A Pentagon memorandum directs the director of the Defense Security Service to assume responsibility for the Defense Information Systems Agency’s National Background Investigation Service to build up the Department of Defense’s personnel vetting process. DISA said on Thursday that 2019 Wash100 Award winner David Norquist, who serves as deputy secretary at DoD, issued the Jan. 28 memo on the realignment with the provisions of the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.

The memo says DSS will oversee the NBIS program executive office, DoD Consolidated Adjudications Facility and joint service provider staff. The move will affect about 40 NBIS personnel and a dozen JSP employees. DISA said the transfer of DoD CAF to DSS is expected to conclude by Oct. 1 and the transition of DISA elements will follow a year later. 

Terry Carpenter, NBIS program executive officer, said DISA employees who will transfer to DSS will adopt the Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System. DSS and DISA directors will incorporate the transfers into the president’s budget request for fiscal 2021 and will come up with plans for the phased transitions within 180 days of the memo’s release.
 

The U.S. Navy plans to issue a request for proposals for acquisition of a new class of unmanned surface vehicles in May, and the contract will be awarded by the close of 2019, USNI News reported Wednesday.

An unclassified document from the service branch shows that the medium-sized vehicles will work as a sensor and communications relay vehicle in support of the Navy’s unmanned systems fleet. The drones should have the capability to operate for at least 60 days, refuel at sea and carry a payload equivalent to a 40-foot shipping container.

Initially, the vehicles will go through an experimentation phase before entering a refinement program. The Navy did not provide further details about the contract, including the price of each vehicle.

The Government Accountability Office released a report Wednesday stating that 35 areas in its 2019 High-Risk List of federal programs and operations remain unchanged while others were removed when improvements were demonstrated.

The government watchdog selects initiatives for inclusion based on leadership commitment, agency capacity, action plans, monitoring efforts and demonstrated progress. The list is issued biannually and identifies government operations and programs that may be vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement.

GAO removed the Department of Defense’s supply chain management and the “mitigating gaps in weather satellite data” areas because of their progress and improved ratings. The Pentagon improved visibility, processing, tracking and transport operations resulting in millions of dollars in savings, according to the report.

GAO removed the satellite data area in response to efforts such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s NOAA-20 satellite launch in 2017 and the DoD Weather System Follow-on–Microwave satellite slated for launching in 2022.

Two new areas in the list include the government-wide personnel security clearance process added in 2018 and the Department of Veterans Affairs acquisition management added in 2019. GAO said the VA faces challenges such as outdated regulations, inadequate acquisition training and a lack of medical supplies and procurement strategy. The watchdog also selected nine areas that “need especially focused executive and congressional attention.” 

Lt. Gen. Eric Wesley, director of the U.S. Army’s Futures and Concepts Center, said at a recent Center for a New American Security event that organizational changes will begin within five years, Defense News reported Thursday.

Wesley noted that the Army will modify its organizational structure to cover multidomain operations, or missions involving provocative adversary behavior and advanced capabilities. He said the service must also implement changes in line with the goal to deploy modernized equipment to its units.

The branch launched its multidomain operations doctrine in 2018 and recently released an updated version called MDO 1.5. The Army Futures Command was also established to address six crucial modernization priorities and integrate the operations of the other major commands.

The Government Accountability Office found gaps in how the U.S. Cyber Command will implement plans to transfer responsibilities to train and maintain members of the Cyber Mission Force to military service branches.

GAO released a report on Wednesday highlighting the challenges facing the unit’s transition. The Department of Defense launched the cyber force in 2013, which is composed of personnel from all service branches, in an effort to increase the defense capability of military networks.

The force has 133 teams that reported full operational capability ahead of the transition. However, as the department plans to transfer training responsibility of the force from CYBERCOM to the military services, GAO said it found most teams failed to meet readiness standards in late 2018.

The Army and Air Force also did not include all CMF training requirements in their plans to maintain the cyber teams and lacked time frames for the validation of foundational courses.

GAO recommended the military services update training plans to include specific personnel requirements. The agency also called on CYBERCOM to develop and document a plan establishing independent assessors to evaluate CMF training.

Kevin Smith, chief information officer of the Census Bureau, said the agency will ensure encryption of data as it anticipates receiving 60 percent of its responses online for the 2020 count, FCW reported Wednesday. Smith said during an event Tuesday that the bureau will seek the help of intelligence agencies to support its cybersecurity efforts for Census 2020.

“We’re going through the steps right now with [the Department of Homeland Security] to involve the intelligence community to determine what to put in place,” he said. “They offered to provide us with support similar to the 2018 midterm elections.”

Smith noted that federal agencies would carry out penetration testing on the bureau’s systems before the end of the first quarter to be followed by another round of tests.

“Those are all set up to be done in the next six months, and there will probably be some done in the fall as well,” he said.

To address potential risks of human error, Smith said the bureau will use two-factor authentication and will remotely delete data in a compromised enumeration device.
 

Army Gen. Paul Nakasone, director of the National Security Agency and head of Cyber Command, reportedly made a recommendation to split the two agencies in 2020, Defense One reported Wednesday.

Former and current intelligence officials said Nakasone proposed the move to James Mattis, the former defense secretary, in August 2018. Pentagon officials are expected  to approve the change.

Nakasone, a 2019 Wash100 winner, was confirmed by the Senate to serve in the dual-hatted role in April 2018. A spokesman for the Department of Defense said the Pentagon has not yet made an official decision. NSA focuses on foreign intelligence collection and protection of U.S. networks while Cybercom performs signals intelligence collection, network defense and cybersecurity initiatives in support of military operations.

The U.S. Navy has created an office to manage the construction of Columbia-class submarine units. The Navy said Wednesday the Program Executive Office Columbia will assist the service branch to maintain resilient sea-based strategic deterrents through 2080.

The office will work hand in hand with the Naval Sea Systems Command’s In-Service Submarine Directorate and the Program Executive Office Submarines to support the design, creation, sustainment and other related activities for the Columbia vessels, U.K.’s Dreadnought program and the Strategic Systems initiative.

“PEO Columbia will work directly with resource sponsors, stakeholders, foreign partners, shipbuilders and suppliers to meet national priorities and deliver and sustain lethal capacity our warfighters need,” said James Geurts, assistant secretary for acquisition, research and development at the Navy.

Construction for the first Columbia-class submarine (SSBN 826) will commence in fiscal year 2021 and is set for delivery in fiscal 2028 prior to its planned deployment in 2031.