FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
Pay executive orders. Contributor Charles Simmins reports, “A new wave of executive orders creates new requirements for government contractors and subcontractors on issues from paid sick leave to pay discussions. . . .”
Pay and performance. Contributor Jillian Hamilton explains, “The Pentagon proposes to shift civilian employees from a Title 5, which covers most federal employees, to a Title 10, which mainly covers the military. This shift would open up other means of employee assessment to the Pentagon, such as written exams, personality and skill tests, and psychological evaluations.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
Xi Jinping’s worldview. Washington Post’s Ishaan Tharoor reports, “China’s leaders, particularly Xi and his predecessor Hu Jintao, are not known for their frank or illuminating public utterances. They preside over a highly centralized one-party state and never face awkward press conferences or impromptu debates in the media spotlight. . . . When pressed about the issue of hacking and cybertheft, Xi adamantly denied the implication that Beijing encourages Chinese companies or proxies to engage in these activities. . . .”
Dempsey’s worldview. Defense Media Activity’s Jim Garamone reports, “’It has always been the case that there have been threats to our national interests, and in some cases in the past, at home,’ [Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey] said. ‘What’s different about this period is that we’ve got this kind of convergence of both state actors who threaten us and we have the persistent threat of, let’s call it sub-state or non-state groups like the Islamic State of Iraq in the Levant.’”
Zawahiri’s worldview. The Long War Journal’s Thomas Joscelyn reports, “Zawahiri argues that the community of worldwide Muslims, represented by those in power, has the right to select a caliph from among those fit for the leadership role. Baghdadi was not elected in such a manner, but instead by the people immediately ‘around him.’ The al Qaeda leader blasts the process by which Baghdadi was deemed the caliph, arguing that such a important role cannot be filled by a man who receives a ‘pledge of allegiance’ from ‘a small number of anonymous people’ who do not represent the ummah (worldwide community of Muslims).”
Petraeus’ worldview. Defense News’ Joe Gould reports, “Former CIA Director David Petraeus, the architect of the US troop surge in Iraq in 2007, told lawmakers Tuesday that Syria has become a “geopolitical Chernobyl” of extremism and chaos, and called for the US to act more aggressively against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its air power. . . . Petraeus opened with an apology . . . .”
UN’s female army. Christian Science Monitor’s Ryan Lenora Brown reports, “[A]mid fresh scrutiny over allegations that UN peacekeepers have raped women and children in the Central African Republic (CAR) and failed to properly investigate sexual assault within their own operations, the organization is redoubling its effort to deploy more female peacekeepers, under a simple if largely untested theory: More women means less violence. And less violence means more successful peacekeeping operations.”
Soldier killed in Bagram attack. Khaama Press reports, “A service member of the NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission was killed in an attack in the vicinity of Bagram Airfield in northern Parwan province of Afghanistan. . . . At least 9 NATO service members including 8 US soldiers and one soldier from the another country contributing soldiers in Resolute Support mission have lost their lives since the beginning of the year.”
CONTRACT WATCH
Army’s $880 million expeditionary warfare expedition. Military & Aerospace Electronics Editor John Keller reports, Officials of the U.S. The Army Contracting Command at Research Triangle Park, N.C., named the 16 companies Friday to participate in the Advanced Expeditionary Warfare Development (AEWD) program. Expeditionary warfare involves rapidly deployable military forces operating overseas and away from their bases. U.S. Marine Corps attacks on landing beaches or Special Forces infiltration teams are classic examples of expeditionary warfare.”
Neuromorphic computer chips. Nextgov’s Aliya Sternstein reports, “The Department of Homeland Security is funding a Boeing company to create a ‘brain chip’ for its self-destructing Black smartphone that could be adapted for any device . . . . The technology powering the devices potentially could identify the user’s walking style, for example. Officials would be alerted if the gait does not match the authorized user’s walk – a red flag the phone might have fallen into the wrong hand . . . .”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Tick tock tick tock. “Plans to avert a U.S. government shutdown began taking shape in the Senate on Tuesday, but it was still far from certain whether a dispute over funding for women’s healthcare group Planned Parenthood could be overcome. With only days remaining before an Oct. 1 deadline, Senate leaders said they were pursuing a stop-gap funding bill to extend the present federal budget for about 10 weeks beyond the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year. Known as a continuing resolution, or CR, this approach was gaining traction, said senior senators from both parties.”
The same, only different. White House spokesman Josh Earnest “talked about how Obama turned down high-paying jobs upon graduating law school to instead work in Chicago’s poor South Side, and how Francis is known for advocating on behalf of impoverished communities in his home country of Argentina before ascending through the Roman Catholic Church’s ranks. . . . Earnest said Francis’s story is similar.”
