The Elf on a Shelf Surveillance State

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Is Getting a College Degree Worth it? Contributor Ron Kness writes, “In today’s job market, most employees will switch employers an average of four times during their career. Having a degree gives employees more options to get better jobs throughout their whole career.”

The Bright Side of a Clearance Delay. Contributor Sean Bigley writes, “One of the most common questions we receive from clients is whether there is anything we can do to “speed up” either a security clearance investigation or the adjudication of a denial. Having held clearances myself, I empathize. The process is like watching paint dry.”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

Terrorism is Aspect of San Bernardino Rampage. The New York Times reports, “The F.B.I. is treating the Wednesday shooting as a potential terrorist act, though the agency is far from concluding that it was, two law enforcement officials said. The suspects’ extensive arsenal, their recent Middle East travel and evidence that one of them had been in touch with people with Islamist extremist views, both in the United States and abroad, all contributed to the decision to refocus the investigation.”

Women in Combat. The New York Times’ Matthew Rosenberg and Dave Phillipps report on the Department of Defense’s historic decision to open all roles to women, ““There will be no exceptions,” Mr. Carter said at a news conference. He added, “They’ll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars and lead infantry soldiers into combat. They’ll be able to serve as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers and everything else that was previously open only to men.”

ISIS’ Diversity Recruiting Program. Voice of America’s William Gallo writes, “Their average age is 26. Eighty-six percent are male. Most use Twitter and other social media to find and spread propaganda. But other than that, there are frustratingly few traits in common among individuals in the United States who support the Islamic State group, according to a new study.”

CONTRACT WATCH

Indianapolis Defense Industry Benefits From Navy ContractDan McGowan writes, “Raytheon Technical Services Co. in Indianapolis has secured a major military contract. The nearly $53 million deal involves repairing components used for F-18 aircraft in the U.S. Navy.”

The Air Force’s Munitions Shortage. USA Today‘s Tom Vanden Brook reports, “Since summer, the percentage of attack planes dropping bombs on missions has increased. In July and August, half of the warplanes returned to base without dropping weapons, Army Col. Steve Warren, the military’s spokesman in Baghdad, said this week. By October, 60% of the planes attacked ISIL targets, and November’s figure was 65%.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

Terror in a Kim Kardashian World. Defense News’ Jen Judson interviews several companies looking to change the way the military uses social media to fight terror, “Kruse said it’s not like people haven’t been analyzing social media — it’s something that people have been exploiting, but mostly within the intelligence community, producing reports on observations months later. But there could be a huge impact in getting forces to understand at the small unit level how social media can be a war fighting tool, Kruse said.”

More domains, more problems? FedScoop‘s Grayson Ullsen writes about a recent Raytheon report on the expansion of domains beyond .com, “Websense experts have predicted a mushrooming in spam campaigns as a direct result of domain expansion. In an analysis of several different new gTLDs, Raytheon concluded that millions of URLs were “suspicious or directly malicious.”

The FBI’s New Cyber Chief. Federal Times‘ Aaron Boyd writes, “Randall Coleman, an agent with almost two decades of experience, was named the new executive assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch (CCRSB), where he will oversee all cyber investigations domestic and abroad.”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

Congress vs. the Secret Service. NBC News‘ Alex Moe reports, “A congressional committee released a scathing report Thursday detailing several previously undisclosed lapses in security by the United States Secret Service, finding the agency “in crisis,” after a year-long investigation.”

Managing Mental Health in the Military. Military Times‘ Michelle Tan reports, “The Army will conduct a “thorough, multidisciplinary review” in response to a call from a group of 12 senators to investigate reports that the service discharged for misconduct as many as 22,000 soldiers who had been diagnosed with mental health problems.”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

Why Women in Combat is No Big Deal. Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, writes, “First Lt. Ashley White and Capt. Jenny Moreno were members of a ground-breaking all-women team recruited for special operations combat missions. Both died on night raids in southern Afghanistan alongside the elite Army Rangers. Lt. White in 2011, Capt. Moreno two years later. In October 2013, they became the first two women to be honored at the National Infantry Museum’s Memorial Walk — even though, at that time, they weren’t technically able to join the infantry.”

Fixing the VA? Sen Tom Tillis lambasts the VA for a computer glitch that denied benefits to thousands, “Now, Americans are learning that in addition to failures at some VA medical facilities, many veterans are also facing seemingly insurmountable bureaucratic hurdles to simply confirm their eligibility for the benefits they have already earned through their years of service to our nation. This week, the Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed that at least 29,000 American combat veterans are being prevented from obtaining their health care benefits.”

THE FUNNIES

High Winds in Paris

Hard Hitting Questions

 

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Lindy Kyzer is the director of content at ClearanceJobs.com. Have a conference, tip, or story idea to share? Email lindy.kyzer@clearancejobs.com. Interested in writing for ClearanceJobs.com? Learn more here.. @LindyKyzer