Friday Finale & This Time Last Year

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1. National Counterintelligence and Security Center. Editor Lindy Kyzer reports, “The establishment of a new intelligence agency, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, was announced this week. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper called it the ‘next step in the effective integration of counterintelligence and security missions under a single organization structure.’ The new agency merges the functions of counterintelligence, including foreign intelligence threat assessments, with government security programs, including the issuing of government security clearances.”

2. Resume recommendations. Also from Lindy Kyzer, “If you’re a veteran you can probably write an OER or NCOER without breaking a sweat. But writing a civilian resume may feel like heavy lifting. If you don’t know a skills summary from an objective statement, here are a few tips to consider. . . .”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1. Carter explained, sorta. AP’s Robert Burns reports, “The experiences that Ashton Carter would bring to the job of defense secretary are vastly different from Chuck Hagel’s in several important ways, starting with the fact that Carter is an academic and a policy wonk. How Carter would pursue President Barack Obama’s defense agenda—or use his influence to bend it in new directions—is less obvious. . . . ‘I like dusty archives, learning to decipher manuscripts in medieval script, and learning all the languages necessary to read the primary and secondary historical literature, especially Latin’ . . . .” See also, “Ash Carter an adviser at ‘stealth’ consulting firm.”

2. Hagel explains, sorta. Washington Post’s Craig Whitlock reports, “Hagel downplayed reports of discord, saying ‘there were no major differences in any major area. Sure, there are always issues of style, and how you get things done, and are things moving fast enough, but this country, as I’ve said, is well served to have a president like President Obama.’ Still, Hagel steadfastly declined to elaborate on why he and Obama felt that new leadership was necessary, or to reveal details of his conversations with the president.” Related, “More Must be Done to Eliminate Sexual Assault, Hagel Says.”

3. Tebu v. Tuareg: Libya’s desert slugfest. Aljazeera.Com reports, “In Libya’s southwest Saharan desert, near the vast el-Sharara oil field and the borders with Niger and Algeria, a fierce struggle for control of the small oasis town of Ubari and its surrounding area has dragged on since September. This desert conflict illustrates the shift of tribal allegiances in the country’s post-revolution fight over resources and power, now cast within the larger national context of Libya’s two competing governments and their agendas as the country slides deeper into civil war.”

4. Recession Russia. Washington Post’s Michael Birnbaum reports, “Nine months into the worst relations between the West and Russia since the Cold War, the plunging price of oil is causing deeper and swifter pain than the Western sanctions that have targeted key areas of Russia’s economy. Russian leaders said . . . for the first time that their economy will head into recession next year. In a nation where oil and gas exports largely determine the bottom line, lawmakers are slashing spending promises. And the ruble is hitting historic lows every day.” See also, “Can small business help Russia bear West’s sanctions? Putin hopes so.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1. Simplifying acquisition. GovExec.Com’s Charles S. Clark reports, “The administrator of federal procurement policy on Thursday delivered on a promise to help agencies cut complexity and avoid duplicative efforts in the governmentwide acquisition process. The memo and a blog post from Anne Rung sought to encourage shared purchasing by category, cross-fertilization of talent and stronger relationships with industry.” See also, “Administration releases guidance to transform procurement methods, strengthen workforce.”

2. Raytheon tapped for Army mission. MilitaryAerospace.Com Editor John Keller reports, “Artillery munitions experts at the Raytheon Co. Missile Systems segment in Tucson, Ariz., will build 213 M982 Excalibur satellite-guided heavy artillery shells for the U.S. Army under terms of a $15.1 million contract modification announced last week. Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., are asking Raytheon to develop the Excalibur smart munitions under the option 5 Excalibur increment lb production option. Excalibur first was fielded in Iraq in 2007 for urban or complex-terrain engagements in which collateral damage must be kept to a minimum.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1. Cyber Pearl Harbor. FierceGovernmentIT.Com’s Molly Bernhart Walker reports, “The threat of a ‘cyber Pearl Harbor’ . . . isn’t just an idea used for shock value; a cyber attack with catastrophic effects on the United States is very possible, according to an expert on cyber military operations. . . . And if there was a major cyber attack on U.S. critical infrastructure, ‘we would see that as the beginning of something, not the end of it. We would assume that they were about to launch some sort of wider military campaign’ . . . . an attack from Iran is much more likely than one from China.”

2. Hacking, spying, Bureau 121, and the General Bureau of Reconnaissance. Reuters’ Ju-Min Park and James Pearson report from Seoul, “Pyongyang has active cyber-warfare capabilities, military and software security experts have said. Much of it is targeted at the South, technically still in a state of war with North Korea. But Pyongyang has made no secret of its hatred of the United States, which was on the South’s side in the 1950-53 Korean War. Military hackers are among the most talented, and rewarded, people in North Korea, handpicked and trained from as young as 17 . . . .”

3. Rocket talk: Orion will try again. Christian Science Monitor’s Pete Spotts reports, “The morning began auspiciously enough, with no technical problems appearing prior to a planned last-minute hold to ensure all systems were ready for the countdown’s final steps. It looked as though the launch would occur on schedule. . . . Members of the launch team ‘were absolutely on their game today, listening to everything the rocket was telling us . . . . It ultimately told us it wasn’t ready to go.’” See also, “NASA tries again to launch new Orion spacecraft.”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1. Hillary tease: “’Here’s what I worry about,’ Clinton told a Boston audience. ‘The stress on anybody in a leadership position, multiplied many times over to be president. The incoming never ends.’ Clinton has said she is thinking about running for president for a second time and is likely to make a decision after Jan. 1. Friends say she is genuinely mulling whether she wants to take on both the arduous job of running, and the even harder job of governing.”

2. Just don’t pet ’em: “’I’m kind to foreigners. You haven’t seen it, but at 2 in the morning I’ve given little children food because I knew they were hungry,’ said Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert. ‘But as a government, the highest form of Christianity you can practice is to be impartial. That’s throughout proverbs.’ [Senator Ted] Cruz criticized Democrats for ‘trying to take advantage of the Hispanic community’ and accused them of using immigration reform as a political weapon.”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1. “Sure, Artificial Intelligence May End Our World, But That Is Not the Main Problem.” Wired.Com contributor Mark Coeckelbergh argues, “[A]n exclusive focus on AI and robotics in terms of ‘end of the world’ and other doom scenarios (or, in Bostrom’s case, utopia) is that they tend to distract from very real and far more urgent ethical and social issues raised by new technological developments in these areas.”

2. “Don’t turn your backs on Afghanistan.” Aljazeera.Com contributor David Miliband argues (perhaps somewhat idealistically), “As world leaders meet to discuss Afghanistan’s future, it is important to acknowledge that a long-term vision for Afghanistan must also include Pakistan—a key partner in generating momentum for recovery from decades of war in South Asia. But Afghanistan is more than war. Pakistan is more than a nuclear tinderbox. The fate of the people above all resides in the hands of those living day-to-day in the region. Those in power must ensure that aid is being allocated to the most vulnerable in ways we know we can make a difference.” See also from Khaama.Com, “Pakistan will never cooperate with the Afghan peace process: Daudzai.”

3. “Erbil-Baghdad deal: bringing Iraq back to life.” Rudaw.Net contributor Yerevan Saeed argues (and warns), “The threat of the Islamic State (ISIS) may have pushed Baghdad to show this conciliatory gesture towards the Kurds, but once the ISIS threat is gone, the KRG might face the threat of Shiite militias.”

4. “Russia’s march toward self-reliance.” Christian Science Monitor’s Editorial Board argues, “Russia has certainly violated international norms in Ukraine. But it is not a permanent pariah. A nation of 144 million people spread across 11 time zones can hardly pull up the economic drawbridge.” See also, “Putin’s religious, ethnic rhetoric gets a little scary in Russian state-of-the-union address.”

THE FUNNIES

1. Outside forward roll.

2. The Greatest Generation.

3. December 7, 1941.

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Ed Ledford enjoys the most challenging, complex, and high stakes communications requirements. His portfolio includes everything from policy and strategy to poetry. A native of Asheville, N.C., and retired Army Aviator, Ed’s currently writing speeches in D.C. and working other writing projects from his office in Rockville, MD. He loves baseball and enjoys hiking, camping, and exploring anything. Follow Ed on Twitter @ECLedford.