Operation Jade Helm 15, General Buhari Wins in Nigeria, and Sonar-proof Subs

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FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1. Putting yourself out there. Contributor and barrister Sean Bigley advises, “A security clearance makes you a highly marketable commodity in today’s job market. Unfortunately, it can also make you a target for foreign intelligence services, criminals, and others who wish to harm our nation’s security. Given this dynamic, many security clearance applicants wonder how they can advertise their unique skill set – and cleared status – in a way that maximizes their allure to potential employers, but also avoids security risks. . . .”

2. Positioning for success. Editor Lindy Kyzer explains, “Mentorship may be one of the best – and easiest – ways for women to advance. When women struggle to find their voice, the assistance of a more senior female can help. Having a trusted advisor to discuss ideas, issues and career progression with may help women find their confidence, and their voice, in the boardroom.”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1. Operation Jade Helm 15. Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe reports, “The mission is vast both geographically and strategically: Elite service members from all four branches of the U.S. military will launch an operation this summer in which they will operate covertly among the U.S. public and travel from state to state in military aircraft. Texas, Utah and a section of southern California are labeled as hostile territory, and New Mexico isn’t much friendlier. That’s the scheme for Jade Helm 15, a new Special Operations exercise that runs from July 15 to Sept. 15.”

2. Re-taking Tikrit. Reuters reports, “Iraqi troops and Shi’ite paramilitary fighters were battling Islamic State on Wednesday in northern Tikrit, which officials described as the Sunni Muslim militant group’s last stronghold in the city. With officials touting victory in a month-long battle, state television said Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi was visiting the city, which the Islamist militants captured last June as they seized most of Iraq’s Sunni territories. Security forces were fighting to clear the last Islamic State stronghold, the northern neighborhood of Qadissiyah, Interior Minister Mohammed al-Ghabban told reporters in the city.” See also, “

3. General Muhammadu Buhari wins in Nigeria. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “Nigerians have chosen General Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler, over incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, to be their president. Buhari will face daunting challenges, as the general political and economic situation in Nigeria is problematic. Nigeria is home to a corrupt government. The economy is in crisis: Nigeria has an unhealthy dependence on its oil exports, which represent more than 80 percent of its national income. . . . The situation in northern Nigeria is critical, and Nigeria’s neighbors have been more active than the Nigerian government in fighting Boko Haram.” See also, “Nigeria’s Buhari praises Jonathan for peaceful handover” and “In historic first, Nigeria’s former dictator Buhari beats incumbent president.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1. Boosting small business. Government Executive’s Charles S. Clark reports, “Citing a shortage of accurate data on small business contracting, a House panel last week approved an umbrella bill (H.R. 1481) aimed at forcing agencies to curb practices seen as freezing out smaller bidders and requested a new Government Accountability Office study on small business goals. . . . Combining six separate bills, the package would restrict “bundling” of services or goods previously provided under separate contracts to the detriment of small business and curb use of so-called reverse auctions, in which contractors bid electronically for contracts at progressively lower prices.”

2. Curtiss-Wright Corp. Defense Solutions partners with Boeing in space. Military & Aerospace Electronics Editor John Keller reports, “Spacecraft designers at the Boeing Co. needed data-handling avionics for the Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 spacecraft that Boeing is building for NASA. They found their solution from the Curtiss-Wright Corp. Defense Solutions division in Ashburn, Va. Officials of the Boeing Defense, Space & Security segment in Houston are asking Curtiss-Wright to provide data-handling equipment to gather data from critical vehicle sensors used by the on-board computers to make decisions during flight.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1. Pentagon defends against NSA. Nextgov’s Aliya Sternstein reports, “The Defense Department has rolled out supersecret smartphones for work and maybe play, made by anti-government-surveillance firm Silent Circle . . . . Apparently, troops don’t like busybodies either. As part of limited trials, U.S. military personnel are using the device, encrypted with secret code down to its hardware, to communicate ‘for both unclassified and classified’ work . . . .”

2. Sonar-proof subs. Popular Mechanics’ William Herkewitz reports, “Imagine a material that wicks sound across its surface like water droplets sliding over a windowpane. For submarines, such a coating would mean an entirely new way to slip past sonar without detection as sound waves pass harmlessly around the vessel. Physicist Baile Zhang and his colleagues at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore think they may have found a way to design such a coating, which could work for any 3D shape—sharp corners included. In a new research paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, he describes why this theoretical material could work and what you’d need to make it.”

3. Silk Road’s DEA insider. Wired.Com’s Andy Greenberg reports, “Nearly 18 months after the Silk Road online drug market was busted by law enforcement, the criminal charges rippling out from the case have now come full circle: back to two of the law enforcement agents involved in the investigation, one of whom is accused of being the Silk Road’s mole inside the Drug Enforcement Agency. DEA special agent Carl Force and Secret Service special agent Shaun Bridges were arrested Monday and charged with wire fraud and money laundering.”

4. DARPA’s System-of-Systems. DARPA reports, “For decades, the United States has successfully countered the threats of competitor nations by harnessing advanced technologies to create exceedingly robust and capable military platforms. But as advanced technologies have become more readily available to adversaries on commercial markets, the Nation’s focus on ever more complex weapons systems has become not just a strength but also a weakness. Effective as they are, U.S. military systems today are often too expensive to procure in the quantities needed, and may take so long to develop that the electronic components they contain are obsolete by the time they become operational.”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1. Cruz missile. “Ted Cruz thunders about what he calls a “fundamentally unserious” U.S. defense policy, but when he had a chance to weigh in during Senate Armed Services Committee hearings, he rarely showed up. Cruz, who announced last week he’s running for president, has the committee’s worst attendance record — by far. The Texas Republican attended just three of the panel’s 16 public hearings so far this year . . . The average committee member attended 13 of the 16 hearings, and Cruz is the only one of the panel’s 26 members with an attendance rate below 50 percent.”

2. C’mon back. “A House panel Tuesday formally requested Hillary Clinton to testify about the private server and email account she used while serving as secretary of state. Rep. Trey Gowdy, chairman of the Select Committee on Benghazi, sent a request to Clinton’s personal attorney, David E. Kendall, requesting that Clinton appear before the committee no later than May 1 for a transcribed interview about the server and email.” See also, “Hillary approval ratings slip after State email scandal.”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1. “The US Navy Doesn’t Need an Expensive Aircraft Carrier Drone.” Defense One contributor Captain Robert A. Newson argues, “The small and the many is the way of the future; the United States can lead the advance or fly an exquisite, expensive, and small air force into the teeth of a future enemy’s swarm.”

2. “We Must Invent the Future.” Also from Defense One, contributor General Larry Spencer argues, “In an era of declining defense budgets and increasingly smaller military forces, it is essential that the United States maintain technological superiority if we are to remain guardians of global security – in essence, we must wisely invent the future.”

3. “Don’t let ISIS operate outside the law.” Rudaw contributor Judit Neurink argues, “The fact that no juridical procedures have been started against ISIS, makes the world feel powerless against the atrocities. It also allows ISIS to pursue its brutal agenda without fear of facing justice.”