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Gen. Christopher Neve of 82nd Airborne and Eighth Army to be new US Army chief of staff in May 2026. He is known for restoring traditional army discipline to the 82nd Airborne Division. This has brought him to the attention of Defense Secretary Hegseth and the US president. This is similar to Eisenhower who after West Point gained from his relationship with Gen. Pershing in 1920's and later by 1940 with General Marshall who appointed him to Commander in the North African and European campaigns in WWII. One difference is that Neve came up through the Army's Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Arizona University. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg says this about Neve- "What he did which I admired, he brought the 82nd—it had drifted away a bit—back to traditional training and traditional values.”  Kellogg a former 82nd Airborne Division commander himself. He was brought to Hegseth's attention for a future appointment by Kellogg. He was then appointed to assistant to the Defense Secretary. Eisenhower was assistant to Pershing who mentored him in the interwar years in the 20's for the Battlefield Monuments Commission and for Pershing's Memoirs on WWI. The 82nd Airborne is a paratrooper unit that saw action in closing days of WW1 and in WWII in Normandy Sicily, throughout the war. Based in Fort Liberty, North Carolina. The other unit is the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. ...

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British Foreign Secretary Dennis Healey on the British reaction to the US air strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, 2026.

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British prime minister Theresa May fires her Defense Secretary for leaking information on a review of the use of equipment from China's Huawei Technologies Co. in the UK telecom 5G network. May had agreed to let Huawei make some of the equipment for "less sensitive" parts of the UK telecom network, a decision opposed by Mr. Williamson and others in the Conservative Party. The U.S. has taken a strong position opposing the use of Huawei equipment in western telecom networks for 5G.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter's visit to India in June 2015 included a stop at the Indian Eastern Naval Command center in Vishakapatnam.

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Republican Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell no's and 50-50 US Senate vote, a tie on Hegseth nomination. Only a last minute change of heart by Senator Tillis gets the 50-50 tie that was broken by VP Vance's vote to get the Hegseth nomination through. Armed Services chairman Wicker in questioning in the Senate supported Hegseth as he faced tough questioning from Democrats Duckworth, Slotkin and Peters.  Wicker cited Hegseth's service in two wars in combat as a Major in Iraq and Afghanistan and the way many who had fought in these wars had struggled and overcome difficulties, the need for second chances in some situations. Other Republican senators said the position was held by others who did not have experience running large organizations. Panetta was a lawyer and Gates an academic who had CIA positions before appointment to Secretary of Defense. Perry had experience running defense supplier companies. Chuck Hagel served in combat in the Vietnam war and started his own company Vanguard Cellular and was a talk show host.   ...

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hosts military chiefs of 34 countries in Washington DC. He tells the gathering- “We must work together to prevent any adversary or criminal actor from exploiting your territory or using your infrastructure to threaten what a great former American president, Teddy Roosevelt, once called ‘permanent peace in this hemisphere.’ "

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Critics such as Senator John McCain say Hagel was affected by micromanagement of defense matters from the White House. The White House maintains close control over policy. One problem seen in the administration is developing policy when no one is sure what the president wants. Only a small circle McDonough, the National Security Advisor Valerie Jarrett, and some NSA officials in the inner circle with the president determine policy. Michele Flournoy and Ashton Carter are considered as replacement for Hagel.

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Former U.S. Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, says the attacks on Charlie Hebdo weekly in France were the result of an intelligence failure. The 2 brothers who conducted the attacks were already on a U.S. no-fly list. The U.S. has already alerted European authorites to about 3000 European citizens, about 1000 from France, who went to Syria to fight with Islamic State. Panettta says there is much room for improvement when it comes to tracking of individuals returning from conflicts in the Middle East, and making certain that the U.S. and Europeans are at the top of their game when it comes to security. Operationally the U.S. and Europeans need to be working together and being aggressive about individuals who have a history in these places in the Middle East.

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Retired General James Mattis headed Central Command under the Obama administration. He is the new U.S. Defense Secretary. Mattis is critical but has said "there is no going back" on the Iran nuclear agreement. Mattis also has said any U.S. president regarding allies as "freeloaders" is nuts. This is different from Trump's campaign speeches, Yet the trait of Mattis in Afghanistan and Iraq duty is that of aggressively following the enemy, he has been called "Mad Dog,"  and the 66 year old officer brings deep battlefield experience, is highly regarded in the military ranks, and had friction with the Obama administration- traits for which he is well regarded by Trump.