Defense
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Many members of the Marine Corps who currently have access to a government-issued BlackBerry had better start weaning themselves off as the Pentagon pushes a bring-your-own-device approach.
November 24, 2014 -
The Pentagon will curtail the types of payments service members are allowed to make to companies directly from their regular paychecks, a move officials said was intended to protect troops from unscrupulous businesses.
November 24, 2014 -
The Department of Veterans Affairs released a request for proposals on Wednesday to build a new patient scheduling system - an endeavor that could cost up to $690 million over seven years.
November 24, 2014 -
Maureen Casey with JP Morgan Chase and Company, and the Rand Corporation's Dr. Margaret Harrell, join host Derrick Dortch to talk about a new report that looks at lessons learned from a program that helps veterans find jobs in private sector. November 21, 2014 (Encore presentation November 28, 2014)
November 21, 2014 -
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is calling for a fresh round of technology innovation to ensure America's military superiority. The push is part of what Hagel described as a "game-changing" strategy to sharpen the nation's military edge, even with tight budgets. Bob Martinage is former Navy under-secretary and technology aide to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. He's now a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to talk about the initiative.
November 21, 2014 -
The United States is planning to increase non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine, including deliveries of Humvee vehicles.
November 21, 2014 -
Two early pilot programs have shown the Pentagon that it can reduce overhead spending by carefully studying its excess costs rather than cutting each office's budget by an arbitrary figure. Once expanded across DoD's support agencies, the savings could run into the billions.
November 21, 2014 -
The Office of Management and Budget says PortfolioStat data is proving the positive impact agile development is having on IT projects. The U.S. Digital Service is providing both help and training to expand the understanding and use of agile development.
November 21, 2014 -
The first case of a fired Senior Executive Service member at the Department of Veterans Affairs has a decision from the Merit Systems Protection Board. Federal News Radio's Emily Kopp tells In Depth with Francis Rose that SESer isn't an SESer any more.
November 20, 2014 -
The Pentagon will work to cut its administrative costs, but this time around, officials would like to do it much more surgically than they have in the past. Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu has more on DoD's plans for a "vertically integrated" approach to reductions at the Pentagon and it agencies.
November 20, 2014 -
The Merit Systems Protection Board has affirmed the Veterans Affairs Department's decision to ax James Talton, one of the first senior executives targeted under a new law that speeds up the removal process. Talton headed the Central Alabama Veterans Administration Healthcare System.
November 20, 2014 -
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered top-to-bottom changes for the nation's nuclear missile force. He wants to spend billions of dollars to fix problems with leadership, security and morale. The move comes after an exam-cheating scandal revealed numerous personnel problems among those entrusted with the country's 450 nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles. What's the future for this mission? Tom Nichols, a professor of national security affairs at Naval War College and a nuclear arms expert, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to explain.
November 20, 2014 -
The Defense Department already had telegraphed that it would request more money than sequestration allows for in 2016. But the military's top officer said Wednesday that new missions involving Ebola, the Islamic State and Russia likely will push DoD's funding request even higher.
November 20, 2014 -
Open architecture, where the Navy isn't locked into a particular vendor forever on a particular system, gets a huge boost from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert. The Navy has a unique chance to reshape its fleet in the coming years. Bryan Clark, senior fellow of strategic studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and former Special Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations and Director of the CNO's Commander's Action Group, says the driving principle behind that reshaping should be the concept of "offensive sea control." He tells In Depth with Francis Rose about what that concept looks like.
November 19, 2014 -
The Defense Department's Better Buying Power principles are saving the Navy hundreds of millions of dollars. In one instance, the Better Buying Power approach allowed the Navy to acquire three new guided-missile destroyers because it saved a total of $300 million on the entire purchase. Nick Guertin, director of Transformation in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, tells In Depth with Francis Rose about the future of the Navy's acquisition policy and how the BBP strategy will play a role.
November 19, 2014