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FirstNet President TJ Kennedy to Step Down, Rejoin Private Sector
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FirstNet President TJ Kennedy to Step Down, Rejoin Private Sector


FirstNet President TJ Kennedy to Step Down, Rejoin Private Sector
TJ Kennedy

T.J. Kennedy, president of the First Responder Network Authority, will depart his role by the end of the year and return to the private sector, Urgent Communications reported.

The report said Kennedy plans to continue working toward public safety communications goals after he leaves FirstNet.

“I’m not leaving this area, this industry and this technology at all. I’m going to just continue to help it in different ways than I did before,” he told Urgent Communications in an interview.

He joined the agency in August 2013 as deputy general manager and was promoted to general manager on an acting basis when Bill D’Agostino stepped down in April of the following year.

The FirstNet board appointed Kennedy to the president role in August 2015.

Prior to the agency, he served as director of Raytheon‘s public safety and security business area from November 2011 to July 2013 and held an eight-year career at Science Applications International Corp.

Bill for FITARA Data Center Initiative Extension Clears Senate
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Bill for FITARA Data Center Initiative Extension Clears Senate


Bill for FITARA Data Center Initiative Extension Clears SenateThe Senate has passed a bill that would require agencies to continue to report data center inventory, conduct PortfolioStat reviews and share data via a federal information technology dashboard, Nextgov reported Friday.

The FITARA Enhancement Act now awaits President Donald Trump’s signature.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia) told Nextgov the passage of the bill is a key step  for agencies to realize FITARA’s full potential and comply with data center consolidation requirements.

“Congress is willing to be a partner in meeting these goals but we will also continue to hold agencies accountable,” Connolly added.

House members passed the bill in October through a 418-0 vote.

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Service Chiefs: DoD Needs Consistent Funds to Maintain Aviation Readiness
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Service Chiefs: DoD Needs Consistent Funds to Maintain Aviation Readiness


Service Chiefs: DoD Needs Consistent Funds to Maintain Aviation ReadinessAviation leaders from the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy have urged Congress to authorize a stable budget for the Defense Department to support the readiness of military aviators, DoD News reported Thursday.

Lt. Gen. Mark Nowland, Air Force deputy chief of staff for operations, said at a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee’s readiness subcommittee that President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2018 budget will establish the foundation to boost aviation readiness and joint lethality.

Nowland added that continuing resolutions and budget caps will reverse the progress of military aviation units.

Maj. Gen. William Gayler, commanding general of the Army Aviation Center of Excellence, told lawmakers that the Army aviation might face future readiness challenges due to force structure reductions, increased global requirements, budget uncertainty and higher training needs.

Budget constraints have also affected the retention and career progression of naval aviators because overseas deployments of aircraft leave non-deployed squadrons with an insufficient number of jets, stated Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, commander of Naval Air Forces.

Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder, Marine Corps deputy commandant for aviation, also called on Congress for consistent funds since the Marine Corps relies on modernization and repair to recover its aviation readiness.

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Air Force Leaders Call for Fiscal 2018 Budget Stability
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Air Force Leaders Call for Fiscal 2018 Budget Stability


Air Force Leaders Call for Fiscal 2018 Budget StabilityU.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein have said the military branch needs a stable budget to conduct national security efforts.

Wilson told reporters during the State of the Air Force Address held Tuesday at the Pentagon the branch seeks to restore readiness and modernize forces while it continues efforts to promote innovation, develop leaders and bolster America’s relationships with U.S. allies, the Air Force said Thursday.

“The fiscal 2018 continuing resolution is actually delaying our efforts to increase the readiness of the force, and risk accumulates over time,” she said.

At the event, Goldfein and Wilson also urged Congress to approve funds necessary for the branch to sustain its global operations.

The Air Force noted it will provide equipment and support services to Lebanon, Bahrain, Norway and Israel before the end of the year.

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NASA to Conduct CubeSat Study for Water Source On Moon
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NASA to Conduct CubeSat Study for Water Source On Moon


NASA to Conduct CubeSat Study for Water Source On MoonNASA has announced that scientist Noah Petro will lead a CubeSat mission to study the sources of water on the moon.

The space agency said Thursday the Mini Lunar Volatiles Mission or MiLUV aims to determine the locations of water on the moon; and study water migration to the lunar surface including permanently shadowed areas.

University of Hawaii researcher Paul Lucey and Goddard instrument experts will join Petro for the study funded by NASA’s Planetary Science Deep Space SmallSat Studies program.

The researchers will use a Goddard instrument-based laser spectrometer to detect lunar surface water.

The spectrometer employs its own source of light to operate at both day and night.

“We believe that the best-suited instrument to answer where these volatiles exist and their possible movement is a laser spectrometer that measures surface reflectance at several wavelengths,” Petro said.

The effort follows previous studies on evaporating volatiles and water found on the moon such as 1994’s Clementine mission.

To date, existing satellites have discovered three types of water sources on the moon: a global one-molecule layer of hydroxide and water; subsurface polar water ice; and polar surface water frost.

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Navy Nominees Thomas Modly, James Geurts Gain Senate Committee Approval
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Navy Nominees Thomas Modly, James Geurts Gain Senate Committee Approval


Navy Nominees Thomas Modly, James Geurts Gain Senate Committee ApprovalThe Senate Armed Services Committee has approved the nominations of Thomas Modly as undersecretary of the U.S. Navy and James Geurts as acquisition chief at the service branch, USNI News reported Thursday.

Modly, a former Navy helicopter pilot, concurrently serves as managing director at PwC’s national security practice and global government defense network leader of the company.

Geurts currently holds the acquisition executive position at the U.S. Special Operations Command.

Both nominees were called to testify before SASC on Tuesday to answer questions from committee members regarding their visions about Navy spending on F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter and Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier.

The appointments of Modly and Geurts are subject to a final vote in the full Senate.

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Lawmakers Include $400M ‘Light Attack’ Aircraft Procurement Language in 2018 NDAA
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Lawmakers Include $400M ‘Light Attack’ Aircraft Procurement Language in 2018 NDAA


Lawmakers Include $400M 'Light Attack' Aircraft Procurement Language in 2018 NDAAA group of U.S. lawmakers has proposed a $400 million initial budget for the U.S. Air Force to purchase a new light attack aircraft platform through the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2018, DoD Buzz reported Wednesday.

The Senate Armed Services Committee initially planned to obligate $1.2 billion for the procurement of light attack aircraft that can potentially succeed the Air Force’s current A-10 fleet.

The Air Force performed an experiment at the Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico in August to evaluate the L3–AirTractor team’s AT-802 Longsword; Textron‘s Scorpion and AT-6B Wolverine platforms; and the Sierra Nevada–Embraer alliance’s A-29 Super Tucano.

SASC Chairman John McCain (R-Arizona) was quoted as saying by DoD Buzz that he thinks the military branch should have a fleet of 300 light-attack fighters “that would require minimal work to develop.”

$500M Provision to Modernize Federal IT Included in Negotiated Defense Authorization Bill
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$500M Provision to Modernize Federal IT Included in Negotiated Defense Authorization Bill


$500M Provision to Modernize Federal IT Included in Negotiated Defense Authorization BillLawmakers have incorporated a provision that would fund federal agencies’ efforts to update information technology systems as part of the final version of the proposed defense authorization plan for fiscal year 2018, The Hill reported Thursday.

A Senate Armed Services Committee spokesperson confirmed to the publication that the Modernizing Government Technology Act is now a provision in the $692 billion 2018 National Defense Authorization Act markup negotiated by a joint House-Senate conference committee.

The report said the provision seeks to generate a $500 million IT modernization budget over five years to supplement working capital set for agencies’ efforts to transition to newer technology.

Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) introduced the MGT Act bill to the House, where it cleared the floor in May, while Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) introduced companion legislation to the Senate, which also included MGT Act in its approved version of NDAA.

The bill previously did not pass the Senate’s approval after the Congressional Budget Office determined the first iteration would cost $9 billion to implement, the report added.

Congress will now need to agree on the overall amount for the 2018 NDAA before submission to the White House as it is currently almost $85 billion above the Budget Control Act-capped defense budget for next fiscal year, ExecutiveGov said in its report.

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Australian Government Launches Trial for Satellite Positioning Technologies
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Australian Government Launches Trial for Satellite Positioning Technologies


Australian Government Launches Trial for Satellite Positioning TechnologiesThe Australian government has initiated a two-year trial of satellite positioning technologies that could support operations across various industries.

The office of Matt Canavan, minister for resources and Northern Australia, said Thursday initial contracts have been signed for an effort to study the economic and social impacts of a Satellite-Based Augmentation System on Australia and Asia.

“In coming months, further contracts are expected to be signed covering more than 30 industry-based projects across 10 sectors examining real-world applications of three new satellite positioning technologies,” Canavan said during an appearance at the Central Queensland University, one of the contract recipients.

“[Three] signals will be uplinked to a geostationary communications satellite out of Lockheed Martin’s station at Uralla in the New England region of New South Wales,” he added.

Australia provided an estimated $9.2 million while New Zealand allotted $1.5 million for the effort.

SBAS is designed to build on the accuracy of positioning data transmitted from international satellites to Australia, Canavan’s office noted.

Darren Chester, Australia’s minister for infrastructure and transport, stated that SBAS may potentially contribute to the safety, efficiency, capacity and positive environmental effect of all transport sectors in the country.

Lockheed, Inmarsat, GMV and Geoscience Australia will oversee the trial activity, while the Cooperative Research Center for Spatial Information will manage the industry projects, which span across the agriculture, aviation, construction, consumer goods, maritime, railway, transportation, utilities and other sectors.

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Garry Reid: DoD Seeks to Reform Background Investigation Process
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Garry Reid: DoD Seeks to Reform Background Investigation Process


Garry Reid: DoD Seeks to Reform Background Investigation ProcessThe Defense Department plans to reform its personnel vetting system once it assumes control of background investigations for DoD employees and contractors from the Office of Personnel Management, DoD News reported Thursday.

Garry Reid, DoD director for defense intelligence and security, said the current system faces a huge backlog that has resulted in a shortage of cleared defense contractors and a loss of potential new hires with “highly desired” technical skills.

He added that 93,000 DoD cases are currently waiting in line for top-secret investigation.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 directed DoD to develop plans for taking over background investigations from OPM.

Defense Secretary James Mattis approved the plan in August, with a goal to complete the transition in three years.

Reid noted that the plan will involve a “full resetting of process and procedures” that require modernization and system reform.

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