Here are five news stories and events to start your week:
Former SecDef Blasts Trump's Calls for US-Russia Cyber Partnership
Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter criticized President Donald Trump's calls for the U.S. and Russia to work together on cybersecurity matters. "This is like the guy who robbed your house proposing a working group on burglary," Carter told CNN on Sunday, referring to Russian hacking of the U.S. presidential election. Trump earlier in the day tweeted that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin recently "discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded." Amid bipartisan criticism, Trump later tweeted, "The fact that President Putin and I discussed a Cyber Security unit doesn't mean I think it can happen. It can't-but a ceasefire [in Syria] can,& did!"
Sound Off: Should the US Collaborate with Russia on Cyber?
USS Fitzgerald Heading to Dry Dock for Repairs
The U.S. naval destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), crippled after a deadly June 17 collision with the commercial container ship ACX Crystal, is set to move into dry dock in in Yokosuka, Japan, for repairs and additional assessments, the Navy said in a statement on Monday. Sailors aboard the damaged destroyer are helping to install a temporary patch on the hull beneath the water line and remove water and fuel from affected spaces, the service said. Seven sailors were killed in the accident. Their bodies were discovered in a flooded berthing compartment. A memorial service was held for one of the sailors, Carlos Victor Sibayan, Saturday in Bonita, California.
Lawmakers Back from July 4 Recess May Act on VA Choice
Via Richard Sisk at Military.com: "Congress is returning this week from the July 4 recess under deadlines for action on an array of budget issues, including funding for the Choice program at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Funding for Choice, which allows veterans flexibility in seeking private health care, will likely run out by Aug. 7 unless Congress provides a fix, according to VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin. The VA initially proposed paying for Choice with cuts in the Individual Unemployability program that is a lifeline to more than 225,000 elderly and disabled vets, but backed off after an uproar from vets and the veterans service organizations."
Despite Push from Glock, Army Says No More Modular Handgun Tests
Via Matthew Cox at Military.com: "The U.S. Army has no plans to reopen its Modular Handgun System competition, at the request of Glock Inc., to conduct more testing between the winning entry, Sig Sauer P320, and the losing bid, Glock 19, according to an Army spokesman. The MHS 'contract award speaks for itself,' Army spokesman Wayne V. Hall wrote in a July 6 email to Military.com. The statement came a day after Glock Inc. Vice President Josh Dorsey told Military.com that the service allegedly conducted 'incomplete testing' by failing to conduct the "heavy endurance testing" that is common in military and federal small arms competitions.
Soldier Gives His Medal of Honor to the Brigade He Says Earned It
Via Nancy Montgomery at Stars & Stripes: "The Medal of Honor has always hung heavily around Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta's neck. On Wednesday, he finally got to take it off. In a ceremony marking the 173rd Airborne Brigade's new memorial to all the brigade's soldiers who earned the military's highest award, the former Subway sandwich maker unfastened the medal's blue ribbon from his neck and handed it over to the brigade commander. 'It can't be with me because it's ours,' said Giunta. In 2010, for his heroic actions during an ambush in Afghanistan, he became the first living man to earn the medal since the Vietnam War."
-- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry.
