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Senate Confirms Antony Blinken as Secretary of State
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Senate Confirms Antony Blinken as Secretary of State

The Senate confirmed Antony Blinken, former deputy secretary of state during the Obama administration, to lead the State Department in a 78-22 vote on Tuesday, The New York Times reported.

During his confirmation hearing, Blinken said he plans to review U.S. policy toward North Korea and take a tougher approach to Russia and China.

He also shared his views on the Iran nuclear deal and Abraham Accords, which led to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco to open diplomatic relations with Israel, as well as plans to advance multiculturalism within the diplomatic corps.

Blinken also intends to assess or reverse are the terrorist designation against Houthi rebels in Yemen, low cap on refugee admissions and U.S. relations with Taiwan. he co-founded WestExec Advisors, a consulting group that works to evaluate the nation’s foreign and national security policies.

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Biden Administration Unveils New OPM Appointees; Chris Canning Quoted
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Biden Administration Unveils New OPM Appointees; Chris Canning Quoted

President Biden's administration has named several appointees at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as part of its efforts to develop a diverse federal workforce. OPM Chief Management Officer Kathleen McGettigan has assumed the role of acting director and will continue her duties until the Senate confirms a permanent director, the agency said Monday.

Chris Canning will serve as OPM's chief of staff, while Curtis Mejeur will perform duties as senior adviser to the director for technology and delivery.

"President Biden made a promise to the American people that he would assemble diverse and talented teams that look like America, and today he continues to fulfill that promise," said Canning.

Eighty-five percent of the initial OPM appointees identify as women, people of color or members of the LGBTQ community, while 80 percent of the agency's employees work outside Washington, D.C.

The other appointees are:

  • David Marsh, senior adviser to the chief of staff
  • David Padrino,  executive director, office of human capital data management and modernization
  • Jane Lee, senior adviser to the director
  • Jason Tengco, White House liaison
  • Jim Cho, deputy Director, congressional, legislative and intergovernmental affairs
  • Lynn Eisenberg, general counsel
  • Margot Conrad, executive director, chief human capital officers council and senior adviser to the director
  • Mini Timmaraju, senior adviser to the director
  • Robert Shriver, associate director, employee services
  • Shelby Wagenseller, press secretary
  • Tanya Sehgal, special Counsel and senior adviser
  • Theodora Chang, special assistant to the director
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Army to Field, Develop Comms Tech for Future Network Capability
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Army to Field, Develop Comms Tech for Future Network Capability

The U.S. Army seeks to further develop its network capabilities with the planned fielding of new communications equipment across multiple brigade combat teams.The service branch said Monday it will continue integrated tactical network development after the completion of handheld and man-packable radio tests for Capability Set 21st, a package of modern network technologies.

The 173rd Airborne Brigade, operating in Vicenza, Italy, will receive the next CS21 delivery as one of four initial fielding brigades. Brig. Gen. Robert Collins, head of the Army's Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical or PEO C3T, said the Army will distribute CS21 kits to five more brigades in fiscal year 2022.

The Germany-based 2nd Cavalry Regiment will be the first of five to receive the next batch of kits.

“As we are getting ready to pivot to multi-domain operations, we realize the importance of not only having a tactical, capable force, but also having our expeditionary signal battalion enhanced and [continuing] to refresh our ESBs,” Collins said at a virtual conference of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association's Northern Virginia Chapter.

The Army will also continue to develop Capability Set 23, a prototype technology package designed to boost network convergence, resiliency and capacity. CS23's further development will build on CS21 and future Project Convergence exercises.

Maj. Gen. Pete Gallagher, director of the Army's Network Cross-Functional Team, said the service wants to become a multi-domain capable force by 2028 with the help of CS23.

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Brig. Gen. Jeth Rey to Lead Army Network Cross-Functional Team
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Brig. Gen. Jeth Rey to Lead Army Network Cross-Functional Team

Brig. Gen. Jeth Rey, J-6 at the U.S. Central Command, is slated to succeed  Maj. Gen. Peter Gallagher as director of the U.S. Army's network cross-functional team at an undetermined date, C4ISR reported Monday. Rey will transfer from MacDill Air Force Base in Florida to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland once he assumes his position.

N-CFT has been established to handle the modernization of the service branch's tactical network. The team helped the Army roll out a capability set process that involved the biannual development and delivery of new tactical network tools under Gallagher's leadership.

According to the report, the team is currently planning Capability Set 23th, which is set to undergo preliminary design reviews in April 2021. 

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NIWC Atlantic Rolls Out Risk Mgmt Framework for Cloud, Data Center Authorization
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NIWC Atlantic Rolls Out Risk Mgmt Framework for Cloud, Data Center Authorization

The Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic (NIWC Atlantic) has updated its assessments and authorizations procedures to implement a risk management framework to improve cybersecurity across the U.S. Navy.

The Navy said Monday that NIWC Atlantic’s Command Information Office is working with Naval Information Warfare Systems Command’s information office to implement RMF and create “entry criteria” for the validation and testing of security controls.

NIWC Atlantic seeks to maintain authorizations for cloud hosting and data center services by simplifying A&A schedules and monitoring progress in the authorization process.

Brianeisha Eure, command information systems security manager at NIWC Atlantic, said the command unit has over 50 authorization packages encompassing network and hosting support, video services, telephony and command support.

She noted that the modified procedures seek to test security controls at the A&A team level before they are inherited by other teams. Matthew Colburn, RMF lead at NIWC Atlantic, said the modified review process helped speed up validation from six months to 2.5 weeks.

The initiative also helped reduce the amount of expired software and authorization packages by 80 percent, NIWC Atlantic noted.

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HHS Seeks Feedback on COVID-19 Data Collection Portal
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HHS Seeks Feedback on COVID-19 Data Collection Portal

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is looking for public input on the implementation of its portal for recording COVID-19 data from various health institutions.

HHS said in an information collection request published on the Federal Register that the HHS Teletracking COVID-19 Portal collates data from 5,500 hospitals on a daily basis to monitor COVID-19 patient testing, resource allocation, bed capacity and other supply needs.

The portal also includes data that hospitals initially submitted to HHS through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 Module under the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) which has been a key factor to the White House’s pandemic response efforts, according to the notice.

HHS noted that the daily collection of COVID-19 information is crucial for identifying needs for federal support in addition to being “the most effective way to detect outbreaks”. The department will accept responses to the ICR through Feb. 22nd.

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DHS S&T Invests in Counterterrorism Research Under New Center of Excellence
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DHS S&T Invests in Counterterrorism Research Under New Center of Excellence

The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology (DHS S&T) Directorate has earmarked $36.5 million to fund a 10-year research effort on counterterrorism technology and the security of crowded places.

DHS said Monday that it seeks multidisciplinary academic entities that will work with the department and other experts in mathematics, analytics and engineering for efforts under DHS’s newly established Center of Excellence for Engineering Secure Environments from Targeted Attacks. 

The department intends to select a university or institution as the center lead that will manage homeland security issues with a focus on combating domestic terrorism, extremism and targeted attacks in crowded places including cities.

William Bryan, acting undersecretary for S&T, said the funding opportunity is meant to help DHS mitigate long-term threats to the country's built environments and surface transportation through new engineering concepts.

DHS plans to hold a webinar for the funding opportunity on Feb. 4th. Proposals for the initiative are due on March 10th.

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U.S. Military Addresses N95 Mask Shortage via 3D Printing; Maj. Daniel Williams Quoted
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U.S. Military Addresses N95 Mask Shortage via 3D Printing; Maj. Daniel Williams Quoted

U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity used 3D printing to address the U.S. health care workforce's demand for N95 respirators, DOD News reported Monday.

U.S. Air Force Maj. Daniel Williams, product manager for N95 respirator efforts at USAMMDA's Warfighter Expeditionary Medicine and Treatment Project Management Office, said his team leveraged internal expertise on medical product development to address the N95 shortage.

The team worked with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), U.S. Navy Underwater Warfare Center-Keyport, U.S. Coast Guard Academy and U.S. Forces Korea to manufacture the masks.

U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command's Additive Manufacturing Working Group verified the agreements, intellectual property concerns and regulatory requirements relevant to N95 respirator production.

Lastly, Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Chemical Biological Center evaluated respirator prototypes to verify compliance with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

“It has been such an honor to work with such an amazing group of professionals, spanning the medical and non-medical communities, and a truly unique experience to see so many different specialties come together for a common goal,” Williams said in an interview.

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Amentum Named #1 Military Friendly Company for 2021; CEO John Vollmer Quoted
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Amentum Named #1 Military Friendly Company for 2021; CEO John Vollmer Quoted

Amentum announced on Tuesday that the company has been selected as the number one Military Friendly Company for 2021 as well as the top Military Friendly® Supplier Diversity.

“We could not be more proud to be recognized as the top Military Friendly Company for 2021,” said John Vollmer, CEO of Amentum and five-time Wash100 Award recipient. “We share many of the same values, including the importance of leadership and teamwork, discipline and dedication to mission success.”

“Our focus on the missions of our military customers, the leadership and teamwork of our 11,000 veteran employees, and the contributions of the military spouses at Amentum and the veteran-owned small businesses we partner with make us stronger as a company and drive our success every day, Vollmer added.”

About Amentum

Amentum is a premier global technical and engineering services partner supporting critical programs of national significance across defense, security, intelligence, energy, and environment. We draw from a century-old heritage of operational excellence, mission focus, and successful execution underpinned by a strong culture of safety and ethics.

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Siemens’ Teamcenter to Standardize Product Lifecycle Management Platform for U.S. Air Force; Tina Dolph Quoted
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Siemens’ Teamcenter to Standardize Product Lifecycle Management Platform for U.S. Air Force; Tina Dolph Quoted

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) has selected Siemens’ Teamcenter software to support the service branch’s digital acquisition and sustainment strategy for critical systems and technologies, the company announced on Tuesday.

“We are incredibly proud to support the Air Force with a toolset that supports their digital journey and fundamentally enhances the way they can field capability with greater speed and agility,” said Tina Dolph, president and CEO of Siemens Government Technologies and two-time Wash100 Award recipient.

Teamcenter, part of the Xcelerator™ portfolio from Siemens Digital Industries Software, is a modern, open and adaptable product lifecycle management (PLM) solution. By leveraging Xcelerator, the Department of Defense (DOD) as well as the aerospace and defense industry can integrate disparate program data and share product performance details anywhere and at any time.

“By providing the Air Force and other defense agencies with a robust enterprise PLM solution, time-sensitive and actionable data can be accessed across the earliest phases of a system lifecycle, resulting in lower operational costs, fewer down times, and overall improved readiness,” Dolph explained.

Siemens continues to work and support the Air Force as it revives and maintains product lifecycle management software applications through a $24.5 million contract through Jan. 2024.

About Siemens Government Technologies

Siemens Government Technologies is the wholly-owned, separate, cleared entity of Siemens whose mission it is to secure and modernize the largest infrastructure in the world, the U.S. Federal Government. It does so by being the leading integrator of Siemens’ innovative products, technologies, software and services in the areas of digital engineering and modeling, efficient and resilient energy solutions, and smart infrastructure modernization.

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