FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Foreign contacts and clearances. Contributor Sean Bigley, Esquire, explains, “Whether you are a true citizen of the world – or just fancy yourself one – having foreign contacts and an active security clearance can be a real conundrum. Where is the line between xenophobia and a healthy level of suspicion over the true intentions of your foreign friends? Do you really have to cut non-Americans out of your life? To start, consider this . . . .”
2. Superlative cyber security salaries. Editor Lindy Kyzer offers, “Cybersecurity is absolutely where the money is. Individuals looking to earn near six figures with great job stability need to look no further than a career in cyber. What niche industries offer the highest pay? Here’s a round-up. . . .”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Lebanon clashes with ISIS. Christian Science Monitor correspondent Nicholas Blanford reports from Tripoli that “fighting that erupted Friday and has left more than 40 people dead marks an unprecedented direct confrontation between the Lebanese Army and Sunni radical militants who support the extremist Islamic State (IS). The fighting follows a series of near-daily small-scale shooting and bomb attacks in recent weeks against Lebanese troops in north Lebanon.”
2. Closing Camp Leatherneck. Reuters’ Kay Johnson reports, “British troops ended their combat operations in Afghanistan on Sunday as they and U.S. Marines handed over two huge adjacent bases to the Afghan military, 13 years after a U.S.-led invasion launched the long and costly war against the Taliban. Their coming departure leaves Afghanistan and its newly installed president, Ashraf Ghani, to deal almost unaided with an emboldened Taliban insurgency after the last foreign combat troops withdraw by year-end.” See also, “Marines, Brits Turn Over Helmand Bases to Afghan Forces” and “Why the end of Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan matters.”
3. Marine IOC women out. Christian Science Monitor’s Anna Mulrine reports, “Just weeks after three women passed a rigorous day-long test qualifying them to potentially lead US Marine infantrymen for the first time in history, news came that all three women have been asked to leave the course. They were physically disqualified from the training last week for falling behind in hikes while carrying loads of upwards of 100 pounds . . . . When three men and three women fell behind for a second time . . . they were out.” See also, “Female Combatants: Time Is Running Out on Combat Ban.”
4. Ebola soldier isolation. Reuters’ Phil Stewart and Matt Siegel report, “The U.S. military has started isolating soldiers returning from an Ebola response mission in West Africa and Australia became the first rich nation to impose a visa ban on the affected countries amid global anxiety about the spread of the virus. The latest measures, along with decisions by some U.S. states to impose mandatory quarantines on health workers returning home from treating Ebola victims in West Africa, have been condemned by health authorities and the United Nations as extreme.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. $34 billion to allies in 2014. DefenseNews.Com’s Paul McLeary reports, “The US government helped facilitate the sale of $34.2 billion worth of defense equipment to allies during fiscal 2014 . . . . Leading the list was the $11 billion purchase of 10 Patriot missile batteries by Qatar in July, a deal that included 24 Apache helicopters and 500 Javelin anti-tank missiles. American defense companies Raytheon and Lockheed Martin manufacture the Patriot missile hardware and Javelin anti-tank missiles, while Boeing produces the Apache.”
2. Dusk of rapid acquisition. DoDBuzz.Com’s Kris Osborn reports, “The director of the military’s Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell is leaving for a private sector job as more questions arise whether rapid acquisition will continue once troops are out of Afghanistan. Military leaders say they plan to continue the organization’s work to quickly deliver technologies and systems for commanders despite the winding down of two decade-long ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
3. Modernizing medical imaging. GovConWire.Com reports, “The Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking information on potential vendors who can modernize and support an enterprise-grade system for VA hospitals to capture and store medical images. VA said Monday it plans to refresh imaging applications that run on the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture. The agency is interested in acquiring commercial software and hardware as well as engineering, maintenance and logistics services for its VistA Imaging platform.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) competition. Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe reports, “The U.S. military team overseeing the development of a high-tech armor super-suit for elite U.S. Special Operations troops is set to launch a new competition, pitting private corporations against each other to improve situational awareness for commandos while they are wearing night-vision devices or other optics. The effort focuses on overcoming challenges with latency in optical devices . . . “
2. NSA surveillance questions hit the courts. AP’s Eric Tucker reports, “While Congress mulls how to curtail the NSA’s collection of Americans’ telephone records, impatient civil liberties groups are looking to legal challenges already underway in the courts to limit government surveillance powers. Three appeals courts are hearing lawsuits against the bulk phone records program, creating the potential for an eventual Supreme Court review.”
3. Recruiting cyber soldiers. FierceGovernmentIT.Com’s Dibya Sikar reports, “The Army has stepped up recruitment for its new Cyber Branch, the first branch to be formed since the Special Operations Branch nearly 30 years ago. ‘We’ve made a lot of operational progress,’ Lt. Gen. Edward Cardon, who leads Army Cyber Command . . . . The Army began looking from within, and those recruits are undergoing the highest testing standard, he said. However, the service will also start recruiting outside to fill its ranks.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Right in the kisser: “House Speaker John Boehner is trashing President Obama’s foreign policy on the campaign trail by talking up someone Republicans have spent years running from: George W. Bush. ‘Does anybody think that Vladimir Putin would have gone into Crimea had George W. Bush been president of the United States? No!’ Boehner asked, and answered, before a group of Republican volunteers here. ‘Even Putin is smart enough to know that Bush would have punched him in the nose in about 10 seconds!’ Boehner said to an applauding crowd.”
2. Jobs don’t create jobs: “Three days after Hillary Clinton said businesses don’t create jobs, she cleaned up the remark, part of a critique of trickle-down economics . . . . Friday at a campaign rally for Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley, the former secretary of state told the crowd, ‘Don’t let anybody tell you that it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs,’ going on to say trickle-down economics ‘has failed rather spectacularly.’ Republicans seized on the sentence, seemingly made for an anti-Hillary Clinton campaign ad. America Rising, the main anti-Clinton super-PAC, is featuring it on the header of its website.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Big rethink for counterterrorism.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Martin Reardon argues, “To be effective, counterterrorism strategies need an assortment of tools, to include military, intelligence and law enforcement options. But more importantly, those strategies need a dynamic, multi-faceted CVE program that addresses the root causes of extremism. That programme starts with countering the extremist narrative. Then and only then will we begin to tackle the problem.”
2. “What’s really going on in North Korea.” Los Angeles Times contributor Paul Fischer argues, “The picture we have of North Koreans—homogenous, blindly obedient, brainwashed people—is incomplete . . . . The change, when it comes, will present risk and opportunity for the West. China, South Korea, Russia and Japan will also have an interest. We willfully misunderstand and misrepresent this regime at our peril.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Let’s eat.
2. Let’s hug.
3. Jekyll & Hyde.
