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Oracle’s Sean O’Donnell Reflects on Core Values & Challenges for Government Contractors
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Oracle’s Sean O’Donnell Reflects on Core Values & Challenges for Government Contractors

Sean O’Donnell began his career in the U.S. Air Force, which laid a foundation for his move into the government contracting field. He now serves as senior cloud account executive at Oracle, and before joining the company, he held roles at VMware, Booz Allen Hamilton and Boeing.

O’Donnell recently participated in an interview with the Potomac Officers Club, in which he discussed his most valued leadership traits and shared his insights on innovation challenges that are often overlooked.

In this excerpt from the interview, O’Donnell offers a glimpse into his leadership style:

“I have a very open, candid personality and love being on winning teams – which don’t happen overnight and are not the result of a singular person. I am by no means an expert in everything, so I don’t try to get in the weeds and micro-manage everything. If I don’t understand something, I ask questions until I feel comfortable with the answers. I’d much rather get the experts together, provide the general direction for where we should go and allow broad leeway to get to the desired goal. If we need to course correct during the process, we can, but being a leader is about trusting your team and giving them the tools to be successful and accomplish the task at hand.”

To learn more about O’Donnell’s team-building strategy, read the full Executive Spotlight interview on the Potomac Officers website.

Do you want to participate in your own Executive Spotlight interview? This exciting opportunity to build your brand is available exclusively for Potomac Officers Club members. To browse our membership options and discover which package is right for you, click here.

DCSA Urged to Complete Implementation of DOD’s Planning Steps for Cybersecurity Risk Management
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DCSA Urged to Complete Implementation of DOD’s Planning Steps for Cybersecurity Risk Management

The Government Accountability Office has revealed in a new report that the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, which conducts background investigation operations for federal agencies, has not fully addressed the Department of Defense’s planning steps for cybersecurity risk management.

GAO said Thursday DCSA uses a combination of legacy information technology systems from the Office of Personnel Management and the new National Background Investigation Services systems, but it has not fully implemented privacy controls for the IT systems.

DCSA fully addressed 11 of the 16 tasks required to prepare the organization and its systems as part of DOD’s risk management framework. It partially addressed two and did not address three of the required tasks in this step.

GAO also found that while the agency has selected baseline security controls for its six systems categorized as high-impact risks, it used an outdated version of applicable guidance from the National Institute for Standards and Technology as the source for the control selections.

The government watchdog has outlined a set of recommendations for DCSA, including fully implementing risk management planning steps and selecting appropriate security controls using the updated NIST guidance.

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Jude Sunderbruch Retires as Executive Director of DOD’s Cyber Crime Center
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Jude Sunderbruch Retires as Executive Director of DOD’s Cyber Crime Center

Jude Sunderbruch has stepped down from his role as executive director of the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center, or DC3, and retired from the Senior Executive Service and Air Force Reserve.

Sunderbruch has led DC3 in providing integrated services and capabilities — including digital and multimedia forensics, vulnerability disclosure and cyber training — to DOD components and the defense industrial base.

He joined the Air Force in 1994 and served as an active-duty Air Force Office of Special Investigations, or AFOSI, special agent from 1994 to 2001.

His government career includes roles such as executive director of the AFOSI, counterintelligence coordinating authority for U.S. European Command and special adviser to the assistant director of the cyber division at the FBI.

DC3 Deputy Director Joshua Black will lead the center on an interim basis.

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SDA Issues Solicitation for Advanced Fire Control Program Ground Segment Infrastructure Support
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SDA Issues Solicitation for Advanced Fire Control Program Ground Segment Infrastructure Support

The Space Development Agency seeks a ground segment infrastructure provider for the Advanced Fire Control program and has issued a request for proposals for the requirement.

The Advanced Fire Control Ground Infrastructure acquisition aims to reduce the cost of AFC prototyping programs by providing common ground infrastructure and resources, according to the RFP posted Thursday on SAM.gov.

AFC carries out prototyping and demonstration efforts to evaluate the scalability and utility of and provide a pathfinder for advanced fire control capabilities.

Notably, the AFCGI acquisition will be critical to the prototyping effort for the Fire-control On Orbit-support to the warfighter system, which will be carried out in fiscal year 2027, and any subsequent demonstration programs.

Work under the acquisition includes the delivery and management of ground segment resources, the management of a cloud environment, the management of the Demonstration Operations Center and the provision of various other services.

Interested parties have until Aug. 5 to respond.

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Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin Emphasizes Need for Constant Growth in USAF
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Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin Emphasizes Need for Constant Growth in USAF

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin has spoken publicly over the last week about how “reoptimizing” the way the Total Force trains, plans, modernizes and is equipped is vital for the Air Force to meet the challenges of near-peer adversaries.

At an Air & Space Warfighters session on June 13, Allvin stated that the Air Force is making progress through elements of a sweeping strategy to change how they develop people, sustain readiness, project power and develop joint capabilities.

The Air Force opened applications for airmen to become the first wave of warrant officers in information technology and cyber careers.

Allvin feels it is critical to retain the cyber personnel the Air Force spends time investing in.

“We believe this is going to be a good path to ensure that we have the talent for today and tomorrow in a very cyber-heavy force that we’re going to need,” Allvin said.

The following day, addressing reporters on June 14, Allvin discussed the need to be “one Air Force.”

“We are taking an Air Force that has been somewhat fragmented due to the strategic environment over the years and really better aligning it and coming back to be one Air Force with one force design, one unit of action type, and one Airmen development concept,” Allvin said.

Numerous efforts to assemble, train and deploy an Air Task Force are underway. The units will then enter the Air Force Force Generation cycle to serve as Units of Action in fiscal year 2026.

With competitor capabilities being at a level never seen before, Allvin believes the national defense and joint forces will need the Air Force’s assistance.

“We have a requirement to not only be able to participate in the joint force, we need to be leading it,” Allvin said. “The character of war is privileging the things that airpower has been doing for a long time.”

Attend the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Air Defense Summit on July 23 to hear updates on the service branch’s technology adoption and modernization initiatives. Register here to save your seat at the highly anticipated event.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin Emphasizes Need for Constant Growth in USAF
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DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Unveils Strategic Guidance on Critical Infrastructure Security
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DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Unveils Strategic Guidance on Critical Infrastructure Security

Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has outlined strategic guidance and national priorities to guide critical infrastructure security and resilience efforts across the public and private sectors.

DHS said Thursday that the guidance focuses on key priority risk areas, such as addressing cyber threats posed by China, managing risks and opportunities presented by emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, and identifying and mitigating supply chain vulnerabilities.

The strategic guidance also highlights the need to incorporate climate risks into sector resilience efforts and address the critical infrastructure sector’s growing dependency on space systems and assets.

“The threats facing our critical infrastructure demand a whole of society response and the priorities set forth in this memo will guide that work. I look forward to continuing our work with partners at all levels of government and the private sector to better ensure the safety of all Americans,” Mayorkas said.

In April, the White House released the National Security Memorandum on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience, which mandated that the DHS secretary provide strategic guidance and coordinate risk management and resilience efforts by the federal government.

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Army Releases Data Platform Guidance
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Army Releases Data Platform Guidance

The Department of the Army has issued a memorandum to clarify approved data platforms and allowable low-code/no-code activities within data platforms.

According to the memo publicly posted on Thursday, data platforms provide an approved and accredited environment to implement the decision-driven data concept of operations and serve as a key technology enabler for establishing a data-centric Army.

The document states that Army organizations will only utilize Department of Defense Approved Data Platforms, or DADP, and will not develop new data management platforms for business mission activities without the approval of the service branch’s chief data and analytics officer, also known as CDAO.

When an Army component determines that the DADP is not sufficient to complete a mission or objective, it can request an exemption to the Army CDAO through the Army Data Board.

According to the memo, users are allowed to conduct low-code/no-code activities in accordance with the approved scope of the platform requirement and approved accreditation boundaries.

The guidance document requires the owner or proponent of an approved data platform to maintain a governance body that will assess activities within the platform to ensure that low-code/no-code activities lie within the accreditation boundary and requirements scope.

The memo was signed by Leonel Garciga, the Army’s chief information officer and a 2024 Wash100 Award recipient, and Douglas Bush, the Army’s acquisition executive and a previous Wash100 awardee.

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MagniX, NASA Perform Engine Altitude Tests to Support Future Hybrid Electric Flight
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MagniX, NASA Perform Engine Altitude Tests to Support Future Hybrid Electric Flight

MagniX engineers conducted a series of altitude tests for a battery-powered engine to demonstrate its capabilities to potentially support hybrid electric flight in the future.

The company used an altitude chamber at NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed — a.k.a. NEAT — facility, to test the propulsion system at a simulated 27,500 feet and evaluate its performance under realistic flight conditions, the space agency said Tuesday.

The completion of the activity in April wrapped up the first phase of NEAT-hosted altitude tests under NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration, or EPFD, project, which focuses on the feasibility of powering future commercial aircraft with hybrid electric propulsion.

Emphasizing the importance of the recent activity, Brad French, lead systems engineer for NASA EPFD, said, “The testing at NEAT is critical for high-power electrified aircraft propulsion technologies because many of the potential problems that a design might encounter only present themselves at higher altitudes.”

MagniX and NASA examined how the temperature at higher altitudes and high voltage could affect the electric engine when operational. Partial discharge tests were also performed to study the strength of the system’s electrical insulation.

Under EPFD, a De Havilland Dash 7 aircraft is being retrofitted with a new propulsion system with traditional turbo-propellor engines and electric motors.

The hybrid electric flight testing of the aircraft is planned for 2026.

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DOE Releases Set of Principles to Ensure Energy Infrastructure Supply Chain Cybersecurity
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DOE Releases Set of Principles to Ensure Energy Infrastructure Supply Chain Cybersecurity

The Department of Energy has issued a document outlining a set of principles regarding cybersecurity best practices for energy infrastructure supply chains.

The document, titled Supply Chain Cybersecurity Principles, was developed in collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory for the benefit of manufacturers as well as end users, the DOE said Tuesday.

Commenting on the issuance of the principles, Deputy National Security Adviser for Cyber and Emerging Technologies and past Wash100 Award winner Anne Neuberger said, “The Biden-Harris Administration is prioritizing the security and resilience of our critical energy infrastructure with this global initiative, emphasizing the importance of aligning individual supply chain security efforts for operational technology used in the energy sector.”

For his part, Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk said, “Together with our G7 allies, we’re helping ensure energy infrastructure worldwide is more reliable and resilient against tomorrow’s threats and challenges.”

Multiple energy sector companies — including GE Vernova, Schneider Electric, Hitachi Energy, Siemens and Honeywell — have expressed support for the principles.

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CISA Issues Guidance Promoting Use of Modern Network Access Security Approaches
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CISA Issues Guidance Promoting Use of Modern Network Access Security Approaches

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is calling on business leaders to review a recently-released joint guidance titled Modern Approaches to Network Access Security, which is meant for organizations seeking to transition to more modern, fine-grained network security options that meet their data access needs.

The guidance specifically recommends the adoption of three security approaches — zero trust, Secure Service Edge and Secure Access Service Edge — which offer improved network activity visibility, CISA said Tuesday.

The guidance also tackles remote access and VPN deployment and associated practices, threats and vulnerabilities, including those related to remote access misconfiguration.

CISA co-authored the document along with the FBI, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security and New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau and Computer Emergency Response Team.

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