FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Cyber education implication. Contributor Tranette Ledford explains, “New military cyber education programs will likely impact future cleared cyber careers for transitioning veterans. . . . The field is among the fastest growing career fields and relatively new[,] meaning education and certification count more than experience. Graduates with bachelor’s degrees as well as those with CISSP certification and associate degrees are employable immediately.”
2. Cybersecurity and other top jobs. Also from Tranette Ledford, “This year’s job market for cleared professionals is more stable over last year, pushing a handful of IT fields to the top of the list of high-paying skills. Cleared veterans interested in better than average salaries may want to update their resumes to ensure their skills and training match what hiring managers are looking for to fill openings in the second half of 2014.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Douglas McAuthur McCain. AP’s Eric Tucker and Amy Forliti report, “An American man believed to have been killed in Syria was there to fight alongside an extremist militant group, most likely the Islamic State . . . . Investigators were aware that Douglas McAuthur McCain was in the country to fight with the militant group, but they did not yet have his body and were still trying to verify information about his death . . . . U.S. officials, concerned about what they say is the growing threat posed by the extremist Islamic State group, say surveillance flights and spy planes have begun over Syria on the orders of President Barack Obama.”
2. Boom! Army’s Advanced Hypersonic Weapon. Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe reports, “The U.S. Army is in the process of developing something it calls the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon to strike targets anywhere on Earth within hours while reaching speeds of at least Mach 5 — that’s 3,600 mph or greater. But the latest test just ran into a major snag: For reasons yet to be determined, the weapon and the rockets propelling it exploded about four seconds after lifting off early Monday from a missile range in Alaska . . . . It marked the second test flight for the program.”
3. Taliban’s new Jamaat-ul-Ahrar. LongWarJournal.Org’s Bill Roggio reports, “A group of commanders from the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan has broken away from the organization and formed Jamaat-ul-Ahrar. The creation of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is a blow to the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, as a top commander from Mohmand and his followers are among those who have defected. . . . The group is headed by emir Maulana Qasim Khorasani, and Ihsan is its spokesman. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar’s shura, or executive council, includes: Omar Khalid al Khorasani, the powerful commander from Mohmand; Mansoor Nazim Shura and Maulana Haidar from Arakzai; Maulana Adbullah from Bajaur; Qari Ismail from Khyber; Qari Shakil Haqqani from Charsadda; Mufti Misbah from Peshawar; and Maulana Yasin from Swat.”
4. The Spiny Dogfish—Russia’s new help powerhouse. Medium.Com’s Thomas Newdick reports, “Russia’s latest naval attack helicopter just might be the most fearsome ever. Moscow means to deploy the navalized adaptation of the coaxial-rotor Kamov Ka-52 aboard the Russian navy’s controversial, French-built amphibious assault ships. . . . the Ka-52K variant introduces a range of naval-specific features including folding rotor blades, folding stub-wings, revised life-support systems for the crew, emergency flotation bags for ditching and anti-corrosion treatment for the fuselage. The helicopter will also receive new navigation equipment and an instrument deck-landing system.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Patient scheduling solicitation. NextGov.Com’s Jack Moore reports, “The Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking a ‘cutting-edge’ commercial, off-the-shelf scheduling system to replace the clunky legacy module that helped mire the agency in controversy over long wait times faced by veterans seeking care. By the end of September, VA plans to issue a solicitation for a new system to manage the scheduling of veterans’ medical appointments. Contractors will have 30 days to respond to the request-for-proposals, and VA expects to issue an award by the end of the calendar year.”
2. $11 billion on DoD’s table—the Defense Health Management System Modernization. FederalTimes.Com’s Steve Watkins reports, “The Pentagon is now taking bids on an estimated $11 billion program to modernize the management of its health records. The contract for the Defense Health Management System Modernization (DHMSM) program, to be awarded in the third quarter of fiscal 2015, will be a single-award, indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract competed under full and open competitive procedures. ‘DoD will acquire and deploy an integrated inpatient/outpatient best-of-suite solution, augmented by best-of-breed products, to replace its current DoD legacy clinical systems . . . with an off-the-shelf EHR system’ . . . . Industry responses are due Oct. 9.”
