Defense

  • President Obama has signed a big Veterans Affairs Department reform bill into law. No group will be watching what happens next more than the nation's military veterans. Dan Dellinger is national commander of the American Legion. He joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss what they're looking for when it comes to the new law.

    August 08, 2014
  • Move over MRE's, the Army is developing 3D food printers for soldiers in the field. If successful, soldiers will instantly have access to their food of choice by pressing the print button. The new technology could save money, avoid wasted food and give soldiers more food choices. Lauren Oleksyk is the food leader at the Army's Natick Research, Development and Engineering Center. She joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss the new project.

    August 08, 2014
  • The Defense Strategies Institute will host its Cloud Tech and Government IT Summit in a little over a month. The summit will run on September 23rd and 24th at the Mary M. Gates Learning Center in Alexandria, Virginia. The Defense Strategies Institute will offer training and educational seminars in a Town Hall format. DSI says federal agency leaders and innovators in cloud computing will join Industry experts for interactive speeches and debates. The overall focus of the summit is acquiring and securing cloud technology for civilian federal agencies and the DoD. DSI says it will also take a deep dive into IT modernization plans, data center consolidations, and IT infrastructure diversification. You can still register to attend the summit and active duty military and government employees can attend for free.

    August 07, 2014
  • As the body of an American General arrives back in the U.S. after being killed in Afghanistan. Afghan officials say that the soldier who killed General Harold Green came from a part of Afghanistan with a long history of Haqqani network fighters living there. The Haqqani network has strong links to the Taliban and has carried out significant attacks against U.S. forces.

    August 07, 2014
  • When it comes to lowest price, technically acceptable policies, the Defense Department wants more than "acceptable" for its acquisition services. Even with looming sequestration forcing DoD to stretch financially, Frank Kendall, undersecretary of Defense acquisition, technology and logistics, said the department must incentivize contractors to provide better value as well as best prices.

    August 06, 2014
  • Pretrial hearings are underway in the case against the man accused of masterminding the bombing of the U.S.S Cole 14 years ago. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri could receive the death penalty for charges including terrorism and the killing of 17 soldiers. A new judge, Colonel Vance Spath, has just taken over the case at a military commission at Guantanamo Bay. In this week's Legal Loop, Tom Temin and Emily Kopp speak with Criminal Defense Attorney Brian Bouffard on the Federal Drive. He takes them inside the world of military commissions.

    August 06, 2014
  • The reality of losing an American general in Afghanistan is setting in. "Even our generals are out there, many of whom have served many tours of duty both in Afghanistan and Iraq, leading America's sons and daughters, and that's something we should all think about from time to time," says RET. Army LT. General Harold Swan. Army MAJ. Harold Greene was killed in an insider attack yesterday in Kabul City, Afghanistan.

    August 06, 2014
  • Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, sent a letter to Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) back in June detailing how Congress can help DoD improve its acquisition outcomes. The list includes stopping sequestration, continued support of workforce training and simplifying rules and regulations.

    August 06, 2014
  • Maj. Gen. Harold Greene was on his first deployment to a war zone and was involved in preparing Afghan forces for the time when U.S.-coalition troops leave at the end of this year. He was the deputy commanding general, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan.

    August 05, 2014
  • David Bennett, the agency's Chief Information Officer and Alfred Rivera, the vice director for strategic planning join us to talk about DISA data center consolidation strategy and the path ahead.

    August 05, 2014
  • Fighters from the Islamic State seized control of Iraq's biggest dam, an oilfield and three more towns over the weekend. This puts a major terror tool under their control. Water is essential for life and it being withheld could be used against the residents of the towns that were captured. On the other hand, worse control of the damn could be used to unleash flooding.

    August 05, 2014
  • Nearly three-quarters of a million civilian Defense Department employees will enter a new, three-tiered employee appraisal system. The Pentagon included the new system in its six-month Congressional update on personnel systems. The update is a requirement of the 2010 Defense Authorization Act that killed the National Security Personnel System. Pat Tamburrino is director of business development at LMI and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Civilian Personnel Policy. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he said comparing the new system to NSPS might take a while.

    August 04, 2014
  • President Barack Obama says the U.S. is limited in what it can do to deter Russia's actions in Ukraine because Russia and President Vladimir Putin are ignoring their long-term interests. He says, "people don't always act rationally," and he also says that people don't act based on their own interests.

    August 04, 2014
  • For the first time since 2005, the government awarded at least 23 percent of all prime contracts to small businesses. The Small Business Administration reported Friday small firms received $83 billion out of a possible $355 billion in 2013.

    August 04, 2014