Humph Day Highlights

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1.  Security clearances by the numbers. Editor Lindy Kyzer reports, “The number of federal employees with secret or public trust security clearances is more than four times greater than the number of cleared government contractors. The number of cleared federal employees has also inched up steadily over the past four years, while the number of cleared contractors with secret clearances has been relatively flat.”

2.  Eligibility in three easy steps. Contributor Charles Simmins explains, “Before you apply, prepare. No lies, no stretching the truth. Gather the information that you will need and then apply for the position. If you know you are not eligible for a security clearance today, consider waiting before applying or take steps to mitigate issues.”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1.  Coming out—al Qaeda in the open. CNN.Com’s Barbara Star reports, “A new video shows what looks like the largest and most dangerous gathering of al Qaeda in years. And the CIA and the Pentagon either didn’t know about it or couldn’t get a drone there in time to strike. . . . In the middle of the clip, the man known as al Qaeda’s crown prince, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, appears brazenly out in the open, greeting followers in Yemen. Al-Wuhayshi, the No. 2 leader of al Qaeda globally and the head of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has said he wants to attack the United States. But in the video, he looks unconcerned that he could be hit by an American drone.”

2.  Syrian Army’s Homs-coming. Aljazeera.Com reports, “Syrian army troops backed by pro-government militia members have entered rebel-held neighbourhoods of the central city of Homs after laying siege to the districts for nearly two years. . . . ‘The Syrian army and the National Defence Forces have achieved key successes in the Old City of Homs,’ Syrian state television said.”

3.  Russia, waiting in the wings. AP’s Yuras Karmanau reports from Slovyansk, “A column of armored personnel carriers flying Russian flags drove into a Ukrainian city controlled by pro-Russia demonstrators on Wednesday. Some of the troops aboard said they were Ukrainian soldiers who had switched allegiance. . . . One of the men who came in the vehicles, who identified himself only as Andrei, said the unit was part of Ukraine’s 25th Brigade of Airborne Forces and that they have switched to the side of the pro-Russian forces.”

4.  Sequestration impacts. American Forces Press Service reports, “Defense Department officials today released a report that documents the cuts to military forces, modernization and readiness that will be required if defense budgets are held at sequester-levels in the years beyond fiscal year 2015. . . . The report says sequester level budgets would result in continued force-level cuts across the military services. The Army would be reduced to 420,000 active duty soldiers, along with 315,000 in the National Guard and 185,000 in the Army Reserve. The Marine Corps would drop to 175,000 active duty personnel. The Air Force would have to eliminate its entire fleet of KC-10 tankers and shrink its inventory of unmanned aerial vehicles. The Navy would be forced to mothball six destroyers and retire an aircraft carrier and its associated air wing, reducing the carrier fleet to 10 . . . .”

5.  Afghanistan—letting the door hit us in the butt. DefenseOne.Com’s Daniel Markey reports, “Votes are still being counted in Afghanistan’s presidential election, but preliminary results suggest that no candidate won a majority. If these results hold up and no backroom deals are cooked up between Afghan politicians, a runoff poll will follow and the victor will not likely be declared until late summer. That timeline is making U.S. and NATO military planners very nervous.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1.  In the balance—DoD, Sikorsky, and Lockheed. DefenseNews.Com’s Marcus Weisgerber reports, “The Pentagon will ‘look at options’ so it does not break a multiyear helicopter contract with Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin that includes about 90 aircraft . . . . The Pentagon’s 2015 budget proposal projects no purchases of the MH-60R submarine-hunting helicopter in 2016. The Navy had originally planned to purchase 29 Seahawk helicopters that year. Those helicopters were part of an Army-Navy five-year multiyear deal that included more than 650 Black Hawk-model helicopters.”

2.  $6 billion—DHS’s cyber contracts. FederalTimes.Com’s Nicole Blake Johnson reports, “Competition under the Homeland Security Department’s $6 billion cyber contract will be especially fierce over the coming months, with fewer than expected awards for continuous monitoring products and services. Rather than selecting multiple winners for its upcoming string of task orders, DHS is expected to make single awards. The next six task orders will cover products and services needs for multiple agencies, which will mean big business for the winning vendors.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1. Run-up to Cyberspace. DefenseMediaNetwork.Com’s J.R. Wilson explains, “As the potential vulnerabilities of cyberspace grew with the nearly universal adoption of public and private networking, terrorist groups such as al Qaeda, international criminal organizations, and nation-states began recruiting and training skilled individuals – including many previously freelance hackers. These new ‘cyber warriors’ were used to improve defenses for their employers, to track and identify those seeking to break into vital networks, and, ultimately, to create offensive capabilities.”

2.  Wi-Fi by Drone—everywhere you need it. NextGov.Com’s Frank Konkel reports, “A small collection of aging surveillance drones are about to have something in common with a typical Starbucks: the ability to provide high-speed Wi-Fi access. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is a step closer to perfecting the repurposing of aging surveillance drones into high-bandwidth mobile hotspots designed to ensure warfighters have aerial Wi-Fi access in the most remote places on Earth.”

3.  Let’s face it—they’ve got you. VentureBeat.Com’s Harrison Weber reports, “Even if you haven’t committed a crime, you may soon end up in the FBI’s growing biometric database . . . . News of this biometric database—a massive collection of finger prints, iris scans, palm prints, and face recognition data—first came to light in 2011. The program, named Next Generation Identification (NGI), allegedly contains ‘over 100 million individual records’ and will have ‘52 million face images by 2015’ . . . .”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1.  Egging us on: “PETA is urging first lady Michelle Obama to substitute fake eggs for the 19,000 real ones to be used in Monday’s Easter Egg Roll, claiming that egg production is cruel and eating them unhealthy . . . . In an open letter, Ingrid E. Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of animals adds: ‘For chickens on egg factory farms, Easter is not a time of renewal or joy. It can take up to 34 hours in typically hellish conditions for a hen to produce just one of the thousands of eggs slated to be used at the Easter Egg Roll. . . . Eggs are laden with saturated animal fat and cholesterol, which are primary contributors to some of our nation’s top killers, including heart disease and strokes. One single large egg contains more cholesterol than two Big Mac sandwiches do. It’s the wrong message to send to children.’”  [So, I’ll have two eggs with my Big Mac.]

2.  Soft on crime: “President Obama has shortened the sentence of an inmate who was given a longer prison term than he was supposed to have because of a clerical error. Ceasar Huerta Cantu pleaded guilty to drug and money laundering charges in a Virginia federal court in 2006. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. According to court records,  Cantu pleaded guilty in 2006 to one count of money laundering and one count of conspiring to possess 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana and 5 kilograms or more of cocaine with intent to distribute. . . .  Obama shortened Cantu’s prison sentence Tuesday from 15 years to 11 and a half years. The White House said the move corrects a clerical error and sets the record straight.”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1.  “America: The anecdotal nation.” Reuters contributor Neal Gabler argues, “In America today, anecdotes have become the new facts. . . . These days we just don’t know. To paraphrase the celebrated line from John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: ‘When the anecdote becomes fact, print the anecdote.’”

2.  “East Ukraine: Lessons from other breakaway ‘republics.’Aljazeera.Com’s contributor Remi Piet argues, “The best interest of populations in Crimea and the Eastern Republic of Ukraine will not result from the actions of its neighbors over the next few weeks and months, but rather from a long term dedication to local and institutional development. So far historical comparisons show us that Russian promises have been short lived.”

3.  “Why Ukraine forces must act differently.” Christian Science Monitor’s Editorial Board argues, “Ukraine’s current struggles are a reflection of a global one. One of Kiev’s best defenses against Russian meddling is to make sure its forces act according to democratic values. That only happens soldier by soldier. To a large degree, the heart of Ukraine’s democratic revolution lies in the heart of the soldiers with guns.”

THE FUNNIES

1.  Winning the race.

2.  Bear attack.

3.  Password security.

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Ed Ledford enjoys the most challenging, complex, and high stakes communications requirements. His portfolio includes everything from policy and strategy to poetry. A native of Asheville, N.C., and retired Army Aviator, Ed’s currently writing speeches in D.C. and working other writing projects from his office in Rockville, MD. He loves baseball and enjoys hiking, camping, and exploring anything. Follow Ed on Twitter @ECLedford.