The Congressional Research Service recently weighed in on the issue of the creation of a space force, citing four options that either the president or Congress could implement to establish a military unit dedicated to operations in space.

\n\n

The CRS said in the August 16 edition of its “In Focus” publication that a space force could be set up within any of the existing U.S. military service branches, namely the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps or Navy, by means of an internal reorganization.

\n\n

Another option involves the creation of a new unified combatant command, which could either stand on its own or be subordinated to any of the existing COCOMs, the Congressional think tank reported, pointing to the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act as an example of the latter.

\n\n

The defense authorization bill contains a provision calling for the establishment of a U.S. Space Command under the U.S. Strategic Command.

\n\n

Alternatively, the space force could be set up as a new service branch under any of the three military departments, namely the Department of the Army, Navy or Air Force; or it could be set up as a new military department altogether, the CRS noted.

An office within the U.S. Fleet Cyber Command and the U.S. Navy‘s Information Warfare Training Group have partnered to align and synchronize the service branch’s cyber assessments and monitoring.

The FCC said Tuesday its Office of Compliance and Assessment and IWTG entered into the partnership under the Command Cyber Operational Readiness Inspections program.

“The Navy has a significant challenge analyzing all of the different cyber assessments and inspections done by various organizations, because there is no aligned effort,” said Capt. Kristian Kearton, director at OCA.

He added that the partnership aims to synchronize assessments, standards and schedules of the FCC, IWTG and other commands.

The OCA and the IWTG jointly conduct CCORI activities to streamline training and to ease the burden on ships in line with the Navy’s optimized fleet response plan.

Command cyber readiness inspections work to verify network compliance based on DoD and Navy requirements, and provide recommendations to help the service branch bolster networks.

A Congressional Research Service report says the U.S. Coast Guard requested $750M in fiscal 2019 funds for a program to procure three new heavy polar icebreakers, USNI News reported Tuesday.

The USCG and the U.S. Navy issued a solicitation in March for the program and now estimate the total acquisition cost for the initiative to reach approximately $2.1B, or an average of approximately $700M per vessel, according to the CRS report obtained by USNI News.

The requested FY 2019 budget, along with the $359.6M in allocated FY 2018 funds, would fully fund the purchase of the first heavy polar icebreaker and partly fund the acquisition of the second ship in the program, the report noted.

The report also cited some program-related issues Congress needs to address in the coming fiscal year, such as modifying or clearing the FY 2019 funding request for the acquisition effort; choosing between a block buy contract and a contract with options; funding the program through the Navy’s shipbuilding account; and adopting a common design for both medium and heavy polar icebreakers.
 

The General Services Administration has started following a new acquisition process that aims to help agencies combine purchases and shorten negotiations with contractors, GCW reported Tuesday.

GSA created new order level materials and commercial supplier agreement rules after vendors and the agency’s personnel sought to leverage the two procurement policies.

Alan Thomas, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at GSA, said the first phase of the policy implementation will run through the end of 2018, with the official execution expected to start in 2019.

The agency also seeks to focus on the commercial solutions opening process, which streamlines vendor selection timelines, simplifies contract terms and protects the intellectual property of contractors. 

The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act included provisions appointing authorities that GSA can approach regarding CSOs.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has recommended that the federal government adopt the “hack back” approach when responding to cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The proposal could attract interest from private companies but also present risks as nation-states and foreign hackers continue to virtually threaten U.S. businesses.

Whitehouse also called on the federal government to authorize a cybersecurity official to inform the public about various weak points in cybersecurity systems and measures.

He noted that there is a need for President Donald Trump to appoint a cybersecurity “storyteller-in-chief” to disclose instances of threats and attempted attacks such as hacking and data theft.

Lastly, the senator proposed reviewing the U.S. government’s cybersecurity guidelines for power plants and other critical infrastructure operators to ensure they are encouraging better security.

Whitehouse aims to share his proposals before a congressional hearing on cybersecurity that will include testimonies from national security officials on critical infrastructure attacks.

Senators on Monday resumed debates on amendments to a fiscal 2019 minibus spending bill that will appropriate funds for multiple federal agencies, including $675B for the Defense Department, the Washington Examiner reported.

The Senate approved two amendments to the 2019 defense bill, one of which allocates $10M to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency for the purposes of identifying U.S. servicemen among the remains repatriated from North Korea at the end of July.

Senate Armed Services Subcommittee Chairwoman Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., who sponsored the amendment, said that identifying the remains would give families of the deceased an “opportunity to gain closure and to give their loved ones the respectful, dignified remembrance that they deserve.”

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., expressed optimism that the chamber would be able to tackle more amendments in the upcoming week, while Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., warned against so-called “poison pill” amendments that have slowed down proceedings in previous years.Shelby said, however, that “[there] are reasons to believe that this year will be a different year,” adding that “[we] have a lot to do this week, but we can do it.”

President Donald Trump is expected to officially nominate Army Lt. Gen. Richard Clarke, director of strategic plans and policy for the Joint Staff, as head of U.S. Special Operations Command in Florida, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

Some U.S. officials said Clarke will replace Army Gen. Tony Thomas, who is set to retire in 2019, once the Senate confirms him for the post.

Clarke was instrumental in the planning and execution of the 2011 raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden during his time as an operations officer with Joint Special Operations Command in North Carolina.

The officials said the White House is expected to nominate Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, director of the Joint Staff, to succeed the retiring Army Gen. Joseph Votel as head of U.S. Central Command that is responsible for operations in the Middle East.

The Trump administration is also poised to nominate Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters as head of U.S. European Command and NATO supreme allied commander Europe.

Wolters currently leads Air Force Europe, Allied Air Command and Air Force Africa and is expected to replace the retiring Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti.

Navy Adm. Craig Faller has also been nominated by the White House to serve as head of U.S. Southern Command.