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The Air Force will offer early retirement and buyouts to civilian personnel, in order to eliminate nearly 3,500 positions, officials announced Monday. The service estimates the cuts will save the Air Force $1.6 billion over the next five years.
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has a desk job. This ends the formal phase of his transition from Taliban prisoner back to active duty soldier. This opens the door to an Army investigation into his disappearance and his 5 years in captivity. It's not clear when Bergdahl will face Army investigators, whose finding will determine whether he has to face charges or any other disciplinary action.
The Defense Department is getting smarter about workforce planning — making sure it has the right people with the right skills in the right positions. But DoD's five-year strategic workforce plan, released last fall, is short on details in a few key areas, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
Congress has approved $8 billion for 26 inland waterway improvement projects. But, many of those projects won't be completed for another 50 to 60 years. The Army Corps of Engineers is looking to speed up the process through public private partnerships.
Over the past decade, Congress has stepped up pressure on the Defense Department to gather data about its civilian workforce, and to use that data to develop a strategic workforce plan. The Pentagon has a plan, but according to the Government Accountability Office, it has
Despite steps forward, agencies fell short of their 2014 targets for cybersecurity. The Obama administration is pushing chief information officers to focus on priorities of continuous monitoring, phishing and malware, and authorization processes for 2015, according to the newly released cross-agency priority goals on Performance.gov.
The Associated Press is reporting that senior military leaders told Congress in a closed door session that two of the four U.S. deaths in Benghazi might have been prevented. Military leaders say if commanders had known more about the intensity of the gunfire directed at the CIA facility where Americans had taken refuge, they could have taken action. AP reports they thought the fighting had subsided and the Americans who had fled to the CIA base about a mile away were safe.
Pete Earley, author of Family of Spies: Inside the John Walker Spy Ring, reports Walker's brother Arthur Walker, 79, has died. Earley says he died July 4th at the Butner Prison in Butner, North Carolina of acute kidney failure, about one month shy of a parole hearing. In his blog, Earley explains Arthur was the older brother of John Anthony Walker Jr., "who remains in poor health, at the same Butner prison. John, who is 76, is scheduled for parole on May 20, 2015, but is in the later stages of throat cancer, according to a family friend."
In examining the viability of the Senior Executive Service, House members called out the Veterans Affairs' compensation program, with a pledge to introduce another piece of legislation to take back bonuses. The Senior Executives Association relayed concerns that talent is fleeing senior executive positions.
The military is trying to figure out why an F-35 engine caught fire, leading the Pentagon to ground the fledgling fleet. Meanwhile, program office planners are looking long term. They're thinking about how to control maintenance costs on a fleet that will eventually reach more than 2,000 aircraft and fly for the next 40 years. Defense News reported that planners are considering a worldwide competition for maintenance. Hal Chrisman, vice president of ICF International, has 25 years experience in the aviation industry. He joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss what sustainment work entails.
A former civilian employee at Sierra Army Depot faces a two-count charge for conspiracy and theft of military equipment.
The size of DoD's civilian acquisition workforce has grown by some 20,000 employees over the past five years and now numbers about 135,000 personnel members, according to Stephanie Barna, acting assistant secretary of Defense for Readiness and Force Management. That's thanks to an effort by DoD begun in 2009 to recapitalize its acquisition workforce. But the department's focus on the acquisition workforce has been strained by a slew of competing priorities and congressionally-mandated belt-tightening, Barna said.
The Navy thinks 3D printing can eliminate a wide range of challenges with its supply chain. The service is already testing the idea of using additive manufacturing technologies to build small spare parts aboard ships, as they're needed, rather than having to transport them from supply ships or distant warehouses. And one day, the service thinks the technology could even be able to build a small UAV at the press of a button. Carolyn Lambeth is a mechanical engineer for Combat Direction Systems Activity at Dam Neck, Virginia. She explained the future of 3D printing at the Navy on In Depth with Francis Rose.
National Counterterrorism Center Director Matt Olsen is leaving his position later this year. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper says Olsen has led the office for three years, integrating the counterterrorism community by seeking to strengthen key partnerships in the intelligence community. The NCTC is a key tool in the U.S. intelligence arsenal and is designed to warn against terrorist attacks. Its function is also to provide U.S. decision makers the intelligence they needed to counter terror threats.