FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Overseas move. Contributor Jennifer Cary offers, “Once you’ve accepted a job overseas, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of living abroad. The food! The culture! The travel opportunities! But before you can start eating authentic bratwursts or taking selfies in front of Big Ben, you have to plan out and execute an overseas move. Here are a few tips to make your move a little less cringeworthy and a little more organized. . . .”
2. Taking on JPAS reports. Contributor Sean Bigley advises, “Once you know exactly what was reported about you, consider seeking expert help on steps you can take to proactively mitigate the issue before any reinvestigation is triggered and/or before the government issues a Letter of Intent to revoke your security clearance. In some cases, it may also be worth reaching out to the government to provide additional information that could help adjudicators resolve your case without the need for any new investigation.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Global jihad myth. The Atlantic’s Martha Crenshaw reports, “What’s sometimes referred to as the global jihadist ‘movement’ is actually extremely fractured. It’s united by a general set of shared ideological beliefs, but divided organizationally and sometimes doctrinally. Whether to fight the ‘near enemy’ (local regimes) or the ‘far enemy’ (such as the United States and the West), for example, has been contentious since the 1990s, when Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States. . . .” See also, “U.S. security officials share a sober view of terrorism challenge.”
2. Russia’s polar pivot. Defense News’ Matthew Bodner reports, “In order to secure its large swath of the resource-rich Arctic, Moscow has created a new Northern Command structure under which ground, sea and air units are being deployed to reopened Soviet-era bases along Russia’s northern frontier. . . . With the Arctic becoming increasingly contested, and Russia’s economy continuing its deep dependence on resource exports, Moscow has been beefing up its military presence in the region to assert control over as much territory as it can, reopening old Soviet bases and constructing new ones.”
3. USMC’s Amphibious Combat Vehicle. DoD Buzz’s Matthew Cox reports, “The Corps has identified its new Amphibious Combat Vehicle as its top modernization priority. The effort is set to replace most of Marine Amphibious Assault Vehicles that are well over 40 years old. . . . The proposed modernization plan does not account for the mandatory budget under sequestration that are scheduled to occur in 2016 if Congress and the White House doesn’t find a way to repeal the crippling defense spending cuts enacted by the 2011 Budget Control Act. Senators were more concerned, however, with the service’s decision to choose wheeled technology over the more time-tested tracked design.”
4. Mourning lost service members. AP’s Cain Burdeau and Melissa Nelson-Gabriel report, “The helicopter that crashed had a veteran crew from Hammond, Louisiana, that served multiple tours in Iraq and helped humanitarian missions . . . . They were carrying ‘unconventional warriors’ from the Marines Special Operations Command. Like the Army’s Green Berets and the Navy’s SEALs, they were highly trained to endure grueling conditions and sensitive assignments on land and at sea, from seizing ships to special reconnaissance missions and direct action inside hostile territory.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Free market contracting. The Atlantic’s Eric Schnurer offers, “[R]ealizing lower costs within government often requires exposing the government to competition in order to force government managers and workers to become more efficient. In short, the answer isn’t privatization—it’s competition.”
2. GPS call is out. Military & Aerospace Electronics’ John Keller reports, “U.S. Army navigation and guidance experts are surveying industry companies able to provide rugged, lightweight Global Positing System (GPS) receivers with 2.6-inch screens for warfighters in the field. Officials of the Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., issued a sources-sought notice this week (MARKET-SURVEY-5798-1) for companies able to provide as many as 592 handheld GPS receivers.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. NSA, BACKSNARF, and the Equation Group. ars technica’s Dan Goodin reports, “Researchers from Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab have uncovered more evidence tying the US National Security Agency to a nearly omnipotent group of hackers who operated undetected for at least 14 years. The Kaspersky researchers once again stopped short of saying the hacking collective they dubbed Equation Group was the handiwork of the NSA, saying only that the operation had to have been sponsored by a nation-state with nearly unlimited resources to dedicate to the project. . . .” See also, “Code name found in Equation group malware suggests link to NSA,” “Kaspersky claims to have found NSA’s ‘space station malware,’” “How ‘omnipotent’ hackers tied to NSA hid for 14 years—and were found at last.”
2. Drone export policy analysis. Defense One’s Andrew Hunter and Andrew Metrick report, “When the U.S. announced last month a new policy governing the export of U.S. drones, news outlets overwhelmingly declared a coming flood of U.S. military drone sales around the world. Go read the government news release, however, and you’d be hard pressed to reach these conclusions – and for a good reason. The president’s policy is not new, will not lead to rapid proliferation of U.S.-made drones and does nothing to clarify the confusion about why drones should be treated differently from other weapons systems. What the policy does is build on the precedents of past, case-by-case decisions regarding drone exports.”
3. Cybersecurity balkanization. Reuters’ Joseph Menn reports, “The $71 billion cybersecurity industry is fragmenting along geopolitical lines as firms chase after government contracts, share information with spy agencies, and market themselves as protectors against attacks by other nations. . . . The balkanization of the security industry reflects broader rifts in the technology markets that have been exacerbated by disclosures about government-sponsored cyberattacks and surveillance programs, especially those leaked by former U.S. intelligence agency contractor Edward Snowden.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Rock bottom: “Tensions between the White House and Congressional Republicans have reached an all-time low, say Republicans, most of whom have not met with President Obama in years. . . . The acrimonious relationship has culminated in mutually-infuriating agendas. This week Republicans sent a letter to Iranian leaders warning them against negotiating a nuclear deal with Obama. Obama has openly mocked the GOP and promised to circumvent Republicans by using executive authority.”
2. Relentless: “Congressional Republicans are looking to put pressure on Hillary Clinton over her controversial private email server. Two committees are now in the midst of investigating her decision not to use an official address while serving as Secretary of State, instead using her private email. Their hope is to force the Democratic presidential frontrunner — who hasn’t officially launched her campaign, but is expected to soon — to take a break from the campaign trail more than once to testify on Capitol Hill about her emails.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “What Navy’s New Maritime Strategy Should Say.” Breaking Defense contributors John Lehman and Rep. J. Randy Forbes argue, “The 1982 Maritime Strategy can serve as a useful example of a strategy document that made a significant contribution to the real-world success of U.S. national security policy. While much has changed in the three decades since that strategy was released, the need for a forcefully stated and clearly expressed U.S. maritime strategy is timeless.”
2. “Tsar Vladimir Putin is always right.” Reuters contributor Nina Khrushcheva argues, “[T]ens of thousands of challengers who went to the streets to pay respect to Nemtsov’s memory won’t pose a threat to the Kremlin rule. There will still be millions who support the state, dutifully rallying behind the flag against the West and warning of chaos that may come if Putin is dismissed.
3. “The nonmilitary victories in Iraq’s battle of Tikrit.” Christian Science Monitor’s Editorial Board argues, “Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq have a long history of living together, and even intermarrying. The more they embrace that inclusive past, the more other nations, such as Iran, or groups, such as IS, will lose in their grab for control or territory.”
THE FUNNIES
3. Transparency.
