National & World Headlines
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Unified Quest is an annual scenario-planning exercise for the Army to examine future force development.
October 31, 2011 -
By law, agencies do not have to follow GAO\'s recommendations — but most do, says William Welch, chair of the Government Contracts Practice Group at General Counsel.
October 31, 2011 -
Dr. Clifford Stanley, Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, a retired Marine Major General has submitted his resignation. His job was to find new talent with expertise in innovation, energy and competence. Stanley, who took office in February 2010, will leave in the next two weeks. Dr. JoAnn Rooney, currently Principal Deputy Undersecretary for Personnel and Readiness, will serve as Acting Undersecretary until a successor is named.
October 31, 2011 -
The Obama administration is setting up an Internet-based embassy to reach out to Iranians hoping to broaden their understanding of the United States. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the \"virtual embassy in Tehran\" will be online by the end of the year. She told the BBC\'s Persian-language service Wednesday the site will aim to answer questions on traveling and studying in the U.S.
October 31, 2011 -
The Pentagon has issued a statement about the flooding in Thailand. It reads, \"The Secretary has expressed serious concern about the flooding in Thailand on several occasions during his current visit to the Asia-Pacific region. He offers his deepest condolences to all those who have suffered as a result. The Secretary is closely monitoring the situation and applauds the Thai government\'s quick response to this major natural disaster.\"
October 31, 2011 -
The House Homeland Security Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee, and the Counterterrorism & Intelligence Subcommittee are going to conduct a hearing on Iranian terror operations in the United States. Among the topics the hearing will address: Threats from the Iranian government, Iran\'s intentions to carry out attacks inside the United States, Iran\'s ties to the Western Hemisphere and the impact of sanctions against Iran and consideration of more punitive actions.
October 31, 2011 -
It\'s over in Iraq. But now a new beginning is dawning. President Barack Obama has announced the war is over and all troops will be home by the holidays. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says a full U.S. troop withdrawal will allow the two countries to start a new strategic relationship in the interests of both governments. After the withdrawal is over al-Maliki says the two countries will begin talking about a \"new phase\" in strategic relations.
October 31, 2011 -
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Attorney General Eric Holder are expressing their opposition to a move prevent terror suspects from being tried in Federal Court. The two of them sent a letter to Senate leaders saying the Republican measure would deprive them of a potent weapon in the fight against terrorism. They also claim it could lead increase the risk of terrorists escaping justice and putting other people in danger.
October 31, 2011 -
The Department of Veterans Affairs is taking another step toward the deployment of tablet computers to its workforce. VA has sent a request for information to industry in the hopes of buying a mobile device management platform that will let it secure and manage tens of thousands of tablets across the enterprise. The plans call for a deployment of 10,000 tablets running Apple\'s iOS, Google\'s Android and Microsoft\'s Windows Mobile to start. They plan to eventually increase that to up to 100,000 tablets.
October 31, 2011 -
The Department of Veterans Affairs thinks it can squeeze around 50 million dollars from its technology budget by using hardware and software more efficiently. VA is launching what it calls its ruthless reduction project. For example, employees will be given a choice of a laptop or a desktop computer - not both. VA will get rid of printers at individual employee desks and move to multifunction devices. And they\'ll implement more server virtualization, to cut down on the physical IT infrastructure they operate.
October 31, 2011 -
The Defense Department is getting ready to hand out $30 million in grants to test out cutting edge energy technologies. The Pentagon\'s head of installation energy says the department was overwhelmed by the number and quality of proposals it got from industry as it tries to turn military bases into test beds for clean energy technology. The concepts DoD wants to test include smart microgrids and energy storage technology, renewable energy generation and advanced technologies to improve building energy efficiency.
October 31, 2011 -
The Army is preparing to publish a new set of standards that will dictate what technology is allowed to operate on its network. Officials say the integrated network baseline will let the service do a better job of keeping up with the technology cycle by adopting, common, open standards, without dictating precisely what technologies they\'ll allow. The Army also plans to require any vendors who want to participate in its huge Network Integration Evaluation to comply with the baseline.
October 31, 2011 -
Dorothy Robyn, the deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment, said DoD is taking the lead in helping clean energy companies clear the commercialization hurdle.
October 31, 2011 -
Maj. Gen. Ronnie Hawkins Jr., Hawkins, who currently serves as deputy director for command, control, communications and computer systems for the Joint Staff, will take over for current DISA director Lt. Gen. Carroll Pollett.
October 31, 2011 -
The Veterans Affairs Department is trying to get the wider public to adopt the \"Blue Button\" technology it developed to give its patients direct access to their medical information. Atlanta-based RelayHealth won a department-sponsored contest for the fastest company to develop and implement the single-click technology that allows patients to download their health records.
October 31, 2011