FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. You got the job! Contributor Tranette Ledford coaches you on answering the big four: “Great skills, military service and an active security clearance should be all you need to land cleared jobs. But there’s always that last hurdle in the process; the interview. That conversation can make or break the chance of a solid offer. So cleared veterans may want to give some advance though to how they answer some of the questions hiring managers ask veterans. The right message could provide the competitive edge in the long run.”
2. Job fairs—your foot in the door. Also from Tranette Ledford, making the right first impression: “As a cleared, transitioning veteran, you have two distinct advantages when you meet employers. A security cleared job fair is one of the best ways to gain access to them. But while they offer the opportunity for face time with potential employers, the impression you make hinges on the prep time you put in before you meet them.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Ukraine—the next step, boots on the ground. Christian Science Monitor’s Anna Mulrine reports, “A number of right-leaning analysts have suggested that ‘the best way to invite Russia into Ukraine’ is to fail to act, as Dov Zakheim, a senior fellow at CNA Analysis, put it during a Heritage Foundation discussion last week as he called for the US to move ‘land forces – not just air forces’ to the region. ‘We need to move them quickly,’ he added, ‘not just into Poland but into the Balkan states.’ Lawmakers steered clear of prescriptions during the hearing Tuesday but did express a great deal of curiosity about what, precisely, the US military options are.” See also, “Russia Creating ‘Chaos.’”
2. START with Russia. DefenseNews.Com’s Marcus Weisgerber reports, “The Pentagon will shrink the number of its nuclear weapon-carrying bomber aircraft and reduce the number of submarine ballistic missile launch tubes as it modifies its force posture to meet the limits of the New START treaty with Russia . . . . The New START treaty, signed between Washington and Moscow in 2010, sets lower levels for the number of deployed and non-deployed nuclear weapons allowed.” But land-based nukes a go, and a new defense structure in line with START.
3. Afghanistan election fraud. Reuters’ Hamid Shalizi and Jessica Donati report from Kabul, “Afghanistan’s presidential election last Saturday may have suffered a significant degree of fraud, the country’s election complaints commission said, warning that all votes cast irregularly would be thrown out. The final result is not expected for weeks as ballot boxes have to be returned to Kabul from distant corners of the insurgency-racked country, with some carried down from the mountains by mule.”
4. China—uncontainable. Christian Science Monitor’s Ariel Zirulnick reports, “The timing was part of the message: The day after China brought US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on board its first aircraft carrier as the first foreign visitor, its defense minister warned that no one, not even the United States, could contain its military ambitions.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Coast Guard courting Sikorsky. DefenseNews.Com’s Marcus Weisgerber reports, “The Air Force plans to replace its old HH-60G Pave Hawks in the coming years with new Sikorsky H-60s. The Air Force could award Sikorsky—the only bidder in the service’s Combat Rescue Helicopter program competition—a contract for the new aircraft by the end of June. The Coast Guard operates 35 Sikorsky MH-60 Jayhawks . . . .”
2. DHS seeks Next-Gen Security. FederalTimes.Com’s Nicole Blake Johnson reports, “DHS wants industry feedback on how it might go forward with acquiring a next-generation system and how a company would integrate intrusion detection analytics into security operations procedures. Other questions to industry focus on appropriate staffing for an operations center, the needed tools and continuity-of-operations capabilities. The department also raises the issue of the appropriate balance between government and contractor responsibility.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. OpenSSL and the Heartbleed Virus. Reuters’ Jim Finkle reports, “A newly discovered bug in widely used Web encryption technology has made data on many of the world’s major websites vulnerable to theft by hackers in what experts say is one of the most serious security flaws uncovered in recent years. The finding of the so-called ‘Heartbleed’ vulnerability, by researchers with Google Inc and a small security firm Codenomicon, prompted the U.S. government’s Department of Homeland Security to advise businesses on Tuesday to review their servers to see if they were using vulnerable versions a type of software known as OpenSSL.” See also, “What to do about Heartbleed.”
2. Navy’s drone cargo helo. DefenseOne.Com’s Patrick Tucker reports, “The Navy just successfully tested two unmanned cargo helicopter piloting systems that will make it easier to replenish troops with food and ammunition in dangerous conditions on the battlefield without endangering lives. . . . Marines armed only with a tablet PC and 15 minutes of training were able to steer and land large helicopters, called the Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System (ACCUS), in driving snow.”
3. Nice gloves! Wired.Com’s Liz Stinson explains, “Heap recently launched a Kickstarter for Mi.Mu Gloves, a project she’s been working on for the past four years to free musicians like herself from the traditional constraints of playing electronic music live. The gloves are essentially mini-computers that wirelessly control music through programmable gestures. Each glove is equipped with a series of sensors that track the user’s hand position, movement and velocity. Bend sensors are located in the wrist and fingers so the glove can communicate the smallest of gestures. Each movement is mapped in software that allows the user to program specific commands depending on what they want to do.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. House of Horrors: “The Democratic-led Senate passed legislation Monday to revive long-term unemployment benefits through May, after months of negotiations that eventually secured enough votes to break a Republican filibuster. . . . The bill now goes to the Republican-led House, where it’s unlikely to come up. Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has spoken out against it, and many conservatives don’t want to revive the emergency jobless program, which first passed in 2008 and compensates Americans looking for work for up to 99 weeks.”
2. Faked Piety? No way! “The two went to high school together and worked with each other for years—the Peacocks donated thousands of dollars to McAllister’s run for the House last year. Basically, Peacock accuses his now ex-friend of faking his religious devotion (a key refrain in his campaign) in order to win votes in his conservative Louisiana district . . . . In the interview, Peacock also said that he was ‘just freaking devastated by the whole deal.’ He went on: ‘I cannot believe this. I cannot freaking believe it. I feel like I’m going to wake up here in a minute and this is all going to be a bad nightmare.’” [Nope. It’s politics.]
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Will the violence in Iraq ever ebb?” Aljazeera.Com contributor Joseph A. Kechichian argues, “Hardly anyone contemplated the collapse of the system. Still, their desires to destroy an evil regime and, presumably, their wishes to rescue a battered nation from what many perceived to be a period of utter terrorism were laudatory, though few anticipated the pains of democratisation. Even fewer had the courage to make the link between what the previous regime ensured and what Saddam’s successors pursued.”
2. “Guns galore won’t make military bases safer.” USAToday.Com’s Editorial Board argues, “If the goal is more guns in capable hands, the military could arm soldiers willing to go through the same sort of training MPs have to undergo. That would be expensive, time consuming and steal attention from other duties. But it would be far safer than arming everyone all the time, and in some situations, it might work.”
3. “Eliminating Double Standards in the Marine Corps.” DefenseOne.Com contributor and U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA) argues, “One thing that has always set Marines apart is their nondescript nature. They are committed to each other, as members of the same battle-tested organization, as much as they are committed to mission success. . . . The issue of opening combat specialties will continue to be evaluated but every Marine should have the same opportunity to at least complete a course based on their abilities and qualifications.”
THE FUNNIES
2. Digging away.
3. Drunk on power.
