FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. They’re BRAC! Editor Lindy Kyzer predicts, “Good luck convincing Congress”: “In an era of sequestration and dwindling defense dollars, [Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics] Kendall argues that the department simply can’t afford to keep its current infrastructure. . . . Despite the dubious savings, defense leaders have long supported a new round of BRAC. Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Gates, Leon Panetta and current Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel have all spoken out in favor of BRAC. Why? Because, in the short-term (and extreme long-term), BRAC does offer budget benefits. The 2005 BRAC resulted in just over $3 billion in annual savings as a result of reduced infrastructure costs. DoD leaders would rather take their chances with BRAC in order to earn additional budget flexibility as they look to cut almost $500 billion from the budget thanks to sequestration.”
2. Socialize your way to a job. Contributor Tranette Ledford explains, “Technology is the driver for connecting job seekers to recruiters. While Facebook and Twitter are still in the running, LinkedIn is the site of choice for both job candidates and hiring managers. If you want to take advantage of its power, consider your resume as a work in progress. Keep it updated. Keep it connected to your profile. And keep it alive. That means regularly adding events and workshops you attend, posting articles relevant to your industry and commenting on articles and posts by others.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Delays, delays, delays threaten U.S.-Afghan security deal. Reuters’ Lesley Wroughton from Washington, “Global support for Afghanistan will fade the longer President Hamid Karzai delays signing a security pact with the United States, a senior U.S. official warned, as special envoy James Dobbins arrived in Kabul on Wednesday for talks with the government. Frustration is mounting in Washington, and among NATO allies, over Karzai’s refusal to sign a bilateral security agreement (BSA), intended to shape the U.S. military presence in the country beyond 2014.” And, Denial – a river in Afghanistan. Reuters’ Jessica Donati and Hamid Shalizi report from Kabul, “President Hamid Karzai denied on Monday that he had suggested delaying the elections scheduled for April next year to avoid the heavy snow that could cut off access to some parts of the country, as asserted by the poll’s organizers. The Independent Election Commission (IEC) chairman had told Parliament that Karzai suggested pushing back the elections to address concerns about snow blocking voters. . . . The prospect of a delay was likely to worry the United States and critics of Karzai who fear he may be trying to drag out his second and final term.” Finally, “Rasmussen Urges Afghanistan to Sign Security Agreement.”
2. He said what? Biden in China. AP’s Josh Lederman reports, “U.S. Vice President Joe Biden opened a two-day visit to China Wednesday by urging young Chinese students to challenge their government, teachers and religious leaders. . . . ‘Children in America are rewarded – not punished – for challenging the status quo,’ Biden said. ‘The only way you make something totally new is to break the mold of what was old.’ The vice president seemed to be alluding to the authoritarian rule of China’s government as he described a liberal and permissive intellectual culture in the United States.”
3. In Iraq, attack after attack after attack. Aljazeera.Com reports, “Armed men have assaulted a mayor’s office in a Sunni town just north of Baghdad, one of several attacks across Iraq that killed 19 people, according to officials. Bombings also hit west Baghdad, as well as the predominantly Sunni cities of Abu Ghraib, Mosul on Tuesday. Nine people were killed and 17 wounded in the suicide and mortar attack on the government compound that housed the mayor’s office in the town of Tarmiya, police sources told Al Jazeera. One attacker wearing an explosive belt blew himself up on Tuesday at the structure, which also houses the town’s police station and other government offices. . . . Officials have blamed a resurgent al-Qaeda emboldened by the civil war raging in neighbouring Syria, but the government has itself faced criticism for not doing enough to address the concerns of Iraq’s disaffected Sunni Arab minority.”
4. Analyze this – Christine Fox nominated Deputy Defense Secretary. McClatchyDC.Com’s James Rosen reports, “Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel said Tuesday that President Barack Obama had accepted his recommendation and nominated as his top deputy a female mathematician with a strong background as a military budget analyst. Christine H. Fox will replace Ash Carter, who was to serve his last day as the No. 2 leader of the Pentagon on Wednesday. Until her Senate confirmation, she will be acting deputy secretary of defense.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. “Dive! Dive! Dive!” said the man looking through the thingy. DefenseNews.Com’s Wendell Minnick reports, “Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) signed a contract to procure two new Type 218SG attack submarines from ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. Signed on Nov. 29, the contract includes a logistics package, crew training in Germany, and air independent propulsion (AIP) systems, with projected delivery in 2020.”
2. AAR’s Ground Rule Double: $22.7 mil for airlift in Central AFRICOM and $134 million for airlift in Afghanistan: FloridaToday.Com’s Wayne T. Price reports, “The U.S. Air Force recently awarded AAR Airlift Group Inc., Palm Bay, a $22.7 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity, fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for dedicated fixed wing services in the Central Africa regions of Uganda, Central Africa Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan. The contract begins Dec. 28 and runs through Oct. 27, 2015.” AARCorp.Com reports, “AAR (NYSE: AIR) announces the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Joint Theatre Support Contracting Command has awarded its Airlift division a contract to provide fixed- and rotary-wing support for the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) under the NATO Training Mission — Afghanistan (NTM-A) and Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan (CSTC-A). The contract is an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) with a total ceiling value of approximately $134 million. AAR Airlift will support the NTM-A and CSTC-A with light fixed-wing, medium fixed-wing, and medium rotary-wing aircraft, personnel, and logistics support.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. I ain’t ascared of nuthin! TheGuardian.Com’s Nick Hopkins and Matthew Taylor report, “The Guardian has come under concerted pressure and intimidation designed to stop it from publishing stories of huge public interest that have revealed the ‘staggering’ scale of Britain’s and America’s secret surveillance programmes, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper has said. Giving evidence to a parliamentary committee about stories based on the National Security Agency leaks from the whistleblower Edward Snowden, Alan Rusbridger said the Guardian ‘would not be put off by intimidation, but nor are we going to behave recklessly’”.
2. Simulating readiness in an era of sequestration. AviationWeek.Com’s John Croft explains, “the Navy’s aviation simulation master plan for 2020, which calls for progressively boosting the fidelity of individual simulators among Navy aircraft as well as the connectivity between simulators located anywhere. Rather than eliminate live aircraft training, the simulator plan is designed to cautiously and progressively increase the amount of cost-saving virtual training while maintaining enough in-aircraft practice to ensure safety. . . . The 2020 simulation master plan, which went into effect last year, is designed to give the Navy the ‘biggest bang for the buck’ in terms of virtual training that can replace live training and readiness exercises.”
3. Russia’s contribution to smart phones. Reuters reports, “Russian modem developer Yota Devices has launched its first smartphone on Wednesday, hoping its novel double-sided screen will allow it to break into markets in Europe and the Middle East and gain share from rivals. . . . Analysts were skeptical, predicting it will struggle to emulate the success of Apple’s iPhone or Samsung’s Galaxy smartphone. . . . The YotaPhone, assembled in China from components made in Japan and Taiwan, features a backlit liquid crystal display (LCD) screen on one side and an electronic paper display designed to mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper, which is always switched on.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Steny Hoyer’s act of protest: “The No. 2 House Democrat said he won’t support another short-term bill to keep the government funded past mid-January if it sets spending levels at the Republicans’ preferred annual rate of $967 billion. . . . Federal agencies are being funded through a stopgap bill that expires Jan. 15 — part of a deal that ended a 16-day partial government shutdown in October after Congress failed to pass an annual spending bill for fiscal year 2014, which began Oct. 1. To keep the government funded past Jan. 15 — and avoid another government shutdown — Congress has two options: pass a funding bill for the rest of the fiscal year, or implement another stopgap measure for a few weeks, a move that would buy lawmakers time to work out a long-term deal.” [This should be interesting.]
2. Let’s not be so political: “The National Republican Congressional Committee appears to have removed a t-shirt from its website that advocates against saying ‘Happy Holidays’ instead of ‘Merry Christmas.’ In a tweet last week, the NRCC promoted the t-shirt, which reads ‘Happy Holidays is What Liberals Say’ in a Comic Sans font on the front and ‘Merry Christmas!’ on the back, for Black Friday. As of Monday, the shirt looks to have been removed from the NRCC website. The online store is still selling a t-shirt milder version that says ‘Not Afraid to Say ‘Merry Christmas.’”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Obama Wins Round One on Iran.” TheDailyBest.Com contributor Leslie H. Gelb argues, “American neoconservatives and conservatives are now contending that with his first round, Obama has mortgaged America’s future security, conceded Iran’s right to a nuclear capability in the second dance, and lost all U.S. leverage. In sum, while the president may not have lost the first round, he has inevitably set the stage for doom in the talks to come.”
2. The Iran deal – a gift horse, so don’t look in the mouth. DefenseOne.Com contributor Sara Sorcher argues, “A strong majority of National Journal‘s National Security Insiders thought the recent agreement between world powers and Iran—to limit its nuclear program in exchange for some sanctions relief—is a ‘good deal,’ despite scathing criticism by Iran hawks and Israel.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Poverty.
2. un-Poverty.
3. Drone strikes.
