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Trump Nominates Lisa Hershman as DoD CMO
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Trump Nominates Lisa Hershman as DoD CMO


Trump Nominates Lisa Hershman as DoD CMO
Lisa Hershman

President Trump has nominated Lisa Hershman, acting chief management officer at the Department of Defense, to assume the role on a full-time basis, Inside Defense reported Tuesday.

As CMO, Hershman will provide managerial support services to the DoD secretary in line with the agency’s business initiatives. Hershman has held the acting CMO position since December following Jay Gibson’s departure from DoD.

Aside from her current role, Hershman represents DoD in the Office of Management and Budget’s Performance Improvement Council. She’s also worked as senior vice president of operational excellence at Avnet and managed the Seawolf submarine program during her tenure at General Electric.

Hershman obtained her engineering and industrial distribution degrees from Clarkson University.

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Raytheon and John F. Kennedy Library Foundation Announce JFK Space Labs Recipients
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Raytheon and John F. Kennedy Library Foundation Announce JFK Space Labs Recipients


Jeff Brody

The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and Raytheon announced the recipients of the JFK Space Labs program on Tuesday to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch.

The JFK Space Labs presented by Raytheon was developed in cooperation with the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory to honor the inspirational heritage of President Kennedy, and celebrate the innovative technology that made America’s Apollo program possible and rekindles the power of space exploration to inspire and engage students.

The following middle and high school will receive a JFK Space Lab at the start of the 2019–2020 school year:

  • John F. Kennedy Middle School (Woburn, Mass.)
  • John F. Kennedy High School (Grenada Hills, Calif.)
  • John F. Kennedy High School (Denver, Colo.)
  • Kennedy Middle School (Albuquerque, NM)
  • John F. Kennedy Middle School (Grand Prairie, Texas)

“These five schools emerged as ideal candidates for JFK Space Labs because they demonstrated a commitment to advance STEM education throughout their school community, as well as to honor the legacy of their namesake,” said Steven Rothstein, executive director of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

Each JFK Space Lab presented by Raytheon includes technology and materials for advanced experiments in Earth science, biology and computer science that will immerse and inspire students, helping to achieve a deeper understanding of scientific principles on Earth and space.

In the JFK Space Lab, students will grow plants with special cameras and sensors, perform DNA analysis with the same equipment used on the ISS, complete an online course that includes a simulated mission to the ISS, work with antennas and other software to attempt radio contact with the ISS and build an electronics kit to explore heat flows and then write code to operate the same experiment on the ISS.

The JFK Space Labs program is made possible by Raytheon’s $1.5 million sponsorship of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and the technological leadership of the nation’s first moonshot.

About Raytheon 

Raytheon Company, with 2018 sales of $27 billion and 67,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of innovation spanning 97 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5I products and services, sensing, effects and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries.

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Army Creates Framework to Measure Cyber Agility
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Army Creates Framework to Measure Cyber Agility


Jeff Brody

The U.S. Army has developed a framework to guide training activities for cyber defense operators, FCW reported Monday. The Army Research Laboratory worked with the University of Texas, San Antonio to construct a set of metrics designed to measure the agility and effectiveness of cybersecurity tactics.

“The cyber agility framework offers a better way of identifying (and predicting) attacks, by taking into account past history of traffic, and allowing an analyst to concentrate on higher order reasoning,” Purush Iyer, division chief of network sciences at Army Research Office, told FCW.

Shouhuai Xu, director of UTSA’s laboratory for cybersecurity dynamics, told FCW the framework features 14 metrics that evaluate cyber agility based on the amount of time an operator uses to address cyber attacks. “Through the framework and limited empirical study, we observed that cyber attackers are more agile than cyber defenders in many cases,” Xu said.

FAR Amendment Simplifies Req’s for IT Purchases Under GSA Contract Vehicles
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FAR Amendment Simplifies Req’s for IT Purchases Under GSA Contract Vehicles


Jeff Brody

The Department of Defense, General Services Administration and NASA issued a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation to reduce agency burdens when leveraging GSA’s contract vehicles for information technology procurements. GSA said in a statement dated July 9th that agencies aren’t required to justify the use of the best procurement approach when issuing orders under GSA vehicles or governmentwide acquisition programs such as IT Schedule 70, STARS 2 and Alliant 2.

The agency noted that the new rule will help agencies rapidly acquire IT capabilities while also simplifying end-of-year IT spending activities. GSA’s procurement vehicles support 98 percent of agencies and account for over $24 billion in federal IT purchases every year.

Air Force Revising Medical Treatment Model for Active, Non-Active Duty Airmen
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Air Force Revising Medical Treatment Model for Active, Non-Active Duty Airmen


Jeff Brody

The U.S. Air Force is reforming its health care model to establish separate treatment operations for active and non-active duty servicemen, Federal News Network reported Monday.

Lt. Gen. Dorothy Hogg, surgeon general for the Air Force, told the publication that the new model for preventative and personalized health care is aimed at clearly defining responsibilities under the military branch’s missions for medical readiness. The Air Force will assign provider care personnel to operational medical readiness squadrons and will focus on treating active-duty airmen.

Medical personnel assigned to such patients will work on military-unique functions such as annual preventative health assessments. Another squadron will handle non-active duty patients as well as the service members’ families. The Air Force plans to roll out the new model in 43 military medical facilities by the end of summer before transitioning the rest of the service by the end of 2020.

DHS S&T Seeks Proposals for Counterterrorism Concepts
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DHS S&T Seeks Proposals for Counterterrorism Concepts


Jeff Brody

The Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology directorate plans to award $35 million in grants to accommodate the development of approaches to assist the agency’s counterterrorism operations. DHS said Monday that it seeks concepts using multiple disciplines including data analytics and engineering to address counterterrorism gaps and mitigate people’s inclination to violence.

“By partnering with universities, S&T delivers practical results by developing multidisciplinary, customer-driven solutions while training the next generation of homeland security experts,” said William Bryan, senior official performing the duties of the undersecretary for science and technology at DHS.

Efforts under the funding opportunity are intended to support the creation of a DHS center of excellence through the Terrorism Prevention and Counterterrorism Research initiative. Interested teams from universities and colleges may submit their proposals until Sept. 6. DHS S&T will host a webinar on Aug. 6 to explain details on the funding opportunity.

OPM Acting Director Margaret Weichert Releases Performance Management Guidelines
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OPM Acting Director Margaret Weichert Releases Performance Management Guidelines


OPM Acting Director Margaret Weichert Releases Performance Management Guidelines
Margaret Weichert

Margaret Weichert, acting director at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, has released a memorandum to guide agencies in the pursuit of performance management and award programs. Weichert said in a letter posted Friday that she advises agencies to only award and highly rate employees who have displayed highest performance levels.

This recommendation encourages agencies to implement strict performance standards to serve as grounds for assessments. Performance plans must help employees understand work objectives and evaluation standards, and supervisors must encourage the involvement of subordinates in the formulation of these plans, the letter noted.

Standards must also define levels of performance to describe an agency’s work expectations.

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USAF Opens Facility for Weapon System Cybersecurity
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USAF Opens Facility for Weapon System Cybersecurity


Jeff Brody

A group within Air Force Life Cycle Management Center has opened a $1.5 million facility to help the military boost cybersecurity across the service’s weapon systems. AFLCMC’s Fighters and Bombers Directorate held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to open the new cyber defense facility, the U.S. Air Force said Monday.

The facility will offer space for collaborative work between cyber technology procurement experts for studies on existing and emerging threats. USAF’s Cyber Resiliency Office for Weapons Systems contributed funds and expertise to deliver the facility.

“Construction of this facility is a key component of the CROWS mission to increase the cyber resiliency of Air Force weapon systems and maintain mission effective capability,” said Joseph Bradley, director of CROWS. CROWS plans to build more cyber facilities across different centers in the next five years.

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ViON Corporation Launches ViON Enterprise Cloud; Tom Frana Quoted
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ViON Corporation Launches ViON Enterprise Cloud; Tom Frana Quoted

 

ViON Corporation Launches ViON Enterprise Cloud; Tom Frana Quoted
Tom Frana

ViON announced on Tuesday that the company has launched the ViON Enterprise Cloud (VEC), a hybrid, multi-cloud solution portfolio that offers single interface management.

The VEC offers organizations the leverage to bring a public cloud experience to their private cloud environment and maintain the existing infrastructure to take advantage of ViON’s Multi-Cloud Orchestrator, Cloud Services Platform and Professional and Managed Services.

In addition, the VEC extends ViON’s Data Center as-a-Service (DCaaS) capability and consists of multiple new components including: ViON’s Cloud Services Platform (VCSP), ViON’s Multi-Cloud Orchestrator (VMCO) and ViON’s Professional and Managed Services.

From asset and change management to reporting and governance to automation and orchestration, the VEC simplifies the entire multi-cloud management experience, providing seamless multi-cloud orchestration between the legacy data center, the public cloud and on-prem or off-prem cloud platforms.

“Most organizations are moving away from traditional IT infrastructure and opting instead for the Cloud,” said Tom Frana, chairman and CEO of ViON. “With our new Enterprise Cloud capability, we are better able to provide our customers with the public cloud experience they want behind their firewall, enabling them to manage multi-cloud environments from a single platform and easily move workloads as their needs change.”

About ViON Corporation

ViON Corporation is a cloud service provider with over 38 years’ experience designing and delivering enterprise data center solutions to government agencies and commercial businesses. The company provides IT as-a-Service solutions including on-premise public cloud capabilities to simplify the challenges facing business leaders and agency executives.

Focused on supporting the customer’s evolution to the next generation data center, ViON’s Data Center as-a-Service offering provides innovative solutions from OEMs and disruptive technology providers via a consumption-based model. The complete range of as-a-Service solutions are available to research, compare, procure and manage via a single portal, ViON Marketplace.

 

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Raytheon Submits Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor Proposal to U.S. Army; Doug Burgess Quoted
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Raytheon Submits Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor Proposal to U.S. Army; Doug Burgess Quoted

Jeff Brody

Raytheon announced on Tuesday that the company has submitted its Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) proposal to the U.S. Army.

“Our proposal offers the Army a brand-new radar that overmatches the future threat,” said Tom Laliberty, Raytheon Vice President of Integrated Air and Missile Defense. “We brought our LTAMDS solution to the U.S. Army’s sensor demonstration and validated our ability to meet their 2022 urgent material release date.”

The proposal is part of the competition for a new air and missile defense radar. Raytheon’s LTAMDS solution is a simultaneous 360-degree, Active Electronically Scanned Array radar powered by Raytheon-manufactured Gallium Nitride, a substance that strengthens the radar signal and enhances its sensitivity.

“We created a new radar because a redesigned, modified or upgraded radar simply can’t defeat the type of advanced threats the U.S. Army will face,” said Doug Burgess, Raytheon’s LTAMDS program director. “Our solution is proof that the Army can have it all — a capable next generation radar, at an affordable price, fielded as quickly as possible.”

Raytheon’s LTAMDS offering was demonstrated in an event known as a sense-off, which put Raytheon’s LTAMDS solution through a series of challenging scenarios. Raytheon completed its sense-off participation on May 15.

About Raytheon 

Raytheon Company, with 2018 sales of $27 billion and 67,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of innovation spanning 97 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5I products and services, sensing, effects and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries.

 

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