FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. An approach to long-term unemployment. Contributor John Holst explains, “I don’t let my job define who I am. The job isn’t me. I know who I am and what I can do, how I learn, and how I communicate. I have my own work ethic, which has proven to be useful to not just me, but others around me.”
2. Building your profile. Also from John Holst, “Your profile title and job titles should tell people at a glance what you are and what kind of work you can do. More importantly, they should hook the reader, and make the reader want to know more about you. So translating your titles into interesting English is important. . . .”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Al Qaeda—vowing revenge. Aljazeera.Com reports, “The Syrian branch of al-Qaeda has promised retaliation over air strikes in Syria, as the US-led coalition widened its assault on ISIL targets and British jets flew their first combat missions over neighbouring Iraq. In its first reaction to the US-led military operation in Syria, the Nusra Front said the air strikes were a ‘war against Islam’, and threatened to attack the worldwide interests of participating Western and Arab countries. A US attack on a Nusra base in Aleppo on the first day of the air campaign killed dozens of the group’s fighters. Nusra—listed as a terrorist group by the US and the UN—is one of the most powerful groups fighting the Syrian regime. It has also declared ISIL its sworn enemy.”
2. Airstrike updates. AP’s Ryan Lucas reports from Beirut, “U.S.-led coalition warplanes bombed Islamic State group positions overnight across four provinces in northern and eastern Syria, hitting a grain silo as well as the country’s largest gas plant, activists said Monday. Washington and its Arab allies opened their air assault against the extremist group last week, going after its military facilities, training camps, heavy weapons and oil installations. The campaign expands upon the airstrikes the United States has been conducting against the militants in Iraq since early August.”
3. Drones—the emotional toll. AP’s Julie Watson explains, “While drone operators are not physically in harm’s way – they do their work at computer terminals in darkened rooms far from the actual battlefield – growing research is finding they too can suffer some of the emotional strains of war that ground forces face. ‘It can be as impactful for these guys as someone in a foxhole’ . . . .”
4. Afghanistan’s new leader—Ashraf Ghani. Reuters’ Kay Johnson reports from Kabul, “Afghanistan inaugurated its first new president in a decade on Monday, swearing in technocrat Ashraf Ghani to head a power-sharing government just as the withdrawal of most foreign troops presents a crucial test. The first democratic handover of power in Afghanistan’s history has been far from smooth: the deal for a unity government was cobbled together after months of deadlock over a vote in which both Ghani and opponent Abdullah Abdullah claimed victory.” See also from AP, “New Afghan leader sworn in.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Army awards $444 million for 11. GovConWire.Com reports, “The U.S. Army has awarded 11 companies, including seven small businesses, a joint $444 million, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for test and evaluation support through September 2019, the Defense Department said Friday. American Systems and TASC will compete for task orders under the contract alongside Beshenich Muir Associates, DIGIFLIGHT, Dynamics Research Corp., Geeks and Nerds, Joint Research and Development, Logistics Systems, Man-Machine Systems Assessment, Survice Engineering Company and VRC Corp.”
2. $20 million for TERN—Tactically Exploited Recon Drones. MilitaryAerospace.Com Editor John Keller reports, “Unmanned aircraft designers at Northrop Grumman Corp. are moving forward on a program to develop a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can launch and recover from relatively small ships for long-term maritime surveillance. Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., have announced a $19.3 million contract modification to the Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems segment in El Segundo, Calif. for the second phase of the Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) maritime UAV program.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. The Zumwalt DDG 1000. DefenseNews.Com’s Christopher P. Cavas reports, “The ship is plainly visible from Front Street, across the Route 1 bridge in downtown Bath. Nothing like this angular, almost hulking giant has ever been seen here, even after well over a century of shipbuilding at Bath Iron Works. The futuristic shape of the Zumwalt, DDG 1000, has become familiar after more than a decade of graphics presentations and artist drawings, and models of the destroyer have been a staple at naval expositions for years. But now the whole ship is coming together, all construction blocks assembled and set afloat. People walk her decks and she rises and falls with the tide as all that planning turns into a real thing. She’ll take to the sea for the first time in the spring.”
2. Drag reduction. AviationWeek.Com’s Graham Warwick and Guy Norris report, “The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is looking for . . . solutions to reducing the fuel burned by the service’s current and future transports and tankers. Specifically, the lab is looking for engineered surfaces, materials and coatings that can be applied to aircraft without substantive changes to the outer mold line that would require lengthy and expensive retrofit and recertification. AFRL wants a fast breakeven and warns that replacing aircraft skins will be too expensive.”
3. The dawn of “unrestricted warfare.” Wired.Com’s Jordan Golson reports, “The Allies eventually won the war on land, but the success of the U-boat campaign underscored how important, and devastating, submarine warfare could be. Once a submarine moves beyond a known location—its home port, for example, or a known choke point like a channel or a strait where sonar can be used effectively—it is all but impossible to find through anything other than luck. This remains true even today.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Bullet-proof Boehner: “Another Congress, another little plot to oust Speaker John Boehner. The revolts come and go, but frequent critics don’t think the latest one will amount to much. It’s no secret that the Ohio Republican does not see eye to eye with some of his conference’s most conservative members. He has poked fun at the Tea Party faction in interviews and speeches. But he has managed to address just enough of their concerns to tamp down any serious challenges to his leadership. . . . In fact, Boehner has grown more popular this year among many right-wing Republicans in the House, including Labrador, who had voted against him when he ran for a second term last year.”
2. Secret Dis-service: “A man in a car with a semiautomatic rifle landed seven shots on the White House in 2011, and Secret Service bosses dismissed the entire incident for four days. In the 2011 case, a man whom the Post described as ‘troubled’ and obsessed with the president, fired a semiautomatic rifle at the executive residence out the door of his Honda Accord as it was parked on a nearby street. . . . Secret Service agents guarding the White House recognized the sound of gunfire, feared it had been directed at the residence and began to jump into response mode. But . . . they were overruled by supervisors who said the gunfire nearby had been a mere coincidence.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “A Security Balancing Act.” USNews.Com contributor Rachel Hoff argues, “Ultimately, whether the Islamic State group is a cancer or a rash, a stable Iraq and a post-Assad Syria are in the interests of the United States and our Middle Eastern allies—including Israel.”
2. “Is there a new crack in the West’s sanctions regime against Russia?” Reuters contributor argues, “Obama needs to lay out in precise terms the conditions that could lead Washington to consider a change in its Russian sanctions policy. Otherwise, the EU may use Obama’s U.N. speech as an opportunity to reconsider its current sanctions—to the clear detriment of U.S. business and national security interests.”
3. “Ryan Crocker on Iraq’s Role in the Long War Against ISIL.” DefenseOne.Com contributor Bernard Gwertzman’s one-on-one with Crocker: “Crocker recommends that U.S. operations focus on Iraq, which is more familiar ground and where political and military reforms underway—following the collapse of the Iraqi army—have the potential to create a solid ally against ISIS.”
THE FUNNIES
