FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Intel community’s celebrated values. “At the Intelligence and National Security Alliance’s 2014 Achievement Awards . . . national intelligence community leaders and supporting industry representatives reinforced the qualities they value in their most successful people. . . . a passion for the organization and professional development of its people, the keenest research and analytical skills, inspirational and productive efforts to promote interagency partnership and collaboration, and a love of and commitment to the team.”
2. Whistle while you work. Contributor John Holst advises, “You have a clearance that should make you desirable to many companies. You’ve even snagged a few interviews, but for some reason you just haven’t been picked up. You’re desperate, and in that state, you might not want to make any life-changing decisions. Maybe, just maybe, it’s time to sit back and breathe.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Hostage policy review. Reuters reports, “President Barack Obama has ordered a comprehensive review of U.S. policy governing efforts to free Americans being held by militant groups overseas . . . . ‘’In light of the increasing number of U.S. citizens taken hostage by terrorist groups overseas and the extraordinary nature of recent hostage cases . . . , this summer President Obama directed relevant departments and agencies, including the Departments of Defense and State, the FBI, and the Intelligence Community, to conduct a comprehensive review of how the U.S. government addresses these matters.’” See also, “Islamic State beheading videos might now be backfiring.”
2. Mosul operations delayed. Rudaw.Net reports from Erbil, “The deputy governor of Mosul warned it would be harder to recapture Iraq’s second-largest city from the Islamic State (ISIS) the longer the operation is delayed. ‘The sooner the operation begins, the better,’ Nuraddin Kaplan said. ‘The more time that passes, the harder it will become’ to regain control of the fallen city, he added. ISIS has been in control of Mosul, together with a third of Iraq, since capturing the city from the Iraqi Army in June.”
3. Attacks in Israel. AP’s Tia Goldenberg reports from Jerusalem, “Two Palestinians stormed a Jerusalem synagogue on Tuesday, attacking worshippers praying inside with knives, axes and guns, and killing four people before they were killed in a shootout with police . . . . Netanyahu vowed that Israel will ‘respond harshly’ to the attack, describing it as a ‘cruel murder of Jews who came to pray and were killed by despicable murderers.’” See also, “Palestinians kill four in Jerusalem synagogue attack” and “Chronology of Israeli-Palestinian violence.”
4. War funding: $5.6 billion to fight ISIS, and more. DoDBuzz.Com’s Brendan McGarry reports, “Congress will likely pass the White House’s separate war-funding request to battle Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria despite some lawmakers’ concerns over strategy, an analyst said. The Obama administration requested $5.6 billion to conduct military operations against the extremist group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Most of the money would go to the Defense Department. That’s in addition to the Pentagon’s fiscal 2015 defense budget of about $554 billion, including a base budget of $496 billion and a war budget of about $59 billion . . . .”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Procurement two-step for VA scheduling software. NextGov.Com’s Jack Moore reports, “Six months after revelations of lengthy wait times faced by veterans seeking care embroiled the Department of Veterans Affairs in scandal, the agency is putting the finishing touches on its proposed shopping list for buying updated scheduling software. A request for proposal for the new scheduling system is ‘going to hit the street no later than’ Nov. 21, VA Chief Information Officer Stephen Warren told reporters . . . . The scheduling procurement will follow a two-step process . . . .”
2. $35.5 million to Woods Hole for UUV (drone subs). MilitaryAerospace.Com Editor John Keller reports, “Military undersea experts at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Mass., develop and upgrade a variety of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) programs that involve underwater communications, underwater mine hunting, and anti-submarine warfare (ASW). Officials of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, R.I., have awarded a $35.5 million contract to Woods Hole to develop, assess, upgrade, and modernize underwater drones and other unmanned undersea technologies the Navy uses for undersea surveillance and undersea warfare.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Biodegradable drones. DefenseOne.Com contributor Shirley Li reports, “Created—or rather, grown—by a team of 15 students from Stanford University, Brown University, and Spelman College for the 2014 iGEM competition, the biodegradable drone is made mostly of fibrous mycelium, a root-like material found in fungi. . . . If a drone doing surveillance or spying crashes, for example, it could decompose before an enemy could find it.”
2. State department attack. FederalTimes.Com’s Aaron Boyd reports, “The State Department is the most recent federal agency to admit to a breach of its cyber networks after the Associated Press revealed Sunday that the department had shut down its email systems to remediate an intrusion into its unclassified network. . . . the breach only affected the State Department’s unclassified networks and interrupted the agency’s ‘connectivity to the Internet,’ which remained down as of Monday afternoon.”
3. Robot offset. DefenseOne.Com contributor Patrick Tucker reports, “The inclusion of robotic and autonomous systems in the Hagel’s remarks is the clearest indication yet that the Pentagon is rekindling its romance with drones. In 2013, when drone spending was near its height, the Pentagon allocated $5.7 billion for unmanned aerial vehicles. Compare that to $2.4 billion set aside for drones in the FY 2015 budget (as well as a 15 percent reduction in Predators and Reapers.) Hagel’s comments suggest that trend is about to reverse. But it’s in ‘autonomous’ research where the military could realize its biggest ‘offset’ gains in the next decades.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Let it ride: “President Obama is putting a lot on the line to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, his top foreign policy priority and a key element of the legacy he hopes to leave behind after his term in office expires. Critics say he might be risking too much. Negotiators are racing to craft a deal before a Nov. 24 deadline that would require Iran to permanently suspend activities that could allow it to produce a nuclear weapon in exchange for relief from international sanctions. The deal would replace an interim agreement negotiated a year ago. . . .”
2. Senate feeding frenzy: “Republicans and some Democrats have long begged Reid to loosen his grip on Senate procedure and let more senators have a say on the shape of important bills. Now he’s promising to do just that on a controversial intelligence bill, but his detractors might not realize what else they’ve bargained for: The potential for mayhem on the Senate floor. . . . any senator will be able to offer up amendments that could water down the bill, pump it up — or even bring in unrelated intelligence and national security proposals to it, a frenzy that could drastically alter the bill.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “What Obama Needs To Do To Beat ISIS.” Council on Foreign Relations’ Max Boot argues, “To defeat ISIS, the president needs to dispatch more aircraft, military advisors, and special operations forces, while loosening the restrictions under which they operate. The president also needs to do a better job of mobilizing support from Sunnis in Iraq and Syria, as well as from Turkey, by showing that he is intent on deposing not only ISIS but also the equally murderous Alawite regime in Damascus.”
2. “The rise of the Houthis.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Martin Reardon argues, “The Houthis’ rise to power and influence was as sudden as it was unexpected, and for now at least, they have brought about political change that may not have occurred otherwise for many years. Change that for the first time in Yemen’s history is set to be truly representative of all the disparate political factions. Only time will tell whether the new government can effectively control a country as complex and diverse as Yemen.”
3. “Pentagon Moves Complicate Fighter Plans.” AviationWeek.Com contributor Bill Sweetman argues, “Selling military airplanes is not just about hardware. It is the start of a decades-long relationship that involves industrial participation, technical support, upgrades that will use technology that does not exist today, and operational and strategic military cooperation. It involves a level of trust beyond what fits on a paper contract.”
THE FUNNIES
2. Retraining.
3. Net neutrality.
