Defense Department
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New study by the National Research Council says DoD needs to develop a new strategy to better understand what's happening in a world of more globalized defense research. By 2050, the authors note, more than four-fifths of R&D activity will be happening outsize the U.S.
July 03, 2014 -
We should all probably get more sleep. But patients suffering from concussions or traumatic brain injury really need to get more sleep. The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) is releasing new recommendations and products for doctors to use to help their patients with brain injuries get enough rest. It's a critical problem for the Defense Department, which estimates that 300,000 troops have suffered from TBI since the beginning of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. DVBIC Deputy Director Kathy Helmick and Dr. Therese West, a subject-matter expert at the center, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive.
July 03, 2014 -
Combat in Afghanistan may be winding down for American troops, but requests for supplemental war money keep on rolling. In fact, the Pentagon is asking for no less than $58.6 billion for 2015. Officials say they've got plenty of contingency needs all around the globe. Cameron Leuthy, senior budget analyst for Bloomberg Government, joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss what's in the request.
July 02, 2014 -
The National Information Assurance Partnership, the U.S. implementation of what was supposed to be a faster, cheaper process to verify the cybersecurity of commercial IT products, turned out to be so slow and expensive that few companies could afford to go through it. But officials said they hope a recent overhaul in the procedures will breathe new life into the program.
July 02, 2014 -
The Obama Administration has waited until now to submit its overseas contingency operations budget to Congress. That's because the President had yet to determine how many troops would stay in Afghanistan. Now, the request for fiscal 2015 is $58.6 billion. Federal News Radio's DoD Reporter Jared Serbu told Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive that the Pentagon's request is well below what many observers had expected. Read Jared's related article.
July 01, 2014 -
For a lot of people, the Cold War seems almost like a surreal event. But for decades, it was a very real, at times very hot, war. And there are probably some people in your office who are bona fide cold warriors, like today's guest columnist.
July 01, 2014 -
The latest check on the Defense Department's push to full audit readiness uncovers a domino effect of problems. The Government Accountability Office says DoD didn't follow a plan to improve how it tracks contract payments. Asif Khan is Director of Financial Management and Assurance Issues at the GAO. Khan told In Depth with Francis Rose that because the Pentagon missed some steps of the plan, it's dealing with even more problems that could keep the agency from meeting an important deadline.
June 30, 2014 -
The House and Senate Armed Services Committees are trying to pay close attention to defense acquisition reform. Dave Wennergren is senior vice president of technology policy at the Professional Services Council and the Pentagon's former chief information officer. Beth McGrath is director of Deloitte Federal Practice and the Defense Department's former deputy chief management officer. They joined on In Depth with Francis Rose to discuss acquisition reform.
June 30, 2014 -
The shrinking Defense Department budget has the Pentagon looking for alternatives to fund its most expensive program. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program has faced years of delays and skyrocketing costs. Now, the Pentagon has a new strategy to control the F-35's bottom line. It is asking the builders to put skin in the game. Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan is the F-35 program director. He described the F-35's progress as slow but steady, when he joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive.
June 30, 2014 -
The Defense Department's request for its overseas contingency operations is about $20 billion less than initial estimates. Former Defense officials say realistic goals and managed expectations usually spelled success for weapons systems.
June 30, 2014 -
Army Corps of Engineers faces billions of dollars in backlogged projects. With little hope of additional funding from Congress, officials are looking for alternative ways to finance the public infrastructure they're charged with maintaining.
June 27, 2014 -
The head of the Army Corps of Engineers says the nationwide network of civil works infrastructure his agency manages is falling apart. The Corps doesn't have enough money coming from Congress to fix the problems, so it's looking for new ways to pay for the work it needs to do. Federal News Radio's DoD Reporter Jared Serbu has the details. Read Jared's related article.
June 26, 2014 -
The White House wants $60 billion for the Pentagon's overseas contingency operations in fiscal 2015. Defense News reports the President's OCO budget has an extra $5 billion request for a new counterterrorism fund, too. Over the next few days, Capitol Hill will host a number of defense officials to make their cases for some specific programs. Roger Zakheim is counsel for Covington and Burling, and former deputy staff director of the House Armed Services Committee. He wrote about the relationship between the White House and Congress when it comes to defense budget planning. He shared his thoughts on In Depth with Francis Rose.
June 26, 2014 -
After a failed attempt to build a shared system with VA, the Defense Department is in a hurry to replace its aging health IT system. DoD says the final product will be an off-the-shelf commercial solution with as few changes as possible.
June 26, 2014 -
The Defense Intelligence Agency will inaugurate its new Open Innovation Gateway on Wednesday, as part of its strategy to bring new technologies into the intelligence community from non-traditional vendors, and to buy new capabilities within weeks instead of years.
June 25, 2014