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.
When Congress returns to Washington next week, it will begin work on what is likely the last in a series of stopgap spending bills keeping the government running in this fiscal year, says Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.). The spending package is likely to include funding for the Defense Department, along with domestic programs. “I don’t see defense being pulled out,” the House Armed Services committee member said after remarks at the 9th Annual U.S. Missile Defense Conference and Exhibit on March 21.
MDA BUDGET: Current stopgap bills are funding the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Ground-based Midcourse Defense program at a reduced budget of $320 million, says Rep.
Though early work on the first two land-based “Aegis Ashore” missile defense sites was sole-sourced to Lockheed Martin, U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Director Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly says that the prime contractor on a third site will be selected through a competition. O’Reilly approved a justification for sole-source work based on the need to deploy the system quickly, by 2015. He made his comments in response to a question from an audience member at the 9th Missile Defense conference in Washington March 21.
