Based in Washington, Jen manages Aviation Week’s worldwide defense, space and security coverage.
Prior to taking on her current role, Jen was Aviation Week's Congressional Editor. Jen came to Aviation Week in March 2011 from Politico, where she covered the intersection of defense and politics. She also worked as a reporter and editor for Defense Daily, Inside the Army, The Other Paper and The Columbus Dispatch.
Jen received a Master’s degree in journalism as a Kiplinger Fellow at the Ohio State University. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in history and journalism from the University of Michigan.
Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, is championing the cause of the commercial satellite industry—removing the spacecraft and related items from the U.S. Munitions List (USML). He managed to secure bipartisan support to include this in the House version of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill, in part by adding a mandate for the Obama administration to list the items it wants to remove from the USML.
A Mitt Romney administration would take an “incremental” approach to U.S. defense weapons development and combat cost growth and schedule delays with “strong civilian leadership” to head off so-called “requirements creep,” say the father-and-son duo Dov and Roger Zakheim, influential players in conservative defense circles. They tell reporters that the main difference between Romney's plans and the Obama administration's handling of the Pentagon's acquisition portfolio is that Romney, co-founder of Bain Capital, would “set the tone” of efficiency and effectiveness.
The Obama administration is nearing the final and most contentious phase of its massive export control reform — telling Congress what items it ultimately plans to transfer from the U.S. Munitions List (USML) to one controlled by the Commerce Department. By the end of the year, congressional aides are anticipating the administration will detail how it will transfer two key aerospace categories of products from the USML controlled by the State Department to the Commerce list.
