Based in Washington, Jen managed Aviation Week’s worldwide defense, space and security coverage from 2013 to January 2024.
Prior to taking on the Executive Editor 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.
Within a day of the announcement of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s resignation, two promising candidates for replacing him quickly opted out. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), who is likely to lead Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee next year, said, “No.” And then the former head of Pentagon policy, Michele Flournoy, who is the CEO of the Center for New American Security, told the think tank’s board she would not leave her current job.
Even before Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel had formally announced his resignation Nov. 24, White House officials were already talking to reporters about potential successors – and about Hagel’s distance from the White House’s inner circle. Given the difficulty that seems to have been described by many a Cabinet official, maybe the question should not be who the White House will choose, but who will accept the offer.
Although the FAA has not yet completed rules for how UAVs should be operated in U.S. airspace, it can fine commercial operators for “careless or reckless” flying of unmanned aircraft—even those that cost less than $200. That is the upshot of what being perceived as a “win” for FAA regulators: an NTSB ruling this week on Raphael Pirker’s promotional video for the University of Virginia—shot from a remote-control aircraft.
