FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCE JOBS.COM
1. PTSD – a boundless wounding. Contributor Diana Rodriguez reports, “A recently released RAND study focused specifically on PTSD and civilian contractors who had deployed at least once between early 2011 and early 2013, and their experiences with PTSD and depression following deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. . . . A quarter of study participants met criteria for a PTSD diagnosis, and fifty percent reported alcohol abuse. Instances of alcohol abuse are particularly significant for those population, both because they may fly under the radar, and because alcohol abuse can cost an individual his or her security clearance.”
2. Interview coming up? Don’t forget to ask . . . . Also from Rodriguez, “Although many private firms, and federal and state government agencies, are actively seeking out veterans to hire, a percentage won’t be hired because they fail to ask the right questions during an interview. Asking the right questions can help the interviewer form an impression of the applicant that may, in many cases, be as important as the answers given about their skills.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Iraq, 52 dead in unabated sectarian violence. Reuters reports from Baghdad, “Bomb attacks hit the Iraqi capital Baghdad and a village near the northern town of Baquba on Wednesday, killing at least 52 people, police and hospital sources said. In the deadliest incident, a bomb blew up in a funeral tent where mourners were marking the death two days ago of a Sunni Muslim pro-government militiaman, police said. It killed 18 people and wounded 16 in Shatub, a village south of Baquba.” AP’s Sinan Salaheddin reports from Baghdad, “Iraq remains gripped by violence as al-Qaida-linked militants took control of two cities in Anbar province, west of Baghdad. A series of bombings in the capital Wednesday killed at least 21 people.”
2. In Syria’s growing humanitarian disaster. Time’s Aryn Baker reports on the struggle to offer humanitarian aid in Syria, “Syria has become the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe. More than 2 million Syrians have fled the country, another 6.5 million inside Syria are no longer living in their own homes and three-quarters of the population are expected to need humanitarian aid in 2014. . . . as winter sets in and some Syrians are reduced to eating leaves, concern is mounting about the ramifications of giving money when there is no guarantee that the $2.3 billion intended to help Syrians in Syria will reach all those in need. It’s even possible that some of it could be used to shore up the very government that is making Syrians’ lives so miserable, say humanitarian-assistance groups working in the region.”
3. Impending approval for Egypt’s constitutional referendum: update. Aljazeera.Com reports from Cairo, “Egyptians have voted on a new constitution, in a ballot widely seen as a referendum on the army’s decision to overthrow former President Mohamed Morsi in July last year. The vote was largely peaceful, but at least 11 people were killed and 28 people wounded across the country during clashes between anti-coup protesters and police . . . . The violence highlighted the government’s precarious grip on the most populous Arab nation, still reeling from Morsi’s ouster and a bloody crackdown on his supporters. The charter is almost certain to be approved . . . .”
4. Navy shipbuilding: unimpeded, thanks to budget deal. DoDBuzz.Com’s Kris Osborn reports, “Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said the bipartisan Congressional budget deal could prevent the Navy from having to abruptly stop ongoing shipbuilding, maintenance and refueling work on aircraft carriers and other platforms. ‘I have not seen a budget on time since I have been Secretary. I hope this agreement signals the start of more regular budget cycles,’ Mabus told the audience.”
5. Close call at Bagram Airbase, Afghanistan. Khaama.Com reports, “The Afghan intelligence – National Directorate of Security (NDS) announced Wednesday that the NDS operatives foiled coordinated attacks on Bagram airfield in Parwan province and other government compounds in this province. The National Directorate of Security (NDS) following a statement said, Afghan intelligence operatives discovered and seized two missile launcher devices along with 11 BM-21 Grad missiles from northeastern Kapisa province of Afghanistan.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. $2.4 billion for Singapore’s F-16 upgrade. GovConWire.Com reports, “Singapore plans to modernize its General Dynamics (NYSE: GD)-built fighter planes under a $2.43 billion foreign military sale agreement with the U.S. . . . Singapore will purchase fresh radar, navigation systems, missiles and other components for the F-16 fighter fleet . . . . Singapore is also considering buying Lockheed Martin -built F-35 Joint Strike fighter jets . . . .”
2. GSA’s social network. Friend me! FederalTimes.Com’s Andy Medici reports, “The General Services Administration is creating a social network centered on two of its governmentwide acquisition contracts. The network will center on the Alliant II and the Alliant Small Business II contracts. GSA will build it around the interact.gsa.gov website to provide a one-stop shop for news and to encourage a dialogue with the private sector, according to the agency. The two GWACS have seen more than $20 billion in business from more than 50 agencies since created in 2009 . . . . The contract vehicles are used for complex IT requirements involving data center consolidation, systems integration, cloud computing, cyber security and help desk support.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Drone genealogy: the detailed evolution of airborne C4ISR. DefenseMediaNetwork.Com’s J.R. Wilson explains, “While using airborne radar to detect enemy air and surface assets and warn friendly forces about them marked a significant advance in modern warfare, the military also wanted to put a command and control (C2) capability aloft to improve its efforts to counter Japanese kamikaze attacks in the Pacific. The resulting PB-1W, built on a modified B-17 fuselage, used the same radar as the TBM-3W, but brought aboard several additional operators, who used radio signals to guide defending fighters to their targets.”
2. NSA – too big to diminish. GovExec.Com’s James Oliphant reports, “President Obama has a rare opportunity this week to reshape the nation’s counterterrorism strategy. He won’t take it. The White House has been trying to lower expectations for the president’s planned Friday speech for days now. He’ll outline a series of reforms to the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs in an address at the Justice Department, but Obama will do nothing to diminish the government’s capacity to root out terror networks . . . . in the days leading to Friday’s speech, Jay Carney and others in the White House have referred to the issue as one of transparency and disclosure, not of reining in government power.”
3. Making space for the space station. AviationWeek.Com’s Frank Morring Jr. reports, “President Barack Obama’s top space officials announced his intent to keep the space station flying until 2024—four years short of the spacecraft’s estimated structural lifetime—at an estimated cost of $3 billion a year. The four-year extension is far from a done deal, coming as it did with only a one-day notice to Congress and a lot of uncertainty about whether NASA’s international partners will be able to follow suit. Money previously programmed to deorbit the station will go for extended operations instead, and initial congressional response was positive.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Says Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon: “’Secretary of State John Kerry – who has come to us determined and is acting out of an incomprehensible obsession and a messianic feeling – cannot teach me a single thing about the conflict with the Palestinians . . . . the only thing that can save us is if Kerry wins the Nobel prize and leaves us alone.’”
2. $1.1 Trillion (love the way that rolls off the tongue): “Shunning the turmoil of recent budget clashes, Congress is ready to approve a massive $1.1 trillion spending bill for this year, a compromise financing everything from airports to war costs and brimming with victories and setbacks for both parties. The huge bill furnishes the fine print — 1,582 pages of it — for the bipartisan pact approved in December that set overall federal spending levels for the next couple of years. With that decision behind them and lawmakers eager to use the election year to show they can run a government, there was little suspense about the spending bill’s fate.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Why Egyptians Are Voting Away Their Freedoms.” Time contributor Jared Maslin argues from Cairo, “The proposed constitution, drafted under a military-backed government in the months since the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi in July, further insulates the police and armed forces from civilian control and could enshrine the military’s power within the Egyptian state for decades. Nearly three years after a popular uprising forced autocrat Hosni Mubarak from power, Egypt’s security state is triumphant once again.”
2. “Egypt’s ‘new’ constitution: Repeating mistakes.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Samer Atallah argues, “The 2013 constitution fails . . . . It is far below aspirations for a new contract for a new Egypt. It does not pave the road for a new future that reflects the new reality. On the contrary, it is an attempt to repackage the old reality. Its place in history will not differ substantially from its predecessors.”
3. “How US can help end Syria’s war: accept refugees.” Christian Science Monitor’s Editorial Board argues, “It is time for Europe and the United States to be a safety valve and accept many more Syrians for temporary asylum. . . . Last year, only a few dozen were allowed into the US. The Obama administration has legal ways to overcome the bureaucratic hurdles and begin granting far more temporary visas. The US has called on Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon to keep their borders open. For both humanitarian and security reasons – and out of gratitude to those countries – the US must now also open its border to the huddled masses of Syrian refugees.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Fratricide.
