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Army Issues Updated Manual on Cyber, EW Missions
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Army Issues Updated Manual on Cyber, EW Missions


Army Issues Updated Manual on Cyber, EW MissionsThe U.S. Army has introduced an updated manual on cyber warfare and electromagnetic operations, C4ISRNET reported Friday.

Mark Pomerleau writes the FM 3-12 Cyberspace and Electronic Warfare Operations manual seeks to replace the FM 3-38 document initially released in 2014.

The FM 3-12 manual offers procedures on how to integrate and coordinate the Army’s electronic warfare and cyber operations in support of joint operations and unified ground missions.

The document defines three types of EW operations that include electronic attack, electronic warfare support and electronic protection as well as outlines details on cyber missions that are carried out from remote areas for both strategic and tactical campaigns.

The updated manual also classifies the EM spectrum as the “common denominator” for the service branch’s EW and cyber operations, the report added.

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DARPA’s RF Channel Emulator to Support Collaborative Machine-Learning Competition
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DARPA’s RF Channel Emulator to Support Collaborative Machine-Learning Competition


DARPA's RF Channel Emulator to Support Collaborative Machine-Learning CompetitionThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has unveiled a radio signal traffic emulator built to simulate electromagnetic communications during DARPA’s collaborative machine-learning competition.

The Colosseum will serve as a testbed for electromagnetic systems in civilian and military domains as part of the three-year, $3.75 million Spectrum Collaboration Challenge, DARPA said Friday.

A team of engineers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory assembled the Colosseum using 128 National Instruments-built software-based radios and 64 field programmable gate arrays.

The system is housed inside a server room at the APL campus in Laurel, Maryland.

“The Colosseum is the wireless research environment that we hope will catalyze the advent of autonomous, intelligent, and—most importantly, collaborative—radio technology, which will be essential as the population of devices linking wirelessly to each other and to the internet continues to grow exponentially,” said Paul Tilghman, DARPA’s SC2 program manager.

“We are asking SC2 competitors to devise fundamentally new radio systems that can learn from each other in real-time, making the need for arduous radio specifications obsolete,” Tilghman added.

DARPA said Colosseum works to emulate tens of thousands of potential interactions among hundreds of wireless communication devices such as cell phones, internet-of-things devices and military radios.

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NGA Releases GEOINT App for Govt Users on Apple App Store, Google Play
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NGA Releases GEOINT App for Govt Users on Apple App Store, Google Play


NGA Releases GEOINT App for Govt Users on Apple App Store, Google PlayThe National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has launched its latest application on the Apple‘s App Store and the Google Play Store in an effort to help authorized government user access unclassified geospatial intelligence through mobile devices.

NGA said Friday its Tearline app is accessible to the intelligence community, Defense Department, allies and academic and private sector partners.

“As GEOINT shifts toward a more unclassified data future, NGA has an opportunity to tell more stories at the protected yet unclassified level,” said Chris Rasmussen, NGA’s public software development lead.

Rasmussen added Tearline is designed to address the commercialization of GEOINT and provide original content to senior agency officials.

He noted that users would need credentials to access the app.

Tearline was developed under NGA’s GEOINT Pathfinder project, which the agency said works to answer intelligence questions using commercially-available tools, data, information technology and services.

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DoD IG: Plan Needed to Facilitate Equipment Release to Support Iraqi Counterterrorism Service Training
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DoD IG: Plan Needed to Facilitate Equipment Release to Support Iraqi Counterterrorism Service Training


DoD IG: Plan Needed to Facilitate Equipment Release to Support Iraqi Counterterrorism Service TrainingThe Defense Department‘s inspector general has called on the chief of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Iraq to assist and offer advice to the Iraqi Counterterrorism Service commander to create a plan that would authorize the release of supplies and equipment in support of CTS training.

DoD IG said in a report published Wednesday it made the recommendation after it evaluated the efforts of U.S. and coalition forces to equip and train the Iraqi CTS and special operations forces against the Islamic State militant organization.

The IG also found that U.S. forces complied with the title 10 of the U.S. Code and the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2015 through the use of the Iraq Train and Equip Fund acquisition process to provide arms to CTS in support of their warfighting operations.

The commander of the Special Operations Training Command-Iraq should work with the leaders of the CTS training command to develop and integrate training evaluation standards and criteria for all tasks under the academia’s training courses, according to the report.

The IG also recommended that the chief of the Special Operations Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve should develop a resource plan on how to provide ammunition, weapons and range facilities in support of CTS trainees’ live-fire training operations on SPG‑9, M-72 and AT-4 weapon systems.

Sen. Chuck Schumer: Congress Close to Budget Agreement Sans ‘Poison-Pill’ Amendments
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Sen. Chuck Schumer: Congress Close to Budget Agreement Sans ‘Poison-Pill’ Amendments


Sen. Chuck Schumer: Congress Close to Budget Agreement Sans ‘Poison-Pill’ AmendmentsSenate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) has said he believes House and Senate leaders from Republican and Democratic parties are close to reaching a budget deal before the April 28 deadline to prevent a possible government shutdown and a continuing resolution, Defense News reported Sunday.

“If the president doesn’t interfere and insist on poison-pill amendments to be shoved down the throat of the Congress, we can come up with an agreement,” Schumer told reporters in a conference call Tuesday.

“We want to make sure it’s a good budget that meets our principles, but so far, so good,” he added.

Joe Gould writes Schumer noted that Democrats would refuse to fund President Donald Trump’s proposed U.S. border wall with Mexico and that the immigration issue should be tackled in the fiscal 2018 budget.

Trump said in a Twitter post Sunday that Obamacare would not get funds to continue if Democrats fail to fund the proposed border wall, according to a report by David Morgan and Doina Chiacu for Reuters.

“The Dems need big money to keep [Obamacare] going – otherwise it dies far sooner than anyone would have thought,” Trump added.

The White House announced last week that it will provide federal agencies guidance that outlines contingency plans in the event of a government shutdown.

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Mary McCord to Resign as DOJ Acting Assistant Attorney General
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Mary McCord to Resign as DOJ Acting Assistant Attorney General


Mary McCord to Resign as DOJ Acting Assistant Attorney GeneralMary McCord, acting assistant attorney general and principal deputy assistant attorney general for national security at the Justice Department, will step down from her position in May, NPR reported Thursday.

Carrie Johnson writes McCord told her staff in a written message that she will leave the department “to pursue new career opportunities.”

The report said McCord leads DOJ’s investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and has held various leadership roles in the department’s national security unit over the past three years.

She previously served as criminal division chief at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, where she oversaw the prosecution of criminal matters in federal district court.

McCord also supervised cases in the U.S. and District of Columbia Courts of Appeals as deputy chief in the Appellate Division.

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John Kelly: DHS Partners With Industry to Protect Federal Networks from Cyber Attacks
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John Kelly: DHS Partners With Industry to Protect Federal Networks from Cyber Attacks


John Kelly: DHS Partners With Industry to Protect Federal Networks from Cyber Attacks
John Kelly

John Kelly, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has said DHS has collaborated with industry to update outdated information technology systems as part of efforts to safeguard the federal government’s data infrastructure from cyber attacks.

Kelly said in a speech delivered Tuesday at George Washington University’s Center for Cyber and Homeland Security such a partnership with the commercial sector seeks to build up cyber resilience in the country’s physical and digital infrastructure.

“By integrating their cutting-edge, commercially-available technology with our interagency partner’s unique capabilities, we can aggressively defend our federal networks against the endless stream of cyber attacks.”

“Our federal cybersecurity needs heavy artillery,” he added.

He noted that cybersecurity is one of the priorities of DHS and discussed how the department works to promote a culture that allows organizations to build up their cyber defense strategies against cyber attacks.

Kelly also cited the U.S. Secret Service‘s efforts to help prevent approximately $500 million in cyber losses in 2016.

Other issues Kelly discussed during his speech include terrorism, transnational criminal organizations, human smuggling, drug trade and border security.

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DOJ’s Information Policy Office, GSA’s 18F Unit Partner on FOIA Portal Development
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DOJ’s Information Policy Office, GSA’s 18F Unit Partner on FOIA Portal Development


DOJ's Information Policy Office, GSA's 18F Unit Partner on FOIA Portal DevelopmentThe Justice Department‘s Office of Information Policy has partnered with the General Services Administration‘s 18F digital services group to build a website for processing of Freedom of Information Act requests.

OIP said Wednesday it will gather input from agency personnel and requesters on the creation of a national FOIA portal, as mandated by the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016.

Interested parties can submit ideas to the OIP by April 28.

Melanie Pustay, director the OIP, told FCW in an interview published Thursday that the organization has secured a $1.3 million budget to establish the site for people to request governmental records from 119 agencies covered by FOIA.

Pustay added her office will establish the portal in an effort to guide visitors toward correct agencies as well as locate and access information they need.

OIP aims to launch an operational version of the FOIA site within the 2017 calendar year.

Chris Wlaschin: HHS to Establish Health Cybersecurity & Comms Integration Center
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Chris Wlaschin: HHS to Establish Health Cybersecurity & Comms Integration Center


Chris Wlaschin: HHS to Establish Health Cybersecurity & Comms Integration CenterThe Department of Health and Human Services will stand up its version of the Department of Homeland Security‘s National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center in a move to help providers and consumers secure healthcare data, Federal News Radio reported Thursday.

Nicole Ogrysko writes the Chris Wlaschin, chief information security officer of HHS, said the new facility is scheduled to reach initial operating capability before the end of June.

Wlaschin told a forum hosted by the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council that HHS  awarded grants to the National Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center to help the department identify best practices to protect patient data and privacy.

The report said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also looks to follow a similar concept and began to develop an application programming interface for developers to verify security of health information technology applications.

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VA Choice Program Extension Bill Gets Trump’s Signature
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VA Choice Program Extension Bill Gets Trump’s Signature


VA Choice Program Extension Bill Gets Trump's SignaturePresident Donald Trump has signed a bill to extend a Department of Veterans Affairs program that allows eligible military veterans to receive medical care from a civilian provider, DoD News reported Thursday.

Trump said the Veterans Choice Program Extension and Improvement Act offers former service members an option to choose their care provider and eliminates the need to travel long distances for VA care.

The bill was approved by the Senate through a unanimous vote earlier this month to authorize VA’s use of funds appropriated for the Veterans Choice Program beyond the initiative’s Aug. 7 expiration date.

The White House said Wednesday the approved legislation also changes reimbursement and cost-recovery methods for care provided under the program.

It also authorizes the exchange of certain veterans medical records with non-VA care providers.

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