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Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang

bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com

Ben Wolfgang is a National Security Correspondent for The Washington Times. His reporting is regularly featured in the daily Threat Status newsletter.
Previously, he covered energy and the environment, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016, and also spent two years as a White House correspondent during the Obama administration.
Before coming to The Times in 2011, Ben worked as political reporter at The Republican-Herald in Pottsville, Pa.
He can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Ben Wolfgang

President Trump broached the subject of the Nord Stream 2 project, which wasn't expected to be on this week's NATO agenda. (Associated Press)

Donald Trump’s Nord Stream objection divides NATO

President Trump on Wednesday stoked divisions in Europe by wading into the middle of an intense fight over the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, a project that critics fear will give Moscow new leverage in the region and could create a geopolitically dangerous Russian-German economic alliance.

July 11, 2018
Capt. Philip Gunn participates in a flyover during the interment ceremony of retired Brig. Gen. Robinson Risner on Jan. 23, 2014, at Arlington National Cemetery. (Image: Air Force) ** FILE **

Pentagon’s Army Futures Command put 5 cities in competition

It's the military version of the Amazon headquarters sweepstakes. Five city finalists are vying to land the Pentagon's Army Futures Command, a newly launched operational arm designed to modernize the Army while developing cutting-edge technologies.

June 28, 2018
Freedom Alliance scholars met last week with Marines in Washington as part of their annual weekend retreat. They said the gatherings have become crucial to healing. (Photo by Wanda Cruz)

Freedom Alliance scholars grateful for scholarships, peer support

Less than a week after Nicolas Munsen's father died during exercises off the coast of Puerto Rico, his family received a heartbreaking letter: The Navy pilot soon intended to return home, retire from military service and focus on raising then-2-year-old Nicolas.

June 25, 2018
U.S. Strategic Command Commander Gen. John Hyten, testifies before a House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Space Subcommittee and House Armed Services Committee Strategic Forces Subcommittee joint hearing on 'Space Situational Awareness: Whole of Government Perspectives on Roles and Responsibilities' on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 22, 2018. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Donald Trump’s Space Force unlikely anytime soon

President Trump demands quick results, but the Pentagon is about to test his patience as military leaders embark on a daunting mission to assess whether the commander in chief's call for an American "Space Force" is even practical.

June 24, 2018
Defense Secretary James Mattis speaks about the National Defense Review, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Washington. China's expanding military and an increasingly aggressive Russia are among the U.S. military's top national security priorities, the Pentagon said Friday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

James Mattis hails Germany’s defense efforts

Twenty-four hours after his boss took yet another shot at Germany on Twitter, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis on Wednesday praised the European nation and said it's "on the right trajectory" with respect to its financial contributions to NATO, also telling reporters at the Pentagon that Berlin is an indispensable partner to the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan.

June 20, 2018
The Pentagon vehemently denies that the White House exerted any political pressure throughout the process for awarding the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract, which ultimately went to Microsoft. (Associated Press/File)

Pentagon still mum on mysterious airstrike in Syria

Pentagon officials are staying quiet about a mysterious airstrike Sunday that struck Syrian regime forces near the Iraqi border, insisting the U.S. military didn't carry out the attack but refusing to offer any clarity on who did.

June 19, 2018
The Pentagon vehemently denies that the White House exerted any political pressure throughout the process for awarding the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract, which ultimately went to Microsoft. (Associated Press/File)

Military says it’s received no guidance about canceling Korean war games

Pentagon officials said Tuesday they'll stay out of President Trump's landmark diplomacy with Kim Jong-un -- but they also emphasized that, so far, military leaders have gotten no formal instructions to follow through on the president's words and immediately cancel joint military exercises with close ally South Korea.

June 12, 2018
In this Jan. 31, 2010, file photo, an unmanned U.S. Predator drone flies over Kandahar Air Field, southern Afghanistan, on a moon-lit night. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

U.S. drone-strike policy threatens to backfire as nations acquire technology

The rapid proliferation of military drone technology is reaching the point that other nations -- and even non-state actors such as Mexican drug cartels -- could engage in the kinds of deadly strikes that the U.S. pioneered more than a decade ago and has increased under presidents of both political parties.

June 11, 2018
FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 file photo, al-Shabab fighters march with their weapons during military exercises on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia. A U.S. drone strike in Somalia has targeted a key leader of the al-Shabab militant group who was involved in two attacks in Mogadishu more than a year ago that killed more than 30 people, at least three Americans among them, the Pentagon said Friday, April 1, 2016. Several U.S. officials said he and two others were killed. Hassan Ali Dhoore was targeted in the airstrike Thursday, but the U.S. military was still assessing the results, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement. (AP Photo/Mohamed Sheikh Nor, File)

Alexander W. Conrad killed in firefight with al-Shabaab in Somalia

The Pentagon has identified the soldier killed Friday in a firefight with Somali extremists. Alexander W. Conrad, 26, of Chandler, Arizona, died following the clash, which also claimed the lives of one member of the Somali-Kenyan partner force and saw four Americans wounded. Conrad was assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, out of Fort Bragg, N.C.

June 10, 2018