FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
Retirement tips—plan early. “Believe it or not, having 10 years of service is a great time to start planning your retirement. In fact, having six months of service is a great time to start planning your retirement. So before you get sidetracked by another article, take a few minutes to read the seven retirement tips . . . .”
Interim clearances—fast facts. “Looking to get to work right away? The good news is you don’t have to wait for a final security clearance determination. An interim security clearance can get you on the job faster – here’s what you need to know.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
ISIS abides. “Islamic State may have lost territory in Syria and Iraq, but the terror group has increased the tempo of its ground operations in both countries in the past three months, pulling off the highest quarterly attack total since it overran the Iraqi city of Mosul in June 2014 . . . .” (Voice of America) See also, “Carter Details U.S. Strategy to Accelerate ISIL’s Defeat” and “US official exaggerates fall in ISIS foreign recruits.”
Fighting terrorism in Germany. “Hans-Georg Maassen, Germany’s director of domestic intelligence, said his intelligence agency should be given more resources to fight threats from militant Islamists and right-wing extremists. He was speaking in a symposium on the growing threat of terror attacks in Germany. He said the political climate in Germany was ‘a lot rougher’ than it used to be, as former non-voters and disaffected supporters of the established parties become radicalized against the backdrop of the refugee crisis.” (Homeland Security News Wire)
Revisiting Rosenthal’s Mount Suribachi. “The Marine Corps says it has begun investigating whether it mistakenly identified one of the men shown raising the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima in one of the iconic images of World War II after two amateur history buffs began raising questions about the picture.” (AP)
Green Zone protest predictions. “Iraqi protesters delivered a visceral wake-up call to politicians they accuse of corruption and dysfunctional government by breaching the walls of Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone and storming the parliament building . . . . It is far from clear if the weekend wake-up call will translate into a reformed and more responsive politics that could rein in endemic corruption and take on interests and parties that have increasingly entrenched themselves, virtually since American forces toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.” (Christian Science Monitor)
N. Korea Congress in session. “North Korea has started welcoming delegates from around the country to its first ruling party congress in 36 years, state media reported on Tuesday, as rival South Korea expressed concern that Pyongyang could conduct a nuclear test before or during the event. . . . North Korea’s young leader Kim Jong Un has aggressively pursued nuclear weapons and could be looking to a successful test this week as a crowning achievement. South Korean Defence Minister Han Min-koo said Pyongyang’s fifth nuclear test may come before or around the time of the opening of the congress.” (Reuters) See also, “N. Korea Party Congress Secret, But Goals Clear.”
CONTRACT WATCH
Maintenance-contract-heavy Army. “The US Army wants to find the right balance between when it uses soldier and contract maintainers for its fleet of aircraft, but right now the levels are ‘out of balance,’ according to the new Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command (AMCOM) leader. ‘I think we are contractor heavy,’ Brig. Gen. Doug Gabram said at the Army Aviation Association of America’s Mission Solutions Summit . . . .”
Finding transporter-erector-launchers. “A new $10 million US intelligence project seeks to use image-search applications to single out mobile missile launchers revealed by satellite data, and alert human analysts. At the core of the project is the idea of using machines to identify launcher-shaped objects buried within the staggering amount of digital imagery collected by US spy satellites, manned and unmanned aircraft.” (Defence Talk)
Lockheed hits F-35 billion-dollar pay dirt. “Lockheed Martin Corp. on Monday received a nearly $1.3 billion contract for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet program. The Bethesda, Maryland-based company and world’s largest defense contractor got the modification for the stealthy fifth-generation fighter aircraft added by lawmakers during fiscal 2016 budget negotiations . . . . The agreement, part of a previously awarded Lot 11 low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract, calls for delivery of 13 of F-35s, including six F-35B jump-jet variants for the Marine Corps, three F-35A conventional models for the Air Force and four F-35C aircraft carrier versions for the Navy . . . .” (DoD Buzz)
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
Your clearance credit score. “Your eligibility to perform secret government work could one day be decided by a number that looks like a credit score, and factors in your social media activities. According to the head of the new U.S. security clearance agency, the idea is to regularly vet individuals with access to classified information on their likelihood to go rogue, as one would be rated on their likelihood to default on a loan.” (Nextgov)
Quantum-proof cryptography. “The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology launched an effort Thursday to study the effects of quantum computing on encrypted data and how to develop ‘quantum-resistant’ cryptography. NIST released an internal report on Thursday that examined research into quantum computing, which uses quantum physics to overcome obstacles associated with conventional computers.” (FierceGovernmentIT) Read the report: Post-Quantum Cryptography.
Snowden on encryption. “Encryption has been a hot topic these past few months, thanks to the war between Apple and the FBI . . . . The topic of that ongoing battle, which has made its way to Capitol Hill, also set the stage for a debate hosted by New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and the Century Foundation, a nonprofit. A part of the ‘Debate of the Century’ series, the organizations had CNN’s Fareed Zakaria duke it out with former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who appeared via Google Hangouts.” (Digital Trends)
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Boehner’s back (and better than ever). “Former Speaker John Boehner is out of Congress, but he clearly isn’t done with politics. The Ohio Republican is back in the spotlight a full six months after he stunned Washington by resigning from the job that is second in line to the presidency. . . .”
All’s fine here. “Vice President Joe Biden landed in Baghdad last week with his aides optimistically declaring that Iraq’s political tumult had ‘trended in a more stabilizing direction.’ But the vice president’s plane had barely left Iraqi airspace when the country’s political divisions exploded, with hundreds of protesters storming into Baghdad’s Green Zone, occupying the fortified area for much of the weekend to demand an end to government corruption.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
“Defeating ISIS: The Military and Economic Options.” “The worst mistake we can make in fighting ISIS is to overreact to the threat, clouding our strategic judgment overseas and undermining civil liberties at home. Overreacting builds a climate of fear that threatens our own way of life—which is what ISIS wants to do.” (Huffington Post)
“The real war against Islamic State.” “In both Iraq and Iran, political events are largely being driven by this struggle over the view that only a few individuals can reflect the truth needed to run society, and that they need not be held accountable to the people. The fight against Islamic State is as much on this battlefield of ideas as in the skies and territory of its caliphate.” (Christian Science Monitor)
“The Catastrophic Success of the U.S. Air Force.” “The stunning success of the Air Force in dominating its domain since the 1991 Gulf War has created two looming problems for the service leadership: The Air Force no longer has any substantive experience in how to fight and win in a highly contested environment, and its current airmen have never experienced serious losses of people and machines in air combat. The very profession of arms in air combat — ‘to fly, fight, and win’ in Air Force parlance — may be at risk.” (War on the Rocks)
“Suffering From Professional Envy? Here’s How To Turn It Around.” “A colleague hired at the same time as you gets promoted into a new leadership role. You weren’t actively gunning for that role yourself, but still, the speed of his ascent has alarms ringing in your head. Indeed, you soon find it hard to think of much else. . . . there are ways to turn this emotion into more concrete action.” (Fast Company)
