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Army Looks to Field Secure Wi-Fi Tech for Battlefield Command Posts
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Army Looks to Field Secure Wi-Fi Tech for Battlefield Command Posts


Army Looks to Field Secure Wi-Fi Tech for Battlefield Command PostsThe U.S. Army continues efforts to field a National Security Agency-accredited Wi-Fi tool designed to provide secure wireless network connectivity for command posts on the battlefield.

The Army said Thursday the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division piloted the Secure Wi-Fi technology during an action training mission performed at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California.

Secure Wi-Fi provided users with untethered network connections that enabled wireless data, video and voice transmission across approximately 160 classified and unclassified computers and mission command systems including the Command Post of the Future command and control software system.

Col. Michael Adams, commander of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, said Secure Wi-Fi helps users and mission command systems set up connections faster than traditional wired command post systems.

“Secure Wi-Fi also speeds our mission military decision making process … With Secure Wi-Fi, I gain an exponential increase in velocity, and the deeper the Wi-Fi capabilities in the formation, the more we are able to do,” added Adams.

Adams noted he also looks to integrate the Secure Wi-Fi technology at battalion-level command posts to further bolster the brigade’s maneuver speed.

The service branch developed a small model of the platform designed to support smaller echelon command posts and the Army aims to demonstrate this version of Secure Wi-Fi at a risk reduction event in the spring.

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GAO: DoD Spent $9.1B on O&M for Overseas Contingency Operations in FY 2016
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GAO: DoD Spent $9.1B on O&M for Overseas Contingency Operations in FY 2016


GAO: DoD Spent $9.1B on O&M for Overseas Contingency Operations in FY 2016The Defense Department spent the $9.1 billion budget that Congress authorized for the operation and maintenance needs of overseas contingency operations to meet base requirements.

The Government Accountability Office said in a report issued Wednesday that DoD obligated funds to cover base programs and activities, including headquarters, maintenance and transportation costs.

Base requirements include operational support for installations; training and education; civilian personnel; maintenance; contracted services; and defense health services.

Congress appropriated $8.6 billion of the $9.1 billion budget as base funds instead of OCO funds, and $500 million was appropriated as OCO funds for base requirements.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 allocated $9.1 billion of OCO appropriations for O&M base requirements.

The bill also directed GAO to report how DoD obligated funds that Congress authorized for base requirements.

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NASA Demos First X-Ray Navigation in Space
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NASA Demos First X-Ray Navigation in Space


NASA Demos First X-Ray Navigation in SpaceNASA has performed the first fully autonomous X-ray navigation in space, which could help future robotic spacecraft to travel to deep space locations.

The space agency said Thursday a team of engineers carried out the experiment called the Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology, or SEXTANT, on Nov. 11.

The demonstration was conducted through NASA‘s Neutron-star Interior Composition Explorer observatory, which studies neutron stars and their rapidly pulsating counterparts, dubbed pulsars.

SEXTANT revealed that millisecond pulsars could be used to identify the location of an object traveling at thousands of miles per hour in space — similar to the way that global positioning systems deliver positioning, navigation and timing data.

A system developed through SEXTANT worked to predict the location of NICER as the observatory orbited the Earth while attached to the International Space Station.

The NASA team will update and fine-tune the system’s flight and ground software to prepare for a second experiment later this year.

The group’s ultimate goal is to create detectors and other hardware to provide pulsar-based navigation for future spacecraft.

The team would need to reduce size, weight and power requirements as well as improve the sensitivity of the navigation technology to make it available for operational use.

Jason Mitchell, SEXTANT project manager, said his team is also studying the potential use of X-ray navigation in human spaceflight.

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SEC Names Timothy Timura Division Deputy Director & Chief Economist
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SEC Names Timothy Timura Division Deputy Director & Chief Economist


SEC Names Timothy Timura Division Deputy Director & Chief Economist
Timothy Timura

Timothy Timura, a faculty member at American University’s Kogod School of Business, has joined the Securities and Exchange Commission‘s Division of Economic and Risk Analysis as deputy director and deputy chief economist.

He will assist DERA Director and Chief Economist Jeffrey Harris in efforts to formulate economic policies, SEC said Thursday.

The three-decade investment management veteran previously worked at Federated Investors, Principal Financial and Newbolds Asset Management.

Timura also served as senior equities manager for Ohio’s State Teachers Retirement System.

Timura holds an M.B.A. from University of Wisconsin-Madison and an education doctorate from University of Pennsylvania.

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Adm. Paul Zukunft: Coast Guard Needs Final Appropriations for Fiscal 2018
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Adm. Paul Zukunft: Coast Guard Needs Final Appropriations for Fiscal 2018


Adm. Paul Zukunft: Coast Guard Needs Final Appropriations for Fiscal 2018
Paul Zukunft

Adm. Paul Zukunft, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, has said the service branch’s acquisitions portfolio that includes new procurement programs would be affected if Congress fails to pass a final appropriations measure for fiscal 2018.

“It’s very difficult in a continuing resolution to get anomalies,” Zukunft told Federal News Radio in an interview published Wednesday.

“If you get an anomaly as one service then you kind of open it up that everyone needs an anomaly.”

He said the service is prepared for another stopgap measure if lawmakers fail to pass a full budget before the current CR expires Jan. 19.

Zukunft also cited programs that need funding under the fiscal 2018 budget and those include the construction of a new heavy icebreaker, equipment maintenance, drones, research and development efforts, cybersecurity and inland fleet maintenance.

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Alan Chvotkin: PSC Backs E-Procurement Portal Implementation Approach
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Alan Chvotkin: PSC Backs E-Procurement Portal Implementation Approach


Alan Chvotkin: PSC Backs E-Procurement Portal Implementation ApproachAlan Chvotkin, an executive vice president and counsel at the Professional Services Council, has said PSC supports transparency and adoption of a phased-in approach in the federal government’s implementation of e-commerce portals for procurement processes.

Chvotkin joined industry representatives and General Services Administration officials at a public meeting Tuesday to discuss the program design, implementation and buying practices for the proposed commercial online platforms in compliance with a provision in the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, PSC said Thursday.

“There are great opportunities to fulfill a promise that many of us who have been engaged in this procurement process have hoped for for a long time: for the government to take maximum advantage of commercial off-the-shelf items and make them available to the federal marketplace,” he said.

Chvotkin also offered recommendations for the implementation of e-commerce platforms, such as the need to leverage commercial providers’ capabilities and transparency in quality and price.

PSC said it will submit comments on the proposed online marketplaces to GSA.

GSA will accept feedback through Jan. 16.

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GAO: Agencies Should Ensure CIO Involvement in IT Procurement Review, Approval Processes
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GAO: Agencies Should Ensure CIO Involvement in IT Procurement Review, Approval Processes


GAO: Agencies Should Ensure CIO Involvement in IT Procurement Review, Approval ProcessesThe Government Accountability Office has called on federal agencies to allow chief information officers to assess and approve information technology contracts in an effort to increase CIOs’ oversight of agencies’ planned IT acquisitions.

GAO said in a report published Wednesday 14 of the 22 assessed agencies failed to involve CIOs in the review and approval of IT procurement plans and strategies in compliance with the Office of Management and Budget’s implementation guidance for the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act.

GAO randomly selected 96 IT contracts awarded by 10 federal agencies in fiscal 2016 and found that only 11 of them were assessed and cleared by CIOs and that the remaining unevaluated contracts were worth approximately $23.8 billion.

Of the 22 assessed agencies, 14 of them failed to comply with OMB’s guidance to involve acquisition offices to help determine IT procurements that should undergo CIO reviews, according to the report.

The report also found that most of the 22 agencies that GAO assessed were not able to identify all of their IT procurement contracts.

GAO discovered approximately $4.5 billion worth of fiscal 2016 IT-related contracts in addition to $14.7 billion in IT contract obligations identified by selected agencies, according to the report.

 

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Reps. Rob Wittman, Mike Gallagher: Navy Should Reorganize Fleet, Advance Strategic Comms
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Reps. Rob Wittman, Mike Gallagher: Navy Should Reorganize Fleet, Advance Strategic Comms


Reps. Rob Wittman, Mike Gallagher: Navy Should Reorganize Fleet, Advance Strategic CommsReps. Rob Wittman (R-Virginia) and Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin) have said the U.S. Navy should launch organizational changes and strategic communication efforts in an effort to address readiness issues, USNI News reported Wednesday.

Wittman said Wednesday at the 2018 Surface Navy Association symposium that the service should introduce changes to fleet organization such as reconsideration of the Inouye Amendment and re-establishment of the U.S. 2nd Fleet in Norfolk, Virginia, to help train forces on the East Coast.

His statements came in response to the Navy’s release of a strategic readiness review report and a comprehensive surface fleet assessment related to ship collision incidents in 2017.

Wittman, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, also called for the return of deployed naval ships to the U.S. every seven to 10 years to undergo maintenance work.

Gallagher also called for the Navy to advance strategic communications initiatives as it works to increase the combat fleet size to 355 ships.

“The Navy needs to be able to honestly explain to itself what it will do with 355 ships and how this will be different from the fleet today,” said Gallagher, a HASC member.

“The Navy must tell its story in a way that inspires and mobilizes popular action, explaining how the future fleet will fight… and how it will meet our security needs.”

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Alaska-Launched NASA Rockets to Investigate Space X-Ray Emissions, Polar Mesospheric Clouds
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Alaska-Launched NASA Rockets to Investigate Space X-Ray Emissions, Polar Mesospheric Clouds


Alaska-Launched NASA Rockets to Investigate Space X-Ray Emissions, Polar Mesospheric CloudsNASA is slated to launch four rockets from the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska between Jan. 15 to 30 to study space x-ray emissions and the formation of Polar Mesospheric Clouds.

The space agency said Wednesday a mission called the Diffuse X-rays from the Local galaxy will be deployed aboard a Black Brant IX rocket to investigate sources of X-rays that reach Earth from other areas in the galaxy.

Massimiliano Galeazzi, DXL principal investigator from the University of Miami, said that DXL aims to provide a better understanding of the nature and characteristics of two known sources of space X-rays.

NASA will also fly three Terrier-Improved Orion suborbital rockets for the Super Soaker mission, which will explore the formation and dynamics of Polar Mesospheric Clouds.

“PMCs are layers of microscopic ice particles that form near 53 miles altitude and are extremely sensitive to small variations in their environment.” said Irfan Azeem, Super Soaker principal investigator from technology development firm Atmospheric and Space Technology Research Associates.

Azeem added that PMCs are used to help quantify changes in the upper atmosphere due to their sensitivity to environmental variations.

The three rockets will release vapor into the upper atmosphere in an attempt to measure the effects of short-term changes and other atmospheric factors on PMCs.

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Industry Reps Talk E-Commerce Regulations at GSA Town Hall Meeting
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Industry Reps Talk E-Commerce Regulations at GSA Town Hall Meeting


Industry Reps Talk E-Commerce Regulations at GSA Town Hall MeetingThe General Services Administration has conducted its first public meeting to discuss the use of e-commerce portals by federal agencies to buy products and services in compliance with a provision in the fiscal 2018 defense policy bill, FCW reported Tuesday.

GSA Administrator Emily Murphy said the e-commerce portal seeks to help federal agencies build up their procurement processes and increase sellers’ federal market presence.

Laura Stanton, assistant commissioner of the office of strategy management at GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, said the agency intends to have an implementation plan in place for the portal by March.

Representatives from online retailers said that striking a balance between regulations and federal economic and social priorities such as set-aside programs for minority- and veteran-owned businesses would help the e-commerce platform generate interest from vendors and federal buyers.

Brock Lyle, associate general counsel at Overstock.com, noted that GSA should establish “basic requirements” to ensure security of vendors seeking to offer products and services on commercial online tools.

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