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Army, Allied Forces Create Common Operating Picture Based on Zero Trust Principles
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Army, Allied Forces Create Common Operating Picture Based on Zero Trust Principles

The U.S. Army’s I Corps and its allied forces have demonstrated secure information sharing via a single architecture based on zero trust principles during a Yama Sakura 85 multilateral command post exercise, creating a common operating picture for allied leaders at the tactical edge, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

“Our goal here was to establish one common operating picture and the ability to voice video chat, and share specific information,” said Col. Rett Burroughs, the chief information officer and G6 for the Army’s I Corps.

“The application of this proved critical in the ability for staff to make informed recommendations, and for commanders to make informed decisions,” he added.

Burroughs said that building a network architecture based on zero trust principles benefits not only those operating at the tactical edge but also Army commanders in garrisons or commands who coordinate with outside organizations, including local first responders.

“Now we don’t have to have these disparate networks that do not talk to each other because of classification and policy, which you clearly went through during the Katrina catastrophe,” he said.

John Sahlin, vice president of cyber solutions for General Dynamics‘ information technology division, said the shared network approach could help agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

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GSA Updates Multiple Award Schedule to Facilitate Upfront Payments for Software Licenses; Tom Howder Quoted
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GSA Updates Multiple Award Schedule to Facilitate Upfront Payments for Software Licenses; Tom Howder Quoted

The General Services Administration will now allow upfront payments for federal agencies buying software licenses delivered as Software-as-a-Service as part of an update to the Multiple Award Schedule.

GSA said Thursday the MAS update could encourage more small business resellers to offer software licenses delivered as SaaS and provide more flexibility for agencies that use MAS for software procurement.

“By giving the option of one invoice on a purchase that’s immediately delivered, we’re eliminating another administrative burden for our vendor and agency partners. This is a major milestone that reflects our strong commitment to helping agencies save money, advance their mission, and support small business at the same time,” said Tom Howder, acting commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at GSA.

“Modernizing our approach to payment methods will reduce barriers and help agencies as they enhance and improve their IT operations in service of American taxpayers,” Howder added.

GSA said research and collected insights from agency buyers and sellers informed the MAS update, which applies to software licenses delivered as SaaS through the Information Technology Category special item numbers.

“This change means agencies can take advantage of paying upfront, and it will allow more small businesses to enter the government cloud market. We appreciate our industry partners and will maintain dialogue on cloud pricing best practices moving forward,” stated Laura Stanton, assistant commissioner of GSA’s IT Category.

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Bipartisan Senate Bill Seeks to Improve Access of Small Businesses to AI Tools, Training
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Bipartisan Senate Bill Seeks to Improve Access of Small Businesses to AI Tools, Training

Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., have proposed a bipartisan bill that would authorize the Department of Commerce to work with the Small Business Administration to develop and distribute artificial intelligence training resources and tools for small enterprises.

The Small Business Artificial Intelligence Training and Toolkit Act of 2024 proposes training on AI and other emerging technologies to help small companies improve financial management, business planning, accounting, supply chain management, exporting and government contracting.

“Small businesses are the foundation of the U.S. economy, making up 99 percent of all businesses,” Cantwell said in a statement published Tuesday.

“They drive economic growth and innovation. It is essential that all American entrepreneurs – especially our small businesses – have access to AI training and reskilling in the 21st-century marketplace. This bill gives small businesses a boost with new tools to thrive as we step into this innovative era,” added Cantwell, chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

The bill would authorize the Secretary of Commerce to establish a grant program for organizations offering AI training developed through the measure and update AI toolkits and training materials at least every two years.

The measure would also direct AI training for small entities in rural and tribal communities and those involved in advanced manufacturing.

NGA Seeks Information on Commercial Non-Earth Imaging Capabilities
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NGA Seeks Information on Commercial Non-Earth Imaging Capabilities

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has begun seeking information on potential industry sources of unclassified non-Earth imaging, or NEI, capabilities and associated analytics to address emerging geospatial needs.

The Commercial Non-Earth Imaging procurement effort has a base period of one year with four option years and aims to identify NEI services such as image resolution validation, data format, data file transmission and non-vendor asset imaging, according to a notice posted Wednesday on SAM.gov.

NGA will use the contract to inform how commercial space domain awareness data impacts the quality and accuracy of commercial NEI data and to develop imagery that could augment unclassified and classified capabilities and data sources and integrate into analytic workflows.

Interested parties have until July 12 to respond to the request for information.

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Department of the Air Force Authorizes Establishment of AFMEDCOM to Ensure Service Readiness
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Department of the Air Force Authorizes Establishment of AFMEDCOM to Ensure Service Readiness

Secretary of the Air Force and 2024 Wash100 winner Frank Kendall and Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David Allvin have signed Program Action Directive 24-01, authorizing the formation of a direct reporting unit called the Air Force Medical Command.

AFMEDCOM will be led by the Air Force surgeon general and comprise two regional commands, each of which will oversee subordinate medical units, according to a news article posted Thursday on the U.S. Air Force website.

AFMEDCOM’s functions will include providing medical command authority to ensure the readiness of airmen and guardians; optimizing healthcare delivery by deconflicting operational requirements; and providing focus on Air Force Force Generation support.

The establishment of AFMEDCOM began with the redesignation of Air Force Medical Readiness Agency into Air Force Medical Agency, or AFMED, which achieved initial operational capability as a field operating agency in 2023. It is AFMED that will become AFMEDCOM.

The standing up of AFMEDCOM will be carried out via a multi-phase process. Over the next few months, those involved with AFMEDCOM’s implementation will work to ensure the full transition of personnel and develop command roles, responsibilities and relationships. These will have to take place before permanent changes at the installation level occur.

U.S. Air Force Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Robert Miller said the formation of AFMEDCOM “will improve the Air Force’s ability to generate medically ready forces, provide installation support, and improve our partnership with the Defense Health Agency to optimize health care delivery.”

“This is aligned with the Department of Air Force’s efforts to reemphasize its focus on readiness,” Miller added.

Department of the Air Force Authorizes Establishment of AFMEDCOM to Ensure Service Readiness

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DOD OIG Chief Information Officer Harris Quddos Adds Chief AI Officer Role
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DOD OIG Chief Information Officer Harris Quddos Adds Chief AI Officer Role

Harris Quddos, chief information officer at the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General, has expanded his role at DOD OIG to include chief artificial intelligence officer, according to his LinkedIn announcement.

The appointment is in accordance with Executive Order 14110 on the safe, secure and trustworthy development and use of AI.

Quddos will be responsible for improving data management practices to ensure “data is AI-ready” and implementing a robust data governance framework to enhance the data quality of the office.

“My new priorities will also include establishing a comprehensive AI adoption strategy, creating policies for a responsible AI risk management framework and setting ethical standards and guiding principles to ensure the safe and responsible use of AI,” shared Quddos.

Prior to joining DOD OIG in June 2022, he was a member of the Senior Executive Service, supporting the Army under secretary in the service branch’s digital transformation initiative.

Quddos’ career also includes time working at the Defense Logistics Agency, Tronox, ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco.

“I look forward to the journey ahead and the new opportunities it will bring to advance our mission forward in transformative ways,” said Quddos.

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House Panel OKs $833B FY 2025 Defense Spending Measure
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House Panel OKs $833B FY 2025 Defense Spending Measure

The House Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted 34-25 to pass a $833 billion defense spending bill for fiscal year 2025.

The discretionary allocation in the Fiscal Year 2025 Defense Appropriations Act reflects a 1 percent increase from the FY 2024 enacted level and adheres to the limit established in law by the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

“The spending priorities included in this bill acknowledge that the threats against the United States are no longer a future challenge, but a current reality,” said Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

“The Fiscal Year 2025 Defense Appropriations Bill provides our warfighters with the resources they need to meet these challenges by prioritizing capabilities that counter China, increasing investments in rapidly-fielded innovative technologies, reforming the Pentagon’s business practices, and increasing the Department’s role in countering the China-supplied fentanyl crisis,” Calvert added.

Support for Defense Innovation Efforts

The legislation would allocate $1.3 billion for the Defense Innovation Unit and select defense innovation programs to facilitate the delivery of capabilities from nontraditional sources to warfighters. This includes $400 million in funding for the Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies program, or APFIT.

The bill would invest in next-generation fighter jets, helicopters, submarines and tactical combat vehicles and advance the modernization of the nuclear triad, which includes the B-21 Raider, Columbia-class submarine and the Sentinel program.

Under the measure, the Office of Strategic Capital would get funding for loans and loan guarantees to advance the use of private capital for emerging technology development efforts.

Fermilab Opens Underground Facility for Quantum Information Science Research
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Fermilab Opens Underground Facility for Quantum Information Science Research

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has opened the Quantum Underground Instrumentation Experimental Testbed, or QUIET, a quantum information science research center dedicated to the study of superconducting qubits and how various rays and particles affect them.

Because superconducting qubits are easily affected by their environment, including by cosmic radiation, QUIET is situated about 100 meters below Fermilab, thereby allowing for the study of the qubits in isolation, according to an article posted Wednesday on the Fermilab website.

Built as part of the National Quantum Initiative, QUIET has an area of 250 square feet, features a dilution refrigerator for deploying superconducting qubits and will come with radio frequency electronics for the control and readout of the qubits’ quantum states.

QUIET forms part of the Quantum Science Center. Its companion facility, LOUD, is also located at Fermilab, but is situated aboveground. The two feature the same electronics and dilution refrigeration and are differentiated mainly in terms of radiation shielding.

“Together, QUIET and LOUD will allow for controlled experiments with quantum sensors to make direct comparisons between an environment with significantly reduced cosmic ray interference and the ambient environment on Earth’s surface,” QSC Director Travis Humble said.

Agencies Modify Wireless Communications Framework for Mid-Band Spectrum Sharing
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Agencies Modify Wireless Communications Framework for Mid-Band Spectrum Sharing

The Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Department of the Navy have collaborated to modify a wireless communication framework that allows shared access to the mid-band spectrum.

The FCC said Wednesday it has endorsed changes to the aggregate interference model used in the 3.5 GHz band to enable the Citizens Broadband Radio Service, or CBRS, to provide wireless internet and other services to approximately 72 million more people nationwide.

NTIA has requested that the FCC allow certain Spectrum Access System administrators to modify the framework by reducing the size of Dynamic Protection Area neighborhoods along coastlines and around federal facilities, where commercial use of the mid-band spectrum can be preempted by federal operations.

The modification will expand the total unencumbered service area of the CBRS to roughly 240 million people nationwide.

“The CBRS dynamic spectrum sharing framework is already fertile ground for wireless innovation, and through collaboration with Department of Defense, NTIA, and stakeholders, we are expanding opportunities for reliable spectrum access while also ensuring that federal incumbents remain protected,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

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Marine Corps Releases Annual Report on Training, Education Efforts
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Marine Corps Releases Annual Report on Training, Education Efforts

The U.S. Marine Corps has released its first annual report that reviews the service branch’s training and education efforts to achieve the goals of its ongoing force restructuring and modernization plan.

The Marine Corps Training and Education Annual Report, or TEAR, outlines how the Training and Education Command, a.k.a. TECOM, has organized and accomplished 37 Force Design-directed actions to improve warfighting training and enhance force readiness and lethality, the Marine Corps said Wednesday.

“We continue to deliver on our promise to Congress, the Joint Force, our Allies and partners, and our Marines to ensure we are postured, manned, trained, and equipped for a peer fight while ensuring we remain ready for any crisis,” said Gen. Eric Smith, commandant of the Marine Corps.

TECOM’s efforts are codified into three major projects—Project Triumph, Project Trident and Project Tripoli—and provide Marines with training environments and standards to prepare for the future contested multi-domain battlefield.

“These initiatives collectively aim to equip the Marine Corps with the most modern, lethal, and capable Marines conceivable,” said Lt. Gen. Kevin Iiams, commanding general of TECOM.

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