Defense Department
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Yesterday, the Senate passed its version of the 2016 defense authorization bill. As the main sponsor is fond of pointing out, this year\'s version is a \"reform bill.\" It\'s also finished before the start of the new fiscal year - a big contrast to how the NDAA process has worked out over the last several years. Federal News Radio\'s DoD Reporter Jared Serbu is writing about the bill as part of this week\'s edition of inside the reporter\'s notebook.
June 19, 2015 -
The Senate is on its third week of debate on the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act. Vendors will be happy about a provision that reauthorizes DoD\'s Rapid Innovation Program or Defense Innovation Initiative. Alex Rossino is a principal research analyst for Deltek\'s federal industry analysis team. He\'s looking at the NDAA and tells In Depth with Francis Rose about the research and development opportunities that look promising in fiscal 2016.
June 18, 2015 -
On this week\'s edition of On DoD, a progress report on the Pentagon\'s path toward what officials refer to as Joint Information Environment (JIE): the long effort to reorganize the military services\' IT systems into a more cohesive structure, leverage shared enterprise services and a single security architecture and reduce duplicative IT expenditures.
June 18, 2015 -
The DoD CIO wants to focus on the \"basics\" to shore up Pentagon\'s cybersecurity posture, including increased accountability for users of military networks.
June 18, 2015 -
On this week\'s On DoD, Jared Serbu talks to two of the officials overseeing the Joint Information Environment effort from the DoD CIO\'s office.
June 17, 2015 -
A lot of female veterans feel invisible, both on active duty and at home. That\'s according to a new survey released by the non-profit The Mission Continues. The survey found that female veterans feel a need to prove themselves twice: First to be recognized as warriors by their male peers in the military, and then for their service when they return home. Mary Beth Bruggeman is the southeast executive director for The Mission Continues and a Marine Corps veteran. She joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more on the survey.
June 17, 2015 -
The Pentagon has plenty of rules and regulations designed to enforce good cyber behavior. But DoD\'s chief information officer says as of now, there are far too few consequences for users who violate those rules. Federal News Radio\'s DoD reporter Jared Serbu tells In Depth with Francis Rose that\'s about to change.
June 16, 2015 -
The Army is reexamining its recruitment process. The ultimate goal is to refine the recruiting process so the service still attains top-notch soldiers without \"industrial age\" metrics that only measure raw numbers of recruits.
June 16, 2015 -
The latest iteration of Better Buying Power from the Department of Defense and legislation coming out of the Senate Armed Services Committee are two of the most recent efforts to help DoD buy better. Michael O\'Hanlon is co-director of the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, and director of foreign policy research at the Brookings Institution. His latest work is titled, \"Pentagon Acquisition Policy: Three quarters right, one quarter broken\". He tells In Depth with Francis Rose about what he calls the JIEDDO model of acquisition.
June 15, 2015 -
Civilian personnel cuts are on the table as Congress debates the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act and defense appropriations bills. The Office of Personnel Management says seniority is the first factor agencies should consider when making reductions in force. Justin Johnson is a senior policy analyst for defense budgeting policy at the Heritage Foundation. He tells with Francis Rose that DoD shouldn\'t decide who to cut based on how much experience they have, but how well they\'re performing.
June 12, 2015 -
The latest iteration of Better Buying Power from the Department of Defense, and legislation coming out of the Senate Armed Services Committee, are two of the most recent efforts to help DoD buy better. Michael O\'Hanlon is co-director of the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, and director of foreign policy research at the Brookings Institution. His latest work is titled \"Pentagon Acquisition Policy: Three quarters right -- one quarter broken\". He tells In Depth with Francis Rose whether three-quarters right is enough to get the job done for the military.
June 12, 2015 -
The Air Force offers a third and final round of early retirement and buyout offers this fiscal year. The service said this time it\'s targeting civilian employees, mostly at Air Force headquarters.
June 12, 2015 -
The Partnership for Public Service recently named Charles E. Milam, the Defense Department\'s principal director of Military Community and Family Policy, as a Service to America Medal finalist.
June 11, 2015 -
Defense budget planners debating the Overseas Contingency Operations fund are forgetting about one major national security service. The Coast Guard has an annual budget of about $10 billion a year. And its active duty roster is smaller than the number of employees at the New York City Police Department. Retired Rear Adm. Terry McKnight is the former commander of the Expeditionary Strike Group. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose that no other service \"does more with less\" than the Coast Guard.
June 11, 2015 -
Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Brad Carson calls the military\'s personnel system \"almost Soviet\" because of how rigid it is. He will deliver a new plan to Defense Secretary Ash Carter by Aug. 19. Retired Army Lt. Gen David Barno is a distinguished practitioner in residence at American University. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he says if anyone can drive progress in DoD\'s personnel system in the year and a half the administration has left, it\'s Brad Carson.
June 10, 2015