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James McNamara Promoted to SEC Chief Human Capital Officer; Kenneth Johnson Quoted
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James McNamara Promoted to SEC Chief Human Capital Officer; Kenneth Johnson Quoted


James McNamara Promoted to SEC Chief Human Capital Officer; Kenneth Johnson Quoted

James McNamara, acting chief human capital officer at the Securities and Exchange Commission, is assuming the role on a full time basis. McNamara will drive the sustainment of the agency’s workforce, oversee policies and human resource efforts in employee development, recruitment, retention and leadership under his new role, SEC said Thursday.

Prior to his promotion, McNamara handled budget and human resources management under the Department of Justice’s civil division and served as a managing executive for trading and markets at SEC.

“With Jamey’s deep knowledge of human capital management, understanding and concern for the needs of SEC employees, and strong business acumen, he is the right choice to lead the agency’s human capital initiatives,” said Kenneth Johnson, COO at SEC.

McNamara is also a graduate of Brown University and a recipient of SEC’s Leading for the Future Award in 2016.

White House Strategy Calls for New Techs, More Coordination to Boost National Security
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White House Strategy Calls for New Techs, More Coordination to Boost National Security


White House Strategy Calls for New Techs, More Coordination to Boost National Security

President Trump signed the National Strategy to Combat Terrorist Travel to address national security threats and utilize new technologies to prevent the entry of terrorists. The White House said on Wednesday that the strategy is intended to help enhance border security, vetting, enforcement of immigration laws and transportation security in the U.S. 

The document calls on federal agencies to plan and improve operations coordination to secure U.S. borders and explore emerging technologies, such as new biometric and data sharing tools. The White House said such technologies should enhance detection and monitoring of traveling terrorists. 

“The key to detecting and interdicting terrorists attempting to travel will be enhancing systems that validate identities and advancing the use of biometric technologies,” Trump said in a statement. 

The strategy also aims to encourage U.S. allies to adopt these same technologies and share data between countries.

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James Geurts: AI has Potential for Accelerating Navy’s Training Efforts
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James Geurts: AI has Potential for Accelerating Navy’s Training Efforts


James Geurts: AI has Potential for Accelerating Navy's Training Efforts

James Geurts, assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy for research, development and acquisition, said during his WEST 2019 speech that artificial intelligence must be leveraged for training operations, USNI reported Thursday.

“I think an area we don’t talk enough about where I think there’s also very interesting opportunities is in training, and how do we speed up our training cycles,” he noted.

Previously, the Navy launched the Aegis Virtual Twin program enabling sailors to train using the AI-driven Aegis Combat System onboard a ship at sea without interfering with navigation and operational functions. The system is intended to provide sailors with realistic training and real-time assessments through a virtual platform aboard a vessel. Alan Shaffer, deputy under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, also spoke at WEST 2019 about the DoD’s plans to deploy AI to improve decision-making.

“It’s not a panacea, it’s not perfect, it’s not everything, but the concept of turning data into the right decision more quickly – or more importantly, pointing out when something is going south – is incredibly important,” he said.

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DISA Launches Efforts to Address Latency, Multitenancy Issues Linked to Joint Regional Security Stacks
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DISA Launches Efforts to Address Latency, Multitenancy Issues Linked to Joint Regional Security Stacks


DISA Launches Efforts to Address Latency, Multitenancy Issues Linked to Joint Regional Security Stacks

The Defense Information Systems Agency has started addressing the five concerns raised by mission partners with regard to the implementation of Joint Regional Security Stacks. DISA said Wednesday that those five challenges are performance reliability, latency, multi-tenancy, synchronization with base infrastructure and cost. 

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Joe Edwards, JRSS chief engineer, said the agency updated all CONUS Intrusion Prevention System appliances, implemented governance processes and standard operating procedures to address latency and multi-tenancy issues.

“We continually stress that going forward, vendors must demonstrate an ability to safeguard processing resources to avoid inadvertent impacts among mission partner traffic,” said Edwards.

He offered updates on the JRSS Security Information and Event Manager and mentioned the improvements the program management office made to Tier 3 operations and engineering support. JRSS are regional suites of systems designed to help Department of Defense cyber professionals to continuously track, analyze and protect the DOD Information Network from cyber threats.

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Courtney Winship: USCIS Initiates Measures to Implement Digital Government Law
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Courtney Winship: USCIS Initiates Measures to Implement Digital Government Law


Courtney Winship: USCIS Initiates Measures to Implement Digital Government Law

Courtney Winship, head of digital services division at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, mentioned during a GovLoop webinar that the USCIS is taking measures to implement a new law to improve the accessibility and security of government websites, Federal News Network reported Thursday. Winship said USCIS plans to adopt a mobile-first approach to comply with the 21st-Century Integrated Digital Experience Act and has merged some of the departments that deal with public-facing digital platforms in the past six to eight months.

“We are now one unit. And now we can really focus on how we build a unified experience that includes things like content and design, as well as how we look to integrate with our live-help services,” she said at the webinar held Thursday. “We are really aiming to create a 360-[degree] view, and help people navigate more smoothly through their interactions with USCIS.”

The report noted that the agency has begun examining the case for machine learning and artificial intelligence to facilitate the delivery of services to the public.
 

DoD Wants to Borrow Personnel, Resources From Armed Forces to Support Space Force
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DoD Wants to Borrow Personnel, Resources From Armed Forces to Support Space Force


DoD Wants to Borrow Personnel, Resources From Armed Forces to Support Space Force

The Pentagon wants to transfer personnel, programs and other resources from the armed forces to the proposed Space Force once it’s created under the Department of the Air Force, SpaceNews reported Thursday. The Department of Defense plans to request for Congress to grant the secretary of defense “special temporary authorities” to supply the new service the resources and workforce it would need to begin initial operations.

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DoD announced the plan in its updated draft proposal to establish the Space Force. The White House Office of Management and Budget has yet to approve the document before it moves to lawmakers for review. The proposed special authorities for the defense secretary would allow the official to task officers and enlisted members, in particular, those with space-focused occupations, from other service branches to serve the Space Force.

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DoD intends to provide the new service with up to 15,000 personnel once it’s fully operational. The Pentagon also wants to give its secretary the authority to direct the transfer of equipment, supplies and records from other military departments or components to the Department of the Air Force to support the Space Force. 

Report: Coast Guard May Take 400 Years to Address $2.6B Infrastructure Backlogs
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Report: Coast Guard May Take 400 Years to Address $2.6B Infrastructure Backlogs


Report: Coast Guard May Take 400 Years to Address $2.6B Infrastructure Backlogs

A new report from the Government Accountability Office shows that the U.S. Coast Guard’s current $2.6B infrastructure construction and maintenance backlogs pose financial, safety and mission performance risks to the service. GAO issued the report on Thursday showing the service branch has $1.7B worth of delayed construction and improvement projects, which would take 395 years to address. 

In 2018, the Coast Guard also saw over 5,600 projects that required maintenance and would cost $900M. GAO claims nearly 45 percent of the service’s shore infrastructure is beyond service life. The Coast Guard owns or leases over 20,000 shore facilities like piers, docks, boat stations, air stations and housing units in more than 2,700 locations.

To help the service meet project requirements, GAO recommends changing the management of shore infrastructure backlogs and the use of new models to predict the outcome of investments for maintenance projects. In 2017, Coast Guard officials admitted to Congress it has $1.6B in recapitalization backlog for its shore infrastructures.

Army Testing New Soldier Body Protection System
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Army Testing New Soldier Body Protection System

Army Testing New Soldier Body Protection System

The U.S. Army plans to test a new soldier protection system by the fall in preparation for future deployment, Army Times reported Wednesday.

The new gear would include two subsystems for the torso area and two others covering the head and eyes. The full system’s design builds on shot and wounding data conveying potential exposure points. Program Executive Office Soldier provided the data for the system’s development.

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The service branch intends to test the system’s lightweight vest component between April and June.

 

Navy Gives Fire Scout New Mission to Make Littoral Combat Ships More Lethal
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Navy Gives Fire Scout New Mission to Make Littoral Combat Ships More Lethal


Navy Gives Fire Scout New Mission to Make Littoral Combat Ships More Lethal

The U.S. Navy is changing the mission of its MQ-8C Fire Scout rotary-wing unmanned systems to make Littoral Combat Ships more lethal to keep up with the changing warfare, USNI News reported Wednesday. In 2018, the service began the effort to shift Fire Scout away from missions to protect LCS. Instead, the aircraft will focus on providing targeting information to weapons aboard the ship. 

Previous plans intended to provide Fire Scouts with 70mm Hydra rockets equipped with the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance system. Under the new plan, the Navy is redesigning the aircraft to carry sensors to extend the range of LCS to find and track threats.

“What’s important to us right now is making sure we have the right sensors, a good multi-function radar, some kind of passive targeting capability and the right networks to push that information to the right people at the right times,” said Cmdr. Edward Johnson, the Navy’s Fire Scout requirements officer.

The Naval Air Systems Command is also considering using the Fire Scout on the Navy’s next-generation frigate, FFG(X), to provide the same targeting capability.

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Col. Robert Collins Named Program Executive Officer for Aberdeen Proving Ground
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Col. Robert Collins Named Program Executive Officer for Aberdeen Proving Ground


Col. Robert Collins Named Program Executive Officer for Aberdeen Proving Ground

Col. Robert Collins, the former product manager for the U.S. Army’s Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment 2 platform, has been elevated to the position of program executive officer for intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors at Aberdeen Proving Ground. He will be elevated from his current role as assistant program executive manager at the facility, the Department of Defense said Tuesday. 

Prior to his appointment, Collins served as the project manager for the U.S. Army’s Distributed Common Ground System program where he supported intelligence analysis efforts and managed the performance, costs and strategies for related initiatives. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and earned his master’s degree for national security policy studies at the Dwight D. Eisenhower School.

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