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Maj. Gen. Robert Skinner Nominated to Succeed Vice Adm. Nancy Norton as DISA Director
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Maj. Gen. Robert Skinner Nominated to Succeed Vice Adm. Nancy Norton as DISA Director

President Trump has nominated Air Force Maj. Gen. Robert Skinner to be the next Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) director and Joint Forces Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network commander. 

Maj. Gen. Skinner, current director of command, control, communications and cyber at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), is also in line to receive a promotion to the rank of lieutenant general, DoD said Friday.

He oversees the U.S. military's largest regional combatant command that provides C4 support to joint and coalition operations. 

The Air Force commissioned Skinner in 1989 through officer training school and assigned him as commander of the branch's Twenty-Fourth and Cyber organizations prior to his current directorship role at INDOPACOM.

His earlier assignments included time as administrative supervisor in the Pentagon's Office of the Secretary of the Navy, chief of the strategic plans and policy division at the Joint Chiefs of Staff and inspector general for Headquarters Air Force Space Command.

If confirmed, Skinner would succeed Vice Adm. Nancy Norton, who has led both DISA and JFHQ-DODIN since February 2018 and was a 2018 Wash100 Award winner.

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Army to Open PNT Tech Dev’t Hub in October
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Army to Open PNT Tech Dev’t Hub in October

The U.S. Army plans to open a technology development hub for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) capabilities next month to support the service branch’s efforts to reduce dependency on GPS technologies.

The Army’s PNT Modernization Office, which contains an Open Innovation Lab (OIL) will be located at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland and slated to open on Oct. 8th, C4ISRnet reported Thursday.

The complex will house collaborative activities with industry on electronic warfare (EW) and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) efforts.

Col. Nickolas Kioutas, program manager for PNT at the Army’s Program Executive Office (PEO) for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (IEW&S), said the service intends to “leverage whatever industry brings” to support the C4ISR/EW Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS) effort.

Kioutas noted that OIL will include space for CMOSS to ensure that classified areas at the site remain secure while encouraging industry participation. The Army previously released reference architecture and standards to enable industry-driven CMOSS concept development.

The service also plans to launch a website for the modernization office on Oct. 29 and host an industry day on Nov. 17.

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NOAA Sets up New Safety Systems Near Two Naval Facilities
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NOAA Sets up New Safety Systems Near Two Naval Facilities

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Navy have deployed two units of a system designed to support maritime safety near two certain naval facilities. 

A couple of Physical Oceanographic Real-Time Systems (PORTS) operate near Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire, separately, NOAA said Thursday. The two new PORTS are the 34th and 35th units of the system's network within the U.S.

PORTS will generate real-time awareness on the weather and oceanography around the Kings Bay installation and support the safety of shipyard personnel and assets from tides.

“These two new systems, and the others like them around the country, reduce ship accidents by more than 50 percent, increase the size of ships that can get in and out of seaports and reduce traffic delays,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, who leads NOAA’s National Ocean Service on an acting basis.

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DHS Taps TDA Research for First Responder Power Module Dev’t
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DHS Taps TDA Research for First Responder Power Module Dev’t

Colorado-based research and development company TDA Research has secured a two-year, $1 million contract from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through the second phase of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to build an on-body power module for first responders.

The award will cover the development and demonstration of a module that will power and charge various devices such as sensors and communications systems during first responder operations, DHS said Thursday. DHS aims to address first responders' current and emerging requirements for on-body devices via the project.

“The on-body power modules being developed through this SBIR Phase II will support a number of use cases such as in wildland fire situations, where recharging devices may not be possible for an extended time or precludes the use of commercial batteries,” said Sridhar Kowdley, program manager at DHS' science and technology directorate.

After the completion of the prototype, TDA Research may compete for a Phase III SBIR contract, which will allow the company to pursue funds from non-government sources or the private sector.

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Library of Congress Updates Online Portal, Records Mgmt Features
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Library of Congress Updates Online Portal, Records Mgmt Features

The Library of Congress is implementing updates to its Congress.gov portal to ensure accessibility and simplified operations for staff members and the general public.

Robert Brammer, head of the Law Library of Congress's Office of External Relations, said at a virtual event that the Library worked to streamline search functionalities for the website and improve language accessibility features for Spanish-speaking users, Nextgov reported Thursday.

He noted that the Library also added new features to simplify the presentation of Congressional Budget Office (CBO) data and provide more comprehensive information on committee hearing transcripts.

Andrew Weber, a legislative data specialist at the Congressional Research Service (CRS), said his team is also working on indexing elements to simplify search functions for more complex information.

“Congress.gov has a great help center now. But we know Congress is complicated, Congress.gov can be complicated, and we have [a] comprehensive amount of information in our help center,” he said. “So, we want to add search capabilities to the top of our help center.” 

Other ongoing initiatives that Weber mentioned include the incorporation of “screen reader” capabilities and the digitization of historic records.

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DoD Partners With National Governors Association to Support Defense Economy
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DoD Partners With National Governors Association to Support Defense Economy

The National Governors Association (NGA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) have partnered to boost the defense industrial base's economic performance. DoD's Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) will work with NGA 's best practices center to help states form strategies for economic and industrial resiliency in the defense sector, the association said Wednesday.

The partnership will run for two years and will consist of seven reports and multiple workshops. A three-day virtual workshop will commence on Sept. 16th and host discussions on federal-state collaboration in support of military families and veterans.

“Through this partnership with the Department of Defense, we’ll work with governors to help them support the national defense mission while realizing sustainable economic benefits for their residents," said Timothy Blute, who leads NGA's best practices center.

Topics to be tackled include military family quality of life, defense and installation resiliency, state-based defense investments and other similar matters.

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NASA Issues Solicitation for Lunar Sample Collection Services; Jim Bridenstine Quoted
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NASA Issues Solicitation for Lunar Sample Collection Services; Jim Bridenstine Quoted

NASA has released its solicitation for soil sample and materials collection services as part of the agency’s Artemis lunar exploration program.

NASA plans to enlist a company to collect 50 to 500 grams of lunar regolith or rock samples from the moon and purchase a quantity of the materials from the selected contractor.

The agency noted in the performance work statement that the contractor will be “responsible for performing all activities necessary” such as the identification of collection methods, systems certification, imaging and materials delivery.

Jim Bridenstine, administrator of NASA and a 2019 Wash100 Award recipient, said the agency plans to eventually purchase more forms of lunar resources such as ice and other elements, Reuters reported Friday.

“The bottom line is we are going to buy some lunar soil for the purpose of it demonstrating that it can be done,” he told attendees at a Secure World Foundation event.

Interested parties must submit responses to NASA’s solicitation through Oct. 9.

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President Trump Eyes Nomination of Matthew Shipley as DoD Asst Secretary
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President Trump Eyes Nomination of Matthew Shipley as DoD Asst Secretary

President Trump plans to nominate Matthew Shipley, a two-decade U.S. Navy veteran, to serve as assistant secretary for readiness at the Department of Defense (DoD). Shipley manages and develops policies for the U.S. military in his current role as deputy assistant secretary for force readiness at DoD, the White House said Sept. 4th.

Before DoD, Shipley held the role of military legislative assistant for Sen. Ted Cruz. He was also assigned at USS Abraham Lincoln as deputy operations officer and served as strategic policy branch chief at the U.S. Central Command.

The two-time Defense Meritorious Service Medal awardee performed four deployments as an electronic countermeasures officer for the EA-6B Prowler aircraft.

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Amentum CEO John Vollmer Receives His Fifth Wash100 Award From Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson
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Amentum CEO John Vollmer Receives His Fifth Wash100 Award From Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson

Jim Garrettson, founder and CEO of Executive Mosaic, presented Amentum CEO John Vollmer with his fifth Wash100 Award on Thursday. This marks the fifth-time Vollmer has received the award in the last six years.

Vollmer’s commitment and leadership led to substantial growth for Amentum by securing major contract wins across the government contracting (GovCon) sector.

Most notably, Vollmer was crucial in the sale of AECOM’s Management Services Business to American Securities for $2.4 billion in October 2019. Vollmer explained that the transaction was a testament to AECOM’s execution ability and commitment of the company’s employees.

“American Securities and Lindsay Goldberg have impressive track records of building lasting value for their portfolio companies, particularly in the government services sector. I am confident that this world-class investor group has the resources and expertise that will enable us to accelerate our innovation and future growth,” said Vollmer.

In addition, Vollmer was instrumental in securing a potential $12.6 billion contract to deliver aviation platform-level logistics support and related services for the U.S. Navy back in April 2019 to help the service brand maintain and modify multiple aerial vehicles, weapons and integrally related systems and expand AECOM’s naval and aviation business.

Vollmer was also involved in securing a $750M contract extension with the Department of Energy (DOE) to continue its liquid waste management efforts at the department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Work began on the contract in April 2019 and will continue through Sept. 2020.

Executive Mosaic congratulates Amentum and John Vollmer for his 2020 Wash100 Award selection. His commitment and efforts to win major contracts have driven significant company growth for Amentum and demonstrated Vollmer’s level of commitment and achievement in the GovCon sector.

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Dr. Mark Lewis, Michael Brown Discuss DoD Modernization Strategy
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Dr. Mark Lewis, Michael Brown Discuss DoD Modernization Strategy

Dr. Mark Lewis, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, and Michael Brown, the director of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) recently discussed the Department of Defense (DoD) modernization strategy, including the development and procurement of high priority systems.

The Department’s officials stated that artificial intelligence, directed energy, small satellites, hypersonics, 5G network and unmanned aerial systems have the potential to offer a competitive advantage across the battlefield. Lewis said that the DoD has adopted an approach to “accepting risk intelligently.”

DoD has supported research and engineering efforts that either result in success or in some measure of success; however, if an experiment fails, it will shed light on the successful creation of a future capability.

Lewis noted that the second strategy of the department is ensuring each of the services and DoD organizations, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), are researching and developing systems that are complementary across the department and are not duplicatied.

The third strategy is partnering with industry and academia on important research or technologies that could benefit the warfighter, as well as allies and partners across the globe. The strategy will benefit the DoD because it will receive a variety of perspectives and viewpoints.

The department’s modernization priorities are rapidly developing, Lewis said. “The most important thing is that we’re moving beyond the research lab. We’re moving beyond the development phase. We’re really moving to actual procurement.”

During Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual Army Forum on August 27th, notable federal and industry leaders discussed the progress, innovations and accomplishments of the Army’s modernization renaissance over the last year, what challenges remain, and how industry can help in 2021 and beyond.

If you missed the event, you can still register to watch the footage in Potomac Officers Club’s Event Archive.

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