A new Army restructuring commission has been charged with finding ways to make the Army more agile and cost-effective, Army Secretary John McHugh said Monday. The Institutional Army Transformation Commission will build on the work of an earlier short-term task force that examined the Army’s organizations and business practices. The short-term task force identified short-term [...]
The 20-year military retirement system will not change in the near future, Defense Department officials said. AFPS reports Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told troops in Afghanistan July 31 there was no immediate plan to affect retirement. A small group of Defense Business Board members released a proposal July [...]
The Air Force will subject its cyber capabilities for use against enemy computer systems to legal review, according to an order from Air Force Secretary Michael Donley. Lt. Gen. Richard Harding, the judge advocate general, signed the directive dated July 27 and first reported by the Secrecy News blog. The judge advocate general will review [...]
Major utility plants should run background checks on employees to help prevent security threats, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Sunday. Reuters reports Schumer plans to introduce legislation next month requiring major utilities and critical infrastructure plants to run FBI background checks on workers with access to sensitive areas within utilities. Schumer cited a recent report [...]
The General Services Administration has launched a mobile application to help federal employees know lodging, meal and reimbursement rates when they travel. Janet Dobbs, GSA’s deputy associate administrator of Travel, Transportation & Asset Management, announced the launch in an Aug. 5 blog entry. The application allows employees to search rates by location or zip code. [...]
Energy companies should reveal the chemicals used in a drilling technique, known as fracking, that taps previously inaccessible natural gas deposits, an Energy Department advisory panel said. The Natural Gas Subcommittee, an advisory board to Secretary Steven Chu, released its 90-day draft report Thursday on shale gas production. The panel found hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, [...]
The Government Accountability Office is now the latest agency trying to reduce its workforce by offering early retirements and buyouts. GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro announced the plans Aug. 8 in a memo to all agency employees. The early retirement offers are a certainty and the buyouts are conditional upon approval by the Office of [...]
The Air Force started a 90-day hiring freeze for its civilian workforce effective Aug. 9, Air Force officials announced Friday. Air Force officials also announced plans to reduce both the temporary and term civilian workforces. The reductions will be accomplished through voluntary buyouts and voluntary retirements. “We will do our utmost to provide timely, candid [...]
The Labor Department is considering the development of a new data tool to collect information on salaries, wages and benefits paid to employees of federal contractors and subcontractors. The department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs said Wednesday the tool would improve the ability to gather data that could analyze indicators such as pay disparities [...]
A new NASA directorate will focus on both the International Space Station and human exploration beyond low earth orbit, the agency announced Friday The Human Exploration and Operations Mission directorate combines the Space Operations and Human Exploration directorates. NASA said the new directorate has already begun supporting space station operations. The directorate will manage construction [...]