FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. SF-86 Miranda warning. Barrister Sean Bigley advises, “In what other context do you have to literally spill your life story—including every mistake you’ve made for the last decade—and then sign it under penalty of perjury? . . . Do yourself a favor and have an attorney review the SF-86 prior to certification and submission if you have any issues you’re concerned about. It may very well be unnecessary, but it could also save you a huge headache.”
2. Networking your way to a cleared job. Editor Lindy Kyzer offers, “Network! These days you need to know someone in HR to get your resume seen. Sites like ClearanceJobs may provide more visibility. Connecting with others is the best way to get your resume seen, and to become aware of new opportunities you may not have found yourself.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Houthi success in Yemen. Reuters reports, “A senior official of Yemen’s Houthi movement said on Thursday that a statement by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi aimed at defusing a political crisis was acceptable because it confirmed the terms of a power-sharing agreement signed in September. Witnesses said Houthi fighters remained in position outside the presidential palace and Hadi’s private residence, where the head of state actually lives. Hadi in his statement said the Houthis had agreed to remove their men from those places.” See also from Washington Post, “Yemen’s president reaches deal with Shiite insurgents to end rebellion,” from Quartz, “Yemen’s Houthis are a reminder of Iran’s sectarian agenda in the Arab world” and AP, “US not sending Gitmo detainees to Yemen.”
2. Japan’s hostage crisis. AP’s Mari Yamaguchi and Elaine Kurtenbach report, “Lacking strong clout and diplomatic reach in the Middle East, Japan scrambled Thursday for ways to secure the release of two hostages held by the Islamic State group, as two people with contacts there offered to try to negotiate. . . . The crisis is a test of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push to expand Japan’s role in international affairs and raise the profile of its military.”
3. Defense’s asymmetric 2016 budget. DoD News’ Amaani Lyle reports, “The 2016 budget will reflect how intelligence capabilities and other investments align with defense challenges such as asymmetrical warfare . . . . asymmetrical warfare is a major focus not only for the intelligence community, but the Defense Department writ large.”
4. Haqqani and other banned in Pakistan. Khaama Press reports, “The government of Pakistan has included the Haqqani terrorist network in the list of proscribed organizations following mounting pressures by Washington. The other organizations included in the proscribed list includes Jamaat-ud-Dawa, arkat-ul-Jihad Islami, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Ummah Tameer-i-Nau, Haji Khairullah Hajji Sattar Money Exchange, Rahat Limited, Roshan Money Exchange, Al-Akhtar Trust and Al-Rashid Trust. According to the local media reports, the assets of the banned groups would be frozen after their names were included in the proscribed list.”
5. The ISIS fight. Christian Science Monitor’s Dominique Soguel reports from Mala Qara, Iraq, “Backed by US air power, Kurds have been largely on the offensive against IS since last summer. Kurdish forces have clawed back territory and painstakingly restored their warrior image. But throughout January, IS forces have carried out stinging attacks along the frontline of northern Iraq, demonstrating their capacity to modify tactics and threaten Kurdish gains.” Rudaw reports from Erbil, “Peshmerga forces captured two towns near Mosul from the Islamic State (ISIS) on Wednesday, following a major offensive on Iraq’s second-largest city involving Iraqi troops on the ground and jets providing air support. . . . A major assault involving Peshmerga forces, Iraqi troops and jets and coalition forces is expected in the spring. Wednesday’s multipronged attack was thought to be the precursor of the big offensive to come.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. VA’s contracting audit. Washington Examiner’s Luke Rosiak reports, “Contracting officers in the Department of Veterans Affairs routinely altered dates on documents to ensure favorable ratings when actually they were behind schedule, according to a non-public audit . . . . ‘Contract specialists can (and apparently do) change the projected award date to accommodate delays and ensure a Green rating,’ according to an ‘acquisition assessment’ for VA’s eastern region by the Jefferson Consulting Group. . . . Auditors said the sheer size of the VA makes it difficult to manage. In 2012, the East office alone performed 140,000 contract actions totaling $4 billion.”
2. VITA 74 VNX small-form-factor embedded computing technology negotiations. Military Aerospace Editor John Keller reports, “Long-anticipated VITA 74 VNX small-form-factor embedded computing technology should see its first major design wins this year, driven by applications in land vehicles and manned aircraft . . . . The first major military contract design-ins for VNX are in negotiation today, and should be announced sometime this summer. ‘2015 will be the breakout year for VNX wins, with deliveries in 2016,’ says Bill Ripley, director of business development at CES Creative Electronic Systems SA in Geneva, Switzerland.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. The world according to Vickers. Breaking Defense’s Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. reports, “There’s no one thing that keeps the Pentagon’s chief of intelligence up at night. There’s half-a-dozen things — terrorism, cybersecurity, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and China — but Mike Vickers has a six-point plan to counter them. ‘The big challenge we face is really in the aggregation of challenges . . . . It’s not that any one challenge is so daunting, it’s that there’s six of them. [They] are diverse, they’re all significant, they’re likely to be enduring.’ . . .”
2. SOTU cybersecurity, vandalism, and integration. Defense One’s Patrick Tucker reports, “What prompted the inclusion of cyber security in the address? The president has been restrained in his discussions of what some consider to be the most significant cyber attack on a U.S. entity in recent memory, the Sony hack. . . . Obama called the hack an act of ‘cyber vandalism’ not tantamount to war. But in the days leading up to the State of the Union address, the Obama administration released a cyber security proposal, which will be sent to Congress, that speaks directly to the Sony incident. The key component of the proposal is, indeed, ‘integration.’” Read the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Proposal. See also, “Experts say to expect action after State of the Union cyber shout out.”
3. Passwords NOT to use (again, and again). Quartz reports, “As hackers know all too well, most people are lazy password-creators. And despite several high-profile data breaches, not much changed in 2014. The year’s most common—and least secure—passwords looked pretty familiar . . . . As in 2013, ‘123456’ and ‘password’ held the top two slots, and number-only passwords in general comprised half of the top ten passwords. Patterns like ‘qwerty,’ which is the consecutive six keys at the top of the keyboard, remained in the top five.” See 2013’s top passwords.
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Born on the Bayou. “A group of Republicans who want to see Bobby Jindal elected president are launching a super PAC to boost the Louisiana governor’s 2016 aspirations. Jindal has yet to announce for president. But organizers of ‘Believe Again’ plan to file papers Thursday and begin an aggressive push to raise money in anticipation of the second-term governor’s hoped-for announcement.” Background music while you read.
2. Takin’ it to the streets. “President Barack Obama knew Republicans were going to dismiss the three major domestic priorities he outlined in his State of the Union address—free community college, paid sick leave and apprenticeship job training. So he immediately launched what the White House expects will be a year-long effort to try to inspire states and cities to adopt them instead—including in solidly red states.” Background music while you read.
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “The promise, and pitfalls, of boundaries.” Christian Science Monitor’s Editor-at-Large John Yemma argues, “Whether it is out of interest, concern, or curiosity, humans have always watched humans. For just as long, we’ve pulled down the shades and asked to be left alone. So there’s a balance that’s needed. Properly done, the privacy movement can help curb the excesses of the era of big data.”
2. “Russia Is Left Out in the Cold by Its Neighbors.” The Moscow Times contributor Ivan Sukhov makes the case: “Some of Russia’s neighbors do not have especially high-functioning government institutions, but contrary to the ambitious predictions that Kremlin bosses made 20 years ago, they have not come crawling humbly back asking to be readmitted into the fold. The reason is that Moscow never learned that dictating the rudiments of foreign policy and the price of gas to its neighbors does not make them like Russia.”
3. “Where has this Obama been hiding? Six takes on the State of the Union.” Reuters’ contributor Allison Silver’s mixed bag of critiques: “President Barack Obama didn’t get the memo that presidents become irrelevant after the mid-term elections in their second term. In setting out his conspicuously left-of-center agenda, the president made clear that he has no intention of fading into irrelevancy. His State of the Union Address was far more confrontational and passionate than those given by recent two-term presidents this late in their tenure.”
