FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Time to move on. Editor Lindy Kyzer advises, “For cleared professionals, the future is bright. Government contracting is on the rebound. Fewer clearances being issued mean more demand for your skills. While it’s good to be wanted, making a change is never easy. Here are a few ways you can tell, it’s time to go. . . .”
2. Writing the right resume. Also from Lindy Kyzer, “If you’re interested in a job working for the federal government, you’ll need to navigate one very particular and time-consuming task – federal resume writing. You may have a perfect one-or-two page resume for career fairs or online profiles, but for your federal resume, you’ll want to consider a few specific tips. . . . .”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Fog of war in Iraq. Defense One’s Patrick Tucker reports, “Iranian-fueled rumors that the U.S. is arming the Islamic State, or ISIS, with weapons have resulted in at least one instance where anti-ISIS fighters fired on U.S. forces. Iran’s Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani, the most important military leader in Iran, and a man with tremendous influence over Iran’s activities in both Iraq and Yemen, believes the rumor fully according to a key U.S. special operations forces commander in Iraq.” See also, “US-ISIS Rumors Hard To Counter, General Says” and “Iraqi forces say they defeat Islamist attack near Ramadi.”
2. Chaotic Karachi. The Diplomat’s Kiyya Baloch reports, “Despite considerable rhetoric and months of effort, the operations Pakistani paramilitary forces have been carrying out in Karachi still appear to be far short of bring peace to the port city. . . . Karachi has become a hotbed of militancy, targeted attacks, and sectarianism in recent years. In particular, it has seen a surge in attacks on Shiites . . . .” See also, “Karzai shows deep concerns about Pak-Afghan intelligence agreement.”
3. McChrystal on the military. Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe interviews General McChrystal: “’I’ve dealt with a lot of chief executive officers who could walk in and be general officers in the military tomorrow. All we’d have to do is get them a uniform and a rank.’ And not only could CEOs jump right in as high-ranking officers, says retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, but he adds that the military would be much better for it. This is a bold statement coming from one of the most prominent modern-day Army commanders . . . .”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Not ready for the fight: F-35B. Breaking Defense’s Colin Clark reports, “As the Marines started doing operational testing of the F-35B aboard the USS Wasp, the head of Marine Aviation is visibly and demonstrably confident the aircraft will meet the date for the plane’s Initial Operational Capability. ‘To me the F-35 program is right on track where it should be,’ Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, the head of Marine aviation, told reporters . . . ‘If I had my druthers, I’d rather not deploy it right away, because I’d like to build some momentum in the program and build the instructor base’ . . . .”
2. Boeing’s booming missile defense. DoD Buzz’s Brendan McGarry reports, “The Pentagon plans to prioritize funding for the ground-based missile defense system being developed by Boeing Co. . . . The Defense Department requested $1.6 billion for the system in fiscal 2016, beginning Oct. 1, a 60-percent increase from this year, according to budget documents. The additional funding, if approved by Congress, would be used to conduct more flight tests and redesign parts of the system. It would also go toward upgrading and expanding the number of interceptors from 30 to 44, including 40 at the Army’s Fort Greely in Alaska and the Air Force’s Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.” See also, “North Korea modified submarine missile launch photos.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. CIA’s evolution of power and the Middle East. Foreign Policy’s Yochi Dreazen and Sean D. Naylor report, “Since its creation in 1947, the CIA has steadily evolved from an agency devoted to its mission of spying on foreign governments to one whose current priority is tracking and killing individual militants in an increasing number of countries. It has been well documented that the agency’s growing scope and depth of influence in the counterterrorism fight reflects its growing skill at hunting America’s enemies from Pakistan to Yemen. What is more surprising, however, is the CIA’s adept navigation of public scandals and its outmaneuvering of the DNI and opponents from the White House, Congress, the Defense Department, and the rest of the intelligence community.” See also, “The CIA and the Myths of the Bin Laden Raid.”
2. DARPA’s Robotics Fast Track. Homeland Security Newswire reports, “The past ten years have seen an explosion of robotics advances from small businesses and individuals, thanks in part to lower manufacturing costs and the global rise of community workshops such as makerspaces and hackerspaces, which serve as incubators for rapid, low-cost collaboration and innovation. Unfortunately, the small-scale robotics community has tended to fly under the radar of traditional federal agencies and commercial technology providers, which generally rely on multi-year, multi-million-dollar contracts for technology development.”
3. Backdoor access. Venture Beat’s Paul Sawers reports, “Apple and Google are adding their names to an open letter to President Barack Obama asking him to quash any moves to create ‘backdoor’ access to encrypted data on smartphones and other communication devices. . . . the issue of online security and encryption has never been far from mainstream headlines since whistleblower Edward Snowden made a series of revelations about how the National Security Agency (NSA) mines data from private communications. Some of the major tech companies have also been accused of complicitly allowing the government access to backdoor portals to their data.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Principles. “The Senate will take up a House-passed measure that would add significant restrictions and reforms to a controversial surveillance program operated by the National Security Agency to combat domestic terrorism. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced Tuesday he will allow a vote on the USA Freedom Act, despite his opposition to the legislation.” See also, “Republicans in showdown over NSA spy program.”
2. Photo Op. “President Obama emerged from Marine One in a torrential downpour last night only to discover that the aircraft was equipped with a single umbrella. Budget cuts have so crippled Marine One’s umbrella supply that the staffer in lavender has been forced to supply her own. But when she makes the move to open it, Obama says something to her — perhaps, ‘No, it’ll be on Daily Intelligencer if we all just crowd under this one’ — and the three of them walk under a single umbrella, getting completely drenched.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Ramadi is Only Part of the Problem With Iraq.” Defense One contributor Anthony H. Cordesman argues, “The current level of U.S. military intervention may be too limited and too constrained to succeed, but the risk of failure will be high even if the U.S. uses added force more effectively.” See also, “Fall of Ramadi a ‘total disaster,’ but perhaps also an opportunity.”
2. “With end of Syria war in sight, so must a postwar plan.” The Christian Science Monitor’s Howard LaFranchi argues, “. . . as grim as the picture is coming out of central Iraq, there is also a glimmer of a development suggesting how Iraq might yet push back IS and avoid a descent into a deeper, unity-threatening sectarian conflict.”
3. “Errors and Lies.” The New York Times contributor Paul Krugman argues, “Thanks to Jeb Bush, we may finally have the frank discussion of the Iraq invasion we should have had a decade ago. . . . from a national point of view the invasion was a mistake. But . . . it was worse than a mistake, it was a crime.” See also, “Was the Iraq War a Crime or a Mistake? Yes.”
THE FUNNIES
1. In the sandbox.
