Friday Finale & This Time Last Year: Navy Drones, NSA Human Resourcing, Next-Gen Cyber-Defense
FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
Veteran job interviews. Contributor David Brown writes, “Veterans entering the job market today sometimes face gross misconceptions by prospective employers of what it means to have wartime experience. The problem is especially pronounced for veterans transitioning from combat arms specialties. . . .”
Opportunities in contracting. Contributor Peter Suciu reports, “As military deployments overseas have increased opportunities in the military contracting community have also been on the rise. According to a new Pentagon report to Congress, the number of private contractors working for the United States Defense Department in Iraq grew eight-fold over the past year.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
Gen. Votel’s in. Washington Examiner’s Anna Giaritelli reports, “The Senate confirmed Gen. Joseph Votel and Lt. Gen. Tony Thomas to lead Central Command and Special Operations Command, whose tasks including formulating strategy against the Islamic State . . . . Votel will be based in Florida and oversee all U.S. operations in the Middle East. He most recently served as the leader of U.S. Special Operations Command and will replace the outgoing Gen. Lloyd Austin.”
America’s ISIS defector. NBC News’ Tracy Connor reports, “An American man described as an ISIS defector says he made a ‘bad decision’ to follow a young woman to Iraq — and claims he left ISIS because he doesn’t share the terror organization’s views. ‘I don’t see them as good Muslims,’ the man identified by Kurdistan 24 television as Mohamad Jamal Khweis, 26, said in a heavily edited interview. ‘I wanted to go back to America.’”
South China Sea activity. Reuters’ David Brunnstrom and Andrea Shalal report, “The United States has seen Chinese activity around a reef China seized from the Philippines nearly four years ago that could be a precursor to more land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea . . . . The head of U.S. naval operations, Admiral John Richardson, expressed concern that an international court ruling expected in coming weeks on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its South China Sea claims could be a trigger for Beijing to declare an exclusion zone in the busy trade route.”
Pyongyang missile launch. Voice of America’s Brian Padden reports, “North Korea is following a familiar pattern of defiance in response to the tough new international sanctions imposed on the country for conducting its fourth nuclear test and launching another long-range rocket. Pyongyang launched its latest provocation on Friday morning, firing two medium range ballistic missiles from its east coast and sending them about 800 km into the sea.” See also, “Defiant North Korea fires ballistic missile into sea” and “N. Korea Fires Ballistic Missile.”
CONTRACT WATCH
Lockheed’s run on missiles. Defense One’s Marcus Weisgerber reports, “Lockheed Martin is expanding various munition factories to meet rising demand from the U.S. and its partners fighting the Islamic State — and to start equipping American warplanes for great-power wars at sea. . . . In particular, U.S. and allies are burning through their stocks of Lockheed’s Hellfire missile, the signature weapon of Predator and Reaper drones. Helicopters and fixed-wing planes also carry the versatile laser-guided weapon.”
Lockheed’s frigates. DoD Buzz’s Hope Hodge Seck reports, “As Lockheed Martin continues to manufacture littoral combat ships for the Navy at the rate of two per year, program officials are pushing forward with a frigate design that keeps elements of the LCS and adds in weapons and survivability features from an Arleigh-Burke class destroyer. According to a briefing to reporters Tuesday, the frigate design will incorporate the Nulka missile decoy system from the destroyer, allowing the frigate to lure anti-ship missiles away from its hull. Like the destroyer, the frigate will also feature the SEWIP electronic warfare system.”
DIUX: Silicon Valley contracting. Defense News’ Aaron Mehta reports, “The Pentagon is set to award the first contracts to come out of its outpost in Silicon Valley . . . . Stephen Welby, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, said he was encouraged by the progress made at the Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental (DIUX), a group set up by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to serve as a conduit between Silicon Valley and the Department of Defense.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
CIA torture report in limbo. US News’ Steven Nelson reports, “Judges considered Thursday whether the Freedom of Information Act requires the CIA and other federal agencies to process requests for release of the full 6,963-page Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA interrogation practices that critics call torture. Two D.C. Circuit appeals court judges, Sri Srinivasan and Harry Edwards, heard oral arguments in the American Civil Liberties Union’s appeal of an unfavorable lower court ruling. A third seat was empty due to Judge Merrick Garland’s Wednesday nomination to the Supreme Court.”
OPM’s new temp CIO. The Hill’s Katie Bo Williams reports, “Deputy federal chief information officer Lisa Schlosser will assume the interim chief information officer position at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) . . . . Schlosser will be a senior adviser as well as acting CIO . . . .”
Robot jurisprudence. The Atlantic’s Greg Miller reports, “The legal system has been wrestling with what robots can and can’t do for longer than you might think. A new paper by Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington, paints a surprisingly colorful picture of this history, which Calo dates back to a 1947 plane crash involving an Army fighter plane on autopilot.” See also, “On Manager Bots That Will Automatically Check Up On Employees.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Graham picks poison. “Sen. Lindsey Graham is backing Sen. Ted Cruz for president and . . . will host a fundraiser for his Senate colleague on Monday. Graham, as you may remember, ran for president for a brief spell. When he dropped out, he endorsed Jeb Bush, who, in turn, dropped out of the race after realizing nobody really wanted to vote for him. On Thursday, Graham resorted to plan Y and broke the protective glass surrounding Ted Cruz’s candidacy.”
Bad Luck O’ the Irish. “After being denied access to the White House for a St. Patrick’s Day reception, Gerry Adams, the Sinn Féin leader, described the incident as an ‘unacceptable development.’ Adams turned up on Tuesday evening for the annual Irish event hosted by the President, Barack Obama, but was denied access to the White House over a ‘security’ issue.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
“Dispelling Myths About Special Operations Forces.” War on the Rocks’ contributor Craig Michel argues, “Ideally, we will find effective ways to erode the foundations of dangerous ideologies, but in the interim, SOF may be the last and best answer when the questions we face are convoluted, the problems wicked, and all are placed against a backdrop of a shifting notion of what it means to engage in combat.”
“Keep America’s Top Military Officer Out of the Chain of Command.” Defense One contributor John Hamre argues, “Putting the chairman in the chain of command and creating an American version of a general staff would have astounding political implications, and none of them are good.”
“Making the Same Mistakes.” Fast Company contributor Wendy Marx writes, “Despite what we’ve been told, experience isn’t always the best teacher all by itself, especially when it comes to leading group efforts.”
“Start a productive day.” Business Insider contributor Jacqueline Whitmore writes, “With these few easy adjustments to your waking routing, you can elevate your mood, boost your energy and set the day off on the right foot before your feet even touch the floor. . . .”
