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 Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee approved a $594.4 billion bill to fund the Pentagon and its wartime operations in fiscal 2014 that guts the administration’s request to purchase 20 Embraer Super Tucanos for the Afghan Air Force under the Light Air Support (LAS) program. The draft of the defense spending bill would slice $416.8 million for LAS and also remove all funding for the purchase of Mi-17 helicopters for Afghanistan.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has outlined a series of messy and costly options for U.S. military intervention in Syria. Patriot batteries have currently been deployed to Turkey and Jordan to defend against potential missile attacks, and F-16s are based to defend Jordan. But going beyond that to establish a no-fly zone or targeting Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile could cost the U.S. more than $1 billion per month, according to Gen. Martin Dempsey.
A renewed effort by the Pentagon Inspector General to target overpricing by defense contractors and overbuying by military services is paying dividends, according to a senior Pentagon official. In fiscal 2012, the investigative wing of the Defense Department uncovered $2.9 billion that could have been put to better use elsewhere. Fiscal 2013 isn’t over yet, and inspectors have already identified $23.4 billion that could have been better spent, the official says.
