Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has released a statement on the passing of retired General Schwarzkopf: “The men and women of the Department of Defense join me in mourning the loss of General Norman Schwarzkopf, whose 35 years of service in uniform left an indelible imprint on the United States military and on the country. The son of a decorated Army officer, General Schwarzkopf followed his father’s legacy of service by enrolling in West Point in the 1950s. His bravery during two tours in Vietnam earned him three silver stars, and set him on the path lead our troops into battle in Grenada, and then to take charge of the overall allied effort in the first Gulf War as Commander of United States Central Command. General Schwarzkopf’s skilled leadership of that campaign liberated the Kuwaiti people and produced a decisive victory for the allied coalition. In the aftermath of that war, General Schwarzkopf was justly recognized as a brilliant strategist and inspiring leader. Today, we recall that enduring legacy and remember him as one of the great military giants of the 20th century. My thoughts and prayers are with the Schwarzkopf family in this time of sadness and grief.”
ON THE CLIFF
With talks on averting the “fiscal cliff” apparently stalled, the Office of Personnel Management posted new guidance to federal workers for administrative furloughs on its Web site Thursday afternoon. “We wanted to take some prudent steps to keep federal employees informed in case an order for sequestration,” said Thomas Richards, OPM’s communications director. He added that the guidelines were not issued as “a reaction to any specific action” involving the talks between President Obama and Congressional leaders. Nonetheless, after months of the White House expressing confidence that the stand-off would be resolved before a crisis hit and furloughs would be unnecessary, the guidance reflects the reality that little time remains on the calendar to avert the automatic cuts that will be triggered by a failure to reach a deal by the year’s end.
The guidance notes that “agencies are responsible for identifying the employees affected by administrative furloughs based on budget conditions, funding sources, mission priorities (including the need to perform emergency work involving the safety of human life or protection of property), and other factors.” Employees will be given a minimum 60-day notice before any furlough of longer than 22 days takes place, according to the document. A 30-day notice will be given for shorter furloughs. The guidance also specifies that employees may not take other forms of paid time off, including annual or sick leave, in lieu of being furloughed.
ON THE FORCE
The Department of State has closed the embassy and pulled staff out of Central African Republic “amid [a] deteriorating security situation”.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will return to work next week after a nasty bout with stomach flu and a concussion sidelined her for three weeks. “The Secretary continues to recuperate at home. She had long planned to take this holiday week off, so she had no work schedule,” her spokesman, Deputy Assistant Secretary Philippe Reines said in a statement. “She looks forward to getting back to the office next week and resuming her schedule.” Hillary Clinton is preparing to leave the Obama administration after four years as secretary of state, earning generally high marks and fueling all kinds of speculation about what she wants to do next.
Some 6.3 million square feet of office space is either currently under construction or approved and awaiting construction, according to latest figures from Arlington County. The development of 5.3 million square feet of office, 836,543 square feet of retail and 7,572 residential units in Arlington has been approved by the county but is not yet under construction, according to the 2012 Arlington County Government annual report. That’s up from last year’s annual report, when 4.3 million square feet of office, 813,479 square feet of retail and 5,839 residential units were approved and awaiting construction.
As the Air Force adapts to the end of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and flat defense budgets, the commander of the Air Education and Training Command is looking to revolutionize the way the service approaches training.
Gen. Edward Rice, responsible for training nearly 300,000 students per year, wants to rethink the way airmen train and use airmen’s time effectively. Rice spoke from his headquarters at Joint Base San Antonio.
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
As former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel’s star continues to diminish in his bid to become the next Defense secretary, political pundits on both sides of the aisle are busily pushing their picks for the Pentagon’s top job. Former DOD policy chief Michèle Flournoy has emerged as the top pick among Democrats, while Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter is being heavily touted by Republicans and conservatives as the best pick to succeed outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
ON TECH
The newly announced ElcomSoft Forensic Disk Decryptor can decrypt BitLocker, PGP, and TrueCrypt. And it’s only $300. How does it work? Well: “Elcomsoft Forensic Disk Decryptor acquires the necessary decryption keys by analyzing memory dumps and/or hibernation files obtained from the target PC. You’ll thus need to get a memory dump from a running PC (locked or unlocked) with encrypted volumes mounted, via a standard forensic product or via a FireWire attack. Alternatively, decryption keys can also be derived from hibernation files if a target PC is turned off.”
ON SECRECY – OR LACK THEREOF
The 8 Craziest Job Openings in the Military-Industrial Complex.
CONTRACT WATCH
Under an “ESI Agreement to resell Microsoft software products”, En Pointe Government, Inc has been awarded a contract “for the procurement of commercial Microsoft software licenses and software assurance in support of USSOCOM.”
Contractors with outside investors can tap research funds set aside for small businesses, thanks to a new rule from the Small Business Administration, though an outcry from the small business community led to some restrictions. The Small Business Innovation Research program, or SBIR, was established to strengthen the role of small businesses in federally funded research and development. The Small Business Technology Transfer Act, knowns as STTR, requires federal agencies with R&D budgets of more than $1 billion per fiscal year to fund small businesses. According to the final rule published Thursday in the Federal Register, the SBA received 250 comments in response to the proposal. Some commenters objected to any program participation by small businesses with outside investors, but the SBA noted that the change stemmed from a provision included in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, making it a decision of Congress. Other commenters felt the rule did not include enough limitations on such arrangements, but the SBA pointed to separate regulations that do indeed limit the amount of dollars that agencies can award to such small businesses.
