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Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: US Army Europe Seeks to Deploy Rotational Force for Deterrence Missions
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Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: US Army Europe Seeks to Deploy Rotational Force for Deterrence Missions


Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: US Army Europe Seeks to Deploy Rotational Force for Deterrence Missions
Ben Hodges

Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges,  commander of U.S. Army Europe, has called for the utilization of rotational forces of heavy armored and aviation brigades as well as storage units at strategic sites to support deterrence missions in Europe.

The Army said Wednesday Hodges said the U.S. and its European allies seek to focus on the points of emphasis in support of efforts to deter Russia’s aggressive activities.

The U.S. government proposed to invest $3.4 billion in fiscal year 2017 for the European Reassurance Initiative and the Army will look to stockpile equipment in Germany, Netherlands and Belgium in the next three years for contingency.

“We’re working hard to re-establish the necessary level of capability to ensure deterrence,” said Hodges.

The service branch also looks to send the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division to Europe in January for a nine-month rotation while the 10th Mountain Division’s Combat Aviation Brigade will be sent to the region in March to expand the Army’s presence.

Profile: John Zangardi, DoD Principal Deputy CIO
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Profile: John Zangardi, DoD Principal Deputy CIO

 

John Zangardi
John Zangardi

John Zangardi serves as principal deputy chief information officer of the Defense Department, where he helps the CIO provide advice to the defense secretary on information technology and information assurance matters.

Zangardi works alongside the DoD CIO to also advise the defense secretary on non-intelligence space systems; satellite communications, navigation and timing programs; spectrum; and telecommunications.

He previously served as the deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, information operations and space.

Zangardi was also the acting Department of the Navy CIO in 2014 and 2015.

After his retirement from the Navy, he was appointed to the Senior Executive Service and was named deputy director of warfare integration programs within the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations Communications Networks Directorate.

He became the director for program integration and deputy to the director for concepts, strategy and integration when the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations Information Dominance role was established.

 

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NASA Mars Rover to Explore Potential Fluid-Carved Gully
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NASA Mars Rover to Explore Potential Fluid-Carved Gully


Mars PlanetNASA plans to send a Mars rover down a gully that was carved by fluid that could have been water as part of a two-year extended mission that started on Oct. 1.

The agency said Saturday its team will drive the 12-year-old Opportunity rover down the full length of the gully which is approximately as long as two football fields and half a mile away from the rover’s current location.

“Fluid-carved gullies on Mars have been seen from orbit since the 1970s, but none had been examined up close on the surface before,” said Opportunity Principal Investigator Steve Squyres.

“We hope to learn whether the fluid was a debris flow, with lots of rubble lubricated by water, or a flow with mostly water and less other material,” Squyres added.

NASA wants the rover to explore a portion of the meteor-excavated Endeavour Crater to compare rocks inside the crater to the dominant type of rock that the rover previously examined on the plains.

Squyres said the rover may find sulfate-rich rocks that were formed through a water-related process.

Opportunity will also locate and examine rocks from a geological layer that was in place before a meteor excavated Endeavour Crater, according to the agency.

The rover team might face issues during the two-year mission since Opportunity’s motors and other components have exceeded life expectancy and the rover cannot store data overnight, NASA added.

Opportunity was launched in July 2003 and ended its original mission in April 2004.

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Air Force, NNSA Deploy Mock Nuclear Bombs From B-2 Stealth Bombers
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Air Force, NNSA Deploy Mock Nuclear Bombs From B-2 Stealth Bombers


Air Force, NNSA Deploy Mock Nuclear Bombs From B-2 Stealth BombersThe U.S. Air Force and National Nuclear Security Administration have conducted two flight tests that had joint test assemblies of B61-7 and B61-11 nuclear bombs released from two separate B-2A Spirit stealth bombers.

NNSA said Thursday JTAs are mock weapons that do not contain nuclear materials but are built to feature sensors and instrumentation to help scientists and engineers assess test performance.

The flight tests took place at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada as part of the qualification process for weapon systems’ current alterations and life extension programs, NNSA added.

Gen. Michael Lutton, NNSA’s principal assistant deputy administrator for military application, said the tests build on NNSA’s mission to keep weapon systems are safe, secure and effective.

Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories jointly designed the B61 JTAs and the Kansas City National Security Campus manufactured the components that were assembled at the Pantex Plant in Texas.

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Navy Commissions 10th San Antonio-Class Amphibious Transport Dock USS John P. Murtha
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Navy Commissions 10th San Antonio-Class Amphibious Transport Dock USS John P. Murtha


john-p-murta-amphibious-transport-dockThe U.S. Navy was scheduled to commission the 10th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship Oct. 8 at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The service branch said Friday House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) was set to deliver the keynote address for the USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26) vessel, which is named after a 37-year Marine Corps veteran and former congressman from Pennsylvania.

Donna Murtha, daughter of the late John Murta, serves as the ship’s sponsor.

Ed Sheehan, president and CEO of Concurrent Technologies Corp., acquired and presented a Pittsburgh Steelers helmet signed by football team owner Dan Rooney to be placed onboard the USS John P. Murtha, according to a report by Dave Sutor for The Tribune-Democrat.

The Huntington Ingalls Industries-built ship is designed to provide command-and-control, lift and cargo transport functionalities to the service branch and has a flight deck intended to accommodate MV-22 Osprey aircraft and CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters.

The 684-foot-long vessel has a 23-foot navigational draft and four turbo diesel engines.

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GAO: OPM Should Address Payroll Data Availability & Reliability
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GAO: OPM Should Address Payroll Data Availability & Reliability


GAO: OPM Should Address Payroll Data Availability & ReliabilityThe Government Accountability Office has recommended for the Office of Personnel Management address the availability and reliability of payroll data to support other agencies and researchers.

GAO said Friday OPM has not taken steps to widen the availability of payroll data from the Enterprise Human Resources Integration system.

The lack of data availability lead federal agencies and researchers to use proxy sources that more limited in terms of scope of analysis and the level of detail required for data-driven human capital studies, GAO added.

Auditors also identified internal control weaknesses they believe affect the reliability of EHRI’s payroll data such as data error risks, incomplete data fields and ineffective monitoring.

The payroll database is one of four EHRI databases that was created to serve as a centralized, standardized and comprehensive source of pay- and leave-related data across the federal government.

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Army Tank R&D Center, GM Unveil Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Prototype; Kevin Centeck Comments
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Army Tank R&D Center, GM Unveil Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Prototype; Kevin Centeck Comments


tardec-gm-zh2General Motors and the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center have rolled out a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle prototype at the annual Association of the U.S. Army meeting in Washington.

Kevin Centeck – TARDEC non-primary power systems, ground vehicle power and mobility directorate team leader — said Thursday the Chevrolet Colorado ZH2 operates on hydrogen fuel with electric power and produces reduced thermal signature for silent mobility.

Centeck noted the ZH2 was also designed from off-the-shelf parts and developed through a TARDEC and GM collaborative effort to conduct evaluations and fuel-stack tests.

GM will deliver the ZH2 units to the service branch in April then the Army will conduct user evaluations at Fort Benning, Fort Bragg and Fort Carson over the course of a year alongside Energy Department tacticians and logisticians to conceptualize the system.

GM first introduced the ZH2 prototype in October to demonstrate the cell-powered truck built to store energy, produce water and serve as a near-silent transportation platform.

Army Research Lab Demos Autonomy Concepts to Japan Defense Sector Delegation
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Army Research Lab Demos Autonomy Concepts to Japan Defense Sector Delegation


japanese-industry-representatives-visit-armyA team of researchers at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory have demonstrated future autonomous technologies before a delegation from the Japanese Association of Defense Industries on Wednesday.

David McNally of ARL Public Affairs wrote in a blog post published Thursday the lab briefed the visiting group on human-robot interactions and perception in small robots, while the delegation briefed researchers on current unmanned systems research in Japan.

Retired Japanese Lt. Gen. Mimoto Akiyo of IHI Aerospace Co. Ltd. said his delegation visited to attend the Association of the United States Army exhibition and conference in Washington.

“The purpose of this visit is to understand what technologies will feed the Third Offset Strategy,” said Akiyo.

The strategy comprises advanced projects in robotics, miniaturization and manufacturing.

Stephen Nogar, an ARL postdoctoral fellow, demonstrated research on a small unmanned aircraft system and said he currently studies the use of autonomous computer vision and sensing onboard the UAS.

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Federal News Radio: GSA 18F’s Aaron Snow to Leave Executive Director Role
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Federal News Radio: GSA 18F’s Aaron Snow to Leave Executive Director Role


Aaron Snow
Aaron Snow

Aaron Snow, executive director of the General Services Administration‘s 18F organization, will step down on Oct. 13 and hold an advisory role to support the incoming Technology Transformation Service commissioner, Federal News Radio reported Friday.

Jason Miller writes Dave Zvenyach, 18F acquisition management director, will serve as interim 18F head to replace Snow, who also holds the TTS deputy commissioner position.

“When it comes to 18F, perhaps no one has been more instrumental in establishing this organization than Aaron Snow,” GSA Administrator Denise Turner Roth said in an email to staff that Federal News Radio has obtained.

“One of the first Presidential Innovation Fellows, Aaron was one of the key contributors in building on this successful program to create 18F.”

The report said Snow entered government for a one-year term under the Presidential Innovation Fellows program before he received a two-year extension through the Office of Personnel Management‘s excepted hiring authority.

He has also served in the voter protection team for Barack Obama’s presidential and reelection campaigns.

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Air Force Transfers E-4B to Branch’s Global Strike Command
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Air Force Transfers E-4B to Branch’s Global Strike Command


e-4bThe U.S. Air Force has transferred E-4B aircraft from Air Combat Command to Air Force Global Strike Command during a ceremony at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.

The service branch said Friday this aircraft transfer builds on a larger effort to centralize the management of the Air Force’s nuclear enterprise and supporting systems.

“The E-4B may not function in the same capacity as our bomber force, but it certainly has a role to play within the nuclear enterprise and seems only fitting that it resides within the command responsible for nuclear operations,” said Maj. Gen. Thomas Bussiere, 8th Air Force commander.

The 595th Command and Control Group was also activated as the 8th Air Force unit that will manage E-4B aircraft, the service branch added.

The 595th CACG is comprised of the 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron, the 595th Strategic Communication Squadron, the 595th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and the 625th Strategic Operations Squadron.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James and retired Gen. Mark Welsh, former chief of staff, ordered the creation of an organization with a clear line of communication between the president and nuclear task force members.

Air Force Global Strike Command was named as the service branch’s lead for nuclear command, control and communications.

E-4B was included in the restructuring initiative as it is a component of the National Military Command System that works to connect the president with nuclear and conventional forces worldwide.

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