Saving money and delivering better capability to the war fighter are the stated goals of Better Buying Power 2.0. Defense Department leaders continue to promote the effort as a way to accomplish both goals. But Better Buying Power has a fatal flaw, according to Steve Griggs, a 30-year veteran of the aerospace industry and now an adjunct professor at Oklahoma State University’s School of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises. Griggs joins In Depth to discuss why he thinks a cultural change is the lacking ingredient.

Better Buying Power: Success Requires a Cultural Change (related link)

The main threat on a battlefield isn’t always human — sometimes it’s Mother Nature. The Defense Department’s Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) turns a group of cargo pilots into an elite group of aerial firefighters that can deploy wherever the heat literally starts to rise. Lt. Col. Bryan Allen is an Instructor Pilot and Chief of Plans for the 146th Airlift Wing at Channel Islands Air National Guard Station in California. He joins In Depth with more.

Forest Service directs MAFFS to Arizona (related link)

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) is pushing hard to bring a new philosophy to the Defense Department. She calls it the “Grand Strategy,” and she says it’s built on three simple truths. Dan Goure, vice President with the Lexington Institute has written about Ayotte’s Grand Strategy. He joins In Depth with his analysis.

Senator Ayotte Begins To Frame A New U.S. Grand Strategy (related link)

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Development Administration spent almost half of its IT budget last year to fix a cyber attack that barely happened. Commerce’s inspector general found a string of errors and miscommunications that led to removing employee email and website access from the main agency network. Federal News Radio Executive Editor Jason Miller joins In Depth with details on the IG report and what lessons other agencies can learn from the Bureau of Economic Development Administration’s bad experience.

The Defense Department is putting the finishing touches on a major update to the key document that governs cybersecurity policy for the entire military. Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu provides more details.