Ahmed Abdi Godane killed in U.S. strike in Somalia, Figuring out a wage grade for Cyber professionals, and Boeing’s High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HELMD) – all in today’s defense headlines. 

Monday Mourning

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1. The Bureau – built to last. Contributor David Brown explains, “For an agency that’s secret by design, the FBI holds great significance in American culture. All of this—the PR, the local police chief advertising his Quantico training, the vivid public imaginings—is by design, and the result of the work of J. Edgar Hoover . . . . Though the FBI would make notorious missteps in leadership after his death . . . the foundation established by Hoover persists to this day.”

2. Slow boat to Clearance. Editor Lindy Kyzer reports, “A stop-work ordered issued against the government’s largest background investigation firm has reached the one month mark and could extend two months longer. . . . If you’re submitting your investigation today, be aware of the delays and do everything possible to speed up the security clearance process by following proper procedures before you even submit your SF-86.”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1. Ahmed Abdi Godane is dead. DefenseOne.Com contributor Kathy Gilsinan reports, “On Friday, the Pentagon confirmed that American airstrikes in Somalia last week had succeeded in killing Ahmed Abdi Godane, the leader and co-founder of the al Qaeda-linked Islamist group al-Shabab. . . . The symbolic loss may be bigger than the operational loss, however. Targeted airstrikes or special-operations raids aimed at ‘taking out’ leaders of terrorist organizations are arguably the most critical component of the Obama administration’s light-footprint counterterrorism strategy . . . .”

2. A harrowing tale of one who got away from ISIS. Aljazeera.Com reports, “Thieban escaped a massacre at the hands of the Islamic State (IS) group in June in Tikrit, the capital of the Iraqi province of Salahadin about 170km north of Baghdad. Between 560 and 770 mainly Iraqi soldiers were killed . . . . Iraqi security officials told Al Jazeera that they estimated at least 2,400 Iraqi soldiers were killed or kidnapped by IS fighters in Tikrit, while the group itself claimed that it killed as many as 1,700 soldiers. The Islamic State group released photos showing men in civilian clothes lying face down and with their hands bound in a ditch surrounded by yellow fields, as a row of masked fighters fired at them.”

3. Coming Wednesday—Obama to the Nation. Los Angeles Times’ Don Lee and W. J. Hennigan report, “President Obama plans to address the nation Wednesday to outline a broader offensive against Sunni Muslim militants in the Middle East, a move welcomed by a number of key congressional leaders who have come to view the extremist group Islamic State as an increasingly menacing threat to the United States. Foreshadowing his remarks in an interview aired Sunday on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ Obama said that it was time for the U.S. to ‘start going on some offense’ to beat back Islamic State fighters. ‘I’m preparing the country to make sure that we deal with a threat’ . . . .” See also, “U.S. air strikes target insurgents near Iraq’s Haditha Dam.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1. Remember, the Osprey? DoDBuzz.Com’s Kris Osborn reports, “A U.S. Air Force commander assigned to NATO said the alliance plans to fly V-22 Ospreys in upcoming exercises . . . . Osprey involvement could lead to interest in the aircraft among European companies potentially hoping to acquire the aircraft through foreign military sales. . . . It will be these Ospreys that will participate in upcoming multinational exercises across the alliance . . . . The U.S. and Bell-Boeing have struggled to drum up interest in Europe for the Osprey. The U.S. has had more success in Japan. Pentagon officials have pushed to widen the reach of the Osprey in hopes of cutting future costs.”

2. Blackhawks, and more, to Georgia, maybe. DefenseNews.Com’s Marcus Weisgerber reports, “The Pentagon held talks with top Georgian military officials Sunday about moving forward with Tbilisi’s desire to purchase Sikorsky Blackhawk helicopters. While the Defense Department has not approved the sale, US defense officials discussed pricing, availability and the process of acquiring this type of high-end US military equipment. . . . The measures include defense capacity building, training, exercises, strengthened liaison and enhanced interoperability opportunities.”  See also, “U.S. Backs Georgia’s New NATO Standing, Boosts Defense Support.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1. Cybersecurity pay gap. DefenseOne.Com contributor Aliya Sternstein reports, “Federal agencies have long struggled to fill positions in the ever-growing ranks of the cybersecurity workforce. But a question going back to at least 2011 remains unanswered: Should the feds create a job category and salary scale for government cybersecurity workers—or is the profession too mercurial to assign pay grades? The Government Accountability Office thinks carving out a wage rate would help attract more talent, but the Office of Personnel Management—the agency responsible for classifying occupations—has yet to come up with a description.”

2. The HELMD—Army’s laser cannon. Wired.Com’s Jordan Golson reports, “Boeing is building a laser cannon for the U.S. Army, and the new weapon has now proved it will be as capable at sea as on land. The High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HELMD)—basically a high-energy laser mounted on top of a big truck—was successfully used to blast some UAV drones and 60mm mortars out of the Florida sky earlier this year . . . . the laser makes an incredibly powerful, highly focused beam of light and aims it at a moving target. Light equals heat, and, after enough heat has been transferred, the target is compromised and crashes or blows up. The Army and Boeing (which landed a $36 million contract for the project) have been working on this for the better part of a decade, par for the course for a next-generation weapons platform.”

3. Threats are threats. FierceGovernmentIT.Com’s Dibya Sakar reports, “NATO pledged to strengthen its cyber defenses, saying such computer threats and attacks are no different from conventional ones, the alliance’s 28 member countries said Sept. 5 during its summit. At the two-day Wales summit, the alliance issued pledges and decisions in a number of areas—including cybersecurity—to better meet various security challenges. It adopted an Enhanced Cyber Defence Policy that lays out the principles for its members to defend against cyber threats and attacks as they become more frequent, complex and potentially damaging.”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1. Shady’s back: “Of course, it’s not as if Congress has anything on its plate. There are a few niggling little things, such as the entire appropriations process for the fiscal year that begins October 1; dealing with ISIS, the bombing in Iraq and the War Powers Act implications; the immigration issue, including the current border questions involving children from Central America; tax inversions and tax reform; continuing pressing infrastructure needs; and everything else that has not passed in the nearly two years the 113th Congress has been around.”

2. Winner take nothing: “As he heads into the fall, President Obama faces a string of no-win situations. If he pushes Congress to vote on items on his domestic agenda such as immigration reform, Republicans won’t go along. If he takes action on his own, they’ll charge him with overreach. And if he holds back, he’ll bleed support from Democrats. On foreign policy, the picture is even bleaker. In hot spots including Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine, he faces difficult if not impossible goals. Not intervening means allowing horrors to go unchecked, but getting involved presents its own set of problems. And then there’s the elections.”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1. “Beyond Airstrikes, How the US Can Accelerate the Islamic State’s Defeat.” DefenseOne.Com contributor Bilal Y. Saab argues, “These multidimensional challenges are real and will complicate U.S. plans tremendously. Should the United States continue to mull over options, passivity will only elevate the threat level of the enemy. Only Iraqis and Syrians can kill the Islamic State, but the U.S. is in a unique position to provide the time and space to do so, more rapidly than the president has been willing, so far.”

2. “Keep your frenemies list short and your enemies list shorter.” Reuters’ Jack Shafer asks, “There are plenty of genuine perils for the United States to consider without canvassing the planet for additional ones. The United States can’t possibly intervene in every region where injustice, murder, military aggression, and pillage take place. So why exactly must it join the Arab world’s great civil wars?”

3. “Islamic State’s badass path to paradise.” Los Angeles Times contributor Simon Cottee argues, “The former CIA operations officer and terrorism scholar Marc Sageman coined the phrase ‘jihadi cool.’ . . . Jihadi groups are not cool; they are bad. But they are also cloaked in a mythology of righteousness. They are good, fighting the forces of evil, or so their adherents believe. It is this combination that explains Islamic State’s seductive appeal, especially for Western gang members in search of redemption and ever more spectacular forms of violence and excitement.”

THE FUNNIES

1. No guard on duty.

2. Creepy crawlers.

3. Yeah . . . Scream.

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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.