FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
State of the Clearance Process. “It’s a Presidential Election year, and if you thought all of the craziness is saved for the political candidates, think again. The state of the defense industry and security clearance community has been on a roller coaster ride. If you’ve had trouble keeping up . . . you’re not alone. Fasten your seatbelt and let us break down the current State of the (Security Clearance) Union.”
Change your LinkedIn password. It’s for sale. “A hacker claims to be selling the user names and passwords for more than 117 million LinkedIn users – a figure that represents more than a quarter of the career networking site’s users. . . . At the time, LinkedIn confirmed the attack, but it was believed the data leaked was limited to 6.5 million users. It appears that initial attack was much worse, and compromised the personal data of a significantly higher number of users.” See also, “LinkedIn resets passwords on millions of accounts as new data-leak reports surface.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
B-52 down in Guam. “A B-52H Stratofortress crashed around 8:30 a.m. on Andersen Air Force Base’s flight line . . . . All seven aircrew members safely exited the aircraft. No injuries have been reported. Emergency responders are on scene, according to Andersen’s public affairs. The B-52 was deployed to Andersen from Minot, North Dakota, as part of the military’s continuous bomber presence mission in the Pacific. The aircrew are members from the 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron and were performing a routine training mission.” (Defense News)
Sarin drop over ISIS in Syria. “The Assad regime has used sarin gas for the first time since 2013, dropping a sarin-filled bombs on ISIS fighters outside Damascus . . . . Western intelligence services have maintained all along that despite Assad’s disarmament pledge, the Syrian regime has stashed away large quantities of sarin, and that the latest attack showed that the Assad regime has retained the ability to use the agent.” (Homeland Security News Wire)
Preparing for Fallujah. “The leadership of Harakat al Nujaba, or Movement of the Noble, an Iranian-supported Shiite militia which operates in both Iraq and Syria, said it is clearing a road in eastern Anbar province in preparation for an upcoming offensive to retake Fallujah from the Islamic State. . . . Harakat al Nujaba and other Iranian-backed Shiite militias will likely engage in the fighting for Fallujah, despite US military commanders’ insistence that ‘extremist elements’ have not participated in operations where the US military is providing support.” (The Long War Journal)
Intercept over the South China Sea. “Two Chinese fighter jets carried out an ‘unsafe’ intercept of a U.S. military reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, drawing a rebuke from Beijing, which demanded that Washington end surveillance near China. The incident, likely to increase tension in and around the contested waterway, took place in international airspace . . . . The encounter comes a week after China scrambled fighter jets as a U.S. Navy ship sailed close to a disputed reef in the South China Sea.” (Reuters)
Tension in the Af-Pak Quadrilateral Coordination Group. “Afghanistan is showing its anger at Pakistan by downgrading its representation to the international group trying to arrange peace talks with the Taliban. Kabul says Pakistan needs to honor its commitments to take action against militant groups operating from Pakistan. The groups include the Afghan Taliban and the lethal Haqqani network that Afghanistan and the United States say operate out of Pakistan to launch violent attacks in Afghanistan.” (Voice of America) See also, “Four-nation talks on Afghan peace begin amid dim hopes, blame” and “QCG agrees to give peace a chance.”
CONTRACT WATCH
The Human Capital and Training Solutions (HCaTS) contract. “As part of the Obama administration’s ‘buy as one’ push for purchasing under category management, the General Services Administration on Monday unveiled a major multi-vendor human capital and training contract in partnership with the Office of Personnel Management. . . . It consists of two multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity task order contract vehicles with an $11.5 billion ceiling . . . .” (Government Executive)
AN/GSQ-272 Sentinel upgrades by Exelis Inc. “Military surveillance experts at Exelis Inc. in Herndon, Va., will add high-speed InfiniBand networking capability to a U.S. Air Force intelligence imagery-distribution and signal-processing system under terms of a $10.4 million contract modification . . . . The AF DCGS, also called the AN/GSQ-272 Sentinel weapon system, is the Air Force’s primary system for intelligence, surveillance. and reconnaissance (ISR) planning and direction, collection, processing, exploitation, analysis, and dissemination.” (Military & Aerospace Electronics)
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
A measured review of the NSA post-Snowden. “. . . before I began the work on the review group, my general view was that, from what I learned in the media, the NSA had run amok and created these programs without appropriate approval or authorization or review. And whatever I thought of the merits of the programs, my assumption was that it was illegitimate because it didn’t have appropriate review and approval. What surprised me the most was that this was completely wrong.” (US News & World Report)
Drilling into OPM’s new National Background Investigations Bureau. “Two senators have a lot of questions about the Office of Personnel Management’s plans to stand up a new federal security clearance agency. Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) have expressed some concern about OPM’s direction for transitioning the federal security clearance process from the current organization, Federal Investigative Services, to the new agency, the National Background Investigations Bureau.” (Federal News Radio)
3-D printing mission-critical aviation parts—this summer. “Naval Air Systems Command is preparing to launch the first Marine V-22 Osprey with ‘mission-critical’ 3-D printed parts this year . . . . While the Navy has long talked about capitalizing on the value of 3-D printing, launching a ‘Print the Fleet’ initiative in late 2014 to encourage the printing of spare parts and other small items, the additive manufacturing of Osprey parts shows the service is taking steps toward putting its money where its mouth is.” (DoD Buzz)
Pointing high-powered perception at yourself. “Islamic State uses it to compile lists of military members it wants followers to attack. Child predators use it to befriend potential victims. Most people just use it to update friends and family about the latest vacation or career move. Public social media is a potential safety threat to civilians and troops when individuals are not careful about the content they share. Now, some concerned Navy officers, who happen to be cyber pros, are helping defend their community against oversharing and online stalkers with a novel outreach approach.” (Nextgov)
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Ugly Americans. “An ally to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton seemed to suggest Wednesday that women—ugly women, to be specific—wouldn’t tolerate presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump’s misogynistic rhetoric. . . . ‘For every one he’ll lose 1½, two Republican women,’ [former governor of Pennsylvania and mayor of Philadelphia] Rendell told the Post’s Dave Weigel. ‘Trump’s comments like ‘You can’t be a 10 if you’re flat-chested,’ that’ll come back to haunt him. There are probably more ugly women in America than attractive women. People take that stuff personally.’” (Talking Points Memo).
The forgiven. “Vice President Joe Biden absolved Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders of any blame for the near riot that broke out among his supporters at the Nevada Democratic convention over the weekend. While traveling in presidential battlefield state of Ohio to trumpet the Obama administration’s new policy to expand overtime pay Wednesday, Biden said he didn’t blame Sanders for the passion of his followers and their concerns that Democratic Party operatives aren’t treating their candidate fairly.” (Washington Examiner)
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
The underground war. “Even if the U.S. footprint in Iraq and Syria remains limited, the potential threat posed by the enemy’s use of subterranean networks is dire. All major factions in the ongoing hostilities have used such structures to great effect. . . . Prior preparation is a critical factor in determining success in the subterranean environment, so U.S. forces should properly equip themselves with the necessary intelligence, munitions, and training to maneuver and fight underground.” (War on the Rocks) See also, “Preparing For Warfare’s Subterranean Future.”
Prioritizing threats at the NATO Summit in July. “If the European nations wish the US to remain engaged and provide the leadership so evidently required to meet the multiple challenges ahead, there must be a demonstration of intent from those who are failing to meet their stated commitment.” (European Leadership Network)
Shaping the battlefield and diplomacy in Syria. “While the Obama Administration has taken incremental steps over the last four years to try and shape both the battlefield and the context for diplomacy, those steps have proved too little and too late to alter the conflict’s fundamental dynamics.” (Lawfare)
