Friday Finale & This Time Last Year

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1. Boots off the ground. Editor Lindy Kyzer reports, “Congress and the Pentagon still can’t come to terms on Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). But whether Congress likes it or not, the Department of Defense is looking to reduce its ‘bootprint’ by cutting infrastructure. Federal News Radio recently outlined the DoD vs. BRAC battle, and the Pentagon’s options for unilaterally closing military facilities.” Read Federal News Radio’s report.

2. Go west, and north and south. Contributor Jennifer Cary offers, “A couple of places you may not have considered at all are New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio and Utah. While these states may not be the first that come to mind when you think of federal jobs, they each have numerous federal employment opportunities. Most positions are related back to the DoD and the VA, but there are also opportunities within the Departments of Agriculture, Homeland Security, Justice and Treasury.”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1. Foreign forces failures. Bloomberg’s David J. Lynch reports, “The U.S. is trying to stabilize Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria using a tactic that’s rarely worked: training and equipping foreign forces. The effort to defeat terrorists and insurgencies without using American troops is failing in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and other Sunni nations have now intervened. It still faces long odds and long wars in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere.”

2. Risking irrelevance. The Guardian’s Spencer Ackerman reports, “A ‘proliferation of precision’ weapons and the spread of styles of warfare displayed by Russia in Ukraine risks ending ‘the American way of war that we have grown accustomed to over the last three decades’ . . . . [DepSecDef] Work’s extended meditation on the future of ground warfare marks a departure for the Pentagon in the Barack Obama era, which has thus far forsworn large-scale land campaigns in the wake of Iraq and Afghanistan, to the point where some army officers have wondered if their reward for those grueling wars is irrelevance.”

3. Marine women: 0 for 29. The Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe reports, “The Marine Corps opened its grueling Infantry Officer Course to women in 2012, part of the Pentagon’s effort to assess how it should integrate female service members into more jobs. The assessment is now closing to volunteers on schedule with a stark statistic: Women who have tried the course so far are 0 for 29.”

4. Plan as you go: al-Shabaab. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “To many counterterrorism experts, al-Shabaab is implementing a ‘plan as we go’ strategy, which relies on decentralized teams of gunmen who, on their own, determine who and where to attack. ‘I call it the dumbing down of terrorism,’ said Matt Bryden, a political analyst and director at think tank Sahan Research. ‘They keep it simple. They’re lightly armed, highly disciplined and relatively well trained.’ ‘They’ve definitely lost some of their major revenue flows,’ he added. ‘But they’ve managed to survive a lean season.’”

5. Mi-35’s coming back to Afghanistan. Khaama Press’s Mirwais Adeel reports, “The Afghan government intends to buy Mi-35 attack helicopters from Russia in a bid to boost the capabilities of the Afghan Air Force. Shakir Kargar, special envoy to President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, said negotiations regarding the purchase of Mi-35 helicopters will begin in the near future.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1. Better Buying Power 3.0. Defense Media Activity’s Jim Garamone reports, “The United States must maintain technological superiority over potential adversaries and competitors, and the latest iteration of the Defense Department’s Better Buying Power initiative is designed to maintain that edge . . . . Research and development is what powers new technologies, new capabilities and new capacities, he noted. If research and development is not funded, he added, there are no new systems, and the department cannot make up time lost to funding cuts. Better Buying Power ties to the Long-Range Research and Development Planning Program . . . .” See also, “Better Buying Power: Closer Ties with Industry.”

2. Upgradable bombers. Defense One’s Marcus Weisgerber reports, “The Air Force’s new stealth bomber, a highly classified military project, is being designed to accommodate incremental improvements over the years, making it easier and cheaper to modify the plane to counter future threats, according to a senior Pentagon official. That also means the company that builds the plane might not get the upgrade contracts, as has historically been the case.” See also, “Companies Will Compete For New Bomber LRSB Upgrades” and “New Pentagon Plan Emphasizes Buying Adaptive Weapons.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1. DARPA’s century computer: Building Resources Adaptive Software Systems. ZDNet’s Leon Spencer reports, “The United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is launching a program aimed at helping do away with software updates, with plans to design a computer system that has the ability to outlive over 100 years of technological change. The four-year project, Building Resources Adaptive Software Systems (BRASS), for which DARPA is currently soliciting research proposals, will look at the computational and algorithmic requirements needed for software systems and accompanying data to remain functional for a century or longer.”

2. War game therapy. The Atlantic’s Noah Berlatsky reports, “Sure, some of the reenactors fit the weekend-warrior stereotype—they like the idea of pretending to go to battle—but others have a more direct relationship with the subject: At least one is a Vietnam veteran, while others fought in the Iraq War. For them, the reenactments aren’t so much entertainment as a way for them to come to terms with their involvement in a kind of violence that most of their fellow Americans know nothing about.”

3. ISIS hacking. The Christian Science Monitor contributor Lori Hinnant reports, “Hackers claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group seized control of a global French television network, simultaneously blacking out 11 channels and taking over the network’s website and social media accounts. The attack appeared to be an unprecedented step in the extremist group’s information warfare tactics. . . . The Islamic extremist group has claimed complex hackings before, but experts and a French official said the ability to black out a global television network represented a new level of sophistication for the group.”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1. Do it already! “Hillary Clinton is expected to announce her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 as early as this weekend, facing no substantial competition but needing to get her organization in place for the long battle to come. A variety of sources in the Clinton orbit said they were anticipating an imminent announcement . . . . Clinton is likely to make her intentions known through a social media announcement followed by campaign travel. This focus on digital communications is an attempt to connect with young voters, who Clinton needs to become American’s first woman president.”

2. Pot calling kettle. “Arizona Sen. John McCain had strong words for the secretary of state on Thursday with regard to the Iranian nuclear deal: “John Kerry is delusional.’ . . . ‘I think you’re going to find out that they had never agreed to the things that John Kerry claimed that they had,’ McCain said. ‘So in a way, I can’t blame the Ayatollah, because I don’t think they ever agreed to it, and I think John Kerry tried to come back and sell a bill of goods, hoping maybe that the Iranians wouldn’t say much about it.’”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1. “The CIA gets a makeover.” The Washington Post contributor David Ignatius reports, “Brennan proposes a stronger secretariat and executive director to monitor day-to-day activities. It sounds reasonable, but a secret bureaucracy tends to grow in the dark like mushrooms. Beware a seventh-floor management team that becomes so top-heavy the building underneath buckles.”

2. “Why the US Should Work With India to Stabilize Afghanistan.” Defense One contributor Alyssa Ayres argues, “The United States and India have had great success with joint training for third countries, such as with agriculture extension training for African countries. Shifting training for these support functions from the current Western contractors model to India, which is closer and has greater regional expertise, would offer more bang for the buck.”

3. “A Hopeful Framework for Agreement with Iran.” Rudaw contributor David Romano argues, “[A]ny agreement that seriously holds forth the prospect of preventing Iran from attaining nuclear weapons is good news. The details of the framework agreement revealed last week appear to fit the bill.”

THE FUNNIES

1. Read the break.

2. Inconsolable Hulk.

3. Politically incorrect.

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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.