Monday, again & Farewell Fahim and Farewell Wild Bill

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1.  Spy city—Sierra Vista. Contributor D.B. Grady describes, “Fort Huachuca is host to a vital part of the nation’s intelligence apparatus. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM) is the heart of the U.S. Army’s cyberspace presence, responsible for the planning, implementation, and defense of the information technology infrastructure. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army Intelligence Center trains enlisted soldiers, warrant officers, and officers of the Military Intelligence Corps.”

2.  INSA Reforms—yes, they’re watching you. Editor Lindy Kyzer explains, “INSA [Intelligence National Security Alliance] unveiled a new white paper focusing on security clearance reform this week. . . . The INSA white paper made ten specific recommendations, the majority of which focus on leveraging technological advancements as well as improving the periodic investigation process. . . . In a series of articles, we’ll unpack the recommendations of the INSA white paper, as well as provide more insight into what CME will mean for cleared professionals.”  Study-up—read the white paper here.

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1.  Crimea—updates. Reuters’ Andrew Osborn reports, “Germany’s Angela Merkel delivered a rebuke to President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, telling him that a planned Moscow-backed referendum on whether Crimea should join Russia was illegal and violated Ukraine’s constitution.” Putin’s Perspective: “Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday defended the separatist drive in the disputed Crimean Peninsula as in keeping with international law, but Ukraine’s prime minister vowed not to relinquish ‘a single centimeter’ of his country’s territory.”  BBC.Com reports, “Order breaks down ahead of Crimea vote.” Finally, former SecDef Gates determines, “Putin wants to recreate Soviet-style Russian sphere of influence.”

2.  Defense budget—Overseas Contingency Ops. American Forces Press Service’s Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr. reports, “The use of overseas contingency operations funding has relieved some pressure on the Defense Department’s base budget, but as the war in Afghanistan winds down, those base budget requirements are at risk as future contingency funding faces uncertainty . . . . ‘Overseas contingency operations [are] relatively immune to the pressures of the base budget. If you look in the past and how budgets have been executed, the basic idea of doing this is really not that novel.’ But the amount of money that is going into OCO, compared to the overall defensive budget, is relatively large, he added. The problem, [John B. Johns, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Maintenance Policy and Programs] said, is OCO funding eventually will go away.” See also, “DoD Budget: Expect Big Changes In Five-Year Spending Priorities.”

3.  Reforming military retirement. DefenseOne.Com’s Eric Katz reports, “The Defense Department has outlined several possibilities for overhauling retirement benefits for military personnel, which could provide more cash up front to service members but limit overall compensation. The ideas, which Pentagon officials stressed were not recommendations or suggestions, would provide some benefits to military personnel earlier in their careers rather than exclusively upon retirement, as the system is structured currently.”

4.  Taliban election song and dance. Khaama.Com reports, “The Taliban militants group in Afghanistan warned Afghan people not participate in the upcoming presidential elections. Taliban in a statement said America is looking to prolong its presence and occupation of Afghanistan through an indirect method – elections, after they failed in occupying the country through direction invasion.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1.  $26 million DoD back on the table. NextGov.Com’s Aliya Sternstein reports, “The Defense Department will recompete a $26 million contract to support a classified cyber intelligence network, after federal attorneys determined the Pentagon failed to properly evaluate contractor proposals, Defense officials said late on Friday. . . . A DISA spokeswoman on Friday said the agency will amend its original solicitation and recompete the contract.”

2.  $12 billion Air Force on the horizon. GovConWire.Com reports, “The U.S. Air Force is requesting $11.8 billion in funding to build a new long-range bomber . . . . the branch intends to acquire up to 100 Long-Range Strike Bomber units for $55 billion total over five years. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said earlier this month . . . that the branch could issue a request for proposals later this year . . . . development spending for the aircraft could reach $914 million in fiscal 2015, $1.6 billion in fiscal 2016 and $3.5 billion in fiscal 2019.

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1.  Nationwide security scan. AP’s Stephen Braun reports, “U.S. intelligence officials are planning a sweeping system of electronic monitoring that would tap into government, financial and other databases to scan the behavior of many of the 5 million federal employees with secret clearances . . . . The system is intended to identify rogue agents, corrupt officials and leakers, and draws on a Defense Department model under development for more than a decade . . . .”

2.  Assange—Battleground Internet. DefenseOne.Com contributor Patrick Tucker reports, “WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared on a giant video screen on Saturday morning before a massive crowd of t-shirted and headphoned technology enthusiasts at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, and declared that the Internet has become a battleground between ever-more intrusive governments and the governed. ‘The transition of the Internet to a political space is the most important phenomenon of the last decade,’ he declared. His speech ended with enthusiastic applause.”

3.  Exoskeleton update—I am Iron Man. BBC.Com’s Neil Bowdler reports, “The machine is called the ‘Body Extender’ and has been developed at the Perceptual Robotics Laboratory (Percro), part of the Pisa’s Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. It can lift 50kg . . . in each extended hand, can exert 10 times the force the user applies to an object, and its makers claim it is the most complex exoskeleton yet built.”  Listen while you read.

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1.  Stepping out: “A top White House official who has been with President Barack Obama since he first became a senator nine years ago is resigning. Alyssa Mastromonaco is Obama’s deputy chief of staff for operations and often described as the most influential person inside the White House who isn’t well known outside of it. She is responsible for planning presidential events, hiring staff and overseeing the White House complex. A White House official said Mastromonaco is leaving in May to look for a job in the private sector. . . . Mastromonaco is one of several of Obama’s most trusted long-time advisers to leave as he enters his sixth year in office. It’s a familiar pattern for second-term presidents, as aides grow tired of the pressure cooker and look for other opportunities outside the White House before the administration winds down.”

2.  Congress the best at being worst: “Democrats and Republicans alike say the 113th Congress is shaping up to be the worst ever. Veteran lawmakers are used to partisanship and stalemate, but they say Capitol Hill has sunk to a new dysfunctional low. Congress has in some ways already closed for business until after the mid-term election. Any laws made between now and November will be minor. . . . The most memorable action taken by this Congress was last year’s shutdown.”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1.  “Is Afghanistan really impossible to conquer?BBC.Com contributor William Dalrymple argues, “Any occupying army here will haemorrage money and blood to little gain, and in the end most throw in the towel, as the British did in 1842, as the Russians did in 1988 and as Nato will do later this year.”

2.  “Afghanistan: Fahim’s death leaves void.Aljazeera.Com contributor Ahmad Wali Masoud argues, “The death of Afghanistan’s first Vice President, Marshal Mohammed Qassim Fahim, is a loss to the country, and it will affect the ethnic Tajik community at this critical juncture. . . . There is no doubt that such a prominent figure will leave a void. To run a complex country like Afghanistan, a leader must have both a strong personality and an ability to get the job done. Fahim had a larger-than-life presence in the government, and he looked after the security concerns of Afghanistan.”

3.  “Why the NSA undermines national security.Reuters’ contributor Eileen Donahoe argues, “National security policies that fail to calculate the real costs of arbitrary mass surveillance threaten to make us less secure. Without trusted and trusting partners, U.S. priority initiatives in complex global negotiations will be non-starters. The president, his advisers and our political leaders should reassess the costs of the NSA’s spy programs on our national security, our freedom and our democracy.”

4.  U2 to Global Hawk: Not so fast. AviationWeek.Com Editors argue, “We are huge believers in the future of unmanned systems. The RQ-180 that this magazine revealed last December may eventually take over the U-2 role. But the history of defense programs is littered with examples of systems that have been pressed into service before they are ready. If anything, we fear the erroneous conclusions some might draw about UAS in general, should the program to stand up Global Hawk as a U-2 replacement stumble. Let’s keep the U-2 for now.”

THE FUNNIES

1.  Who’s afraid of the BBW?

2.  Excuses—everybody’s got one.

3.  That’s NOT what we meant.

4.  Tech news.

Related News

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.