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.
In a long-running U.S. Army-Air Force airlift feud, Congress is finally asking both sides to show their cards. The Air Force is recommending mothballing newly manufactured C-27J airlifters that were initially requested by the Army as a replacement for the C-23 Sherpa to provide intratheater airlift. It’s a mission that never sat well with the Air Force, and was sidelined in President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2013 budget request.
The Pentagon’s decision to give some ground to state advocates in the ongoing fight over reductions to the Air National Guard is being met with a mixed reaction on Capitol Hill. The military is now proposing to retain 24 C-130s in the Air National Guard, after the Obama administration proposed cuts in the Guard appropriation in February in its fiscal 2013 budget request. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta outlined the change in an April 23 letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.).
Even in an environment where Congress is slashing discretionary funding, the Senate Appropriations Committee this week approved $956 million for the FAA’s NextGen air traffic modernization program in fiscal 2013, a 2% increase from last year.
