Defense
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The Defense Department is working on new training and guidance to help its contracting officers decide whether potential contracts are worth the price. The Government Accountability Office sampled 32 commercial contracts. DOD contracting officials asked for cost, pricing and other information to help them determine if contracts were reasonably priced for 12 of them. Bill Woods is director of acquisition and sourcing management issues at GAO. He said it's too early to say whether the Pentagon's training and guidance is working, but he tells In Depth with Francis Rose that contracting officers DO have some challenges.
August 24, 2015 -
The new Coast Guard chief acquisition officer is in place. Rear Adm. Joe Vojvodich is assistant commandant for acquisition at the Coast Guard and the chief acquisition officer. His portfolio includes three domains: aviation programs, surface programs and C4ISR. Admiral Vojvodich tells In Depth with Francis Rose about some of his current — and future — priorities in the surface programs portfolio.
August 24, 2015 -
Army Lt. Gen. Michael Linnington is the director of the Pentagon's new POW-MIA Accounting Agency, charged with finding and identifying remains of U.S. service members abroad. Defense Secretary Ash Carter appointed Linnington in June. He replaces Rear Adm. Mike Franken, who had served as interim commander since the agency was formed in January. On the Federal Drive with Tom Temin, Linnington told Federal News Radio's Matt Wingfield more about the history of the still-young agency, and how he plans to accelerate the location and naming of lost service members.
August 24, 2015 -
NASA could be soon looking for another chief information officer. Sources say Larry Sweet has told his staff he plans on retiring at the end of the calendar year.
August 24, 2015 -
A new analysis from the federally-funded RAND Corporation shows “significant shortcomings” in the forces planned to meet three major defense missions under the military's plan to reduce the active duty Army to 450,000 soldiers.
August 24, 2015 -
As the new Defense Health Agency pushes forward toward its Oct. 1 target date to declare full operational capability, it’s bringing three existing DoD medical institutions into the fold.
August 24, 2015 -
As the Army prepares to graduate the first two female Rangers in its history in a ceremony tomorrow, officials are insisting they did not alter their training standards to accommodate the Army’s first round of female students. But it’s still unclear whether those two new Rangers will ever be allowed to serve in direct ground combat. More from Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu.
August 20, 2015 -
The Army plans on requesting proposals for the third iterations of its ITES and ADMC contracts by next January. New proposals will likely tackle target areas such as mobility, cloud integration and cybersecurity, but CHESS wants to make sure small businesses are in the running for contracts.
August 20, 2015 -
The Navy’s top officer says the Pentagon is fighting a congressional proposal that would dramatically reduce take-home pay for tens of thousands of service members by reducing their housing allowances.
August 19, 2015 -
The Navy’s top officer says the Pentagon is fighting a congressional proposal that would dramatically reduce take-home pay for tens of thousands of servicemembers by reducing their housing allowances. The details from Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu.
August 19, 2015 -
The General Services Administration's Western Regions Conference scandal still leaves a bad taste in the mouths of some agencies. Spending on government conferences dropped $3 billion between 2013 and 2010. And the Office of Management and Budget told agencies to cut travel spending by 30 percent back in 2012. But federal employees gain some benefits from conferences that money can't buy. Bob Hale is a fellow at Booz Allen Hamilton, former undersecretary of defense comptroller and former executive director of the American Society of Military Comptrollers. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose why conferences are still valuable.
August 19, 2015 -
The Army is reviewing information it got from industry after its industry days for its new Information Technology Enterprise Solutions 3 Services and Army Desktop and Mobile Computing 3 Contracts. Tom Neff is project director for Computer Hardware and Enterprise Software Solutions at PEO Enterprise Information Systems. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose about the new contracts, what Army users will buy from them, what industry should do to get on them and what the Army hopes the contract will achieve.
August 19, 2015 -
Federal firefighters and National Guard units have been called in to help local firefighters battle the wildfires in the western U.S. Check out our photo gallery of the effort.
August 19, 2015 -
Many people don’t realize that members of the uniformed military services are eligible for the government’s long term care insurance program. Retired Army Brig. Gen. Michael Meese, chief operations officer of the American Armed Forces Mutual Aid Association, talks about recent premium changes on Your Turn.
August 19, 2015 -
For people in, or going into the military, the benefits programs — while excellent in some cases — are a mystery. Many people don't realize that members of the uniformed military services are eligible for the government's long term care insurance program.
August 19, 2015