FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
Secret Squirrel Santa. Editor Lindy Kyzer writes, “This holiday season Secret Squirrel Santa surprised select customers with a free lunch. It’s just one of the way we show our customers how much we value them.”
Clearance re-apply. Contributor Sean Bigley advises, “To start, your employer will need to resubmit you for a clearance. Usually about 60-90 days after the resubmission, the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals (DOHA) will issue a letter requesting that you, the applicant, explain what about your situation has changed since your denial to the extent that it would warrant reconsideration. This is a critical step and a one-shot deal . . . .”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
Special Ops in Iraq. AP’s Robert Burns reports, “The commando force that President Barack Obama is dispatching to Iraq to conduct clandestine raids against the Islamic State group does not fit neatly into a picture of the U.S. military strategy for defeating the extremist army. Even the name – ‘specialized expeditionary targeting force’ – is a bit of a riddle. . . .”
ISIS’ armory. Vice News’ Samuel Oakford reports, “The Islamic State (IS) has used weapons from more than 25 different countries — including the US — to commit atrocities in Iraq and Syria . . . . the bulk of conventional weapons — pistols, small arms, machine guns, artillery, mortar shells and anti-tank weapons — deployed by IS are at least 20 years old, with many dating to the 1970s and ’80s during and Iraq’s disastrous war with Iran.”
Breaking ISIS’ bank. The Christian Science Monitor’s Howard LaFranchi reports, “The finance ministers set to meet at the United Nations can’t put the Islamic State in a financial vise. But they can deliver some critical blows to an organization already showing signs of financial strain. And for a UN Security Council often at odds, the meeting of its finance ministers next week comes at an opportune moment, when terrorists’ attacks worldwide have created a sense of shared purpose – even, it seems, between the United States and Russia.”
Ibrahim Qosi: Gitmo to Yemen. The Long War Journal’s Thomas Joscelyn reports, “Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a new video featuring a former Guantanamo detainee, Ibrahim Qosi, who is also known as Sheikh Khubayb al Sudani. In July 2010, Qosi plead guilty to charges of conspiracy and material support for terrorism before a military commission. His plea was part of a deal in which he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors during his remaining time in US custody.”
Israel’s Arrow 3 ballistic shield. Reuters’ Dan Williams reports, “Israel’s upgraded Arrow ballistic missile shield passed a full interception test on Thursday, hitting a target in space meant to simulate the trajectory of the long-range weapons held by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah . . . . Arrow 3 interceptors are designed to fly beyond the earth’s atmosphere, where their warheads detach to become ‘kamikaze’ satellites, or ‘kill vehicles’, that track and slam into the targets. Such high-altitude shoot-downs are meant to safely destroy incoming nuclear, biological or chemical missiles.”
Study in extremism. AP’s Joseph Krauss reports, “For some, the turn to Islamic extremism begins with a Google search, for others a stint in prison. Most of those who embrace such beliefs are young men, but not all. Many are loners or outcasts, while others leave behind family and friends who are shocked by their transformation.”
CONTRACT WATCH
Close quarters combat. Military & Aerospace Electronics Editor John Keller reports, “U.S. Army combat training experts are surveying industry to find companies with the expertise in indoor positioning systems that could help improve close-quarters combat training. Officials of the Army Contracting Command in Natick, Mass., issued a request for information on Tuesday (W911QY-16-R-0022) for the Indoor Positioning System Platform for close-quarters combat Training Efficiencies at the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) project.”
Convicted: contractors and bribery. Federal Times’ Carten Cordell reports, “Three Marine Corps civilian employees and a military contractor were sentenced on Dec. 8 for a bribery scheme involving trucking contracts . . . . Former head of the Defense Logistics Agency Transportation Office at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia, Mitchell Potts was sentenced to 10 years in prison for two counts of bribery. Prosecutors said Potts, alongside former lead transportation assistant Jeffrey Philpot, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from Christopher Whitman, co-owner of United Logistics, to ensure the trucking company was awarded contracts from the base.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
Fed tech transformation. Nextgov’s Hallie Golden reports, “[T]he Professional Services Council and the Technology Councils of North America released a white paper that details half a dozen guiding principles and actions the government should embrace so it can benefit from the private sector’s tech capabilities. The document . . . is meant to help boost the performance of federal technology for all agencies.” Read: Delivering Results: A Framework for Federal Government Technology Access & Acquisition.
Quantum leap. Quartz’s Mike Murphy reports, “IBM has been working on quantum computers for decades, and now it has the support of the US intelligence agencies. On Nov. 8, IBM announced that IARPA, the intelligence community’s research arm, had awarded the company a multi-year grant to continue its research into building quantum computers.”
NSA’s hacker hunt. Politico’s Darren Sameulsohn reports, “When America’s premier federal security recruiters go fishing for new technical talent, they have plenty of lures to dangle. There’s the patriotic mission; the promise of a government salary; the thrill of working under the hood on the country’s classified cyber mechanics. And then there’s the pile of free purple and orange pens. . . .”
Automated cybersecurity. Nextgov’s Mohana Ravindranath reports, “Pentagon researchers think humans take too long to detect software vulnerabilities, tipping the scales in favor of the criminals who want to exploit them. The Defense Department’s emerging technology research team is looking for an automated system that detects and contains cyber attacks, providing early warning, isolating networks and characterizing threats.”
Digital forensics. Defense One contributor Frank Konkel reports, “Amid growing terrorist threats from groups like ISIS and increasingly successful cyberattacks from nation states like China, the U.S. intelligence community today announced it will invest in a company that produces digital forensics software. In-Q-Tel, the IC’s technology investment arm, did not disclose how much funding it will provide the Canadian-based Magnet Forensics, but officials said they believe the company and its flagship product, the Internet Evidence Finder, are promising examples of innovation in the expanding field of digital forensics.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Blink. “House Democrats, who made a new offer to Republicans on Wednesday to break the stalemate over the omnibus, know Ryan will be able to deliver only a sliver of the Republican Conference for any spending bill, so he’ll need a sizable number of Democratic votes to pass anything. So Democrats believe they should hold firm in their demands. The negotiations are intertwined with talks over a separate, sprawling year-end tax extenders measure.”
Bad boys. “Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) on Wednesday said it’s illegal for President Obama to lift sanctions against Iran under the nuclear deal reached earlier this year. ‘The president is in violation of the law if he lifts these sanctions because the law states clearly that process can’t begin until we’ve gotten all the documents,’ said Toomey, who faces a tough reelection battle next year.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
“ISIS and Just War Theory.” Lawfare contributor Fernando R. Tesón argues, “The war should be accompanied by a generous immigration policy, especially toward those who flee ISIS’s rule. In implementing this policy, states are of course entitled to exclude terrorists and criminals.”
“’Invincible unity’ (or the lack of it).” BBC contributor Steve Rosenberg argues, “I cannot help thinking that if Roosevelt and Churchill could find a way to work with Stalin, Obama and Cameron can find a way to work with Putin. Perhaps this will only happen, though, when all sides conclude the threat to their nation is so great and imminent that the only way to win the war on terror is to fight together.” See also, “Russia Could Block Access to Baltic Sea.”
“Ready for disaster in a warmer world.” Reuters’ David Axe argues, “Despite politically motivated skepticism among many Americans regarding climate change, the military knows that the planet is getting warmer and more dangerous.”
