Friday Finale & This Time Last Year

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1. News Flash: Flash Technology Group is hiring. Editor Lindy Kyzer reports that Denise Magruder, Technical Recruiting and Business Development Manager for Flash Technology Group is “looking for Software Developers with a TS/SCI Clearance and Full Scope Polygraph . . . . Finding qualified candidates with active full scope polygraphs. There is a very limited pool and the polygraph process takes too long to wait for candidates to process for openings that are immediate.” See also, “Cyber Pros: The Pentagon wants you – 3,000 of you.”

2. Citizenship and clearances. Contributor Sean Bigley advises, “Citizenship and immigration law can be confusing for even the most intelligent people. Many naturalized U.S. citizens are under the erroneous impression that their prior citizenship simply vanishes upon swearing allegiance to the United States. . . . In many cases, dual citizenship will be a bar to obtaining a security clearance. One of the key factors – the identity of the other country – is obviously outside the applicant’s control.”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1. Torching Tikrit. Reuters’ Saif Hameed and Dominic Evans report, “Islamic State militants have set fire to oil wells northeast of the city of Tikrit to obstruct an assault by Shi’ite militiamen and Iraqi soldiers trying to drive them from the Sunni Muslim city and surrounding towns . . . . The offensive is the biggest Iraqi forces have yet mounted against IS, which has declared an Islamic caliphate on captured territory in Iraq and Syria and spread fear across the region by slaughtering Arab and Western hostages and killing or kidnapping members of religious minorities like Yazidis and Christians.” See also, “Iranian general at the forefront of the Tikrit offensive,” “Iraqi forces push on to Tikrit as IS destroys ancient site” and “ISIS destroys beloved mosque in central Mosul.”

2. Arab advice: listen to Netanyahu. Christian Science Monitor’s Howard LaFranchi reports, “The Sunni Arabs may not like the idea of Tehran being left in possession of any nuclear program. But even more worrisome for them, some regional experts say, are the implications of an accord that gradually lifts the harsh economic sanctions that have placed some limits on Iranian ambitions. President Obama’s quest for a deal is viewed in many Arab capitals as not just a green light to Tehran, but also a symbol of his much-discussed ‘pivot’ to Asia. In their eyes, it would be part of a historic shift away from a United States-Arab front to confront Iranian expansionist ambitions that took hold after the Iranian revolution in 1979.”

3. Afghanistan’s first female pilot. Afghan Zariza reports, “Captain Nilofar Rahmani, the first female fixed-wing Afghan Air Force (AAF) pilot in the history of Afghanistan, has been chosen for the prestigious International Women of Courage Award for 2015. . . . Captain Rahmani, who has become an inspiration for millions of young women in Afghanistan, was only 18 years old when she heard about the recruitment of young women into the Afghan Air Force. She was interested in pilot training and soon enlisted in officer training and graduated as a Second Lieutenant.” See also, “Women participation in National Unity Government will increase: President Ghani.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1. USAF’s LRS-B cost-plus contract proposal. Defense News’ Aaron Mehta reports, “Whoever wins the right to produce the Air force’s next-generation bomber should expect to receive a cost-plus contract . . . . William LaPlante, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, told members of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces the service will ‘most likely’ use a cost-plus contracting vehicle, and not a fixed-price agreement, on the secretive long range strike-bomber (LRS-B) program.”

2. CIA and 3-D printing. Gizmodo’s Matt Novak reports, “The 3D printing industry is still very much in its infancy. But that could change if the CIA has its way. The intelligence agency’s venture capital firm just invested in Voxel8, the company behind the first multi-material, 3D electronics printer. What does the CIA want with 3D printing? We can only guess at this point, but we may hear stories one day of how some futuristic James Bond 3D-printed his own gadgets in the field. What’s the potential impact for consumers? The move might just jumpstart a field that has so far been struggling to find its footing.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1. Spy story: Elizabeth “Betty” McIntosh. Business Insider’s Marcus Baram reports, “In a quiet ceremony at CIA headquarters in Virginia on Sunday, March 1, the agency celebrated the 100th birthday of one of its most unique spies. ‘Her many achievements and storied life are an inspiration to all women,’ said CIA Director John Brennan to honor Elizabeth ‘Betty’ McIntosh, a reporter turned operative who engaged in some of the most cloak-and-dagger schemes over four decades as one of the few female spies at the agency.” See also (if you haven’t already), “Spy: CIA Kept Me From My Soulmate.” While we’re at it, “FBI Encouraged Me To Sleep With Muslim Women For Intel.”

2. DoD’s social media strategy. Nextgov’s Hallie Golden reports, “The Pentagon is getting its first-ever social media maven. . . . Stephanie Dreyer, who is joining DOD as its director for digital media and strategy, is the first official to be tasked specifically with strategizing around the use of social media. In particular, Dreyer’s work will focus on increasing communication between Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and the public . . . .”

3. Crowd-sourcing cybersecurity. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “Researchers working on a new cybersecurity project at the Army Research Lab (ARL) in Adelphi, Maryland have made available their project to anyone on the Internet in order to prompt professional collaboration and help. This atypical development tactic is intended to kick-start public collaboration on a software tool intended to aid soldiers in understanding where hackers might be targeting military systems.”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1. Leaning left: “A beleaguered House Speaker John Boehner is suddenly relying on Democrats rather than his fellow Republicans. For the second day in a row, Wednesday, his House leadership team turned to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s Democrats to help pass major legislation and overcome determined opposition from dozens of GOP conservatives.”

2. Self-filibustering: “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday postponed a vote that had been expected next week on legislation allowing Congress to weigh in on any Iran nuclear deal. ‘It is clear that Senate Democrats will filibuster their own bill — a bill they rushed to introduce before the White House cut a deal with Iran,’ Don Stewart, McConnell’s spokesperson, said in an email. ‘So, instead, the Senate will turn next to the anti-human-trafficking legislation while Democrats decide whether or not they believe they and Congress as a whole should be able to review and vote on any deal the President cuts with the leaders of Iran.’”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1. “Divide and Conquer.” US News contributor Stephen Szabo argues, “If Putin continues to escalate, then the U.S. and a number of other European NATO allies are likely to provide military assistance to Ukraine and will want to bolster defenses in NATO’s eastern member states, something the Germans will have to come to terms with. All this will require a closely coordinated division of labor with America taking the military lead and Germany, the lead on economic sanctions.”

2. “China’s long march to innovation.” Christian Science Monitor’s Editorial Board argues, “As the world’s largest and most populous economy, China needs to be a leader in innovation. By creating more fear and less freedom in society, its leaders are only holding back the country’s great potential. Its premier is right that the capacity for innovation is insufficient. But the incapacity does not lie among the people.”

3. “Why the FBI needs to protect its intelligence whistleblowers.” Defense One contributor Michael German argues, “I testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday and called for Congress to compel the Justice Department to protect FBI complaints to supervisors, and give them the same due process and court access other federal law enforcement and homeland security officials receive. Protecting the workforce that protects us will make all of us safer.”

THE FUNNIES

1. Turn off the lights.

2. Happy Nowruz.

3. The Great Oz.

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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.