What does the PCI picture look like from the government’s perspective? The GAO describes DoD contractor employees as “closely supporting inherently governmental functions” but notes that some DoD officials have a different perspective.
Program managers that the GAO interviewed say contractor employees provide “technical” input into the decision-making process as opposed to direct involvement in the [...]

While there has been a lot of recent buzz over organizational conflicts of interest (OCI), there has been comparatively little attention to the issue of personal conflicts of interest (PCI). Ironically, the PCI issues appear to be potentially more restrictive. These PCI regulations are much stricter on Federal employees than they are on government contracting [...]

If America is going to protect her interests, she needs to get old school and new school – at the same time.
The Pentagon’s new Quadrennial Defense Rev­iew has found an increased threat from China in the realms of space and cyberspace, and the need for more choppers, predator drones and light [...]

With the Obama Administration placing a high priority on the goal of transparency in the federal government these days, blogging has become a dynamic, useful tool for agency officials to communicate thoughts, opinions and information directly to the public.  High-ranking federal officials are taking to the web and fueling a communications trend that is rapidly [...]

At a Navy conference in Arlington last week, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus told contracting and government officials:  “(The Navy is) going to demand more accountability from contractors on behalf of the taxpayers.”  He continued, “Unless we control costs, we will not get the Navy that we need, and we will not have the [...]

On a Christmas Day flight  from Amsterdam, a 23 year old student from Nigeria attempted to detonate an explosive on a flight to Detroit. This event is serving as more of a wake up call to politicians and national administrators than a panic stirring terrorist attack. One thing resulting from the attacks is the investigation [...]

“We lost the chance to influence an entire generation of officers,” says a US official at the embassy in Pakistan. This lamentation points to a critical need during the present counterinsurgency, namely enhanced cooperation with Pakistan.
As the US ramps up its efforts in Afghanistan, with the recently announced surge of 30,000 additional combat troops, it [...]