Early Bird Brief: May 14, 2024

Welcome to the Early Bird Brief's LinkedIn Edition, a tightly edited round-up of today's most important military and defense stories. To get the full EBB, with dozens of stories, subscribe here.

Today's Top 5:

Junior enlisted to get 20% pay bump, E5s get 13% more under House plan

(Military Times) House lawmakers’ plans to overhaul military pay tables next year would result in a nearly 20% basic salary boost for troops ranked E-4 and below and a substantial bump for E-5s as well. Read More

The USS Carney, salty and battle-tested, is back in the United States

(Navy Times) After an historic seven-month deployment that saw it endure some of the most sustained and dangerous engagements in recent Navy history, the destroyer Carney has returned to the states. Read More

House Armed Services Committee adds second Virginia submarine in FY25

(Defense News) The House Armed Services Committee will try to partially fund a second Virginia-class submarine in fiscal 2025 to mitigate harm to the industrial base it says will come from the Navy’s one-boat request. Read More

Army officer resigns in protest of ‘unqualified’ US support to Israel

(New York Times) While assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency, Maj. Harrison Mann said he was enabling policies that violated his conscience. Read More

House lawmakers aim to cut F-35 buy as patience with delays wears thin

(Defense News) A proposed House policy bill would slash the number of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters the Pentagon would buy in fiscal 2025 as lawmakers’ patience with the program and manufacturer Lockheed Martin wears thin. Read More

For the full EBB, with dozens of daily story links, subscribe here.