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Report: Marine Corps Plans to Acquire Polaris Defense All-Terrain Vehicles
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Report: Marine Corps Plans to Acquire Polaris Defense All-Terrain Vehicles


The Marine CorpsThe U.S. Marine Corps plans to buy Polaris Defense-built all-terrain vehicles as part of the service branch’s Utility Task Vehicle program, DoD Buzz reported Tuesday.

Matthew Cox writes Joaquin Salas, Polaris business development head, told Military.com at Modern Day Marine 2016 that the Marine Corps looks to purchase 144 Polaris MRZR-Ds — a new version of Polaris’ MRZR four-seater ATVs that can carry diesel and JP8 fuel.

The Marine Corps aims to field 18 MRZR-Ds per infantry regiment according to program information displayed at the event but the service branch has yet to award a contract, Cox reported.

Salas said the vehicles are scheduled for production in October and the MRZR-Ds will be built to carry 1,500 pounds of payload and feature a small cargo bed, the report stated.

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Robert Cardillo: NGA Forms Commercial GEOINT Procurement Program With GSA As Part of Open Content Strategy
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Robert Cardillo: NGA Forms Commercial GEOINT Procurement Program With GSA As Part of Open Content Strategy


Robert Cardillo
Robert Cardillo

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Director Robert Cardillo has said NGA partnered with the General Services Administration to establish a program that seeks to facilitate the adoption and acquisition of commercial data and analysis services as part of NGA’s open content strategy.

Cardillo told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday that the Commercial Initiative to Buy Operationally Responsive GEOINT program aims to use GSA schedules and other government-wide contract vehicles to aid in the procurement of commercial imagery and analytical services, NGA reported Tuesday.

NGA expects the CIBORG program with GSA to serve as a platform in early 2017 for the purchase of commercial services in support of missions of NGA and the National System for Geospatial-Intelligence, he said.

Cardillo, an inductee into Executive Mosaic‘s Wash100 list for 2016, told the Senate panel that NGA created the open content strategy in an effort to meet customers’ GEOINT needs, explore new forms of data and apply data to carry out the agency’s missions.

He also cited that NGA also released an acquisition strategy in August in order to promote transparency in procurement, create opportunities for industry interaction and engage with non-conventional and traditional contractors.

Other NGA initiatives he mentioned in his testimony before the Senate committee include the establishment of NGA Outpost Valley in Silicon Valley and launch of the On-Domain, On-Demand training system for agency staff.

Cardillo also cited the creation of the Future Needs Working Group in order to identify future geospatial needs to support national security efforts as well as NGA’s adoption of activity-based intelligence that seeks to promote use of big data analytics to detect hostile threats.

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Report: DHS Draft Cyber Incident Response Plan Goes to Stakeholders
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Report: DHS Draft Cyber Incident Response Plan Goes to Stakeholders


cyberThe Department of Homeland Security has circulated a draft of the National Cyber Incident Response Plan to stakeholders for final comment, FCW reported Tuesday.

Sean Carberry writes FCW obtained a copy of the draft plan which stated that NCIRP aims to support a coordinated nationwide approach to response activities during cyber incidents that impact critical infrastructure.

NCIRP’s response activities will include threat and asset response; intelligence support and related activities; and affected entities’ response efforts, Carberry reported.

The draft states private sector entities should report incidents that “meet the required reporting thresholds” even if they can address the event through internal resources or service providers, FCW said.

DHS will facilitate a 30-day comment period for the draft and the department aims to finalize NCIRP before the next president takes office, according to the report.

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Report: DoD to Request OCO Budget for Afghanistan Troop Retention in November
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Report: DoD to Request OCO Budget for Afghanistan Troop Retention in November


Ashton Carter
Ashton Carter

The administration will submit an overseas contingency operations supplemental budget request to Congress after the Nov. 8 elections to support 8,400 U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan, Defense Insider said Tuesday.

The budget request is estimated to be between $3 billion and $6 billion, Tony Bertuca writes.

The report said the Office of Management and Budget has also indicated the current administration intends to request for additional non-defense spending in relation to the OCO supplemental.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter noted that the supplemental request is in support of the Defense Department‘s accelerated campaign against the Islamic State militant group.

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NASA, China Form Air Transportation Automation & Management Study Partnership
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NASA, China Form Air Transportation Automation & Management Study Partnership


AirportRunwayNASA and a state-owned aerospace company in China have entered into a partnership to carry out a five-year joint aeronautics research initiative in an effort to update air transportation and work toward greater automation of aviation operations in both countries.

Both parties will gather and analyze data from Chinese airports to support air traffic management efficiency and the advancement of air transportation concepts and tools, NASA said Thursday.

NASA will collaborate with U.S. airlines and the Chinese Aeronautical Establishment will partner with the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the China Air Traffic Management Bureau and Chinese airports and airlines for the study.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said the study will work to advance ground delay predictions to help air carriers to schedule their departures.

He added that the project looks to impact U.S. carrier operations in China and the global aviation community.

The study is in line with another research effort by the Airspace Operations and Safety Program within NASA’s aeronautics research mission directorate.

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Jane Norberg Promoted as Full-Time SEC Whistleblower Office Head
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Jane Norberg Promoted as Full-Time SEC Whistleblower Office Head


sec-whistleblowerJane Norberg, chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission‘s office of the whistleblower, has been promoted to lead the same office on a full-time basis.

Norberg came to SEC in 2012 to serve as the first deputy chief of the organization that she also helped establish to intake and review whistleblower tips, evaluate award claims and advise the commission on the eligibility of claimants for award, SEC said Wednesday.

She took on the acting chief role in the office after inaugural chief Sean McKessy stepped down in July.

“In its short history, our whistleblower program has had a transformative impact on our agency, and Jane has played a significant role as deputy of the office of the whistleblower,” said Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC’s enforcement division.

Norberg previously served as an attorney at law firm Shearman & Sterling and a special agent at U.S. Secret Service, where she handled federal criminal investigations and provided protection services to the president, vice president and visiting foreign dignitaries.

SEC’s whistleblower office has received at least 14,000 whistleblower tips from people in various parts of the U.S.  and foreign countries since its inception.

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Obama to Nominate Glenn Fine as DoD Inspector General
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Obama to Nominate Glenn Fine as DoD Inspector General


Glenn Fine
Glenn Fine

President Barack Obama plans to nominate Glenn Fine, principal deputy inspector general at the Defense Department, to the Pentagon’s IG post.

Fine has been acting IG at the Pentagon since January, the White House said Wednesday.

Prior to DoD, he spent three years at law firm Dechert LLP as a partner in the white collar and securities litigation practice.

Fine also served as an IG at the Justice Department between 2000 and 2011.

He worked as a special counsel to DOJ’s IG and as director of the special investigations and review unit at the department for five years.

He also served for three years as an assistant attorney at the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia and as a lawyer at Bredhoff & Kaiser from 1989 to 1995.

Fine has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard College, a master’s degree from Oxford University and a juris doctorate degree from Harvard Law School.

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Report: Air Force Starts ICBM Program Test Fund Collection Effort
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Report: Air Force Starts ICBM Program Test Fund Collection Effort


MissileDefenseThe U.S. Air Force has started to gather resources and funds to test a new intercontinental ballistic missile fleet as part of the branch’s modernization effort, Defense News reported Tuesday.

Aaron Mehta writes the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center already sought to designate the Ground Base Strategic Deterrent program as “very large” to merit extra budget for the testing requirements.

Defense News reports the Air Force will include the “very large” designation in the service’s fiscal year 2018 budget request.

The Air Force intends for the new fleet to replace the Minuteman III ICBM program, according to the report.

The program will kick off tests after five-to-six years, Mehta reports.

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FBI, Bureau of Justice Statistics Award Grants Under Crime Reporting Standardization Effort
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FBI, Bureau of Justice Statistics Award Grants Under Crime Reporting Standardization Effort


investment money exchangeFBI and the Bureau of Justice Statistics have invested $24.2 million in grants to U.S. law enforcement agencies through a program that seeks to support the national crime reporting infrastructure.

BJS said Tuesday the grants under the National Crime Statistics Exchange program include $18.7 million for the transition of 16 local law enforcement agencies to their respective states’ crime reporting systems to support data sharing with FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System.

Uniform Crime Reporting programs in seven states will receive $5.5 million in effort to bolster the states’ capacity for incident-based crime data collection from police agencies.

Jeri Mulrow, BJS acting director, said FBI’s criminal justice information services division is also a partner in the grant-making initiative.

The transition process to NIBRS include the following local law enforcement agencies:

  • Boston Police Department
  • City of Albuquerque
  • City of Charlotte
  • City of Long Beach
  • City of Mesa
  • City of Omaha
  • City of Philadelphia
  • City of Phoenix
  • City of Portland
  • City of San Antonio
  • City of San Diego
  • Los Angeles County Sheriff
  • Los Angeles Police Department
  • Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
  • New York State Police
  • Prince George’s County

The recipients of the grants for state UCR programs are:

  • Hawaii Department of the Attorney General
  • Illinois State Police
  • Kansas Bureau of Investigation
  • Minnesota Department of Public Safety
  • Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
  • State of New Jersey, Department of Law & Public Safety
  • Utah Department of Public Safety – Bureau of Criminal Identification

BJS aims to recruit 400 more law enforcement agencies into the pool of more than 6,600 agencies that currently use NIBRS in support of efforts to standardize crime reporting across law enforcement agencies.

Congress Approves 10-Week Govt Funding Extension
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Congress Approves 10-Week Govt Funding Extension


CongressThe House voted 342-85 Wednesday evening to pass a stopgap spending bill that would fund the operations of the federal government through Dec. 9 and prevent a government shutdown on Oct. 1, The Hill newspaper reported Wednesday.

Sarah Ferris and Cristina Marcos write the Senate initially rejected the proposed legislation Tuesday but approved it Wednesday after House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) struck an agreement to pass a bipartisan amendment to a House water resources bill that would authorize $170 million in funds to address lead contamination in Flint, Michigan.

Mike DeBonis also reports for The Washington Post that the stopgap funding bill would allocate $1.1 billion to stop the spread of the Zika virus and $500 million to fund emergency flood relief efforts in Louisiana and other states.

Veterans programs would also receive a full year of funding under the proposed measure, DeBonis writes.

The report said the House deal could help pave the way for the inclusion of the Flint aid package in the final water projects bill as both chambers of Congress work to reach a compromise on both versions of the proposed measure.

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