The NITP's Tammy Flanagan will discuss the best days to retire and Andy Medici with the Federal Times new problems at the VA, and the high cost of workers compensation. October 8, 2014
Pentagon officials say approximately two dozen U.S. military specialists in Liberia may conduct tests on laboratory samples for Ebola, but most of the Pentagon's personnel deployed there are not expected to be in direct contact with the virus.
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.
The Defense and Homeland Security departments both say they are putting their programs on a path that will insist that technologies are rigorously tested before they commit to expensive acquisition strategies.
Three hundred fifty U.S. troops are in Liberia according to the Pentagon. They are ready to begin building a 25-bed field hospital for medical workers infected with Ebola.
Sloan Gibson, VA's deputy secretary, said he's proposed the removal of Susan Taylor, the deputy chief procurement officer at the Veterans Health Administration. Gibson will use the new authorities provided by Congress and President Barack Obama in August under the Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014.
Members of the special forces and their families need a lot of resilience. Combat is hard and dangerous, and service members may be away for long periods. Special Operations Command is embarking on a new initiative to help ease the pressure on members of the elite force and their families. It's called the The Preservation of the Force and Family Task Force. Task Force Director, Capt. Tom Chaby, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with details.
In an era of fiscal austerity, DoD must continue to maintain operations and modernize forces in order to support national security. What acquisition challenges are facing the U.S. Department of Defense? What actions can be taken to improve defense acquisition and the Defense Industrial Base? Join host Michael Keegan as he explore these questions and more with Profs. Jack Gansler and Bill Lucyshyn, authors of the IBM Center report, Eight Actions to Improve Defense Acquisition.
A new law signed by the President last month gives the Veterans Affairs secretary lots of discretion to fire or demote members of the Senior Executive Service. The law came in response to management problems resulting in long wait times for admittance to VA facilities. The law means SESers at VA work under a different set of civil service rules than those in the rest of government. It also imposes new burdens on the Merit Systems Protection Board. The board issued an interim final rule on how the agency will carry out the new mandate. Chairwoman Susan Tsui Grundmann joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss the comments the board received about the rule and what the law does require of the board.
Jerry Punderson, the outgoing director of contracts for the Naval Sea Systems Command, will join PSC as its new senior vice president of defense and intelligence.
Longtime National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency leader Letitia Long retired from government last week after 36 years, including the last four as the director of NGA. Robert Cardillo takes over for Long, coming back to NGA after spending the last four years as the first deputy director for intelligence integration in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. This story is part of Jason Miller's Inside the Reporter's Notebook feature.
The Office of Management and Budget's Office of E-Government and IT is getting a much-appreciated shot in the arm of people and brain power after the recent exodus of several long-time executives and policy folks. Grant Schneider, the Defense Intelligence Agency's chief information officer, will be joining the office on a two-year detail to work on cybersecurity issues. CIOs at other agencies are on the move as well, Jason Miller reports in his Inside the Reporter's Notebook feature.
Navy ship crews encounter a reoccurring problem with something as routine as maintenance requests. It takes 89 administrative steps to turn a request into actual work. Ordinary tasks like laying a non-skid surface on a weather deck get bogged down in paperwork. Now, there is a plan to fix that. Rear Adm. Bill Galinis, Commander of the Navy Regional Maintenance Centers, spoke with Tom Temin on the Federal Drive about the Navy's plans to improve the process.
The United States has announced its partially lifting its ban on sales of weapons to Vietnam. The goal is to help the country maintain its maritime security.