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.
The Defense Department's most secret projects, known as Special Access Programs (SAP), will be protected from automatic declassification for 40 years or more, according to a Pentagon manual for the handling of materials for the military's most sensitive programs. SAP files prior to Jan. 1, 1982, will be protected until Dec. 31, 2021, regardless of their age, the new rule states. Later files will be protected for four decades, “unless they are reviewed and submitted for another extension,” according to the guide published Oct.
ANCHORED: Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert is appealing to Congress for more than $1 billion in investment dollars for this fiscal year. A current stop-gap spending bill and sequestration-related cuts put a dent in plans to buy Virginia-class submarines, leaves the Navy’s next-generation nuclear submarine $500 million away from its request, and removes the same amount from what is needed to finish current work on Ford-class aircraft carriers, Greenert told the Senate Armed Services Committee Nov. 7.
DEFENSE CONTRACTING: With the Pentagon’s war chest under continued pressure, efforts to buy more with each dollar are all the rage. Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s top acquisition official, will be discussing his latest effort at reforming the weapons-buying process during an 8:15 a.m. speech Nov. 7 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. After his speech, a panel of experts will speak including Pierre Chao of Renaissance Strategic Advisors, Jon Etherton of Etherton & Associates, Maj. Gen.
