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 Armed Services Committee on May 24 passed a defense policy bill authorizing the Pentagon to spend $631.4 billion in fiscal 2013 that follows the House in putting a hold on the U.S. Air Force’s plans to scale back the Air National Guard. “We rejected the Air Force plan, and fully funded the equipment and personnel,” committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) told reporters in a press conference after the committee voted unanimously to approve the legislation.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) is zeroing in on an advanced engine technology program to ensure that it is not used to resurrect the “second” engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that Congress killed last year.
The defense industry supply chain is rife with counterfeit parts and efforts to police them are failing, increasing the risk that such parts could compromise the quality of U.S.-made defense systems, or even offer back doors to cybersnoops, escalating the threat of espionage and intellectual theft.