National & World Headlines

• Jan. 15 a double deadline for DoD

  David Berteau, senior vice president and director of the CSIS National Security Program on Industry and Resources, and Ryan Crotty, fellow with the International Security Program and the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group, Center for Strategic and International Studies, join Francis Rose on Pentagon Solutions.

  Federal Drive

  November 13, 2013
• DoD brings culture of open architecture to a world of proprietary systems

  Defense officials say shifting gears to build new systems with a focus on open architecture is a challenge. Even tougher is grafting open interfaces on systems that were designed to be closed and proprietary.

  Defense

  November 13, 2013
• Trends in global defense spending

  Jack Midgley, a director in Deloitte's Global Defense Consulting practice will discuss the findings in the company's recent report on defense spending. November 12, 2013

  Off the Shelf

  November 12, 2013
• DISA reassessing need for commercial cloud services

  The Defense Information Systems Agency said it doesn't expect the demand to be as great as initially thought as it developed a contract worth $450 million.

  Defense

  November 12, 2013
• US veteran seeks redress

  Arnold Giammarco, a U.S. Army veteran who turned his life around after struggling with drug addiction is fighting his deportation. He says he should not have been expelled last year for a minor criminal record after honorably serving his country and living here legally for more than 50 years. He was deported to his native Italy over drug possession and larceny convictions, his attorneys said. The former Connecticut resident is seeking to reverse his deportation, arguing in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday that immigration authorities never acted on his citizenship application in 1982.

  Defense

  November 12, 2013
• Sequestration, furloughs set back Google email pilot

  Workforce furloughs and budget cuts have caused a Google email pilot program at the Defense Information Systems Agency to be extended through November, Government Computer News reports.

  Defense

  November 12, 2013
• DoD finalizing major rewrite of acquisition guidance

  Reworked guidance is the first update to key Defense Department instruction since 2008. Internal attempt to streamline the system is leading department officials to seek legislative changes to make the military acquisition process less complex.

  Budget

  November 11, 2013
• Sequestration’s second year worse than its first, military chiefs warn

  The heads of DoD's military services say they were able to somewhat blunt sequestration's impact during its first year by using several one-time tactics. But they say the consequences of sudden reductions will get worse in 2014 and beyond.

  Budget

  November 08, 2013
• Government shutdown cost feds 6.6 million days of work

  The 16-day government shutdown forced federal employees to miss millions of days of work, agencies to forego millions of dollars in revenue and programs to grind to a halt. In a new report, the Office of Management and Budget estimates that federal workers missed 6.6 million days of work and the shutdown cost more than $2.5 billion in pay and benefits for employees, most of whom didn't work.

  Budget

  November 07, 2013
• Budget experts blame lawmaker ‘disengagement’ as source of DoD turmoil

  Former top staffers say current members of Congress no longer have a stake in any particular appropriation or authorization bill making its way through the legislative gauntlet — one reason why DoD and the rest of government continue to stumble from one continuing resolution to the next.

  Budget

  November 07, 2013
• Pentagon budget situation revolves around readiness

  Retired Adm. John Harvey, former commander of the Fleet Forces Command, joins Francis Rose.

  Federal Drive

  November 06, 2013
• Disability claims backlog, EHR efforts top VA nominee’s priorities

  At his nomination hearing before a Senate committee Tuesday, President Barack Obama's pick to serve in the Veterans Affairs Department's No. 2 management slot pledged to tackle a host of challenges plaguing the department. Sloan Gibson, the president and CEO of the nonprofit USO, told members of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee if confirmed to be the VA's deputy director he would tackle the longstanding backlog of disability claims and will work to find common ground with the Defense Department on a new strategy for a joint electronic-health records system. The committee also considered the nominations of Linda Schwartz to be the assistant VA secretary for policy and planning and Constance Tobias to serve as the chair of VA's Board of Veterans' Appeals.

  Congress

  November 06, 2013
• House panel targets DoD acquisition reform, but will that be enough?

  The House Armed Services Committee created a panel to figure out a way to reform the defense acquisition processes. Experts say reform may be difficult but it's also necessary given tight budgets and sequestration.

  Federal Drive

  November 06, 2013
• On DoD: Army seeks to integrate cyber approach to electronic warfare efforts

  Col. Jim Ekvall, chief of the electronic warfare division, joins Federal News Radio DoD reporter Jared Serbu on this week's edition of On DoD.

  On DoD Podcasts

  November 06, 2013