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US, India Sign Military Logistics Agreement
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US, India Sign Military Logistics Agreement


partnershipThe U.S. and India’s government have signed an agreement on the use of each other’s land, air and naval bases for repair and resupply in support of efforts towards the development of further defense ties, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Manohar Parrikar, India’s defense minister, said the agreement helps the naval forces of both countries support each other in joint operations and exercises as well as during humanitarian assistance missions.

“India and the U.S. have a shared interest in freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce as part of rule-based order in [the] Indo-Pacific,” added Parrikar.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter visited India in April for a push to expand the U.S.-India defense collaboration and revisit current agreements with Parrikar.

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Joel Roos Succeeds Jose Acosta to Lead Naval Medical Center San Diego
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Joel Roos Succeeds Jose Acosta to Lead Naval Medical Center San Diego


Joel Roos
Joel Roos

Navy Capt. Joel Roos, formerly fleet surgeon of the Japan-based U.S. 7th Fleet, has assumed his new role as commanding officer of the Naval Medical Center San Diego.

The Navy said Monday he succeeds Capt. Jose Acosta, who has been named as lead medical officer for the San Diego-based U.S. 3rd Fleet and will oversee medical readiness programs for sailors and marines onboard ships, submarines and aircraft based in California, Washington and Hawaii.

Roos relieved Acosta of the command during a ceremony held Tuesday at NMCSD and became the 43rd naval officer to lead the medical center.

He most recently managed the 7th Fleet’s operational medical planning and execution efforts as well as theater security cooperation engagements throughout the Western Pacific.

He previously served at NMCSD as deputy commander.

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Air Force Puts F-35A Through ‘Northern Lightning’ Exercise; Brad Bashore, Bart Van Roo Comment
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Air Force Puts F-35A Through ‘Northern Lightning’ Exercise; Brad Bashore, Bart Van Roo Comment


F-35AThe U.S. Air Force has demonstrated the F-35A fighter jet during this year’s edition of the Northern Lightning joint training exercise.

Lt. Col. Brad Bashore, the 58th Fighter Squadron commander, and his wingmen at the 58th FS within the 33rd Fighter Wing, delivered fire from the sky and scored as many as 37 kill points during the exercise, the Air Force said Tuesday.

The Northern Lightning exercise functions as an avenue for the fifth and fourth-generation aircraft to exhibit their functions in a contested and degraded environment, according to the Air Force.

F-35A jets contain sensors designed to process and share data with other participants in a battlespace.

“The significant increase in situational awareness that it gives us on the battlefield, the information sharing between jets, radar capability and of course the capability that we will have with our opponents not being able to see us will be a game changer,” said Lt. Col. Bart Van Roo, commander of the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 176th FS.

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Senators Urge President Obama to Raise Financial System Security Issues During G-20 Leaders’ Summit
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Senators Urge President Obama to Raise Financial System Security Issues During G-20 Leaders’ Summit


cybersecurityA group of six Democratic U.S. senators wrote a letter to President Barack Obama asking him to address cybersecurity of financial institutions when he meets with his international counterparts at the G-20 Summit that will be held in Hangzhou, China from Sept. 4 to 5.

The senators said in their joint letter published Monday they believe the increase in the number of cyber attacks on the financial services industry creates “significant” risks for the global financial system and economy.

They noted that countries should collaborate to develop and implement a coordinated approach to thwart cyber crimes against the sector as well as to expand current cybersecurity programs.

“We are hopeful that a robust commitment to these efforts is reflected in any relevant communiques that result from the September G-20 Leaders summit,” the lawmakers told President Obama.

The lawmakers added collaborative systems are key to prevent another financial system security incident like the cyber theft of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank through an international financial messaging system run by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.

The letter was signed by Sens. Gary Peters (D-Michigan), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia).

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Defense One: CSIS Target of Russia-Linked APT Hacking Group
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Defense One: CSIS Target of Russia-Linked APT Hacking Group


CyberCrimeKeyboardA hacking group linked to the Kremlin has targeted the Center for Strategic and International Studies and several other Washington think tanks that conduct research into Russia’s policy initiatives, Defense One reported Monday.

Patrick Tucker writes that Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder and chief technology officer of security firm CrowdStrike, told Defense One the company found that APT29 carried out a “highly targeted operation” against fewer than five local organizations with Russia-focused research programs.

The report said H. Andrew Schwartz, senior vice president for external relations at CSIS, confirmed in an email that the center experienced a cyber attack last week.

Cybersecurity researchers also previously traced breaches on the Democratic National Committee, White House, State Department and Joint Chiefs of Staff to APT29, also known as Cozy Bear, Tucker reports.

FireEye uncovered the APT29 two years ago and said the state-sponsored group works by bypassing network defenses as well as wiping out forensic evidence, according to the publication.

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GAO Asks OMB, GSA, PIC to Work on Performance.gov Requirement Compliance, Usability
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GAO Asks OMB, GSA, PIC to Work on Performance.gov Requirement Compliance, Usability


digital governmentThe U.S. Government Accountability Office has called on the Office of Management and Budget, General Services Administration and Performance Improvement Council to address Performance.gov’s usability and compliance with federal requirements.

GAO said Tuesday OMB, GSA and PIC’s efforts to update the government performance information website do not meet certain DigitalGov requirements for federal websites as well as some provisions under the Government Performance and Results Act Modernization Act of 2010.

Auditors added OMB and PIC work to track 18 of 24 Digitalgov website performance measures but have not established goals for those measures despite GAO’s June 2013 recommendations.

According to the GAO report, OMB and GSA have yet to fully address the findings of a GSA-led usability test in September 2013 that indicated issues with Performance.gov’s accessibility, purpose, data visualizations and search function.

OMB and PIC staff told GAO the government bodies did not take action on the 2013 usability test results nor set goals for DigitalGov’s performance measures due to “limited resources.”

GAO noted OMB does not have a customer outreach strategy that would provide information on OMB’s plans to notify users on Performance.gov changes; communicate through social media; and utilize mobile devices and applications.

OMB staff said the office has hired a digital services director to develop a strategic plan for Performance.gov and aid the website’s long-term development.

GAO recommended for OMB, GSA and PIC Performance.gov to comply with GPRAMA public reporting requirements; analyze and implement usability test results; and develop strategic, customer outreach, and data archiving plans for Performance.gov.

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Deloitte’s Chris Knox Joins National Archives-Led FOIA Advisory Committee
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Deloitte’s Chris Knox Joins National Archives-Led FOIA Advisory Committee


Chris Knox
Chris Knox

The Archivist of the United States has named Chris Knox, managing director in Deloitte‘s transactions and business analytics segment, as a member of the Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee.

Deloitte said Monday 20 voting members serve on the National Archives and Records Administration-led FOIA committee to study FOIA matters, recommend action and provide advice for the administration.

“Throughout his career, Chris has led very complex discovery projects for government and commercial clients and is an innovator in his field,”  said Matt Widmer, a principal at Deloitte’s financial advisory services subsidiary.

“Chris will be a tremendous asset to the FOIA Advisory Committee and can help the federal government modernize its approach to the FOIA process,” Widmer added.

Knox also serves as a leader in Deloitte Advisory’s government discovery practice and has provided crisis information management services to government and commercial customers for more than two decades.

He is also a former chief information officer at IE Discovery and led process engineering, technology and quality management standards for litigation support projects.

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Navy Takes in 13th Virginia-Class Attack Submarine
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Navy Takes in 13th Virginia-Class Attack Submarine


Virginia-class-submarineThe U.S. Navy received pre-commissioning unit USS Illinois attack submarine on Saturday from General Dynamics‘ Electric Boat subsidiary.

USS Illinois, the 13th nuclear-powered submarine of the Navy’s Virginia class, arrived ahead of the contract delivery date, the service branch said Monday.

“Our plan is to have Illinois out on operations next year, going from construction start to mission — ready in just over six years,” said Navy program manager Michael Stevens.

The Navy added USS Illinois is the third of eight Virginia-class Block III submarines that was delivered to the service branch and is scheduled to be commissioned on Oct. 29 in Groton, Connecticut.

The watercraft underwent the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey assessments to validate the vessel’s seaworthiness and operational capacity.

Block III submarines feature a redesigned bow that works to launch six Tomahawk cruise missiles, the Navy said.

Virginia-class submarines are designed to support anti-submarine, anti-surface ship, irregular, mine and strike warfare missions as well as special operation forces and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations in littorals and deep waters.

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IG Recommends DoD Update Contract Mgmt System, COR Designation Sample Template
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IG Recommends DoD Update Contract Mgmt System, COR Designation Sample Template


DoD logo resizeThe Defense Department Office of Inspector General has called on procurement and logistics officials at DoD to update the military’s contract management system and the designation sample template form for a contracting officer’s representative.

IG said Tuesday it reviewed 16 contracts as part of a review of COR performance in the Combined/Joint Operations Area−Afghanistan and found inappropriate appointments of CORs after revisions to COR designation guidelines.

“None of the 24 COR designation letters dated after DoD guidelines for designation letters were revised in March 2015 met the additional requirements included in the revised guidelines,” IG said.

“As a result, CORs may not be fully aware of contract requirements and the importance of contract oversight to the requiring activity,” IG added.

A COR is a government contracting officer-designated personnel who performs technical and administrative tasks for government contracts.

The IG also said the contracting activities failed to establish an oversight framework for four of 16 contracts to confirm that contracted services complied with contract requirements.

“Without a strong oversight framework, the contracting activities had limited assurance that these four contractors were meeting the performance standards required by the contracts,” IG said.

The IG added that U.S. Transportation Command, Special Operations Command and the Defense Contract Management Agency agreed to change their instructions to align COR designation letters with the revised DoD guidelines.

Profile: Carolyn Clancy, VHA Assistant Deputy Undersecretary for Health, Quality, Safety and Value
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Profile: Carolyn Clancy, VHA Assistant Deputy Undersecretary for Health, Quality, Safety and Value


Carol Clancy
Carol Clancy

Carolyn Clancy leads the strategic direction of the Veterans Health Administration as assistant deputy undersecretary for health, quality, safety and value.

She has previously held roles including the agency’s interim undersecretary for health where she managed the nation’s largest integrated health care system as well as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality‘s director for 10 years.

Clancy currently leads more than 700 clinical and administrative professionals in the day-to-day operations of the VHA’s performance, quality, safety, risk management, systems engineering, auditing, oversight, ethics and accreditation programs.

She collaborates with department leaders and veterans service organizations as well as the Congress and its constituents to help address the immediate and long term needs of the country’s veterans.

The physician executive has contributed to the publication of eight academic text books as well as authored, co-authored and provided commentary on more than 225 scholarly journal articles.

She has also served on the National Quality Forum as a member of the board of directors, chair person of the AQA Alliance and as a member on the board of governors of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

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