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Todd Wagner Named Commander of Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center; Kenneth Iverson Comments
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Todd Wagner Named Commander of Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center; Kenneth Iverson Comments


Todd Wagner
Todd Wagner

Capt. Todd Wagner, formerly executive officer at Naval Hospital Rota in Spain, has been appointed as commander of the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center.

During a ceremony conducted at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Wagner relieved Capt. Scott Jonson, who will move to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, the U.S. Navy said Friday.

“Captain Jonson’s superlative leadership has led to transformation changes that positively impact the health and wellness for tens of thousands Navy, Marine Corps, [Defense Department] personnel and their family members around the world,” said Rear Adm. Kenneth Iverson, commander of Navy Medicine East.

Wagner previously served as director for public health at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton in California and, prior to that, completed two deployments to Iraq as the preventive medicine officer for Multinational Forces Iraq.

He was also a preventive medicine officer for II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune North Carolina, clinical consultant and operational and staff liaison at the Armed Forces Medical Intelligence Center at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland and officer-in-charge for the Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit 2 in Norfolk.

Wagner started his career with the Navy as a surface warfare officer aboard amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu.

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NGA Deploys Disaster Support Team, Geospatial Products to Assist Louisiana Flood Recovery Efforts
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NGA Deploys Disaster Support Team, Geospatial Products to Assist Louisiana Flood Recovery Efforts


floodingThe National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has deployed a disaster support team and a suite of geospatial products to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency‘s damage assessment operations in the flooded areas of Louisiana.

NGA said Monday its geospatial visualization products and web services are designed to relay location and damage-specific information to country officials, local law enforcement and FEMA urban search and rescue teams in Ascension Parish and other flood-ridden areas.

Louisiana experienced severe flooding in Amite, Vermillion, Mermentau and Calcasieu Rivers with flood conditions reported to likely persist for several days, NGA added.

NGA’s team will assist emergency personnel to navigate affected areas to deliver response and recovery assistance to civilians.

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Katrina McFarland Describes Cyber, Electronic Warfare as Enterprise Challenges
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Katrina McFarland Describes Cyber, Electronic Warfare as Enterprise Challenges


Katrina McFarland
Katrina McFarland

Katrina McFarland, the Army’s acting assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology, has described cyber and electronic warfare as enterprise challenges and discussed ways to work through the attacks, C4ISRNET reported Thursday.

McFarland said via video teleconference at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium that work through cyber or EW attacks requires comprehension of systems and categorization of the critical parts, Mark Pomerleau reports.

“If you take a look at a system, there are many functions that a system performs military – some of them more critical than others,” she said.

“That needs to be understood because then, in terms of how do you build protection inside of that system, you create the environment that protects the highest degree those most critical missions while allowing some degradation of the non-critical missions,” McFarland added.

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NTIA Requests Info on Pros, Cons of IPv6 Tech Adoption
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NTIA Requests Info on Pros, Cons of IPv6 Tech Adoption


cybersecurityThe National Telecommunications and Information Administration seeks ideas from industry on how NTIA can help accelerate adoption of internet protocol version 6 in the U.S. as well as information on the potential advantages and disadvantages of implementing the new network protocol.

NTIA said Thursday that IPv6 can accommodate more than 340 undecillion web addresses compared with the approximately 4.3 billion addresses that IPv4 currently supports.

NTIA will collect data to guide the agency’s efforts to help organizations implement IPv6 and contribute to the IPv6 Best Practice Forum as part of the Internet Governance Forum’s intercessional work program.

The agency also plans to use gathered information to craft a report that will support domestic and international promotional efforts related to IPv6, according to a notice posted Thursday in the Federal Register.

Responses to the request for comment are due Oct. 3.

Internet experts have predicted the number of internet-connected devices will increase to as many as 200 billion by 2020, or 25 devices per person, NTIA noted.

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Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab Collects Servicemen Family Member Samples at Annual Korean/Cold War Briefing
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Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab Collects Servicemen Family Member Samples at Annual Korean/Cold War Briefing


DNAThe Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory has collected DNA samples from 426 family members of uniformed personnel at the 2016 Korean/Cold War Annual government briefings held Aug. 11 and 12 in Arlington, Virginia.

The Defense Health Agency said Friday the family members have met with government officials that specialize in policy update, global operations, DNA process and identification to discuss AFDIL’s role in the briefings.

“AFDIL collects, runs and controls a database of family reference samples for past conflicts … They coordinate with the Service Casualty Officers to make sure the right family members are contacted to donate a sample,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Alice Briones, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System Defense Department DNA Registry director.

“They also run the remains that come through [Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency] to create a data summary of ‘believed to be’ to be compared to references in hopes of identification.”

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Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend Takes Helm as Counter-Islamic State Task Force Commander
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Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend Takes Helm as Counter-Islamic State Task Force Commander


Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent ResolveU.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend has taken the helm as commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve at a a transfer of authority ceremony held Sunday.

DoD News reported Sunday Townsend, the commanding general of XVIII Airborne Corps, has succeeded former commander Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, head of the III Armored Corps, to lead the U.S. military campaign agains the Islamic State militant organization.

DoD noted the counterterrorism efforts have led to the addition of 5,000 trained local police and over 20,000 tribal fighters as well as more than 13,500 trained members of the Iraqi security forces that include Iraqi soldiers, counter-terrorism service soldiers, Peshmerga, federal police and border guards.

The team has also conducted 50,000 counter-IS group sorties along with 200 strikes against oil and natural gas activities.

Townsend’s appointment was announced in July by Defense Secretary Ash Carter along with the news that 560 troops would be deployed to help Iraq’s security forces.

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OPM Seeks Agencies’ Help to Assess Telework Reporting Accuracy
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OPM Seeks Agencies’ Help to Assess Telework Reporting Accuracy


US office of personnel managementThe Office of Personnel Management has called on federal agencies to assist in OPM’s effort to check the accuracy of telework reporting via payroll submissions.

Mark Reinhold, associate director of employee services at OPM, on Aug. 11 provided an update on the government’s effort to automate how it collects telework data via the Enterprise Human Resources Integration system.

Reinhold said the OPM will send reports to agencies and subagencies that summarize data submission tasks for a single pay cycle.

“We are asking each agency to work with your HR staff and telework managing officers to examine the report to assess the accuracy of the data and determine any potential issues that may be affecting data reporting and accuracy,” he said.

OPM plans to conduct meetings with agency human resource directors, TMOs and payroll providers to discuss how they will maintain the accuracy of data reporting to EHRI.

The agency gathers federal employees’ telework eligibility and usage data through the monthly EHRI HR-Status data feed and bi-weekly EHRI payroll data feed.

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Steven Renly Takes Command of Naval Special Warfare Group 11
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Steven Renly Takes Command of Naval Special Warfare Group 11


U.S. NavyU.S. Navy Capt. Steven Renly has succeeded Roger Meek as commander of the Naval Special Warfare Group 11 during a change of command ceremony on Aug. 5 at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado.

The Navy said Saturday Meek will also serve as commanding officer of the Navy Operational Support Center Ventura County.

NSWG 11 worked to establish and coordinate the NSW Unmanned Aircraft Systems mission under Meek’s leadership, the service branch added.

Renly said will lead lead 800 NSW Reservists comprising SEALs, Special Warfare Combatant-craft crewmen and combat service support personnel.

NSWG 11 works to organize, man, train, equip and deploy Reserve SEAL platoons, boat detachments and combat service support teams on special operations missions to aid worldwide active-duty NSW commands.

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Naval Hospital Performs Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant
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Naval Hospital Performs Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant


stem cellA team of dermatologists at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, California has conducted an allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell procedure on a U.S. Navy veteran, marking the first such operation at a U.S. military treatment facility.

The Navy said Wednesday physicians used stem cells from a donor’s bone marrow to address the patient’s skin damage during the medical procedure.

John Trafeli, head of the dermatology research division and the Training and Research for Project Comprehensive Advanced Restorative Effort at NMCSD, led the stem cell transplantation initiative.

The effort marks the start of a clinical trial at the naval hospital that seeks to explore the potential use of regenerative medicine for people who have traumatic brain and musculocutaneous nerve injuries and dental diseases, the Navy added.

NMCSD and biotechnology firm StemCutis initiated the stem cell study as part of a collaborative research and development agreement.

The medical center will host the 2016 Project C.A.R.E. Summit that will be held from September 7 to 9 and feature developments in restorative and regenerative medicine across the military, private sector medical communities.

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FAA Releases Aeronautical Knowledge Test Preparation Materials for Small UAS Operators
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FAA Releases Aeronautical Knowledge Test Preparation Materials for Small UAS Operators


Drone (1)The Federal Aviation Administration has published extensive materials to help unmanned aerial system operators prepare for the implementation of a new rule governing the use of small non-recreational drones.

FAA said Thursday its Part 107 rule, set to take effect Aug. 29, will require people who fly commercial drones to either obtain a remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating or be directly guided by an operator that holds such certificate.

Applicants for the certificate must pass an initial aeronautical knowledge test at an FAA-approved knowledge test center or have an existing non-student Part 61 pilot certificate, which FAA issues to those who have completed a flight review within the last two years and a UAS online training course.

The Transportation Security Administration will also conduct a security background check on all remote pilot applicants before the agency grants certification, FAA noted.

The “Knowledge Test Prep Part 107” compilation of materials is available on the FAA’s website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-d1RuTFvbs&feature=youtu.be

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