FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Cleared Colorado. Contributor Tranette Ledford reports, “Big mountains and great skiing may be the first things that come to mind at the mention of Colorado, but cleared veterans may want to look at some of the state’s smaller cities with big opportunities. Colorado defense jobs and aerospace careers continue to be competitive, especially in these smaller cities.”
2. Civil Air Patrol, er, U.S. Air Force. Contributor John Holst explains the contradiction of the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program: “The USAF and the US administration is putting a ‘watch-dog’ spin on this—in the same way the NSA and US administration has put a ‘watch-dog’ spin on telecommunications activities. The key distinction is the USAF is a very military organization. It’s meant to get ready to win wars for the US. A watchdog function is more of a civil function, one that is a policing function, and one that probably should be run by a civil and transparent organization.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Pulling out of Afghanistan? AP’s Julie Pace reports, “Frustrated with his Afghan counterpart, President Barack Obama is ordering the Pentagon to accelerate planning for a full U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of this year. . . . The White House has become increasingly frustrated with Karzai, who has refused to sign a security pact that the White House says is crucial to keeping a U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan after the war formally concludes at the end of this year.” Meanwhile, US Permanent Representative to NATO, Ambassador Doug Lute warned “that there will be no US or NATO presence in Afghanistan if the bilateral security agreement between Kabul and Washington, and the NATO status of forces agreement was not signed,” reports Khaama.Com. Finally, Christian Science Monitor reports that Pakistan warns that “Complete US withdrawal from Afghanistan means civil war.”
2. Delivering final blows to the Haqqani network. Reuters’ Missy Ryan and Phil Stewart report, “The United States has intensified its drive against the Taliban-linked Haqqani network in an attempt to deal a lasting blow to the militants in Afghanistan before foreign combat forces depart this year, according to multiple U.S. officials. . . . The Obama administration has created a special unit based in Kabul to coordinate efforts against the militant group . . . .”
3. Terrorist in-fighting in Syria. LongWarJournal.Org’s Bill Roggio reports, “The leader of the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, warned the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham to end its attacks on jihadist and rebel units in Syria or the groups will destroy the ISIS in both Syria and in Iraq. . . . His ultimatum gave ISIS five days to come to an agreement or face a concerted effort to ‘banish it’ from both Syria and Iraq. Al Qaeda’s general command recently disowned ISIS as it would not agree to mediate its disputes with the Al Nusrah Front and other groups.”
4. Nukes will survive DoD budget blows. DefenseOne.Com contributor Elaine M. Grossman reports, “U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday said the nation would keep its air-land-sea approach to the nuclear arsenal, despite new Pentagon spending cuts. . . . The Air Force’s A-10 close air support aircraft and the U-2 surveillance plane were notable casualties of the spending overhaul, though each of the planned weapons retirements could face pushback from Congress. The defense secretary also is looking to cut Army personnel numbers and cap a new class of Navy warships.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. $29 billion loss to BAE Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems. NextGov.Com’s Bob Brewin reports, “The Army has decided to cancel a high-tech ground combat vehicle project that the Congressional Budget Office estimated would cost $29 billion . . . . The Army planned to buy more than 1,800 GCVs capable of transporting a nine-person squad, with the blast protection of mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles developed and deployed quickly for use in Afghanistan and Iraq. In August 2011, the Army awarded GCV technology development contracts to BAE Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems, with values of $449.9 million and $439.7 million respectively.”
2. GSA’s wobbly contracting stool – a study. FederalTimes.Com contributor Roger Waldron explains, “A three-legged stool is an apt description of GSA’s government-wide contracting programs. The first leg represents customer agencies, the second leg is GSA and the third leg is GSA’s contractor base. Sitting atop the stool is the American people—the ultimate customer. The three legs must be in balance to ensure that the government-wide marketplace delivers best value solutions to customer agencies. Unfortunately, there is a growing sense within the contractor community that the ‘GSA supplier relationship’ is out of balance.”
3. OASIS raining contracts. FederalTimes.Com’s Michael Hardy reports, “The General Services Administration has awarded 123 small-business contracts under the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) Small Business contract, the first set of awards to come through the long-anticipated contract. OASIS SB is set aside for small businesses.
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. IT revolution is on its way. NextGov.Com’s Joseph Marks reports, “The largest reform in a decade to how the government builds and buys information technology systems passed the House on a voice vote on Tuesday afternoon. Similar legislation is awaiting a hearing in the Senate. The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act would limit each federal agency to one person with the title chief information officer and give that person authority over the agency’s IT spending. It would also create centers of excellence across government to assist with complicated IT acquisitions and require the government to publicly post performance metrics on a much greater percentage of its IT projects.” FederalTimes.Com’s Michael Hardy characterizes, “The House has passed the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, a bipartisan bill that makes perhaps the most significant changes to the federal IT procurement system since the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996.”
2. Cybersecurity ecosystems – partnered networks. GovConWire.Com reports, “EMC (NYSE: EMC) security division RSA has formed a partner ecosystem that intends to offer a range of managed service offerings designed to help enterprises address cyber vulnerabilities and threats. RSA’s Managed Security Program allows providers to deliver cybersecurity services to customers by utilizing RSA analytics, threat detection and incident response management products . . . the alliance will work to provide clients access to intelligence-based technology for managing business IT risks.”
3. Cybersecurity teams – advanced threat monitoring. VentureBeat.Com’s Dean Takahashi reports, “IBM and AT&T announced tonight a new strategic relationship to give businesses a simplified, single source for both network security and threat management. The two companies will offer business customers a joint service that combines security network infrastructure with advanced threat monitoring and analytics. . . . silo-like approach to security doesn’t work, as threats run across multiple information technology environments. Dealing with that need is what lies behind AT&T and IBM’s decision to team up. The aim will be to reduce costs, minimize complexities, gain visibility into diverse iT environments, and simplify infrastructure.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Congress getting taxing: “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he has ‘no hope’ that Congress will be able to pass a comprehensive tax reform measure this year. McConnell, speaking to reporters after a private meeting with rank-and-file Republicans, blamed the hold up on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and President Obama, who he said are insisting tax reform produce $1 trillion in new revenue. McConnell said Republicans want tax reform to lower rates without adding additional revenue to the nation’s coffers, a plan that would follow the tax reform agreement forged during the 1980s by Republican President Ronald Reagan and Democratic House Speaker Tip O’Neill.”
2. Blocking DoD’s budget bust: “Republican lawmakers say they intend to use their legislative powers to try to block Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s plan to significantly shrink the size and power of the military. ‘It’s dead on arrival,’ Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told the Washington Examiner after a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans Tuesday afternoon. Hagel on Monday gave some details of the Defense Department’s 2015 budget proposal that President Obama will deliver to Congress on March 6 and many in the GOP said they are opposed to what they have heard. Hagel unveiled plans for a much leaner military, including a reduction in the size of the army to about 445,000 soldiers, down from today’s force of 522,000. The proposal would also shrink the Marines and the National Guard, and it would retire the U-2 spy plane and the fleet of A-10 Warthog jets. The proposal also reduces the Navy fleet.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “A First Step Toward Reining in the Pentagon Budget.” USNews.Com contributor Ryan Alexander argues, “If we are going to rise to the fiscal challenges the whole country is facing, we can’t keep holding military members in a special, somehow untouchable, class when it comes to benefits. Even after 13 years of war, we are meeting all recruitment and retention goals.”
2. “How to fix foreign aid.” Reuters contributor Paul A. Brinkley argues, “The first step is to end the State Department’s management of foreign assistance, and return to an earlier organizational system in Washington. . . . Re-establishing foreign assistance as a stand-alone organization is an essential first step to solving our broken foreign assistance system. USAID could be free to refocus on its core mission of humanitarian aid — and be better able to excel at it again.”
3. “Why a repentant Ukraine deserves support.” Christian Science Monitor’s Editorial Board argues, “Ukraine is getting a second chance at reform. Thankfully, many of its emerging leaders know this. With newfound repentance, Ukraine can face the sacrifices needed to reform both its democracy and its economy. In doing so, it will have strong support from other countries.”
THE FUNNIES
2. The American model of politics.
