FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Security Clearance Basics. Contributor Diane Rodriguez explains, “Government issued security clearances can be confusing and mysterious for those who have never been through the process. There are many misconceptions and questions surrounding security clearances, and recent events in national news have many wondering about the process and how a person enters the close circle of cleared professionals. Any job seeker interested in working for certain agencies within Federal Government, whether as a contractor or a Federal employee, should understand the mechanics of obtaining, and keeping, a security clearance.”
2. Resume building—the job title story. Contributor John Holst advises, “The job title is important, because those are the lines that call out to a recruiter’s eyes. While a recruiter is your target, though, please remember, your profile on a public-facing social networking site is online for almost everyone on the Earth (who has internet access), to see. This fact means those not in the military . . . might not even bother to translate what those impressive-sounding titles mean and pass you right over.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Army’s new weapons. Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe reports, “It’s a time of transition for the U.S. military. . . . it’s pushing through a variety of new acquisition projects, even as budgets get cut and Congress scrutinizes the numbers. And while it’s mostly multi-billion dollar contract competitions like the search for a new Armored Multi-purpose Vehicle that gets attention in Washington, the service is pursuing a number of cheaper efforts to upgrade the weapons soldiers carry with them on the battlefield.”
2. Iran’s own quagmire. Christian Science Monitor’s Scott Peterson reports, “Iran, like the US, is struggling to determine the best course of action in Iraq. The Sunni militants’ declaration of an Islamic caliphate over swathes of Syria and Iraq—along with its ambitions to expand from Algeria to Pakistan—prompted Iran to send advisors and military hardware to Baghdad. But Tehran is leery of deeper entanglement, particularly if it entails a de-facto alliance with the US.” See also from AP, “Secretary of State John Kerry will hold in-depth discussions Monday with Iran’s top diplomat in a bid to advance faltering nuclear negotiations, with a deadline just days away for a comprehensive agreement.”
3. Drones over Israel. Reuters’ Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell report from Gaza, “Israel said it shot down a drone from Gaza a week into its offensive on Monday, the first reported deployment of an unmanned aircraft by Palestinian militants whose rocket attacks have been regularly intercepted. Hamas, the Islamist group which runs Gaza, said its armed wing had sent several drones to carry out ‘special missions’ deep inside Israel—a development which, if confirmed, would mark a step up in the sophistication of its arsenal.”
4. How Kerry saved Afghan elections. Christian Science Monitor reports, “It took Kerry a marathon 44 hours of ‘intensive’ and ‘emotional’ talks to broker a deal between the two candidates, whose rupture had threatened to divide Afghanistan along ethnic lines, said several US and Afghan officials who were involved in the process. With the bulk of US forces scheduled to withdraw from the war-torn nation this year, the row over the election and the possibility of violence has rekindled fears of a civil war and the prospect that the Taliban would take control again.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Exporting UAVs. DefenseNews.Com’s Aaron Mehta reports, “For years, the United States has maintained a technological edge in the world of unmanned systems. But with more nations taking the plunge on indigenous drone capabilities, industry and experts alike are looking to the US government to change a longstanding policy that restricts overseas sales. The policy in question is the application of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) on drone exports.”
2. New DynCorp CEO. GovConWire.Com reports, “S. Gordon Walsh, a 13-year veteran of L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL), will join DynCorp International on July 21 to succeed Steve Gaffney as CEO of the Falls Church, Virginia-based government contractor. Walsh holds more than two decades of leadership experience in the aerospace and defense sectors . . . . Walsh has worked for L-3 since 1998 and most recently served as president of its systems field support division and as executive vice president for its logistics services business.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. The hacker advantage. VentureBeat.Com’s Chris Triolo explains, “Hackers need to find one weak point to steal valuable information, while you must account for every possible vulnerability across your entire infrastructure. We must band together, think like a bad guy and take action to protect what matters.”
2. Inside Crypto-Anarchy. MUST READ. Wired.Com’s Andy Greenberg reports, “The 21st century has already seen its first experiment in crypto-anarchy: the billion-dollar, anonymous online drug marketplace known as Silk Road. In October 2013, the FBI seized the well-hidden server that hosted the site on the anonymity network Tor. The agency also arrested its alleged founder, 29-year-old Ross Ulbricht, calling his work a vast narcotics and money-laundering conspiracy. Cody Wilson would call it a mere proof of concept.”
3. DARPA underseas. MilitaryAerospace.Com Editor John Keller reports, “U.S. military researchers are trying to develop revolutionary propulsion and drag-reduction technologies to enable manned and unmanned undersea vehicles to move through the water faster and more energy-efficiently than ever before. Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., are working toward at-sea testing of undersea energy, hydrodynamic lift, and drag-reduction technologies as part of the Blue Wolf program.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. The Bear is loose! “President Obama’s recent campaign-style adventures outside of the White House bubble are a chance for the president to shed the confines of his office, relishing the beer, barbecue, and face-to-face conversations with everyday Americans he wistfully describes as too inaccessible as president. But the more frequently ‘the bear gets loose’, as the president and top staffers jokingly refer to the unscheduled forays away from the White House grounds, the more heartburn the president causes for the Secret Service agents charged with protecting his life. Obama himself acknowledges that his impromptu walks and trips to restaurants can prove stressful for his security detail.”
2. Fortress America: “Sen. John McCain said Sunday that he wouldn’t take sides in the foreign policy debate between Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, but he cautioned that Paul’s approach of withdrawing American military power threatens global stability. ‘Sen. Paul is part of a wing of the [Republican] party that’s been there ever since prior to World War I . . . and that is a withdrawal to fortress America . . . . The things we’re seeing in the world today, in greater turmoil than at any time in my lifetime, is a direct result of an absence of American leadership, and we are paying a very, very heavy price.’ McCain, an advocate of an interventionist foreign policy, said President Barack Obama’s foreign policy has shown the dangers of withdrawing from world affairs. ‘I believe that the president of the United States has shown, absent American leadership, what can happen in the world today . . . . America has an essential role in maintaining peace and stability throughout the world.’”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “The Army’s next enemy? Peace.” MUST READ. Washington Post contributor Wayne W. Barno, Lt. Gen., Ret., argues, “[t]he most important challenge facing the Army is not about finances, logistics or public opinion, but about culture—its own. A conflict looms between the Army’s wartime ethos of individual initiative and the bureaucratic malaise that peacetime brings.”
2. “Why Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is an impostor.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Osman Rifat Ibrahim argues, “Whether Baghdadi is acting for himself or is being manipulated by others is not really relevant in the sense that he is basically doing the job of his enemies for them. Nothing pleases Israel better than disarray in the Arab states and a Sunni-Shia war of attrition.”
3. “U.S. spying on Germany: Making enemies out of allies, and for what?” Reuters contributor David Wise argues, “Spying of the kind alleged in the case of the BND employee arrested last week would have been justified during the Cold War if, for example, it uncovered information about the Soviet nuclear arsenal—knowledge that in a war could conceivably save the lives of millions of Americans. But the Cold War is long over. This is 2014—time for Washington to rethink its relationship with Germany, its most important European ally.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Bedtime briefing.
3. Education today.
