FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
Cleared cities—best for intel jobs. “ClearanceJobs.com has broken down the top states for security clearance jobs, and we’ve now rounded up a list of the top individual metro markets around the country – offering insight on what makes these markets stand out.”
Questions about clearance? “One of the many security clearance resources at ClearanceJobs.com is our repository of articles addressing security clearance issues. In the comments threads of those articles, a few common questions frequently pop up. Here are the top five . . . .”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
The fight in Fallujah. “The Islamic State has reportedly moved civilians to the center of Fallujah, attempting to use residents of the Iraqi city as shields to ward off government recapture . . . . Estimates of how many civilians remain in Fallujah range from several tens of thousands to nearly 100,000. On Monday evening, Muflahi said that only about 70 families had been able to leave in the last 48 hours, and that IS was blocking more from exiting. He added that if fighting worsens, as many as 50,000 people could eventually attempt to flee.” (Vice News) See also, “Iraqi Leader Announces Offensive to Retake Falluja From ISIS” and “Iraqi forces, militias launch operation to recapture Fallujah.”
Beleaguered Baghdad. “Even as Iraq slowly claws back territory from the Islamic State group, faith in the government is crumbling among many, particularly the country’s Shiites, angered by political disarray and the continual pounding of the capital, Baghdad, by militants’ bombings. . . . Rather than sow fear, the attacks seemed to stoke anger, particularly at the political elite. . . . The rising tempers are spilling over into potentially dangerous divisions among Iraq’s powerful Shiite militias.” (AP)
Syrians stepping up to ISIS. “With the number of Syrian volunteers to fight the Islamic State militant group surging, Americans training them are becoming increasingly optimistic that a Kurdish and Arab army can defeat ISIS simply by outnumbering it. Following victories against the Islamic State, including the recapture of al-Shaddadah in northeast Syria, the number of Arabs who have volunteered to fight this spring has outpaced American military advisers’ capacity to train them.” (The Christian Science Monitor)
The Vietnam move. “China warned President Obama on Tuesday not to spark a fire in Asia after he announced the lifting of a longstanding embargo on lethal arms sales to Vietnam. . . . Beijing, not surprisingly, was unimpressed. It enjoys a complex relationship with its southern neighbor: the two governments are united in their communist ideology and distaste for Western democracy, but fought a bloody border war as recently as 1979. They now fiercely contest sovereignty over many small islands in the South China Sea.” (Washington Post) See also, “US Lifting Arms Embargo on Vietnam Is About Countering China.”
Iran reinforces anti-western stance. “A powerful anti-Western cleric was chosen on Tuesday as the head of Iran’s new Assembly of Experts, in a sign that hardliners are still in firm control of the body in charge of choosing the next supreme leader. Ahmad Jannati, 90, is a an outspoken critic of President Hassan Rouhani and his attempts to end Iran’s global isolation by normalizing ties with the West. The 88-member assembly, consisting mostly of elderly clerics, is expected to choose the successor to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is 77 and rumored to be in frail health.” (Reuters)
CONTRACT WATCH
Cyber Command contract awards. “The General Services Administration and Cyber Command — the lead command for military cyber operations — announced the winners of a multi-award contract to provide “a broad scope of services needed to support the U.S. Cyber Command mission,” according to the award announcement. Contracting officers received 17 proposals from the October RFP but only six vendors were awarded spots on the $460 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract, which is set to run from the date of the award — May 20 — through May 19, 2021.” (Federal Times)
A contracting look at the NDAA. “The grab-bag $610 billion defense policy bill now at the halfway point in its journey through Congress has the contracting community upbeat about some procurement and small business reforms while wary of debate about the extent to which defense contractors will be subject to President Obama’s Fair Pay Safe Workplaces executive order.” (Government Executive)
Smart win on smart munitions. “Two major U.S. defense contractors received U.S. Air Force contracts this month worth more than three-quarters of a billion dollars for aircraft-launched guided smart munitions. . . . Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, announced a combined $649.7 million order to the Lockheed Martin Corp. Missiles and Fire Control segment in Archibald, Pa., and to the Raytheon Co. Missile Systems segment in Tucson, Ariz., for Paveway II guided bomb production.” (Military & Aerospace Electronics)
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
Railgun deep-dive. “The US Navy is gearing to take its futuristic Railgun out of the lab where it has been tested for to past eight years. In the next biennium, these mighty weapons will be tested in open firing ranges and eventually at sea, where the futuristic electromagnetic gun will be able to demonstrate its full capacity to fire projectiles at targets 50-100 nautical miles (92 – 185 kilometers) away.” (Defense Update)
Terahertz spectroscopy and bomb detection. “Terahertz spectroscopy, which uses the band of electromagnetic radiation between microwaves and infrared light, is a promising security technology because it can extract the spectroscopic ‘fingerprints’ of a wide range of materials, including chemicals used in explosives. Spectroscopic system with chip-scale lasers cuts detection time from minutes to microseconds.” (Homeland Security News Wire)
Cyber-legacy. “President Barack Obama has shepherded billions of dollars of investments toward cybersercurity programs, created senior federal IT positions, and set up a blue-ribbon panel to explore the issue years down the road. But will that be enough for history to judge him favorably on cyber policy? A group of former federal officials on May 18 delivered a mixed verdict: the Obama administration has done well to make cybersecurity relevant to top agency officials and not just techies, but should have done more to follow through on key policies.” (FCW)
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Put a Corker in it. “Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said he had no reason to think he was being considered for vice president after meeting on Monday in New York with Donald Trump. Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, didn’t rule out serving as Trump’s vice presidential candidate or in his Cabinet, but characterized his meeting with the presumptive GOP presidential nominee as a getting-to-know-one-another session.” (The Hill)
Abandoned bag. “The Transportation Security Administration’s head of security has been removed from duty, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said in a tweet Monday evening. Kelly Hogan received over $90,000 in awards and bonuses over the last 13 months, according to the committee. The revelation comes after the panel held a hearing earlier in the month on TSA mismanagement in which lawmakers pressed agency officials on why executives received bonuses while airport security had declined.” (Washington Examiner)
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
Securing Baghdad. “Special operations, intelligence, smart thinking, and technology can meaningfully reduce the threat to Baghdad, keeping the militias under control and keeping the Mosul operation on track. This should be a priority for Iraq and its coalition partners. Because what, really, is the point of liberating Mosul, only to lose Baghdad in the process?” (Foreign Policy)
ISIS’ chameleon effect. “Many experts are now speculating that Islamic State is experiencing its death knell. . . . Yet the recent reversals might only force Islamic State to adapt its campaign of irregular warfare — as other militant groups, including al Qaeda, have done. With foreign fighters unable to reach the battlefield, for example, Islamic State leaders could instruct would-be jihadists to remain home and launch attacks there.” (Reuters)
Forever war. “The United States did not choose this era of perpetual warfare. The threats are real and must be countered. In this era of open-ended conflict, the nation’s leaders must do a better job of addressing the costs of this new reality.” (War on the Rocks)
Cybersecurity moon shot. “[T]he United States government should have as a strategic goal for cybersecurity the reduction of vulnerability on the network, with a time-scale on the order of twenty years for implementation of a strategic plan of action. That would be Kennedy-esque and an objective worthy of this nation.” (Lawfare)
