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Defense
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What's next in Ukraine? A 10-day ceasefire in eastern Ukraine expired Monday night, with no immediate word from the country's president on whether he would extend it, and no sign that the pro-Moscow separatists had met his demands to ease the violence. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko discussed the situation in a phone call with leaders of Russia, Germany and France. He repeatedly said the rebels had not fulfilled the conditions of the ceasefire.
July 01, 2014 -
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Ford Heard, the Veterans Affairs associate deputy assistant secretary for Procurement Policy, Systems and Oversight, said his office will launch the acquisition corps and program management framework in the coming months to further professionalize the agency's acquisition workforce. A Federal News Radio survey of chief acquisition officers and other senior acquisition managers says workforce training and retention remain among their biggest priorities and challenges.
July 01, 2014 -
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The Obama Administration has waited until now to submit its overseas contingency operations budget to Congress. That's because the President had yet to determine how many troops would stay in Afghanistan. Now, the request for fiscal 2015 is $58.6 billion. Federal News Radio's DoD Reporter Jared Serbu told Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive that the Pentagon's request is well below what many observers had expected. Read Jared's related article.
July 01, 2014 -
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The Defense Department is shaking up the $380 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Yesterday, Lt. Gen. Christopher Bodgan, the program director, explained how the Pentagon was asking major contractors to put skin in the game and invest in cost-reduction measures. In the second part of his interview with Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive, Bogdan takes a long-term view on the Pentagon's sometimes rocky relationship with Lockheed Martin and other key players.
July 01, 2014 -
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For a lot of people, the Cold War seems almost like a surreal event. But for decades, it was a very real, at times very hot, war. And there are probably some people in your office who are bona fide cold warriors, like today's guest columnist.
July 01, 2014 -
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The latest check on the Defense Department's push to full audit readiness uncovers a domino effect of problems. The Government Accountability Office says DoD didn't follow a plan to improve how it tracks contract payments. Asif Khan is Director of Financial Management and Assurance Issues at the GAO. Khan told In Depth with Francis Rose that because the Pentagon missed some steps of the plan, it's dealing with even more problems that could keep the agency from meeting an important deadline.
June 30, 2014 -
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The House and Senate Armed Services Committees are trying to pay close attention to defense acquisition reform. Dave Wennergren is senior vice president of technology policy at the Professional Services Council and the Pentagon's former chief information officer. Beth McGrath is director of Deloitte Federal Practice and the Defense Department's former deputy chief management officer. They joined on In Depth with Francis Rose to discuss acquisition reform.
June 30, 2014 -
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The Department of Veterans Affairs is building a "special ops" team of acquisition experts. Ford Heard, the associate deputy assistant secretary for procurement policy, systems and oversight at the VA, joined Federal News Radio's Executive Editor Jason Miller and Francis Rose on In Depth. They discussed the latest results of Federal News Radio's Chief Acquisition Officer Survey.
June 30, 2014 -
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The shrinking Defense Department budget has the Pentagon looking for alternatives to fund its most expensive program. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program has faced years of delays and skyrocketing costs. Now, the Pentagon has a new strategy to control the F-35's bottom line. It is asking the builders to put skin in the game. Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan is the F-35 program director. He described the F-35's progress as slow but steady, when he joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive.
June 30, 2014 -
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Of the 300 troops authorized by President Barack Obama, 180 have arrived in Baghdad. Half are advisors and the remaining 90 are setting up an operations and intelligence analysis unit. The Pentagon confirms that Predator drones, armed with Hellfire missiles, are now also being used over the capitol for force protection.
June 30, 2014 -
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The Defense Department's request for its overseas contingency operations is about $20 billion less than initial estimates. Former Defense officials say realistic goals and managed expectations usually spelled success for weapons systems.
June 30, 2014 -
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Ford Heard, the Veterans Affairs Department's associate deputy assistant secretary for Procurement Policy, Systems and Oversight, joins Federal News Radio for an online chat on June 30.
June 30, 2014 -
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When a nurse manager at a Veterans Affairs medical center in Albany, New York, saw a patient being unnecessarily kept in restraints for seven hours, she couldn't remain silent. But little did Valerie Riviello know that her actions as a whistleblower would start her down on a path of retaliation from her coworkers.
June 27, 2014 -
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The White House has submitted an updated Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) request to Congress. DoD OCO funding allotted is $58.6 billion and it includes $1.4 billion for State Department programming. President Barack Obama says the request is consistent with the plan he laid out at West Point. The plan called for bringing the U.S. war in Afghanistan to a responsible end, while ensuring our Armed Forces have the flexibility and resources required to respond to emerging needs as terrorist threats around the world continue to evolve.
June 27, 2014
