Defense

  • Despite a small but steady increase in prices from January though April of this year, retired feds, military retirees and people who get Social Security benefits are still on track to get a zero cost…

    May 19, 2009
  • The Air Force once again is leading the federal effort to address some obvious cybersecurity gaps. The service and Microsoft teamed up to develop secure server configurations for Windows servers. This work comes about two…

    May 18, 2009
  • When a National Guardsman returns from a deployment. its sometimes easy to deal with physical wounds. But what about traumatic brain injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder? To combat that, the Army has come up with FID-RAH...or the post-deployment health reassessment, for soldiers coming home. Its designed to catch combat-related health problems before they get home, and get the help they need. I\'m Max Cacas.

    May 18, 2009
  • Air Force Captain Charlotta Blalock says she gets some strange looks from people when she\'s on a plane, and will drop to the deck and start doing push ups at 14,000 feet. Blalock, who is aide de camp to General Roger Brady, head of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, is now a competitive bodybuilder, after deciding four years ago to step it up when it came to her fitness. She scores \"excellent\" in the Air Force fitness test. I\'m Max Cacas.

    May 18, 2009
  • The Pentagon is teaming with the Office of Personnel Management for a review of the National Security Personnel System. Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn and OPM\'s new director, John Berry, will ask the Defense Review Board to set up a task force to look at NSPS. DoD has held off on converting military organizations to the new pay system pending the review. NSPS currently covers more than 200 thousand Pentagon staffers. I\'m Max Cacas.

    May 18, 2009
  • Pick is also former astronaut and likely to meet with the President on Monday.

    May 15, 2009
  • A change is being made in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced yesterday that Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a senior administrator with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will take the place of Gen. David McKiernan…

    May 12, 2009
  • Defense Secretary Robert Gates got a first-hand look at operations in Afghanistan last week. He met with U.S. forces there, and with local leaders who are working with American forces. He took a break from…

    May 11, 2009
  • The Army developed the MC-4 system to replace the paper medical card that often was stained or soaked with blood by the time a wounded solider got back to the field hospital. Little did they…

    May 08, 2009
  • I mentioned on Federal News Radio 1500 AM today the sad news that AFCEA International vice president Becky Nolan’s husband, Paul, passed away today unexpectedly. Here is the note from Kent R. Schneider, AFCEA International’s…

    May 07, 2009
  • Hundreds of Army public affairs officers from around the world are in the area this week. They\'re attending the Army Worldwide Public Affairs Symposium. The goal is to learn how to better promote the Army. And many of the attendees we\'re doing just that --promoting their home-bases, while interacting with the media . \"We train all of the army intelligence solider airmen, sailors, marines and coast guardsmen in a variety of intelligence specialties\" says Tanya Linton from Ft. Huachuca Arizona. That training includes the joint weapons intelligence course --\"which is basically battlefield forensics. We can look at the site of an explosion and track it back to the bomb makers,\" adds Linton.

    May 05, 2009
  • CHEERS To Senators Tom Carper, Susan Collins, Joe Lieberman & George Voinovich for the Information Technology Investment Oversight and Waste Prevention Act of 2009 (pdf). This bill is a first, but important, step in the…

    May 04, 2009
  • Its back to the future for the American space program. NASA is currently testing the next-generation Orion spacecraft, designed replace the space shuttle. If the cone shape looks familiar, its because its almost identical to the Apollo lunar modules. The Orion is now being tested at the Navy\'s Surface Warfare Center in Bethesda, Maryland. And instead of landing like a shuttle, Orion will splash down like Apollo. I\'m Max Cacas

    May 01, 2009
  • Regular readers will know that I am fascinated with the Recovery.gov National Dialogue on Information Technology Solutions — a somewhat clunky name for the conversation that the Obama administration has opened up on ways to…

    May 01, 2009