FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1.  Your cleared backlog. Editor Lindy Kyzer reports, “Defense industry offices are reporting delays in security clearance processing, and the Defense Security Service has confirmed a backlog of thousands of e-QIPs. . . . If you’ve already submitted a security clearance application, you’re limited in what you can do to speed up the process, but there are steps you can take. First, stay in contact with your Facility Security Officer (FSO).”

2.  Defense industry winning ways. Contributor Diana Rodriguez explains, “For those who have an interest in working in the defense industry, it is beneficial to understand the mindset and culture, as well as what will be expected. Defense industry jobs have similar skillsets to jobs in other industries, but there are core traits required to be a successful and valued employee within the Department of Defense. The defense industry is a specialized field, which has expectations and requirements beyond many other enterprises.”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1.  Tortured and executed in Syria. Aljazeera.Com reports, “The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has systematically killed and tortured about 11,000 people, according to a reported based on the evidence of a defector and produced by three former international prosecutors. The report, commissioned by the government of Qatar and released on Tuesday, examined thousands of pictures said to have been smuggled out by a former military police photographer. The report shows explicit evidence of starvation, strangulation and beatings, and features pictures of emaciated corpses with livid wounds.”

2.  Syria peace talks underway, and underwhelming. BBC reports, “International delegates to Geneva II have played down hopes of a breakthrough, saying the talks should be seen as the first step in a process. . . . German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said: ‘We must have measured expectations. We will not see peace triumph during these discussions.’”

3.  CJCS Dempsey meets counterpart Russian Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov. American Forces Press Service’s Jim Garamone reports from Brussels, “Two tankers who as young men could have squared off against each other on the East German border sat in the Russian Embassy here today and talked about ways their two nations could cooperate. . . . The two men also signed the 2014 Work Plan for the nations. It was the first time the chiefs of defense signed such a document. ‘We felt it important enough to come together and do it ourselves,’ Dempsey said. The Work Plan calls for 67 activities in which military personnel from both countries will work together.”

4.  Precision Guided Munitions standardization. DefenseNews.Com’s Julian Hale reports, “Development of a NATO standard allowing aircraft from different nations to use precision-guided munitions (PGMs) from various sources and countries could reach a draft memorandum of understanding this year. . . . With a draft memorandum possibly just weeks away from release to NATO nations, it’s the [multinational NATO Universal Armaments Interface (NUAI) group] work rather than the munitions cooperation scheme that is likely to attract immediate attention. . . . In essence, the UAI will ensure that software in the aircraft’s targeting systems and weapons can talk to each other.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1.  Contractor caught. DefenseNews.Com’s Aaron Mehta reports, “A federal grand jury indicted a former Connecticut man who attempted to ship boxes of stolen information on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to Iran. . . . federal agents began investigating Khazaee in November when he attempted to send a shipment from Connecticut to the Iranian city of Hamadan. When agents inspected the shipment, they found “numerous boxes of documents consisting of sensitive technical manuals, specification sheets, and other proprietary material for the F-35.”

2.  Layoffs: Bombardier Aerospace cutting 1,700. AviationWeek.Com’s Graham Warwick reports, “Bombardier Aerospace is to lay off 1,700 employees in a bid to contain costs after stretching out CSeries development by at least 12 months and seeing business and commercial aircraft orders decline in 2013. . . . the layoffs will be split between 1,100 in Canada and 600 in the U.S. Plants in Northern Ireland and Mexico are unaffected, the company says.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1.  Do robot soldiers dream of electronic awards? DefenseOne.Com contributor Alexis Madrigal reports, “In the future, an Army brigade might have 3,000 human troops instead of 4,000, but a lot more robots, according to recent remarks by General Robert Cone, the Army’s head of Training and Doctrine Command. ‘I’ve got clear guidance to think about what if you could robotically perform some of the tasks in terms of maneuverability, in terms of the future of the force,’ Defense News reported he said in a speech at the Army Aviation Symposium. . . . Robots could reduce the force protection burden, giving the Army more killing power per brigade. Those robots could be a pack bot like the Legged Squad Support System perhaps, or a conventional-looking semi or fully autonomous vehicle like Lockheed Martin’s Squad Mission Support System.”

2.  Carrier wars – which cell system is cheapest. Time’s Fox Van Allen reports, “Verizon customers, on average, pay more in total for their cellular service than customers of all other U.S. carriers . . . . Verizon is the most expensive carrier, in part, because it’s the most technologically advanced of the four. The company has largely finished its nationwide rollout of 4G LTE while the others are still playing catch up. It should come as no surprise that T-Mobile is the least expensive of the four – the carrier is waging war against the industry, offering reasonable international roaming prices and huge bounties of money to switch.”

3.  Pot calls the kettle black: Russia spied on us! Reuters’ Jim Finkle reports, “A U.S. cybersecurity firm says it has gathered evidence that the Russian government spied on hundreds of American, European and Asian companies, the first time Moscow has been linked to cyber attacks for alleged economic – rather than political – gains. According to the firm, CrowdStrike, the victims of the previously unreported cyber espionage campaign include energy and technology firms, some of which have lost valuable intellectual property.”

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Ed Ledford enjoys the most challenging, complex, and high stakes communications requirements. His portfolio includes everything from policy and strategy to poetry. A native of Asheville, N.C., and retired Army Aviator, Ed’s currently writing speeches in D.C. and working other writing projects from his office in Rockville, MD. He loves baseball and enjoys hiking, camping, and exploring anything. Follow Ed on Twitter @ECLedford.