Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—December 22, 2014. Today, the Department of Defense announced the 2015 military pay and compensation rates for service members. The new rates for basic pay, basic allowance for housing (BAH), basic allowance for subsistence (BAS), and the cost of living allowance (COLA) rates for the contiguous United States will[Read More…]

Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—December 22, 2014. After a thorough investigation and a comprehensive legal review, the investigation concerning Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been forwarded to a General Courts Martial Convening Authority, Gen. Mark Milley, commanding general of Forces Command. Gen. Milley will determine appropriate action – which ranges from no further action[Read More…]

Will Deliver Holiday Cards to Servicemembers on Monday; Encourages People to Donate Miles and Help Reunite Servicemembers with Families CHICAGO –(ENEWSPF)–December 22, 2014.  Governor Pat Quinn today departed for his annual trip to deliver holiday cards to wounded servicemembers. This year the Governor will visit the Walter Reed National Military[Read More…]

Bridge Program at Joliet Junior College Could Help Veterans Save Dozens of Credit Hours and Thousands in Tuition and Fees JOLIET –(ENEWSPF)–December 22, 2014.  On Friday, Governor Pat Quinn congratulated Illinois education leaders at Joliet Junior College on establishing the first “bridge program” in the state to help veterans turn[Read More…]

Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—December 20, 2014. The Department of Defense announced today the repatriation of Shawali Khan, Khi Ali Gul, Abdul Ghani, and Mohammed Zahir from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. As directed by the president’s Jan. 22, 2009, executive order, the[Read More…]

Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—December 19, 2014. KIRBY: Good afternoon, everybody. Just a short announcement at the top, and then we’ll…we’ll get right to it. I do want to announce that this week, Secretary Hagel authorized up to 1,300 more U.S. troops to deploy to Iraq. Approximately 1,000 of them will be soldiers[Read More…]

Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—December 19, 2014. I want to thank members of Congress — and particularly the chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, Carl Levin and Buck McKeon — for their bipartisan work to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the 53rd consecutive year. The fiscal year[Read More…]

WASHINGTON, DC –(ENEWSPF)—December 19, 2014. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, and U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) joined together today in sending the Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) a letter in support of housing a new NGA facility at Scott Air Force[Read More…]

Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—December 18, 2014. Presenters: Presenters: Lieutenant General James L. Terry, commander, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY: Good morning, everybody. I won’t make this long, but I wanted to welcome Lieutenant General James Terry, the commander of the Combined Joint Task Force, Operation Inherent Resolve,[Read More…]

Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—December 18, 2014. I can confirm that since mid-November, targeted coalition airstrikes successfully killed multiple senior and mid-level leaders within the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). We believe that the loss of these key leaders degrades ISIL’s ability to command and control current operations against Iraqi[Read More…]