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Senate Confirms LtGen Michael Groen as JAIC Director
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Senate Confirms LtGen Michael Groen as JAIC Director

The U.S. Senate has confirmed LtGen Michael Groen to be the new director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), the Department of Defense’s (DoD) division for developing and advancing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, FedScoop reported on Monday. With Groen’s recent confirmation, he has also been promoted to major general.

In his new role, Groen will be responsible for spearheading the development of emerging technologies. JAIC recently announced that the center will expand its solutions to new warfighting initiatives, transitioning from the earlier, lower-risk projects.

To help operationally prepare the DoD for AI, the JAIC integrates technology development, with the requisite policies, knowledge, processes and relationships to ensure long term success and scalability.

JAIC will use AI to solve large and complex problem sets that span multiple services; then, ensure the Services and Components have real-time access to ever-improving libraries of data sets and tools.

Groen has a long history of working with military technology and intelligence. Before his appointment, Groen served as the chief of the Marine Corps. intelligence and on the Joint Staff in senior positions. Most recently, Groen served as deputy chief of computer network operations at the National Security Agency (NSA).

He was nominated for assignment as the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center’s (JAIC) next director and promotion to the rank of lieutenant general in Sept. 2020. Groen will succeed Nand Mulchandani, who has served as acting JAIC director.

Mulchandani assumed the role, following Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan’s retirement. Shanahan, two-time Wash100 Award recipient, served as a notable leader for JAIC, driving stronger AI initiatives and improving recruitment to test the technology’s capabilities. Shanahan retired Aug. 1 from the U.S. Air Force after more than 35 years of service.

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Kevin Fahey on DoD’s New Software Development, Acquisition Policy
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Kevin Fahey on DoD’s New Software Development, Acquisition Policy

Kevin Fahey, assistant secretary of defense for acquisition, said a new policy that seeks to guide services’ software development and acquisition efforts was finalized and signed by Hon. Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, Inside Defense reported Friday.

“Just this week, Ms. Lord signed out the final version of the software acquisition [policy], so now 5000.01, .02, we have all the pathways, we’re on our way on the instructions,” Fahey said Friday at a National Defense Industrial Association conference.

The updated DOD Directive 5000.01 and DOD instruction 5000.02, “Operation of the Defense Acquisition System” provide program managers with “acquisition pathways” that they can use to procure various types of capabilities, according to the report.

Kevin Fahey on DoD's New Software Development, Acquisition Policy

Hon. Ellen Lord will be featured as the keynote speaker during Potomac Officers Club's upcoming 5G Summit on October 27th. Don’t miss out on this must see event! Register here for the 5G Summit. 

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Joe Francescon: Irregular Warfare Annex to NDS Communicates DoD’s Proactive Efforts Against Security Threats
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Joe Francescon: Irregular Warfare Annex to NDS Communicates DoD’s Proactive Efforts Against Security Threats

Joe Francescon, deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and combatting terrorism, said the unclassified summary of the Irregular Warfare Annex to the 2018 National Defense Strategy allows the Department of Defense (DoD) to relay to interagency and industry partners and to the public about its proactive initiatives to prevent crises, DoD News reported Friday.

"Officials hope this summary reassures the American public, allies, partners and the international community of the department's strongest commitment to be proactive against the security challenges confronting the nation," Francescon said.

Francescon cited how countries like Russia and China adopt IW tactics to influence the public such as using social media to undermine democratic institutions and stealing intellectual property.

He noted the IW Annex presents a strategy to help DoD deal with such threats and those include the use of non-kinetic options to avoid war, including collaboration with allies and partners, interagency cooperation and partnership with industry.

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Nand Mulchandani on JAIC’s Acquisition Approach, Joint Warfighting Initiative
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Nand Mulchandani on JAIC’s Acquisition Approach, Joint Warfighting Initiative

Nand Mulchandani, chief technology officer at the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), told National Defense in an interview published Monday that JAIC has partnerships with two contracting vehicle organizations and that Congress is working on a bill to provide the center direct acquisition authority.

“They can use Project Tradewinds’ acquisition frameworks to be able to interact with us in a very low overhead way. So we're very excited,” he added.

He cited Project Tradewinds and how the initiative encourages small businesses to work with JAIC and the Department of Defense (DoD). Mulchandani discussed joint warfighting as one of JAIC’s top priorities.

“The [joint warfighting] mission initiative is the broader concept of how do we take AI and help not only improve existing processes or work that we do in joint warfighting, but completely transform the way we go to war,” he noted.

He talked about the potential impact of a continuing resolution on JAIC’s new starts, the center’s relationship with industry and how JAIC has adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nand Mulchandani on JAIC's Acquisition Approach, Joint Warfighting Initiative

On October 22nd, ArchIntel Events will host the ArchIntel – AI in Competitive Intelligence Forum as its first virtual event featuring August Jackson, senior director of Marketing and Competitive Intelligence for Deltek, as the keynote speaker.

Register here to attend ArchIntel’s first virtual event: AI in Competitive Intelligence Forum.

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NIST Announces New Round of SBIR Efforts; Mojdeh Bahar Quoted
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NIST Announces New Round of SBIR Efforts; Mojdeh Bahar Quoted

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has selected 19 small businesses to develop new technologies through grants totaling over $4.4 million in value. The awardees will address various technology needs under phases one and two of the agency's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, NIST said Thursday.

The first phase provides each awardee up to $100,000 for feasibility studies, then the second phase will add up to $400,000 for projects qualified to continue. A third phase would use non-SBIR funds to commercialize the resulting technologies.

Tackled topics and applications include optical imaging systems, phishing attack prediction, automated data management for emergency response, artificial intelligence and wildfire forecasting.

“With a diverse range of innovations ranging from artificial intelligence platforms to forecasting wildfires in real time, we at NIST are truly excited to fund these small businesses and their cutting-edge technologies,” said Mojdeh Bahar, associate director for innovation and industry services at NIST.

The awardees are:

  • Additive Manufacturing Innovations
  • Airflow Sciences (two awards)
  • Awayr
  • BigHat Biosciences
  • Emergent Health Care Solutions
  • HelloMaxwell
  • Intact Solutions
  • NanoElectronic Imaging
  • nVariate
  • OmniVis
  • Parman Tech
  • Poseidon Systems
  • QATCH Technologies
  • Reax Engineering
  • RedShred
  • Robotic Materials
  • STF Technologies
  • WW Technology Group
  • SandBox Semiconductor
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NNSA Unveils Centers of Excellence for Exascale Computing-Based Nuclear Stockpile Research; Mark Anderson Quoted
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NNSA Unveils Centers of Excellence for Exascale Computing-Based Nuclear Stockpile Research; Mark Anderson Quoted

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has chosen nine universities that will serve as centers of excellence for nuclear stockpile research and development efforts driven by simulation and exascale computing technologies.

The universities will serve as Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program (PSAAP) III Centers and work to drive research into weapons stockpile management in line with NNSA’s Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) initiative, the Department of Energy said Thursday.

“The PSAAP integrates modeling, simulation, and experiment in a manner that contributes to the nuclear security mission and prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for careers in national security,” said Mark Anderson, assistant deputy administrator for research, development, test and evaluation at the NNSA Office of Defense Programs.

NNSA awarded five-year cooperative agreements to PSAAP III Centers which are divided into Multidisciplinary Simulation Centers (MSC), Single-Discipline Centers (SDC) and  Focused Investigatory Centers (FIC).

MSCs will get a maximum of $16.5 million in funding, while SDCs and FICs will receive up to $9.5 million and $5 million, respectively. Operations under the previous PSAAP initiative began in 2014 and were slated to conclude by the end of fiscal year 2020.

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MDA, Army Test Interoperability of THAAD, Patriot Missile Defense Systems; Jon Hill Quoted
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MDA, Army Test Interoperability of THAAD, Patriot Missile Defense Systems; Jon Hill Quoted

The U.S. Army and Missile Defense Agency (MDA) have concluded testing of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Patriot weapon systems as part of an interoperability exercise that began early this year.

MDA, along with the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command (USASMDC) and Program Executive Office (PEO) Missiles and Space, conducted the THAAD-Patriot test as part of the Flight Test Patriot Weapon System-27 (FTP-27) initiative that builds on a prior assessment in February 2020, U.S. Strategic Command said Thursday.

The FTP-27 assessment took place at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and saw the THAAD Army-Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance and Control Model 2 (AN/TPY-2) radar transmit target data to the Patriot system.

Patriot executed commands from AN/TPY-2 data and intercepted the Black Dagger missile using the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptor.

"The success of FTP-27 validates the interoperability of the Patriot and THAAD weapon systems," said Vice Adm. Jon Hill, director of MDA. "This capability is vital to the Ballistic Missile Defense System to defend against rogue threats to our homeland, deployed forces and allies."

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Maj. Gen. John Shaw Nominated to Lead Space Command
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Maj. Gen. John Shaw Nominated to Lead Space Command

President Trump has nominated Maj. Gen. John Shaw, commander of the Combined Force Space Component Command and the Space Operations Command, to serve as deputy commander at the U.S. Space Command. 

Shaw will elevate to the rank of lieutenant general once he receives confirmation from the Senate, the Department of Defense (DoD) said Thursday. He manages more than 17,000 joint and combined personnel and provides space capabilities in support of the U.S. Space Command as part of his current capacity. 

Shaw joined operations tours in the 50th Space Wing, the 32nd Air Operations Group, the Space Warfare Center and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).  He also held the role of deputy commander at the U.S. Air Force Space Command prior to its reestablishment as the U.S. Space Force.

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Lt. Gen. David Allvin Confirmed as USAF Vice Chief of Staff; Gen. Charles Brown Quoted
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Lt. Gen. David Allvin Confirmed as USAF Vice Chief of Staff; Gen. Charles Brown Quoted

Lt. Gen. David Allvin has received Senate confirmation to become vice chief of staff (VCSAF) of the U.S. Air Force. Allvin, currently the Joint Staff's director for strategy, plans and policy, will succeed Gen. Stephen Wilson who held the VCSAF role for over four years, USAF said Thursday.

The confirmation, done Wednesday, gives Allvin the task to support USAF oversight as the service's second-highest-ranking active duty military officer. The newly confirmed VCSAF held commander-level roles with the 618th Air and Space Operations Center and NATO Air Training Command. 

“When it comes to leading at the highest levels of joint strategy and policy, and as someone who sets the standard for critical collaboration with our allies and partners, there is no one more qualified for the role of vice chief," Gen. Charles Brown, USAF chief of staff, said about Allvin.

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CISA Launches Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2020; Christopher Krebs Quoted
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CISA Launches Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2020; Christopher Krebs Quoted

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has commenced this year's month-long campaign to promote cybersecurity awareness across the U.S. The 17th annual National Cybersecurity Awareness Month will focus on what Americans can do themselves to protect their personal cyber presence, CISA said Thursday.

“This year, we’ve seen a major, and likely permanent, shift in the way we work, learn and socialize, as more and more of our activities have gone virtual,” said CISA Director Christopher Krebs and a 2020 Wash100 recipient.

Krebs added that people have to become more aware of cyber risks due to the recent digital shift and increased cyber engagement across businesses, schools and homes.

Each week within the month will have its own theme tackling different aspects of personal and societal cybersecurity. CISA partnered with the National Cyber Security Alliance to launch the campaign.

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