Air Force updates criminal justice platform after mass shooting highlighted flaws

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• The Air Force is rolling out a new criminal justice IT system. It comes two years after the mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, highlighted flaws in the current system. The Air Force said the new database is the most modern criminal justice platform in the Defense Department. Among other things, the $5.7 million system will automatically flag convictions that need to be reported to the FBI’s centralized database. A Pentagon review found the Air Force missed several opportunities to do that in the case of Devin Kelley, the former airman who killed 26 people in November 2017. (Air Force)

• Agencies are told it’s time to get to work implementing the president’s workforce executive orders. The injunction on the EOs lifted last week. The U.S. Court of Appeals issued a mandate to vacate a district court order from August 2018 that invalidated key portions of the executive orders. Office of Personnel Management Director Dale Cabaniss said the EOs are in full force. OPM said it plans to issue additional implementation guidance on the orders in the future. (Federal Newscast)

• The Department of Veterans Affairs said it’s ready to enforce those workforce executive orders. VA said it will limit the free office space that it previously gave to its employee unions. It also plans to further cut official time. VA already reduced official time for its medical professionals last year. The department said union officials at the Salem Medical Center in Virginia are occupying over 7,500 square feet of space that it could use for other purposes. (Department of Veterans Affairs)

• VA is expanding its Million Veterans Program online. Veterans can now sign in using their VA credentials to opt into the program online. The Million Veterans Program is a national voluntary research initiative that collects information about veterans genes. The goal is to help department researchers better understand how genetics can affect illnesses and diseases common in veterans. So far, 775,000 veterans have opted in to participate. Veterans not enrolled in VA care will be able join the Million Veterans Program in the near future. (Department of Veterans Affairs)

• Only 31 employees are now working at the new headquarters for the Agriculture Department’s Economic Research Service in Kansas City. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture has 49 employees there. That includes employees who have relocated from Washington, D.C., and new hires. Others are still working back in D.C. either permanently or through at least December or March of next year. The initial report deadline to Kansas City was Sept. 30. (Federal News Network)

• Policy is changing for how sailors must shave. The Navy said it will release new guidelines early this week on how sailors who experience pseudofolliculitis barbae, also known as PFB or razor bumps, will have to cut their facial hair. The new policy will help sailors get the treatment they need. The Navy does not allow facial hair because it prevents the proper seal of breathing devices like respiratory masks. (Navy)

• The Army put out a new advanced manufacturing policy aimed at keeping the service’s competitive edge. Advanced manufacturing refers to new ways of making existing products by using 3D printing or artificial intelligence. The policy mandates that the Army incorporate advanced manufacturing into new and fielded systems. (Army)

• Former members of a federal advisory committee on data-sharing have urged Congress and the president to revisit some of its recommendations. Katharine Abraham, former co-chair of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, wants them to re-visit the commission’s idea for a National Secure Data Service to give researches access to otherwise sensitive agency data. Congress used most of the commission’s recommendations for the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act that became law in January. (Federal News Network)

• While the Defense Department hems and haws, the CIA is marching forward with a multi-billion dollar cloud solicitation. The CIA’s approach differs radically than that of the single-award strategy of DoD with its stalled JEDI acquisition. For its Commercial Cloud Enterprise deal, worth up to $10 billion, the CIA will award multiple contracts. A pre-solicitation notice hit the CIA’s acquisition site last week. Bloomberg Government calls it one of the top 20 opportunities for the coming year. Contractors have until Thursday to respond. (Bloomberg Government)

• The Department of Homeland Security’s Saint Elizabeths West campus isn’t affected by a water outage that hit a neighboring psychiatric hospital. But the General Services Administration is taking steps to test DHS’s water supply, out of an abundance of caution. GSA will run a comprehensive water quality test on the campus’s pump house. DHS officials told employees on Friday, it will take five days to complete the test. (Federal News Network)

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