The Coastal Command Patrol Boat docks, Outline of Obama’s oration, and Three more ways to protect your 411 – all in today’s defense headlines. 

Humph Day Highlights & Headlines That Never Were

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1. Responding to weird. Contributor Tranette Ledford explains, “One might think that when competing for jobs requiring a clearance, the job interview questions would focus entirely on skill sets, talents and expertise.  But that isn’t always the case. . . .”

2. Cyber education and cleared careers. Also from Tranette Ledford, “The upshot of military cyber education is its impact on transitioning veterans interested in competing for cleared cyber careers over the next few years.  The field is among the fastest growing career fields and relatively new; meaning education and certification count more than experience.  Graduates with bachelor’s degrees as well as those with CISSP certification and associate degrees are employable immediately.”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1. ISIS strategy preview. AP’s Julie Pace reports, “In an address to the nation, President Barack Obama will outline an expanded military and political effort to combat militants in Syria and Iraq, and urge Congress to quickly give him authority to arm moderate Syrian opposition forces fighting President Bashar Assad. But administration officials said Obama will press forward with other elements of his plan without formal authorization from lawmakers.” Christian Science Monitor reports, “Congressional leaders express ‘support’ for fight against Islamic State.”

2. Pounding ISIS—update. Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe reports, “The United States on Monday launched its 148th airstrike in Iraq since President Obama authorized strikes there a month ago. That works out to about five per day, a rate that has enabled U.S. forces to target a wide breadth of equipment, infrastructure and weapons controlled by militants with the Islamic State.”

3. Mark VI—Navy’s new patrol boat. Foxtrot Alpha’s Tyler Rogoway reports, “The Navy has been slow to adapt from a Cold War era ‘blue water’ Navy, focused on fighting set-piece prelude to WWIII engagements on the open ocean, to one where interdiction, territorial security, and special operations are also of a high priority. With this in mind, the Mark VI Patrol Boat is welcome arrival. . . . Bridging the gap between the Navy’s small fleet of larger Cyclone class patrol ships, and smaller Sea Ark patrol boats, the Mark VI is based on a smaller, 65 foot prototype craft known as the Coastal Command Patrol Boat (CCPB).”

4. NATO’s commandos. AviationWeek.Com’s Nicholas Fiorenza reports, “As originally conceived, the NRF consisted of a brigade-size land component, a naval task force composed of a carrier battle group, amphibious task group and surface action group, an air component capable of 200 combat sorties a day, and a special forces component. . . . A spearhead force is being created over the coming months. . . . in 2016 Belgium [will] provide a light infantry battalion, an intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance battalion, special forces, six F-16s and two NH90 helicopters.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1. Defense contracting in the free market. NationalDefenseMagazine.Org’s Sandra I. Erwin reports, “The Pentagon believes the cure for many of its procurement woes — soaring equipment costs, lackluster technology and poor return on investment — is to be found in the free market. A competitive market motivates contractors to lower prices and deliver better products, says Richard T. Ginman, director of defense procurement and acquisition policy. ‘In the commercial marketplaces, the rule is that prices go down and quality goes up. I would love to be in that situation.’ . . . Defense contractors and industry analysts, meanwhile, are highly skeptical.”

2. Better Buying Power Part III. C4ISRNet.Com’s Amber Corrin reports, “Defense Department officials are preparing to roll out a third iteration of its Better Buying Power initiative aimed at reforming defense acquisition, and the new version will focus on products, innovation and engineering. . . . The first BBP focused on rules and business practices, and the second emphasized critical thinking and the acquisition workforce. . . .  the latest version is ‘a change in emphasis—it’s not a fundamental change in direction.’”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1. Future Vertical Lift. BreakingDefense.Com’s Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. reports, “I watched three battle-scarred acquisition experts—including the admiral who turned the F-35 around—advise a young officer from the Future Vertical Lift initiative, who was furiously taking notes. The panel’s theme: how FVL, which plans to replace a host of current helicopters, can avoid the errors of past programs like the F-35. The good news is the single most important lesson-learned is one FVL is already acting on. The bad news is that FVL’s approach, at least by one assessment, still raises half a dozen ‘red flags.’”

2. Hack-proof-ifying. Wired.Com’s Mat Honan advises, “Everything is vulnerable, and if you haven’t been personally affected by a data breach yet, you will. But while you can’t ever protect yourself 100 percent from malicious data theft, you can at least put a better lock on your door than the one your neighbor has. These three simple tips will go a long way toward helping you avoid having a hacker rifling through your files.”

3. UAS Revolution. AviationWeek.Com’s Graham Warwick reports, “As the likes of Amazon, Facebook and Google become more involved in unmanned aircraft and other forms of aviation, there are hopes that the companies’ intellectual and financial resources, and their influence and leverage with politicians and the public, can be brought to bear on institutional and regulatory barriers to what many see as potentially transformational applications of technology to aerospace.”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1. Don’t need no stinking approval: “President Obama told congressional leaders in a meeting Tuesday that he has the authority to launch broader attacks against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, downplaying the prospect of a Capitol Hill vote on his military plan ahead of his prime-time address to the nation Wednesday night. Obama ‘told the leaders that he has the authority he needs to take action against [the Islamic State] in accordance with the mission he will lay out in his address’ . . . . Some lawmakers have called on the president to seek congressional authorization for airstrikes in Iraq and potentially Syria, but the White House says the president is under no obligation to do so.”

2. Finally, an organizing principle: “Mayhem in the Middle East is suddenly taking center stage in the midterm elections. In campaigns across the country, Republicans are seizing on what they call the Obama administration’s feckless response to Islamic State militants as part of a broader case to voters to turn against Democrats in November. Their argument: Barack Obama is a disengaged figure whose power needs to be checked. . . . While foreign affairs has taken a back seat this midterm election to economic issues and lingering dissatisfaction with Obamacare, ISIL—and the ongoing questions about the president’s strategy for dealing with it—plays neatly into what is the central GOP 2014 thrust: to exploit widespread public dissatisfaction with a president who, six years into his tenure, is facing mounting questions about his leadership.”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1. “What Obama Should Tell America (But Likely Won’t).” USNews.Com contributor Lawrence J. Haas imagines he’s president: “We are neither a perfect people nor a perfect nation. But through the years, we have been the greatest force for good – for freedom and democracy, for peace and prosperity – that the world has ever known. Through the years, new challenges to freedom have arisen from ruthless adversaries who are driven by radical ideologies. In the face of such challenges, we remain what we have been for so long: the ‘indispensable nation.’”

2. “The GOP’s Iraq quandary.” Los Angeles Times’ Doyle McManus argues, “For most of the summer, Republicans had it easy when it came to the Islamic State. All they had to do was complain that President Obama wasn’t tough enough, accuse him of lacking strategic vision and demand that he do more. . . . Leaders in both parties have decided that a full-scale debate—and a vote that would force members to declare themselves clearly in favor or opposed—isn’t in their political interest right now.”

3. “How Russia Is Revolutionizing Information Warfare.” DefenseOne.Com contributor Peter Pomerantsev explains, “If nothing is true, then anything is possible. We are left with the sense that we don’t know what Putin will do next—that he’s unpredictable and thus dangerous. We’re rendered stunned, spun, and flummoxed by the Kremlin’s weaponization of absurdity and unreality.”

THE FUNNIES

1. Charge!

2. Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue NW.

3. Psyops.

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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.