TGIF! If you are a service member or a military family member, you are painfully aware of just how often troops are required to move. Now, the Pentagon is giving the military branches until Sept. 25 to come up with plans to limit the number of permanent change of station, or PCS moves, that are not absolutely essential.
The military spends about $5 billion per year on PCS moves, but now wants to drastically cut that by 50% starting in fiscal year 2030.
The toll taken on troops and families by constant moves has been an issue over the years. Project 2025, the policy blueprint produced by the Heritage Foundation think tank, recommended that the Defense Department evaluate “the military family holistically when considering change-of-station moves.”
More recently, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith said that Marines should be able to stay at their current duty stations if they want to, instead of being forced to move every few years.
“If you want to stay at Camp Pendleton, your spouse has good employment, you’re happy in your home there, and you know the terrain and you know the training, why can’t you stay there for nine, or 10 or 12 years?” Smith said on May 1 during the annual Modern Day Marine exhibition in Washington, D.C. “I’m not saying you should stay there for your entire 30-year career, but we don’t have to move you every three years.”
Of course, there’s more news. Here’s your weekly rundown.
- Huge Somalia airstrikes. Planes from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman dropped 124,000 pounds of ordnance within two minutes during Feb. 1 airstrikes against the Islamic State group, or ISIS, in Somalia, a defense official told Task & Purpose. Within the past two years, ISIS-Somalia has grown from about 500 to roughly 1,500 members, of which an estimated 60% are foreign fighters, said Kelly Cahalan, a spokeswoman for U.S. Africa Command, which has conducted 33 airstrikes so far this year in Somalia against both ISIS and al-Shabab, a terrorist group that has pledged allegiance to al-Qaida.
- National Guard unit goes analog. The Missouri Air National Guard’s 139th Operations Group conducted flight operations without computers or cell phones as part of an exercise that simulated a cyber attack. Airmen relied on other forms of communication, including sticky notes, dry erase boards, and smoke signals.
- Better late than never. After more than a decade of delays, the first Littoral Combat Ship equipped to neutralize sea mines has arrived in Bahrain, USNI News has reported. The Navy plans to eventually replace its Avenger-class minesweepers, which date back to the 1980s and have wooden hulls coated in fiberglass.
- Air Force sends message to China. The B-52H, B-1B, B-2, F-22. F-15C, F-16C, and A-10 flew together for the first time during a recent airshow in Miami. “Did it send a signal to our nation’s enemies, including China? Absolutely,” said retired Air Force Col. Mark Gunzinger, who previously served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for forces transformation and resources.
- Ukraine denies attacking Putin’s helicopter. Ukrainian officials have denied a claim by a Russian commander that Ukrainian drones attacked Russian President Vladimir Putin’s helicopter when he visited a nuclear power plant in the Kursk region on May 20. The commander, Maj. Gen. Yuri Dashkin, told Russian media, “We simultaneously waged an anti-aircraft battle and ensured the safety of the president’s helicopter in the air.”
- “Loss of confidence” — North Korea-style. North Korea has arrested four officials after one of the country’s newest warships capsized during its May 21 launch. North Korean state-run media claims the 5,000-ton vessel was not seriously damaged and attempts to right the ship are underway.
Thank you all for reading!
Jeff Schogol
Task & Purpose Video