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President Biden Nominates Maryanne Donaghy, Seema Nanda for Key VA, DOL Roles
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President Biden Nominates Maryanne Donaghy, Seema Nanda for Key VA, DOL Roles

President Biden has nominated former Department of Justice (DOJ) officials Maryanne Donaghy and Seema Nanda to assume leadership roles at the departments of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Labor (DOL), respectively.

Donaghy received a nomination for assistant secretary for accountability and whistleblower protection at the VA while Nanda was nominated to serve as DOL solicitor, the White House said Friday. 

Donaghy previously served as a federal prosecutor and spent time at the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices of Delaware and Pennsylvania’s Eastern District. She is a senior adviser for the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware where she is also an adjunct lecturer.

Nanda previously held chief of staff and deputy solicitor roles at DOL during the Obama administration. She also served as CEO of the Democratic National Committee and has more than 15 years of experience in private and public sector employment law.

Biden’s other nominees include Victoria Wassmer, deputy assistant Secretary for Finance and budget at the Department of Transportation (DoT), who was tapped to serve as chief financial officer and assistant secretary for budget and programs at DOT.

Jocelyn Samuels, executive director at the Williams Institute, was also nominated for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission member while education veteran Gayle Conelly Manchin was tapped to serve as federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission.

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CBO: Navy Submarine Fleet Could Exceed Shipyard Maintenance Capacities in 30 Years
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CBO: Navy Submarine Fleet Could Exceed Shipyard Maintenance Capacities in 30 Years

A new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report states that the size of the U.S. Navy’s submarine fleet is likely to exceed shipyards’ capacity to maintain the vessels in 25 to 30 years.

CBO said Thursday that the Navy has faced delays in submarine maintenance activities due to factors such as workforce shortage and increasing demands for maintenance in line with overhaul work.

According to CBO’s report, the Navy’s modified fiscal year 2020 shipbuilding plan directs the procurement of 61 attack submarines within 30 years. The new plan also envisions a fleet of over 400 warships by 2051.

Accurate maintenance scheduling could help the Navy improve submarine deployment planning while mitigating disruptions due to delays, according to CBO.

The agency also suggests reducing fleet size, driving workforce expansion efforts and sending submarines for private shipyard servicing.

CBO: Navy Submarine Fleet Could Exceed Shipyard Maintenance Capacities in 30 Years

Join Potomac Officers Club is hosting its 2021 Navy Forum on May 12th to showcase the most notable industry and federal leaders within the federal sector and discuss the initiatives, efficiencies and solutions that will enable the Navy to become more effective in warfare. Visit PotomacOfficersClub.com or click the banner above to register for the 2021 Navy Forum on May 12th. 

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Accenture Federal Services Secures $453M VA IT Contract; Shawn Roman, Charmain Bogue Quoted
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Accenture Federal Services Secures $453M VA IT Contract; Shawn Roman, Charmain Bogue Quoted

Accenture announced on Monday that its subsidiary Accenture Federal Services (AFS) was awarded a $453 million prime contract from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to improve and modernize the VA’s Digital GI Bill Delivery Program.

“Accenture is excited to support VA in transforming its Digital GI Bill program– from the time a Veteran, service member or their dependent applies for a Certificate of Eligibility to when they graduate and search for meaningful employment,” commented Shawn Roman, managing director at Accenture Federal Services and client account lead for the VA.

The contract will require AFS to improve the education claims processing and transform other management systems for the VA’s Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). The company will deliver on the contract by developing automation, user interface/user experience design, service transformation, analytics, and other modern IT services.

“Changing job markets, workforce trends, technologies and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated the need to provide GI Bill benefits to Veterans and their families,” VBA’s executive director Charmain Bogue added.

“These changes highlight the need for a benefits delivery system that is highly responsive and adaptive to Veterans and their families in a digital world so VA can implement GI Bill program changes faster and accurately.”

AFS will also configure the GI Bill Claims Processing and Management Service by administering updates required by the Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 and providing information technology (IT) services.

The contract’s base period is seven months with nine one-year option periods. AFS will be the prime contractor while leading an integrated team of 12 subcontractors. The call for modernization of the VA’s systems comes from recent legislation that requires the Administration to update  approximately 12 legacy IT systems.

“Through the Digital GI Bill Delivery Program, we will help VA reduce its claims processing times through increased automation, enabling VA administrators and employees to focus on serving Veterans and providing a more productive veteran experience,” Roman concluded.

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Maj. Gen. Craig Wills: Air Force Finds VR-Trained Pilots Doing Well With F-22, F-35 Models
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Maj. Gen. Craig Wills: Air Force Finds VR-Trained Pilots Doing Well With F-22, F-35 Models

Maj. Gen. Craig Wills, commander of the U.S. Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command (AETC), said students have been performing better with the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II aircraft through virtual reality training.

Wills said USAF determined this from data of individuals who graduated from the Pilot Training Next (PNT) program, which put trainees in virtual and augmented reality training, Military.com reported Friday.

USAF launched the PTN experiment to see how students can train in an augmented reality environment. Forty-one pilots have graduated from PTN to date.

“For whatever reason, [students] tend to do better in F-35 and F-22-type courses comparatively [to] how they’ve done in the fourth-generation fighters,” Wills said Tuesday at a roundtable meeting.

The service branch has observed the benefits of virtual reality, but is still finding an optimal way to track students’ overall training progress.

AMERICAN SYSTEMS Named to Forbes List of America’s Best Employers 2021; President, CEO Peter Smith Quoted
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AMERICAN SYSTEMS Named to Forbes List of America’s Best Employers 2021; President, CEO Peter Smith Quoted

AMERICAN SYSTEMS announced on Monday that the company had recently been named one of America’s Best Employers in 2021 on Forbes annual list.

“Our company is invested in our employee-owners and vice-versa,” said Peter Smith, president and CEO of AMERICAN SYSTEMS, as well as a three-time Wash100 Award recipient.

Forbes and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider, determines the list through an independent survey of more than 50,000 American employees and an evaluation process based on the direct and indirect recommendations from employees on their respective companies. AMERICAN SYSTEMS Named to Forbes List of America’s Best Employers 2021; President, CEO Peter Smith Quoted

“Making the Forbes list of America’s Best Employers is a wonderful validation of that collaborative relationship. We’re honored,” Smith added.

In addition to its accolade with Forbes, AMERICAN SYSTEMS was also named to the Top Workplaces 2021 USA list by Energage in Jan. 2020.

About AMERICAN SYSTEMS 

Founded in 1975, AMERICAN SYSTEMS is a government engineering and IT solutions provider and one of the top 100 employee-owned companies in the United States, with approximately 1,475 employees nationwide.

Based in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Chantilly, VA, the company provides Enterprise IT, Acquisition and Lifecycle Support, Engineering and Analysis, Test & Evaluation, and Training Solutions to DoD, Intel, and civilian government customers.

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Jack Blackhurst to Retire as Air Force Research Lab Executive Director
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Jack Blackhurst to Retire as Air Force Research Lab Executive Director

Jack Blackhurst, executive director of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) since June 2017, is set to retire Wednesday after a 46-year career that saw him take on various military and federal civilian roles.

In his current capacity, Blackhurst oversees USAF’s $2.5 billion science and technology portfolio and serves as the principal assistant to the AFRL commander, the military research organization said Friday.

He received his Senior Executive Service appointment in 2010 while serving as director of the human effectiveness directorate within AFRL.

Blackhurst started his military career in 1975 as communications electronics officer of the 509th Bomb Wing and held various management roles across the branch following master’s degree completion in 1979 at the Air Force Institute of Technology. He achieved the rank of colonel upon his military retirement in 2004.

Prior to his current role, he led the plans and programs directorate at the AFRL headquarters for three and a half years.

SBA Chief Isabel Guzman on Critical Need to Provide Federal Relief to Small Businesses
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SBA Chief Isabel Guzman on Critical Need to Provide Federal Relief to Small Businesses

Isabel Guzman, administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), told The 19th in an interview published Thursday that providing immediate federal relief to small companies is “really critical” as these businesses deal with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Immediate relief is really critical. … Their markets have been impacted, and so focusing on providing access to capital, whether it’s relief grants or loans or assistance on the fundraising side, that’s really important,” Guzman said. Guzman, who was confirmed by the Senate for the top post at SBA in mid-March, highlighted the need to link small businesses to the federal marketplace.

“And so making sure that we’re focusing on our contracting programs and connecting small businesses to the federal marketplace and supply chains broadly and connecting them to e-commerce and global trade and beyond is really important. And then, finally, access to networks. I think we need to better leverage and collaborate and cooperate to make sure that our local ecosystems are strong and that small businesses are able to connect to all of these resources,” she added.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan allocates funds for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Guzman explained how SBA plans to dole out funds under PPP.

“So really trying to focus on ensuring outreach and connection and that our lending partners, which have been so critical in implementing this program, can help us achieve equity in the distribution of funds,” she said.

“And I know we definitely want to make sure that we also focus on the other side of it, which is the forgiveness part. Obviously small businesses have been through quite a bit so we’re continually working to ensure that there’s a simple and streamlined process for forgiveness to borrowers,” Guzman added.

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NASA Eyes Earlier Launch for Lunar Trailblazer; Lori Glaze Quoted
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NASA Eyes Earlier Launch for Lunar Trailblazer; Lori Glaze Quoted

NASA is considering its options to move to an earlier date for the launch of its Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft that is expected to be completed in October 2022, SpaceNews reported Friday.

Lunar Trailblazer, which is part of the agency's Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program, is a small lunar orbiter that has been cleared to transition to full-scale development after it passed the Key Decision Point C review in November.

The spacecraft will launch as a rideshare payload on the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Development delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic pushed back the launch of IMAP from October 2024 to February 2025.

“We’re looking across the whole directorate, looking for another ride for Lunar Trailblazer; a little sooner, if that’s possible,” Lori Glaze, planetary science division director at NASA, said in response to a question about the possibility of launching the orbiter as a co-manifested payload on one of the Commercial Lunar Payload Service missions.

Glaze said Wednesday during a meeting of the Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science of the National Academies that NASA has not yet decided to take the spacecraft off the IMAP launch and is looking out for other launch opportunities for the orbiter.

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DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg Highlights Need to Address Infrastructure Project Backlog
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DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg Highlights Need to Address Infrastructure Project Backlog

Pete Buttigieg, secretary of the Department of Transportation (DoT), told lawmakers on Thursday about the need to address the country’s $1 trillion backlog of infrastructure projects, Nextgov reported Friday.

“Across the country, we face a trillion-dollar backlog of needed repairs and improvements, with hundreds of billions of dollars in good projects already in the pipeline,” Buttigieg told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Thursday. “We see other countries pulling ahead of us, with consequences for strategic and economic competition.”

He appeared before the House panel as the current administration works on a $3 trillion investment package that seeks to address domestic and infrastructure priorities. President Biden is expected to provide details on the package during his trip to Pittsburgh this week.

Buttigieg told lawmakers that he would consider borrowing or using general fund revenues and user fees to help pay for the infrastructure package.

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SOCOM Taps Collaboration.Ai for Market Research Platform
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SOCOM Taps Collaboration.Ai for Market Research Platform

Collaboration.Ai has won a three-year, $10 million contract from the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) to provide a market research platform for innovation challenges launched under the Air Force's AFWERX program.

The company will facilitate contests regarding the concept of high-speed vertical takeoff and landing aircraft via the Augmented Human/Community Performance Platform, the Department of Defense said Friday.

Work under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III award will primarily take place in a virtual environment. SOCOM is obligating $250,000 for the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract at the time of award and expects Collaboration.Ai to complete work by March 2024.

The Minneapolis-based technology developer aims to help organizations manage the human networking experience through artificial intelligence and networking science.

https://potomacofficersclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/00P4y000017t5XUEAY.jpg3rd Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit

If you're interested in artificial intelligence technology, check out the Potomac Officers Club's 3rd Annual AI Summit taking place on Tuesday, March 30th. Click here to learn more.

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