FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
Continuous evaluations of cleared professionals. Editor Lindy Kyzer reports, “In the wake of the leaks of Edward Snowden and the Navy Yard shooting, government officials called for the urgent need to establish a Continuous Evaluation (CE) program for cleared professionals. With periodic reinvestigations occurring only every 5-10 years (and often delayed due to budget constraints), CE was seen as a way to put technology to use to help establish a better barometer of trustworthiness. . . . the government may already be looking to what’s beyond CE.”
Recruiter relationships. Contributor Jillian Hamilton explains, “Wherever you are in your job search process, recruiters can be your best ally, but know that it takes some work from you to make employers want to go above and beyond to aid your job search. Here are five guidelines you need to keep in mind when you want to work with a recruiter, but don’t know where to start . . . .”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
Homeland insecurity. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “U.S. law enforcement agencies rank the threat of violence from anti-government extremists higher than the threat from radicalized Muslims, according to a report released last Thursday by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security (TCTHS). The report, Law Enforcement Assessment of the Violent Extremism Threat, was based on survey research by Charles Kurzman, professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and David Schanzer, director of TCTHS and associate professor of the practice at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.” Read the report.
Training Syrian rebels. AP’s Robert Burns reports, “Fewer than 100 Syrian rebels are currently being trained by the U.S. military to fight the Islamic State group, a tiny total for a sputtering program with a stated goal of producing 5,400 fighters a year. The training effort is moving so slowly that critics question whether it can produce enough capable fighters quickly enough to make a difference. Military officials said last week that they still hope for 3,000 by year’s end. Privately, they acknowledge the trend is moving in the wrong direction.”
Mansur al Harbi killed in Afghanistan. The Long War Journal’s Bill Roggio reports, “Mansur al Harbi, a Saudi jihadist who is listed by the United States, the United Nations, and Saudi Arabia as a senior al Qaeda leader, trainer, and facilitator is said to have been killed by the US in an airstrike in Afghanistan over the past several days. The report of his death has not been confirmed. Harbi, whose real name is Azzam Abdullah Zureik Al Maulid Al Subhi and is also known as Abu Muslim al Makki, is said to have been ‘killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan three days ago’ . . . . His death has also been reported in Saudi media outlets, which have accurately reported on the deaths of senior Saudi al Qaeda leaders in the past.”
Cold war rhetoric. Defense Media Activity reports, “Defense Secretary Ash Carter yesterday thanked U.S. troops stationed at Grafenwoehr, Germany, and told them their presence is important to the way of life that people in America and in Europe enjoy. . . . NATO is challenged by Russia’s actions and by what the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant means for the alliance’s southern and southeastern flanks and the nations that live there, the secretary told the troops. ‘And that has reminded this continent of the need for us to work hard to protect our own people,’ he said. ‘It’s not a birthright that you get to live life the way people here in Germany do, the way people do in the United States. We need what we have, which is the finest fighting force the world has ever known.’”
CONTRACT WATCH
$91.1 billion small-business federal contracts. Government Executive’s Charles S. Clark reports, “Agency buyers met and exceeded their statutory goal of awarding 23 percent of contract dollars to small businesses in fiscal 2014, the Small Business Administration announced on Friday, handing out a best-ever 24.99 percent of awards to eligible small firms and topping the previous record of 23 percent last year. Small businesses overall received $91.1 billion in federal contracts, an increase of $8 billion over the fiscal 2013, according to SBA’s annual score card. The evolving methodology of the score card has been criticized by some lawmakers . . . .”
L-3 Wescam wires-up Navy’s Poseidon. Military & Aerospace Electronics Editor John Keller reports, “U.S. Navy maritime surveillance experts needed high-altitude surveillance electro-optical sensors for the Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. They found their solution from L-3 Wescam in Burlington, Ontario. Officials of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Lakehurst, N.J., announced plans Thursday to purchase the company’s MX-20HD digital high-definition electro optical/infrared (EO/IR) systems, technical data, and repair services for integrating the sensors aboard the P-8A aircraft. The L-3 Wescam MX-20HD electro-optical sensor system is for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability aboard high-altitude long-range maritime patrol aircraft and persistent surveillance missions.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
Iran’s tech world. Politico’s Christopher Schroeder reports, “This tale focuses on Iran’s next generation, an entirely new generation that came of age well after the Islamic Revolution, and on human capital, the greatest asset a country can have. It’s about technology as the driver for breaking down barriers even despite internal controls and external sanctions. People under age 35 represent nearly two-thirds of Iran’s population at this point: Many were engaged in the Green Movement protests against the Iranian presidential election in 2009. Most are utterly wired and see the world outside of Iran every day—often in the form of global news, TV shows, movies, music, blogs, and startups—on their mobile phones. This is a tale we rarely hear about.”
OPM cyberdefense promising. Nextgov’s Aliya Sternstein reports, “A cyber strategy announced last week by the head of the agency that hackers robbed of sensitive dossiers on federal employees has potential to deter future attacks, say private investigators who probe computer espionage campaigns. During multiple Capitol Hill appearances, Katherine Archuleta, director of the Office of Personnel Management, referenced 15 actions OPM will take to safeguard and upgrade the agency’s information technology systems. . . .”
Risky Android apps. Venture Beat’s Dylan Tweney reports, “Fourteen apps, which combined represent an estimated 80 million downloads, have serious flaws in the way they handle social logins, according to an analysis by AppBugs. . . . These problems are due to flaws in the way the apps handle SSL certificates, which web servers use to verify their identities. The flaws make it possible for an attacker to use a forged SSL certificate, enabling their own server to receive the users’ login credentials.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
What does losing look like? “Paul Wolfowitz and Scooter Libby, two key players in the George W. Bush administration, are teaching a course this fall on decision-making in the 2003 Iraq War. The course, titled ‘The War in Iraq: A Study in Decision-Making’, will examine some ‘key strategic decisions’ during the war, according to a description by the Hertog Foundation in D.C., which will offer the week-long course. . . . In August, Wolfowitz told The Hill the U.S. had ‘won’ the Iraq War in 2009.”
Color me rad. “In an unprecedented move, the Obama administration lit the White House in rainbow Friday night to commemorate the Supreme Court’s landmark decision Friday morning paving the way for legal gay marriage across the country. The administration hinted at the colorful move shortly after the 5-4 decision came down. Even before President Obama took to the Rose Garden to make remarks, the White House social media apparatus was celebrating the decision.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
“Death to America?” Aljazeera contributor Mehdi Hasan argues, “As the deadline for a nuclear deal between Iran and the United States looms, plenty of Americans are understandably skeptical [sic]. Many of them have probably watched images of Iranian mobs burning US flags and chants of ‘Death to America’ at mass rallies in Tehran and wondered to themselves: ‘Why do they hate us?’ Well, the good is news is ‘they’ don’t.
“Keep Calm and Spy On: Why the OPM Hack Won’t Bring Down US Intelligence.” Defense One contributor Robert Knake argues, “With about 5.5 million clearance holders today, the system most certainly isn’t infallible. But a foreign intelligence agency is going to have a much harder time identifying cases where security investigators made a mistake than the U.S. government in what I am guessing is a massive review currently underway.”
“Deprived of ‘checkbook diplomacy’ in Yemen and Syria, Saudi Arabia flounders.” Reuters contributor David Hartwell argues, “Saudi Arabia’s overwhelming desire to prevent the public from seeing how it uses its ‘soft’ power assets — its oil and financial largesse — to persuade strategic allies and major powers to support its foreign policy goals. Successive Saudi monarchs have relied on this indirect strategy for decades, as it has delivered domestic political stability and maintained Riyadh’s status as a major regional power. However, the recent examples of Syria and Yemen, where Riyadh has been forced to take the foreign policy lead — delivering inconclusive, confusing and unpredictable results — show that when the Saudis are forced to implement their foreign policy objectives by diplomatic or military means, they struggle to manage the fallout.”
