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Presidential Memo Bolstered Diversity in National Security Workforce
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Presidential Memo Bolstered Diversity in National Security Workforce


workforcePresident Barack Obama has called for greater diversity in the national security workforce which includes the departments of State, Defense, Justice, Treasury, Homeland Security, the Intelligence Community and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Obama said in a presidential memorandum published Wednesday that the national security workforce is less diverse than the rest of the federal government based on data from associated agencies.

The memorandum’s guidance aims to encourage a data-driven approach to address transparency and accountability as well as the consideration of practices, research and experience from private and public sectors.

The guidance also seeks to support ongoing diversity and inclusion efforts under Executive Order 13583 and through the leadership of the Diversity and Inclusion in Government Council which includes actions on gender, race, ethnicity, disability status, veterans, sexual orientation, gender identity and others.

The memorandum aligns with government efforts to boost diversity in the national security workforce such as EO 13714, Foreign Service Act of 1980, Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013.

Obama directed agencies to publicly disclose the state of diversity and inclusion in their workforces; collect and analyze more voluntary applicant flow data to help agencies assess the inclusiveness of their recruitment process; and determine additional categories for voluntary employee data collection.

National security workforce entities shall also conduct stay and exit interviews or surveys; expand opportunities for professional development and career advancement; and form a review process for security and counterintelligence factors that cause assignment restrictions.

The memorandum also urged agencies to create a reward system for leaders and supervisors that support diversity and inclusion efforts; collect and distribute voluntary demographic data of external advisory committees and boards; and support training on unconscious bias, inclusion and flexible work policies.

Obama also required the assistant to the president for national security affairs to report on the national security workforce’s progress 120 days after the date on the memorandum and on an annual basis afterward.

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34 Private Sector Execs to Join Commerce Dept’s Renewable Energy Advisory Committee
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34 Private Sector Execs to Join Commerce Dept’s Renewable Energy Advisory Committee


transmission tower against the sun during sunsetCommerce Secretary Penny Pritzker has appointed 34 senior-level private sector representatives to the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee.

REEEAC appointees advise the secretary on the development and administration of efforts to support the export competitiveness of U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency products and services, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

“The rapid increase in global demand for clean energy technologies and services provides a great opportunity for American businesses to introduce their world-class products and services to new markets,” said Pritzker.

She added the committee’s guidance will support Commerce’s efforts to mitigate climate change and expand U.S. exports.

REEEAC first launched in 2010 and has produced more than 30 recommendations on issues such as market conditions that affect the environmental technology manufacturing base; export financing gaps; and support and coordination from government and research programs.

The appointees are:

  • Adam Atkinson-Lewis – Natel Energy vice president of international business development
  • Bruce Bauchmire – DLZ Corp. director of renewable energy services
  • Vincent Bemmel – Tekpea Inc. chief technology officer
  • Mita Burke – Sunshine Industries USA CEO
  • Matt Card – Suniva executive vice president of commercial operations
  • Rani Chatrath – Geothermal Energy Association global initiatives coordinator, marketing and events manager
  • Mike Davis – North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association director of strategic partnerships
  • Kelly Davis – Renewable Fuels Association director of regulatory affairs
  • Jen Derstine – Capstone Turbine Corp. director of strategy and policy
  • Subhash Dhar – XALT Energy CEO
  • Michael Dwyer – U.S. Grains Council chief economist
  • Terry Fry – Nexant senior vice president for utility services
  • Svetoslav Gatchev – Delphos International partner and managing director
  • Seth Ginther – U.S. Industrial Pellet Association executive director
  • Philip Green – Green Powered Technology president and CEO
  • Arthur Haubenstock – 8minutenergy Renewables general counsel and VP of government and regulatory
    Praveen Kathpal – AES Energy Storage VP
  • Kusum Kavia – Combustion Associates president
  • Kenneth Kramer – Rushton Atlantic managing director
  • Joseph Mendelson III – SolarCity director of policy and electricity markets and regulatory counsel
  • Greg Merritt – Cree Inc. marketing and public affairs VP
  • Gary Rackliffe – ABB Inc. smart grid systems VP
  • Lloyd Ritter – Distributed Wind Energy Association federal policy director
  • Jorge Sanchez – Sana Inc. president, CEO and co-founder
  • Frank Shaw – Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom counsel for energy and infrastructure projects group
  • Scott Sklar – The Stella Group president
  • Kevin Smith – SolarReserve CEO
  • Paula Soos – Covanta Energy government relations VP
  • Jonathan Stewart – National Electrical Manufacturers Association government relations manager
  • Zolaikha Strong – Copper Development Association director of sustainable energy
  • Trey Taylor – Verdant Power Inc. co-founder and president
  • Cindy Thyfault – Westar Trade Resources founder and CEO
  • Laura VanWie McGrory – Alliance to Save Energy international policy VP
  • Frank Yang – Stion Corp. business development VP

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Ashton Carter, Defense Innovation Board Members Discuss Interim Recommendations for DoD
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Ashton Carter, Defense Innovation Board Members Discuss Interim Recommendations for DoD


PentagonDefense Secretary Ashton Carter and members of the Defense Innovation Board have discussed 11 interim recommendations to the Defense Department during DIB’s first public meeting held Wednesday at the Pentagon, DoD News reported Wednesday.

Cheryl Pellerin writes Carter established the 15-member independent advisory board to recommend strategies for defense officials to manage processes and people across the department with the help of technology.

“One of my core goals as secretary of defense has been to push the Pentagon to think outside our five-sided box, and be more open to new ideas and new partnerships that can help our military remain what it is today… as we confront a changing and fiercely competitive world,” he said.

The board suggested that DoD appoint a chief innovation offer, develop a career track for computer science and a digital Reserve Officer’s Training Corps program and implement incentive programs to spur innovation and creativity at the department.

DIB also urged the department to establish an institute for artificial intelligence and machine learning studies as well as infrastructure that will serve as a “human cloud” of computer programmers and software developers.

The report said the group also believes DoD should further invest in technological efforts at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Strategic Capabilities Office and Defense Innovation Unit Experimental.

The group also recommended the Cyber Command to work with the National Security Agency to review the security of every DoD system, Pellerin reports.

Profile: Lisa Blumerman, Census Bureau Associate Director for Decennial Census Programs
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Profile: Lisa Blumerman, Census Bureau Associate Director for Decennial Census Programs


headshot-lisa-blumerman-imageLisa Blumerman has served as associate director for decennial census programs at the U.S. Census Bureau since March 2015.

In this capacity, she provides executive leadership and direction for the bureau’s American Community Survey, geographic programs and the 2020 Census.

The 19-year bureau veteran also held the roles of assistant associate director for decennial census and chief of its government division, where she led data collection efforts and  managed the census of federal, state and local agencies as well as the 25 annual and quarterly surveys that examine government activity.

She also worked in various other leadership positions at the bureau, including service as chief of the customer liaison and marketing services office, deputy chief of the American community survey office, administrative records coordinator in the policy office, chief of the population estimates branch and assistant associate director for decennial census.

Before she joined the bureau in 1997, Blumerman was a senior analyst at the American Public Welfare Association.

She received an Arthur S. Flemming Award and a silver and bronze medal from the Commerce Department in recognition of her service in the federal government.

Navy Launches Online Credentialing Program for Civilian Workforce
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Navy Launches Online Credentialing Program for Civilian Workforce


websiteThe Department of the Navy has unveiled a new website in an effort to expand professional development opportunities for DON’s civilian workforce.

The DON Credentialing Opportunities On-Line site is designed to help civilian employees find certification and licensure programs based on their formal training and on-the-job experience, the U.S. Navy said Tuesday.

Civilian personnel can search the portal by federal occupation code or title in various fields such as information technology, human resources, administrative, financial, engineering, education, legal, supply and security.

The site also offers information about the different types of credentials and the four steps of the credentialing process, according to the Navy.

DON created its Civilian COOL portal in partnership with the U.S. Fleet Forces Command.

Keith Boring, program director for Navy COOL, said the new program will be updated regular intervals to keep the credentialing prospects for more DON civilian occupations connected.

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GSA Unveils iBook Version of Federal Acquisition Regulation
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GSA Unveils iBook Version of Federal Acquisition Regulation


mobile appThe General Services Administration has released an iBook version of the Federal Acquisition Regulation to offer contracting officers, contractors and business owners information on the federal government’s purchasing process.

Jeff Koses, senior procurement executive at GSA’s Office of Government-wide Policy, wrote in a blogpost published Tuesday the agency sought to support people on the go and the iBook version of the FAR will also give volunteer first responders continuous access to the material.

“We’ve had multiple requests for a downloadable version of the FAR because contracting exists regardless of whether there’s a strong wifi signal where you are,” said Dan Briest, program manager of Acquisition.gov for GSA.

The downloadable FAR is designed to perform the same functionality incorporated on all iBooks such as searches, notes and highlighting or section saving and owners will receive notifications on updates that will be added to the document.

GSA is also looking to release an iBook copy of the Federal Management Regulation and Federal Travel Regulation as well as a downloadable FAR document on the Kindle and Google Play stores.

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NOAA Sets Nov. 4 Launch Date for 1st Next-Generation Geostationary Weather Satellite
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NOAA Sets Nov. 4 Launch Date for 1st Next-Generation Geostationary Weather Satellite


NOAA Sets Nov. 4 Launch Date for 1st Next-Generation Geostationary Weather SatelliteThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has scheduled the launch of its first out of four next-generation geostationary weather satellites into space for Nov. 4 from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard an Atlas V rocket.

NOAA said Tuesday the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R is designed to scan the Earth five times faster, provide four times greater image resolution and use triple the number of spectral channels compared to current GOES satellites.

The GOES-R series’ goal is to extend satellite weather coverage through 2036.

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the design, creation and tests of GOES-R satellites as Harris Corp. built the main instrument payload, Advanced Baseline Imager, data receipt antenna system and ground segment.

Lockheed moved GOES-R to the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Florida aboard a U.S. Air Force C-5M Super Galaxy cargo transport plane in August as part of launch preparations.

GOES-R will work to aid NOAA’s hurricane tracking, sun monitoring, intensity forecasts, space weather forecasts, radiation hazard detection, and predictions of other severe weather events such as tornadoes, thunderstorms and floods.

GOES-R includes six instruments such as a lightning mapper designed to help forecasters track strikes across the entire hemisphere as intensification can indicate increasing severity of storms.

The satellite will undergo testing and validation for one year, perform 10 years of on-orbit operation and carry out up to five years of on-orbit storage, according to NOAA.

NOAA works with NASA to manage the development and launch of GOES-R through the integrated NOAA-NASA office.

NASA Goddard Interns Conduct Space Comms, Navigation Projects; Mike Weiss Comments
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NASA Goddard Interns Conduct Space Comms, Navigation Projects; Mike Weiss Comments


space-engineeringNASA hired interns during the summer to support the explorations and space communications projects division at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

Forty-eight students from 25 different U.S. schools participated in internship programs run by the Space Communications and Navigation Program Office that works to integrate NASA’s deep space, space and near-Earth networks, the agency said Monday.

The projects focused on high-efficiency radios for use in small satellites known as CubeSats and theoretical communications methods for financial management.

“Our assignments were specifically targeted at enhancing SCaN’s network capabilities, technology infusion and gains in process efficiency,” said Mike Weiss, ESC associate program manager at the Goddard Space Flight Center.

The interns submitted their work to SCaN and ESC leadership at the end of the summer.

One project that resulted from the internship is NEN Now, an online simulated interface to display the activities of the Near Earth Network and its components.

ESC software engineer Ryan Turner led the interface’s development and NASA plans to release it on both web and mobile platforms later this year.

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HR McMaster: Army Shifts Focus to Multi-Domain Battle Concept
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HR McMaster: Army Shifts Focus to Multi-Domain Battle Concept


MissileDefenseLt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the U.S. Army’s Capabilities Integration Center director, is shifting its priority to cross-domain fires and artillery batteries to be able to perform surface-to-surface, surface-to-air and shore-to-ship missions, Defense News reported Tuesday.

McMaster said the Army currently emphasizes on a multi-domain battle concept in a move to help the service defeat enemy forces, Jen Judson reports.

McMaster told reporters ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference that the branch wants capabilities to deny enemy forces the opportunity to use terrain advantages, integrate military gains and project power from land to aerospace, maritime or cyberspace domains, according to the report.

Dan O’Boyle, an Army spokesman, told the publication the Army selected Lockheed Martin and Raytheon in August to conduct studies on systems and component-level requirements and also examine alternative technical systems.

He said the Army plans to award two contracts for development and testing work on missile design and prototypes in the second quarter of fiscal 2017, the report says.

O’Boyle added that an Extended Range Missile Technology Demonstration is scheduled in the fall to assess potential LRPF technologies and the branch expects General Dynamics, Orbital ATK and Raytheon to participate.

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VA Picks USDA as Financial Mgmt Shared Service Provider
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VA Picks USDA as Financial Mgmt Shared Service Provider


financial reportingThe Agriculture Department has been chosen to replace the Department of Veterans Affairs‘ current financial management platform as VA’s federal shared service provider.

VA said Tuesday the partnership with USDA reflects cross-agency efforts to increase financial transparency, mitigate duplication and redundancy and increase the quality and agility of administrative services in the government.

Edward Murray, VA interim assistant secretary for management and interim chief financial officer, said VA picked USDA after week-long workshops wherein subject matter experts across VA provided feedback on the selection process.

VA noted the decision was also influenced by best practices and lessons from the Office of Management and Budget, Government Accountability Office, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Housing and Urban Development and others.

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