FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Personal Identifying Information. Contributor Christopher Burgess explains, “The Government Accounting Office (GAO) recently revealed in congressional testimony on information security, ‘Federal Agencies Need to Enhance Responses to Data Breaches,’ that in 2013, 25,566 separate data breaches occurred. Each of those incidents compromised PII (personal identifying information). Those figures place the U.S. Government into the same level of negative experiences in the handling of PII as the private sector. “
2. Cyber hiring—leveling the field. Contributor Jillian Hamilton reports, “The Department of Homeland Security is asking for Congressional help in leveling the cybersecurity recruiting playing field. DHS feels unable to compete within the current government recruiting restrictions. Keep in mind – many can attest that the federal government’s hiring process is less than streamlined. It isn’t easy to find the right candidate who is willing to take a lower salary, has the necessary certifications, can get a clearance, and is willing to jump through any federal government hiring hoops.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. In Syria—barbarity at its worst. TheDailyBeast.Com’s Jacob Siegel reports, “Among the forms of slaughter that have become commonplace in Syria’s civil war, crucifixion may be no more brutal than barrel bombs or sarin gas attacks. But the revival of an ancient form of torture is one sign of what life is like under the rule of one of Syria’s powerful Islamist factions. And it’s an indication that, despite years of public hand-wringing in the West over Syria’s bloody and rapid decline, the country is continuing to plummet into new depths of the abyss.”
2. Dempsey visits Afghanistan. American Forces Press Service’s Jim Garamone reports from Bagram, “The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff arrived here tonight for a series of meetings with senior U.S. and coalition leaders and with American service members. This is Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey’s second visit to Afghanistan in as many months. His visit comes on the heels of the release of the semiannual Report of Security and Stability in Afghanistan. The report says that Afghan security forces did an excellent job in securing the April 5 presidential election in the country. However, the report also said Afghan forces lack crucial capabilities: air support, the intelligence enterprise, special operations, and security ministry capacity.”
3. Fighting in Ukraine. AP’s Peter Leonard reports, “Ukraine launched what appeared to be its first major assault against pro-Russian forces who have seized government buildings in the country’s east, with fighting breaking out Friday around a city that has become the focus of the insurgency. Three deaths were reported in early fighting. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said the offensive ‘effectively destroyed the last hope for the implementation of the Geneva agreements’ which were intended to defuse the crisis.” See also, “Rebels down Ukraine helicopters, Putin denounces city assault” and “Ukraine helicopters shot down in Slovyansk.”
4. Navy crash in the Gulf—pilots rescued. DefenseMediaNetwork.Com’s Steven Hoarn reports, “A U.S. Navy Beechcraft T-34C Turbo Mentor assigned to Training Squadron 28 (VT-28) crashed during a routine training mission over the Gulf of Mexico at approximately 11:20 a.m., EST. Early reports indicate that the two-man crew was rescued by U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue personnel from Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi. Early reports indicate that the pilots bailed out of the aircraft after an unspecified emergency. Though no injuries were initially reported, both pilots were being evaluated at Spohn Shoreline Memorial Hospital.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Lakota—Airbus’ big boost. DefenseNews.Com’s Marcus Weisgerber reports, “The US Army’s decision to purchase 100 additional Airbus UH-72 Lakota helicopters for pilot training increases the potential for international sales of the aircraft . . . . The Lakota, which Airbus builds in Columbus, Miss., is a militarized version of the commercial EC145. The Army does not use the aircraft in combat and instead uses them for homeland security, drug interdiction, general support, logistics and medical evacuation. The Army had planned to conclude its purchase of 340 Lakota UH-72s in 2015. The Pentagon cut back Lakota purchases in its 2014 budget proposal, however, its 2015 spending plan adds 100 aircraft, for pilot training.”
2. People matter more—acquisition reform. GovExec.Com’s Charles S. Clark reports, “The Pentagon official charged with curbing waste in weapons acquisition said Thursday that he would ‘like to keep my best people longer, reward them with added compensation and bonuses like in industry. But such recognition is difficult in the civil service. . . . I’ve seen too many management fads and slogan-based programs that failed to address the fundamentals of what it takes to develop and field a new product,’ [Frank Kendall III, Defense Undersecretary for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics] said in prepared testimony. ‘Improving defense acquisition is a long, hard, tedious job that requires attention to the hundreds of factors that affect acquisition results . . . it will be an incremental evolutionary adjustment to the current set of initiatives . . . . The hard part of bringing change to the Pentagon is not announcing new policies; it is following up to ensure that those policies are actually implemented.’”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Hearables. Huh? NPR.Org’s Jessica Glazer explains, “Here, in the hyperconnected world of wearable technology, such as Google Glass or Fitbit watches, enter hearables, a small device you wear in your ear. If one forecaster watching this market closely is correct, hearables are about to hit the market in a big way. If that happens, what could this mean for how we interact with the new technology—and with each other?”
2. Big data—more than just marketing? Christian Science Monitor’s Mark Trumbull reports, “A new Obama administration report calls the collection of personal data by corporations increasingly ‘invasive,’ but also sings the praises of so-called ‘big data.’ The report calls for new steps, such as an online bill of rights. Yet it also seeks to tread cautiously in a fast-evolving realm that spans from Facebook to online shopping and medical information. That’s because the insights gleaned from big data – the act of compiling and analyzing digital information about consumers – are being tapped to solve problems, not just push personalized online ads.”
3. Drones aplenty—“Energy’s New Roustabouts.” New York Times’ Todd Woody reports, “Capable of carrying a high-resolution camera and other sensors, the quadcopter, a helicopter with four rotors that resembles a spaceship from a 1950s science fiction movie, was flying in a demonstration of its ability to serve a potentially lucrative new market for drones: the energy industry. . . . While it is not clear what regulations will eventually emerge, a host of companies is planning to take to the skies with drones. Amazon has said it plans to deliver packages with drones, and Google just purchased Titan Aerospace, a maker of high-altitude drone satellites.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Scumbags. Scumbags? “Sen. Lindsey Graham on Thursday again went after the Obama administration on Benghazi, calling White House officials ‘scumbags’ that ‘lied about’ the September 2012 attacks. ‘Our Democratic friends, for the most part, have been in the tank over Benghazi. They think it’s to get me reelected . . . . Some guy said this about me yesterday on the left: The only reason I cared about this was because I have six tea party opponents. Well, if that’s true, I’m the biggest scumbag in America. I don’t think that’s true. I know it’s not true. It would be almost impossible for Lindsey Graham—given who I am and what I’ve been doing for the last 20 years—not to care about those in harm’s way, who get killed, and not go on to hold the administration accountable that lied about it.’”
2. Contempt, for Congress? “House Republicans announced Thursday they plan to hold a vote next week on whether to hold a former top Internal Revenue Service official in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify about her role in a pattern of unfairly scrutinizing conservative groups. Lois Lerner, who headed the tax exempt oversight office of the IRS, has refused to testify before a House oversight panel, despite offering a lengthy statement in her own defense during a public hearing last year. Republicans believe Lerner is withholding information about the role Washington, D.C., officials played in the targeting, which singled out groups with names that suggested affiliation with the Tea Party.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Osama bin Laden: Three years after Abbottabad.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Robin Simcox argues, “Bin Laden was militarily experienced, theologically well versed enough to inspire others to die for his cause and pulled off the most remarkable terrorist attack in history on 9/11. No-one else alive today in al-Qaeda can match this, and international counterterrorism efforts mean that replicating it on a similar scale is now virtually impossible. That does not mean that al-Qaeda no longer poses a grave threat. Clearly it does. But it does mean that, thankfully, bin Laden remains one of a kind.”
2. “D.C. ‘Insiders’ Are Wrong, NATO Could Beat Russia.” DefenseOne.Com contributor Michael Cohen argues, “Since the beginning of the Crimea crisis, the foreign policy punditocracy has spoken about Russia’s behavior in the most alarmist terms imaginable—‘a new Cold War’; the ‘most seismic geopolitical event since 9/11’; a rising threat to European peace and security and ‘the gravest challenge’ of President Barack Obama’s presidency—all the while refusing to take into account little things like capabilities, intentions, actual U.S. interests and the increasingly real world impact on Russia of its actions. Believing that NATO can’t counter Russia is wrong, but in the current context of Washington’s narrow national security debates, nothing about it is surprising.”
3. “6 Reforms NATO Needs to Meet 21st Century Challenges.” USNews.Com contributor Lamont Colucci argues, “NATO is at a crossroads of identity and purpose. It can either rest on 19th century alliance rules, based on reaction and diminutive diplomacy, or it can create the destiny of the 21st century as a force of good.”
THE FUNNIES
1. War of words.
