Early Bird Brief - Military Times

Today's Top 5

1. Air Force, Running Low on Drone Pilots, Turns to Contractors in Terror Fight (New York Times) The American military’s extensive use of drones against the Islamic State and other terrorist groups has resulted in a shortage of Air Force pilots and other personnel to operate the aircraft, leading the Pentagon to rely more on private contractors for reconnaissance missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

2. Navy orders big changes for littoral combat ships after engineering problems (Navy Times) The littoral combat ship Coronado returned to port Sunday after a high-profile engineering snafu that came only days after another LCS breakdown. The failures have put new urgency behind big changes that will alter the training pipeline, as well as the way ships are crewed and employed in the fleet.

3. What Happens When A 4-Star General Is Accused Of Sexual Assault? (Task & Purpose) According to military justice experts, there’s very little guidance on how to prosecute such high-ranking officers, and there are significant barriers to doing so.

4. Pentagon: 'Play hardball' against Ryan plan (Politico) An internal memo spells out tactics for using the Senate and even fellow House Republicans to undermine the speaker's defense spending proposals.

5. Remember the 3 Americans kidnapped in Iraq? Here’s the real story (McClatchy) The three men, who work for a subcontractor of the defense behemoth General Dynamics, were the first Americans kidnapped in Iraq since 2011. Their capture, on a Friday afternoon and far from Islamic State territory, was a reminder of the weakness of the Iraqi government when it comes to powerful Shiite Muslim militias backed by Iran. Known collectively as popular mobilization units, the militias have filled the void since the collapse of the Iraqi military two years ago, becoming de facto

Early Bird Brief - Military Times