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USAF Takes Over NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission
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USAF Takes Over NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission


USAF Takes Over NATO Baltic Air Policing MissionThe U.S. Air Force has accepted responsibility for the NATO Baltic air policing mission from Poland’s air force during a handover ceremony at the Sialuiai air base in Lithuania.

The Defense Department said Thursday that approximately 140 airmen and seven F-15C Eagle aircraft from the 493rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron have been deployed to Lithuania to lead the Baltic air policing rotation mission until the end of the year.

DoD noted that the NATO air policing peacetime collective defense mission helps defend the integrity of alliance members’ respective airspace.

The Baltic air policing mission supports the NATO Smart Defense model wherein allied countries perform operations using shared capacities and coordinated efforts to boost mission success.

Gen. Tod Wolters, commander of the NATO Allied Air Command and the U.S. Air Forces in Europe, said that maintainers, mission supporters and operators from the U.S. will help defend the sovereign skies above Lithuania over the next four months.

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NASA Hosts Interagency Meeting on In-Space Structure Assembly
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NASA Hosts Interagency Meeting on In-Space Structure Assembly


NASA Hosts Interagency Meeting on In-Space Structure AssemblyNASA has facilitated a meeting between spaceflight experts from multiple agencies to address technical challenges associated with the assembly of large structures in space.

The space agency said Thursday the technology interchange meeting at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland was the third in a series of discussions between members of the Science and Technology Partnership Forum, which includes NASA, the U.S. Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office.

“Many tough space technology problems are really important to multiple federal stakeholders — in-space assembly is an excellent example where multiple federal players have a vested interest in mission success,” said NASA Chief Technologist Douglas Terrier.

He added that the collaboration of multi-agency experts will help the government address technology challenges “at reduced costs, increased efficiency and faster than previously possible.”

Thirty experts joined the in-space assembly meeting and held discussions within smaller teams to identify synergies, development gaps and pilot projects for interagency partnerships.

The group will hold additional meetings to establish the project and partnerships, with the next one scheduled for September.

Participating agencies may eventually share resulting information from the technical discussions with U.S. industry and academic partners, NASA noted.

Previous interagency meetings focused on small satellites, data analysis and cybersecurity while future discussions will cover other technological challenges such as assured access to space.

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Report: White House Eyes Linking Debt Ceiling Increase to Potential $6B Hurricane Relief Package
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Report: White House Eyes Linking Debt Ceiling Increase to Potential $6B Hurricane Relief Package


Report: White House Eyes Linking Debt Ceiling Increase to Potential $6B Hurricane Relief PackageThe White House is considering plans to combine an increase in the U.S. debt ceiling with the proposed $5.95 billion disaster relief request for Hurricane Harvey in an effort to avoid a possible U.S. debt default, Bloomberg reported Friday.

Two administration officials told Bloomberg the initial request would allocate $5.5 billion in funds to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the rest to the Small Business Administration and is expected to be announced as early as Friday.

The Trump administration has begun to prepare the hurricane aid package to cover funding requests through the end of fiscal 2017 on Sept. 30.

Vice President Mike Pence said more than 311,000 citizens from Texas had requested federal hurricane relief funds as of Thursday and the government has granted over $530 million.

A Republican aide told the publication the House may vote on an initial disaster relief measure in the first half of September in an effort to replenish FEMA’s funds used in the hurricane’s aftermath.

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Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker: Carrier-Based Tanker Drone Could Extend Fighter Jets’ Operational Range
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Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker: Carrier-Based Tanker Drone Could Extend Fighter Jets’ Operational Range


Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker: Carrier-Based Tanker Drone Could Extend Fighter Jets’ Operational Range
Mike Shoemaker

Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, commander of Naval Air Forces, has said the integration of an unmanned aerial refueling tanker with the U.S. carrier air wing could raise the operational range of strike fighter jets by as much as 400 nautical miles, USNI News reported Thursday.

Shoemaker told the U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine in an interview the service branch intends for the aircraft carrier-based MQ-25A Stingray drone to deliver approximately 15,000 pounds of fuel to the air wing’s fighter jets at 500 nautical miles.

“The MQ-25 will give us the ability to extend the air wing out probably 300 or 400 miles beyond where we typically go,” Shoemaker said.

The carrier air wing’s strike range is pegged at approximately 450 nautical miles and the additional miles could potentially boost the strike fighters’ operational range by at least 700 nautical miles.

Shoemaker noted Stingray would help relieve Boeing-built F/A-18E/F Super Hornets of mission and recovery refueling operations.

MQ-25 “will give us the ability to get out there and refuel four to six airplanes at range,” he added.

“It will also work as a recovery tanker for cyclic ops, with the ability to cover at least three cycles.”

Shoemaker’s remarks came a month after the Navy asked Boeing, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to submit proposed concepts for the MQ-25A Stingray program through an updated draft request for proposals issued in July.

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FAA Authorizes Drone Operators to Aid Hurricane Damage Assessments
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FAA Authorizes Drone Operators to Aid Hurricane Damage Assessments


FAA Authorizes Drone Operators to Aid Hurricane Damage AssessmentsThe Federal Aviation Administration has authorized 43 unmanned aircraft system operators as of Thursday morning to support damage assessments or provide media coverage related to Hurricane Harvey response operations in Houston.

FAA said Thursday the UAS permits cover federal, state and local government efforts to assess homes, critical infrastructure and establishments hit by the storm to expedite emergency assistance.

Local fire department and emergency management personnel use drones to identify Harvey-related damages to local infrastructure assets such as roads, bridges, underpasses and water treatment plants, FAA noted.

The agency added Texas’ environmental quality officials also fly UAS to determine the impacts of drainage and flooding from the storm.

Profile: Joe Landino, CIO of National Counterterrorism Center
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Profile: Joe Landino, CIO of National Counterterrorism Center


Profile: Joe Landino, CIO of National Counterterrorism Center
Joe Landino

Joe Landino has served as chief information officer and director of mission systems at the National Counterterrorism Center since December 2014.

Prior to his current role, Landino was director of the open source engineering group within CIA‘s Open Source Center for nearly four years. He helped engineer and develop information technology infrastructure and applications at OSC as well as led cloud migration efforts there.

He also worked for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency on a joint duty assignment as deputy program manager of the National System for Geospatial-Intelligence.

Between December 2003 and May 2008, Landino served as deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office‘s imagery intelligence systems acquisition directorate (IMINT).

He came to CIA in 1999 as senior IMINT manager in the agency’s Office of the Senior Acquisition Executive for the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence for Community Management.

Landino is a former U.S. Air Force officer who served as a systems acquisition professional at multiple product centers, test agencies and headquarters elements.

He also worked in the private sector as MCR federal group manager with responsibility over the McLean, Virginia-based company’s consulting practice that worked with the Defense Department and intelligence community.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Franklin Pierce College and a master’s degree in public administration from University of Denver as well as master’s degree in systems management from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

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Adm. John Richardson: Navy Found No Proof of Cyberattacks in Guided Missile Destroyer Collisions
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Adm. John Richardson: Navy Found No Proof of Cyberattacks in Guided Missile Destroyer Collisions


Adm. John Richardson: Navy Found No Proof of Cyberattacks in Guided Missile Destroyer Collisions
John Richardson

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson has said the U.S. Navy did not find evidence that cyber attacks caused the separate collisions of two guided-missile destroyers in the Pacific over the past three months, Military.com reported Thursday.

Richardson said in a Facebook live-stream call that the Navy has investigated the cyber warfare aspect of the collisions involving USS John McCain on Aug. 21 and USS Fitzgerald on June 17.

USS Fitzgerald collided with a Philippine-flagged container ship near Honshu, Japan while USS John McCain underwent a similar incident with an oil tanker off the coast of Singapore, prompting Richardson to order an operational pause for all Navy fleets worldwide.

The service branch has begun to review collisions and mishaps in the past decade to identify possible systemic causes of the recent accidents, the report noted.

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GSA Makes Transactional Data Reporting Pilot Program Voluntary for Contractors
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GSA Makes Transactional Data Reporting Pilot Program Voluntary for Contractors


GSA Makes Transactional Data Reporting Pilot Program Voluntary for ContractorsThe General Services Administration has modified its Transactional Data Reporting rule to make the pilot program voluntary for government contractors that received multiple-award schedule contracts and special item numbers.

Mary Davie, acting deputy commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, wrote in a blog post published Wednesday that the TDR rule offers an option for the agency to collect transactional-level data it can use to formulate buying strategies and make purchasing decisions.

The new GSA Acquisition Regulation is meant to help vendors bypass reporting requirements on commercial sales practices and price reduction clauses as well as address compliance challenges.

Jack St. John, GSA chief of staff, said in May the modification of the TDR rule supports the agency’s efforts to transition President Donald Trump’s priorities into acquisition policies.

“GSA is altering TDR’s implementation to give new offerors and contractors approaching an option period the choice to adopt TDR,” said Davie, an inductee into Executive Mosaic‘s Wash100 for 2017.

“For those contractors who were previously required to accept TDR, GSA is extending them the option to execute a one-time reverse modification to undo this action and work with their contracting officer to revert back to operating under the structure and tracking requirements of the price reduction clause.”

GSA has scheduled a Sept. 12 webinar for contractors interested to learn about possible options under the TDR rule.

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NIST Accepts Comments on Forensic Science Org Restructuring Plan
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NIST Accepts Comments on Forensic Science Org Restructuring Plan


NIST Accepts Comments on Forensic Science Org Restructuring PlanThe National Institute of Standards and Technology has begun to solicit public comments on proposed restructuring of an NIST-led organization that promotes the development and adoption of forensic science standards.

NIST said Wednesday it released a request for information notice that describes four possible new structures for the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science.

The comment period is open through Oct. 30.

The Justice Department and NIST established OSAC in 2014, with a plan to evolve the organization’s structure overtime and transition it from NIST to another host entity within five to 10 years.

“Now that OSAC has been operating for three-plus years, it’s time to assess the performance of the organization and look for opportunities for improvement,” said Richard Cavanagh, director of NIST’s Special Programs Office.

“Although the structure of OSAC may change, the goals remain the same, and NIST remains committed to OSAC’s stability and scientific integrity,” Cavanagh added.

NIST welcomes ideas that are not covered by the four concepts described in the RFI.

The agency noted it may also keep aspects of the current OSAC structure, modify the structure or consider “substantially different” arrangements.

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US Military Deploys Aircraft to Provide Humanitarian Aid in Houston, Texas
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US Military Deploys Aircraft to Provide Humanitarian Aid in Houston, Texas


US Military Deploys Aircraft to Provide Humanitarian Aid in Houston, TexasThe U.S. military has deployed dozens of aircraft to support humanitarian missions and help people in areas around Houston, Texas that have been affected by Hurricane Harvey, DoD Buzz reported Wednesday.

The U.S. Air Force and Navy dispatched a P-8 Poseidon maritime, patrol and reconnaissance aircraft and E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft to perform air traffic control and surveillance missions as well as collect data on flooded regions in the area.

Teams from military units across the U.S. will support the disaster relief, recovery and humanitarian efforts in Houston including members of the 601st Air Operations Center, 90th Rescue Wing, Joint Base Charleston, Air National Guard, 125th Special Tactics Squadron, 176th Wing, 129th Rescue Wing and the 123rd Special Tactics Squadron.

Other aircraft deployed in support of the mission included Pave Hawks, Combat King HC-130P/N, C-17 Globemaster III, C-130 Hercules and HH-60 helicopters.

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