Rep. Mac Thornberry Announces Plans to Retire in 2020
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Rep. Mac Thornberry Announces Plans to Retire in 2020


Jeff Brody
Mac Thornberry

Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, announced on Monday that he intends to leave Congress and not seek reelection next year.

Thornberry is a ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee and was its chairman for four years. Throughout his 25-year congressional career, he served on various House committees including the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and Select Committee on Homeland Security.

He also headed the Task Force on Cybersecurity for a year prior to his current capacity.

“With over a year to go, I will continue to represent the people of the 13th District to the best of my ability,” he said. “Our nation faces many difficult challenges, and none of us can relax our efforts to meet and overcome them, whether at home or around the world.”

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Gen. Mark Milley Assumes Leadership of Joint Staff; Mark Esper Quoted
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Gen. Mark Milley Assumes Leadership of Joint Staff; Mark Esper Quoted


Jeff Brody
Gen. Mark Milley

Gen. Mark Milley has assumed the role of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during a ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Virginia.

The Department of Defense said Monday that Milley, a 2019 Wash100 Award winner, serves as the Joint Staff’s 20th chairman responsible for overseeing the defense component’s more than 3 million service members. He succeeds Gen. Joseph Dunford in his new role.

Mark Esper, defense secretary and a fellow 2019 Wash100 Award recipient, said during the ceremony that Dunford helped rebuild Army readiness following “years of insufficient defense budgets.” “At the same time, he advanced the Army’s ability to prepare for future warfare by standing up Army Futures Command, the largest organizational change within the service in 45 years,” Esper added.

Milley, previously the U.S. Army’s chief of staff, was nominated for his current role in December 2018. 

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ViON Named to Washington Business Journal’s List of Largest Private Companies; Tom Frana Quoted
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ViON Named to Washington Business Journal’s List of Largest Private Companies; Tom Frana Quoted


Jeff Brody

ViON a cloud service provider and market leader in the design, delivery and maintenance of IT infrastructure solutions, announced on Tuesday that the company has been recognized by the Washington Business Journal as one of the largest private companies in the D.C. area. The list is based on 2018 data and ranks ViON 64 among top companies featured.

“We are honored to be recognized for the third time in this category,” said Tom Frana, Chairman and CEO of ViON Corporation. “We attribute our sustained growth to the increasing demand for our broad portfolio of cloud, infrastructure and AI solutions delivered as-a-Service – particularly our ViON Enterprise Cloud, which is helping IT organizations simplify multi-cloud operations with a single cloud management platform.”

ViON’s recognition is based on 2018 revenue and 144 employees dedicated to helping customers across the commercial and government sectors solve technology challenges to improve business and mission outcomes.

About ViON Corporation

ViON Corporation is a cloud service provider with over 38 years’ experience designing and delivering enterprise data center solutions for government agencies and commercial businesses. The company provides a large portfolio of IT as-a-Service, including infrastructure, multi-cloud and Artificial Intelligence solutions. Focused on supporting the customer’s IT modernization requirements, ViON’s Enterprise Cloud is changing cloud management for the market, providing a streamlined platform to audit and control technology in an evolving multi-cloud world.

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Serco Awarded Contract to Provide Psychological Health Services for U.S. Navy; Dave Dacquino Quoted
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Serco Awarded Contract to Provide Psychological Health Services for U.S. Navy; Dave Dacquino Quoted


Jeff Brody

Serco has received a potential five-year, $32 million contract to continue its support to the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) Psychological Health Outreach Program (PHOP), Serco announced on Tuesday. Serco has supported this program since its inception in 2008.

“Serco is honored to continue delivering psychological health support services to members of our U.S. Navy and Marine Reserves,” said Dave Dacquino, Serco Inc.’s chairman and CEO. “As part of our Defense Personnel Readiness business, the PHOP contract is one of the many important programs that Serco carries out to provide essential support to the men and women who are defending our country.”

The company will provide Psychological Health outreach support within Navy Reserve Force Commands and Marine Forces Reserve at 26 military installations across the U.S.  The Serco team will conduct approximately 15,000 clinical assessments annually with Service Members and Family Members to determine any psychological health issues that may require mental healthcare services or other psychological health intervention, and then assist the Reservists with obtaining necessary support either from military or civilian resource providers.

About Serco Inc.

Serco Inc. is a leading provider of professional, technology and management services. We advise, design, integrate, and deliver solutions that transform how clients achieve their missions. Our customer-first approach, robust portfolio of services, and global experience enables us to respond with solutions that achieve outcomes with value.

Headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, Serco Inc. has approximately 8,000 employees and annual revenue of $1.2 billion. Serco Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Serco Group plc, a $4 billion international business that helps transform government and public services around the world.

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FireEye Launches Centralized Public Resource for Election Security; Ron Bushar Quoted
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FireEye Launches Centralized Public Resource for Election Security; Ron Bushar Quoted


Jeff Brody

FireEye, Inc. has announced a free new election security public resource to include the latest cyber security recommendations and informational materials to help governments enforce free and fair elections, FireEye announced on Tuesday. 

“Election security has become a growing priority on a global scale. While elections are a massive topic in need of heightened exposure, one of the most concerning threats is voter confidence in the system,” said Ron Bushar, CTO of Government Services at FireEye. “Our goal at FireEye is to help shore up defenses to ensure the integrity of the vote and restore confidence in the system, both in the United States and around the world.”

Building on existing FireEye materials and programs, the new resource will host free webinars, event information, threat intelligence and solutions in one easily accessible place to tackle the issue of election security from a technology perspective, as well as one of emergency management and response preparedness.

As a trusted partner to many government organizations, FireEye remains committed to helping government entities, federal agencies, states and counties stay informed on today’s cyber threats and what steps they can take regarding free and fair elections.

About FireEye, Inc.

FireEye is the intelligence-led security company. Working as a seamless, scalable extension of customer security operations, FireEye offers a single platform that blends innovative security technologies, nation-state grade threat intelligence, and world-renowned Mandiant consulting. 

With this approach, FireEye eliminates the complexity and burden of cyber security for organizations struggling to prepare for, prevent, and respond to cyber attacks. FireEye has over 8,200 customers across 103 countries, including more than 50 percent of the Forbes Global 2000.

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Chad Sehlke Named Finalist for Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce Executive of the Year Award
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Chad Sehlke Named Finalist for Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce Executive of the Year Award


Jeff Brody

Sehlke Consulting, LLC announced on Tuesday that Chad Sehlke, the company’s CEO, has been named a Finalist for the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce Executive of the Year Award during the Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards. 

The 2019 finalists were announced during the Finalists Reception on September 12. The 2019 Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards gala will be held on November 6, to announce awardees.

The Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards honors the leaders and legends of the government contracting community. A prestigious panel of industry and government professionals select finalists and winners from a large pool of nominees. 

Sehlke established Sehlke Consulting in 2011. Since then, he has grown the company into a 200-person, Financial Management, Acquisition Management, Logistics Management and Intelligence Programs offering. 

Prior to forming Sehlke Consulting, Sehlke served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Financial Management Resource Analyst and brings over 14 years of federal experience. He is an avid supporter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, George Mason’s GovCon School of Business, and Boulder Crest Retreat for Military and Veteran Wellness.

About Sehlke Consulting, LLC

Sehlke Consulting LLC (“Sehlke”) is a Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and Professional Services and Management Consulting Firm based in Arlington, Virginia. Founded in 2011, our continuous growth and superior performance has earned us numerous accolades including: Inc. 500’s Fastest Growing Companies in America (2017, #319 & 2018, #435), Inc. 500’s Top Virginia Companies 5000 List (2017), Inc. 500’s Top Washington, D.C. Companies 5000 List (2017), Washington Business Journal’s 75 Fastest Growing Companies (2019), Inc. 500 Vet50’s Fastest Growing Veteran-Owned Business (2018, #18 & 2019, #28), Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s Fantastic 50 (2019, #5), and Washington Business Journal’s Best Places to Work (2016).

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Ball Aerospace Receives 2020 Award for Outstanding Services from American Meteorological Society; Rob Strain Quoted
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Ball Aerospace Receives 2020 Award for Outstanding Services from American Meteorological Society; Rob Strain Quoted

 

Jeff Brody

The American Meteorological Society (AMS) has awarded Ball Aerospace with the 2020 Award for Outstanding Services by a Corporation for designing and building advanced remote-sensing instruments and spacecraft enabling timely, accurate weather predictions and environmental monitoring to ensure a Weather Ready Nation, the company announced on Tuesday.

The award will be presented as part of the 100th AMS Annual Meeting on January 12, 2020 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

“We’re proud to be recognized by the American Meteorological Society as an industry leader in the development of advanced spacecraft and remote sensing instruments for weather and environmental science,” said Rob Strain, president, Ball Aerospace.Â

“Understanding the science behind our sensors requires close engagement with the scientific community, and AMS has been a longstanding partner in convening experts from across industry and academia to jointly advance weather, water and climate sciences,” Strain added.

Ball is an industry leader in the design and development of advanced operational weather systems for civil and military customers. As a mission partner to NASA, NOAA and the Department of Defense, Ball plays a leading role in executing on programs that fill critical weather data gaps, including the Ball-built Suomi-NPP (National Polar Partnership) satellite and the JPSS-1 satellite, now NOAA-20, which are performing flawlessly on orbit.Â

About Ball Aerospace

Powered by endlessly curious people with an unwavering mission focus, Ball Aerospace pioneers discoveries that enable our customers to perform beyond expectations and protect what matters most. We create innovative space solutions, enable more accurate weather forecasts, drive insightful observations of our planet, deliver actionable data and intelligence, and ensure those who defend our freedom go forward bravely and return home safely.

 

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Marine Corps, Army Partner to Modify Ground-Based Radar Subsystems
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Marine Corps, Army Partner to Modify Ground-Based Radar Subsystems

 

Jeff Brody

Tobyhanna Army Depot and the U.S. Marine Corps have partnered to update the appearance and functionality of  AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar subsystems, DVIDSHub reported Monday. G/ATOR, produced by Northrop Grumman, is meant to support air surveillance, counter-fire target acquisition and air traffic control missions.

Mark Capitano, logistics management specialist for ISR program management division within the Tobyhanna production management directorate, said the team created shelter design concepts for the communications and power equipment groups of the mobile radar platform. He added that depot personnel will fabricate, integrate and test the two components.

The team has deployed 11 CEG shelters during the low-rate initial production phase to date and began full-rate production of the Humvee-mounted platform in the summer. According to the depot, PEG pallet is undergoing adjustments intended to address warfighter requirements.

Tobyhanna will support integration and testing of the radar’s third subsystem, called the Radar Equipment Group, next year. The Marine Corps aims to deploy 45 G/ATOR systems across the military branch.

 

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18F’s Ed Mullen on Six IT Strengths Government Should Consider
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18F’s Ed Mullen on Six IT Strengths Government Should Consider


Jeff Brody
Ed Mullen

Ed Mullen, a designer working with the General Services Administration’s digital services agency 18F, has said there are six strengths federal and state government agencies should leverage to enhance the delivery of services to citizens, Nextgov reported Monday.

The first strength Mullen wrote on GitHub is having a “loosely-coupled ecosystem of state, federal, and commodity software products, web services and data” designed to empower users.

He said the ecosystem “would have new pieces that are operated by the federal government that states can integrate with and use” and would include the use of commodity tools, microservices and application programming interfaces.

Mullen noted that federal programs in charge of identifying those who are eligible to receive the services should “provide official implementations of eligibility criteria in code that states and others can integrate into their eligibility systems via APIs.”

“Creating an ecosystem of Eligibility APIs would dramatically simplify modernization efforts and move states towards simpler, easier-to-modernize eligibility systems,” he added.

The four other points Mullen cited deal with the collection of data from applicants; client experiences; the use of tools designed to empower eligibility workers to facilitate service delivery and achieve their mission; and the transformation of legacy systems through incremental improvements.

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NOAA Seeks to Restore Solar-Storm Monitoring Satellite Through Software Update
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NOAA Seeks to Restore Solar-Storm Monitoring Satellite Through Software Update


Jeff Brody

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has collaborated with NASA and an undisclosed company to identify a software fix for spacecraft designed to help scientists predict a solar storm eruption, SpaceNews reported Monday.

A team of engineers completed an intermediate test of the software update intended to restore the Deep Space Climate Observatory, which went offline in June after experiencing a series of glitches. NOAA said the engineers aim to implement the new program in the first quarter of 2020.

The satellite works to monitor weather conditions in space via the satellite’s perch at the L-1 Lagrange point of the Earth-sun system. NOAA uses the Advanced Composition Explorer and Solar and Heliospheric Observatory to collect space climate data while the agency is waiting for DSCOVR to resume operations.

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