Deborah Lee James: More Assessment Needed Before DoD’s Final Cost Estimate for Nuclear Modernization
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Deborah Lee James: More Assessment Needed Before DoD’s Final Cost Estimate for Nuclear Modernization


Deborah Lee James
Deborah Lee James

Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James believes the Defense Department needs more room for evaluation before it can finalize the cost estimate on the effort to modernize the U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile arsenal, National Defense Magazine reported Wednesday.

John Harper writes DoD’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation Office estimated the cost of the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent program to reach more than $85 billion in the coming years, or $23 billion more than the U.S. Air Force’s own estimate.

James told reporters at the Pentagon that DoD and the Air Force used different methods, assumptions and data for the cost estimates.

“The data that everybody is using to try to build up these cost estimates is somewhat dated simply because we haven’t done it in so long,” she added.

The Air Force issued the request for proposals on the GBSD program in July.

The report said Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman have submitted proposals for the program.

“[As] we get the proposals back from industry, this will inform what I believe will be refinements in that cost estimate over time as we learn more,” James said, according to the report.

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Air Force Develops Human Systems Integration Framework for Acquisition Practitioners
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Air Force Develops Human Systems Integration Framework for Acquisition Practitioners


Air Force logoThe Air Force Research Laboratory has developed and tested a human systems integration framework tool designed to help practitioners familiarize themselves with the military  branch’s acquisition process.

The Human Systems Integration directorate within AFRL’s 711th Human Performance Wing designed the tool to cover various facets of human systems integration under such domains as manpower, personnel, training, human factors, occupational health, environment, safety, survivability and habitability, the branch said Thursday.

“The HSIF tool allows practitioners to maintain continuity throughout that entire cycle, and can be preserved as an artifact once the process is complete,” said Bill Kosnik, an engineering psychologist in the directorate’s Human Systems Implementation division.

“The goal is for it to serve as a record management tool in addition to a step-by-step guide,” added Kosnik.

The HSIF tool comprises various stage of the entire acquisition cycle such as development planning, operation, sustainment and disposal, with a canvas that lists the acquisition timeline across its top and the integrator roles and domains on the left side.

The Pacific Science and Engineering Group site currently hosts the tool and the Air Force plans to transfer the tool to its own network in the future.

“We’ll also extend access to acquisition program managers, systems engineers, (human systems integration) domain experts, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center personnel and others,” Kosnik added.

Frank Kendall: DoD Likely to Establish 3rd Outpost for Defense Innovation Hub
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Frank Kendall: DoD Likely to Establish 3rd Outpost for Defense Innovation Hub


Frank Kendall
Frank Kendall

Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall said the Defense Department aims to open a third outpost for the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental organization in the next few months, Defense News reported Wednesday.

Aaron Mehta writes Austin, Texas, could be a possible location for the third DIUx office after Defense Secretary Ash Carter visited an innovation hub there in the spring.

“We’re iterating as we go but we’re having some very good, initial success,” Kendall said at the Common Defense conference.

The report said DoD could set up a potential fourth location near Washington by the end of 2016 if the department’s plan moves forward.

DoD opened a Boston-based DIUx office in July to support efforts to increase connections with the innovation community and boost integration of new technologies into military operations.

The department established the initial outpost in Silicon Valley in 2015.

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Air Force Lists Candidate Bases for General Atomics-Built MQ-9 Reaper Operations
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Air Force Lists Candidate Bases for General Atomics-Built MQ-9 Reaper Operations


UAs not dronesThe U.S. Air Force will select two locations from a pool of candidate air bases to house General Atomics-built MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft and related operations.

The service branch said Thursday the first location will host an MQ-9 operations group with mission control elements while the second location will have a full MQ-9 wing with a launch and recovery element, a mission control element, a maintenance group and operations support personnel.

“We are using the strategic basing process to determine the best locations for hosting additional locations for the MQ-9 mission,” said Jennifer Miller, Air Force deputy assistant secretary for installations.

“As we go through the basing process, we will use the information we collect to help us determine the affordability and potential locations for expanding the MQ-9 enterprise.”

The candidate bases for the first site are:

  • Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
  • Moody Air Force Base
  • Mountain Home Air Force Base
  • Offutt Air Force Base
  • Shaw Air Force Base

The choices for the second site are:

  • Eglin Air Force Base
  • Tyndall Air Force Base
  • Vandenberg Air Force Base
  • Shaw Air Force Base

Air Combat Command will conduct site surveys at all eight locations and site survey teams will assess the location’s capacity to meet requirements and the potential impact to existing missions as well as the base’s infrastructure and manpower.

The Air Force said its search for additional basing locations supports a push to provide leadership opportunities and increase the diversity of assignment opportunities for personnel in the MQ-9 program, as well as foster integration with other organizations.

General Atomics’ aeronautical systems business built the multi-mission MQ-9 to support the missions of military and government clients such as the Department of Homeland Security, NASA and the air forces of France, the U.K., Italy and Spain.

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NIST-Navy Team Explores Use of Fiber-Optic Telecom Networks as Potential Backup for GPS in Precision Time Transfer
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NIST-Navy Team Explores Use of Fiber-Optic Telecom Networks as Potential Backup for GPS in Precision Time Transfer


CellTowerA study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Navy has found that commercial fiber-optic telecommunications networks might be used as a backup for GPS when it comes to the transmission of precision time signals.

NIST and the U.S. Naval Observatory have teamed up with CenturyLink and Microsemi to conduct an experiment to determine whether telecom networks could serve as GPS backup for time transfer, NIST said Thursday.

Researchers used CenturyLink’s fiber optic cables to link NIST’s time scales in Boulder, Colorado, to USNO’s time scales at Schriever Air Force Base.

NIST and USNO also deployed Microsemi’s timing signal receivers and transmission equipment and measured the differences between local and transmitted Coordinated Universal Time or UTC.

Experiments showed that fiber-optic telecom networks could transfer UTC with a stability level of within 100 nanoseconds.

Researchers also found that the use of various equipment to transmit timing signals resulted in unequal time transfer delays between the two locations, failing to meet the 1 microsecond accuracy level.

“The 100 nanosecond stability level is good enough to meet a new telecommunications standard,” said Marc Weiss, lead study author and a mathematical physicist at NIST.

“We’ll continue trying to meet the 1 microsecond accuracy level, which is needed by critical infrastructure such as the power industry,” Weiss added.

NIST and USNO started the experiments in April 2014 and agreed to extend the research project to January 2017.

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Lt. Gen. James Holmes Nominated to Head Air Combat Command
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Lt. Gen. James Holmes Nominated to Head Air Combat Command


headshot-james-holmes
James Holmes

President Barack Obama has nominated Lt. Gen. James Holmes, U.S. Air Force deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements, as commander of Air Combat Command at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia.

Holmes is also up for a potential rank promotion to general, the Defense Department said Thursday.

Holmes currently manages the development and integration of the Air Force’s operational requirements and long-term strategies and plans.

He started his military career in 1981 and has since commanded the 27th Fighter Squadron, the 14th Operations Group, the 4th Fighter Wing and the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing and served under the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

He was vice commander of the Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph in Texas where he handled the recruitment, training and education of Air Force personnel before he was appointed to his current position.

Holmes is a command pilot with at least 4,000 flight hours and has flown the T-38, T-37 and T-1A aircraft with 500 combat hours in the F-15A/B/C/D/E aircraft.

He is the recipient of military awards such as the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Defense Meritorious Service Medal and Army Commendation Medal.

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Obama Nominates Lt. Gen. John Raymond to Head Air Force Space Command
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Obama Nominates Lt. Gen. John Raymond to Head Air Force Space Command


john_raymond
John Raymond

Lt. Gen. John Raymond, deputy chief of staff for operations at the U.S. Air Force, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as the next commander of the Air Force Space Command, Air Force Times reported Wednesday.

Phillip Swarts writes Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James announced Raymond’s nomination during a media roundtable event held Wednesday at the Pentagon.

If confirmed by the Senate, Raymond would receive his fourth star and oversee the command that provides military-focused space and cyberspace support for the Joint Force.

He currently leads the service branch’s efforts to develop policies for air, space, cyber, irregular warfare, counter-proliferation, homeland security, and weather operations.

The 32-year Air Force veteran previously served as commander of 14th Air Force and the Joint Functional Component Command for Space.

 

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White House Appoints DHS Cyber Exec Gregory Touhill as First Federal CISO
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White House Appoints DHS Cyber Exec Gregory Touhill as First Federal CISO


Gregory Touhill
Gregory Touhill

Gregory Touhill, deputy assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications at the Department of Homeland Security, has been named by the White House as the first federal chief information security officer.

Federal CIO Tony Scott and J. Michael Daniel, special assistant to the president and cybersecurity coordinator, wrote in a blog post published Thursday Touhill will oversee a team within the Office of Management of Budget that is responsible for the development and implementation of cybersecurity policies and practices across the federal government.

He will also lead the team to carry out periodic cyberstat assessments to evaluate whether the implementation plans meet specific goals.

Touhill is a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general who oversees the development and execution of programs at DHS’ national protections and programs directorate designed to safeguard government networks and critical infrastructures from cyber threats.

The White House also named Grant Schneider, director for cybersecurity policy on the National Security Council staff, as acting deputy CISO.

The appointment of the federal CISO is part of the Cybersecurity National Action Plan that President Barack Obama unveiled in February.

Military Health System Postpones Rollout of New EHR System Amid Review
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Military Health System Postpones Rollout of New EHR System Amid Review


electronic-health-record-EHRThe Military Health System has deferred the rollout of the new electronic health record system as the MHS has called for a review and and potential modifications prior to release.

The program executive office for defense healthcare management systems will examine MHS GENESIS over the next 30 days before the system’s initial deployment in the Pacific Northwest, MHS said Tuesday.

“We’ve made significant progress developing interfaces, user-approved workflows and technical integration of the baseline operational system currently undergoing required government test processes,” said Stacy Cummings, program executive officer at PEO DHMS.

“The team continues to work aggressively to complete development of interfaces, cyber security risk management, user adoption and testing activities.”

A team that consists of Leidos, Cerner and Accenture won the Defense Department‘s contract in July 2015 to develop a consolidated EHR system across MHS.

The new system is designed to centralize medical and dental records and operate with select legacy systems of the Defense Department.

MHS unveiled the name it adopted for the new EHR system in April.

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White House Unveils New Energy Standards Tool
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White House Unveils New Energy Standards Tool


WhiteHouseThe White House has launched a new acquisition tool designed to help agencies identify contracts that comply with the government’s energy requirements.

Anne Rung, the U.S. chief acquisition officer, and Christine Harada, the federal chief sustainability officer at the Council on Environmental Quality, announced the launch of the Green Check tool on Wednesday.

Rung and Harada said the tool is intended to “further drive sustainable purchasing in the federal government’s over $400 billion supply chain and to strengthen environmental stewardship requirements in federal acquisitions.”

The Green Check tool will begin to appear as a tag next to contract vehicles for the more than 10,000 federal users of the General Services Administration’s Acquisition Gateway.

A cross-agency interdisciplinary advisory team led by the Environmental Protection Agency examined contract awards within the information technology hardware category and identified contracts that met federal energy standards in order to determine the contract vehicles that would receive a Green Check designation.

The White House plans to introduce the Green Check tag to other categories in the coming months.

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