Monday Mourning

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

Clearance adjudication. Contributor Marko Hakamaa reports, “Rumblings from the field indicate there is growing frustration with the unpredictability in how long it takes a national security case to be adjudicated. It seems some cases get done within days or weeks of the investigation getting closed, but then other cases languish in a black hole for months and even sometimes over a year.”

Budget Breakdown. Contributor Ashley LaGanga writes, “Congress’ 2016 Defense Appropriations bill, as contained in the FY2016 Omnibus, provides funding for military salaries, operations to fight terror, and military readiness, among many other things.  Below are highlights from the FY2016 defense appropriations bill signed into law by the President on December 18, 2015. . . .”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

America’s Peshmerga. The Atlantic’s Roc Morin reports, “The former Marine corporal gestured with his battered AK-47 toward a fire-gutted jungle-green villa. All the buildings were like that—vibrant non-sequiturs of blue, yellow, purple. ‘It’s like Super Mario World,’ the 25-year-old remarked. While thousands of Europeans and North Americans have joined ISIS, at least a hundred Westerners have enlisted as fighters against the terrorist group. Compelled by reports of the Islamic State’s gruesome activities, the first volunteers came in the fall of 2014. They have enrolled in a number of regional militias including the peshmerga—the government-backed army of Iraqi Kurdistan under which [Christopher] Smith currently serves.”

Dutch join the fight. Defence Talk reports, “Bowing to US demands, the Dutch government announced Friday it will take part in US-led air strikes in Syria against the Islamic State group, extending its current air support mission over Iraq. ‘In order to make the fight against ISIS in Iraq more efficient, it has been decided to carry out air strikes against ISIS in eastern Syria,’ the foreign and defence ministries said in a statement.”

Afghanistan crumbling. Government Executive’s Charles S. Clark reports, “In the latest in a grim series, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction on Friday published a quarterly report highlighting the ‘fragile and worsening’ condition of the economy and security climate in the war-torn country. After a decade of reconstruction and a U.S. investment of $113 billion, ‘intractable insurgents, cutbacks in foreign military personnel, persistent emigration of people and capital, and a slowing global economy are shifting Afghanistan’s economic prospects from troubling to bleak,’ watchdog John Sopko wrote in the report . . . .” See also, “That ‘Wasteful’ Task Force? You’re Not Getting the Full Story.”

Family friendly defense. Christian Science Monitor’s Jessica Mendoza reports, “Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter . . . announced a series of new policies intended to support service members and their families, including expanding paid maternity leave and access to child care and family planning options. . . . The initiatives – the latest out of the Pentagon’s ‘Force of the Future’ program – bear out the military’s ongoing discussion about how to involve women more in the effort to strengthen the joint force, observers say. The new measures are also a nod to the need to be more family-friendly to compete for and retain the best talent, they note.”

Going viral: Zika’s coming. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “The Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense responded last week with what it described as ‘serious concerns’ over two emerging infectious diseases that now threaten the United States — Zika virus and avian influenza. . . . The Panel’s October 2015 report found that a lack of biodefense innovation in many areas, including medical countermeasure development, is keeping the United States behind and compromising public health security . . . .” See A National Blueprint for Biodefense and “Centralized leadership, major reform needed to bolster U.S. biodefense.”

CONTRACT WATCH

What’s a small business? Government Executive’s Charles S. Clark reports, “Beginning in February, the federal definition of what qualifies as a small business will change, the Small Business Administration announced . . . . Two final rules were published this week in the Federal Register for measuring the number of employees, along with final approval for an earlier rule addressing monetary worth of for-profit entities to determine eligibility for small business loans and federal contract set-asides.”

Boeing’s sub-hunter. Military & Aerospace Electronics Editor John Keller reports, “U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft experts are making plans to order 20 new Boeing P-8A Poseidon submarine hunter maritime patrol aircraft for U.S. and Australian military forces. Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced a $2.5 billion contract modification Thursday to the Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) in Seattle 20 Lot III full-rate production P-8A aircraft — 16 for the Navy and four for the government of Australia.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

Agency eyewash. Washington Post’s Greg Miller and Adam Goldman report, “Senior CIA officials have for years intentionally deceived parts of the agency workforce by transmitting internal memos that contain false information about operations and sources overseas, according to current and former U.S. officials who said the practice is known by the term ‘eyewash.’ Agency veterans described the tactic as an infrequent but important security measure, a means of protecting vital secrets by inserting fake communications into routine cable traffic while using separate channels to convey accurate information to cleared recipients.”

Einstein’s shortfalls. FierceGovernmentIT’s Stephanie Kanowitz reports, “Only a fraction of the agencies required to use the National Cybersecurity Protection System do so, according to a new report, which also stated that the system is lacking in its intrusion and prevention capabilities anyway. Although all 23 agencies required to implement intrusion detection capabilities had routed some traffic through the $1.2 billion system, known as NCPS or Einstein, only five received intrusion prevention services . . . .” See also, “$5.7B Einstein cyber program isn’t smart enough yet.”

Best-kept Fed tech secrets. Nextgov’s Mohana Ravindranath reports, “About 54 percent of federal employees don’t know about organizations such as 18F, the General Services Administration’s tech fix-it team, or the U.S. Digital Service, a White House IT consultancy now being replicated in other departments . . . . 18F and USDS ‘may be one of the government’s best-kept secrets’ . . . . USDS has worked on projects including revamping Vets.gov; both USDS and 18F are collaborating on a College Scorecard that would help high school students search for institutions based on factors such as size and location.”

Super Surveillance 50. Wired’s April Glaser reports, “A hundred million people will watch the game on TV. Over the next ten days, 1 million people are expected to descend on the San Francisco Bay Area for the festivities. And, according to the FBI, 60 federal, state, and local agencies are working together to coordinate surveillance and security at what is the biggest national security event of the year.”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

Petraeus pull-back. “Defense Secretary Ash Carter has finally decided he will not demote retired Gen. David Petraeus for leaking classified information to his biographer and mistress. According to a letter sent to GOP Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Army completed its review of the situation and did not recommend any additional action against Petraeus.”

Gates to Canada. “Robert Gates, a Republican stalwart and former US defence secretary who served under eight presidents, has derided the party’s election candidates for a grasp of national security issues that ‘would embarrass a middle schooler’. An ex-CIA director who first joined the White House under Richard Nixon, Gates joked that if frontrunner Donald Trump wins the presidency, he would emigrate to Canada. He condemned the media for failing to challenge candidates from both parties on promises he believes are unaffordable, illegal or unconstitutional.” Watch the Gates Politico Playbook.

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

The power, and peril, of networks.” The Christian Science Monitor’s John Yemma argues, “Our networks open doors, improve decisionmaking, enhance commerce, connect us. Each user adds value. Each user is a potential way in for a hacker. Let’s be careful out there.”

Why Zika may be as tough to beat as Ebola.” Reuters contributor Peter Apps argues, “If the World Health Organization is right in its predictions of the spread of the virus, it could yet come to that. In the meantime, however — just as with Ebola — we look set for another spell of almost impossible medical policy challenges and countless personal tragedies and traumas.”

Creative leaders succeed.” Fast Company contributor Courtney Feider writes, “Creativity is becoming more valuable across entire organizations, especially at the top. In a 2014 Adobe study, 82% of companies reported a strong connection between creativity and the bottom line. Yet 61% said they didn’t see their own organizations as terribly creative. If that points to a creativity gap, it exists nowhere more clearly than at the C-suite. Here are four of the most underappreciated reasons why truly creative leaders are now more likely than ever to have the competitive edge. . . .”

THE FUNNIES

Zika.

Historical perspective.

Black ops.

Related News

Ed Ledford enjoys the most challenging, complex, and high stakes communications requirements. His portfolio includes everything from policy and strategy to poetry. A native of Asheville, N.C., and retired Army Aviator, Ed’s currently writing speeches in D.C. and working other writing projects from his office in Rockville, MD. He loves baseball and enjoys hiking, camping, and exploring anything. Follow Ed on Twitter @ECLedford.