Veterans as Victims, Flanders Fields, and DARPA’s Drone Hives

Veterans Day & “In Flanders Fields”

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1. Interview tips for transitioning Vets: keep it professional. Editor Lindy Kyzer offers, “You can negotiate with insurgents and counsel young soldiers, but if you’re a service member there may be no more intimidating conversation than one with a recruiter or interviewer. We asked recruiters, and these are their tips for things you should NEVER say.”

2. For Veterans: resume resources. Also from Editor Lindy Kyzer, “We have good news for veterans—not only do we have a robust (and completely free) online resume resource template center, for the month of November we’re also giving away one free resume review each week. For a chance to win, simply join one of our veteran-specific Cleared Network Groups. We have targeted groups for Navy vets, Air Force vets, Army vets, Marines and Wounded Warriors.”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1. Veteran assets. Christian Science Monitor’s Gregory M. Lamb reports, “America’s veterans: Are they physically and mentally broken and in need of charity? Or are they strong, resourceful, and eager to keep serving others? Chris Marvin says he thinks the first narrative, veterans as victims, gets too much play in the news media and in the minds of Americans, even in the thinking of US veterans themselves. As the founder and managing director of Got Your 6 he aims to refocus attention on the skills, abilities, and potential of US veterans.”

2. Military myths—suicide. Washington Post’s Yochi Dreazen reports, “Although the military suicide rate recently eclipsed the rate among civilians of similar age and background, the civilian rate has also soared. More Americans now take their own lives than die in car crashes. The increase has been particularly pronounced among baby boomers and other middle-aged Americans. Preventing suicides, for the military and for civilians, means expanding access to care and making sure that people feel comfortable seeking it. If we want to support our troops, those trained to fight in our name deserve to know that we, as a nation, will fight for them.”

3. Faces of war. Slate.Com contributor Heather Murphy offers, “How do life-changing experiences concretely impact the way we look? Does tragedy truly show up in our eyes and brow? These are questions that fascinate Claire Felicie, who photographed the faces of 20 Dutch Marines before, during, and after their tour of duty in Afghanistan. From first photo to last photo, only 12 months passed, but a great deal happened in these young men’s lives.”

4. Why the poppies? The Independent’s Chris McNab explains, “To trace the history of the Remembrance Poppy, we have to journey back to a time and place stripped of almost all beauty and compassion. Belgian Flanders represented the northernmost point of the Western Front during the First World War, once the trenchlines had been inscribed in the earth by the end of 1914. Between 1914 and 1918, Flanders became one of the most devastated regions of the entire battlefield.” See also, London’s poppies.

5. Leaving Afghanistan. Khaama.Com reports, “The Hungarian, Iceland and Italian troops are preparing to leave Afghanistan as the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission concludes by the end of next month. The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the Hungarian troops are withdrawing from Afghanistan on Tuesday. MoD spokesman, Gen. Zahir Azimi said troops from Iceland leaves the country on Wednesday, while the Irish and Italian will leave on Friday.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1. Cost-plus contracts: get it right. GovExec.Com’s Charles S. Clark reports, “Pentagon contracting officers failed to follow a key interim Federal Acquisition Regulation rule on managing cost-reimbursement contracts, risking overspending on 411 contracts worth $31.7 billion, an audit found. The Defense Department inspector general’s office visited dozens of sights to review 604 contracts valued at about $82.7 billion collectively, and determined that an interim rule designed to beef up contract oversight was inconsistently followed on 193 of the contracts.”

2. Navy sonobuoy buy—$200 million. MilitaryAerospace.Com Editor John Keller reports, “U.S. Navy anti-submarine warfare (ASW) experts are replenishing their supplies of air-launched sonobuoys with a variety of capabilities ranging from taking the temperature of ocean layers at different depths, to detonating submerged explosive charges. Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced a $195.2 million contract modification Friday to ERAPSCO Inc. in Columbia City, Ind., for as many as 141,500 AN/SSQ series sonobuoys, and 10,000 MK-84 signal underwater sound devices.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1. DARPA’s drone hives—aircraft carriers for UAVs. Washington Post’ Dan Lamothe reports, “The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is exploring whether it would be possible to turn an existing plane into a flying fortress capable of launching and recovering numerous drone aircraft. Doing so would extend the range of drones that gather intelligence and perform other missions while saving money and limiting the risks pilots take . . . .”

2. Fantasy world of Erewhon. AP’s Bradley Klapper reports, “This is where the State Department trains agents for its most dangerous diplomatic posts. The new recruits know the worst could come at any moment. They peer through the metallic sheen of the consulate windows as snipers stand guard on the roof. The agents scan a landscape complete with the convincing exteriors of a train station, governor’s office, bank, apartment building and hospital. Danger could lurk behind any of them.”

3. Feds hacked. Christian Science Monitor’s Harry Bruinius reports, “While the terrestrial fears of terrorism and Ebola have dominated headlines, American leaders are fretting about what may be even more serious virtual threats to the nation’s security. . . . Chinese hackers are suspected to have breached the computer networks of the US Postal Service, leaving the personal data of more than 800,00 employees and customers compromised . . . .” See also, “China suspected of breaching U.S. Postal Service computer networks.”

4. Cyborg cock-a-roaches. NextGov.Com’s Allen McDuffee reports, “Researchers at North Carolina State University say they’ve capitalized on the resilient nature of cockroaches by turning them into cyborgs that will assist in rescue and relief efforts by fitting in tiny spaces at disaster zones that current robots can’t, and picking up sound with tiny microphones. The cockroach cyborgs—called biobots—are equipped with tiny electronic backpacks that control the cockroach’s movements.”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1. Biden + Bibi = BFFs: “Vice President Joe Biden said that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are ‘still buddies,’ trying to move past the controversy over a senior administration official calling the leader of Israel a ‘chickenshit.’ ‘Now, Ron, you better damn well report to Bibi that we’re still buddies,’ Biden said in remarks to the Jewish Federations of North America, speaking directly to Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer. ‘I signed a picture for Bibi a long time ago,’ the vice president added. ‘I have a bad habit of—no one ever doubts I mean what I say. Sometimes I say all that I mean, though, and—and I signed a picture a long time for Bibi. He’s been a friend for over 30 years. I said, Bibi, ‘I don’t agree with a damn thing you say but I love you.’”

2. Lame ducks: “After a little distraction called the election, Congress is coming back to work this week. Lawmakers will are launching a lame-duck session that will include important issues including funding for US military action against the Islamic State in Iraq, and pressure from the White House over immigration policy and the confirmation of a nominee for Attorney General. Oh, and they need to approve a new funding measure so the federal government doesn’t go into ‘shutdown’ mode on Dec. 11.”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1. “What we owe our veterans, and ourselves.” Christian Science Monitor’s John Yemma argues, “Warrior or civilian, we can’t escape the pain and suffering of the world. We can all broaden our family, however, to embrace the wounded and traumatized, the lost and bereft. We can all choose the side of life, love, and healing.”

2. “The US has a new friend in the region: Iran.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Crispian Cuss argues, “The level of change required for Iran to supplant Saudi Arabia as the US’ pre-eminent regional ally is so great that it is by no means inevitable. Yet such are the strategic forces that draw them together that neither is it implausible.”

3. “It’s no love match, but divorce is not an option for U.S. and Turkey.” Reuters contributor Andrew Finkel argues, “The United States would prefer Turkey to be a more faithful ally. Turkey would prefer to be the tail that wags the American dog. Perhaps it will take the threat of Islamic State to force the two sides to make common cause.”