FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Completing your clearance app. Editor Lindy Kyzer explains the ramifications of providing false information on you clearance application: “The U. S. Criminal Code provides that knowingly falsifying or concealing a material fact is a felony which may result in fines up to $10,000, 5 years imprisonment, or both. In addition, the agency may fire or disqualify individuals who have materially and deliberately falsified information (omission of arrests, drug use, employment, medical history, assets, and liabilities, etc.) on the background investigation documentation or made false statements during the personal interview.” See also Kyzer’s story, “An illegal immigrant was able to obtain military facility security clearance despite his use of falsified documents including a social security card and bank card.”
2. Defense bill job outlook. Contributor Charles Simmins reports, “Seattle, Wash. defense jobs should experience a boost thanks to the signing of the 2014 Defense Authorization Bill. The Puget Sound region and defense contractor Boeing are expected to see benefit. . . . The Ryan-Murray budget deal restores most, but not all of the cuts made due to sequestration. It is expected that the differences between the 2014 budget and the Congressional deal will be worked out through reallocation of funds.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Taliban down ISAF helicopter. LongWarJournal.Org’s Bill Roggio reports, “The Taliban were responsible for downing a US Army Blackhawk helicopter in the southern Afghan province of Zabul on Dec. 17, 2013, the International Security Assistance Force has confirmed. The helicopter may have been brought down by an anti-helicopter mine such as one tested by the Islamic Jihad Union, an al Qaeda-linked group known to operate in the province. . . . The exact cause of the downing of the helicopter has not been disclosed. Three US military officials told CNN that ‘the Taliban has been deemed responsible – either by shooting the helicopter or if the low-flying aircraft set off a bomb hidden on the ground.’” Meanwhile, Khaama.Com reports, “80 militants join peace process in northern Afghanistan” and “Hekmatyar calls on party members to take part in Afghan elections.”
2. Nuclear deal with Iran moves forward. Christian Science Monitor’s Brad Knickerbocker reports, “US officials Sunday welcomed the report that Iran and six world powers have agreed on how to implement a deal involving Iran’s nuclear capabilities. The agreement, which came together in November, will temporarily freeze Iran’s nuclear program, in return for which Iran will gain access to $4.2 billion in restricted assets, released in regular installments throughout the six months and easing the impact of international economic sanctions. As announced Sunday, first in Tehran and then in other world capitals, the deal now is set to begin being implemented Jan. 20.”
3. Working toward peace in Syria. Aljazeera.Com reports, “US Secretary of State John Kerry has said he is confident Syria’s opposition National Coalition will attend upcoming peace talks in Switzerland. . . . The bloc is under intense pressure to confirm its participation in the talks, scheduled to begin on January 22, and has said it will decide on the issue next Friday. The Friends of Syria, an alliance of mainly Western and Gulf Arab countries who support the opposition, earlier on Sunday stated that the conference, bringing regime negotiators and opposition groups together, is necessary to solve the crisis.”
4. SecDef Hagel on Egypt’s Al-Sisi. American Forces Press Service reports, “Defense Secretary Hagel Chuck Hagel today emphasized to Egyptian Minister of Defense General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi the importance of the Jan.14-15 constitutional referendum in Egypt. In a statement summarizing the telephone conversation between the two defense leaders, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, said they discussed the importance of the constitutional referendum for Egypt’s overall political transition. Hagel, Kirby added, stressed the importance of a transparent referendum in which all Egyptians have the opportunity to cast their vote freely.” Meanwhile, Aljazeera.Com reports, “Egypt army chief considers presidential bid.”
5. War crimes in Iraq. Time’s Peter Liljas reports, “Top U.K. defense figures could face prosecution for war crimes in Iraq, after the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague was presented with a dossier on Saturday containing thousands of allegations of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The complaint is the result of several years’ investigation by Public Interest Lawyers and the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights. It is the largest presentation yet of alleged British war crimes in Iraq, and names, among others, the head of the British Army, the former defense minister and former defense secretary.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. New aerial tanker on track. DoDBuzz.Com’s Kris Osborn reports, “The first of four Air Force KC-46A baseline test aircraft will complete major assembly later this month before taking off on its first scheduled test-flight later this summer, Air Force and Boeing officials said. Although only a developmental flight of a test aircraft, the upcoming flight marks a significant milestone in a long Air Force effort to build a new aerial tanker for its fleet. . . . Boeing officials also say production and assembly of the first aircraft is progressing successfully.”
2. Double V-Hull Strykers ahead. DefenseNews.Com’s Paul McLeary reports, “If the US Army can manage to keep its future budgets in line with current projections, the service will transform all nine of its Stryker brigades into the heavily armored “double V-hull” (DVH) configuration. The Army already fields two DVH brigades while a third is in the works to be fully equipped by the end of fiscal 2016. That’s the good news. The not-so-good news is that the remaining six brigades remain unfunded in fiscal 2016-2020 budget projections obtained by Defense News. . . . In September, General Dynamics Land Systems was awarded a $118 million contract by the Army to convert 66 flat-bottom Strykers to the DVH design. . . . In December, the Army also awarded General Dynamics Land Systems a $228 million contract to kick off another round of upgrades, including to the chassis, electrical power generation, and communications and network capabilities.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Tech inputs to surveillance revisions. New York Times’ Claire Cain Miller reports, “Representatives from tech companies including Google, Twitter, Yahoo and Microsoft met on Friday with White House staff members to discuss Internet surveillance reforms. The meeting was part of the Obama administration’s weeklong effort to brief various groups before the president announces his proposals for national security reform, which he is expected to do on Jan. 17. . . . Friday’s meeting, which was called by the White House, was described as a working policy meeting for administration staff and leaders of the tech companies’ policy teams, many of whom are based in Washington.”
2. Tiny spy satellites. DefenseOne.Com contributor Robinson Meyer reports, “Larsen leads Urthecast. It’s one of a cadre of startups—three are now out of stealth mode—tossing cameras out of the atmosphere and trying to turn them into a business. Each of the three is choosing different methods, different kinds of devices, and different orbits. Each is selling something a little different. They are Urthecast, Planet Labs, and Skybox. . . . The capital and efficiency engines of Silicon Valley, having transformed markets and interactions both public and private on Earth, now look skyward. Silicon Valley is making what, in any other decade, we’d call spy satellites.”
3. Army gaming is training. C4ISRNet.Com’s Michelle Tan reports, “The Army has updated its premier military gaming website, just in time for the launch of the latest version of its popular Virtual Battlespace game. The MilGaming Web portal is a one-stop shop for soldiers to access the Army’s Games for Training program. It is managed by the Training and Doctrine Command Capability Manager-Gaming, and it provides soldiers with software downloads, apps, news, training events, online instruction, technical support, expert forums and training scenarios.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. 50 and Fab: “Nearing a milestone birthday, Michelle Obama exuberantly describes herself as ‘50 and fabulous.’ She’s celebrating already and a big birthday bash is in the works. The nation’s first lady hits the half-century mark on Friday and, by her own account, she feels more relaxed now that President Barack Obama’s days as a candidate are over.” However, Not-so-fab rumors: “Michelle Obama’s extended absence from Washington and a flurry of renewed speculation about the state of the first couple’s marriage are threatening to overshadow her 50th birthday party at the White House on Saturday.
2. Back to Iraq? “McCain blamed President Obama for ignoring increased al Qaeda terrorist attacks in Iraq, suggesting that White House negligence is undoing years of U.S.-led progress in the country. . . . McCain suggested Obama send retired Gen. David Petraeus, a former head of U.S. Central Command during the Iraq War, and Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, assist Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki because ‘Maliki trusts them.’”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Afghanistan stability: a pipe dream?” Aljazeera.Com contributor Michael Kugelman argues, “The limitations of a post-2014 force highlight a discomfiting fact – one that Pentagon analysts and Washington think-tankers should be mindful of in the months ahead as they devise possible post-2014 scenarios, identify those most desirable for US interests, and consider how to obtain such wanted outcomes. In effect, the US can deliberate and plan all it likes, but ultimately it can do very little to shape Afghanistan’s post-drawdown fate.”
2. “Syria and the perils of proxy war.” LATimes.Com contributor Doyle McManus argues, “When big powers turn a local conflict into a proxy war, they can have three terrible effects. They make the war more destructive, by pumping in more advanced weapons than were there before. They often make the war longer, by making it possible for each side to keep fighting indefinitely. And they create spillover effects in neighboring countries, including refugee crises, an increased flow of weapons and the recruitment and training of insurgents.”
3. “The Mideast Is Overshadowing Obama’s Pivot to Asia.” DefenseOne.Com contributor Beina Xu explains, “A range of crises in the Middle East dominated the U.S. foreign policy agenda in 2013, raising questions about the vigor of President Obama’s Asia ‘pivot.’ Four experts offer perspectives on how the region is reacting to U.S. moves in Asia.”
THE FUNNIES
3. Snappy birthday.
