FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Fly high with NASA. Editor Lindy Kyzer reports, “NASA always finds itself on the top of lists of the federal government’s best agencies to work for. There’s good reason for that – you’re often working with the best, salaries are competitive, and the intangible rewards of making a difference – and potentially making history – are very real. . . . If you won’t settle for anything less than the best in your career, and you have the skills to prove it, consider putting them to use at JPL. Who knows, maybe you’ll be the one behind the science that makes our next big discovery on Mars.”
2. Make your profile work. Also from Editor Lindy Kyzer, “You can have the most amazing resume out there, but if you’re failing to consider the four tips below, your great skills aren’t likely to get their due. The cleared talent pool is shrinking, which means more demand for professionals with an active federal security clearance. But you won’t be able to take advantage of those opportunities if your profile is getting passed over because of a few easy-to-fix mistakes. The four tips below take minutes . . . .”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. New leadership. Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe reports, “Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter announced Wednesday that President Obama has selected a career infantry officer with extensive experience in Iraq and Afghanistan and a naval officer who has commanded a variety of surface ships and submarines to lead the Army and Navy in coming years. Gen. Mark A. Milley, 57, and Adm. John M. Richardson, 55, will serve as the chief of staff of the Army and the chief of naval operations, respectively . . . .” See also, “Milley, Richardson Tapped for Top DoD Posts” and “A ‘Soldier’s Soldier’ From Far Beyond The Beltway.”
2. The Asia-Pacific team. Reuters’ Tim Kelly reports, “The U.S. Marine Corps is bringing together foreign commanders from amphibious forces deployed mostly in the Asia-Pacific for a conference aimed at taking steps to integrate operations, with China excluded from the event . . . . The effort centers on a first-of-its-kind conference between the Marine Corps and military officials from 23 countries that opens in Hawaii on Monday. More than half the nations attending are from Asia, including some embroiled in territorial disputes with China such as Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam.”
3. Spring offensive. AP’s Lynne O’Donnell and Amir Shah report from Kabul, “The Taliban attack on a Kabul guesthouse left 14 people dead, including nine foreigners, in the most audacious assault by the insurgents in the Afghan capital since the start of their spring offensive . . . . The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.” See also, “NATO to maintain presence in Afghanistan after the end of Resolute Support mission.”
4. Camp David Gulf Summit. Christian Science Monitor’s Howard LaFranchi reports, “The Camp David summit that President Obama will hold with Gulf leaders this week is intended to reassure America’s nervous Arab partners that the emerging nuclear deal with Iran does not mean the United States is abandoning them. Mr. Obama appears to have his work cut out for him. . . . the summit risks laying bare what some regional analysts say are the glaring “disconnects” in the US-Gulf relationship – in particular between Obama’s vision of a post-deal Iran and the Gulf leaders’ fears about a reinvigorated Iran.” See also, “Obama convenes Camp David summit with Gulf state leaders.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Army GPS wrist devices. Military & Aerospace Electronics Editor John Keller reports, “.S. Army navigation and guidance officials are interested in buying 1,622 handheld and 20 wrist-worn GPS receivers, and they need to know by TOMORROW, 14 May 2015, which companies could provide these wearable satellite navigation devices. Officials of the Army Contracting Command issued a sources-sought notice (W56KGZ15T9999) on Tuesday for a handheld and wrist-worn GPS devices procurement. The Army Contracting Command’s Regional Contracting Center-Kuwait at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, is in charge of this procurement.”
2. Reaching out to women contractors. Government Executive’s Charles S. Clark reports, “With Small Business Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet inexplicably detained, her deputy-designate stepped up on Monday to tell an audience of women-owned small business contractors that they are “central to what the SBA and the Obama administration are trying to do” to promote a 21st century economy built on diversity and innovation.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Dusk of bulk collection? Washington Post’s Mike DeBonis and Ellen Nakashima report, “A bill that would end the National Security Agency’s mass collection of phone records won broad support in the U.S. House on Wednesday, but key Republican leaders in the Senate remain unconvinced of the need for reform as a crucial deadline approaches. The House approved the USA Freedom Act, which would keep vast troves of phone “metadata” out of government hands as well as make other revisions to the federal government’s surveillance practices, on a 338-to-88 afternoon vote. Similar legislation was adopted last year in the House before stalling in the Senate.” See also, “House Votes to End N.S.A.’s Bulk Phone Data Collection,” “House overwhelmingly votes for overhauling NSA phone metadata bulk collection program,” and “What the End of Bulk Metadata Collection Would Mean for Intelligence Collection.”
2. Multi-Trillion dollar cyber bill. Venture Beat’s Chris O’Brien reports, “The drive to digitize and connect just about everything on the planet promises all sorts of increased efficiencies and revolutionary new services. But these great leaps forward will come at a price. According to a new report from Juniper Research, the annual costs of data breaches will quadruple by 2019 to $2.1 trillion. Many of these attacks will be directed at the legacy networks and gadgets already in place, but it will be accelerated by the expanding use of mobile devices and so-called Internet of Things devices.”
3. Edge of the world (wide web). Wall Street Journal’s Robert McMillan reports, “The U.S. organization that distributes some of the Internet’s most important virtual property is running out of inventory. Some savvy companies have been stocking up, but the shortage could mean headaches—and significant costs—for U.S. businesses looking to expand on the Internet. The limited supply of new Internet Protocol addresses is nearly gone. Asia essentially ran out in 2011, and Europe a year later. North America’s allotment is due to dry up this summer.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. No regrets? None? “At least one Republican eyeing a 2016 presidential campaign still supports the Iraq War: John Bolton. The hawkish former United Nations ambassador, 66, told the Washington Examiner in an interview this week that he stands by the decision made by his old boss, President George W. Bush, to invade Iraq and topple dictator Saddam Hussein. Bolton, long a strong supporter of the Iraq war, said his opinion wasn’t altered by the post-war discovery that Hussein’s regime did not possess weapons of mass destruction. ‘I still think the decision to overthrow Saddam was correct. I think decisions made after that decision were wrong, although I think the worst decision made after that was the 2011 decision to withdraw U.S. and coalition forces’ . . . .”
2. Backfire. “President Obama’s sharp rebuke of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) over his ambitious trade agenda is backfiring in the House, where the personal attacks are alienating the same Democrats the president is courting for votes. . . . The tough tenor was designed to rally the backing of more Democrats, particularly in the House, where GOP leaders are struggling to find the 217 votes needed to pass the fast-track bill aimed at facilitating those pacts.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Mitch McConnell’s surreal quest to preserve the NSA’s illegal surveillance.” The Week contributor Julien Sanchez argues, “[L]awmakers who continue to believe — in defiance of all the evidence — that the program is a vital security tool should be motivated by their own logic to support the USA Freedom Act.” See also, “Loudest defenders have financial ties to NSA contractors.”
2. “The ‘Rubio Doctrine’ Is a Rerun.” Defense One’s Molly O’Toole argues, “For all his attempts to position himself as a fresh-faced foreign policy leader, Marco Rubio stands on the same national security stool the GOP recycles roughly every four years.”
3. “Must the United States Fight China?” The Diplomat contributor Walter C. Clemens Jr. argues, “Neither Washington nor Beijing should act on the self-fulfilling expectation that conflict between them is inevitable. Each can help their own and other countries to develop in harmony.”
4. “Iran and Saudi Arabia face lesson on limits of power.” Reuters contributor Joseph Trevithick argues, “So far, neither Saudi Arab nor Iran has been able to dictate Yemen’s future. For Riyadh and Tehran, the painfully complex conflict may become a teachable moment about the limits of power.”
