Tag: Pentagon

Minutes before Trump left office, millions of the Pentagon’s dormant IP addresses sprang to life

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After decades of not using a huge chunk of the Internet, the Pentagon has given control of millions of computer addresses to a previously unknown company in an effort to identify possible cyber vulnerabilities and threats

While the world was distracted with President Donald Trump leaving office on Jan. 20, an obscure Florida company discreetly announced to the world’s computer networks a startling development: It now was managing a huge unused swath of the Internet that, for several decades, had been owned by the U.S. military.

What happened next was stranger still.

The company, Global Resource Systems LLC, kept adding to its zone of control. Soon it had claimed 56 million IP addresses owned by the Pentagon. Three months later, the total was nearly 175 million. That’s almost 6 percent of a coveted traditional section of Internet real estate — called IPv4 — where such large chunks are worth billions of dollars on the open market. Continue reading.

Pentagon confirms it will not hold traditional farewell ceremony for Trump as president vies for military-style parade: reports

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President Donald Trump, who still hasn’t conceded that he lost the election, will soon be leaving the White House. On his way out, he’s not participating in any of the traditional hand-off rituals that incumbents typically do to welcome newly elected Presidents (like leaving a farewell letter of advice to the new president or having a one-on-one conversation with them).

Trump also apparently wants his departure to involve “a military-style sendoff and a crowd of supporters” at either the White House, the Joint Base Andrews or his final destination, the Palm Beach International Airport, according to CNN.

The Pentagon has said a traditional farewell isn’t going to happen. Continue reading.

Rachel Maddow offers a terrifying theory that explains Trump’s Pentagon moves

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The host of “The Rachel Maddow Show” on Friday offered her audience a theory that may explain some of President Donald Trump’s actions concerning the Pentagon in his final months in office.

Maddow built her case off of a new Washington Post story titled, “Pentagon blocks visits to military spy agencies by Biden transition team.”

“The Trump administration has refused to allow members of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team to meet with officials at U.S. intelligence agencies that are controlled by the Pentagon, undermining prospects for a smooth transfer of power,” the newspaper reported, citing “current and former U.S. officials.” Continue reading.

Pentagon puts on show of force as questions circle on COVID-19 outbreak

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The Pentagon is putting on a show of force as most of its Joint Chiefs of Staff quarantine after two top military officials tested positive for COVID-19 last week and possibly exposed others.

Defense Department officials have repeatedly insisted that military readiness has not been affected and that it remains ready to defend the country, a stance it repeated on Thursday.

“The Joint Chiefs and I remain in constant communication while in quarantine and the chain of command remains the same,” Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, who is himself waylaid at home, said through the Joint Staff Twitter account. Continue reading.

Pentagon grapples with coronavirus outbreak

The Hill logoThe U.S. military is grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, as service members seek to provide aid and protect themselves from infection.

The Department of Defense is engaging in a balancing act, deploying field hospitals to different cities facing severe outbreaks, while scaling back operations elsewhere. Military leaders said Tuesday that 227 service members tested positive for COVID-19, and thousands of others in the U.S. and abroad are being monitored for potential exposure.

While the number of service members with the virus is relatively low, the military has still imposed tight restrictions as a precaution, scaling back on training new recruits, closing in-person recruiting centers, postponing major military exercises with allies and limiting travel. Continue reading.

Pentagon races to counter coronavirus threat on military forces

The Hill logoThe Pentagon is taking care to prevent a slip in national security and readiness following the steady global spread of the coronavirus that has the Department of Defense (DOD) holding off on a military exercise, quarantining fleets and curtailing troop movement.

As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, DOD in the last week has canceled a joint military exercise with South Korea, restricted access to public areas at Army installations in Italy and ordered all ships that have visited countries in the Pacific region to remain at sea for 14 days, essentially a self-quarantine.

U.S. Central Command has also ordered a stop to all nonessential travel in the Persian Gulf region.  Continue reading.

Pentagon rejects Trump threat to hit Iranian cultural sites

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon on Monday distanced itself from President Donald Trump’s assertions that he would bomb Iranian cultural sites despite international prohibitions on such attacks.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the U.S. will “follow the laws of armed conflict.” When asked if that ruled out targeting cultural sites, Esper said pointedly, “That’s the laws of armed conflict.”

The split between the president and his Pentagon chief came amid heightened tensions with Tehran following a U.S. drone strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. Trump had twice warned that he would hit Iranian cultural sites if Tehran retaliates against the U.S. Continue reading.

You’re Supposed to ‘Completely Blindside’ the Enemy, Not the Pentagon

With the news that President Trump “completely blindsided” the Pentagon (according to Fox News) by suddenly deciding to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria and giving Turkey a green light to move across the border and attack our previous ally the Kurds, it seems like a good time to review one of the closing passages of Call Sign Chaos, the autobiography of James Mattis, our previous Secretary of Defense.

Mattis writes about how his time as commander of U.S. Central Command came to an end:

It was no secret in Washington that the White House was wary of my command at CENTCOM and increasingly distrusted me. While I fully endorse civilian control of the military, I would not surrender my independent judgment. In 2010, I argued strongly against pulling all our troops out of Iraq. In 2011, I urged retaliation against Iran for plotting to blow up a restaurant in our nation’s capital. In 2012, I argued for retaining a small but capable contingent of troops in Afghanistan. Each step along the way, I argued for political clarity and offered options that could give the Commander in Chief a rheostat he could dial up or down to protect our nation. While I had the right to be heard on military matters, my judgment was only advice, to be ignored or accepted. I obeyed without mental reservation our Commander in Chief and carried out every order to the best of my ability.

View the complete October 7 article by Jim Geraghty on The National Review website here.

Pentagon distances itself from Ukraine controversy

The Hill logoThe Pentagon is working to distance itself from the controversy surrounding President Trump‘s communications with Ukraine that has plunged Washington into an impeachment crisis.

Department officials in the past week have sought to avoid the political fray, downplaying the administration’s holdup of military aid to Ukraine and preemptively ordering employees to turn over for preservation any documents and communications having to do with it.

Questions remain about whether the Pentagon was involved in or even aware of the decision to withhold the money. Officials have declined to answer questions, citing the confidentiality of conversations between the department and the White House. Pentagon officials also have insisted there is a “solid working relationship” between the two.

View the complete October 6 article by Ellen Mitchell on The Hill website here.

Pentagon Hasn’t Held A Press Briefing Since May 2018

Friday marked exactly one year since the Department of Defense held an official press briefing at the Pentagon. The last briefing was given on May 31, 2018.

“The Pentagon press corps has chafed for months at what reporters see as a sharp decline in access to information, including limited access to officials during trips,” Politico reportedWednesday.

In the 365 days since the last briefing, the Pentagon briefing room has been used for media events with KISS band member Gene Simmons and actor Gerard Butler (King Leonidas in “300”) — but not for its intended purpose of informing the press and the public about important developments related to national defense.

View the complete June 1 article by Oliver Willis on the National Memo website here.