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Gen. Stephen Whiting on Top 5 Priority Requirements for USSPACECOM
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Gen. Stephen Whiting on Top 5 Priority Requirements for USSPACECOM

Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of U.S. Space Command and a 2024 Wash100 awardee, outlined his top five priorities that are key to delivering the Unified Command Plan responsibilities of USSPACECOM during his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

The priority requirements are resilient and timely operational command and control; integrated space fires and protection; modernized agile electronic warfare architectures; enhanced battlespace awareness for space warfare; and cyber defense of space systems, the command said Thursday.

Whiting noted that long-term investment is needed to advance such capabilities to ensure that the U.S. maintain its space domain advantage over strategic competitors.

The general discussed the risks posed by Russia and China to U.S. and allied space capabilities and mentioned the command’s efforts to address such threats, like advancing collaboration and sharing space information to improve transparency and space domain awareness.

“Today USSPACECOM seeks to expand competitive advantages over the PRC and Russia by leveraging every available asset of the interagency, the rest of the Joint Force, our Allies, and our Partners in U.S. commercial industry and academia,” Whiting told lawmakers.

“No one department, service, command, even country can do all the things we need to do… we partner as widely as we can with like-minded countries and organizations because it maximizes our ability to execute our mission,” he added.

POC - 2024 Space Summit

Whiting will deliver a keynote at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Space Summit on March 5. Register to hear him and other government leaders discuss the latest technologies, investments and urgent issues facing the space domain.

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Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks to Review Combined JADC2 Progress, Per Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder
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Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks to Review Combined JADC2 Progress, Per Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder

Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, press secretary at the Department of Defense, said Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks will travel to California on Sunday to meet with servicemembers and observe the department’s Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control efforts through the Project Convergence Capstone 4.

“Viewing this experimentation will enable Deputy Secretary Hicks to gain better insight into the challenges that impact JADC-2 implementation across our Joint Force and the outcomes of experimentation exercises,” Ryder said Thursday during a press briefing.

In response to a question during the briefing, the press secretary noted that the trip to Camp Pendleton and Fort Irwin in California will provide Hicks, a 2024 Wash100 awardee, an opportunity to witness the continued progress with CJADC2.

“And so they’re going to have the opportunity to experiment with technologies, operate at a theater level versus a tactical level, but do it in a way that enables us to better synchronize and synthesize our operations when it comes to operating as a Joint Force,” Ryder added.

Hicks announced at a symposium in February that DOD reached minimum viable capability for CJADC2, according to DOD News.

CJADC2 is DOD’s approach to building material and non-material platforms to deliver decision and information advantage to commanders.

POC - Achieving Transformative Cooperation for National Defense Forum

Click here to register for the Potomac Officers Club’s Achieving Transformative Cooperation for National Defense Forum on March 14. Participate in this in-person event to see military leaders and experts explore the future of CJADC2 and its impact on international security.

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Xage CRO Darron Makrokanis on New Executive Order on Boosting US Port Security
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Xage CRO Darron Makrokanis on New Executive Order on Boosting US Port Security

Darron Makrokanis, chief revenue officer at Xage Security, said the new executive order that aims to boost the security of the U.S. ports is a “big step in the right direction” to address cyber risks facing the nation’s critical infrastructure sector, Security Magazine reported Thursday.

The Potomac Officers Club will host the 2024 Cyber Summit on June 6 to discuss the ever-evolving role of cyber across the government sector. Click here to register!

“To safeguard against evolving threats, we must establish a standardized level of proactive defense and move beyond just monitoring and detection. Taking control of the supply chain for both software and hardware that powers our maritime infrastructure and other critical industries is a big step in the right direction,” Makrokanis said.

President Biden issued the EO to implement a series of additional measures to strengthen maritime cybersecurity and secure the U.S. supply chains and industrial base.

The decree authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to deal with maritime cyber threats by implementing cybersecurity standards to ensure the security of U.S. ports’ networks and systems.

Under the EO, the Coast Guard will issue a Maritime Security Directive to ensure cyber risk management actions for China-manufactured ship-to-shore cranes located at U.S. commercial strategic seaports.

The Biden administration also plans to invest more than $20 billion into U.S. port infrastructure over the next five years through the President’s Investing in America Agenda.

POC - 2024 Cyber Summit

The Potomac Officers Club will host the 2024 Cyber Summit on June 6 to discuss the ever-evolving role of cyber across the government sector. Click here to register!

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Adm. Samuel Paparo Confirmed as INDOPACOM Commander
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Adm. Samuel Paparo Confirmed as INDOPACOM Commander

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed through a voice vote Navy Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, to serve as head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Air Force Times reported.

He will succeed Adm. John Aquilino, who has served as commander of INDOPACOM since April 2021.

In July 2023, President Joe Biden expressed his intent to nominate Paparo to lead INDOPACOM.

The U.S. naval aviator testified before a Senate panel on Feb. 1 and cited China, North Korea and Russia as major threats to U.S. military interests in the Pacific during his confirmation hearing.

Paparo was commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces before assuming command of U.S. Pacific Fleet in May 2021.

He served as executive assistant to commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command and to the 31st Chief of Naval Operations and as director of operations, J3, within U.S. Central Command.

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GovCon Industry Power Players Kevin Plexico & Jason Rigoli Honored With 2024 Wash100 Award
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GovCon Industry Power Players Kevin Plexico & Jason Rigoli Honored With 2024 Wash100 Award

Kevin Plexico, senior vice president of information solutions at Deltek, and Jason Rigoli, a partner at Enlightenment Capital, were recognized by Executive Mosaic on Friday for their 2024 Wash100 Award wins.

Each year, the esteemed Wash100 Award illuminates the most influential leaders in the government contracting field. Awardees are honored for their past accomplishments and expected future achievements and are chosen through a rigorous evaluation process that looks at the impact of each nominee.

Plexico’s win is his fifth consecutive entry into Wash100. His expertise in the inner workings of the contracting process has characterized his career, and last year, he continued his efforts to support GovCon organizations by providing data on the industry and offering resources to small businesses looking to expand their presence in the market. As a GovCon Expert, he has written multiple pieces tackling relevant industry topics. Read his full profile here.

Rigoli joined the ranks of Wash100 for the first time this year for expanding Enlightenment Capital’s portfolio through key investments in defense and aerospace companies, both small and large. Under his leadership, Enlightenment Capital also merged four businesses to launch a new platform company, RealmOne, which is focused on national security. Click here to read his full profile and learn more about these investments.

The annual Wash100 popular vote contest is now underway, and you have the opportunity to participate in this exciting competition. Visit Wash100.com to cast votes for your favorite winners!

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How AI is Shaping the Future of Joint Operations
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How AI is Shaping the Future of Joint Operations

Modern warfare is increasingly characterized by a contested digital landscape, and strong connectivity across this evolving battlefield is critical to U.S. defense missions.

How AI is Shaping the Future of Joint Operations

The Department of Defense crafted its Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control initiative, through which the department aspires to provide data sharing capabilities to all U.S. military components and key allies, as a means to address these challenges. This joint style of warfighting relies on mass amounts of data to inform decision making, and artificial intelligence is notably useful for sifting through and making sense of huge data reservoirs.

Join us at the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual AI Summit on March 21 to dive into the intricacies of AI use in the federal government with influential public and private sector leaders. Dr. William Streilein, chief technology officer of the DOD’s Chief Digital and AI Office, will headline the event as the opening keynote speaker. To learn more and register to attend the event, click here.

According to Kathleen Hicks, deputy secretary of defense and a 2024 Wash100 Award recipient, the DOD is investing in the responsible development and deployment of AI tools relevant to CJADC2. Contracts, network infrastructure, data integrations and the fast-paced acquisition of industry technologies are major aspects of the CJADC2 implementation strategy, she said during the Advantage DOD 2024: Defense Data and AI Symposium last month.

Tasked with accelerating the DOD’s adoption of data and AI capabilities, the CDAO is a major player in realizing CJADC2. One of the office’s ongoing efforts is the development of a data integration layer for CJADC2, a project that was introduced with a solicitation for industry input on relevant technologies in October. Information was gathered through November.

CDAO’s data integration layer is intended to help U.S. warfighters and partners exchange data in support of mission execution while also laying a foundation for the development and deployment of AI technologies and applications that can operate in different data streams. Identity management and controls are also part of this vision.

Another CJADC2-focused initiative within the DOD is the Marine Corps’ Project Dynamis, a program designed to speed up the service branch’s implementation of CJADC2. The project is designed to drive programmatics and replace legacy systems and software to improve the USMC’s communication and networking capabilities. Federating authoritative data for AI is one of four lines of effort that make up Project Dynamis, according to Col. Jason Quinter, commanding officer of Marine Air Control Group 38.

These efforts have proven successful. At the DOD 2024: Defense Data and AI Symposium, Hicks shared that the DOD has achieved the minimum viable capability for CJADC2.

“Delivery doesn’t take years or decades. Our investments in data, AI and compute are empowering war fighters today,” she said.

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NASA, SpaceX Conduct Qualification Testing of Starship HLS Docking System
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NASA, SpaceX Conduct Qualification Testing of Starship HLS Docking System

NASA and SpaceX have conducted qualification testing of the docking system that will connect the latter’s landing platform to the Lockheed Martin-built Orion spacecraft carrying astronauts for the Artemis III mission.

The 10-day test was carried out at NASA’s Johnson Space Center using a simulator to assess the docking system’s ability to link Orion with the Starship Human Landing System, or HLS, that will bring astronauts to the lunar surface, NASA said Wednesday.

The NASA-SpaceX team performed over 200 docking scenarios at various speeds and angles for the Starship HLS docking platform, which was based on the flight-proven Dragon 2 active docking system.

Orion will transport astronauts from Earth to lunar orbit where they will move to the lander to descend to the moon’s surface. The astronauts will transfer back to Orion once surface activities are complete. 

For future Artemis missions, astronauts onboard the Orion spacecraft will transfer to Starship via the Gateway lunar space station.

POC - 2024 Space Summit

Join the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Space Summit on March 5 to learn how new technologies, commercial investments and adversarial threats are shaping the future of space. Click here to register!

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White House Official Marcela Escobar-Alava to Take On CIO Role at SSA
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White House Official Marcela Escobar-Alava to Take On CIO Role at SSA

Marcela Escobar-Alava has been named the new chief information officer of the Social Security Administration, an appointment that goes into effect March 4, Nextgov/FCW reported Wednesday.

Escobar-Alava is currently part of the Executive Office of the President, where she holds the roles of special assistant to the president and chief of enterprise applications. Previously, she had served as deputy director of technology.

In a statement to Nextgov/FCW, Martin O’Malley, the first confirmed SSA commissioner in two years, touted Escobar-Alava’s experience in building organizations that are “engaged, transformative, agile, and innovative” and are oriented towards customers.

“She will make an excellent addition to our senior leadership team,” O’Malley added.

White House Official Marcela Escobar-Alava to Take On CIO Role at SSA

Chief information officers from government and industry will gather at the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual CIO Summit, which is set to take place on April 17. Register now to attend this important event!

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Farhan Khan Named FDA Chief Digital Officer
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Farhan Khan Named FDA Chief Digital Officer

Farhan Khan, a senior information technology executive with 15 years of federal service experience, has been named chief digital officer at the Food and Drug Administration, according to his LinkedIn post.

He leads digital transformation and modernization efforts across the FDA and manages the agency’s overall IT operations and application development infrastructure.

Khan’s appointment marks his return to the FDA, having served as chief technology officer for the agency from June 2015 to August 2017.

Previously, he was director of architecture, data and engineering at the U.S. Army Headquarters and served as principal adviser to senior Army leaders on matters related to IT policies and processes.

Before that, Khan was chief of IT infrastructure at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation where he led strategic planning for mission system acquisition and maintenance.

His government career also includes time as director of infrastructure at the Department of Transportation.

President’s Council of Advisors on S&T Recommends More Initiatives on Critical Infrastructure Resilience
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President’s Council of Advisors on S&T Recommends More Initiatives on Critical Infrastructure Resilience

The Biden administration should delegate the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to lead the development of critical infrastructure performance goals to strengthen U.S. cyber-physical resilience, according to a new report.

The recommendations were published Tuesday by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, which evaluated the administration’s strategy for securing the country’s critical infrastructure.

While the government is making good progress on leveraging private-public partnerships for resilience, the report holds that agencies can push the envelope further by directing their sector risk management agencies, or SRMAs, to identify minimum viable delivery objectives and create a National Critical Infrastructure Observatory to assess the security of essential sectors.

The administration should also mobilize SRMAs and sector coordinating councils to impose greater accountability on CEOs and industry executives when it comes to protecting critical infrastructure virtually and physically, PCAST recommended. 

Wash100 inductee David McKeown, deputy chief information officer for cybersecurity and senior information security officer of the Department of Defense, will be the opening keynote speaker at the Potomac Officers Club’s Cyber Summit this year. The event will kick off on June 6, and registration is now open.

POC - 2024 Cyber Summit
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