The U.S. Strategic Command has finished 86 percent of the “missionization” phase for the unit’s new $1.3B headquarters at Offut Air Force Base near Omaha and Nebraska, the Omaha World-Herald reported Tuesday.

The second phase involves installing communications and electronics systems in the 916,000-square foot complex to support STRATCOM missions such as missile defense, electronic warfare, space operations and nuclear activities. The command broke ground with the facility in 2012 and was originally slated to open on Sept. 11, 2016. Repair work and natural disturbances such as flooding, fires and a tornado have resulted in the project being over budget by $53M and delayed for two years. 

Vice Adm. David Kriete, deputy commander of STRATCOM, said he expects to transfer the first batch of the command’s over 3,500 military and civilian personnel to the facility in early spring. He said that he plans to move the rest of the staff by the end of 2019.

Mark Esper, Secretary of the U.S. Army, said in an interview the service branch wants to allocate significant funding into science and technology efforts to reach its readiness goals by fiscal year 2022, Defense News reported Tuesday.

He noted that the Army is making progress with 31 programs under the established Futures Command in line with the service’s modernization strategy developed in 2018. He added that one of the Army’s challenges includes developing a network using commercial software that is mobile and reliable.

In terms of funding, Esper said he’s “hopeful and optimistic” that Congress will earmark funding for technological reforms given the bipartisan support the Army has been receiving for its modernization efforts. He also wants to focus on talent management and strengthening industry partnerships during his tenure.

President Trump is expected to sign a draft space policy directive in the coming weeks to establish the Space Force within the Department of the Air Force as the sixth branch of the U.S. armed forces, SpaceNews reported Monday. The Department of Defense noted the new service would only operate temporarily under the same department with the Air Force.

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The space policy directive states the Space Force will have its own four-star chief of staff, a civilian undersecretary of space and run as its own department in the future. After DoD establishes the Space Force, the directive requires the secretary of defense to conduct a “periodic review” and recommend a timeline to move the new service into a “Department of the Space Force.”

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“This department will take over some or all responsibilities for the U.S. Space Force from the Department of the Air Force,” the document states.

Officials said the Pentagon’s recommendation to put the Space Force under the Department of the Air Force comes as many members of Congress warned that creating a new military department would be costly.

The U.S. Navy is forming an experimental squadron to inform approaches to utilize new combatant ships including unmanned surface vehicles and guided missile destroyers, USNI News reported Monday.

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Vice Adm. Rich Brown said during the Surface Navy Association’s recent symposium that the Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center would fill a critical role.

“They are cultivating the culture of experimentation, tactics and procedures that the surface navy needs in an era of great power competition,” said Brown who commands Naval Surface Forces and Naval Surface Force Pacific.

In 2015, the Navy opened the San Diego, Calif.-based center to provide the surface fleet with new tactics. Brown added that his proposed surface development squadron would support the effort if approved.

Cmdr. Patrick Evans, who serves as Brown’s spokesman, told USNI News that the vice admiral’s proposal has yet to be reviewed and receive approval from the U.S. Fleet Forces Command and U.S. Pacific Fleet.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory transmitted new commands to a 15-year-old exploration rover on Mars and will continue doing so for weeks to come. The laboratory said Friday it intends to address the effects of Mars’ planet-wide dust storm on the Opportunity rover. The storm has caused the rover to cease transmitting following the last communication made on June 10, 2018.

“We have and will continue to use multiple techniques in our attempts to contact the rover,” said John Callas, project manager for Opportunity at JPL.

The transmitted commands are designed to address possible damages and errors on the rover’s X-band radios and internal clock. The team in charge of the rover will consult with JPL’s Mars Program Office and the space agency’s headquarters if the recovery attempt does not produce the intended results.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan met with NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg and discussed the alliance’s operational progress and efforts to increase burden-sharing.  During the meeting at the Pentagon, Shanahan highlighted that NATO member nations in Europe have increased contributions to training local forces in Afghanistan and Iraq to deter the Islamic State group, the Department of Defense said Monday.

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The defense secretary also praised Stoltenberg for encouraging countries to provide equal shares for defense. Shanahan said NATO’s defense spending climbed to $41B as nations increased their budget by more than nine percent between 2016 and 2018. He added that NATO expects to reach nearly $100B in defense spending by 2020. The increase would allow the alliance to conduct larger exercises, improve mobility and expand infrastructure improvements and investments, the Pentagon said.  

Shanahan noted NATO is moving closer to its readiness initiative to build 30 battalions, 30 air squadrons and 30 warships that are ready for rapid deployment in 30 days or less.

The Congressional Budget Office has released a report that assesses the effects of the five-week partial government shutdown on the federal budget and economy.

CBO estimates that the partial shutdown resulted in the delay of federal discretionary spending worth approximately $18B for the procurement of goods and services, compensation and other government services, according to the report.

The agency projects that total net discretionary funding for shutdown-affected agencies reached $329B in fiscal 2019, which accounts for about 25 percent of the total federal discretionary funding.
The shutdown reduced real gross domestic product by $3B in the fourth quarter of 2018 and will lower GDP by $8B in the first quarter of 2019, according to CBO’s projections.

CBO’s report also cited other potential effects of the shutdown, including its effect on government hiring efforts.

“Funding lapses were probably beginning to reduce the credibility of the federal government as an employer and a contracting party, making it more difficult for federal agencies to attract and maintain a talented workforce and more expensive to enter into contracts with private firms,” according to the report.

Eric Trexler, vice president of global governments at Forcepoint, shared his views on the partial shutdown’s potential impact on early-career employees.

“The shutdown will likely have a long-lasting impact on an entire generation of early-career millennials and cause them to re-evaluate their motivations to serve their country,” he said.

“This will be particularly noticeable in cybersecurity as there is a significant workforce shortage and the private industry is ripe and ready for them with massive salary advantages.”

The government shutdown temporarily ended Friday, Jan. 25, after President Donald Trump signed a continuing resolution that would fund agencies through Feb. 15.