FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Networking? Remember. Editor Lindy Kyzer advises, “If you’re attending a lot of events and think it’s impossible to remember details about everyone, consider memory tricks. Try writing a one-word hint on the back of business cards, or as a note in a cell phone contact. And remember just one fact.”
2. Networking on the inside. Contributor Jillian Hamilton explains, “Today, continual networking is more important than ever. An employee that is actively engaged in his or her career growth will also use career networking sites to stay sharp on their market value, as well as to read relevant industry news and updates. If you see an employee of your company go ahead and add them to your career network – and then encourage them to connect you with their friends and connections who would be good company referrals.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Bowe Bergdahl—Welcome Home. AP’s Robert Burns and Lolita C. Baldor reports, “Bowe Bergdahl, the Army sergeant who has been recovering in Germany after five years as a Taliban captive, returned to the United States early Friday to continue his medical treatment. . . . Bergdahl flew to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio from Ramstein Air Base. While at the Texas Army base, Bergdahl ‘will continue the next phase of his reintegration process’ . . . .” See also from Christian Science Monitor, “How Bowe Bergdahl’s military ‘healing’ process could land him in trouble.”
2. ISIS’ march south. Reuters reports from Baquba, “Sunni Islamist militants gained more ground in Iraq overnight, moving into two towns in the eastern province of Diyala, while U.S. President Barack Obama considered military strikes to halt their advance towards the capital Baghdad. After security forces abandoned their posts . . . the towns of Saadiyah and Jalawla had fallen to the insurgents, along with several villages around the Himreen mountains, which have long been a hideout for militants. Militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) [also, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS] overran the northern city of Mosul earlier this week and have since pressed south towards Baghdad in an onslaught against the Shi’ite-led government.” See also from Aljazeera.Com, “The fierce ambition of ISIL’s Baghdadi” Dan Lamothe’s “Here are the Americans left in Iraq,” and “US will send fresh help to beleaguered Iraq.”
3. Afghanistan crumbling. BBC.Com’s Ahmad Yama Elham reports, “An Afghan prison built with millions of dollars of American money and already crumbling has once again raised questions about the effectiveness of US aid in the country. . . . Gene Aloise, Sigar’s deputy inspector general told the BBC that poor oversight by the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) meant that the prison wasn’t built to proper specifications: ‘The way it was built with brick and mortar is not really a good way to house prisoners because they could probably scrape through the walls and break out’ . . . .”
4. al-Shabaab looks to the west. TheGuardian.Com reports, “Somalia’s al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab insurgents are planning further attacks in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, the Foreign Office has warned, after suicide bombers attacked a crowded restaurant last month. ‘There are credible reports that al-Shabaab plan, and have the capability, to attack targets in Djibouti, including western interests . . . there is a high threat from terrorism’ in the port city.”
5. Next SecVA? NextGov.Com’s Bob Brewin reports, “Dr. Ken Kizer, who served as undersecretary of health at the Veterans Affairs Department from 1994 to 1999, is seriously interested in the potential of the VA secretary job. ‘I care a great deal about the VA, and I do think I could help the organization mend,’ he says. Kizer, who has since 2011 served as Institute for Population Health Improvement at the University of California Davis Health System and as a professor at its medical and nursing schools, told Tom Munnecke, a health care IT consultant and an early developer of the VA electronic health record, that through work on advisory committees since leaving the VA he has extensive experience on current VA issues.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Debaring and suspending contractors. FederalTimes.Com’s Andy Medici reports, “Agencies are ramping up their suspension and debarment activities and creating internal controls and programs to help increase future efforts, according to a report by the Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee. . . . Here are 11 things agencies are doing to boost the number of suspensions and debarment actions taken against contractors.”
2. 23 Competitive Task Orders coming your way. Also from FederalTimes.Com, Rutrell Yasin reports, “The Department of Homeland Security is gearing up to issue new task orders for its Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program, ensuring that more agencies can obtain the necessary tools to improve the security and resilience of their networks. The contracts will supply solutions under competitive task orders for 23 agencies within the next 20 weeks, according to John Streufert, director of Federal Network Resilience, the division within DHS taking the lead in the CDM effort.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Rotary wing breakthrough—less vibration. AviationWeek.Com’s Graham Warwick reports, “Sikorsky plans to demonstrate that vibration can virtually be eliminated in a helicopter by using a combination of rotor and gearbox suppressors to create a ‘choke point’ that blocks unsteady loads from entering the airframe. The ‘zero-vibe’ demonstration late this year will follow flight tests of a hub-mounted vibration suppressor (HMVS), completed in March, that achieved a substantial reduction in main-rotor vibration. Anti-vibration actuators will be added to the main gearbox to create the choke point and achieve a global reduction in airframe vibration . . . .”
2. Warp speed on the event horizon. Washington Post’s Abby Phillip reports, “NASA engineer and physicist Harold White announced a few years ago that he was working on a potentially groundbreaking idea that could allow space travel faster than the speed of light. Yes, like in ‘Star Trek.’ And now, to boldly go where no designer has gone before, Mark Rademaker—who is collaborating with White—has created a CGI design concept for the ‘warp ship.’ They’re calling it the IXS Enterprise.” See also, “How NASA might build its very first warp drive.”
3. C.I.A. on surveilling cyberspace. NextGov.Com’s Aliya Sternstein reports, “In the first public conference given by the CIA, the agency’s head defended the practice of surveilling cyberspace for threats, but questioned the extent to which potent tracking capabilities should be applied. . . . Cyberspace presents difficulties for intelligence analysts because it has no power structure . . . .”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Short memories: “Sen. John McCain said Thursday that President Barack Obama’s entire national security team should resign over the resurgence of Islamic militants in Iraq. ‘Everybody in his national security team, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, ought to be replaced,’ the Arizona Republican told reporters ahead of a classified Senate Armed Services Committee briefing on the deteriorating situation in Iraq. ‘It’s a colossal failure of American security policy.’ . . . The offensive is sparking a wave of Republican criticism over Obama’s decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan at the end of 2011—and concerns that the U.S. gains in the Iraq war were about to completely evaporate.”
2. Don’t lead, whatever you do: “For most lawmakers, a position in the leadership—whip, majority leader or even speaker—brings to mind the old country song: ‘Take this job and shove it.’ . . . The top jobs take a tremendous toll on a lawmaker’s personal and family life. The posts can also make it difficult to maintain strong connections with the voters they need to re-elect them every two years, as House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s surprising defeat in Virginia showed. ‘There are risks to your family, which are the most important, but as Eric is learning today, there are risks to your political career as well,’ Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., said. Serving as speaker, majority leader and whip—the No. 1, 2 and 3 positions in the leadership, respectively—requires a huge personal and political investment by the member, Democrat or Republican. It’s why so few lawmakers out of the hundreds on the Hill aspire to hold the positions.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Being seen and heard at work.” Washington Post contributor Tom Fox shares some insights: “We live in an anonymous age. People today want to be seen and heard for who they are, so the first thing is to listen to your employees. Leaders are so pressed for time that they tend not to listen. Second, find a way to be authentic. If you are not authentic, people sense it right away. That doesn’t mean that you must bare your whole soul to everybody—people don’t want that much information. Instead, you want to reveal a real piece of yourself, one that will resonate with your employees. . . .” See also, “How to take charge of your career.”
2. “Iraq, ISIL and the region’s choices.” MUST READAljazeera.Com contributor Shashank Joshi argues, “It would be tempting to believe that, just as al-Qaeda in Iraq wore itself out during the Iraqi civil war, ISIL will run into diminishing returns; but today there are no US troops to protect those Sunni tribes who wish to confront ISIL, and no ‘surge’ should be expected. Even if ISIL is halted before it reaches the capital, it has left virtually every regional actor scrambling for a response.”
3. “Gen. Allen: Obama Should Strike Iraq Insurgents With ‘A Hard Blow.’” DefenseOne.Com’s Stephanie Gaskell shares General Allen’s argument: “’I strongly endorse President Obama’s unambiguous signals that the U.S. will act . . . . This isn’t refighting the last war, this is about preventing the collapse of a major Arab partner and vital oil producer. It’s about checking the momentum of one of the most horrendous groups to emerge from the Syrian civil war. Time is not on our side, nor is it on Iraq’s. This malignancy, ISIS, is on the march and the region is being threatened and we will have to deal with it sooner on our terms, or later on theirs. I vote for sooner and we must strike them with a hard blow.’”
THE FUNNIES
1. Curses of war.
2. Blame game.
3. Unemployed.
