The D Brief: DOD civilians, on the move; Ukraine-strike details; Trump’s nuke offer to Iran; Syria’s jihadis, in uniform?; And a bit more.

Developing: Trump’s Pentagon authorized its civilian employees to assist with “border security” operations for the Department of Homeland Security. The authorization was requested by DHS and paves the way for DOD civilian “volunteers” to assist with the White House’s immigration enforcement plans, according to Fox. The order was signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and released publicly Monday along with a statement from Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, who described the effort as “temporary assignments…in support of critical ongoing operations.” 

Fine print: “Detail assignments may be either reimbursable or non-reimbursable,” according to the memo. 

What does that mean exactly? It’s not yet entirely clear; but Hegseth suggested civilian employees’ bosses “should consider factors such as whether the tasks to be carried out by employees during the detail are of a similar nature to the tasks those employees execute in the course of their normal duties; whether the detail would otherwise enhance the skills and further develop the employees professionally; the duration of the contemplated detail for each employee, including the fact that the training and professional development value might diminish over time as the employee gains experience; and the impacts to the Department from the employee’s absence.”

Some questions we have include: Why is this necessary? What kinds of skills have been requested? What jobs will they do? Is there a time period in question? Is there a precedent? Is this a first for border-security operations?

Parnell: “Protecting our homeland from bad actors and illegal substances has been a focus of the President and of the Secretary of Defense since Day One of this Administration,” Hegseth’s chief spokesman said in his statement. Read over the entire half-page memo (PDF), here. 

How many civilians have left the Defense workforce in recent months? Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s effort to shed 5 to 8 percent of his department’s civilians, or roughly 60,000 employees, has included a hiring freeze; on-again, off-again attempts to lay off hundreds of probationary employees; and early retirement and deferred resignation programs—all on top of a comprehensive review of staffing.  

How’s that going? DOD officials wouldn’t say. “Certain near-term changes in workforce structure, composition, and workforce will be reflected in the department’s forthcoming President’s Budget request for FY26,” a defense official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, told Defense One on Monday.

But the White House released its budget proposal on Friday, and the 1,224-page document contains no specific proposals for changes to the Pentagon’s civilian workforce, which stood around 770,000 in September. Read on, here.

Pentagon pushes U.S. dronemakers to innovate as quickly as Ukraine does. Launched on Monday, the Defense Innovation Unit’s Project GI initiative aims to embed troops’ feedback into a perpetual loop of design, testing, and deployment. It’s a deliberate effort to mimic how the Ukrainian military has out-innovated Russian forces by rapidly fielding and iterating drone technology under fire. Defense One’s Patrick Tucker has more, here.

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Welcome to this Tuesday edition of The D Brief, a newsletter dedicated to developments affecting the future of U.S. national security, brought to you by Ben Watson with Bradley Peniston. Share your tips and feedback here. And if you’re not already subscribed, you can do that here. On this day in 1969, Australia’s light aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collided with USS Frank E. Evans in the South China Sea, killing 74 sailors aboard the U.S. destroyer. The American captain was found guilty in a court-martial.

Ukraine, Russia exchange attacks 

Developing: Ukrainian officials claim to have carried out a new attack on the 12-mile Kerch Strait Bridge, which links occupied Crimea with the Russian mainland. If confirmed, it would be the third time the Ukrainians have attacked the bridge since Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than three years ago. 

Kyiv’s Defense Ministry shared a video of the purported attack Tuesday on social media, saying Ukrainian elements executed “a new, unique special operation and struck…this time underwater!” Explosives were allegedly placed on the bridge’s support columns, “And today, at 4:44 a.m., without any civilian casualties, the first explosive device was detonated!” the Defense Ministry said. “The bridge is now in critical condition…thanks to 1,100 kg of explosives in TNT equivalent,” they added. 

Russia used the bridge “as a logistical artery to supply its troops,” a Ukrainian official said in a statement, according to the New York Times.

Moscow, meanwhile, stepped up rocket attacks on Ukraine’s Sumy city, killing at least three people and wounding more than two dozen others on Tuesday. 

Looking ahead: “Military analysts say that if Russia advanced 12 miles into Ukraine, its forces could target the city of Sumy with short-range weapons like small exploding drones,” the Times reports. “Such attacks in Kherson, in southern Ukraine, have killed at least 150 civilians; a United Nations commission said last week that those attacks amounted to crimes against humanity.”

Update: More details emerge from Ukraine’s surprise drone attack over the weekend. At least four Russian air bases were targeted, as far east as the Siberian region of Irkutsk, Reuters reported Tuesday. 

According to satellite imagery, affected targets appear to include two destroyed Tu-22 Backfires and four strategic heavy Tu-95 bombers at Irkutsk. A separate base in Russia’s northwestern Murmansk region appears to have hosted three attacked Tu-95s. The Kremlin said three other locations were targeted, including bases in the Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions; but air defense elements prevented damage at those sites, Russian officials claimed. 

For what it’s worth, Ukrainian officials said 41 Russian aircraft were struck in the drone attack, which reportedly took 18 months to plan. However, Reuters notes “The Ukrainian military added 12 aircraft to its running tally of Russia’s wartime military losses on Tuesday, without elaborating.”

A second opinion: “This was an ingenious, well-planned and precisely executed strike on the Russian bomber fleet, which is an absolutely legitimate target for Ukraine to strike,” retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery told The D Brief. 

“These same Russian strategic bombers have been hammering Ukrainian targets—civilian and military, without a concern for civilian casualties for nearly three years—so much so that they caused President Trump to rightly say ‘Vladimir STOP’,” he said. “Unfortunately President Trump has hesitated to put a maximum pressure campaign on the aggressor in this war—Russia—but instead has pressured only the victim—Ukraine. As a result President Putin has taken no steps to end his violent attacks. If President Trump wants the war to end he has the economic and military tools to pressure President Putin and make it happen,” Montgomery said.

Bigger picture: 

Trump 2.0

Possibly coming soon: Syria wants to assimilate foreign jihadist ex-rebels into its new army, and U.S. officials have given their authorization, Reuters reported Monday from the Middle East. 

Involved: “some 3,500 foreign fighters, mainly Uyghurs from China and neighbouring countries, [who] would join a newly-formed unit, the 84th Syrian army division, which would also include Syrians.”

Asked about U.S. consent, Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack replied, “I would say there is an understanding, with transparency.”

Why it matters: Syrian defense officials fear that if the 3,500 or so fighters are not incorporated in government forces, they might re-take up arms for al-Qaeda or ISIS in the months ahead. More, here. 

Nuclear negotiations: “U.S. nuclear deal offer allows Iran to enrich uranium,” Axios reported Monday. 

Despite Elon Musk’s announced departure from government, the White House’s new budget request includes $45 million in additional DOGE funding, Nextgov reported Monday. 

The administration’s budget request includes provisions for 150 DOGE employees, the majority of whom would be classified as reimbursable and funded by agencies.

Requested: $10 million for a “software modernization initiative,” and an additional $35 million would come from agencies reimbursing DOGE for services, a setup that the U.S. Digital Service used before President Donald Trump remade the organization into DOGE. 

Panning out: So far, DOGE hasn’t garnered the $1 trillion in savings Musk promised when he came into the administration. Even so, it has tried to shutter entire agencies, helped lay off thousands of federal employees and worked with agencies to cancel government contracts. Read on, here. 

Related reading: “Trump Administration Targets Tech Firms as It Cuts More Contracts,” the Wall Street Journal reported late last week. 

And ICYMI: Trump’s DNI Gabbard is reportedly considering transforming the president’s daily intelligence brief so it looks more like a Fox News broadcast, and that might involve granting the Fox News team security clearance to access classified information, NBC News reported late last week as well. 

That’s just one of several pitches National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard has solicited “from current and former intelligence officials about steps she could take to tailor the briefing, known as the President’s Daily Brief, or PDB, to Trump’s policy interests and habits,” five different NBC reporters write. 

Also worth noting: “According to his public schedule, since his inauguration Trump has taken the PDB 14 times, or on average less than once a week, which is less often than his recent predecessors—including himself during his first term.” Continue reading, here. 

Additional reading: 

Defense One