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.
PLANE APPEAL: Fourteen former top U.S. Air Force officials are asking the leaders of the House and Senate armed services committees to keep investing in Boeing’s KC-46A tanker program, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Next Generation Bomber, despite the nation’s deficit reduction efforts. “Decisions that we make today will govern the national security options available for decades into the future,” the officials write on behalf of the Air Force Association. Signing the letter are former Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke, Gen. John Corney, Lt. Gen.
The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday was scheduled to appoint conferees to hammer out differences between the House and Senate versions of the FAA reauthorization bill, but lawmakers did not vote to do so before leaving for the week. “I hope to do that as soon as we get back,” says Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The 23rd extension of the FAA’s operating authority now runs through Feb.
The leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) are scheduled to dine with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Jan. 25 at the Pentagon to discuss the broad outlines of looming defense budget reductions. Their briefing will come one day before the press anticipates a similar readout, as the military considers how to approach a $489 billion reduction to its prior spending plans for the next decade.
