FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1.Recruiting—8 hot tips. Editor Lindy Kyzer offers, “The competition for cleared candidates continues to rise. The good news is there are many ways to increase your cleared recruiting success, from better job descriptions to referral programs – here are our top eight tips.”
2. Appealing—your clearance denial. Contributor Sean Bigley explains, “For the roughly five percent of security clearance applicants who find themselves facing a denial, the idea of an appeal is, well, appealing. I receive phone calls on a weekly basis from people inquiring about just that. Technically, however, the appeal is the last step in a three stage process. To better put the appeal stage in context, let’s take a look at the process as a whole . . . .”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Supporting moderate Assad opponents. Reuters reports, “Air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition set up to fight Islamic State targeted the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in northwest Syria overnight . . . . It marked a big blow to the non-Islamist opponents of President Bashar al-Assad who have generally struggled against better armed and equipped Islamist groups including Nusra Front and Islamic State. The United States is planning to expand military support to what it describes as the moderate opposition to Assad as part of its strategy against Islamic State in Syria.” U.S. CENTCOM reports, “Airstrikes Continue Against ISIL in Syria, Iraq.”
2. ISIS sleeper cells in Iraq. Aljazeera.Com reports, “Despite recent military advances by the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces against fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Iraqi capital remains under threat from hundreds of sleeper cells . . . . But while it remains difficult for ISIL fighters to advance to Baghdad, security officials said there are growing fears that the sleeper cells in and around the capital will continue to carry out bombings and fire rockets inside the city. ‘These cells are ISIL’s reserve army’ . . . .”
3. Joining forces—Turkey, Iraq, Kurds. Rudaw.Net’s Jonathan Burch reports, “With much of Iraq now under the control of Islamic State (ISIS) militants, Turkey and Baghdad’s newly-formed government have agreed to work together in the fight against the jihadists by opening a ‘new page’ in relations following years of soured ties. Speaking alongside his Turkish counterpart Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu during a visit to Turkey on Wednesday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said his government was also in talks with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region to settle a longstanding dispute over oil exports and that he hoped the differences could be put aside.”
4. Radical Russians rising in Ukraine. TheMoscowTimes.Com’s Alexey Eremenko reports, “Women in Ukraine’s separatist-held Luhansk region will be arrested if they are seen in cafes, an insurgent warlord has said. . . . The situation resembles a microcosm of the popular ‘nightmare scenario’ of Russia’s own development, said independent analyst Stanislav Belkovsky. Some Kremlin backers say President Vladimir Putin’s heavy-handed rule is the only thing keeping ultraconservatives from coming to power and ruining the country with purges and economic incompetence.”
5. Senate shuffle. DoDBuzz.Com’s Bryant Jordan reports, “The Republican takeover of the Senate means Sen. John McCain. R-Arizona, will likely take over the chairmanship of the Senate Armed Services Committee as the Republican ranking members of prominent Senate committees look to move up. On the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Sen. Richard Burr, North Carolina, could also be shortlisted to take over as chairman from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont. Although Sanders is an independent, he caucuses with the Democrats. . . .”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. F-16 upgrades—BAE out; Lockheed’s foot in the door. DefenseNews.Com’s Aaron Mehta reports, “At the request of South Korean officials, the Pentagon has officially canceled an F-16 upgrade contract with BAE Systems, paving the way for South Korea to recompete the program for competitor Lockheed Martin. The Pentagon announced Wednesday that the contract, which covered ‘Phase 1’ of the planned upgrade of 134 KF-16 jets, would be terminated ‘for convenience.’”
2. David Berteau nominated as DoD logistics chief. FederalTimes.Com’s Paul McLeary reports, “President Barack Obama intends to nominate David Berteau for the post of assistant secretary of defense for logistics and materiel readiness . . . . Berteau, who currently serves as the senior vice president and director of the national security program on industry and resources at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), has had a career that has moved among academia, the government, lobbying and think tank positions.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. No secret—Rob O’Neill killed Bin Laden. Telegraph.Co.UK’s Josie Ensor and Rosa Prince report, “The Navy Seal responsible for killing the world’s most wanted terrorist—Osama bin Laden—has been identified, breaking the crack team’s code of silence. It was the special forces unit’s most famous operation, carried out by a team whose names had until now remained top secret. However, the man who shot bin Laden dead has been now been named as Rob O’Neill, a 38-year-old decorated serviceman who recently left the unit after 16 years.”
2. The Jetson era have arrived—print your food. NPR.Org’s Aarti Shahani reports, “Army scientists have spent decades concocting meals that last without refrigeration and survive high-altitude airdrops. And now, the Army is eyeing a new form of cooking: 3-D printing! Yes, food that comes fresh out of a printer, for our troops.”
3. Printable arsenals. Wired.Com’s Andy Greenberg reports, “As 3-D printed guns have evolved over the past 18 months from a science-fictional experiment into a subculture, they’ve faced a fundamental limitation: Cheap plastic isn’t the best material to contain an explosive blast. Now an amateur gunsmith has instead found a way to transfer that stress to a component that’s actually made of metal—the ammunition. Michael Crumling, a 25-year-old machinist from York, Pennsylvania, has developed a round designed specifically to be fired from 3-D printed guns.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. I am the man: “No government shutdowns will occur on Mitch McConnell’s watch, the likely Republican Senate majority leader said in some of his first post-election comments on his plans for the 114th Congress. ‘There is no possibility of a government shutdown. Remember me? I’m the guy that gets us out of government shutdowns,’ McConnell said . . . . The Kentucky senator, who was instrumental in cutting deals with President Obama in standoffs over the Bush tax cuts, the debt ceiling, and the 2012 ‘fiscal cliff,’ expressed deep confidence in his ability to avoid his party provoking another shutdown over disagreements with Obama. ‘I’m the one who’s cut the deals that we’ve had’ . . . .”
2. Hi, I’m Barack: “President Obama reached out to a number of Republican and Democratic leaders Tuesday night as it became clear that Democrats would lose control of the Senate—and his final two years would be spent with a Republican Congress. Obama has been criticized for not reaching out frequently enough to lawmakers, and Tuesday’s telephone calls were likely viewed as a welcome step by Republicans and Democrats alike.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “The 3-step guide to de-radicalizing jihadists.” Reuters contributor Arie W. Kruglanski argues, “There is no better way to respond to this threat, however. Governments cannot ‘kill our way out of this mess,’ as former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney aptly quipped, nor should they. De-radicalization of militants is a global imperative that merits our utmost diligence and commitment. It is the quintessential challenge for our time.”
2. “Iran is set to reclaim its role as regional leader.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Shahram Akbarzadeh argues, “From Iran’s point of view, history is on its side: Once all is said and done, once US troops return home, Iran maintains the most battle-ready military force to offset regional challenges, buttressed with strong political ties with Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah. The Iranian leadership remains confident that this alliance will allow Tehran to shift the focus back on Israel, and allow Iran to reclaim its role as regional leader.”
3. “Russia’s Repression of Crimean Tatars Repeats U.S.S.R.’s Mistake.” TheMoscowTimes.Com contributor Vladimir Ryzhkov argues, “The Soviet Union collapsed in no small part because of its inability to peacefully integrate diverse peoples. It preferred using repression and the bribery of ethnic leaders to granting those people their rights, or even more, giving them broad participation in a democratic dialogue. The future of the Crimean Tatars might serve as a bellwether for the future of Russia in the same way.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Yummy!
3. One bounce!
