Army says its implementation of DoD's Better Buying Power directives saved hundreds of millions of dollars last year, but this year's budget chaos will undo much of the progress.
The Department of the Navy has announced it may spend up to $1.2 billion more for support of its Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI). In a Feb. 20 FedBizOpps posting, the Navy issued sole-source justification, detailing a notice of intent to increase the price of Hewlett-Packard's continuity-of-service contract (CoSC). The notice also allows the Navy to extend the CoSC services from April 2014 through September 2014 to ensure the department can complete the transition to its Next Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN). However, that contract option would only be exercised if the NGEN transition is further delayed.
CACI appointed Kenneth Asbury as the company's president and chief executive officer on Wednesday. Asbury comes to CACI after 27 years of leading systems and services expansion as well as program delivery for Lockheed Martin.
Undersecretary of the Navy Robert Work will become the CEO of the Center for a New American Security, a prestigious defense think tank with close ties to the Obama administration. Work will start at CNAS April 22.
The fledgling effort to replace IT systems aboard 193 Navy ships, called CANES, will take longer than expected. With or without sequestration, the Navy expects eight installations scheduled for 2013 to be interrupted.
As the Navy scours its IT systems to determine exactly what it owns, it's discovered it operates double the data centers and tens of thousands of servers and applications more than it previously thought. The findings come more than a decade after the Navy implemented its Navy-Marine Corps Intranet, which was supposed to reduce the number of disparate systems run by the agency and eliminate stovepipes. All told, Navy's IT budget could be as much as $4 billion more than it initially thought.
Dr. Mark Maybury, the Air Force's chief scientist, discusses a wide-ranging study of potential future "game changers" and best practices in each of the service's core mission areas.
The Air Force's long-range planning and modernization takes back seat to preparations for near-term crises, including contingency plans to scale back civilian workforce. Civilian furloughs would be "breach of faith," Air Force says.
Television personality Montel Williams is joining Army scientists at Fort Detrick in a medical research deal.
Army leadership is looking to improve coordination among its mental health programs and other soldier-resilience efforts, acknowledging Monday that a patchwork system of tools is often confusing for both commanders and soldiers.
Shortfalls in operating accounts would mean military units would be undertrained, underequipped and unable to deploy by the end of fiscal 2013, senior DoD officials predict.
Sharon Roth of the Merit Systems Protection Board discusses a new survey on federal management. Lt. Cmdr. Jean Marie Sullivan of the Navy Office of Women's Policy talks about the new DoD decision to open up combat jobs to women. Greg Kutz, a senior audit executive with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Audit, talks about a new report his agency released. Keith Lucas, vice president for AFGE Council 228, discusses a new contract his union signed with the Small Business Administration.
Spending on conferences is among first casualties as various defense components make cutbacks. DoD's online meeting service is suffering from its own popularity.
Alan Paller of the SANS Institute talks about DoD's new initiative to hire 4,000 more people for its Cyber Command. Paul Terry of Blackboard, Inc., discusses how his company is helping GSA with its travel planning. Devon Hewitt, a partner at Protorae Law, weighs in on a recent contract award protest affecting people with disabilities. Capt. Paul Hammer of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, talks about the latest efforts at his center. Robin Lineberger of Deloitte LLP fills us in about the Professional Services Council's new commission that's focusing on efficient and innovative acquisition issues.
Eric Green of NIH talks about his agency's search for a top data scientist. Dr. Elizabeth Stanley of Georgetown University discusses a new meditation program she helped develop for the Marine Corps. David Capozzi of the Access Board discusses new access standards for agencies. William Pretzer of the National Museum of African American History and Culture talks about trolling the inauguration for presidential memorabilia.