The Defense Information Systems Agency has started to transition mission partners to the second version of the MilCloud platform after the technology received provisional authorization from the Defense Department in March to host controlled unclassified information, Federal News Radio reported Monday.

“We have laid out a plan that over the next four-to-five months migrating most all of the MilCloud 1.0 capabilities onto MilCloud 2.0,” John Hale, chief of enterprise applications at DISA, said April 18 at the FCW Cloud Summit.

“Then, the plan is to probably shut down MilCloud 1.0 sometime in late fiscal year 2019,” Hale added.

He noted that partners look at MilCloud 2.0 as a “gateway capability.”

“As they shift away from traditional hosting in their data centers into a cloud model, MilCloud 2 provides them a little bit of a comfort factor because the data stays on premise.”

CSRA, which General Dynamics bought for approximately $9.7 billion in early April, secured a potential eight-year, $498 million contract in June 2017 to provide commercial infrastructure services for the MilCloud 2.0 platform.

Sonny Bhagowalia, former chief information officer of the Treasury Department, has joined the Customs and Border Protection as deputy assistant commissioner at the agency’s information technology office, Federal Times reported Saturday.

In his new role, Bhagowalia will lead CBP’s cybersecurity efforts and the development of automated interfaces between the agency and other government agencies, trade groups and foreign countries.

He will also supervise approximately 2,200 federal and contractor employees who help build, test and maintain automated systems at CBP.

His public-sector career also includes time as senior adviser at the Bureau of Fiscal Service for technology and cybersecurity; deputy associate administrator at the General Services Administration; an assistant director and section chief at the FBI; and CIO at the state of Hawaii, Interior Department and Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Bhagowalia also held a 14-year career at Boeing.

Defense Secretary James Mattis has called for waivers to allow U.S. allies to prevent any sanctions related to the procurement of Russian-made weapons, Military.com reported Friday.

Mattis told lawmakers Thursday at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that Congress should make “national security exceptions” to the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act and fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act in support of U.S. interests.

“We only need to look at India, Vietnam and some others to recognize that eventually we’re going to penalize ourselves” through strict compliance with CAATSA, said Mattis, a 2018 Wash100 recipient.

He expressed concerns on the potential sale of Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile defense systems to countries such as Turkey and India.

President Donald Trump signed in August 2017 CAATSA that imposes sanctions on Russia in response to its involvement in Syria and invasion of Crimea.

CAATSA also enforces sanctions on Iran and North Korea.

The U.S. Navy has assigned Capts. John Adametz and Thomas Anderson to leadership positions at the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific and Naval Surface Warfare Center, respectively.

Adametz, commanding officer at the Naval Facilities Expeditionary Warfare Center, will transition to a dual-role as commander of NAVFAC Pacific and U.S. Pacific Fleet civil engineer, the Defense Department said Friday.

Anderson, executive assistant at the Naval Sea Systems Command, will serve as NWSC commander.

Both officers were also selected for promotion to the rank of rear admiral (lower half).

David Norquist, comptroller at the Defense Department, said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday that DoD intends to provide lawmakers with a justification report about its plan to acquire cloud computing infrastructure through a single-award contract, C4ISRNET reported Thursday.

Norquist informed the panel that the department will submit a report to explain its Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure acquisition method to Congress by May 7.

DoD is scheduled to issue a final request for proposals on the potential $10 billion JEDI cloud contract next month.

Defense Secretary James Mattis, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, defended the Pentagon’s cloud procurement strategy during the SASC hearing.

“What we’ve been looking at now is how do we get faster access to young folks on the front lines, displaying the information they need, not all the information in the world,” Mattis told committee members.

“That’s the driving impetus – it’s the lethality.”