FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. No easy task. Editor Lindy Kyzer reports, “Is it easy to get a security clearance? It depends on who you ask. Among the un-cleared population there can be a misconception that ‘anyone’ can get a clearance, based on the millions of clearance-holders out there. . . . But those individuals who have gone through the process understand the significant headaches involved in both an initial security clearance background investigation as well as subsequent periodic reinvestigations. Obtaining a security clearance is no easy task, and not everyone who applies for one will be granted access.”
2. Foreign influence and clearance. Contributor William Loveridge explains, “Foreign Influence covers an array of conduct, behavior and actions that could reflect negatively on an individual’s ability to protect classified information, including contact with a foreign family member, group or government that could create a heightened risk of foreign exploitation, pressure or coercion. . . .”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. PTSD. Vanity Fair contributor Sebastian Junger reports, “Oddly, one of the most traumatic events for soldiers is witnessing harm to other people—even to the enemy. In a survey done after the first Gulf War by David Marlowe, an expert in stress-related disorders working with the Department of Defense, combat veterans reported that killing an enemy soldier—or even witnessing one getting killed—was more distressing than being wounded oneself. But the very worst experience, by a significant margin, was having a friend die. In war after war, army after army, losing a buddy is considered to be the most distressing thing that can possibly happen.”
2. ISIS coming. USA Today’s Susan Page reports, “The Islamic State simply inspired the deadly assault by two men on an exhibit of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed near Dallas last week, CIA veteran Michael Morell says. But it’s only a matter of time before the jihadist group is likely to be in a position to direct more elaborate attacks on American soil that could result in mass casualties.” See also, “What Have 9 Months of Airstrikes Against ISIS Achieved?” and “Terror attack at Dallas anti-Islam event raises concerns of future ISIS attacks against U.S.”
3. Zulfiqar Operation in Helmand. Afghan Zariza reports, “At least 128 armed insurgents were killed and 81 others wounded in a military operation that lasted more than two weeks in southern Helmand province. According to a statement by the Ministry of Defense, the operation was conducted jointly by Afghan National Army (ANA), Afghan National Police (ANP) and National Directorate of Security (NDS). A total of 13 villages in in Nahr-i-Siraj district of restive Helmand province were cleared of insurgents following a marathon military operation. A depot of terrorists with large quantity of arms and ammunition was also destroyed in the operation. Last month, more than a dozen Taliban insurgents were gunned down in Zulfiqar Operation in Sangin and Musa Qala districts of Helmand.”
4. Soldiers’ stories. Newsweek’s Tim Baker shares, “We were flying around over England, and there were about 120 planes up that day in formation doing the practice radar missions. Because we didn’t have any guns, the pilot said, ‘If you guys want to, you can sit up in the radio room because it’s warmer up there; and you won’t get so cold.’ As we were sitting there trying to stay warm, we heard over the intercom that we were being attacked by Me-109 fighters, but we couldn’t do anything because we didn’t have any guns.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Gearing up. Defense News reports, “In the span of just a few weeks, a flurry of orders has reset the global fighter market. . . . It’s a shocking amount of activity for a fighter market that often sees just one or two procurements a year globally, and one analysts say is being driven by world events in the region. Doug Barrie, the senior air analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, highlighted that these agreements are all tied to long-standing requirements.”
2. Polaris goes for UCLV. Breaking Defense reports, “[Today], truck makers will submit data to the Army on potential candidates for the Ultra-Light Combat Vehicle. ULCV has to be big enough to carry nine fully equipped infantrymen, small enough to sling-load under a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, and tough enough to parachute out the back of a C-130 or C-17. UCLV is the first of what’s intended as a trio of vehicles for the 82nd Airborne’s Global Response Force and, eventually, other light infantry units. . . . The unarmored, nine-man ULCV will be followed by a lightly armored six-man Light Reconnaissance Vehicle and a well-armed light tank called the Mobile Protected Firepower system.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Airport security tech. Homeland Security Newswire reports, “Researchers are developing surveillance technologies better to help airport security officials scan passengers and luggage for contraband and suspicious behavior. Privacy advocates say these expensive and ambitious projects, meant to increase public safety and ease air travel delays, risk intruding on passengers’ privacy. ‘What starts in the airport doesn’t stay there,’ says a technology expert at the ACLU.”
2. Spying after the 2d Circuit Court of Appeals. Christian Science Monitor’s Joe Uchill reports, “The federal court ruling Thursday that found it illegal for National Security Agency to collect massive amounts of information on Americans’ phone calls could impact more than just the spy agency’s practices. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision in the American Civil Liberties Union v. Clapper case could affect other government surveillance programs, impede the government’s ability to execute warrants to access data stored on overseas servers, and even change how electronic data is treated in future court rulings . . . .”
3. Atlanta’s drone conference. Defense One’s Patrick Tucker reports, “In the past year, drones have crashed onto the White House lawn, hauled radioactive cesium to the roof of the Japanese prime minister’s Tokyo office, and swooped above battlefields in Iraq and Ukraine. The future of drone design is an area with huge importance for companies and for the military. At the recent Unmanned Systems 2015 show in Atlanta, Georgia, that future was on display.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Rover comes over. “Rove’s surrender to ObamaCare, advising Republicans against pretending they would repeal ObamaCare, is politically very wise. Rove’s fear about what happens to Republicans if the court does overturn ObamaCare provisions and the world witnesses horror stories of Americans being hurt because of Republican anti-ObamaCare politics — without any Republican policy to undo the damage — is politically brilliant.”
2. Brother’s keeper. “Jeb Bush said that he would have invaded Iraq in 2003 just as his brother former President George W. Bush did—and Hillary Clinton would have, too, the ex-Florida governor said. ‘I would have [authorized the invasion], and so would have Hillary Clinton, just to remind everybody. And so would almost everybody that was confronted with the intelligence they got,’ the likely GOP presidential candidate said in an interview . . . . Bush said the United States erred in not establishing security for Iraqi families after the initial invasion, a point his ex-president brother agrees with him on. That failure, Jeb said, resulted in backlash from Iraqis against the U.S. military.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “If the Chinese are anxious about North Korean nukes . . .” Reuters contributor Sharon Squassoni argues, “While denuclearization may be a pipedream, efforts to ratchet down nuclear risks in Northeast Asia are worth it as long as diplomats avoid legitimizing North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. . . . Although no one should be sanguine about success, it is time to put North Korea back on the front burner of nuclear diplomacy.”
2. “35 Years On, It’s Time to Extend the Carter Doctrine.” Defense One contributor Derek Chollet argues, “Thirty-five years later, with the U.S. defense presence robust and capabilities of our regional Gulf partners much improved, the Camp David summit is an important step toward achieving that ambitious goal.”
3. “India and Asian Leadership.” The Diplomat contributor Jayshree Borah argues, “It is evident that the construction of a China-centric Asian order has gained prominence and traction at the Bandung 2015 conference, with most Afro-Asian countries now appearing to believe that the One Belt, One Road initiative illustrates Chinese commitment to assisting other developing countries in sharing the fruits of its rise.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Therapy.
2. Five Pinocchios.
3. Evil plans.
