FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Studies in Intelligence: building choppers. Contributor Charles Simmins reports, “The program began in 1970, and was run by the CIA’s Technical Services Division. The Hughes OH-6 was selected as the test bed for the project, based upon previous work by ARPA. The aircraft was named the Cayuse by the military but for the average grunt, it was the ‘Loach.’”
2. Jobs for cleared engineers in the city of brotherly love.Contributor Jillian Hamilton reports, “For those of you wondering where in the world King of Prussia is located, it is not close to Pittsburgh; however, Philadelphia is your next door neighbor. King of Prussia may seem like an unlikely place to look for a cleared position, but with great companies like Lockheed Martin in the area, there are actually hundreds of openings for cleared professionals. Here are my top four reasons to consider relocating to King of Prussia, Pa. . . .”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Taliban peace talks, perhaps. Reuters’ Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Jibran Ahmad report, “Senior Pakistani army and diplomatic officials said on Thursday the Afghan Taliban have signaled through the Pakistani military that they are willing to open peace talks, which could be held later in the day. Sources within the Afghan Taliban said their negotiators would hold the first round of peace talks with U.S. officials in Qatar later on Thursday, although no comment was immediately available from U.S. or Qatari officials. Previous efforts to negotiate an end to a war that began in late 2001 have proved fruitless, but the latest signals raised hopes of a much-needed boost for new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.” See also, “Afghanistan Peace Process: Taliban delegation in Qatar, Taliban spokesman confirms to BBC.”
2. Strange bedfellows fighting ISIS. AP’s Vivian Salama reports, “Shiite Arab militias have flooded into northern Iraq’s Kirkuk region to help Kurdish forces battle the Islamic State group, but their uneasy alliance threatens to reignite a much older conflict over the oil-rich area pitting the largely autonomous Kurds against the Arab-led government in Baghdad. All across Iraq, the rapid advance by the Islamic State extremists over the past year has drawn longtime rivals into reluctant alliances. The shared struggle could with time help Iraqis forge a long-elusive sense of national unity. But it also risks papering over disputes that could burst into the open if the threat subsides. . . .” See also, “ISIS could be planning attacks on foreign missions.”
3. Changing of the guard: DoD Press Secretary. Defense One’s Gordon Lubold reports, “Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby will step down in the next couple weeks to be replaced by a civilian spokesman for new Defense Secretary Ash Carter. . . . Carter may have wanted to pick his spokesperson, but Carter’s decision to replace Kirby appeared to be more based on the fact that the admiral is a member of the military, and not due to concerns about his performance as a press secretary.”
4. Ukraine calls on U.N. Reuters’ Elizabeth Piper reports from Kiev, “Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called for U.N. peacekeepers to be deployed to monitor a ceasefire in east Ukraine, a proposal that pro-Russia rebels swiftly said would be in breach of a peace deal. At an emergency meeting late on Wednesday, Ukraine’s national security and defense council approved Poroshenko’s request, a clear sign of Ukraine’s concerns after pro-Russian rebels seized a town after a ceasefire took effect on Sunday.” See also, “British Defense Secretary Warns Putin Could Target Baltics Next.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Pawlikowski nominated to command Air Force Material Command. ExecutiveGov’s Mary-Louise Hoffman reports, “Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, the U.S. Air Force deputy for acquisition, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as the next Air Force Materiel Command commander. President Obama also recommended that Pawlikowski be promoted to the rank of general, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced Wednesday. She manages the military branch’s approximately $32 billion in annual budget for research, development, production, testing and modernization programs.”
2. 41 UH-72A Lakotas coming up. Military & Aerospace Electronics Editor John Keller reports, “Airbus Helicopters Inc. in Herndon Va., will provide the U.S. Army with 41 UH-72A Lakota utility helicopters equipped with airborne radios under terms of a $220.6 million contract announced last week. The helicopter order, from the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., calls for Airbus Helicopters to provide the 41 UH-72A helicopters with the Raytheon AN/ARC-231 Airborne Communication System.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. DNA hard drives. Quartz’ Mike Murphy reports, “Servers, hard drives, flash drives, and disks will degrade (as will our libraries of paper books, of course), but a group of researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have found a way to encode data onto DNA—the very same stuff that all living beings’ genetic information is stored on—that could survive for millennia. One gram of DNA can potentially hold up to 455 exabytes of data . . . .”
2. Desert Falcons: Arab cyber mercenaries. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “The main method used by the Falcons to deliver the malicious payload is spear phishing via e-mails, social networking posts, and chat messages. Phishing messages contained malicious files (or a link to malicious files) masquerading as legitimate documents or applications. Desert Falcons use several techniques to entice victims into running the malicious files. One of the most specific techniques is the so-called right-to-left extension override trick.”
3. New Secret Service Director: Joseph Clancy. Federal Times’ Gregory Korte and Kevin Johnson report, “President Obama has named Joseph Clancy as the new permanent director of the U.S. Secret Service, the White House confirmed Wednesday, defying the recommendation of an independent panel that recommended he look outside the agency. Clancy, a 27-year veteran of the Secret Service and former special agent in charge of its Presidential Protection Division, took over as temporary director last October after the former director, Julia Pierson, resigned.”
4. Re-writing Rule 41. Nextgov’s Dustin Volz reports, “Google is warning that the government’s quiet plan to expand the FBI’s authority to remotely access computer files amounts to a ‘monumental’ constitutional concern. The search giant submitted public comments earlier this week opposing a Justice Department proposal that would grant judges more leeway in how they can approve search warrants for electronic data.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Unloved: “Rudy Giuliani went straight for the jugular Wednesday night during a private group dinner here featuring Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker by openly questioning whether President Barack Obama ‘loves America.’ . . . ‘I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America’ . . . ‘He doesn’t love you. And he doesn’t love me. He wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country.’” Tina asks, “What’s love got to do with it?”
2. Jeb’s secret love: “A conservative group is launching a campaign calling former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) ‘unelectable’ because he gave presumed Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton an award in 2013. In the minds of ForAmerica, a conservative group founded by Brent Bozell, the president of the Media Research Center, that one appearance is enough to disqualify him from a 2016 bid entirely. . . . As chairman of the National Constitution Center, Bush gave Clinton a lifetime achievement award for public service and her work on women’s rights. A video released by ForAmerica shows footage of Bush thanking Clinton and her husband, President Bill Clinton.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “America Needs To Engage With Its Enemies, Not Isolate.” Defense One contributor Robert A. Newson argues, “Just as during the Cold War with the Soviet Union, consistent military-to-military (and nonmilitary) engagement will not equate to endorsement of belligerent actions or acquiescence to their grand strategy. It will, however, offer in-roads to avoid miscalculation, increase understanding, and build off-ramps from places none of us wants to go.”
2. “How to arm Ukraine without starting World War Three.” Reuters contributor Steven Pifer argues, “Obama should now consider providing Ukraine more military assistance and defensive arms, with the goal of turning Moscow back to the real effort at finding peace. Though that action carries risks, inaction presents a more hazardous course.”
3. “Finding knowledge that’s unclouded.” The Christian Science Monitor’s John Yemma argues, “Knowledge isn’t found by skimming or by selectively choosing quotes to wave as a flag. Knowledge requires immersion. It is the tool that opens the mind and embraces humanity in all its complexity and diversity.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Rushing to Mars.
2. Scoundrels.
3. 50 shades of red.
