Is Army future soldier prep course putting recruits at risk?
The inspector general found that many trainees far exceeded the Army body fat standards before starting the prep course.
- The Defense Department Office of Inspector General found that recruits who went through the Army’s future soldier prep course did not receive medical services, such as metabolic and cardiovascular screenings, assessments by a dietitian or medical clearance before proceeding to basic training. The inspector general found that many trainees far exceeded the Army body fat standards before starting the prep course. The future soldier prep course was designed to help recruits meet academic and physical standards before starting basic training. The news comes after the service managed to meet its recruitment goals in 2024, mainly due to the success of the prep course.
- The Government Accountability Office found 38 areas across the federal government are at serious risk of waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement. There’s a need for significant attention to address challenges with human capital management, IT modernization, cybersecurity and public health. GAO published its latest high-risk list this week. GAO’s biennial list identifies government programs and areas that are in critical need of transformation. Since 2023, efforts to address issues on the high-risk list have resulted in $84 billion in financial benefits, GAO said. But progress isn’t a straight line. While 10 areas improved, three areas also regressed. This year, GAO also added one new area to its high-risk list: federal disaster assistance.
- After nearly a month at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Karen Evans has an official title. The former federal CIO, DHS CIO and head of Energy’s cyber infrastructure office is adding executive assistant director for cybersecurity to her resume. Evans replaces Jeff Greene, who held the position for the final six months of the Biden administration. As the executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, Evans is responsible for managing programs focused on federal agency cyber efforts as well as working with critical infrastructure providers. Evans started at CISA in early February as a senior advisor.
- Agencies have two weeks to submit their plans for conducting reductions in force, or RIFs. Some agencies have already gotten a start on that process. The General Services Administration and the Office of Personnel Management have both outlined plans to reduce their staff and programs by as much as 50 percent. The Trump administration said RIFs will bring better efficiency to the federal government. But top congressional Democrats warn that large-scale RIFs will bring immediate and devastating impacts to the federal workforce’s capabilities, and worsen federal services to the public.
- The US DOGE Service is turning its focus to contracting. Agencies have 30 days to review contracting policies, procedures and personnel. Also, no new contracting officer warrants will be issued during this time. The latest memo from President Donald Trump charges the Department of Government Efficiency with working with agencies on this review and several others, including looking at all existing contracts and grants and terminating or modifying them to reduce overall federal spending or reallocate spending to promote efficiency. The memo also calls on DOGE and the agencies to build a system at every agency to record and include a justification for every payment issued for each contract and grant. The memo also freezes government credit cards for 30 days and requires justification for all non-essential travel.
- President Donald Trump is telling agency heads to take further steps to reduce federal office space. An executive order gives agencies seven days to update an inventory of their real estate holdings. The executive order gives agencies a deadline to identify all termination rights they have for leased and government-owned office space. Agency leaders have 60 days to give the White House a report on office space they no longer need.
- The Department of Veterans Affairs is being asked to severely limit the number of employees who can make purchases through a governmentwide charge card program. The VA has about 12-thousand authorized users for purchase cards used to buy pharmaceutical drugs and other medical supplies. But the General Services Administration is asking the VA to restrict that to less than 500 total authorized users. A VA spokesperson said the department will conduct its own review of the department’s charge cards and report its findings to GSA. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday, calling for a 30-day freeze on credit cards held by federal employees “to the maximum extent permitted by law.”
- The Defense Department has launched a DoD Rapid Response account on social media platform X. The stated purpose of the account is to support the mission of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and to fight against fake news. The account has been promoting various clips of Hegseth, and directly calling out lawmakers and journalists in response to their statements and reporting on the Defense Department. The content and tone of the account represent a significant shift from the department’s historically neutral public communications. In addition, conservative podcaster Graham Allen has been tapped as the Pentagon’s digital media director. Hegseth first mentioned Allen in his last week’s video statement, saying Allen will be helping to “communicate directly, rather than through the filter of media outlets.”
Copyright
© 2025 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
This article was originally published by a federalnewsnetwork.com . Read the Original article here. .