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Army Updates Flagship Website in Branding Campaign Push; Zack Kevit Comments
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Army Updates Flagship Website in Branding Campaign Push; Zack Kevit Comments


online licensingThe U.S. Army has updated its flagship website to meet current web standards, add “gloss” and emphasize the service branch’s communications campaigns.

The Army said Monday the creative team for the new Army.mil design worked to adhere with the Enterprise Army Brand and feature colors, typefaces, graphics and the Army logo and camouflage patterns for its branding strategy across magazine, TV, web and newspaper advertising.

“All of the design decisions, the layout decisions, the coding decisions, and the framework we use to display the content, has been driven by the goal to make the site more mobile-friendly … because that’s the direction our audience is moving,” said Zack Kevit, the Army.mil project manager.

Army.mil programmers have also enabled HTTPS and HTTP/2 network protocols on the website to address security, speed and performance concerns.

The website also features new visual centerpiece functions to serve as the Army’s digital bulletin board for promotions of different types of content within one structure, the Army added.

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Washington Post: Hackers Stole DNC Research Data on Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump
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Washington Post: Hackers Stole DNC Research Data on Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump


CyberCrimeKeyboardThe Democratic National Committee has experienced a data breach that committee officials and security professionals say was conducted by state-sponsored hackers in Russia to steal research data on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Ellen Nakashima writes the hackers gained unauthorized access to the computer network of DNC for nearly a year and compromised the database to read email content.

DNC tapped cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike to clean its network and the purge indicated no compromised financial, donor and personal data, Nakashima reports.

“It’s the job of every foreign intelligence service to collect intelligence against their adversaries,” Shawn Henry, president of CrowdStrike and a former chief of the FBI’s cyber division, told the Post.

The report said DNC discovered the attack in April after its operations chief alerted CEO Amy Dacey to what was perceived as an irregular activity within the network.

DOE to Support Nuclear Energy Research Through $82M Investment; Ernest Moniz Comments
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DOE to Support Nuclear Energy Research Through $82M Investment; Ernest Moniz Comments


Nuclear powerplantThe Energy Department has issued more than $82 million in funds to 93 research and development projects on nuclear energy.

“Nuclear power is our nation’s largest source of low-carbon electricity and is a vital component in our efforts to both provide affordable and reliable electricity and to combat climate change,” Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Tuesday.

“These awards will help scientists and engineers as they continue to innovate with advanced nuclear technologies.”

DOE will dole out approximately $36 million to support 49 university-led R&D projects through the Nuclear Energy University Program and $9 million for research work on neutron and ion irradiation testing through the Nuclear Science User Facilities initiative.

Other grants include $6 million for 15 universities that seek to update research reactors and related training infrastructure, $21 million for 6 integrated research projects on nuclear waste mobilization and nuclear-based robotics platforms, and $7 million for crosscutting nuclear R&D projects.

Westinghouse, Argonne National Laboratory and Virginia Polytechnic Institute will also receive $3 million in funds from DOE to develop communication processes for nuclear plants through the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear program.

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NASA Awards Cash Prizes to Sample Return Robot Challenge Winning Teams
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NASA Awards Cash Prizes to Sample Return Robot Challenge Winning Teams


NASA sample return robot challengeNASA has awarded individual $5,000 cash prizes to five teams that won Level 1 of its Sample Return Robot Challenge hosted by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute to help encourage citizen inventors develop new autonomous navigation and robotics technologies.

The space agency said Tuesday Team AI, Alabama Astrorobotics, MAXed Out, Mind & Iron and Sirius have won the challenge to design robots that can autonomously locate, collect and return samples without human control or the aid of Earth-based technologies.

“The intensity and commitment all of these competitors showed is a reflection of the relentless innovative spirit we hope to discover and enable through public challenges,” said Monsi Roman, Centennial Challenges program manager.

All five teams will join Survey and the West Virginia University Mountaineers in Level 2 of the competition that will take place Sept. 2 through 5 for a chance to win or share the remaining $1.36 million purse, NASA added.

Senate OKs FY 2017 Defense Policy Bill in 85-13 Vote
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Senate OKs FY 2017 Defense Policy Bill in 85-13 Vote


senateThe Senate voted 85-13 to pass a bill that would authorize $602 billion in defense budget for fiscal year 2017, Defense News reported Tuesday.

Joe Gould writes the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act contains acquisition reform provisions, including a measure that would limit cost-plus contracts and a proposal to remove the Defense Department’s chief weapons procurement role in order to split that position’s duties into two defense undersecretaries for acquisitions management and innovation.

President Barack Obama threatened to reject the proposed Senate legislation due to certain provisions including restrictions on the closure of military bases and a military detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a report by Patricia Zengerle on Reuters.

The Senate passed the defense policy bill with a compromise with regard to the use of Russian-built RD-180 rocket engines, Zengerle wrote.

Jeremy Herb and Connor O’Brien also report for Politico that the proposed bill would also require women to register with the Selective Service System, reduce the size of the White House National Security Council and cancel the F-35 joint program office once the fighter aircraft hits full-rate production by 2019.

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Reports: Mary Davie Succeeds Kim Luke as OMB IT Category Manager
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Reports: Mary Davie Succeeds Kim Luke as OMB IT Category Manager


Mary Davie
Mary Davie

Mary Davie, assistant commissioner for integrated technology service at the General Services Administration, has replaced Kim Luke as information technology category manager of the Office of Management and Budget, FCW reported Tuesday.

Mark Rockwell writes Davie took over the IT division under OMB’s category management initiative that aims to simplify buying practices across the federal government by grouping commonly purchased items and services into 10 “supercategories.”

According to a Federal News Radio report, Luke left his post on June 10 after four months as IT category manager due to a family emergency,

The report said Luke, a former vice president of strategic growth for U.S. public sector at HP Enterprise Services, was hired by OMB in January to help manage nearly $50 billion in government purchases of hardware, software, consulting, security, outsourcing and telecommunications offerings.

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Ashton Carter: US Apache Helicopters Engage in Fight Against Islamic State Organization in Iraq
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Ashton Carter: US Apache Helicopters Engage in Fight Against Islamic State Organization in Iraq


Ashton Carter
Ashton Carter

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has said commanders in Iraq have begun to use the Boeing-built Apache helicopters from the U.S. in support of the campaign against the Islamic State militant organization, DoD News reported Tuesday.

Lisa Ferdinando writes Carter told reporters during his trip to Brussels Monday that President Barack Obama authorized the use of the aircraft “some months ago” and that Apache helicopters were used to destroy an Islamic State-related target in an air strike Sunday.

A spokesman for the Defense Department said Apache helicopters were deployed Sunday to support the Iraqi security forces that operate in the Tigris River Valley, Ferdinando reports.

“The Apache strike destroyed [an ISIL] vehicle-borne improvised explosive device near Qayyarah, Iraq,” the DoD spokesman said, according to the report.

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Jens Stoltenberg: NATO Estimates 1.5% Increase in Defense Spending by Canada, European Allies
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Jens Stoltenberg: NATO Estimates 1.5% Increase in Defense Spending by Canada, European Allies


Jens Stoltenberg
Jens Stoltenberg

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said current estimates show that military spending in Canada and the alliance’s other member states in Europe has increased by 1.5 percent, or more than $3 billion, DoD News reported Tuesday.

Jim Garamone writes Stoltenberg highlighted spending trends across the alliance on the eve of the group’s two-day defense ministers forum in Brussels.

“This is real progress,” he said Monday, according to the report.

“After many years of going in the wrong direction, we are starting to go into the right direction.”

He also noted that NATO has tripled the number of its Response Force troops to around 40,000 and assembled a Spearhead Force of roughly 5,000 troops the alliance plans to deploy in Poland and the Baltic States, Garamone reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported that NATO ministers acknowledged cyberspace as a new domain in warfare during their meeting Tuesday.

Stoltenberg said the alliance will prioritize efforts to develop technologies that would help member nations to identify actors in cyber intrusions and attacks, according to the story by WSJ’s Julian Barnes.

“This is about developing our abilities and capabilities to protect NATO cyber networks but also to help and assist nations in defending their cyber networks,” he told the newspaper.

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Canadian Defense Agency Moves to Refine Surface Combatant Procurement Strategy
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Canadian Defense Agency Moves to Refine Surface Combatant Procurement Strategy


NavyShipsCanada’s Defense Ministry has adopted a new strategy to procure surface combatant ships for the Royal Canadian Navy in a move to accelerate proposed delivery schedule two years ahead of the original timeframe.

Judy Foote, Canadian minister of public services and procurement, and John McKay, parliamentary secretary to the minister of national defense, announced the naval ship acquisition approach on Monday.

Under the revised approach, the Defense Ministry will choose a current warship design for modification instead of selecting companies to perform the changes on the Canadian surface combatant.

Steve Brunton, Canada’s shipbuilding adviser, provided input on the government’s effort to refine the procurement approach.

Canada wants to retire its legacy destroyers and frigates and expects construction of the country’s future surface combatant to begin after the Arctic offshore patrol ships are completed in the 2020s.

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Ash Carter, Ng Eng Hen Talk US-Singapore Cooperation on Maritime Security, Counterterror
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Ash Carter, Ng Eng Hen Talk US-Singapore Cooperation on Maritime Security, Counterterror


partnershipDefense Secretary Ash Carter and his Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen discussed cooperation on maritime security and counterterrorism activities as the U.S. and Singapore work to advance diplomatic relations, DoD News reported Friday.

Lisa Ferdinando writes Carter said during a visit to the Asian country early this month that both nations stand for cooperation, inclusiveness and principle to drive international affairs in line with the U.S. rebalance efforts in the region.

Carter noted Singapore helps maintain regional maritime security and hosts U.S. P-8 Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft and littoral combat ships as well as more than 100 U.S. Navy ships and more than 800 U.S. aircraft that pass through the country annually.

The U.S. formally opened diplomatic ties with Singapore a year after the Asian country broke away from Malaysia in 1965, the report said.

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