Air Force Gen. Darren McDew: Transcom Releases Strategy Framework to Address Potential Obstacles
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Air Force Gen. Darren McDew: Transcom Releases Strategy Framework to Address Potential Obstacles


transportation-command-logoThe U.S. Transportation Command has unveiled a new strategy framework created in an effort to help the command navigate through future obstacles that the agency may face.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Darren McDew, Transcom commander, said in a report published Friday the framework has outlined steps the agency must take to meet its priorities and perform its tasks for the nation.

“We must be ready to execute in contested environments while advocating for tomorrow’s capabilities, extend mission assurance through the cyber domain, evolve the command to ensure agility and responsiveness in the dynamic environment of tomorrow, and address the fundamental changes occurring in our nation’s workforce,” said McDew.

Transcom aims to use new technologies to boost effectiveness and efficiency in response to cyber threats and anticipated changes.

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CAPE Director Jamie Morin: Minuteman III ICBM Replacement Cost Could Exceed DoD’s $85B Estimate
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CAPE Director Jamie Morin: Minuteman III ICBM Replacement Cost Could Exceed DoD’s $85B Estimate


Jamie Morin
Jamie Morin

Jamie Morin, director of cost assessment and program evaluation at the Defense Department, has described $85 billion as a low cost estimate for the replacement platform of Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles in an interview with Breaking Defense posted Thursday.

Sydney Freedberg writes Morin said CAPE provided both low and high estimates for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent program in an acquisition memorandum to Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall.

DoD’s current $85 billion estimate is 37 percent higher than the U.S. Air Force’s $62 billion figure.

Morin told Breaking Defense it was difficult to estimate the cost of a new ICBM since Minuteman was last updated in 1970 and the MX Peacekeeper ICBM lacked records due to an acquisition reform movement in the 1990s.

The CAPE director noted the Air Force showed restraint in its requirements for GBSD which could help keep the program’s cost and schedule manageable.

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DISA Restructures Computing, Storage Activities; David Bennett Comments
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DISA Restructures Computing, Storage Activities; David Bennett Comments


Defense Information Systems Agency DISAThe Defense Information Systems Agency has moved to restructure computing and storage operations from January 2017 onward in an effort to standardize the services across its enterprise.

DISA aims to unify computing resources across the Defense Enterprise Computing Center networkand other locations, the agency said Thursday.

“We conducted a careful and thoughtful review of our computing operations, in order to find ways to achieve cost savings, standardize processes and services and offer our mission partners increased capabilities at lower rates over time,” said David Bennett, DISA’s operations center director.

This move will realign computing operations into eight lines of business:

  • Communications
  • Cyber
  • Data centers
  • Implementation and sustainment
  • Infrastructure
  • Mainframe
  • Server
  • Special services

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House Passes Commercial Space Bill to Authorize FAA Studies on Airspace Operation Impacts
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House Passes Commercial Space Bill to Authorize FAA Studies on Airspace Operation Impacts


space-engineeringThe House has passed legislation that would authorize the Federal Aviation Administration to consider impacts on space operations in any study to analyze proposed structures’ impact on airspace operations, Space News reported Thursday.

Jeff Fouse writes House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) introduced the bill to let the FAA study the impact on launch and reentry of launch and reentry vehicles.

“Similar to airports, for our spaceports to function we need to prioritize safety and minimize the risk of structures interfering with the flight path of spacecraft on launch or reentry,” noted McCarthy.

The House Science Committee has also approved a bill called the To Research, Evaluate, Assess and Treat astronauts act that works to address astronaut health issues.

Senate OKs $1.15B Abrams Tank Sale to Saudi Arabia
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Senate OKs $1.15B Abrams Tank Sale to Saudi Arabia


Abrams-tankThe U.S. Senate has approved a $1.15 billion sale of 130 General Dynamics Abrams battle tanks and ground vehicle recovery systems to Saudi Arabia under a foreign military sales agreement, Reuters reported Thursday.

Patricia Zengerle writes legislators voted 71-27 against a legislation sponsored by Sens. Rand Paul and Chris Murphy to stop the sale of military equipment.

The State Department authorized in August the sale of battle tanks and ground vehicle recovery systems to Saudi Arabia from the U.S. government.

Saudi Arabia will take in 20 armored recovery vehicle systems and other equipment through the FMS transaction.

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Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski: Cyber Resiliency Steering Group Unveils Air Force Cyber Campaign Plan
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Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski: Cyber Resiliency Steering Group Unveils Air Force Cyber Campaign Plan


Ellen Pawlikowski
Ellen Pawlikowski

Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, U.S. Air Force Materiel Command leader, highlighted her emphasis on cyber resiliency and hardening functions at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber conference Wednesday.

The Cyber Resiliency Steering Group led by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, AFMC and Air Force Space Command has developed a Air Force Cyber Campaign Plan that covers seven lines of attack.

“The focus of this group was to take a look and understand first of all what was the threat and what … should we do in order to ensure that our weapons systems were secure from this cyber threat,” said Pawlikowski.

The plan aims to cover mission thread analysis, development of cyber resiliency tools and expertise, security, intelligence, use and protection of current resources to identify and address the cause of cyber vulnerabilities.

The Defense Department established the Cyber Resiliency Steering Group in a push to build up cyber resiliency of weapons systems.

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Deputy Cybercom Lead Kevin McLaughlin Details Command’s Progress
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Deputy Cybercom Lead Kevin McLaughlin Details Command’s Progress


James McLaughlin
Lt. Gen. Kevin McLaughlin

Air Force Lt. Gen. Kevin McLaughlin, deputy commander of the U.S. Cyber Command, has outlined how Cybercom journeyed toward the creation of cyber mission forces in a Tuesday address to the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber conference.

McLaughlin noted that Cybercom is in its sixth year of operations and received an order from the Defense Department in 2013 to build the Cyber Mission Force that currently stands at 133 teams.

He said the CMF 39 of those teams represent the Air Force and are led by Maj. Gen. Christopher Weggeman, Air Forces Cyber Command leader.

“We now have created an environment where we can take individuals or small teams, entire teams, or groups of teams, including those who are allies and train them,” McLaughlin said.

Cybercom works to defend DoD Information networks, support combatant commanders and protect U.S. critical infrastructure systems from attacks if called.

“Anything today that touches a computer system or embedded (information technology) is our responsibility,” he said.

Mclaughlin said the command is working to develop new a training environment, cyber data tools and command-and-control functions to help in offensive and defensive operations.

White House Forms Public-Private Partnership for Climate Preparedness
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White House Forms Public-Private Partnership for Climate Preparedness


climate-changeThe White House has established a public-private partnership comprising federal agencies, non-governmental organizations and private businesses to provide information and tools in support of domestic and international climate preparedness efforts.

The Partnership for Resilience and Preparedness seeks to identify priority-information needs, expand access to data and develop an open-source platform for climate data sharing, the White House said Thursday.

As part of the alliance, the administration, 13 other nations and organizations from the private sector and civil society have issued the Joint Declaration on Harnessing the Data Revolution for Climate Resilience to expand the use and access to information related to climate resilience.

The declaration is in response to the administration’s commitment as laid out in the Third Open Government National Action Plan for the expansion of climate-relevant data worldwide.

PREP seeks to encourage discussions among producers and users of data, information and tools to support climate resilience and develop an open-source platform to provide access to climate-relevant information.

The partnership has also released a beta platform developed based on the open-source infrastructure of Resource Watch as part of the data access expansion effort.

Federal agency contributors to PREP are:

  • U.S. Global Change Research Program
  • Interior Department
  • NASA
  • NOAA

Non-federal participants include:

  • Amazon Web Services
  • CARTO
  • Descartes Labs
  • Earth Knowledge
  • Esri
  • Federation of Earth Science Information Partners
  • Forum One
  • Future Earth
  • Google
  • Microsoft
  • Sonoma County, California
  • The Group on Earth Observations
  • Vizzuality
  • The Weather Company, an IBM Business
  • World Resources Institute

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CIO Pamela Dyson Describes SEC’s Cloud Adoption, Big Data Initiatives
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CIO Pamela Dyson Describes SEC’s Cloud Adoption, Big Data Initiatives

 

Pamela Dyson
Pamela Dyson

Pamela Dyson, chief information officer at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, told Federal Times in an interview published Tuesday that SEC works to build a cloud framework designed to help the agency securely access and manage information as well as derive insights from big data.

Federal agencies should “make sure that the governance and strategy piece is well thought out within collaboration with the business to ensure that as you move instances to the cloud that you know it will not have an adverse impact on business operations,” Dyson told Federal Times senior staff reporter Carten Cordell.

Dyson also cited SEC’s efforts to support the agency’s big data and analytics programs, such as the launch of a business process reengineering initiative to determine processes that can be automated and establishment of an infrastructure that works to support data ingestion and analysis efforts.

SEC also initiated server visualization and updates to its storage platforms in order to reduce the agency’s data center footprint, Dyson told the publication.

Dyson was appointed full-time CIO of SEC in February 2015 four months after she started to serve in that position on an interim basis.

 

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Senate Panel OKs $19B Bipartisan NASA Reauthorization Bill; Sen. Ted Cruz Comments
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Senate Panel OKs $19B Bipartisan NASA Reauthorization Bill; Sen. Ted Cruz Comments


International Space StationThe Senate Commerce Committee has approved a bipartisan bill that would authorize $19.5 billion in fiscal year 2017 funds to help NASA sustain space investments that seek to support space exploration programs.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said in a statement released Wednesday the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2016 would direct the space agency to continue development work on the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System, support human exploration of Mars as well as extend the use of the International Space Station through 2028.

The proposed legislation would also authorize NASA to support medical diagnosis, monitoring and treatment programs for health conditions related to human space flight.

The bipartisan bill would direct the space agency to support low-Earth orbit commercialization efforts to facilitate the expansion of U.S. commerce into space.

“It is my hope that Congress will pass this into law and the president will sign it before the end of the year,” Cruz said.

Cruz introduced the bill with Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Florida), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Gary Peters (D-Michigan), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Tom Udall (D-New Mexico), John Thune (R-South Dakota) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington).

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