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FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Show me the money. Editor Lindy Kyzer reports, “After several years of flat or declining salaries for workers with security clearances, the defense industry is on the rebound. The government reduced the size of the cleared workforce by 12 percent in 2014. That means fewer individuals with clearances, and more demand for your skills. If your boss has been giving you the slip recently, this may be the year he or she finally shows you the money.”
2. Clearances down. Also from Editor Lindy Kyzer, “The government has cut the number of individuals holding federal security clearances by more than 635,000. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released their 2014 Report on Security Clearance Determinations this week. It’s the latest installment of an annual report required by the 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act. The report includes data on the number of cleared employees and contractors, as well as current security clearance processing times.” Read the report.
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. CIA drone war support unwavering. The New York Times’ Mark Mazzetti and Matt Apuzzo report, “That unwavering support from Capitol Hill is but one reason the C.I.A.’s killing missions are embedded in American warfare and unlikely to change significantly despite President Obama’s announcement on Thursday that a drone strike accidentally killed two innocent hostages, an American and an Italian. The program is under fire like never before, but the White House continues to champion it, and C.I.A. officers who built the program more than a decade ago — some of whom also led the C.I.A. detention program that used torture in secret prisons — have ascended to the agency’s powerful senior ranks.” See also, “McCain renews push to end CIA control of drone strikes,” “Dianne Feinstein helped keep drones with CIA,” “Drone Strikes Are Here to Stay,” and “Despite persistent questions, support for use of drones against terrorists remains strong.”
2. ISIS takes Thar Thar. The Long War Journal’s Bill Roggio and Caleb Weiss report, “The Islamic State seized control of a dam and overran a military barracks in the Thar Thar area in western Iraq over the past several days. Over 120 Iraqi soldiers and a senior general were killed during the Islamic State offensive. . . . The Iraqi military announced that an operation to clear the Thar Thar area would begin immediately. The operation is to be backed by US and coalition air support. But Iraqi politicians in Anbar are skeptical that Iraqi forces can quickly retake the Thar Thar dam.” See also, “U.S. plan for Syrian rebels already mired in doubt.”
3. Asia pivot: the Korea model. The Diplomat’s Clint Work reports, “Despite lengthy commentary on the differences between Europe and Asia in terms of international institutions and multilateral cooperation, as well as scholarship highlighting the abiding residues of the Cold War in East Asia, there are indications that the post-Cold War interregnum may be settling into a new regional pattern. . . . The Korean peninsula, long the nexus of great power competition, provides an instructive place from which to analyze several aspects of this newly emergent regional pattern.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Elite acquisition group. Government Executive’s Charles S. Clark reports, “Citing as a model the U.S. Digital Service information technology fix-it team, the White House procurement chief said she hopes to create and train an elite acquisition group to help the Obama administration implement its category management efficiency reforms. . . . [Office of Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Anne] Rung said her top priorities during the final 21 months of the Obama administration include driving contract innovation and improving agency relationships with vendors. But the No. 1 issue is category management, an approach to bulk purchasing used by private sector giants such as Boeing and Macy’s as well as the government of the United Kingdom.”
2. Boeing wiring destroyers. Military & Aerospace Electronics Editor John Keller reports, “Military communications experts at the Boeing Co. will provide high-speed fiber-optic shipboard networking for three U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers under terms of an $11.1 million order announced this week. . . . The GEDMS [Gigabit Ethernet Data Multiplex System] is designed to transfer data via a reliable, redundant, mission-critical network backbone aboard Navy surface warships. It is the most recent upgrade to the Navy’s Data Multiplex System (DMS) networks, and offers enhanced network communication capabilities by providing an IP-based backbone that supports multimedia services such as video and data.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. NSA practices: report released. RT reports, “In anticipation of the Patriot Act surveillance law’s expiration, the White House has declassified a six-year-old report on NSA practices. . . . Inspectors, who authored the report confessed they ‘had difficulty evaluating the precise contribution of the PSP to counterterrorism efforts because it was most often viewed as one source among many available analytic and intelligence-gathering tools in these efforts.’ The FBI analyzed warrantless wiretapping from 2001 till 2004 and came to the conclusion that only 1.2 percent of the data gathered helped in fight against terrorists. Two years later the bureau found no data collected from 2004 till 2006 was useful.” See also, “Bush-Era Documents Show Official Misled Congress About NSA Spying” and “NSA Surveillance On U.S. Citizens Just As Bad If Not Worse Since Snowden.”
2. Cybersecurity bills open channels. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “The Protecting Cyber Networks Act and the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015 authorize private firms to share threat data such as malware signatures, Internet protocol addresses, and domain names with other companies and the federal government. To the liking of the private sector, both bills offer companies liability protection for participating in cyberthreat information sharing.” See also, “Cyber Strategy Relies on Deterrence, Industry.”
3. Opaque transparency on cybersecurity. Wired’s Kim Zetter reports, “Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter laid out the Pentagon’s new cybersecurity strategy [last] week, few were expecting it to break news. And, indeed, his talk at Stanford’s Hoover Institution on Thursday offered no surprises. But the secretary did set up an expectation during his speech on which he ultimately failed to deliver. . . . All of the most controversial aspects of the government’s cyberwarfare activities have been left unaddressed. What’s more, the public learned more about the government’s policy on offensive cyber operations from a presidential directive leaked by Edward Snowden than from this official release.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Press Club. Presidential standup – the 10 best jokes from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
2. Remedying the situation. “The head of the Clinton Foundation admitted Sunday that it erred in how it disclosed donors, amid newly heightened attention on Hillary Clinton’s political and financial dealings. . . . ‘Yes, we made mistakes, as many organizations of our size do, but we are acting quickly to remedy them, and have taken steps to ensure they don’t happen in the future,’ Pally wrote. ‘We are committed to operating the Foundation responsibly and effectively to continue the life-changing work that this philanthropy is doing every day.’”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “The United States Needs a Drone Board.” Defense One contributors David Medine and Eliza Sweren-Becker argue, “The growing risk that U.S. citizens will join terrorist groups around the world and be targeted for killing overseas by their own government creates an imperative to resolve when and how the U.S. government may lawfully use lethal force against its own citizens abroad. A Drone Board would be an important step to provide additional process and greater public confidence in the method of targeting U.S. citizens overseas.”
“Leave the Middle East Be.” US News contributor Sarwar Kashmeri argues, “When all is said and done, the Middle East will emerge from its torment stronger and more stable than it is now. The new map of the region probably will not look anything like it does now. It may have new borders, countries and even governments. And in the end, this is a conflict that cannot and should not be influenced by the United States. It is a transformation that must be undertaken by the Arabs themselves.”
“Building the perfect leader: North Korean propaganda’s secret sauce.” Reuters contributor Andray Abrahamian explains, “North Korea drives clicks in this contemporary media environment. As audiences, we drive weak journalism onward: we love to read about the place because we just can’t believe what they’re saying or doing.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Off to Petaluma.
2. Forensics.
3. Misunderstood.
