FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
The Spy Who Vacationed. “With summertime comes travel, and as every red-blooded ClearanceJobs reader knows, travel means the opportunity to visit the espionage landmarks of the world. (Right?) Here are 5 gorgeous travel destinations that also happen to have connections to the spy world.”
The leadership factor. “Besides teaching the hard skills required to do a job, the military also teaches many ‘soft’ skills. Skills like leadership, management, communication, organization and team building. One of the problems encountered by businesses today is they can find a deep pool of college graduates who have the right degree to do the technical aspects of a job. But most of them lack real world experience leading people.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
CIA family affair: the Martha Peterson story. “A mother of two who became the first female agent station by the CIA in Soviet Russia has revealed how she told her children about her real occupation – after telling them to meet her for lunch at Roy Rogers. Martha Peterson trained to join the CIA in 1975 and, after becoming proficient Russian and learning surveillance techniques, embarked on a two-year mission in Moscow.” (Daily Mail)
Intelligence analysis . . . analysis. “The best analytic tradecraft that neutralized biases, systematized knowledge, and delivered a precise analytic product to decision-makers still cannot save intelligence from decision-makers. The effort that many all-source intelligence outfits placed on improving analytic tradecraft demonstrates some fundamental misunderstandings of the intelligence process and how decision-makers use intelligence.” (War on the Rocks)
Russia cloaks the S-400, S-500. “The S-400 Triumf with the NATO designation SA-21 Growler and the S-500 Prometey, also known as the 55R6M Triumfator-M, will become undetectable thanks to a special container that will also be used to shield mobile command centers, air defense systems, radar stations and other hardware with complex electronic equipment. ‘We plan to receive containers designed for the S-500 and other cutting-edge air- and missile-defense systems among other things this year,’ the source, who is involved in creating electronic warfare systems, said.” (Defence Talk)
NSA surveillance wins House vote. “With the terrorist-inspired Orlando shooting fresh in their minds, House lawmakers reversed course last week and voted to uphold the government’s ability to snoop through its data when it believes American citizens are involved in terrorism — suggesting the post-Snowden wariness of the NSA has dissipated. The Thursday vote marked a defeat for civil libertarians, who in 2014 and 2015 won showdowns on the House floor, but whose support has dissipated as terrorist attacks in the U.S. and Europe have reshaped the debate.” (The Washington Times) See also, “Poland To Massively Expand Surveillance, Reduce Civil Liberties.”
CONTRACT WATCH
This is the season: TERN, TERN, TERN. “Unmanned aircraft designers at Northrop Grumman Corp. are moving forward with a project to develop a prototype medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) and shipboard launch and recovery system to enable the UAV to fly from relatively small surface ships like destroyers, frigates, and even freighters. Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., announced $17.8 million contract modification Friday to the Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems segment in Redondo Beach, Calif., for phase-3 work on the Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) program.” (Military & Aerospace Electronics)
4th Estate chooses OASIS contracting. “The Department of Defense’s Procurement and Acquisition Policy office signed a memorandum of understanding with the General Services Administration to use its OASIS contract vehicles for its non-military 4th Estate agencies on June 16. The OASIS (One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services) vehicle provides agencies complex professional services contracts.” (Federal Times)
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
Deep Dive: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. “The individual most responsible for the Guards’ emergence as current status was a pragmatist, President Hashemi Rafsanjani. He encouraged them to participate in postwar reconstruction after the conflict ended in 1988. Despite their struggles in the war, the Guards had developed engineering skills viewed as vital for rebuilding. They learned they could profit from this new role and soon front-companies—typically smaller firms not subject to outside sanctions—and other businesses directly responsive to the Guards started appearing.” (Defense One) See also, “Qods Force general vows to fight in Iraq and Syria until the last jihadist is killed.”
Clearing ops in Fallujah heat up. “Thousands of civilians are fleeing Fallujah after the city was declared liberated from the Islamic State, the United Nations said, while an Iraqi commander reported fierce clashes as elite counterterrorism forces pushed to clear out the remaining militants. Islamic State fighters launched missiles, detonated a suicide car bomb, and deployed snipers against Iraqi forces, Brigadier General Haider al-Obeidi said. ‘‘Iraqi forces are still advancing despite the strong clashes,’’ he said.” (Boston Globe)
Taliban bombs Kabul. “More than 20 people were killed in separate bomb attacks in Afghanistan on Monday, including at least 14 when a suicide bomber struck a minibus carrying Nepalese security contractors in the Afghan capital . . . . The attacks are the latest in a recent surge of violence that highlights the challenges faced by the Afghan government in Kabul and its Western backers as Washington slowly draws down its remaining troops despite a persistent insurgency.” (Reuters) See also, “Taliban bomber targets embassy guards in Kabul.”
Iran disrupts terrorists. “Iranian intelligence officials have broken up one of the ‘biggest terrorist’ plots ever planned to target Tehran and other provinces in the Islamic Republic, the country’s state media reported on Monday. The reports quote the country’s Intelligence Ministry as saying that it has arrested several suspects in the plot to bomb the capital and other provinces, seizing bombs and ammunition during the operation.” (AP) See also, “Iran thwarts attacks in Tehran.”
