FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. U.S. Court of Appeals deciding MSPB authority in security matters.
2. How the Military Can School You in Recruiting – Recruiting Round-up and Defense Industry Hiring News
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. There are massive contracts just over the horizon. Out-sourcing defense as we roll up the sidewalks in Afghanistan: “The Pentagon has proposed increasing the amount of money to support the Afghan security forces by $2.6 billion to $7.7 billion next year. The money would help fill the gaps by going toward the purchase of long-range artillery, drones and other equipment that the coalition currently provides . . . .” (Of course, somebody’s gotta shoot the artillery, fly the drones, and maintain that other equipment, which will inevitably include helicopters). Cha-ching.
2. A primer and pre-game on the 2014 national defense authorization bill by DefenseNews.com’s John Bennett: “In addition to at least keeping alive the hopes of the GOP and the US defense business sector for an East Coast interceptor and radar system, the HASC’s bill also is good news for Israel’s defense sector. That’s because it would increase funding for a missile shield used by Israel and made by that nation’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.”
3. Two takes on NATO’s meetings in Brussels: Rasmussen and Breedlove. Key topics are Afghanistan, cybersecurity, and Libya. “Breedlove said his first priority for the alliance is to remain vigilant, and to meet future challenges with agile, capable, interoperable military forces.” Rasmussen focuses on cyberthreats and funding.
4. The soldier’s traditional best friend on the Hill – Senator Carl Levin – defends the Chain-of-Command’s authority in contending with the military’s sexual assault plague: “’The chain of command has achieved cultural change before, … and they can do it again.’”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Defense Department’s Better Buying Power 2.0 looks to revitalize the acquisition and bring thinking leadership into the process. Assistant SecDef for Acquisition walks us through the vision: Better Buying Power seeks to refocus the workforce and to change the culture that has been embedded since the 1990s. “’We’ve got to get to the training, we’ve got to get to the skills, we’ve got to get to how we manage our people . . . .‘”
2. ITT Exelis wins $788 million contract to operate and protect critical U.S. military networks in Southwest and Central Asia: “The contract calls for Exelis to provide IT operations and maintenance support for the Army’s Network Enterprise Technology Command. Identical support will be provided to the 160th Signal Brigade and its subordinate units in Southwest and Central Asia. This work will be performed in multiple locations throughout the regions by the Exelis OMDAC-SWACA program management office based in Kuwait.”
3. Contractors in the spotlight – the bad one – over cargo crash near Kabul. “The accident may cast new attention on the quality of Defense Department oversight of its contractors. The safety of civilian flights is usually regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration, but after a 2004 crash in Afghanistan of an American civilian cargo plane under contract to the American military, the F.A.A., which had no personnel in the country, delegated the Defense Department to oversee safety. With the American military pullout from Afghanistan in full swing, a vast network of transportation contractors has been employed to ship heavy equipment out of the country.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Unfortunate title for a piece on Petraeus. But the story is worth the read for its lessons about privacy and e-mail (at work and at home) and a case that could very well find its way to the Supreme Court: “Cases involving privacy law and government access to electronic communications are rare. This one, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, raises questions about how the government handles private digital data that is increasingly important in investigations.”
2. Re-thinking government in the 21st century: Atlantic’s Eric Schnurer challenges us: “Consider a world where each of us in fact could just ‘buy’ the government we want – not the old-fashioned way, with a bribe to a well-placed official or a hefty campaign contribution to a politician, but the way you’d buy a new consumer product.”
3. Land of the Rising Sun leverages the rising sun. “Across Japan, technology firms and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up by the dozen, and companies are mounting panels atop warehouse and factory rooftops as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an ‘explosion.’”
4. X-Large Pepperoni, Banana Peppers and Jalapeno Peppers. Drones still killing people, just more slowly.
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Retiring from the Fed . . . one step at a time. “All retirement-eligible employees working full time in federal service for the previous three years are eligible for phased retirement, OPM said, though the agency must consent to the arrangement. An employee ‘does not have an entitlement’ to partially retire.
2. Christie has the wisdom of Solomon. “Christie’s decision to set a special election to fill late Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s seat for October 16 (with a primary on Aug. 13) carries important implications for several prominent Democrats and Republicans. Some are good, some are bad. And that goodness (or badness) doesn’t cut clearly along party lines.” Nicely played.
3. Washington Post’s Dana Millbank sees history repeating itself again, again: “The Republican party acts like its 1999” and “One of the few things that unite them is the investigation of scandals.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. A kinder, gentler take on sabotage? In the Washington Post, Eugene Robinson sorts through his feelings about a pimply-faced kid whose captured his heart: “I have struggled to sort out my feelings about this case. . . . That kind of callous disregard, for life as well as the law, deserves punishment. But I believe ‘heedless’ is the right word; it’s not at all clear that he wanted to give aid and comfort to al-Qaeda or the Taliban. Unless the government really believes he was a spy working for the enemy – which I doubt – he shouldn’t be prosecuted as one.” Sniff.
2. Two parts troop, one part DoD Civilians, one part contractors, add threat, mix well. Walter Pincus examines the recipe for our national defense and finds it wanting: “more than 25 years after passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Reorganization Act – still don’t want to give up their separate prerogatives.”
3. Innovative ways to be innovative as a Fed employee. “Given the enormous challenges facing the nation,” says Washington Post’s Tom Fox, “there is a great need for innovation to help spur improved agency performance, especially at a time of reduced resources and declining trust in government. Fortunately, some agencies are making progress and were ranked highly by their employees regarding innovation, including NASA, the State Department, the Federal Trade Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Intel Watch
