WASHINGTON, July 2 (Reuters) – A U.S. Navy oiler slipped
away from a fuel depot on the Puget Sound in Washington state
one recent day, headed toward the central Pacific and into the
storm over the Pentagon’s controversial green fuels initiative.

In its tanks, the USNS Henry J. Kaiser carried nearly
900,000 gallons of biofuel blended with petroleum to power the
cruisers, destroyers and fighter jets of what the Navy has taken
to calling the “Great Green Fleet,” the first carrier strike
group to be powered largely by alternative fuels.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged Congress on Friday to act soon to stop a new round of defense budget reductions next year, saying the threat of $500 billion more in cuts leaves military families and defense workers under a cloud of uncertainty.

“Congress can’t keep kicking the can down the road or avoiding dealing with the debt and deficit problems that we face,” Panetta told a news conference. “The men and women of this department and their families need to know with certainty that we will meet our commitments to them and to their families.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. military celebrated gay pride month at the Pentagon for the first time on Tuesday, with officials praising the services for smoothly adapting to a law that permits homosexuals to serve openly in the armed forces.

“As recently as three years ago, it would have been hard for many of us, including me, to believe that in the year 2012, a gay man or woman in the armed forces could be honest about their sexual orientation,” the Pentagon’s top lawyer, Jeh Johnson, said in a keynote address.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An instructor who provoked debate in his classroom of military officers by suggesting the United States was at war with Islam has been relieved of teaching duties at a military college and the course ordered redesigned, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

The course at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, part of the U.S. National Defense University, had been offered since 2004, according to Colonel David Lapan, spokesman for the chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

WASHINGTON, June 19 (Reuters) – Renewable fuels for U.S.
military ships and jets are likely to remain “far more
expensive” than petroleum products absent a technological
breakthrough, a study for the U.S. Air Force found on Tuesday,
questioning a Pentagon push for alternative energy.

The study by the RAND Corporation think tank said that while
the U.S. Defense Department is a huge consumer of fuel at about
340,000 barrels per day, that figure is a tiny fraction of the
87 million barrels per day of global demand, too small to
influence price significantly.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States urged Egypt’s military on Monday to move swiftly on plans to transfer full power to an elected civilian government and suggested failure to do so would prompt a review of U.S. ties, which includes billions of dollars in military and civilian aid.

Both the State Department and the Pentagon – which oversees the close military links between the two countries – voiced concerns over moves by Egypt’s generals to tighten their grip on power despite a presidential vote aimed at sealing the country’s democratic future.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The threat of new U.S. defense spending cuts next year is creating uncertainty in the economy, and Congress should take steps this summer to reassure industry it is capable of “avoiding that train wreck,” a top senator on defense issues said on Tuesday.

“Uncertainty which is created by the threat, the prospect, the specter, of sequestration, I believe, is a real threat to this economy,” said Senator Carl Levin, referring to $500 billion in automatic cuts that will kick in unless Congress acts to stop them.

KABUL, June 7 (Reuters) – Defense Secretary Leon Panetta
said on Thursday the United States was reaching the limits of
its patience with Pakistan because of the safe havens the
country offered to insurgents in neighbouring Afghanistan.

It was some of the strongest language used by a U.S.
official to describe the strained ties between Washington and
Islamabad.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta promised on Wednesday to let India buy America’s best weapons technology and jointly produce and develop equipment in a bid to increase trade with the world’s top arms importer.

“The United States is firmly committed to providing the best defence technology possible to India. We are both leaders in technology development and we can do incredible work together,” he said on a visit to the Indian capital.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The Defense Secretary Leon Panetta promised on Wednesday to let India buy America’s best weapons technology and jointly produce and develop equipment in a bid to increase trade with the world’s top arms importer.

“The United States is firmly committed to providing the best defense technology possible to India. We are both leaders in technology development and we can do incredible work together,” he said on a visit to the Indian capital.