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National & World Headlines
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Despite steps forward, agencies fell short of their 2014 targets for cybersecurity. The Obama administration is pushing chief information officers to focus on priorities of continuous monitoring, phishing and malware, and authorization processes for 2015, according to the newly released cross-agency priority goals on Performance.gov.
July 14, 2014 -
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The Associated Press is reporting that senior military leaders told Congress in a closed door session that two of the four U.S. deaths in Benghazi might have been prevented. Military leaders say if commanders had known more about the intensity of the gunfire directed at the CIA facility where Americans had taken refuge, they could have taken action. AP reports they thought the fighting had subsided and the Americans who had fled to the CIA base about a mile away were safe.
July 14, 2014 -
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Pete Earley, author of Family of Spies: Inside the John Walker Spy Ring, reports Walker's brother Arthur Walker, 79, has died. Earley says he died July 4th at the Butner Prison in Butner, North Carolina of acute kidney failure, about one month shy of a parole hearing. In his blog, Earley explains Arthur was the older brother of John Anthony Walker Jr., "who remains in poor health, at the same Butner prison. John, who is 76, is scheduled for parole on May 20, 2015, but is in the later stages of throat cancer, according to a family friend."
July 11, 2014 -
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In examining the viability of the Senior Executive Service, House members called out the Veterans Affairs' compensation program, with a pledge to introduce another piece of legislation to take back bonuses. The Senior Executives Association relayed concerns that talent is fleeing senior executive positions.
July 11, 2014 -
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The military is trying to figure out why an F-35 engine caught fire, leading the Pentagon to ground the fledgling fleet. Meanwhile, program office planners are looking long term. They're thinking about how to control maintenance costs on a fleet that will eventually reach more than 2,000 aircraft and fly for the next 40 years. Defense News reported that planners are considering a worldwide competition for maintenance. Hal Chrisman, vice president of ICF International, has 25 years experience in the aviation industry. He joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss what sustainment work entails.
July 11, 2014 -
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A former civilian employee at Sierra Army Depot faces a two-count charge for conspiracy and theft of military equipment.
July 11, 2014 -
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The size of DoD's civilian acquisition workforce has grown by some 20,000 employees over the past five years and now numbers about 135,000 personnel members, according to Stephanie Barna, acting assistant secretary of Defense for Readiness and Force Management. That's thanks to an effort by DoD begun in 2009 to recapitalize its acquisition workforce. But the department's focus on the acquisition workforce has been strained by a slew of competing priorities and congressionally-mandated belt-tightening, Barna said.
July 10, 2014 -
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The Navy thinks 3D printing can eliminate a wide range of challenges with its supply chain. The service is already testing the idea of using additive manufacturing technologies to build small spare parts aboard ships, as they're needed, rather than having to transport them from supply ships or distant warehouses. And one day, the service thinks the technology could even be able to build a small UAV at the press of a button. Carolyn Lambeth is a mechanical engineer for Combat Direction Systems Activity at Dam Neck, Virginia. She explained the future of 3D printing at the Navy on In Depth with Francis Rose.
July 10, 2014 -
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National Counterterrorism Center Director Matt Olsen is leaving his position later this year. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper says Olsen has led the office for three years, integrating the counterterrorism community by seeking to strengthen key partnerships in the intelligence community. The NCTC is a key tool in the U.S. intelligence arsenal and is designed to warn against terrorist attacks. Its function is also to provide U.S. decision makers the intelligence they needed to counter terror threats.
July 10, 2014 -
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A major war contractor is expecting a $45 million check from the U.S. government. A military appeals board has sided with Kellogg Brown & Root in its quest to get the government to reimburse it for security in Iraq. KBR paid out of its own pocket for private guards to protect convoys carrying supplies to the U.S. military. Procurement Attorney Joe Petrillo joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to take a closer look at the five-year battle in this week's Legal Loop.
July 10, 2014 -
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A new performance award strategy could rise from the ashes of a now-defunct pay system at the Defense Department. DoD tried to replace the General Schedule system with a National Security Personnel System back in the mid-2000s, but the White House repealed it two years ago. Bob Tobias is Director of Key Executive Leadership Programs at American University. He was part of a Task Force that tried to improve the system back in 2009. He said one bright spot in the system could be the key to building a new performance culture across the federal government on In Depth with Francis Rose.
July 09, 2014 -
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The technical name for one of the Army's communications networks is Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment Two. But some soldiers prefer to call it their digital guardian angel. Another calls it the holy grail of communication. Now one of the creators of the Army's WIN-T system is receiving prestigious recognition for his role in its creation. Patrick DeGroodt is Deputy Project Manager for the Department of the Army. He's a Service to America medal finalist in the National Security and International Affairs category. He explained the creation process on In Depth with Francis Rose. Read a Q&A with DeGroodt.
July 09, 2014 -
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The Senate Intelligence Committee has approved the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act. The legislation is designed to expand information shared about cybersecurity threats and defensive mechanisms between the government and companies and within the private sector. The goal is to combat the rapid increase in attacks on computer systems that have resulted in the theft of millions of Americans' personal information and hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for businesses.
July 09, 2014 -
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A new bipartisan report from the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations called the Air Force's now-canceled Expeditionary Combat Support System "one of the most egregious examples of mismanagement by the DoD in recent memory." But the failure of ECSS may not be an aberration, the report suggested. Other enterprise-resource planning programs in the department are at risk of falling victim to the same fate.
July 09, 2014
