FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
The season to network. Editor Lindy Kyzer writes, “It’s the holiday season – that time of the year when hiring screeches to a halt and recruiting activities become a waste, unless you like eggnog and lots of holiday networking events. . . . Don’t just let your talent pipeline sit stagnant over the holidays. Take advantage of one of the best times to connect with candidates in your network with these five tips.”
Squirrel tales. Contributor David Brown spins the yarn: “Before the National Reconnaissance Office launched the Corona satellite, the United States had to rely on dangerous U-2 flights over the Soviet Union in order to gather imagery intelligence. That program went south in 1960 when American pilot Gary Powers was shot down. . . .”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
Islamic coalition. AP’s Aya Batrawy reports, “Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that 34 nations have agreed to form a new ‘Islamic military alliance’ to fight terrorism with a joint operations center based in the kingdom’s capital, Riyadh. . . . The new counterterrorism coalition includes nations with large and established armies such as Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt as well as war-torn countries with embattled militaries such as Libya and Yemen. African nations that have suffered militant attacks such as Mali, Chad, Somalia and Nigeria are also members.” See also, “Muslim states form new military alliance to fight terrorism” and “French strategies prevented Al Qaeda’s expansion in Mali.”
Coalition building. Vice News’ Tamara Khandaker reports, “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is sticking to his promise of pulling Canada out of the bombing campaign against the Islamic State, despite a request for more military help from the US government. Renee Filiatrault, spokesperson for Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan, confirmed . . . that he has received a letter from US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, which asked for more contributions in the fight against IS militants. Similar letters were reportedly received by other members of the US-led anti-IS coalition, including Germany and Australia.” See also, “Kerry seeks ‘real progress’ on Syria at Moscow talks,” ‘Kerry seeks to narrow divisions with Russia” and “Kerry in Russia in attempt to narrow gap over Syria.”
Milley’s shrinking Army. Defense News’ Jen Judson reports, “The US Army chief of staff is looking at how the service might quickly regenerate the force when needed at a time when it is rapidly reducing its size. The Army has already shrunk the force by 180,000 troops since withdrawing from Iraq in 2011, and it plans to further reduce its end strength in the coming years. The service is scheduled to reach an end strength of 450,000 troops by the end of fiscal 2017. If the Army continues to get hit with budget cuts, it could see a deeper cut down to 420,000.”
Bergdahl on trial. Reuters’ Jon Herskovitz reports, “U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who walked away from his post in Afghanistan and became a Taliban prisoner for five years, will face court-martial with a potential life sentence . . . . Bergdahl, 29, was charged earlier this year with desertion and endangering U.S. troops and could face the life sentence if convicted of the latter, more serious offense.”
CONTRACT WATCH
Frigates to Taiwan. Reuters’ Patricia Zengerle and David Brunnstrom report, “The Obama administration is expected as soon as this week to authorize the sale of two guided missile frigates to Taiwan, U.S. congressional sources said on Monday, in spite of China’s opposition to the deal. . . . Taiwan has said it expects to pay about $176 million for the two vessels and that it would review its needs before making a decision on two more.”
Protecting the grid. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “Across the United States, 3,200 separate organizations own and operate electrical infrastructure. The widely dispersed nature of the nation’s electrical grid and associated control systems has a number of advantages, but since the late 1990s, cost pressures have driven the integration of conventional information technologies into these independent industrial control systems, resulting in a grid which is increasingly vulnerable to cyberattack, either through direct connection to the Internet or via direct interfaces to utility IT systems. DARPA is soliciting proposal for creating automated systems to restore power within seven days or less after a cyberattack on the grid.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
Decryption battle. DefenceTalk reports, “With renewed focus on how encrypted messages can be used to plot terrorist attacks, President Barack Obama’s administration is stepping up pressure on the tech sector to help in the battle. Although issues around encryption have been ongoing for decades, the prickly topic has sprung to the fore in recent weeks following killing sprees in Paris and California.” See also, “FBI renews warnings on terror and encryption.”
Robot offset. Defense One’s Patrick Tucker reports, “The Pentagon is rushing to keep up with Russian and Chinese efforts to develop highly autonomous robots — in Russia’s case, ones capable of independently carrying out military operations, deputy defense secretary Robert Work told the Center for New American Century forum . . . . Work spoke broadly of the U.S. military need to ‘dominate’ in machine learning and artificial intelligence. It’s a key feature of the so-called offset strategy, a Pentagon research initiative meant to secure technological advantage over adversaries (‘offsetting’ similar gains by those nations.)” See also, “Decisions the Pentagon Wants to Leave to Robots.”
MacKeeper breach. Krebs on Security’s Brian Krebs reports, “The makers of MacKeeper — a much-maligned software utility many consider to be little more than scareware that targets Mac users — have acknowledged a breach that exposed the usernames, passwords and other information on more than 13 million customers and, er…users. Perhaps more interestingly, the guy who found and reported the breach doesn’t even own a Mac, and discovered the data trove merely by browsing Shodan — a specialized search engine that looks for and indexes virtually anything that gets connected to the Internet.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Shutdown watch. “Bipartisan negotiators hammering out the details of a sweeping $1.1 trillion spending bill see the light at the end of the tunnel. Compromise has come slowly as the sides have haggled over partisan policy amendments as well as a separate package — running on a parallel track — to extend a long list of tax breaks to businesses and individuals alike. But House aides familiar with the talks said it’s likely the spending legislation will emerge on Tuesday, and Senate leaders expressed a similar optimism on Monday afternoon.”
Compromise. “A government spending deal is in the works in Congress that would exclude some important GOP policy riders, including one to tighten up the screening process for refugees, but includes others, such an end to the ban on crude oil exports. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told members of the House GOP conference he would walk them through the details of the omnibus spending bill and tax extenders legislation on Tuesday evening, with plans for a Thursday vote, allowing members three legislative days to review the measures. But even so, aides insisted there was no final deal yet.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
“Waging a smarter, better war.” US News contributor Mortimer B. Zuckerman argues, “Following in the footsteps of previous presidents such as Franklin Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy, we must resist the urge to wage the war the jihadi extremists want and wage the war we know how to wage: a better war, a smarter war. It’s called leading from in front.”
“Chaos in Libya: It’s the oil, stupid.” Reuters contributor Issandr El Amrani reports, “. . . Libya’s civil war is only secondarily about ideology, religion or rival claims of legitimacy. First and foremost, it is about who will control the country’s oil and petrodollars.”
“What Saudi women voting says of the Mideast.” The Christian Science Monitor Editorial Board argues, “The news of Saudi women voting for the first time may seem minor, yet it helps counter the impression of a region doomed by ancient forces, wars, or by its own sense of historic victimhood.”
