize negative stereotypes about veterans are unwarranted, and most stereotypes held are in fact overwhelmingly positive.”

The only negative stereotype with a sizable backing in the survey was the idea that veterans may be violent towards themselves. Of individuals surveyed, 46% believed that veterans were likely to cause self-harm, in part driven by public perception of post-traumatic stress problems among military members.

Authors of the study said the findings are significant now given the recruiting challenges facing the military. Army, Navy and Air Force officials all missed their recruiting goals for fiscal 2023.

“The public’s willingness to consider joining the military or recommending that others join is likely to be influenced to some degree by how they think of veterans,” the report stated. “Holding more-positive stereotypes toward veterans is associated with higher probability of recommending joining the military, and holding more-negative stereotypes reduces the probability.”

The full report is available on the RAND website.

The National Association of Black Military Women and left-leaning legal organizations have weighed in on the lawsuits against the U.S. Military Academy and the Naval Academy, filing briefs in defense of the academies’ use of race as a factor in admissions decisions, often known as affirmative action.

In June, the Supreme Court decided 6-3 that affirmative action in higher education violated the clause of the Constitution guaranteeing equal protection under the law. But Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a footnote that the decision didn’t apply to the military’s service academies, which presented “potentially distinct interests.”

The footnote left the door open for litigation seeking to ban affirmative action in those military institutions.

A group opposed to affirmative action has walked through that door, suing two service academies for considering race as an admissions factor, arguing the policy is unfair and illegal. The National Association of Black Military Women’s recent briefs defend the policy, making the case that racism still exists in the military and racially diverse leaders can ameliorate it.

“For people to think that there is no racism in the military, that’s a false narrative,” retired Army Col. Irma Cooper, the association’s vice president for operations, said on Friday.

Service academies exempt from Supreme Court affirmative action ruling

In the fall, Students for Fair Admissions, the same anti-affirmative-action advocacy group that successfully challenged affirmative action in civilian universities, turned its attention to the service academies. It filed lawsuits against the Army’s U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, and the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, for what it characterized as unlawful racial discrimination.

The National Association of Black Military Women, the American Civil Liberties Union, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund argued in a friend-of-the court brief filed Nov. 29 that affirmative action at the U.S. Military Academy, which educates future Army officers, was “critical to the success of Black women in the military and to the military’s success.”

Friend-of-the-court briefs, also known as amicus briefs, are filed by entities that aren’t directly involved in a case but share their insight or expertise.

Nearly the same set of groups, with the difference being the addition of the ACLU Foundation of Maryland and the subtraction of the New York Civil Liberties Union, on Dec. 6 filed a similar brief in the case against the Naval Academy. That academy educates future officers for the Navy and Marine Corps.

The use of race in admissions

In arguing that affirmative action is necessary, the amicus briefs point to the low number of Black and Hispanic officers relative to Black and Hispanic enlisted troops.

Black troops made up 19% of enlisted active-duty service members in 2022 but only 9% of officers, according to data from the Pentagon.

The briefs quote service members of color recounting instances of racism they say they experienced, including offensive language and apparently disparate treatment in the military justice system.

Retired Army Col. Annette Tucker Osborne, president of the National Association of Black Military Women, says in the briefs that when her new commander on a deployment to Kuwait met her for the first time, he looked at her and back at her resume, over and over and over. In Tucker Osborne’s view, the commander was “unable to equate a Black woman with the well-polished and extremely qualified person on paper.”

“I was asked three times, ‘Did you complete Army War College?” she said in a Friday interview with Military Times. “I told you the first time. You didn’t have to ask me three times in front of the whole group of military personnel.”

On that six-month deployment, young white soldiers often wouldn’t salute Tucker Osborne, a full-bird colonel, she said.

Founded in 1976, the National Association of Black Military Women is an organization “dedicated to giving voice to Black military women across the nation.”

The association’s briefs argue racially diverse leaders can foster a better culture for more junior service members of color.

The U.S. Military Academy maintained in a court filing that affirmative action, by increasing racial diversity in the officer corps, also prevents internal racial tensions, boosts recruitment and retention, and builds the military’s legitimacy in the eyes of the nation and the globe.

Students for Fair Admissions has argued the opposite: that considering race in admissions undermines the internal and external trust in the military and amounts to racial stereotyping.

“America’s enemies do not fight differently based on the race of the commanding officer opposing them, soldiers must follow orders without regard to the skin color of those giving them, and battlefield realities apply equally to all soldiers regardless of race, ethnicity, or national origin,” the group wrote in a September filing.

And because race helps some applicants, race necessarily hurts other applicants, Students for Fair Admissions argued.

“That’s illegal,” the group wrote.

The service academies’ admissions officers insisted in court filings that race isn’t the determinative factor in deciding whether to admit or deny students.

To get accepted to the academies, applicants must not only meet the academic and physical standards but also receive official nominations, often from members of Congress.

Race can help students get letters of assurance, early conditional acceptances for “outstanding” applicants, according to the admissions officers. It could play a role in the academy’s decision to provide its handful of direct nominations, though those are typically reserved for standout athletes. And it can be a “plus factor” in final admissions decisions.

Students for Fair Admissions wrote that the academies should pursue race-neutral alternatives to affirmative action. The group described affirmative action as “racial box-checking” and “racial pseudoscience” because it relies on broad racial classifications like “Hispanic” and “Asian” that encompass a huge variety of ethnic backgrounds.

Nearly 19% of the military’s active duty officers are service academy grads, but that percentage falls to approximately 13% for Black officers, according to Pentagon data from 2019. ROTC programs at civilian universities are the leading source of officers’ commissions overall.

Next steps

Students for Fair Admissions is seeking preliminary injunctions that would order the Army’s and Navy’s service academies to cease using race as a factor in admissions immediately.

For that to happen, Judge Philip Halpern in New York and Judge Richard Bennett in Maryland would have to decide that Students for Fair Admissions’ arguments should win on the merits, and that waiting for the typical legal process to run its course would create harm that couldn’t be repaired.

Students for Fair Admissions, which is representing two anonymous white high schoolers who would like to apply to West Point, has said the judges need to act now. One of those students is applying in this admissions cycle and might miss out on a spot that he would have gotten if he weren’t white, the group argued in the complaint.

“Unless West Point is ordered to stop using race as a factor in admissions, [his] race will prevent him from competing for admission on an equal footing,” Students for Fair Admissions wrote.

Lawyers for Students for Fair Admissions didn’t respond to a Military Times request for an interview.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Justice Department’s Civil Division are representing the academies. Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the New York office, declined to comment. The Civil Division didn’t respond by time of publication to a Military Times request for comment.

Whether or not the judges decide to end affirmative action in the academies immediately, it’s likely those decisions will get appealed, Sarah Hinger, an ACLU attorney who worked on the amicus briefs, told Military Times on Thursday.

The cases likely will one day end up before the Supreme Court, in Hinger’s view.

Although six of the nine Supreme Court justices voted in June to scrap affirmative action in civilian universities, the service academy cases would force them to balance a desire to enforce equal protection consistently with the norm of courts deferring to the military, Noah Feldman, a Harvard Law School professor, wrote in Bloomberg in September.

“It’s likely to be a close call, but consider: If there had been five firm votes on the court for striking down the military’s use of affirmative action, there would have been no need for Roberts to exclude the academies from June’s decision,” Feldman wrote.

The case in the Southern District of New York is Students for Fair Admissions v. United States Military Academy at West Point et al (7:23-cv-08262).

The case in the District of Maryland is Students for Fair Admissions v. The United States Naval Academy et al (1:23-cv-02699).

On Thursday, House lawmakers voted to advance the annual defense authorization bill by a vote of 310-118. One day earlier, Senate lawmakers approved the legislation by a 87-13 vote.

The moves send the authorization bill — a massive defense policy measure which also outlines budget priorities for fiscal 2024 — to the White House for the 63rd consecutive year, a nearly unmatched level of bipartisan cooperation amid consistent political fights on Capitol Hill. Biden has already signaled that he will sign the measure.

Supporters praised the measure as a critical step in ensuring military readiness, preserving support for military families and positioning the Pentagon for future threats.

Final defense policy bill advances AUKUS, Taiwan training

“You cannot oppose this bill and claim that you support the national security of this country,” said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. “Nothing is more important to the national security of this country than the people who we ask to defend it. This bill protects them.”

The $874 billion bill closely tracks with Biden’s proposed spending level for fiscal 2024, but lawmakers will still need to approve an appropriations bill next month to actually boost the money available for the Defense Department.

The measure will allow a host of policy issues, meanwhile, to move ahead in coming weeks, including a 5.2% military pay raise in 2024. The pay bump is higher than the 4.6% pay raise troops saw at the start of 2023, and the largest one-year jump in basic pay since 2002.

For an enlisted military member ranked E-4 with three years in service, the 5.2% pay raise will mean about $1,700 more next year in take-home pay compared to their 2023 paychecks. For senior enlisted and junior officers, the hike equals about $3,000 more. For an O-4 with 12 years of service, it’s more than $5,400 in extra pay in 2024.

Lawmakers also included language mandating a review of military pay rates with an eye towards “comprehensive military pay table reauthorization” in the near future.

House members last summer had pushed for targeted pay raises for junior enlisted troops to bring all military members’ annual salaries over $31,000, but that proposal was abandoned in negotiations for the final authorization bill.

But House Armed Services Committee leaders have promised to revive the issue in 2024, and will use the Pentagon’s findings to craft future pay boost legislation.

The measure also sets military end strength for fiscal 2024 at 1,284,500 troops, the lowest level since 1940. Lawmakers blamed recruiting challenges in recent years for that low target.

It also boosts special pay and incentive pay for guardsmen and reservists, ensuring those payouts are equal to what active-duty troops receive when required training and certifications are identical.

Conservative concerns

House and Senate leaders also attached to the defense bill a provision to extend part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act into mid-April, instead of allowing it to expire at the end of the year. That drew outrage from a number of conservative lawmakers who accused their leadership of caving to Democratic demands.

Lawmakers also took issue with a series of social issue provisions removed from the House-passed draft of the defense bill over the summer, including language undoing the military’s abortion access policies and rules regarding transgender medical care.

“This bill is insufficient to deal with the structural challenges that we have at the Department of Defense, where they have veered substantially left,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., one of five members of the conference committee to refuse to back the final compromise.

But Republican leaders pushed back on those accusations. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said the final bill “goes a long way towards ending woke policies being forced on our service members” and “includes provisions that ban critical race theory and require promotions based on merit.”

Much of the language on those issues was softened from the original House draft, backed almost solely by Republican members when it passed out of the chamber. Plans to eliminate the post of chief diversity officer for the military and prohibit all future mask mandates for pandemic prevention efforts were dropped completely.

But the final bill does include provisions to ease re-enlistment rules for some troops forced out of the ranks for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and includes requirements for more communication between parents and administrators at schools run by the Defense Department.

Biden has not said when he will sign the bill into law. On Tuesday, the Office of Budget and Management praised the compromise bill, saying in a statement the agreement “provides the critical authorities we need to build the military required to deter future conflicts while supporting the servicemembers and their spouses and families who carry out that mission every day.”

Under end strength levels outlined in the annual defense authorization bill passed by the Senate Wednesday evening and expected to be passed by the House on Thursday, the total number of active-duty troops in the armed forces will drop to 1,284,500 in fiscal 2024. That’s down nearly 64,000 personnel in the last three years and the smallest total for America’s military since 1940, before the United States’ entry into World War II.

Lawmakers say the reason for the lower target isn’t a decrease in missions or threats in recent years. Instead, the number reflects recruiting challenges across the services and an expectation of what level of personnel is realistic in coming months.

Despite bipartisan support for the authorization bill calling for a reduced force size, several lawmakers said they are worried the reduction is already putting the country at risk.

“We need a larger force, in every branch,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “But the reality of recruiting is driving the numbers, not what we actually need.”

Political fights aren’t discouraging recruits, military recruiters say

Ashish Vazirani, the Defense Department’s acting undersecretary for personnel and readiness, told the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that the individual services missed their recruiting goals in fiscal 2023 by a combined 41,000 people. With the exception of the Space Force — which was stood up in 2022 — all of the Defense Department service branches have seen significant cuts in active-duty numbers since the end of 2020.

Cuts to the Army have been the most severe. The FY24 NDAA calls for a force of 445,000 active-duty soldiers, down more than 40,000 (8.4%) in three years.

The Marine Corps is poised to be 8,900 active-duty service members smaller than in fiscal 2021, a 4.9% reduction. The Air Force is set to be down 13,475 airmen, 4% lower. The Navy is expected to have 10,000 fewer sailors, down 2.9%.

The final end strength targets for the services decreased not only from last year but also from last summer, when the House and Senate Armed Services committees first proposed their goals for fiscal 2024. Senators had proposed 11,000 more personnel in the early draft of the bill. House members initially voted for almost 21,000 more.

However, after the Army, Navy and Air Force all missed recruiting targets this fall, the end strength hopes for next year were dropped in the final compromise legislation. Robert Greenway, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense, believes that is a mistake.

“Instead of addressing the problem, the answer has been to move the goalposts and reduce the positions in the services,” he said. “So they are institutionalizing the problem, and that’s not a good approach.”

Greenway said too few active-duty troops sends a worrisome message to would-be adversaries such as China and Russia at a time when many European allies are also shrinking the size of their fighting forces.

Lawmakers could increase their end strength goals for fiscal 2024 as part of a defense appropriations bill next month. However, the appropriations and authorization bills typically match each other, and the funding bill is already facing political challenges related to overall federal spending.

Service officials said they expect to face difficulty meeting their recruiting goals for next year, even with the lower targets.

The $874.2 billion National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2024 hews closely to President Joe Biden’s proposed budget request after Republican hawks agreed to cap defense spending as part of the May debt ceiling agreement.

“At a time of huge trouble for global security, doing the defense authorization bill is more important than ever,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the floor ahead of the vote. “Passing the NDAA enables us to hold the line against Russia, stand firm against the Chinese Communist Party and ensure America’s defenses remain state of the art at all times.”

The bill authorizes $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative in both FY24 and FY25. It also makes Pentagon Inspector General Robert Storch, currently the lead watchdog for Ukraine aid, a special inspector general to oversee assistance to the country.

But that’s a small fraction of the aid the Biden administration assessed Ukraine will need to continue fighting Russia next year, with its $61 billion Ukraine assistance request stalled amid Republican demands for immigration policy changes in the legislation.

Additionally, the NDAA bill includes all four key congressional authorizations needed to implement the trilateral AUKUS submarine-sharing agreement with Australia and the U.K. That includes authorization to transfer three Virginia-class attack submarines to Australia.

The bill also ensures the Virginia-class subs remaining in the U.S. inventory will have a new nuclear mission by institutionalizing the sea-launched cruise missile nuclear program at the Defense Department and National Nuclear Security Administration. Although the Biden administration sought to cancel this program over congressional objections, the White House has indicated the president will sign the bill into law.

The compromise NDAA also removed numerous provisions from the right-wing Freedom Caucus that prompted most House Democrats to abandon the typically bipartisan bill in protest of provisions that would have overturned the Pentagon’s abortion leave policy and barred the Defense Department from implementing Biden’s climate change executive orders, among others.

The absence of those provisions, particularly the ban on abortion leave, has prompted conservative organizations like the Heritage Foundation’s lobbying arm, Heritage Action, to urge Republicans to vote against the bill.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., intends to put the NDAA on the House floor tomorrow under a procedural mechanism that will limit the Freedom Caucus’ ability to stall proceedings on the bipartisan legislation but nonetheless require two-thirds of House lawmakers to vote in favor of passage.

They’re also poised to write their biggest check ever to their sole wreath supplier, a Maine company owned by the founders of the charity whose main source of income is donations to the non-profit.

Wreaths Across America and the Worcester Wreath Company are open about the relationship, advertising for each other on their websites. Both have filed appropriate disclosures and tax forms and have received no pushback from the Internal Revenue Service or state tax officials.

But as the operation has grown from a regional volunteer effort to a nationwide campaign bringing in more than $30 million annually — more than double its 2017 total — so have questions about whether the close ties between the non-profit group and for-profit company undercut the charitable message of the effort.

“You often see a small charity where some of the insiders still work for a related company or the founders and get paid,” said Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe chair in accounting at Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business. “The unusual part here is the scale. That an organization of this size would still have such a large portion of its budget in the form of transactions with related persons raises questions.”

The idea for Wreaths Across America grew from a decision by Worcester Wreath owner Morrill Worcester in the 1990s to donate extra holiday wreaths to Arlington National Cemetery. As the tradition attracted more attention, the company split off the work into a charitable arm, still maintaining ties with its founders.

Over the years, major donors such as American Airlines, Chevrolet and Jersey Mike’s Subs have handed over hundreds of thousands of dollars. In contrast to the early years of the operation, today the two entities have flipped roles, with the charity drawing national headlines and the private wreath firm relying mostly on the organization for revenue.

“If it is the case that the for-profit vendor would collapse or need to significantly downsize were it to lose the business of the charity, it is a glaring conflict of interest to have owners of that vendor on the charity’s board or in key staff positions,” said Laurie Styron, CEO and executive director of CharityWatch, an independent charity watchdog group.

“The owners and their close relatives should either sell off their financial interests in the for-profit vendor, or the interested parties should resign from the charity and allow an independent board to recruit leaders in whom the public can have confidence in their capacity to act independently.”

Buying wreaths

The charity’s goals and operations are straightforward. The group has a stated mission to “remember the men and women who served our country, honor our military and their families, and teach our children about our freedom and those who protect it.”

Charity officials say they try to advance those goals through a series of education events throughout the year, but the wreath distribution every December is its highest profile initiative. Nearly 3 million volunteers are expected to take part in wreath laying activities this weekend.

The arrival of wreaths at Arlington Cemetery this week is a multi-day media event, with lengthy rules for an expected rush of news crews and photojournalists documenting the thousands of volunteers and wreaths.

Individuals and groups who participate in Wreaths Across America events each December receive all of their wreaths through the charity. Donors pay $17 for each one, with $5 going back to civic and youth groups helping with sales. WAA officials say that arrangement has raised $22 million over the last 15 years for local charities and civic groups beyond wreath laying activities.

In fiscal 2021, the charity sent nearly $21.5 million to Worcester Wreath. Company officials have said publicly that the Wreaths Across America contract makes up more than 75% of their annual revenue.

Worcester Wreath officials said they donate 30% of their profits to the charity and other local veterans groups, but much of that profit comes from the contract with WAA. This year, the charity expects to place nearly 3 million wreaths on gravesites at more than 4,200 locations nationwide, all bought from the Maine supplier.

Four board members of Wreaths Across America — including Karen Worcester, the executive director — are related to the owners of Worcester Wreath. Charity officials in tax filings say those members “recused themselves from discussion and vote of the agreement between the organization and Worcester Wreath.”

Amber Caron, director of communications for WAA, said the wreath production contract is handled by a third-party vendor and overseen by a special subcommittee of the board.

“This process is public and executed every three years,” she said. “It is open to any wreath company to submit a bid, nationwide. Up until this point, it has not been deemed necessary by the [subcommittee] and advisor to have more than one vendor to meet the needs of the program.”

Caron said if the charity’s third-party advisers recommend moving away from Worcester Wreath or adding other companies to help with the inventory, “we will consider all options that are in the best interest of the organization.”

But thus far, that has not happened. Wreaths laid in cemeteries as far away as California or Montana are shipped from the Worcester Wreath property in Maine through a series of donated and contracted shipping arrangements. Costs associated with the “Honor Fleet,” as WAA leaders call them, are factored into the sponsorship packages.

Charitable concerns

The financial relationship between Worcester Wreath and Wreaths Across America has been whispered about in the veterans community, but has not led to any public confrontations. The charity counts dozens of high-profile military and veterans support groups among their partners, and thousands of their members will be among the volunteers laying wreaths this weekend. The Military Times Foundation donated $15,000 in free advertising to Wreaths Across America in 2023.

Paul Streckfus, editor of EO Tax Journal, said the Internal Revenue Service does not require that a tax-exempt organization have an independent board or exclude employees whose family members may have related business interests. Such arrangements may draw extra scrutiny, he added, but in themselves are not improper.

Mittendorf, however, said a separate issue is the idea of groups breaking faith with donors who believe their charitable contributions are being spent to maximize the good done, and not to support for-profit ventures.

“They have an obligation to support their public purpose, and to avoid appearances of conflicts of interest in that,” he said. “Even if they’re operating in a way that doesn’t cross into something that’s impermissible, it may create an appearance of conflict of interest. And that makes it difficult in trying to maintain public trust.”

CharityWatch has written about concerns regarding WAA and Worcester Wreath. Styron, the CEO, said given the connections between the two, the non-profit should be following more rigorous auditing and reporting practices to prove it is operating responsibly.

“There is too much financial interest concentrated in one family’s company to inspire confidence that the charity’s board will act with true independence given the close family ties the charity reports among key staff,” she said.

A volunteer army

Wreath laying events connected with the charity are organized through local site officials, and not through the Department of Veterans Affairs or DOD as a whole. Officials at Arlington National Cemetery — the largest single site event — said they have no consultation with Wreaths Across America on their internal operations.

Arlington cemetery staffers do help publicize the annual wreath laying and coordinate with the WAA on logistics of the event. But in a statement, cemetery officials said that “the wreaths are not purchased by the Army, therefore the usual laws and regulations regarding Department of Defense procurements are not applicable.”

About 60,000 volunteers are expected at the cemetery on Saturday for this year’s wreath layings, making it one of the busiest days of the year at the hallowed site. Caron said another 4,217 sites have signed up to participate in the event as well, up more than 500 from 2022.

Ahead of this year’s event, Wreaths Across America sent 13 tractor trailers carrying wreaths, Gold Star family members and corporate sponsor signs through eight states and the District of Columbia.

The caravan, which launched Sunday from Harrington, Maine — home of Worcester Wreath — is scheduled to arrive at Arlington Cemetery on Thursday morning.

The Engine Core Upgrade program, which seeks to give the fighter jet’s current Pratt & Whitney-made F135 engines more power, thrust and cooling ability, has enough money to last through roughly February, F-35 program executive officer Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt said in a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces.

But beyond that, “if we don’t get appropriations, I’m in a rough spot in a couple of months,” Schmidt said.

The Pentagon budgeted $75 million for the Engine Core Upgrade, or ECU, program for fiscal 2023; its proposed budget for fiscal 2024 would increase that to more than $400 million.

But since the new fiscal year began two and a half months ago, the Pentagon has operated under continuing resolutions that keep funding programs at 2023 levels. This has meant the ECU program has not yet received its expected budget increase and is now limited to last year’s funding, Schmidt said.

“We’re supposed to be ramping up [spending in ECU] significantly this year,” Schmidt said. “We’re capped at that level, and then we’re actually at risk of it running out if we don’t have an appropriation soon.”

Pratt & Whitney declined to comment to Defense News on how another continuing resolution would affect the engine program’s timeline or budget.

The engine core upgrade and its greater power and cooling ability is needed to allow future modernizations for the F-35, particularly the upcoming improvements known as Block 4. Those upgrades will allow the jet to carry more weapons, new sensors, and better electronic warfare and target recognition capabilities.

The Pentagon expects to start issuing the first in a series of sole-source contracts to Pratt & Whitney in the second quarter of fiscal 2024, and continue through the end of 2031. A company executive in December 2022 estimated the cost of ECU’s development at $2.4 billion.

Schmidt told reporters after the hearing that running out of money would be “not good at all” for ECU’s ability to stay on schedule, though an exact timeline is not set because the program is in its nascent stage.

Pratt & Whitney said in November it wants to start delivering ECU’s increased power capabilities in 2029. But Schmidt said Tuesday he’s unsure whether that date is feasible, adding that the program has not yet reached the engineering and manufacturing development phase.

“If [my director of propulsion] told me I’m going to field in October of [20]29, I’d be like: ‘You’ve got 1,000 things to prove to me before I’m signing up to that date,’ ” Schmidt said.

Pratt & Whitney expects to finish ECU’s preliminary design in December 2023, and noted the government’s review will take place about a month later.

Schmidt also raised concerns about the effect on Pratt & Whitney’s workforce of 600 that it assigned to the engine upgrade project. If the firm lost engineers due to a lack of funds, Schmidt said, it would be difficult to replace those employees.

“Especially in the environment that we’re in today, engineers are a premium” skill set, Schmidt said. “We have to make sure we keep them — not just at Pratt, I’m talking across the board. These [continuing resolutions] are a significant impact to the [Defense Department]. When we lose people … whether it’s in the government or in industry, getting them back is really, really hard.”

Bill LaPlante, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, told lawmakers that the Pentagon may have to rethink its funding strategy for ECU if money starts to run out early next year.

A related effort to upgrade the F-35′s power thermal management system, which would allow future improvements to the aircraft, is also sorely in need of increased funding to begin, Schmidt said. That technology uses the “bleed air” from the F-35′s engines to cool systems such as weapons and radar.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., questioned the Pentagon’s decision to upgrade the F-35′s current engines instead choosing a new, so-called adaptive engine for the jet. GE Aerospace created such an engine, the XA100, under the Adaptive Engine Transition Program, which the Pentagon seriously considered for the F-35.

“If I’m in the jet and I’m the fighter pilot, I want the engine that takes me faster and takes me longer,” Gimenez said.

While LaPlante noted the Adaptive Engine Transition Program’s technology successfully delivered a 30% improvement in engine efficiency, and that he hopes developments continue, the department could not afford to fund an engine that it was only certain could work in the Air Force’s F-35A variant.

The Pentagon concluded GE’s engine would not fit in the Marine Corps’ F-35Bs and may not fit in the Navy’s F-35Cs, thus the department chose the F135 upgrade.

Logistics in jeopardy

The Pentagon has also paused negotiations with F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin on a performance-based logistics deal for the aircraft, after costs came in higher than expected and time started to run out on extending a standard sustainment contract.

Lockheed Martin has for years pushed for such a performance-based logistics deal, or PBL, saying it would save the government money, quicken repairs and increase the availability of spare parts. PBL deals mean contractors are paid on expected performance outcomes, not for discrete parts and services, as occurs under a typical transactional contract.

But before the Pentagon can enter into such a contract, lawmakers in 2022 required it to first show a PBL would either lower costs or improve aircraft readiness over the current annual sustainment contract for the F-35.

This current contract, which covers 2021 to 2023 and was originally worth up to $6.6 billion, has already been extended through March 2024, LaPlante said, and another extension to bring the contract through next June is in the works.

LaPlante added that the PBL proposal Lockheed submitted in June 2023, and then updated in October, didn’t hit the desired cost or performance targets. He also said tabletop exercises on sustainment in the Pacific region have shown that a PBL deal would need to be able to surge capability to the region in an emergency.

In a statement to Defense News, Lockheed said it is “disappointed” with the Pentagon’s decision, but pledged to keep working with the government and other F-35 customers to deliver the sustainment support and mission readiness they need.

“We continue to view performance-based logistics contracting as the primary way to increase part availability, readiness and affordability for the long term as the F-35 fleet scales,” Lockheed added.

Lockheed said it is still talking to the Pentagon about a potential PBL contract. But in case a deal can’t be reached, the company noted, it is working on an alternate deal that would take effect beginning July 2024.

When asked if that might be an updated version of the standard sustainment contract, Lockheed said it could not offer further details, but it is working with the JPO to figure out what the alternate contract solution would look like.

In his testimony, LaPlante did not close the door on striking a PBL deal with Lockheed, but noted his negotiations team had to shift focus and concentrate on extending the current contract to keep sustainment activities going.

“About a month ago, it was clear we were not going to get a [satisfactory] cost proposal with the performance that we’d feel comfortable with,” LaPlante said. “Simply, we were not going to approve a PBL that did not perform well and didn’t get the cost savings.”

“We have not given up on it, but we’ve got a lot of work to do there with industry,” he added.

For a PBL to work, LaPlante explained, it must last at least five years. Finding ways to measure how well a contractor is living up to its end of the bargain can also be tricky, he noted.

“Sometimes at the system level, performance-based logistics is very hard to do … if the contractor themselves or the program office doesn’t have control over the metric” used to evaluate performance, LaPlante said.

He added that the government plans to push for more of the F-35′s data from Lockheed Martin as part of its PBL negotiations.

Schmidt also said the F-35 program is closing in on a milestone C decision on full-rate production on the jet, now that a series of Joint Simulation Environment tests are finished. Those trials aimed to replicate complex, real-world scenarios the F-35 is likely to encounter in combat. The data will help LaPlante make the official decision on full-rate production, which he expects in March 2024.

However, Lockheed is already building F-35s near full capacity, meaning the effect of a full-rate production decision is likely to be muted.

Lawmakers voted 59-40 to confirm Harry Coker, Jr., a 20-year Navy veteran and previous third-in-command at the National Security Agency, to head the Office of the National Cyber Director.

Recently, Coker has been an operating partner at C5 Capital, a London-based firm that funds businesses in the cybersecurity, energy security and space industries, according to a biography by the Potomac Officers Club. He’s also served as an adviser at Primis Principiis, an outside director at JSI and is a senior fellow at the McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security at Auburn University.

“Harry Coker is an accomplished leader and dedicated public servant who is well-qualified to lead this importance office,” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said on the Senate floor Dec. 12

Coker’s confirmation fills a 10-month vacancy that was left after the inaugural national director, Chris Inglis, stepped down in February. Kemba Walden had taken over as acting director of the office but was ultimately not nominated for the position.

ONCD has a major role to play in overseeing progress of the Biden administration’s National Cybersecurity Strategy implementation plan, unveiled in July, and in shaping budget proposals in line with these initiatives. Coker will also have a seat on the White House’s AI Council.

At his nomination hearings this fall, Coker stressed not only the importance of partnering with industry to ward against increasingly complex cyber threats, but of looking inward at how the government is recruiting the next generation of IT talent to lead and sustain these efforts.

OPM extends authority to make it easier to hire cyber, AI candidates

It’s a well-known statistic by now that just 7% of permanent full-time federal employees are under the age of 30. To help expand the workforce underpinning the Biden administration’s cyber strategies, Coker said the government should extend its recruiting efforts beyond traditional four-year colleges and urban areas to diversify the pool of candidates.

ONCD is just one of several federal bodies that have influence over the federal government’s IT and cybersecurity posture, especially as Congress and the White House have made it clear that every agency, tech-oriented or not, has a responsibility to modernize its digital defenses.

This year alone, a slew of major policies were published to set deadlines and expectations for progress in these areas, including pending guidance from the Office of Management and Budget on AI.

Role for industry

Meanwhile, the technology itself marches on, and cyber attacks increasingly endanger public infrastructure and small and mid-size businesses, as well as large entities and the federal government.

“The quality of the cybercriminals has come up to the level that I used to only see from state actors four or five years ago,” said Alex Stamos, chief trust officer of Sentinel One during a Committee on Homeland Security hearing on Tuesday.

As industry fights these threats on the front lines, Coker said partnerships with it is essential. He’s acknowledged that while his office may have a leading role to play, “solutions cannot be about any one entity – or even just the federal government.”

“I’ve been in situations where that partnership wasn’t a true partnership. Where it was more one way: ‘tell me what you got, tell me what you know, and I’ll see you later,” he said during a Nov. 2 hearing. “That cannot — that will not — be effective in cybersecurity.”

Cybersecurity may also find an intersection with AI tools that can process mounds of data quickly and produce actionable intelligence to decision makers, Coker testified.

Twenty agencies have identified more than 1,000 AI use cases, or specific challenges or opportunities that AI could solve, according to an a report published Dec. 12 by the Government Accountability Office.

But it’s unclear whether Congress will overcome its partisan gridlock and pass the $61 billion supplemental package in economic and security aid needed to unlock that assistance.

“President Biden and I discussed how to increase our strength for next year: air defense and destroying Russian logistics on Ukraine’s land,” Zelenskyy said while taking questions from reporters at a White House press conference, his first time doing so in his three trips to Washington since Russia’s invasion. “Like our victory on the Black Sea, we aim to win the air battle, crushing Russian air dominance.”

Zelenskyy said achieving air superiority against Russia would allow Ukraine to “intensify our ground offensive in 2024 with our control of the skies: who controls the skies controls the war’s duration.”

He also noted he met with U.S. defense industry leaders who “advised us on how to make our defense industries work faster and more effectively.” The Commerce Department hosted a U.S.-Ukraine Defense Industrial Base Conference last week with the aim of bringing the two countries’ defense industries closer together.

The Ukrainian president swung by Washington on Tuesday on his way back from Argentinean President Javier Milei’s inauguration with the aim of convincing increasingly skeptical Republican lawmakers in the U.S. to pass additional Ukraine aid.

Zelenskyy addressed the full Senate and met independently with House Democrats, but House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., did not schedule time for him to brief the full House — the main obstacle to getting an aid package over the finish line. At the White House, he described his meeting with Johnson as “positive.”

“But we know that we have to separate words and particular results,” Zelenskyy told reporters. “Therefore, we will count on particular results.”

It looks increasingly unlikely Congress will act on Ukraine aid by the end of the year, if at all.

At the end of the week, Johnson intends to put the House on recess through the holidays, despite pleas from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to stay in session to move Biden’s massive defense supplemental spending request. The request includes funds for Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific and the U.S. southern border.

Pausing movement until January would intertwine it with what’s shaping up to be a contentious debate over fiscal 2024 spending levels, with the continuing resolution set to expire toward the end of the month.

While Ukraine aid still enjoys majority bipartisan support in both chambers, a contingent of House Republicans who previously voted to arm Kyiv remain skeptical of appropriating more money after passing a cumulative $113 billion last year to help the war-torn country defend itself against Russia. Johnson has refused to put a Ukraine aid package on the floor unless it’s paired with a hardline immigration bill opposed by Democrats.

And while Biden has said he’s willing to make “significant compromises” to advance Ukraine aid — including overhauling U.S. asylum laws — Republicans have blocked the package from moving forward in the Senate, despite the fact that they’re significantly more supportive of Kyiv than many of their House colleagues.

The Biden administration has less than $5 billion to continue transferring weapons to Ukraine and roughly $1 billion to backfill U.S. stockpiles of equipment it has already sent Kyiv.

Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., issued a statement after Zelenskyy’s visit, noting that “failing to renew aid altogether may well allow [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to win the war.”

And Schumer said “if we don’t pass it quickly, it will send a signal to the whole world that we are abandoning Ukraine and could start a snowball cascading to Ukraine’s detriment and to our detriment.” Zelenskyy has previously warned Ukraine will lose the war without additional aid.

The Senate Democrats’ aid bill hews closely to Biden’s $106 billion defense supplemental request. Of the $61 billion for Ukraine, roughly $44 billion would go toward military support for Kyiv while increasing the president’s authority to continue transferring weapons to the Ukrainians and Israelis from U.S. stockpiles. It also includes roughly $14 billion in Israeli military aid and $2 billion in Foreign Military Financing for Indo-Pacific security partners.

Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, separately told reporters Zelenskyy emphasized the need for this money to obtain better Ukrainian air defense systems after his address to the Senate.

Romney said Zelenskyy especially singled out the Patriot missile system and longer-range Army Tactical Missile Systems as especially important.

Russia attacked Kyiv with a barrage of eight ballistic missiles on Monday, wounding four people. Ukrainian air defenses shot down four of those missiles.

The latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which is expected to pass through the House and Senate this week, includes a provision that would recognize previous military service in calculating family and medical leave for veterans working in the federal government.

“By crediting time in uniform towards paid parental leave for the federal government, we will help retain the best and brightest America has to offer,” said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., in a statement Tuesday. Lawmakers have said family-friendly policies help ensure the public sector has competitive benefits to attract and retain employees amid workforce shortages in cyber and HR.

Other supporters of the policy include Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va., Don Bacon, R-Neb., Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Chris Smith, R-N.J.

With the defense bill teed up for passage in Congress, President Joe Biden has signaled he will sign the measure into law later this month. If it clears both steps with the provision, a federal employee with at least a year of active military service will have met requirements for the Family and Medical Leave Act.

The FMLA, which passed in 1993, provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave without pay for the birth, adoption or foster of a child, a serious health condition or caregiver leave. Health insurance coverage is also retained during that time. To access that benefit, federal workers have to be in their position for at least a year.

Previously, service members were not eligible to credit their prior military time for FMLA if they had transitioned to the government. However, active duty service by members of the National Guard or Reserves is counted.

Federal agencies employ more than half a million veterans, which is to say about one in every four civil servants has prior or existing military experience, according to the government’s HR agency. In a memo to agency leaders in February, the Biden administration urged the creation and support of policies that would grant leave during employees’ first year of work, when they may not yet have accrued enough time to be eligible for other benefits.

Last winter, legislation was also introduced to make FMLA fully paid, though that has yet to become law. A law passed in 2019 makes leave for parental duties paid under FMLA in certain circumstances.

“Every American worker deserves access to family and medical leave, and the provision we secured in the NDAA will recognize time in military service like time in the federal civil service,” said Rep. Beyer in a statement.

Military Times reporter Leo Shane III contributed to this report.