United States Strategic Command

Strategic Command chief Adm. Cecil Haney will appear before the House Armed Services Committee for the first time next week. Haney will testify before the committee alongside Pacific Command chief Adm. Samuel Locklear at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Room 2118 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Haney’s appearance before the committee will come on the […]

A House Armed Services Committee hearing with Strategic Command and Pacific Command was postponed yesterday because of snow in Washington, D.C. While Pacific Command chief Adm. Samuel Locklear will testify before the committee today, Strategic Command chief Adm. Cecil Haney is likely to appear before the committee in early April, though a date has not […]

Strategic Command official Greg Weaver took over this week as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Missile Defense Policy, according to a senior Defense Department official. Weaver had served as the Deputy Director of Plans and Policy at Strategic Command since 2011, serving as a key advisor to former Strategic Command […]

The deputy commander of U.S. Strategic Command has been suspended while he is investigated for issues related to gambling, Navy Capt. Pamela Kunze, a spokeswoman for Strategic Command, confirmed this weekend. Navy Vice Adm. Kunze said Vice Adm. Tim Giardina is being investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Details about Giardina’s gambling issues have […]

Cuts to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s B61 life extension program could imperil the airborne leg of the nation’s nuclear deterrent, four former leaders of U.S. Strategic Command (and its Air Force predecessor, Strategic Air Command) said in a letter last month to key leaders on the Senate Appropriations and Armed Services committees. The B61 […]

Adm. Cecil Haney, the Obama Administration’s pick to be the next commander of U.S. Strategic Command, said during his confirmation hearing yesterday that he supports efforts to modernize the nation’s nuclear arsenal and weapons complex and said he would oppose unilateral reductions to the nuclear arsenal. President Obama in June outlined a plan to reduce […]

U.S. Strategic Command Commander Gen. Robert Kehler said yesterday he has recently seen improvements in the relationship between the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Defense, but said that “significant issues” remain and he is undecided on  potential changes to NNSA governance. Kehler’s remarks come as a Congressionally-mandated NNSA governance  panel gets set […]

A senior Navy official is likely to lead U.S. Strategic Command for the first time since 2004. President Obama yesterday nominated Adm. Cecil Haney to take over for Air Force Gen. Robert Kehler, who has headed up StratCom since January 2011. If he is confirmed by the Senate, Haney would be the first Navy leader […]

The Department of Defense has enjoyed significantly more influence over the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Fiscal Year 2014 budget formulation, U.S. Strategic Command chief Gen. Robert Kehler told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday. Congress last year began requiring the Nuclear Weapons Council to certify the NNSA’s budget, urging it to take an active role […]

As the National Nuclear Security Administration refines its alternative plutonium strategy, Strategic Command chief Gen. Robert Kehler said yesterday that he is is slowly gaining confidence in the plan. Since the Obama Administration decided to defer construction of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility in February, deciding to pursue an alternative strategy that includes […]

The subject of reforming the National Nuclear Security Administration has been a hotly debated topic on Capitol Hill over the last few months, but the commander of U.S. Strategic Command declined to definitively weigh in on the subject yesterday. Asked during an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations whether he felt the NNSA needed […]

United States Strategic Command chief Gen. Robert Kehler will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee next Tuesday, potentially addressing the Obama Administration’s nuclear modernization plan as part of testimony on the Fiscal Year 2013 budget request. Kehler will appear before the committee along with U.S. Cyber Command Gen. Keith Alexander at 9:30 a.m. in […]

Gen. Robert Kehler, the head of U.S. Strategic Command, acknowledged yesterday that fiscal belt tightening has forced difficult funding choices for the nation’s nuclear forces, but he singled out concern for the decision to defer construction of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The facility, as recently as last […]

Gen. Robert Kehler, the head of U.S. Strategic Command, acknowledged yesterday that Congressional belt-tightening is forcing the command to examine all facets of its deterrent mission, but he advocated for maintaining the modernization plan for the nation’s nuclear weapons complex and arsenal and maintaining the current triad of nuclear delivery vehicles. Speaking to reporters at […]

Four senior Obama Administration officials are slated to appear before the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee Wednesday as the panel examines the ongoing Pentagon nuclear deterrence review, the impact of budget cuts to the Administration’s nuclear modernization plan and plans for future nuclear reductions. Jim Miller, the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for […]