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Keisha Dawn Bell Named Defense Contract Management Agency General Counsel
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Keisha Dawn Bell Named Defense Contract Management Agency General Counsel


DoD logo resizeKeisha Dawn Bell, formerly deputy general counsel of the Defense Contract Management Agency, has been named general counsel of DCMA.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced the appointment of Bell in a Defense Department statement issued Friday.

Bell also previously served as deputy general counsel of the Merit Systems Protection Board after she worked for the Justice Department as a trial attorney, senior trial attorney and deputy chief of the civil rights division’s housing and civil enforcement section.

She was inducted into the Senior Executive Service in 2015.

Bell is a graduate of Randolph-Macon College and the University of Richmond’s T.C. William School of Law.

She also completed the Federal Executive Institute’s Leadership for a Democratic Society Program.

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Report: Turkey Eyes MEADS Missile Defense System Procurement
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Report: Turkey Eyes MEADS Missile Defense System Procurement


MissileDefenseTurkey is considering acquiring a Medium Extended Air Defense System built by MEADS International, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and MBDA, after the country canceled its plans to buy a China-made anti-missile weapon system, Defense News reported Sunday.

Burak Ege Bekdil writes a Turkish government procurement official said he believes the MEADS platform can increase Turkey’s air defense coverage amid security challenges in the Mediterranean region.

Turkish acquisition personnel are in preliminary talks with German manufacturer MBDA regarding the technological features of the missile defense system, Bekdil reports.

MEADS is designed to provide operators a 360-degree radar coverage area and destroy ballistic and cruise missiles, manned and unmanned aerial vehicles and weapons of mass destruction.

The system comprises a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhanced missile, surveillance and fire control sensors,  high-powered launchers and battle management/communication infrastructure.

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GAO: Coordination Key to Identify DoD’s Professional Services Acquisition Needs
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GAO: Coordination Key to Identify DoD’s Professional Services Acquisition Needs


ContractSigningA Government Accountability Office report says the Defense Department should establish a coordinated approach for military organizations to forecast and manage funding requirements for professional services contracts.

GAO said Thursday it found that DoD obligated about $85 billion for the acquisition of research and development, facility management and knowledge-based services during fiscal 2014, more than double the amount of obligated military funds for ground, aerial, maritime vehicles in the same year.

The agency has also observed that military branches maintain data on current and projected service contract spending needs but they have limited insight into future service procurement budgetary needs.

Military departments also do not address outyear funding for professional services contracts in their program objective memorandums, GAO added.

GAO urged Congress to consider requiring DoD to report service contract spending forecasts and recommended that military branches modify their POM guidelines to include contracted services.

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FCW: Ann Barron-DiCamillo to Step Down as US-CERT Director
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FCW: Ann Barron-DiCamillo to Step Down as US-CERT Director


Ann Barron-DiCamillo
Ann Barron-DiCamillo

Ann Barron-DiCamillo is leaving her post as Department of Homeland Security‘s U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team director, FCW reported Thursday.

No timeline was given for her departure in the report.

Barron-DiCamillo held the position since January 2013 where she headed the operations center and helped address cybersecurity threats.

She has previously held the roles of the chief of the Capabilities and Control Branch and the chief engineer of the Enclave Host Security Division at the Defense Information Systems Agency.

Navy Develops Scanners, Simulators for Logistics and Planning Operations
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Navy Develops Scanners, Simulators for Logistics and Planning Operations


NavyShipsU.S. Navy engineers and scientists have built a set of 3D scanners and simulation tools designed to help sailors accelerate operational maneuvers.

The Naval Sea Systems Command Surface Warfare Centers in Panama City, Florida, and Philadelphia have collaborated on a tool meant to scan the interior of ships in order to detect if equipment or vehicles can be stowed, the Navy said Wednesday.

Project Lead Tyson Kackley said the team began work in 2015 to support the Marine Corps Systems Command, which led the “Framework for Assessing Cost and Technology Rapid Technology Insertion” project.

Kackley added that the project used computer-aided design models and science, math and engineering concepts “to determine if the vehicle could fit properly inside the ship to allow ingress and egress, before actually attempting to insert the vehicle into the ship.”

The Navy personnel worked to identify the project requirements through fleet operator focus groups and utilized LIDAR scanning technology alongside CAD, the Navy said.

According to the service branch, the use of simulation and modeling in the project as part of the FACT model also works to support decision-making and determine feasibility.

The NAVSEA Ship Design office, SIAT Transportability and Naval Integration office and other naval offices also contributed in the project.

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Defense Department, ODNI Forge Anti-Insider Threat Program; Patricia Larsen Comments
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Defense Department, ODNI Forge Anti-Insider Threat Program; Patricia Larsen Comments


insider-threatThe Defense Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s National Insider Threat Task Force have formed a partnership to counter insider threats, C4ISR & Networks reported Thursday.

Rutrell Yasin writes the team currently examines ways to establish insider threat programs through its components.

NITTF Co-Director Patricia Larsen told a C4ISR & Networks webcast that the DoD and ODNI seek to “determine which of the minimum standards can be applied and in what way to each individual component.”

NITTF works to help federal agencies detect and prevent insiders from compromising classified information, Yasin reports.

Larsen said insider threat programs must have senior leadership buy-in and trained professionals who have a complete view of an organization in order to succeed, C4ISR & Networks reports.

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Jeh Johnson: DHS Unveils Cyber Threat Indicator Sharing Guidelines
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Jeh Johnson: DHS Unveils Cyber Threat Indicator Sharing Guidelines


Jeh Johnson
Jeh Johnson

Jeh Johnson, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has said DHS has released a document that aims to guide federal agencies and industry on how to share cyber threat information with the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center.

Johnson said in a statement posted Tuesday it issued the guidelines with the Justice Department in compliance with the requirements of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015.

DHS also released interim guidelines that detail how the department will carry out privacy assessments of received cyber threat data from other federal agencies and companies, he noted.

He cited that DHS has made changes to the Automated Indicator Sharing platform that agencies and industry use to share network threat indicators in real time.

Johnson also urged the private sector to help improve the AIS system and provide feedback as DHS works to craft the final guidelines for cyber threat information sharing.

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Lt. Gen. Mike Holmes: USAF Air Dominance Study Nears Completion
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Lt. Gen. Mike Holmes: USAF Air Dominance Study Nears Completion


F-35The U.S. Air Force could release next month the findings of its research into the next generation of fighter aircraft and weapon systems, Reuters reported Thursday.

Andrea Shalal writes Lt. Gen. Mike Holmes, Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements, said the initiative will help the military service lay the groundwork for a new acquisition program to address its air dominance goals by 2030.

“It won’t be just one airframe that comes out of it,”  he told reporters Thursday.

“It’ll be a family of systems that helps us make sure we can guarantee the air superiority that the joint force depends on.”

The Air Force is scheduled to deploy an initial squadron of Lockheed Martin-built F-35s in August.

Warren Kibbe: DOE, NCI Plan Pilot to Use Supercomputers for Cancer Research
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Warren Kibbe: DOE, NCI Plan Pilot to Use Supercomputers for Cancer Research


computer-technologyThe Energy Department and National Cancer Institute will continue to work together to plan the utilization of large-scale computing in cancer research and clinical treatment.

Warren Kibbe, director of the NCI Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology, wrote in an article published Wednesday that NCI and DOE have partnered with DOE’s Exascale Computing Initiative and the National Strategic Computing Initiative in the collaboration.

The team seeks to utilize exascale supercomputers, which process data in exaflops, in the identification of specific treatments for cancer patients.

“NCI and DOE leaders believe something with such massive power to interrogate and decipher big data could play an important role in cancer research,” Kibbe wrote.

He said the team will hold a pilot program to cover the areas of computational approaches to research, the impact of current therapies in real-world medical practice and large-scale computing to develop laboratory models of cancer.

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CBO: DHS Cyber Assistance Bill Would Cost $65M Through Fiscal 2021
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CBO: DHS Cyber Assistance Bill Would Cost $65M Through Fiscal 2021


cybersecurityThe Congressional Budget Office estimates a House bill requiring the Department of Homeland Security to offer cybersecurity support for state and local agencies would cost $65 million to implement for fiscal years 2016 through 2021.

CBO said Wednesday the State and Local Cyber Protection Act calls for DHS to help non-federal agencies to identify information system vulnerabilities and adopt cyber policy,  training and risk management programs.

The budget watchdog indicated it expects DHS to provide free cybersecurity assistance to state and local governments through the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center if the bill is enacted.

MS-ISAC currently offers services for a fee or with DHS-provided grant money, according to CBO.

CBO also forecasts that implementing the bill will not increase direct government spending or budget deficit levels “in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2026.”

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