Defense
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The Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development departments created a mobile app in two weeks to improve the process for counting homeless veterans. The successful development effort puts the notions detailed in the Digital Government Strategy into practice.
January 24, 2013 -
The Air Force said it has identified 59 victims at a basic training facility. Thirty-two instructors are among those who have been accused or convicted of committing sexual improprieties with trainees. Senior leaders say they must do more to stop the problem.
January 24, 2013 -
Two former Pentagon officials, Rudy deLeon and Dov Zakheim, join Pentagon Solutions with Francis Rose to discuss a range of challenges facing the Defense Department, including the threat of sequestration.
January 23, 2013 -
Jay Teachman is a sociology professor at Western Washington University. His paper, due for publication later this year in the journal Armed Forces & Society finds that the veteran population is getting smaller, but it's also becoming more and more concentrated in a relative handful of geographic locations. He discussed the findings and their implications with Federal News Radio's Jared Serbu.
January 23, 2013 -
A Coast Guardsman who disappeared more than three months ago and showed up at his home over the weekend is in military custody at Pearl Harbor after being released from the hospital. According to the Associated Press, Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Gene Maestas said Wednesday that Tripler Army Medical Center medically cleared and released Petty Officer 1st Class Russell Matthews on Tuesday night. Maestas says Matthews was in the process of being discharged from the Coast Guard for illegally using marijuana when his wife reported him missing in October.
January 23, 2013 -
So guess what the Pentagon's research arm is up to? Recycling in space. They are planning to go into space, grab a dead satellite and stripping it of all it's useful parts and using them to either build a new one or revitalize the old one. DARPA's Phoenix program, which hopes to repurpose retired satellites while they remain in orbit, seeks to fundamentally change how space systems could be designed here on earth and then sustained once in space.
January 23, 2013 -
Michael Nelson talks about a Bloomberg Government study on the issues surrounding big data. Anthony Robbins of Brocade Communication discusses IT reform. Fedlink Executive Director Blane Dessy discusses how expanding his program will help cut government costs. Alex Bolton of The Hill newspaper fills us in on Congress' plans to solve the debt ceiling crisis.
January 23, 2013 -
Susie Adams, Microsoft's chief technical officer for Federal Sales joins host John Gilroy to discuss four surprising facts about Microsoft and the federal government. January 22, 2013
January 22, 2013 -
OPM's Angela Bailey discusses how agencies are struggling to fill critical skill gaps in the hard sciences. Procurement attorney Joe Petrillo fills us in on what to expect with the new defense authorization law. Jacque Simon of AFGE says her union is frustrated with the lack of attention being paid to federal workers' concerns over sequestration. John Palguta of the Partnership for Public Service discusses possible changes agencies may face in President Obama's second term.
January 22, 2013 -
The Government Accountability Office questions whether the Defense Department has done enough to ensure core competencies and key skills aren't lost or left unfilled as the department complies with the workforce caps.
January 21, 2013 -
Prof. Martha Joynt Kuman compares today's ceremony with previous inaugurations. Paul Lawrence of Ernst and Young discusses how the president's cabinet may change in Obama's second term. Staff writer Kevin Baron of Foreign Policy Magazine discusses the limitations of the inspector general. Senior Airman Daniel Burkhardt talks about an app he helped to develop to help people navigate today's inauguration. Col. Gina Humble talks about the role the military will play in today's ceremonies.
January 21, 2013 -
The department is creating and trying out a universal curriculum for five foundational cyber roles in 2013. DISA is leading the effort and will add new roles next year as it refines the training. The agency says it is doing all it can to synchronize its training not just across DoD, but across the entire federal government in line with the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE).
January 21, 2013 -
The Army has put an immediate freeze on civilian hiring and will begin terminating some temporary employees to reduce spending ahead of potential across-the-board budget cuts later this year. Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno and Army Secretary John McHugh also directed Army commanders and supervisors to reduce base-operations support spending.
January 18, 2013 -
General William Shelton, who heads Air Force Space Command and oversees the Air Force's cyber operations, says Iran responded to a 2010 cyber-attack on its nuclear facilities by beefing up its own cyber capabilities, and will be a "force to be reckoned with" in the future. He declined to comment about Iran's ability to disrupt U.S. government computer networks, but said Tehran had clearly increased its efforts in that arena after the 2010 incident.
January 18, 2013 -
Robert Work, the Navy's undersecretary, will not serve a second term under President Obama.
January 18, 2013