Defense Department

  • Current definitions of cyberspace have led to confusion about roles, responsibilities, lanes in the road, a top Air Force general said Thursday. Senior leaders will convene a summit in November to zero-in on a common understanding of cyber.

    October 12, 2012
  • The Defense Secretary told a group of business leaders Thursday night the nation's critical infrastructure is vulnerable to online assaults that would take down systems and networks. Panetta said DoD is acting aggressively to get ahead of the problem through workforce training and through technology capabilities.

    October 12, 2012
  • If your bathroom at work is only cleaned three times a week, instead of daily, does that constitute cruel and unusual punishment? Shore-based Navy civilian and military personnel are about to find out, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    October 12, 2012
  • No more motivational speakers, musicians or promotional swag. The Defense Department is banning entertainment-related expenses at its conferences, according to a new memo from Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.

    October 11, 2012
  • The Defense Department and the intelligence community are working on joint data standards as they migrate toward enterprise IT environments. Both organizations also are implementing roles-based, access control to ensure secure information sharing.

    October 11, 2012
  • Denise Wu of Clifton Larson Allen explains how the Chief Financial Officers Council has moved the idea of a Statement of Spending to the front burner. Julian Pecquet of The Hill discusses the bitter partisan battle raging on Capitol Hill over last month's attack in Benghazi. Sharon Virts-Mozer, president and CEO of FCI Federal, details how some local businesses are thriving despite down economy and impending sequester.

    October 10, 2012
  • As the biggest spender in the federal government, the Defense Department has the greatest potential to award contracts to small businesses. But the nature and breadth of defense contracts can leave out small firms. In part one of Federal News Radio's special report, The Small Business Dilemma, we examine how the Pentagon is taking steps to make it easier for small firms to do business with the department.

    October 09, 2012
  • The Defense Acquisition University Alumni Association hosted a special forum last week on the role of the congressional staff and lobbyists in the defense acquisition process. Bill Bahnmaier, the president of the association, told In Depth with Francis Rose the way the roles interrelate is often obscured because there's rarely a "direct link" between them.

    October 08, 2012
  • Agencies are missing out on billions of dollars in savings by not using strategic-sourcing contracts, particularly when buying services, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The report finds the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs and Energy spent less than 5 percent of their combined acquisition budgets through strategic sourcing and saved less than $2 billion.

    October 04, 2012
  • As service transitions to Air Force and DoD enterprise IT models, defining what technology services should be shared is still on the to-do list. The service's AFNet program is the umbrella effort to centrally-manage many commodity IT functions.

    October 04, 2012
  • The Defense Department has marked the week of Oct. 1 as Absentee Voting Week. It's urging service members living overseas to register to vote and to take care of absentee balloting while there's still time for mail to make its way to and from local election jurisdictions.

    October 03, 2012
  • Over the past 20 years, spending on defense contracts far outstripped growth in the overall defense budget. But a new analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies points to an "equilibrium," or steadiness, between contract spending as a share of DoD dollars. David Berteau, the senior vice president and director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Security, joined In Depth with Francis to discuss the think tank's annual report on defense contracting trends.

    October 02, 2012
  • Casey Coleman, CIO at the GSA, gives a preview of the 2012 Executive Leadership Conference. Lynn Bernabei, a partner with Bernabei and Watchel, discusses the House's sweeping update to the law protecting federal whistleblowers. Tom Fox of the Partnership for Public Service tells how managers can keep their workforce motivated in tough times. Miriam Nisbet of the National Archives discusses a new website aimed at speeding up the FOIA request process.

    October 02, 2012
  • As of Monday, active-duty members of the Army, Navy and Air Force can now participate in the Roth Thrift Savings Plan option.

    October 02, 2012
  • A former chief financial officer explains how agencies can prepare for the start of a new fiscal year. And NOAA shares details of a new satellite to help track weather changes worldwide.

    October 01, 2012