Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta today offered the first glimpse into changes in store for the U.S. military that will come to pass if the president's 2013 Pentagon budget is approved by Congress. Those changes include reductions for two major branches of the military, adjustments in some major weapons systems, and asking Congress for authorization to begin a new round of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.

Where Day 1 of West 2012 in San Diego focused on the inevitability of defense budget cuts, Day 2 broke down some of the disciplines that will be the focal point of difficult decisions in the coming months. Capabilities ranging from information security to nuclear submarines came under expert scrutiny as speakers and panelists tried to anticipate the changes that lie ahead and offer solutions to the challenges that are emerging.

The U.S. Army deployed four large unmanned ground systems to Afghanistan earlier this month to assess their ability to lighten the load for combat troops.

With the military's current mandates to increase efficiencies, virtualization offers multiple benefits to the armed forces. Projects underway at the National Security Agency are advancing its use, but the government needs to reconcile security requirements with available capabilities before warfighters enjoy the full benefit of the technology.

To help prepare for upcoming AFCEA conferences, SIGNAL Media now offers a single e-place[ML1] to find event details, ongoing news coverage, social media feeds and local area attractions.

AFCEA members who want to take the AFCEA Source Book with them everywhere can now download it for easy access on their laptop or tablet computers.

The AFCEA Educational Foundation and Cypherpath LLC have partnered to offer cybersecurity courses that address needs recently identified by a U.S. House of Representatives task force on the topic.

The AFCEA Educational Foundation and Cypherpath LLC have partnered to offer cybersecurity courses that address needs recently identified by a U.S. House of Representatives task force on the topic.