Defense
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At Nevada's Nellis Air Force Base earlier this month, U.S. Cyber Command wrapped up its biggest exercise of the year.
November 19, 2014 -
Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the chief of naval operations, said his service needs to pivot away from large, proprietary shipbuilding programs, citing the need for more flexible, adaptable platforms.
November 19, 2014 -
Janet Hill, principal at Hill Family Advisors, sits down with the Women of Washington radio show to discuss the importance of diversity in American corporations and her famous Wellesley classmate - Hillary Clinton.
November 19, 2014 -
The U.S. military is accelerating its efforts to train and advise Iraqi forces fighting Islamic State militants.
November 18, 2014 -
The Navy secretary has spent more than a full year of his five-year tenure on overseas travel, racking up more than 930,000 miles on trips that cost taxpayers more than $4.7 million.
November 18, 2014 -
Steph Warren, VA's CIO, said he moved money out of projects and into cybersecurity to ensure the agency gets rid of as many material weaknesses as they can. The decision to move money comes as Congress turns back up the heat on VA to correct long-standing and systemic cyber shortcomings.
November 18, 2014 -
The Veterans Affairs Department finally fired Terry Gerigk Wolf last week. The former director of the Pittsburgh VA center had been on paid leave since June following a review of a Legionnaire's disease outbreak that claimed the lives of six patients there. Wolf is the fourth senior executive to be removed under the Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014. John Palguta is vice president for policy at the Partnership for Public Service. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss what that firing means for the future of due process protections for federal employees.
November 18, 2014 -
Budget pressures on the Defense Department have driven down spending on research and development. That gives the military less say in developments that might give battlefield superiority. But industry can help with a class of products known as non-developmental items. Retired Maj. Gen. Dennis Moran, now with Harris Corporation, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with details.
November 18, 2014 -
The Veterans Affairs Department has reduced wait times for tens of thousands of veterans seeking health care. Part of the progress comes from the congressionally-mandated Veterans Choice program. It requires the VA to issue choice cards to vets so they can seek medical care from private providers with VA footing the bill. VA issued the first batch of cards this month. James Tuchschmidt, acting principal deputy undersecretary for health at the VA, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss the rollout and the program.
November 18, 2014 -
U.S. Cyber Command is reviewing the results of its biggest exercise of the year. CYBERFLAG is designed to test out the military forces' ability to keep fighting when an adversary is attacking their networks, and to link up cyber forces with the more traditional air, sea, land and space domains. Rear Adm. Kevin Lunday is Cyber Command's director for exercises and training. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he talked about the exercise -- and the three types of teams involved in it -- with Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu.
November 17, 2014 -
The pace of new Ebola infections appears to have leveled off, but its too early declare victory. A lot of work is going on behind the scenes, on the research front. Army scientists are working on a vaccine for Ebola. With troops being deployed to West Africa to help control and treat the outbreak, Army scientists are taking the most advanced vaccines forward as quickly as possible. Dr. John Dye is the viral immunology branch chief at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. He tells Tom Temin on the Federal Drive that for the Army, research into infectious diseases has a long history.
November 17, 2014 -
VA will release by Nov. 21 a request for proposals for a new commercial scheduling system and integration services for that scheduling software with its VISTA health IT system.
November 17, 2014 -
The Veterans Affairs Department will not receive the final results for its 2014 FISMA audit until next spring, but auditors already have informed IT officials that they've identified material weaknesses for the 16th year in a row. Department IT officials say progress on closing IG recommendations and securing their systems and data is real.
November 17, 2014 -
Jeffrey Cathey and Lewis Runnion with Bank of America will discuss how the company is helping veterans find jobs in the private sector after they complete their military service. November 14, 2014
November 14, 2014 -
The Pentagon has warned Congress that the long, drawn-out military campaign against Islamic State militants is just beginning and could expand to include modest numbers of U.S. forces fighting alongside Iraqi troops.
November 14, 2014