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Blue Delta Names GovCon Vet Mac Curtis as Venture Fellow; Phil Nolan, Jim Garrettson Quoted
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Blue Delta Names GovCon Vet Mac Curtis as Venture Fellow; Phil Nolan, Jim Garrettson Quoted

Blue Delta Capital Partners has appointed Mac Curtis, former chairman of the board, president and CEO of Perspecta and seven-time Wash100 Award recipient, as a venture fellow who will join some of the boards of the McLean, Virginia-based growth equity firm’s portfolio companies and support their growth initiatives.

“Mac will [also] help us see new investment opportunities, assist our companies in scaling both through organic growth and occasional tuck-in acquisitions, and help us continue to assimilate the best talent in the market into the companies that we have backed,” Phil Nolan, a general partner at Blue Delta, said in a statement published Wednesday.

Commenting on his appointment, Curtis told Executive Mosaic, “I have been fortunate throughout my entire career to have worked with some of the most elite teams in the GovCon industry. Joining the proven all star team of executives at Blue Delta is the continuity of achievement only fortunate executives could realize as they build on the foundation of many significant team successes.”

Curtis will collaborate with the chief executives of Blue Delta’s portfolio companies and with its advisory board that includes Donna Morea, chair of the board of directors at Science Applications International Corp., and Mike Daniels, board chair at CACI International.

The appointee brings to Blue Delta Capital Partners decades-long experience in government contracting. Under his leadership, Perspecta, which now operates as part of Peraton, grew into a $7.1 billion company that was acquired by Veritas Capital. He is a consistent recipient of Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 Award that recognized the contributions of GovCon leaders.

“Mac Curtis’ long list of achievements has been documented in a chronology of his career, which was published in Executive Mosaic recently,” said Jim Garrettson, founder and CEO of Executive Mosaic.

“Mac enjoys the luxury of one of the best personal executive brands in our industry. [His] achievements have been recognized across the industry by a vast array of awards including the achievement of seven Wash100 leadership awards. This enviable recognition has been equaled by only a handful of industry executives,” Garrettson added.

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AT&T FirstNet-O2X Partnership Brings Health & Wellness Training Workshops to First Responders
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AT&T FirstNet-O2X Partnership Brings Health & Wellness Training Workshops to First Responders

AT&T’s FirstNet is collaborating with O2X Human Performance in a program that brings health, wellness and resilience training to first responders through a series of workshops across 5 cities in Colorado, Michigan, Arizona, Ohio and Florida.

O2X, a Navy SEAL-founded training and education company, will lead three-day tactical athletic training-based performance workshops designed to optimize occupational physical performance and support mental health for first responders and public safety personnel, the company said Thursday.

The workshops will include specifically designed education across a range of topics such as injury prevention, stress management, nutrition and movement foundation from a team of professionals that include U.S. Special Operations veterans, sleep scientists, mental performance experts and strength and conditioning specialists.

“This program has proven successful and we’re hoping our collaboration will allow more first responders to feel equipped both mentally and physically to handle their jobs,” said Dr. Anna Courie, DPN, RN, PHNA-BC and director of responder wellness for AT&T’s FirstNet program.

The collaboration aligns with FirstNet Health and Wellness Coalition’s strategic priorities to integrate community, industry and academic capabilities in support of first responders’ health, wellness, resilience and readiness.

AT&T’s FirstNet was recently selected to provide its first responder communications platform to 15 U.S. Air Force bases across the country.

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Army Unveils Digital Transformation Strategy; CIO Raj Iyer Quoted
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Army Unveils Digital Transformation Strategy; CIO Raj Iyer Quoted

The U.S. Army has issued a new strategy that seeks to advance the use of innovative technologies to help establish conditions for a digital Army to maintain overmatch across land, sea, space, air and cyberspace domains.

The Army Digital Transformation Strategy sets the vision for how the service can achieve Waypoint 2028 with the aid of digital modernization and has three objectives: modernization and readiness, reform and people and partnerships, the Army said Wednesday. Waypoint 2028 is the Army’s holistic approach to fight and win in multi-domain operations.

Each objective comes with several lines of effort. For the modernization and readiness aspect, lines of effort include accelerating cloud-native adoption by unifying the Army’s enterprise and tactical clouds, leveraging data as a strategic asset to achieve interoperability and data for decision-making and elevating the military branch’s cybersecurity posture by defining zero-trust principles for both information technology and operational technology assets.

“Going digital is a mindset, it’s culture change,” said Raj Iyer, chief information officer of the Army and a 2021 Wash100 Award winner. “It’s about how we can fundamentally change how we operate as an Army through transformative digital technologies, empowering our workforce, and re-engineering our rigid institutional processes to be more agile,” added Iyer.

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Commerce to Impose Export Controls on Certain Cybersecurity Items; Gina Raimondo Quoted
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Commerce to Impose Export Controls on Certain Cybersecurity Items; Gina Raimondo Quoted

The Department of Commerce is seeking public comments on an interim final rule that seeks to establish controls on the export, transfer or re-export of certain products that can be used in malicious cyber activities.

The rule introduced by the bureau of industry and security intends to establish a License Exception Authorized Cybersecurity Exports that would permit the export of cybersecurity items to most destinations and keep a license requirement for exports to countries of national security concern, the department said Wednesday.

License Exception ACE would require a license for nations subject to a U.S. arms embargo and  “impose an end-use restriction in circumstances where the exporter, re-exporter, or transferor knows or has reason to know … that the ‘cybersecurity item’ will be used to affect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of information or information systems, without authorization by the owner, operator or administrator of the information system (including the information and processes within such systems),” the rule reads.

“The Commerce Department’s interim final rule imposing export controls on certain cybersecurity items is an appropriately tailored approach that protects America’s national security against malicious cyber actors while ensuring legitimate cybersecurity activities,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

Public comments are due Dec. 6th. The rule will take effect on Jan. 19th.

Supply Chain Cybersecurity: Revelations and Innovations

ExecutiveBiz, sister site of GovConDaily and part of the Executive Mosaic digital media umbrella, will host a virtual event about securing the supply chain on Oct. 26. Visit ExecutiveBiz.com to sign up for the “Supply Chain Cybersecurity: Revelations and Innovations” event.

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USCENTCOM Cyber-Electromagnetic Team Holds Counter-UAS Class in Kuwait
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USCENTCOM Cyber-Electromagnetic Team Holds Counter-UAS Class in Kuwait

A U.S. Central Command electromagnetic team in Kuwait taught from Oct. 4th to 8th the first-ever class using a curriculum it developed for providing education on counter-unmanned aerial systems technologies.

The Task Force Phoenix’s (TFP) Cyberspace Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA) Cell gave its first students from Camp Buehring lessons on the risk posed by rogue drones and the platforms used to defeat such threats, the U.S. Army said Monday.

During the five-day event, 16 Army and U.S. Air Force active and reserve personnel received briefings, as well as hands-on and virtual training, on various counter-drone systems used by the military from the CEMA cell and representatives from defense contractor Raytheon Technologies.

In creating the course, Capt. Jesse Rodeheaver, officer-in-charge for the Army Central Command Readiness Training Center, shared that the military training organization provided an audience and platform in which CEMA can distribute its expertise on CUAS and electronic warfare.

The TFP team will start the next class for counter-drone operations on Nov. 8th at Camp Buehring.

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Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost Discusses Readiness Priorities as USTRANSCOM Commander
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Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost Discusses Readiness Priorities as USTRANSCOM Commander

Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, who now leads U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), said she is committed to supporting command and control needs, preserving air mobility and addressing the retirement of naval vessels. 

Ovost spoke at the National Defense Transportation Association’s fall meeting about her priorities as USTRANSCOM’s new leader in her first major keynote address since assuming command, USTRANSCOM said Tuesday. The event took place the same day in National Harbor, Maryland. 

“TRANSCOM’s mission is enduring and my number one priority remains the same – our warfighting readiness,” Ovost said.

She added that the command will pursue its goal through the elements of global posture, mobility capacity, and global command and control and integration.

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GSA, CISA Seek Market Info on Endpoint Detection & Response Tools
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GSA, CISA Seek Market Info on Endpoint Detection & Response Tools

The General Services Administration (GSA) wants to identify market sources of endpoint detection and response (EDR) technologies, which the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) may use to support President Biden’s executive order on cybersecurity. 

CISA will work to expand insight into the Continuous Diagnostic and Mitigation (CDM) program and help the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sustain EDR efforts across the federal government, GSA said Thursday in a SAM.gov notice.

The security agency will take part in efforts to early detect cybersecurity issues on federal networks and augment response capabilities.

OMB and CISA will also jointly design and implement EDR tools with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, which granted $650 million to the security agency. Interested parties may send responses through Nov. 8th.

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David McKeown: DISA to Assess Companies Vying for New DOD Enterprise Cloud Contract
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David McKeown: DISA to Assess Companies Vying for New DOD Enterprise Cloud Contract

David McKeown, chief information security officer at the Department of Defense (DOD), said the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) will assess companies that will apply for the Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability (JWCC) contract. 

The multiple-award JWCC succeeds the now-scrapped Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure or JEDI contract, which was designed to have only one contractor, FedScoop reported Tuesday.

McKeown said the certification process for JWCC will be similar to that of the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP).

Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and other large cloud companies will contribute resources to JWCC. DOD expects to issue JWCC’s awards in April 2022, according to officials.

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Peraton Upgrades Network With Ciena-Supported 800G Technology; Nate White, John Israel Quoted
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Peraton Upgrades Network With Ciena-Supported 800G Technology; Nate White, John Israel Quoted

Peraton has commercially deployed 800G technology-based wavelength services, utilizing Ciena’s Waveserver 5 product, to upgrade the company’s infrastructure, reduce power consumption and latency, improve customer experience and increase network capacity.

The network enhancement allows Peraton to scale its core network capacity to allow for better integration of 5G, edge computing and network slicing technologies while providing faster data transfer and quicker deployment of Internet Protocol and business services to its public and private sector customers, the company said Wednesday.

“By upgrading to 800G technology, Peraton brings government and commercial customers the affordable and high-performance telecommunications services necessary for meeting operational requirements,” said Nate White, vice president and general manager of Peraton’s Communications business.

White also noted that as the only systems integrator with internal commercial telecommunications and satellite communications capabilities, Peraton will be able to leverage the network improvements to continue driving innovation as the company launches its new Nx100G and 400G services in the Washington, D.C. area. 

The new update allows Peraton to deliver high-capacity wavelengths through its optical transmission network and data centers at speeds of 400Gbps and higher, positioning the company to meet increased capacity demands in response to an increasingly remote workforce.

John Israel, regional director of national security for Ciena said the use of the company’s Waveserver 5 product “makes it possible for Peraton to optimize its network in the face of today’s growing bandwidth demands and fast-changing customer needs.”

Peraton recently secured a potential $2.7 billion DHS contract to manage the agency’s hybrid computing environment. The new 800G capabilities will continue to support Peraton’s federal IT services and infrastructure modernization contract work.

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Kenneth Morgan: Air Force Reserve Command Seeks Base Connectivity Improvement via Commercial 5G Service
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Kenneth Morgan: Air Force Reserve Command Seeks Base Connectivity Improvement via Commercial 5G Service

Kenneth Morgan, chief information technology officer of Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), said upcoming 5G infrastructure deployments to AFRC host bases seek to address connectivity challenges at the military facilities, GCN reported Friday.

“The addition of commercial cellular infrastructure consisting of macro towers, small cells and in-building solutions is a game-changer,” Morgan told the publication.

Verizon announced a follow-on contract under the Department of Defense’s Offer to Lease project in September to provide the company’s 5G Ultra Wideband service to seven AFRC installations.

Morgan said two-thirds of the command’s facilities nationwide lack network coverage or mobile communication capacity. He expects connectivity upgrades to help reservists collaborate in real-time to support aircraft engineering and maintenance activities.

The AFRC executive also believes the new wireless technology will drive initiatives to produce augmented and virtual reality systems for military training, high-definition videos for telemedicine and artificial intelligence-based biometric technology.

Morgan estimates that all host installations to be 5G ready by the end of 2023.

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