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US Deploys F-22 Jets to Romania for Training Exercises; Frank Gorenc, Daniel Lehoski Comment
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US Deploys F-22 Jets to Romania for Training Exercises; Frank Gorenc, Daniel Lehoski Comment


U.S. Air Force photoThe U.S. government has deployed F-22 Raptor jets to Romania as part of training exercises in the region intended to help increase security for NATO allies and European partners, Air Force Times reported Monday.

Oriana Pawlyk writes two Lockheed Martin-built Raptors and 20 aircrew members from the 95th Fighter Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base and a Boeing-built KC-135 refueling aircraft from the 916th Air Refueling Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base have arrived at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base.

“This deployment advances our airpower evolution and demonstrates our resolve and commitment to European safety and security,” said Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa.

Air Force Times reports the deployment in the region is part of a U.S. assessment of its role and responsibilities in Europe amid Russia’s military build-up in the region.

“We’re here today to demonstrate our capability to take the F-22 anywhere needed in NATO or across Europe,” squadron commander Daniel Lehoski told Reuters.

William James writes the exercises, which are funded under the European Reassurance Initiative, have centered on the Black Sea as part of a broader strategy that may involve Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania.

Defense News: Rep. Mac Thornberry Adds Prototype Funding Language in Defense Bill
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Defense News: Rep. Mac Thornberry Adds Prototype Funding Language in Defense Bill


Mac Thornberry
Mac Thornberry

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) has proposed a budget flexibility measure that would allow the Defense Department to prototype, experiment and field new technologies outside major DoD acquisition programs, Defense News reported Monday.

Aaron Mehta writes the proposal is written under section 1702 of the House Armed Services Committee chairman’s markup of the fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.

Thornberry introduced the language to the NDAA with the intent to help military service branches obtain funds for research and development of components to support multiple systems, Mehta reports.

“The services would then be able to select and fund prototyping projects during the year of execution without waiting the 2-3 years required for the typical budget process or initiation of a new program of record,” according NDAA documents obtained by Defense News.

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FedTech Magazine: Agencies Continue Campaign Against Insider Threats Under Task Force Standards
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FedTech Magazine: Agencies Continue Campaign Against Insider Threats Under Task Force Standards

insider-threatGovernment agencies continue to develop measures to prevent and detect insider threats in efforts to meet the standards of the National Insider Threat Task Force formed by President Barack Obama following the WikiLeaks release, FedTech Magazine reported Monday.

Calvin Hennick writes Patricia Larsen, co-director of the task force, said agencies have deployed various programs to help prevent insider-caused data breach.

“What we want to do now is bring all the information they collect together,” Larsen said.

“Things that used to be viewed as disparate information in their own stovepipes are now shared within agencies.”

Larsen added employee training is also essential to secure sensitive information, according to the report.

The magazine further cited a MeriTalk survey released in September that showed 29 percent of agencies lost data to insider threats through a 12-month period, while 40 percent of the incidents reported in the survey were caused unintentionally.

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Report: New U.S. Cyber Campaign to Target Islamic State Militants
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Report: New U.S. Cyber Campaign to Target Islamic State Militants


cybersecurityThe Defense Department has formed “national mission teams” to conduct offensive cyber-based operations against the Islamic State militant organization as part of a wider effort to disrupt the group’s communication activities, The New York Times reported Sunday.

David Sanger writes DoD’s latest cyber campaign aims to weaken the ability of Islamic State militants to spread their extremist propaganda, recruit adherents, disseminate commander orders and fund operations.

“We’re trying to both physically and virtually isolate ISIL,” Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was quoted as saying by The Times.

The report said the effort is aligned with a White House strategy to incorporate U.S.-built cyber weapons into the fight against the militant group.

National mission teams have begun to place “implants” into the Islamic State organization’s networks to examine the online habits of its commanders, according to the report.

Sanger noted DoD aims to imitate those activities or alter messages the group transmits in cyberspace with the intent to redirect militants to areas where U.S. ground forces or drones can target them.

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White House: HHS to Allocate $300M for Head Start Programs Nationwide
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White House: HHS to Allocate $300M for Head Start Programs Nationwide


Head Start stockThe Department of Health and Human Services will allocate nearly $300 million in fiscal year 2017 funds for Head Start programs nationwide in an effort to expand early learning services for children, the White House reported Monday.

Roberto Rodríguez, deputy assistant to the president for education; and Sharon Parrott, Office of Management and Budget associate director for education, income maintenance, and labor programs; said the funds will look to provide learning time to 135,000 children.

According to the White House, more than 32 million children have been assisted through Head Start supported by a $4 billion investment in the program.

The White House also noted that the funds look to maximize the program’s assistance to school readiness and development of nearly one million participating children.

Head Start looks to guide early learning — including language and literacy, cognition and general knowledge, approaches to learning, physical development and health and social and emotional development — progress, health and family well-being of children from birth to age five as well as well as supporting the children’s comprehensive development.

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Luke McCormack: DHS Seeks ‘Ready Access’ to Tech Through Agile Development, Open Source Buys
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Luke McCormack: DHS Seeks ‘Ready Access’ to Tech Through Agile Development, Open Source Buys


DHS - ExecutiveMosaicThe Department of Homeland Security is looking at agile development and open source software approaches for its technology acquisition and implementation initiatives, Federal News Radio reported Friday.

Jason Miller writes DHS has kicked off five pilot programs for the Citizenship and Immigration Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Immigration and Custom Enforcement and the Transportation Security Administration agencies that seek to apply the agile and open source methodologies.

“We need to have ready access to a variety of technologies, cloud technologies, software development technologies, security technologies, and this is where the close partnership with the procurement organization comes into the fold,” Luke McCormack, DHS chief information officer, told the station.

McCormack and Soraya Correa, DHS chief procurement officer, worked together over the past six months to initiate the pilot projects through the Acquisition Innovations in Motion initiative that sets priorities for engagements with industry, Miller reports.

AT Kearney’s Jeff Sorenson, Christian Hagen, Anshuman Jaiswal Outline New Model for Gov’t IT
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AT Kearney’s Jeff Sorenson, Christian Hagen, Anshuman Jaiswal Outline New Model for Gov’t IT


DataCenterExecutives at A.T. Kearney have said in an FCW article published Friday that government agencies should work to reduce information technology spending by adopting a model that aims to provide fact-based visibility into IT operations.

Jeff Sorenson, a partner and vice president for the aerospace and defense practice at A.T. Kearney, co-wrote the opinion piece with Christian Hagen, a partner in A.T. Kearney’s strategic information technology practice; and Anshuman Jaiswal, manager at the consulting firm’s strategic IT practice.

“Strong IT leaders need to coordinate visibility into data-driven optimization opportunities across organizational subcomponents to implement effective enterprise-wide decisions,” they said.

Sorenson, Hagen and Jaiswal noted that IT operations should be assessed based on what they call “six lenses” — the organization’s operating model, service management, complexity management, outsourcing or offshoring, sourcing and technology foresight or lifecycle management.

Oversight on IT functions using the six lenses will work to pinpoint areas of potential value for agencies as well as others that need adjustments or overhaul to facilitate cost savings and efficiency, the authors wrote.

“As leaders, [CIOs] need to challenge, and when needed carefully push back on, IT demand in order to use budget resources more efficiently and, where warranted, transition their organizations to a low-footprint IT vision,” they said.

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GSA to Release RFPs for Alliant 2, Small Business Track in June
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GSA to Release RFPs for Alliant 2, Small Business Track in June


GSAThe General Services Administration plans to release the request for proposals regarding the Alliant 2 governmentwide acquisition contract and its small business component sometime in the second half of June.

GSA said Thursday that Alliant 2 and Alliant 2 Small Business contracting officers could also release two separate presolicitation announcements on the Federal Business Opportunities website at least 15 calendar days before the RFPs’ release.

The unofficial statement on the program schedule seeks to facilitate transparency in communication with industry and other interested parties and respond to various questions regarding the pending procurement.

Both GWACs are currently going through a review process as required following the release of the most recent draft RFP in October 2015, GSA said.

GSA notes that seven requests for information and two draft RFPs have been issued throughout the three-year procurement program along with market research, industry trade group appearances, face-to-face and one-on-one meetings, email questions and answers and other discussions.

He indicates further question-and-answer opportunities for industry will follow after the release of the official RFPs and before the receipt of submitted proposals.

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Joe Dunford: US Should Update C2 Strategies Amid Changed ‘Character’ of War
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Joe Dunford: US Should Update C2 Strategies Amid Changed ‘Character’ of War


Marine Corps Gen_Joe DunfordThe chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has said the U.S. military should address the emergence of cyber, space and ballistic intercontinental missiles as factors that changed the “character” of war, DoD News reported Sunday.

Jim Garamone writes that U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford suggested updates in the Defense Department‘s current command-and-control strategy to be able to confront the changes.

“[War] changed because of cyber capabilities, space capabilities, ballistic missile capabilities, intercontinental missile capabilities,” said Dunford.

“The character of war has changed so we should adapt to the character of war, and by changing the organizational construct of the Joint Staff,” he added.

Dunford also noted that there are certain areas in which the defense secretary can delegate responsibility for joint integration to the CJCS.

The defense secretary holds responsibility for joint integration and the authorities to integrate the combatant commands under the current system, the report said.

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Sutherland’s Teresa Weipert: Cultural Adaptation Key for Customer-Focused Agencies
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Sutherland’s Teresa Weipert: Cultural Adaptation Key for Customer-Focused Agencies


Teresa Weipert
Teresa Weipert

Teresa Weipert, senior vice president of the government solutions business at Sutherland Global Services, has said she believes cultural adaptation is essential for agencies that aim to transform their delivery of public services.

She wrote in a guest piece published Friday on Nextgov that agencies should adopt a citizen engagement strategy that will cover technology, policies, best practices, feedback mechanisms and intra-agency and interagency cooperation.

“If agencies are to focus on the ‘new’ customer service, all employees must be engaged and committed, because it is a reflection on the department or agency,” she added.

According to Weipert, the Office of Management and Budget is working on a customer service playbook that can help government organizations to deliver services with digital technology.

She also urged agencies to consider adoption of avatar-based customer support technology and other call-avoidance methods that Weipert says can help government contact centers to save money.

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