FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Public trust and clearances. Contributor Jeffrey Bennett explains, “A SECRET clearance is designated as part of the public trust process. The holder of the SECRET clearance is in a position of moderate risk and they require a security clearance. In this case an SF 86 investigation and security clearance adjudication will cover the requirements of the moderate to low risk positions.”
2. A job strategy for women. Contributor Tranette Ledford explains, “For cleared women veterans, it’s not so much a jungle out there as a labyrinth. Even with an active clearance, transitioning into civilian careers can be a challenge for veterans. . . . women veterans need a well-crafted job search strategy for getting hired.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Girls with Guns I. Army.Mil’s Heather Graham-Ashley reports, “Maj. Chrissy Cook made history in the 1st Cavalry Division two weeks ago when she led her Bradley crew to ‘Top Gun’ status during gunnery, making her the first female Bradley commander to do so. Cook, an engineer officer and S-3 for 3rd Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, who led her crew to a top score of 835 with nine of 10 engagements, passed to seal ‘Top Gun’ status June 17, as well as a page in the history books as the Army continues to open doors to female service members for service in direct combat roles.”
2. Girls with Guns II. CNN.Com’s Chelsea J. Carter reports from Baghdad, “With one hand, Zahra Hassan clutches a purse that matches her red blouse and skirt trimmed in blue. In the other, she holds an AK-47. . . . The number of women volunteers swelled in June after ISIS seized Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, and then began a march on the Iraqi capital, vowing to hit the city of more than 7 million people and overthrow the Shiite-dominated government. ‘We are training these ladies to make them ready if (ISIS) makes it into their neighborhood . . . . They will be the ones who have to defend their home.’”
3. The Gaza Strip. Reuters’ Nidal al-Mughrabi and Allyn Fisher-Ilan report from Gaza, “At least 66 Palestinians have been killed in the violence, more than 50 of them civilians, Gaza medical officials said. Israel says its offensive is intended to halt rocket fire at its cities from the Gaza Strip. More than 320 rockets have been fired during the campaign, reaching into the country’s interior. The rockets have caused no serious casualties, due in part to interceptions by Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defense system.” Aljazeera.Com reports, “Hamas fired a barrage of dozens of rockets on Monday night, and by Tuesday, Israel set off on the current military offensive. Israel has threatened to escalate further: The cabinet has authorised the army to mobilise 40,000 reservists, and the defence minister has spoken of a lengthy campaign, even a possible ground offensive.”
4. ISIS—a clear and present danger. DefenseOne.Com’s Ben Watson reports, “Extremists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, pose a ‘clear and imminent threat’ to the United States, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday, singling out lawmakers who may have been underwhelmed by his classified testimony on Iraq and Afghanistan from Capitol Hill on Tuesday. . . . ‘This is a force that is sophisticated, it’s dynamic, it’s strong, it’s organized, it’s well-financed, it’s competent . . . . And it is a threat to our allies all over the Middle East. It’s a threat to Europe. It’s a threat to every stabilized country on Earth, and it’s a threat to us.’” DefenseNews.Com asks, “What if Iraqi Military Can’t Defeat ISIL?”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Long term up-tick in military vehicle market. MilitaryAerospace.Com Editor John Keller reports, “The global military land vehicles market should grow by nearly 29 percent through 2022, increasing from $23.55 billion in 2013 to $30.33 billion by 2022 . . . . While traditional markets for military vehicles such as the U.S. are choosing to upgrade and maintain existing fleets rather than replace aging vehicles, other regions are looking to purchase new units, which provides maintenance, upgrades, and vetronics opportunities, as well as export potential, that will provide a steady source of revenue . . . .”
2. DARPA’s Phased Array Antennas. GovConWire.Com reports, “Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency have partnered to develop an antenna system for communication, electronic warfare and navigation applications. DARPA picked the company under the agency’s Arrays at Commercial Timescales program to build electronically scanned array antennas that have a reconfigurable interface and can direct radar beams faster . . . . DARPA’s goal is to shorten antenna design cycles as well as reduce technology procurement costs by at least 80 percent . . . .”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. OPM hacked by China. AP reports, “Chinese hackers broke into the computer networks of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management earlier this year with the intention of accessing the files of tens of thousands of federal employees who had applied for top-secret security clearances . . . . Senior U.S. officials say the hackers gained access to some of the agency’s databases in March before the threat was detected and blocked, the Times reported in an article posted on its website Wednesday night. How far the hackers penetrated the agency’s systems was not yet clear . . . .”
2. NSA weakening cybersecurity. FierceGovernmentIT.Com’s Henry Kenyon reports, “The National Security Agency’s attempts to enhance U.S. security through the massive collection of personal computer and communications data has actually had the opposite effect, a panel of industry experts maintained. . . . NSA has systematically weakened IT security protocols by co-opting standards bodies and companies, inserted back doors into popular software and hardware products such as security and operating systems, and inserted spyware into social media and other popular web sites. All of these actions to get at the secure data of a few terrorist and foreign governments actually weakened cybersecurity and diminished trust in the encryption of personal and business data . . . .”
3. DARPA’s ACTUV (Autonomous Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel). C4ISRNet.Com’s Tony Ware reports, “Leidos has begun construction on the Autonomous Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV), a self-directed vessel equipped for at-sea intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The ACTUV is a trimaran, a vessel similar to a catamaran, but with three separate hulls. Approved under a Defense Advanced Research Project Agency program originally for the design, development and construction of an anti-submarine warfare vessel, the ACTUV platform is intended to track diesel-electric submarines through varying ocean conditions without the need for human participation.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Another bite of the Big Apple: “There he goes again. Vice President Joe Biden took a new swipe at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Wednesday, calling the aging facility not even up to Chinese standards. In pitching the president’s infrastructure spending plan, the vice president singled out the popular airport for ridicule. ‘If you were blindfolded and I dropped you in an airport in the middle of New York and I dropped you in an airport in the middle of Beijing, you sure as hell wouldn’t pick LaGuardia as being in the United States,’ Biden said at a meeting of the White House Business Council. ‘The greatest city in the world with the airport structure it has now? C’mon guys. How long can that last? How long can we continue to be in that position?’”
2. All the world’s a stage: “President Obama on Wednesday defended his decision not to visit the Texas border with Mexico during a two-day trip to the state, saying he’s ‘not interested in photo ops.’ ‘Nothing has taken place down there that I’m not intimately aware of. This is not theater,’ Obama said during a news conference in Dallas, after meeting with Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) to discuss his administration’s response to an influx of foreign children entering the state illegally. Obama, who has been under pressure from Republicans and Democrats to view the border situation firsthand, said he has been well briefed by his Cabinet aides and called on Congress to quickly approve his $3.7 billion emergency funding request to help manage the crisis.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Afghanistan will not be the next Iraq.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Borhan Osman argues, “A potential surge of extremists bent on taking large swathes of Afghanistan and plunging the country into chaos looks unlikely. Therefore Afghanistan is not comparable with Iraq. This would be the case even if there were no consensus government formed in Kabul in the aftermath of the presidential elections. A prolonged conflict as a result of such a scenario will still remain limited in its impact and lethality, and confined within a political framework. Even then, a Taliban takeover would be impossible.”
2. “Ground the F-35 Forever.” USNews.Com contributor Ryan Alexander argues, “When the Senate Appropriations Committee takes up the Pentagon spending bill, currently scheduled for Tuesday, July 15, I hope they don’t go along with the House on this. It’s time to hold the contractors and the services accountable for the unconscionable waste of development dollars on the F-35. It’s time to end this program once and for all.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Max capacity.
2. Generation gap.
3. Ramadan in Gaza.
