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Lt. Gen. William Bender Issues Endpoint Visibility Platform Deployment Directive for Air Force
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Lt. Gen. William Bender Issues Endpoint Visibility Platform Deployment Directive for Air Force


Lt. Gen. William Bender Issues Endpoint Visibility Platform Deployment Directive for Air ForceLt. Gen. William Bender, chief of information dominance and chief information officer of the U.S. Air Force, has signed a memorandum that mandates the service branch to implement an endpoint visibility platform across the service branch’s information technology programs.

The Automated Remediation and Asset Discovery platform will work to help the service branch’s cyber professionals gain real-time visibility into all levels of computing and address threats to network reliant tools such as weapons systems, the Air Force said Friday.

The memo gives authorizing officials until May 31 to validate that IT investments in their portfolio have installed ARAD.

The mandate applies to Air Force systems that connect to the Non-Secure Internet Protocol Router NETwork and will be applied to all systems that connect to networks such as the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network in the future.

Bender said IT systems that connect to the branch’s networks without ARAD will be considered high-risk.

ARAD is designed to also provide vulnerability status for Information Assurance Vulnerability Management compliance at the enterprise level as well as help mission leaders monitor systems and implement change management and configuration control measures.

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NY Guardsmen to Help Test Orion Spacecraft Recovery Gear Under Joint NASA-DoD Mission
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NY Guardsmen to Help Test Orion Spacecraft Recovery Gear Under Joint NASA-DoD Mission


NY Guardsmen to Help Test Orion Spacecraft Recovery Gear Under Joint NASA-DoD MissionForty-five airmen from the New York Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing will support a joint effort of NASA and the Defense Department to demonstrate techniques and systems that will be used to recover NASA’s Orion spacecraft.

The guardsmen will work with NASA, the U.S. Air Force and DoD’s Human Spaceflight Support Office to develop techniques for air-dropping gear that will work to recover astronauts from Orion and fit the spacecraft with special equipment, DoD said Friday.

The New York airmen will perform airdrops and practice assisting astronauts out of the spacecraft in Hawaii to help NASA and DoD test systems and procedures for future launches.

DoD noted the 106th airmen will only test recovery equipment and will not work with an actual or simulated Orion capsule.

The 45 members include pararescuemen; combat rescue officers; survival, evasion, resistance and escape specialists; and other support airmen of the 106th Rescue Wing’s 103rd Rescue Squadron.

Orion is designed to transport American astronauts to deep space locations and scheduled to be launched in September 2018 for a three-week mission to the moon.

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Bill Gerstenmaier: NASA Examines Pros, Cons of Crewed SLS/Orion Mission
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Bill Gerstenmaier: NASA Examines Pros, Cons of Crewed SLS/Orion Mission


Bill Gerstenmaier: NASA Examines Pros, Cons of Crewed SLS/Orion MissionNASA has launched a study of the potential advantages and disadvantages of having a flight crew on the Space Launch System‘s first deployment with the Orion spacecraft in 2019, Space News reported Friday.

Jeff Foust writes that agency researchers are examining the feasibility of a two-person flight crew for Exploration Mission 1 that would be flown on a trajectory similar to another trajectory under consideration for the future EM-2 launch.

“We need to go look at what do we really gain by putting crew on this flight,” Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for human exploration and operations at NASA, said of the crewed EM-1 study.

“Does this really advance significantly our overall ability to get to a capability to take humans, routinely as it can be, to the vicinity of the moon and operate safely?” Gerstenmaier added, according to the report.

He expects NASA to report on the preliminary results of the study within a month and projects the findings will fit into upcoming discussions between the White House and Congress about the agency’s fiscal 2018 budget.

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Former Army Reserve Intell Officer Philip Bilden Drops Out of Navy Secretary Nomination
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Former Army Reserve Intell Officer Philip Bilden Drops Out of Navy Secretary Nomination


Former Army Reserve Intell Officer Philip Bilden Drops Out of Navy Secretary Nomination
Philip Bilden

Philip Bilden, a financier and former military intelligence officer at the U.S. Army Reserve, has withdrawn his name from consideration as the next secretary of the U.S. Navy due to his business interests, USNI News reported Sunday.

“After an extensive review process, I have determined that I will not be able to satisfy the Office of Government Ethics requirements without undue disruption and materially adverse divestment of my family’s private financial interests,” Bilden said in a statement.

Megan Eckstein and Sam LaGrone write the Trump administration nominated Bilden for the Navy secretary post on Jan. 25.

Bilden resigned from the Army Reserve in 1996 to establish his business in Hong Kong.

He also served on the board of trustees of the Naval War College Foundation and the board of directors of the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation.

Defense Secretary James Mattis said he will recommend to the president a nominee to lead the Navy and the Marine Corps in the next few days, according to the report.

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Commerce Dept Seeks Comments on Revised Confidentiality Pledge in BEA Surveys
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Commerce Dept Seeks Comments on Revised Confidentiality Pledge in BEA Surveys


Commerce Dept Seeks Comments on Revised Confidentiality Pledge in BEA SurveysThe Commerce Department has asked the public to comment on a proposed revision to the confidentiality pledge the bureau of economic analysis gives to survey respondents as part of the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act.

The department’s BEA said in a Federal Register notice posted Feb. 13 the revision is in compliance with the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015.

The cybersecurity law requires the implementation of the Einstein 3A cyber protection platform designed to secure agencies’ information technology systems such as the monitoring of the Commerce Department’s online traffic.

The revised confidentiality pledge will include the sentence “Per the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, your data are protected from cybersecurity risks through security monitoring of the BEA information systems.”

The revised pledge will cover several data collection titles and numbers such as the Quarterly Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Board, Annual Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the U.S. and Foreign Ocean Carriers’ Expenses in the U.S.

The department will accept comments from federal agencies and the public through April 14.

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Adm. Michael Rogers Unveils Strategic Goals for Cybercom
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Adm. Michael Rogers Unveils Strategic Goals for Cybercom


Adm. Michael Rogers Unveils Strategic Goals for CybercomNavy Adm. Michael Rogers, head of the Cyber Command and National Security Agency, has discussed his visions about Cybercom’s potential role on cyber integration at the tactical level of warfare and its relationship with the private sector in the next  five to 10 years during the West 2017 conference, DoD News reported Friday.

Cheryl Pellerin writes Rogers also talked about the Cybercom’s workforce and talent development programs as well as the technology sector’s role on human capital development at the forum co-sponsored by AFCEA International and the U.S. Naval Institute.

Rogers said he sees the potential elevation of Cybercom into a combatant command which will provide recommendations to decision makers and policymakers on the integration of cyber activities to the tactical level.

“We should be integrating [cyber] into the strike group and on the amphibious expeditionary side,” he told audience.

“Give it that broad set of responsibilities where it not only is taking forces fielded by the services and employing them; it’s articulating the requirement and the vision and you’re giving it the resources to create the capacity and then employ it.”

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FAA Issues Updated List of Potential UAS Sighting Reports
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FAA Issues Updated List of Potential UAS Sighting Reports


FAA Issues Updated List of Potential UAS Sighting ReportsThe Federal Aviation Administration has issued an updated list of potential encounters of air traffic controllers, pilots and law enforcement personnel with unmanned aerial systems from February to September 2016.

FAA said in a news release published Thursday it received 1,274 reports of possible UAS sightings between February and September 2016, up from 874 sightings recorded in the prior year period.

The agency noted that it has not validated any reported collision between a drone and a civil aircraft to date.

FAA also has released a new application – B4UFLY – on Android and iOS phones designed to provide UAS operators information on areas where drones are allowed to operate.

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Navy to Provide Info Warfare Training Via New Center
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Navy to Provide Info Warfare Training Via New Center


Navy to Provide Info Warfare Training Via New CenterThe U.S. Navy will establish an Information Warfighting Development Center in a push to help equip and train the service branch’s warfighters in the information warfare domain, C4ISR and Networks reported Friday.

Mark Pomerleau writes Rear Adm. Matthew Kohler, commander of the Navy Information Forces Command, said the IWDC will integrate assured command and control, battlespace awareness and integrated fires as well as train warfighters on advanced warfighting tactics, techniques and procedures.

The IWDC will also help the military service develop, publish, revise, standardize and validate warfighting TTPs and identify subject matter experts within the given areas, according to the report.

The Navy expects IWDC to reach initial operation capability early next month and achieve full operational capability in the spring of 2019.

CBO: Navy’s Ship Procurement in 2017 Plan to Cost $566B Over 30 Years
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CBO: Navy’s Ship Procurement in 2017 Plan to Cost $566B Over 30 Years


CBO: Navy’s Ship Procurement in 2017 Plan to Cost $566B Over 30 YearsThe Congressional Budget Office estimates the U.S. Navy’s procurement of new ships under its 2017 shipbuilding plan to cost approximately $566 billion in 2016 dollars over three decades.

CBO said in a report published Tuesday the figure reflects an average annual cost of approximately $18.9 billion, up from the service branch’s estimate of $17 billion per year.

The agency also predicts the average cost of executing the 2017 shipbuilding plan per year to hit about $21 billion in 2016 dollars between fiscal 2017 and 2046, approximately $5 billion more than the average budget the military branch has received in previous decades.

The report is based on the evaluation of estimated outcomes in the 2017 shipbuilding plan in comparison with the 2014 force structure assessment that seeks to build and maintain a fleet of 308 combat ships.

The agency’s estimated annual new ship construction cost of $18.9 billion in the 2017 plan would be 36 percent higher than the Navy’s historical average annual funds of $13.9 billion in 2016 dollars, CBO added.

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NGA Holds Hackathon to Encourage Devt of Emergency Response Tech Platforms
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NGA Holds Hackathon to Encourage Devt of Emergency Response Tech Platforms


NGA Holds Hackathon to Encourage Devt of Emergency Response Tech PlatformsThe National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency held a “hackathon” event in Huntsville, Alabama, over the weekend that challenged participants to develop geospatially-focused products and services designed to aid emergency responders in the event of a natural disaster.

NGA said Friday the two-day event gathered members of the academia, industry, local innovators and small businesses communities and offered opportunities to meet recruiters from the agency as well as receive briefings from NGA personnel.

U.S. Air Force Capt. Adam Satterfield, NGA’s crowdsourced-driven innovation lead, said that crowdsourcing mission-centric challenges helps the agency discover technical products and recruit new talent.

NGA provided a cash award of $3,000 to the hackathon’s grand winner and $1,000 to the first runner-up.

The event also coincided with the “Innovate Huntsville” week of scheduled events, panels and social activities for  entrepreneurs, investors, strategic advisers and community supporters in the region.

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