FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
Recruiting right. Editor Lindy Kyzer writes, “If you want to be an active recruiter, you’re going to need to get online and start building your talent pipeline. And that requires great relationship building. Here are three pitfalls to avoid when it comes to building that great online network. . . .”
Soft skills matter. Contributor Ron Kness writes, “As a military veteran, you have more to offer than you may realize. Civilian employers need people that not only have the credentials to do the job, like an appropriate four-year degree, but also the experience to go with it – something usually not found in new college graduates without work or military experience. Specifically, they look for ‘soft skills’ that can be universally applied . . . .”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
Brussels update. Vice News reports, “Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks through a statement on its Amaq Agency, which is linked to the group. The group identified Belgium as “a country participating in the international coalition against the Islamic State.” According to the statement ‘several’ fighters were involved in the airport attack, while it said the metro station bombing was carried out by one suicide bomber.” See also, “Bombers Were Brothers,” “Pair of brothers,” “Islamic State Claims Deadly Bombings,” and “Added Funding to Fight ISIS.”
Turkey’s insurgency. War on the Rocks’ Aaron Stein reports, “Turkey is experiencing a wave of terror violence, linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). These two non-state actors are also at war inside Syria, where the PKK’s Syrian affiliate, the PYD, is currently waging an effective offensive to take territory from ISIL in northern and eastern Syria.”
Fire Base Bell. Washington Post’s Thomas Gibbons-Neff reports, “Fire Base Bell hearkens back to the United States’ older wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where small outposts with names like Fire Base Phoenix and Combat Outpost Turbett were ubiquitous and where the creation of yet one more would only be noticed by the enemy and the troops that had to fill the sandbags. Yet in the fight against the Islamic State, the creation of a U.S. outpost indicates a noteworthy development in a battle that is largely fought from the skies.”
XVIII Airborne Corps takes on ISIS. Stars & Stripes’ Drew Brooks reports, “Nearly five years after Fort Bragg’s 18th Airborne Corps helped close out the war in Iraq, the unit’s headquarters will return to the region to head the fight against the Islamic State. The corps headquarters will deploy to Kuwait this summer to serve as the core of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve.”
America’s sea trials underway. Defense News’ David Larter reports, “The amphibious assault supership America is out of the yards and back in the fleet. The San Diego-based America has wrapped up a 10-month post-shakedown overhaul and is undergoing sea trials in the Pacific. . . . It was built to carry up to 1,687 Marines and serve as a flattop for their aircraft, including the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, MV-22 Ospreys, CH-53 Sea Stallions and more. The America, however, lacks a well deck to launch and recover amphibious vehicles.”
CONTRACT WATCH
Lockheed picks Kent Periscopes Ltd. Daily Post’s Owen Hughes reports, “Kent Periscopes Limited, St Asaph, has been awarded a significant production contract by Lockheed Martin UK (LMUK). The contract, which is worth over £9 million [$12.8 million US], is to deliver periscopes and sights for the new AJAX armoured vehicle programme for the British Army. Kent Periscopes has designed sophisticated new unity vision periscopes and a commander’s auxiliary sight, specifically for installation in the Lockheed Martin UK AJAX turret.”
Up periscopes. Military & Aerospace Electronics Editor John Keller reports, “Navy undersea warfare experts are ordering 16 non-penetrating electro-optical sensor submarine masts from L-3 KEO in Northampton, Mass., for Virginia-class fast-attack submarines, and for other kinds of modern submarines without traditional periscope wells. Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington last week announced a $12 million contract to L-3 KEO (formerly Kollmorgen) to provide 16 Universal Modular Mast (UMM) systems for Navy submarines. L-3 acquired Kollmorgen in 2012.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
Hackers indicted. Vice News’ Tess Owen reports, “US authorities charged three members of the Syrian Electronic Army . . . with a series of cyber crimes targeting media organizations, private companies, and the US government. . . . [T]he trio faces a range of conspiracy charges, including ‘participating in a hoax regarding a terrorist attack’ and ‘attempting to cause mutiny in the US armed forces,’ as well as counts of wire fraud and money laundering. Arrest warrants have been issued for each of them. The problem is that the FBI doesn’t really know where the three men are. . . .”
Anomaly detection. Nextgov’s Aliya Sternstein reports, “With Americans increasingly using fingerprint recognition to secure everything from smartphones to U.S. borders, impostors are inventing some pretty creative ways to fake out biometric readers. Now, the spy community is fighting back. A 4-year project just launched to develop artificial intelligence that should automatically detect spoofed fingertips, facial images and irises.”
CUDOS for cybersecurity. Defence Talk reports, “With enough computing effort most contemporary security systems will be broken. But a research team at the University of Sydney has made a major breakthrough in generating single photons (light particles), as carriers of quantum information in security systems.”
Social media kill shot. Defense Tech’s Bryant Jordan reports, “The so-called Shared Dominance feature of TrackingPoint’s NightEagle semi-automatic rifle, which fires the 5.56 NATO round, enables the shooter to record voice and video as he targets and fires. As the company put it in a press release, ‘As the shooter engages a target he can voice annotate the recorded video in real-time, creating a rich media experience of his engagement to be shared with friends and family.’”
Kelley on Petraeus (as victim). AP’s Ted Bridis reports, “On the afternoon his resignation was announced, Petraeus wrote in an email to the Kelleys that military officials at U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command – both are based in Florida – ‘all knew Paula Broadwell (was) stalking them and me.’ He also wrote: ‘Bottom line: I did something terrible and dishonorable,’ and he said that by resigning as CIA director, ‘I guess she can’t compromise me then.’”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Window of opportunity. “President Obama’s strategy against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is coming under heavy criticism following Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in Brussels. Republicans in Congress said the coordinated bombings in Belgium — which hit an airport and subway station, killing more than 30 people — show the president’s approach to ISIS is dangerously out of step with the threat.”
What’s a few billion? “It’s now looking less likely that fiscally conservative House lawmakers will win spending cuts in the fiscal 2017 budget deal. After lawmakers huddled Tuesday, it became clear that the House will not vote on a $1.07 trillion fiscal 2017 budget resolution this week. GOP leaders are holding off because conservative Republicans still want the number slashed to $1.04 billion. But the appropriations process is moving ahead without a budget resolution and will adhere to the $1.07 trillion spending cap agreed upon last year by Congressional Republicans, Democrats and President Obama, for 2017.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
“‘Islamist Pit Stop’ in the Heart of the EU.” Foreign Policy contributor Gareth Harding argues, “Brussels’s reputation as a home for radicals isn’t just about long-simmering inequalities and historical hard-line ties. Both politicians and experts say the way in which Brussels is governed makes it easier for terrorists to thrive in the Belgian capital.”
“How to counter the ISIS threat in the Balkans.” European Leadership Network contributor Fatmir Mediu argues, “Radical Islamic indoctrination over the last two decades has not only created shelters, indoctrination centres, training hubs and safe transit routes but it has also destabilized the Islamic tradition of the region, known for its secular character, historic tolerance and cultural integration. Now a foreign, radical and heretical interpretation of Islam has taken root and is destabilizing the region already troubled by ethnic and national strife.”
“Salvaging A Wasted Day.” Fast Company contributor Rich Bellis writes, “Now it’s 5 p.m., you’re way behind, and you’re already beginning to panic about the horrorscape that tomorrow’s shaping up to be. Now what? First, step away from your computer. Better yet, get away from your office altogether. Then do this. . . .”
