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Report: Michael Barry Stepping Down as NSC Intell Chief
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Report: Michael Barry Stepping Down as NSC Intell Chief


Report: Michael Barry Stepping Down as NSC Intell ChiefMichael Barry, senior director for intelligence programs at the National Security Council, is reportedly leaving his post at NSC, the Daily Beast reported Tuesday.

A source said Barry will return to the CIA; his move is the latest in a string of departures at NSC as National Security Adviser John Bolton picks his own staff for the council.

Barry is a CIA veteran who was tapped by former national security adviser H.R. McMaster last fall to succeed Ezra Cohen-Watnick for the senior role, which serves as a liaison between the White House and intelligence agencies.

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CMMI Director Adam Boehler Appointed as HHS Senior Adviser
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CMMI Director Adam Boehler Appointed as HHS Senior Adviser


CMMI Director Adam Boehler Appointed as HHS Senior Adviser
Adam Boehler

Adam Boehler, director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation at the Deparment of Health and Human Services, will assume the additional role of senior adviser for value-based transformation and innovation.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced on Wednesday Boehler’s appointment as the former’s fourth picked senior adviser, joining Jim Parker, Dan Best and Brett Giroir.

The four advisers will work to support Azar’s efforts to combat the opioid crisis; reduce costs of prescription drugs; manage the cost and availability of health insurance; and transform the value of the country’s healthcare system.

Boehler has been leading CMMI since April, and is the founder of healthcare firms Landmark Health and Avalon Healthcare Solutions.

Margaret Weichert: White House to Prioritize Cyber, Security Clearance Reforms in Gov’t Reorganization
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Margaret Weichert: White House to Prioritize Cyber, Security Clearance Reforms in Gov’t Reorganization


Margaret Weichert: White House to Prioritize Cyber, Security Clearance Reforms in Gov't Reorganization
Margaret Weichert

Margaret Weichert, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, said at a Senate panel hearing Wednesday the Trump administration will start its government reorganization effort with transferring authority of security clearances and standardizing cyber jobs, Nextgov reported Wednesday.

She told Senate Homeland Security Committee members the White House has begun to review skill gaps in the federal cyber workforce as part of a push to systematize job categories for that area.

The report noted the panel’s Democrat members contested that the Trump administration has not provided reasons for planning to implement a governmentwide reform, the reform noted.

Weichert explained at the meeting that the plan is in early stages and that the White House would disclose the data that led to the proposals once finalized.

White House officials developed 32 reorganization proposals, which include merging departments of the Education and Labor and establishing a public-private partnership office that would oversee customer service.

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Report: DHS, GSA Use ‘Commercial Solutions Opening’ Method to Expedite Tech Procurements
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Report: DHS, GSA Use ‘Commercial Solutions Opening’ Method to Expedite Tech Procurements


Report: DHS, GSA Use ‘Commercial Solutions Opening’ Method to Expedite Tech ProcurementsThe Department of Homeland Security and the General Services Administration have launched efforts to advance the use of “commercial solutions opening” method to speed up the acquisition of innovative platforms and services, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

DHS released in June its guidelines for the CSO contracting method, while GSA unveiled in May the AAS Express program to provide agencies using the procedure access to GSA contracts and resources.

The Defense Department has recently joined GSA and DHS in the adoption of the CSO method by launching a four-year pilot program that will run through Sept. 30, 2022.

DoD issued in June a class deviation document that would direct contracting officers to issue “general solicitations” and competitively choose proposals based on a peer-review process as part of the CSO procedure authorized in the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.

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DARPA to Explore Near-Earth Space Environment Forecasting Concepts
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DARPA to Explore Near-Earth Space Environment Forecasting Concepts


DARPA to Explore Near-Earth Space Environment Forecasting ConceptsThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has introduced a program to explore concepts and tools to predict near-Earth space conditions within a one-hour to 72-hour timeframe.

DARPA said Tuesday it will hold a Proposers Day on July 31 in Arlington, Va., to provide details of the agency’s Space Environment Exploitation program.

“We currently have capability to predict and track big space weather events like sun spots, coronal mass ejections, or solar winds that can wreak havoc on critical space assets in higher space orbits,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. David Lewis, a DARPA program manager.

Lewis added the agency cannot predict local and smaller space environment disturbances near the planet such as magnetic substorms and auroral-E activity that can interfere with space-based and ground assets.

The SEE program seeks to explore forecasting concepts that would apply existing ground- and satellite-based data, as well as develop non-traditional sensing concepts and sensors.

DARPA plans to examine machine learning and training methods in an effort to virtually extend the life of satellite measurements and increase the number of satellites virtually for sampling.

The agency noted it will seek technical expertise in ion, magnet and thermospheric physics and chemistry; scalar, tensor and vector computer processing science and engineering; machine learning or training; and system integration.

DoD Restructures Research & Engineering, Acquisition Offices
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DoD Restructures Research & Engineering, Acquisition Offices


DoD Restructures Research & Engineering, Acquisition OfficesThe Defense Department has issued a memo that details the reorganization of the offices of the undersecretary of research and engineering and undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, Defense News reported Tuesday.

Lt. Col. Michelle Baldanza, a spokeswoman for DoD, told the publication that Congress and Defense Secretary James Mattis have been notified of the July 13 memo signed by Patrick Shanahan, deputy defense secretary.

Michael Griffin, head of the R&E office, will perform technical risk reviews and provide advice to DoD secretary on potential capability issues with programs.

Griffin will have a deputy undersecretary who will oversee five offices: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; Missile Defense Agency; Defense Innovation Unit Experimental; Strategic Capabilities Office; and the Strategic Intelligence Analysis Cell, according to the organizational structure obtained by Defense News.

The R&E’s research and technology unit has five assistant directors focused on cyber, microelectronics, quantum science, directed energy and machine learning/artificial intelligence, while the advanced capabilities division has assistant chiefs focused on space, autonomy, hypersonics and networked C3.

The memo noted that a deputy undersecretary will directly report to Ellen Lord, DoD undersecretary for A&S, and oversee several offices, including the industrial base office.

Three assistant secretaries will be responsible for sustainment, acquisition and nuclear, chemical and biological programs, while four directors will manage international cooperation, special programs, joint rapid acquisition cell and strategy, data and design, according to the organizational chart.

Lord and Griffin are both 2018 Wash100 recipients.

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CBO: House Bill Authorizes $1.1B NIST Fiscal Year 2019 Appropriation
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CBO: House Bill Authorizes $1.1B NIST Fiscal Year 2019 Appropriation

CBO: House Bill Authorizes $1.1B NIST Fiscal Year 2019 AppropriationThe National Institute of Standards and Technology will receive a $1.1 billion appropriation for fiscal year 2019 after the House’s authorization of bill H.R. 6229.

The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology announced on June 27 the approval of the NIST Reauthorization Act of 2018, the Congressional Budget Office said Monday.

H.R. 6229 includes specific initiatives for the agency’s execution and does not involve intergovernmental or private-sector orders defined by the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

The pay-as-you-go procedure for revenues and direct spending is not required for the reauthorization.

Estimates from CBO note that the $1.1 billion implementation cost will cover the period from 2019 to 2023 and the enactment of the bill will not affect the direct spending and on-budget deficits in the four subsequent 10-year periods from 2029.

NIST, which supports the development of technologies, sciences and standards to facilitate U.S. industrial competitiveness, received $1.2 billion in 2018.

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DARPA Launches Program to Develop Microrobots for Disaster Response
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DARPA Launches Program to Develop Microrobots for Disaster Response


DARPA Launches Program to Develop Microrobots for Disaster ResponseThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has launched a new program designed to develop micro- to millirobots for disaster response uses.

The SHort-Range Independent Microrobotic Platforms program will involve research encompassing actuator materials, mechanisms and power storage needed to create functional microrobots, DARPA said Tuesday.

The agency seeks to address the lack of power, navigation and control capacities seen in microrobotic platforms.

The program intends to use actuator technology to boost the robots’ mobility, load-bearing capacity and dexterity.

“The strength-to-weight ratio of an actuator influences both the load-bearing capability and endurance of a microrobotic platform,” said Ronald Polcawich, a program manager at DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office.

DARPA will evaluate the resulting robotic platforms using the principles followed in the National Institute of Standards and Technology‘s Robotics Test Facility.

Teams under the SHRIMP program will compete in tests to evaluate the robot’s mobility and other performance aspects.

Will Roper: Air Force Needs to Award Artificial Intelligence Contracts Faster
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Will Roper: Air Force Needs to Award Artificial Intelligence Contracts Faster


Will Roper: Air Force Needs to Award Artificial Intelligence Contracts Faster
Will Roper

Will Roper, undersecretary of the U.S. Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, has said the military service must accelerate its process for awarding contracts to artificial intelligence technology developers, Defense News reported Tuesday.

Roper, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, explained during the Farnborough Airshow that innovations in AI software requires constant reworking, which leads to the need to shorten the period of awarding AI contracts.

He added that the Air Force aims to work with small businesses capable of modifying AI algorithms in coordination with the users of the AI software.

Will Roper: Air Force Needs to Award Artificial Intelligence Contracts FasterThe service is also looking into collaborating with startups through the AFWERX program, which provides opportunities for industry, academia and non-traditional contractors to create offerings for the Air Force.

Roper additionally said that the Air Force can initially adopt AI to sustain components to determine how the technology can be used in classified applications.

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Lt. Gen. John Murray Nominated to Lead Army Futures Command
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Lt. Gen. John Murray Nominated to Lead Army Futures Command


Lt. Gen. John Murray Nominated to Lead Army Futures Command
John Murray

President Donald Trump has nominated Lt. Gen. John Murray, deputy chief of staff for U.S. Army G8, to serve as commander of the Army Futures Command, Defense News reported Tuesday.

The report said Murray will also elevate from a three-star to a four-star general if the Senate confirms his nomination.

He joined the Army in 1982 and has served in leadership positions at Joint Task Force 3, Support for U.S. Forces Afghanistan and multiple infantry divisions.

His assignments has also included time as director of force management at the Defense Department, assistant deputy director of joint training, J-7, at the Joint Staff and director of the Joint Center for Operational Analysis.

The Army Futures Command will establish its headquarters in Austin, Texas, and support modernization efforts in the areas of long-range precision fires, combat vehicle, vertical lift platform, mobile and expeditionary network, air and missile defense and soldier lethality.

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