FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Leveraging ClearanceJobs.Com. Editor Lindy Kyzer explains, “The Cleared Network is a great way to build your talent pipeline, but ClearanceJobs.com also includes top-of-the-line search features to help you uncover great talent from within our resume database.”
2. Now, get back in there! Contributor John Holst’s March Hare advice on application rejection: “But after two interviews, both of which seemed to go well, they sent me a rejection form letter. And it is a form letter, because I’ve seen the same words used by other companies when they too think my skill set is impressive, but not for them. Disappointed is the mild description of how I feel about the method used to give me this news. Employment application rejection by any other name is still rejection.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. EXACTO—DARPA’s magic bullet. Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe reports, “Scientists working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known as DARPA, are working on experimental .50-caliber ammunition that can adjust flight paths after being fired from a weapon. . . . EXACTO ammo uses an undisclosed guidance system to track and put the rifle round on target, allowing it to change path during flight to compensate for unexpected factors.”
2. Caliphate rejected. LongWarJournal.Org’s Thomas Joscelyn reports, “Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has purportedly released a statement rejecting the Islamic State’s caliphate. And the group rejects the Islamic State’s demand that all jihadists now swear bayat (or allegiance) to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed new caliph. . . . Coordination with other jihadist groups and Islamic scholars is considered to be a crucial step in establishing the caliphate. But the Islamic State unilaterally did so, thereby ignoring numerous ideologues and leaders many jihadists believe should have been consulted. This is what AQIM means when it says ‘the expansion of consultation’ is necessary before announcing a caliphate.”
3. Truce rejected. AP’s Karin Laub and Peter Enav report from Gaza City, “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns Hamas that Israel will intensify its week-long campaign against Gaza militants if Hamas rejects an Egyptian-proposed cease-fire. The truce was supposed to go into effect early on Tuesday morning but the Israeli military says 24 rockets have been fired at Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip since the expected start of the cease-fire.”
4. Kerry’s Afghanistan election deal. Christian Science Monitor’s Dan Murphy reports, “Abdullah and Mr. Ghani, at Kerry’s urging, agreed to a full recount (which is expected to delay the inauguration of Afghanistan’s next president to early September, Karzai’s office says) and both promised to abide by whatever it determines. But that’s not really the important bit. It appears that Kerry extracted from both men a promise to work towards creating a new arrangement that would end the supreme powers of the Afghan presidency.”
5. NATO’s turning point. DoD’s Nick Simeone reports, “As NATO prepares for a summit in September, a senior Defense Department official today characterized the alliance as being at a turning point, with questions emerging about the kinds of missions it should take on post-Afghanistan, appropriate levels of defense spending by its members, and whether NATO publics will question the alliance’s relevance going forward. ‘For NATO to continue to be seen as relevant to our publics, it needs to be seen as addressing the security issues that are relevant to our publics, so that’s why as an alliance we need to work harder,’ Derek Chollet, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, said during a ‘Transatlantic Talks’ discussion at the German Marshall Fund of the United States here.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. $11 billion from Qatar—Patriot Missiles. DefenseNews.Com reports, “Qatar will buy US Patriot missiles for the first time in a major arms deal worth $11 billion, officials said Monday, as Washington awaits a decision by the Gulf state on a lucrative fighter jet contract. The sale will provide Qatar with roughly 10 batteries for Patriot systems designed to knock out incoming missiles, as well as 24 Apache helicopters and 500 Javelin anti-tank missiles . . . . The weapons deal was the biggest for the United States in 2014 and came as Qatar weighs proposals in a fighter jet competition, with US aerospace firm Boeing vying against British BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation of France.”
2. 10 pound drone search—be quick! MilitaryAerospace.Com Editor John Keller reports, “The U.S. Army is surveying the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry for 10-pound drones with hover and stare capability that would be suitable for the Bulgarian armed forces. Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., issued a sources-sought notice last week (MARKET-SURVEY-J1-B-UAG) to locate potential sources to deliver and train vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAV systems for foreign military sales to Bulgaria.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Simulating war. DefenseOne.Com’s Patrick Tucker reports, “Today, simulation plays a role at virtually every level of training and command. . . . To achieve the ultimate predictive military simulation would require integrating all of the above together in an environment where every soldier and his or her capabilities can be measured and modeled against an ever-wider menu of scenarios and possibilities. . . . It’s something simulation makers like SAIC, Bohemia, and others are working toward.”
2. Spider-web-spinning silk worms. Wired.Com’s Jordon Golson reports, “Spider silk is widely considered a superfiber, a near magical material with potential medical and military applications. The problem is that cost-effective mass production has eluded scientists for years. Until now, it seems. A Michigan firm has brought us one step closer thanks to a genetically engineered silkworm, modified to produce spider silk. Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, based in Michigan, announced today that it has found a way to double the production rate of its commercial product, called Monster Silk. The ramp-up takes the company another step closer to market, and away from the R&D stage.”
3. NASA’s cyber vulnerabilities. FierceGovernmentIT.Com’s Dibya Sakar reports, “Due to an uptick in cyber attacks on the space agency’s networks and web sites in recent years, the U.S. space agency launched a program to improve its cybersecurity and cut down on potential ways for hackers to get into its systems. A recent report (pdf) by the NASA inspector general lauds the program’s efforts, but notes that there’s still room for more improvement. Since NASA promotes and shares scientific research, it maintains a very large web presence, linking to university research centers and other federal and international scientific organizations. However, connecting to other sources of technical information is also very attractive to cyber thieves and spies.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Hatchet Act: “The White House is asking Rep. Darrell Issa to withdraw a subpoena of a senior adviser to President Barack Obama and is offering instead to hold a private briefing on activities in the administration’s political affairs office. In a letter sent Monday, White House Counsel W. Neil Eggleston offered to brief Issa, a California Republican who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, on the role of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach on Tuesday. That’s one day before the office’s director, David Simas, is under subpoena to testify on potential violations of the Hatch Act. The Hatch Act prevents executive branch employees from engaging in political races and campaigns. The White House insists the office is in line with the law, while Issa is accusing Simas of leading an organization designed to boost Democrats.”
2. Next big crisis: “In a rush to cut a huge backlog of claims for disability benefits, the Department of Veterans Affairs is making payments to tens of thousands of veterans without adequate medical evidence that they deserve the benefits, the department’s inspector general’s office said Monday. Without improvements, the VA could make unsupported payments to veterans totaling about $371 million over the next five years for claims of 100-percent disability alone, said Linda Halliday, an assistant inspector general.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “What Would Reagan Do in Iraq?” The Atlantic’s Peter Beinart argues, “Based on Reagan’s record, particularly in his first term, it would be expensive, indiscriminate, rhetorically aggressive, hostile to congressional oversight, and cautious about deploying U.S. troops. It would, in other words, be a mess.”
2. “Pentagon’s big budget F-35 fighter ‘can’t turn, can’t climb, can’t run.’” Reuters contributor David Axe argues, “The U.S. military has grounded all its new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters following an incident on June 23, when one of the high-tech warplanes caught fire on the runway of a Florida air base. . . . But there’s real reason to worry. The June incident might reflect serious design flaws that could render the F-35 unsuitable for combat. . . . Minor fixes might get America’s future warplane flying again soon — for a while. But fundamental design flaws could vex the F-35 for decades to come, forcing the Pentagon to suspend flying far too often for the majority of its fighter fleet, potentially jeopardizing U.S. national security.”
3. “US foreign policy: Absurdity of double standards in Palestine.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Toby Cadman argues, “There is a need for a wholesale change in attitude, particularly from the US, and to a significant extent, by the other permanent members of the UN Security Council. The practice of walking on egg shells whenever the issue concerns Israel, must stop. If Israel acts in breach of international law, it should be criticised like any other state. Above all, the international community must not allow double standards where the colour of one’s passport determines the level of protection.”
THE FUNNIES
3. Selfie.
