FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Salary negotiations. Contributor Jennifer Cary advises, “One giant hurdle in landing a new job is salary negotiation. It’s a delicate process for anyone, but especially for service members who may be wandering into foreign territory. The following tips should help you navigate the negotiation process. Heads up—successfully negotiating your salary starts way before you ever see a job offer.” 2. Before you retire . . . . Also from Jennifer Cary, “When it’s time to retire, the military provides you with a stack of paperwork, lots of classes and dozens of to-do blocks to check off. And while those things are important, there are a few items you may want to spend some extra time on before you hang up your uniform.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Taliban battles in Afghanistan. LongWarJournal.Org’s Bill Roggio reports, “The Afghan Taliban have been battling government forces for the past week in an attempt to retake control of the district of Sangin in Helmand province. Scores of civilians, security personnel, and Taliban fighters are reported to have been killed in the ongoing fighting. The Taliban launched their assault on June 19, with an estimated 800 to 1,000 fighters attacking police and military checkpoints in Sangin. The Taliban overran several outposts, then, in what is described as a coordinated offensive, attacked security forces and government personnel in the neighboring districts of Musa Qala, Now Zad, and Kajaki in northern Helmand.” 2. More troops to Iraq—nearing 1000 total. Aljazeera.Com reports, “President Barack Obama has said he will send about 200 more US troops to Iraq to protect Americans and the US embassy in Baghdad amid fierce fighting in the country between government forces and Sunni armed groups. . . . The announcement will bring to nearly 800 the total number of US forces in and around Iraq to train local forces, secure the embassy and protect Washington’s interests.” See also, “Obama Sends Up To 200 More” and “Baghdad Joint Operations Center at Full Capacity.” 3. Challenges ahead—the new VA Secretary. DefenseOne.Com contributor Jordan Carney reports, “We now know who will inherit the broken Veterans Affairs Department, but fixing the agency’s bureaucratic nightmare will be no easy task. . . . Here are some of the biggest challenges facing McDonald, assuming he is confirmed by the Senate.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Contract delivery delays in Iraq. DefenseNews.Com reports, “Violence in Iraq could delay the delivery of American F-16 fighter jets to the Baghdad government after contractors had to be evacuated from a key air base . . . . Although the United States is moving to expedite the delivery of weapons and ammunition to the Iraqi government as it battles Sunni extremists, volatile conditions on the ground threaten to disrupt preparations for the F-16 jets . . . . Private contractors working on the F-16 program at Balad airbase were recently moved to a safer location in Baghdad because of the threat posed by advancing Sunni militants.” 2. $1.7 billion sale to Kuwait. DSCA.Mil reports, “The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Kuwait for facilities and infrastructure construction support services and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $1.7 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on Jun 30, 2014. . . . The Government of Kuwait has requested a possible sale for the design, construction, procurement of medical, non-medical, and information technology equipment, and operation and maintenance for the Kuwait Armed Forces Hospital.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. NSA—in through your backdoor. NextGov.Com contributor Dustin Volz reports, “Intelligence agencies are disclosing new information about searches performed on Americans’ digital communications through a controversial program intended for surveillance of foreign criminal and terrorist suspects. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report Monday detailing a method of foreign surveillance that critics have claimed amounts to an unlawful ‘backdoor search’ of U.S. citizens.” Read the report. 2. Self-driving and mine-detecting. Wired.Com’s Jordan Golson reports, “Improvised explosive devices, mines, and other kinds of roadside bombs are a major threat to U.S. troops serving overseas. That may be about to change, and not just because we’re pulling out of Afghanistan. U.S. defense contractor Oshkosh Defense already keeps soldiers away from harm with the M-ATV, an armored vehicle specially designed to resist blasts from IEDs and mines. Even better, it detects explosives using special ground penetrating radar and a 12-wheeled mineroller which attaches to the front of the M-ATV. But that’s not quite good enough: Oshkosh wants to move soldiers even further from the danger zone by putting them in another vehicle entirely and making the minesweeping truck drive itself.” 3. Cyber exercise range. FierceGovernmentIT.Com’s Dibya Sakar reports, “NATO should create an ‘exercise range’ to help its members test and exercise their cyber capabilities and share lessons learned and new concepts with the group. The nonpartisan Atlantic Council made the recommendation in a new joint report with the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies that generally looked at how NATO reacts to threats around the world as defense budgets and political will are strained.” Read the report, “NATO in an era of global competition.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Get out the pen: “President Obama on Monday announced that he would use his executive authority to shift Department of Homeland Security resources from the interior to the border in a speech eviscerating House Republicans for failing to pass an immigration reform bill. Obama said that while he waited for the House to bring up a comprehensive bill for a vote, he must deal with the influx of unaccompanied minors at the border through executive action. . . . ‘Instead, they’ve proven again and again that they’re unwilling to stand up to the tea party in order to do what’s best for the country. And the worst part about it is a bunch of them know better,’ Obama said about Republicans. The President concluded by noting that he doesn’t ‘prefer taking administrative actions.’” 2. Kiss ‘n’ run: “Rep. Vance McAllister (R-La.) on Monday said he would seek reelection, reversing a previous decision after the married congressman was caught kissing a former staff member earlier this year. Now, the Louisiana congressman said he thinks his constituents should make the decision on whether he continues to serve. ‘I wanted to make sure everything was good with our family . . . . Our family is stronger than ever, so I think the people should decide whether or not I continue to represent them.’ . . . Zach Dasher, a nephew of ‘Duck Dynasty’ patriarch Phil Robertson, has announced his candidacy. During his first run, McAllister received support from the popular Robertson family.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Jihadis in Iraq and Syria declare a caliphate? Why that’s good.” Christian Science Monitor contributor Dan Murphy offers, “One of the clearest things about the current situation is how little US political leaders have learned about Iraq over the past decade, with a goldfish-like institutional memory exposed by the awkward fumbling for solutions.” 2. “Are we at war? And why can’t we be sure anymore?” Reuters contributor John Lloyd argues, “What emerges from a super-fast tour of current conflict is not a World War Three in the offing. Rather it could become an even more extensive series of partly connected, partly discrete local or regional wars that, if they continue, could overwhelm the already strained mechanisms for mediation and peacemaking, and coalesce into arcs of killing and destruction.” 3. “Iraq prime minister’s air power obsession.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Afzal Ashraf argues that “. . . both the political context and the military circumstances suggest that air power will be used in a way that could lead to civilian casualties. The potential to store up another phase of grievances between the Sunni heartland and Baghdad seems great. Any short-term military success might come at the expense of long-term political damage.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Shall we dance? 2. Blowback. 3. Executive order.
