Hump Day Highlights & Second Longest Ever.
FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
CIA Goes Cyber. Contributor Peter Suciu reports, “Earlier this year the Central Intelligence Agency made a leap into the 21st century after it launched the first new directorate in more than 50 years. Dubbed the Directorate of Digital Innovation it was designed to expand the spy agency’s cyber-espionage efforts and to further increase the agency’s role in fighting hackers. CIA Director John Brennan called the move “a key milestone,” but it really highlights the fact that the 68 year old agency is adjusting to the changing times where cyber warfare is seen as a growing threat to national security.”
Bomber Dollars Could Bring New Jobs to So-Cal. ClearanceJobs reports, “The U.S. Air Force is moving ahead with a major aviation initiative, announcing Oct. 27 that it has awarded the contract to Northrop Grumman to develop and begin building a new deep-strike bomber. Estimates place the value of the contract at nearly $80-billion over the life of the program.”
The miracle of mindfulness. Contributor David Brown writes, “Just as exercise has long been established as a career-booster, helping to stave off burnout and improve productivity, a growing body of science suggests that the techniques of mindfulness contribute to a workforce that is happier and better able to handle stress. Whereas hitting the gym will make it less likely that you will need to call in sick, the mindful focusing on the present might lead you to take fewer ‘mental health’ days.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
Escalation of force. Reuters’ Phil Stewart and Jeff Mason report, “The United States is considering sending a small number of special operations forces to Syria and attack helicopters to Iraq as it weighs options to build momentum in the battle against Islamic State . . . . Two U.S. officials . . . said any deployments would be narrowly tailored, seeking to advance specific, limited military objectives in both Iraq and Syria. That option includes temporarily deploying some U.S. special operations forces inside of Syria to advise moderate Syrian opposition fighters for the first time and, potentially, to help call in U.S. air strikes . . . .” See also, “US Will Rethink Its Iraq Presence If Russia Goes In” and “Strategy to Counter ISIL.”
Outreach to Iran. The Wall Street Journal’s Jay Solomon and Felicia Schwartz report, “Iran will be invited to participate in international talks on the Syrian crisis Friday in Vienna, U.S. officials said, in a major shift in the Obama administration’s approach to ending more than four years of fighting in the country. The White House on Tuesday also gave its strongest statement yet that it was willing to let President Bashar al-Assad remain in office and oversee a political transition in Syria, though he would eventually have to go.”
Square one: AQ ops in Afghanistan. The Long War Journal’s Bill Roggio and Thomas Joscelyn report, “Foreign jihadists, including members of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), are training at facilities in southern Helmand province in Afghanistan. The camps are used to prepare fighters to conduct attacks throughout Southeast Asia . . . . The discovery of the training centers in Baramcha, a town in southern Helmand province, indicates that al Qaeda and affiliated groups are training in multiple regions of Afghanistan.” See also, “Taliban seize capital of Takhar’s Darqand District.”
CONTRACT WATCH
Grumman gets stealthy. Washington Post’s Christian Davenport reports, “Northrop Grumman on Tuesday won the Pentagon contract to build a fleet of stealthy planes known as the Long Range Strike Bomber, a new generation of aircraft designed to reach deep into enemy territory. Northrop beat out a team of Boeing and Lockheed Martin in the high-stakes competition for a project likely to be one of the Pentagon’s most significant over the next decade.” See also, “Industry Giant Northrop Grumman Wins Big, Fat Contract For Big, Fat US Air Force Bomber” and “Defense World Reacts to Northrop LRS-B Win.”
Self-defense radar. Military & Aerospace Electronics Editor John Keller reports, “U.S. Navy researchers are turning to industry for ideas in using X-band radar technologies for potential future application for ship self-defense radar. Officials of the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division in Dahlgren, Va., has issued a source-sought notice (N0017816R2002) for the X-band RF Radar project, which seeks to find relevant X-band radar technologies for potential application to future shipboard self defense.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
Navy’s drone sub squad. Defense One’s Patrick Tucker reports, “The U.S. Navy plans to deploy a squadron of underwater drones within the next four years, including the Large Displacement Unmanned Underwater Vehicle, or LDUUV, a 10-foot, highly autonomous, and very, very yellow subdrone . . . . Some Navy watchers expect it to boost attack submarines’ intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, but officials with the Office of Naval Research pushed back against such speculation.”
Robots walk the walk. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “Engineers suggests that they have achieved the most realistic robotic implementation of human walking dynamics that has ever been done, which may ultimately allow human-like versatility and performance. The system is based on a concept called ‘spring-mass’ walking that was theorized less than a decade ago, and combines passive dynamics of a mechanical system with computer control. It provides the ability to blindly react to rough terrain, maintain balance, retain an efficiency of motion, and essentially walk like humans do.”
China hacking away. Wired’s Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai reports, “Hackers with ties to the Chinese government appear to be targeting US companies despite a recent security deal between the US and China’s government, which promised to stop cyberattacks aimed at stealing economic secrets. Dmitri Alperovitch, the chief technology officer of Crowdstrike, an American security company, warned . . . that China hasn’t stopped its online economic espionage just yet.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Freedom raucous. “Paul Ryan is getting a pass. Conservative lawmakers in the House Freedom Caucus say they’re satisfied that the Wisconsin Republican is just as aggravated as they are with how the $80 billion budget and debt ceiling deal set to pass Congress this week was negotiated. . . . Ryan, who is expected to be elected speaker on Thursday, was not among the negotiators who forged the budget agreement. But he does stand to benefit politically from it — immensely.”
Coat-tail surfing. “Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., will nominate Rep. Paul Ryan to be speaker of the House Wednesday. A House GOP aide confirmed . . . that Gowdy, the chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, will deliver a speech during a House GOP conference meeting to convince his fellow lawmakers to back the Wisconsin congressman. Reps. Kristi Noem, R-N.D., and Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, are expected to give follow-up remarks in support of Ryan.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
“Stay motivated when you really want to quit.” Fast Company contributor Stephanie Vozza writes, “We all hit a wall—a place where we feel like quitting because things get difficult or boring—but quitting isn’t always the right answer. Instead, you have to find internal motivation to keep going when you really want to bail, and that can come down to understanding kinematics, the relative distance between two bodies . . . .”
“Obama was right to order a sail-by in the South China Sea.” Washington Post’s Editorial Board argues, “Mr. Xi appears to have concluded that this U.S. administration can be bluffed into standing by while China alters the physical status quo in the region to its long-term advantage. It will take more maneuvers like that of the USS Lassen to convince him otherwise.”
“Why one Arab nation acts as peacemaker.” The Christian Science Monitor Editorial Board argues, “Algeria has enough credibility, based on how it ended its civil war, to be welcomed as a mediator of today’s conflicts.”
