FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Defense contracts on the rise. Contributor Chandler Harris reports, “Federal contracts are predicted to increase by $59.6 billion during fiscal year 2015 . . . . The total contract value is projected to be $206 billion, compared to about $161 billion in total contract value in 2014. Defense contracts are projected to fall by $7.4 billion compared to 2014, while civilian contracts are expected to be 2.5 times more than last year, at $109.6 billion.”
2. Debt and security risks. Also from Chandler Harris, “An estimated 83,000 Department of Defense employees and contractors with security clearances had a collected unpaid federal tax debt of more than $730 million as of June 2012 . . . . [W]orkers with access to classified information could become targets by foreign intelligence if they have financial troubles. While federal law doesn’t prevent a person with tax debt from being granted a security clearance, security clearance guidelines warn about it. . . .”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Iraq’s abandoned chemical weapons – where are they now? The New York Times’ C.J. Chivers reports, “In case after case, participants said, analysis of these warheads and shells reaffirmed intelligence failures. First, the American government did not find what it had been looking for at the war’s outset, then it failed to prepare its troops and medical corps for the aged weapons it did find.”
2. Turkey suffering second-order ISIS effects. Reuters’ Humeyra Pamuk and Daren Butler report from Mursitpinar, “American-led forces have sharply intensified air strikes in the past two days against Islamic State fighters threatening Kurds on Syria’s Turkish border after the jihadists’ advance began to destabilize Turkey. . . . War on the militants in Syria is threatening to unravel a delicate peace in neighboring Turkey where Kurds are furious with Ankara over its refusal to help protect their kin in Syria.” See also “Lebanon girds for pre-winter attacks” and “Fight Against ISIL ‘Long-term Campaign.’”
3. North / South Korea talks. Reuters reports from Seoul, “High-ranking military officials from North and South Korea met on Wednesday to discuss recent border altercations including exchanges of fire but they did not resolve their differences . . . . North Korea’s military fired shots on Friday at big balloons released by a private activist group from the South carrying leaflets with messages critical of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. . . . Earlier last week, the two sides exchanged fire after a North Korean patrol boat crossed a sea border that the North has long disputed in an area where naval clashes have in the past killed scores of sailors on both sides. The military officials met at the request of North Korea . . . . It was the first time in more than three years that military officials from the two sides have held talks.”
4. Umbrella Revolution turning violent. AP’s Kelvin Chan and Sylvia Hui report from Hong Kong, “Hong Kong police battling activists for control of an underpass in the dead of night Wednesday sparked public anger after officers were seen kicking a handcuffed protester in the worst violence since street demonstrations for greater democracy began more than two weeks ago. . . . Beijing, meanwhile, issued its harshest condemnations yet of the protests, calling them illegal, bad for business and against Hong Kong’s best interests. The central government has become increasingly impatient with the demonstrations, the biggest challenge to Beijing’s authority since China took control of the former British colony in 1997.”
5. Army Aviation Restructuring Initiative (ARI)—full speed ahead! AviationWeek.Com’s Amy Butler reports, “In the ARI, the Army proposes shifting utility helicopters and lift assets into the Guard with the Apache attack helicopters transferred into all active units. It also cuts end strength on the fleets to 10 from 13 aviation brigades. A controversial element of the restructuring, however, is the proposal to not only shift the locations of these assets—always a thorny issue with Congress—but to retire the OH-58A/C/D and TH-67 fleets. The goal is to reduce the number of platforms in the service, streamlining training and maintenance.” See also, “New Sequester Would Hurt End Strength, Readiness” and “Army Busier and More Far-Flung.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Record foreign military sales. DoDBuzz.Com’s Brendan McGarry reports, “The U.S. Army had a record year for foreign military sales, with rising demand in the Middle East and elsewhere for such weapons systems as Apache attack helicopters, as well as Patriot and Javelin missiles . . . . The United States Army Security Assistance Command in fiscal 2014, which ended Sept. 30, had a ‘significant increase’ to 719 cases, or instances, of such sales worth a total of $21 billion . . . . popular weapons systems [are] the AH-64 Apache gunship made by Boeing Co., the MIM-104 Patriot truck-mounted missile-defense system made by Raytheon Co., and the FGM-148 Javelin shoulder-launched missile system made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Corp.” See also from DefenseOne.Com, “Army Fights Budget Cuts While Industry Targets Europe.”
2. Double V-Hull Strykers—keeping production lines warm. Also from DoDBuzz.Com, Matthew Cox reports, “The U.S. Army is outfitting another one of its Stryker Brigade Combat Team with Double V-Hull vehicles to better protect them from enemy bombs. The Project Manager for the Stryker Brigade Combat Team has received Army acquisition executive approval for procurement of a 4th brigade of Stryker Double V-Hull vehicles. The 360-vehicle purchase is scheduled to happen sometime between fiscal years 2016–2018 if funding is available . . . . The effort has the side benefit of extending the exchange program and supporting the combat vehicle industrial base.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Osprey offspring—the V-280 Valor. DefenseNews.Com’s Michelle Tan reports, “Slightly larger than the UH-60 Black Hawk, the V-280 is a third-generation tiltrotor aircraft designed for the Joint Multi-Role demonstrator and Future Vertical Lift programs. . . . The V-280 can cruise at 280 knots with a combat range of 500 to 800 nautical miles . . . . In its current configuration, the V-280 can carry a crew of four plus 14 troops, and has two six-foot-wide side doors for quick entry and exit. It also has a fixed engine configuration, meaning only the propellers rotate, and straight fixed wings, for simplicity of design and cost effectiveness . . . .”
2. Global warming as security threat. New York Times’ Coral Davenport reports, “The Pentagon . . . released a report asserting decisively that climate change poses an immediate threat to national security, with increased risks from terrorism, infectious disease, global poverty and food shortages. It also predicted rising demand for military disaster responses as extreme weather creates more global humanitarian crises. The report lays out a road map to show how the military will adapt to rising sea levels, more violent storms and widespread droughts. The Defense Department will begin by integrating plans for climate change risks across all of its operations, from war games and strategic military planning situations to a rethinking of the movement of supplies.” Read the report.
3. Taking your passwords. Slate.Com’s James Cook explains, “The most likely source of the information is a third-party site that had poor security. Hackers know that most internet users re-use their passwords, so they often target smaller apps made by amateur developers. These easy targets have poor security — so usernames, passwords or files may be stored in a way that’s easy for hackers to steal them.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Tied Senate: “With both political parties battling for control of the U.S. Senate in November, there has been scant consideration of a possible outcome neither side wants: An evenly divided Senate. That the election could result in 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats elected to the United States Senate is neither impossible nor unprecedented, but it’s rare, and definitely complicated. . . . Republicans say if the Senate is evenly split in January, they could move to curb Reid’s power over the amendment process, harnessing the anger among Reid’s own Democrats, some of whom believe they have been unfairly prevented from having the power to shape legislation.”
2. Mid-term voting: “The Supreme Court sure looks like it’s fine-tuning the rules for the 2014 election. Over the past three weeks, the justices gave Ohio the green light to cut early voting by a week, let North Carolina end same-day voter registration and blocked Wisconsin from implementing a new voter ID law. And the justices could soon face another request, one that asks them to step in to block a Texas voter ID law from being enforced in next month’s elections. Despite the flurry of high court rulings, many legal analysts and some judges say the Supreme Court’s actions are less about broad voting rights principles than telling federal judges to butt out, particularly so close to Election Day.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Why Kobane isn’t a US priority.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Namo Abdulla argues, “Kerry . . . might well be miscalculating what is truly at stake with the fall of Kobane. Morality aside, saving Kobane is about preventing ISIL from gaining a major victory, an achievement that directly puts into question the effectiveness of Obama’s ‘degrade and ultimately destroy’ strategy.”
2. “Islamic State may shift tactics.” Reuters contributor David Axe argues, “The logical next step for Islamic State is to return to its roots as a guerrilla and terror group—one that doesn’t try to match the United States and its allies’ arsenals of vehicles, artillery and aircraft. Iraqi and Kurdish troops could, technically speaking, liberate every town and city Islamic State currently occupies—without coming close to defeating it as an organization.”
3. “The Path to a Stable Iraq.” USNews.Com contributor James S. Robbins argues, “Negotiating a new status of forces agreement will send a signal to the jihadi fighters and other disruptive forces in the region – such as Iran – that the United States is serious about maintaining stability in Iraq. It will demonstrate good faith to Baghdad as well as to the hundreds of thousands of veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom who were seeing the fruits of their service and sacrifice thrown away. And it would give the White House an opportunity to show that on occasion they are the gang that can shoot straight.”
