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.
Budget reductions over the last three years are hurting the military’s ability to support the nation’s security strategy, contends a high-level bipartisan panel in a report delivered to Congress. “The growing gap between the strategic objectives the U.S. military is expected to achieve and the resources required to do so is causing risk to accumulate toward unacceptable levels,” says the National Defense Panel led by former Defense Secretary William Perry and Army Gen. (ret.) John Abizaid.
Even though the FAA predicts the U.S. will be home to 7,500 active unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in the next five years, the agency regulating the nation’s airspace has a long way to go to make the skies safe for UAS to fly, according to the Transportation Department’s inspector general (IG). The FAA continues to work toward the goal established by Congress of integrating UAS into the national airspace by September 2015, a report from the IG states. But progress has been held up by a number of technological, regulatory and managerial barriers.
Along with its fiscal 2015 budget rollout early this year, the U.S. Army announced it will replace Bell -TH-67 helicopters with UH-72 Lakotas to train pilots at the Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Industry officials argue that the decision sets up what is a sole-source contract award to Airbus for at least 100 aircraft, and they note that over the long-term, cheaper options may exist. Now the Army’s proposal is facing some scrutiny from Congress and the Pentagon.
