Two years after U.S. Cyber Command became operational, the military services that provide its cyber forces are beginning to more tightly define their respective responsibilities in the joint cyber environment. Gen. Keith Alexander issued a memo recently giving each of the services a lead cyber role for specific geographic areas of the world.
The Navy's chief information officer released an abbreviated business case analysis template in an effort to encourage IT industry personnel to propose ideas focused on cost savings. The CIO must continue to decrease IT spending by 25 percent over the next four years.
A civilian employee of the Navy faces up to life in prison for allegedly setting fire to the USS Miami, a nuclear-powered attack submarine while it was dry docked in Maine. The fire caused more than $400 million in damages, mostly to the torpedo room and command area inside the submarine's forward compartment. The Miami was dry docked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine for a complete overhaul.
The service is taking a four-pronged approach to improve its procurement process and find savings. A review board looks at all acquisitions to make sure its strategy and contract formation are beneficial. Other agencies, like NASA and DHS, are consolidating more contracts into larger buys.
Just four months after returning from the Middle East, about 5,500 sailors attached to the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier and strike group will return to Central Command, a region that includes Iran, to relieve a carrier group currently stationed in the area.
The Navy is testing whether alternative fuels can keep its fleet moving on a large scale.
The exercises included sinking a decommissioned naval ship at sea. More than 25,000 military personnel are participating.
Rep. Scott Rigell's (R-Va.) asked the Navy to postpone its layoff dates for a year. The Navy is laying off 3,000 sailors to help balance its force profile.
DoD has asked Congress to reprogram $1 billion from accounts dedicated to building up Afghanistan's national security forces.
The Department of the Navy has signed a deal with the Microsoft that would consolidate nearly 30 different licensing arrangements with the world's largest software maker into one agreement.
Each sailor will be required to take a new round of training by the end of this year. Courses will emphasize the need for "bystander" servicemembers to intervene when they see activities that could foreshadow sexual assault.
Author and historian Walter Borneman joined Pentagon Solution to discuss his book, "The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King--The Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea."
The agencies are making $30 million available for companies to investigate the possibilities for creating military biofuels. The projects could help achieve the President's energy goals, military energy security and rural economic improvement.
Brian Friel talks about a Bloomberg Government report on contractors whose revenues exceed $100 million. Don Dees, chief of information strategies at Fort Belvoir, reports on damages caused by last weekend's storm. Procurement attorney Joseph Petrillo discusses risks that commercial item contractors might face. Hill reporter Ian Swanson provides a congressional roundup. Elliott Branch, the Navy's deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and procurement, has been nominated for a Service to America Medal.
New security measures, including a new polygraph question, will help avoid leaks from intelligence employees, announced James Clapper, director of National Intelligence. Lawyer John Mahoney analyzes the legal responsibilities between agencies and federal employees.