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White House Holds Community Policing Discussions With Law Enforcement Agencies
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White House Holds Community Policing Discussions With Law Enforcement Agencies


WhiteHouseThe White House has started to conduct discussions on community policing best practices with law enforcement agencies since June in collaboration with the Justice Department.

Jerry Abramson, deputy assistant to the president and director of intergovernmental affairs, wrote in a blog post published Wednesday the White House has partnered with DOJ’s office of community oriented policing services to convene at least 300 local law enforcement organizations and discuss the recommendations by the 21st century policing task force.

The task force works to provide recommendations that seek to help law enforcement agencies and communities build up trust and promote collaboration as well as draft policies to reduce crimes through community-based partnerships.

The use of social media to increase public trust, officer safety, implicit bias and the Police Data Initiative are among the topics discussed during the briefings, Abramson noted.

The Police Data Initiative seeks to allow police departments to gather and publish data on community policing efforts, he wrote.

He also announced that the White House will hold a series of discussions on community policing efforts on Sept. 8, 16 and 28.

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Sean MacFarland: Army Training, Equipment Assistance to Iraq Supports Counterterrorism Push
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Sean MacFarland: Army Training, Equipment Assistance to Iraq Supports Counterterrorism Push


ArmyChopperU.S. Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, head of the country’s anti-Islamic State group campaign, said in his final Pentagon press briefing that the liberation of the Iraqi city of Ramadi served as the turning point of the effort, DoD News reported Wednesday.

Terri Moon Cronk writes MacFarland noted the Army’s training, equipment, advisory and assistance to the Iraq’s forces helped prepare the country’s troops on urban combat environments that the soldiers will use in its attempt to take control of Mosul.

“We’ve shifted away from counterinsurgency toward combined arms maneuver training, teaching the Iraqis how to integrate infantry, armor, artillery, engineers, aviation and other combat multipliers,” said MacFarland.

“We modified the type and level of support we provided over the course of the past year, but we have not fundamentally altered the paradigm of train and equip, advise and assist.”

Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, 18th Airborne Corps commander, will succeed MacFarland as commander of the campaign.

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Navy Researchers Use Bacteriophages to Treat Antibiotic-Resistant Wound Infections in Mice
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Navy Researchers Use Bacteriophages to Treat Antibiotic-Resistant Wound Infections in Mice


HealthU.S. Navy researchers have developed a cocktail of customized phages designed to treat wound infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

A team of scientists at the Naval Medical Research Center teamed up with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research to develop and test bacteriophages in mice with Acinetobacter baumannii-caused wound infections, the Navy reported Tuesday.

“Bacteriophages, commonly known as phages, are viruses found in the environment, and are known for their activity against bacteria; this is why they have therapeutic potential, and may be able to treat bacterial infections even when antibiotics fail,” said Cmdr. Michael Stockelman, deputy director of the infectious diseases directorate at NMRC.

Phages work to invade and destroy bacterial cells and have a tendency to replicate in the cells.

Stockelman said he expects the personalized phage therapy to help doctors treat wound infections in injured soldiers.

The NMRC team plans to advance the phage cocktails to clinical trials to determine whether the therapy is safe to use in patients.

US Marine Corps Seeks Flight Simulators for Recruiting Offices Nationwide; Jim Edwards Comments
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US Marine Corps Seeks Flight Simulators for Recruiting Offices Nationwide; Jim Edwards Comments


NASA Flight simulatorThe Marine Corps Recruiting Command wants to purchase and deploy 22 flight simulators to recruiting offices across the U.S. in an effort to beef up recruitment for new aviators, Marine Times reported Wednesday.

Lance Bacon writes the U.S. Marine Corps seeks five enclosed, 3-axis motion flight simulators that will mimic the cockpits of the F-35B joint strike fighter, F/A-18C Hornet, MV-22 Osprey and AH-1Z Viper.

“The flight simulators will be used at recruiting engagements in order to generate awareness and interest for our Marine Corps aviation programs, and to encourage men and women to explore the opportunity of becoming a Marine Corps officer,” Jim Edwards, a Marine Corps Recruiting Command spokesman, told the publication.

The command released the solicitation for flight simulators in early August and submissions to the request will close by the end of the month, according to the report.

Edwards said the Marine Corps will use mobile simulators at its recruiting offices as part of the Marine Corps Flight Orientation Program, the report says.

The simulators will feature a high-definition cockpit camera and recording system and replicate maneuvering parameters and weapons system functions, Bacon reports.

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Kristin Snyder Joins SEC Compliance Inspections, Examination Office
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Kristin Snyder Joins SEC Compliance Inspections, Examination Office


Securities and Exchange CommissionThe Securities and Exchange Commission has named Kristin Snyder as its Office of Compliance Inspections and Examination’s co-national associate director of the investment adviser and investment company examination program.

The SEC said Wednesday Snyder will work alongside Jane Jarcho, co-national associate director, to oversee more than 520 lawyers, accountants, and examiners that handle inspections of SEC registered investment advisers and investment companies.

“With Kristin’s experience in examinations and enforcement, she is well-positioned to develop and lead national initiatives in our investment adviser and investment company program that support OCIE’s mission to improve compliance, prevent fraud, monitor risk, and inform policy,” said Marc Wyatt, OCIE director.

Snyder, a former law practitioner at Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, will also continue to serve as associate regional director for examinations at SEC San Francisco office where she has previously served as branch chief and senior counsel.

The new co-national associate director holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Davis as well as a law degree from the University of California Hastings College of the Law.

SEC noted the OCIE conducts the agency’s national examination program through examinations of registered investment advisers and companies, broker-dealers, self-regulatory organizations, clearing agencies and transfer agents using a risk-based approach to examinations designed to promote compliance with U.S. security laws.

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Pentagon Updates Defense Intell Collection, Dissemination Guidelines
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Pentagon Updates Defense Intell Collection, Dissemination Guidelines


PentagonThe Defense Department has updated its manual of procedures on how intelligence community personnel should gather, store or disseminate information about U.S. individuals and businesses, DoD News reported Wednesday.

Cheryl Pellerin writes U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter approved the updated “Procedures Governing the Conduct of DoD Intelligence Activities” in accordance with Executive Order 12333 after they consulted with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

It marks the first update to the DoD Manual 5240.01 in 34 years, Pellerin reports.

“The procedures were carefully and methodically developed in 1982 and they’ve served us well for the many years since then,” said Michael Mahar, senior intelligence oversight official at DoD.

“But we’ve reached the point now that, due to changes in technology, law, and intelligence-collection practices, we were compelled to do a significant overhaul,” Mahar added.

The manual covers revised guidelines for how defense intelligence components agencies can guard the privacy and civil liberties of U.S. persons when the organizations perform vital missions, according to the report.

The report said the guide also contains a framework regarding the prompt assessment of USP data that was intentionally collected or voluntarily provided for permanent retention.

Mahar told DoD News the new procedures are aligned with the Intelligence Community Information Technology Enterprise strategy and meant to help the IC develop a common platform to share data, resources and technology.

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SBA Unveils Support Website for Small Business Owners, Entrepreneurs
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SBA Unveils Support Website for Small Business Owners, Entrepreneurs


SBAThe Small Business Administration has launched a new website designed to simplify the application process for small companies and entrepreneurs that aim to do business with the federal government.

Maria Contreras-Sweet, SBA administrator, said in a statement released Tuesday the agency created the certify.sba.gov website to build on its ongoing programs such as LINC, the Start Up in a Day Initiative and the Small Business Tech Coalition.

“Small businesses often get too little credit for their work as our nation’s leading job-creators, generating nearly two out of three net new jobs in our economy,” Contreras-Sweet added.

She noted the agency included the Women-Owned Small Business program on the website in an effort to help address a market gap for female entrepreneurs.

The portal also features an “Am I Eligible?” tool that will work to help entrepreneurs determine their eligibility to participate in the WOSB Federal Contract, HUBZone and 8(a) Business Development programs, according to SBA.

Contreras-Sweet said the federal government awarded more than $90 billion in contract funds to small businesses during fiscal year 2015.

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DOE Names NAVFAC Northwest Members as Federal Energy & Water Mgmt Awardees
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DOE Names NAVFAC Northwest Members as Federal Energy & Water Mgmt Awardees


DOE Names NAVFAC Northwest Members as Federal Energy & Water Mgmt AwardeesThe Energy Department and the Federal Interagency Energy Management Task Force has selected members of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest’s energy team as recipients of the 2016 Federal Energy and Water Management Award.

The U.S. Navy said Wednesday Curt Hickle, Max McAllister, Paul Songe-Moller, Tabitha Pierzchala and Chris Taylor were recognized for their energy, water and fleet management efforts in fiscal year 2015.

Phil Beste was also named for a career service award, the Navy added.

The NAVFAC Northwest energy team works to foster awareness and operational efficiency in Pacific Northwest naval installations through education and outreach programs as well as competitions and awards, the service branch noted.

The team’s efforts include LED exterior lighting upgrades at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Naval Base Kitsap Keyport and Naval Magazine Indian Island that worked to address light quality and energy consumption, the Navy added.

Naval Station Everett personnel also moved from three bachelor quarters into one Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified facility in 2015 to help conserve energy.

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GAO Urges NNSA to Specify Los Alamos Plutonium Analysis Project Parameters
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GAO Urges NNSA to Specify Los Alamos Plutonium Analysis Project Parameters


GAOThe Government Accountability Office has called on the Energy Department‘s National Nuclear Security Administration to specify the pit production-related parameter for NNSA’s plutonium analysis project at Los Alamos.

GAO said Tuesday the NNSA identified the requirements for the revised Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement project in order to obtain equipment for its plutonium analysis but failed to identify the capacity needed to produce a nuclear weapon pit.

“Not identifying this parameter likely contributed to the project potentially not providing sufficient analysis capacity to support planned pit production and may have contributed to different understandings among senior agency officials about how well the project will support pit production,” GAO noted.

GAO added that the revised CMRR project schedule and cost estimates did not meet the complete recommended practices that call for the maintenance of a schedule containing the necessary work activities.

NNSA limited the revised project’s schedule to near-term work that ends in 2017, the government watchdog observed, adding that NNSA must “develop a CMRR project schedule that includes all necessary work activities.”

White House Marks 2nd Anniversary of US Digital Service
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White House Marks 2nd Anniversary of US Digital Service


digital governmentThe White House has unveiled the U.S. Digital Service’s accomplishments over the last two years to commemorate the second anniversary of USDS.

President Barack Obama announced the creation of the Digital Service on Aug. 11, 2014 with the goal to help streamline the way individuals and businesses engage with agencies online, the White House said Tuesday.

“From modernizing our country’s immigration system to helping students and families make more informed decisions about college selection to developing a unified digital experience for our veterans, this work has reimagined how government services should be provided to the public,” the White House noted.

The Obama administration outlined the progress Digital Service has made to help the government provide services to citizens through technology.

USDS collaborated with the Department of Veterans Affairs to create a new digital application designed to help military veterans obtain health coverage within a short period of time.

The organization also helps the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services to transform the external application and internal review process for immigrants, according to the White House.

Digital Service has also assisted the Defense Department in its travel system modernization and information security efforts.

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