The various commands issue press releases all the time. This story is obviously based on at least one of them and from unnamed officials. Would you rather the reporter not have written the piece? Seems to me there is a plenty of "shooting the messenger" on this and other threads. BTW, the title of the thread doesn't match what's at the link.
I would rather have a story in which ALL the sources are verifiable. Otherwise it's really just another gossip column, isn't it?