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DCMA Launches Vertical Lift & Fixed Wing Contract Management Offices
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DCMA stands up two new Contract Management offices, Vertical Lift and Fixed Wing

The Defense Contract Management Agency launched two new Contract Management Offices, Vertical Lift and Fixed Wing, during a ceremony held on June 10 at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth.

Enhancing DCMA’s Operations & Services Through Restructuring

The agency said Thursday the establishment of the new CMO aligns with the DCMA Vision restructuring program. This initiative aims to enhance the agency’s ability to provide more efficient service to military personnel. The restructuring, expected to be completed by October, will see most CMOs operating under either the DCMA Systems Command or the DCMA Geographic & Systems Support Command, led by interim directors Jorge Bennett and Juanita Christensen, respectively. The Vertex Lift and Fixed Wing offices, which resulted from the consolidation of nine existing offices, will operate under the DCMA Systems Command.

The Central, Eastern, and Western Region Commands will be replaced by the DCMA Systems Command and DCMA Geographic & Systems Support Command as part of the initiative.

Vertical Lift & Fixed Wing CMOs

The Vertical Lift CMO seeks to advance safety and operational performance, optimize operational readiness and maintain crucial insight into the defense industrial base’s health. Navy Capt. David Calhoun will lead the CMO and oversee the management of 15,566 active contracts worth $250 billion. The CMO includes DCMA Vertical Lift Mesa, DCMA Vertical Lift Owego, DCMA Vertical Lift Philadelphia, DCMA Vertical Lift Stratford and DCMA Vertical Lift Texas.

Led by Air Force Col. Michael Hansen, the Fixed Wing CMO will serve as a hub for gathering and analyzing data to create factory-level intelligence, enabling acquisition professionals to make informed decisions. The office manages 7,283 active contracts valued at $647.72 billion and contains DCMA Fixed Wing St. Louis, DCMA Fixed Wing Puget Sound, DCMA Fixed Wing Fort Worth and DCMA Fixed Wing Marietta. 

“These two commands are a part of DCMA’s new command structure and will use automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning and strategic collaboration with our customers and each contract management office to increase data sharing and early warning oversight of the supply chain,” said Sonya Ebright, deputy director of the DCMA.

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Army to Lead DOD’s Interagency Task Force for Counter-Drone Capabilities
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Army Gen. James Mingus revealed plans within the Pentagon to establish a counter-drone task force

The Department of Defense is establishing a joint interagency task force dedicated to accelerating the development and fielding of counter-unmanned aerial systems, or c-UAS. 

Gen. James Mingus, vice chief of staff of the Army, said at an event Wednesday that the threat of drones today is similar to the improvised explosive device crisis during the Global War on Terror in the 2000s. Concerns over IEDs led to the creation of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, or JIEDDO. 

Mingus pointed out that JIEDDO delivered the mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles, which protected military personnel from various threats in austere environments. JIEDDO can build and deploy new capabilities to the battlefield within three to four months.

“And we need an organization that is joint interagency, has authorities, a colorless pot of money, and the authorities to go after from requirements all the way through acquisition in a rapid way to be able to keep pace with that,” the official shared.

What Is Known About the Planned C-UAS Task Force

According to Mingus, the Army, which has been in charge of the DOD’s c-UAS efforts since 2019, will lead the joint interagency task force. He added that the service will ask Congress for flexible funding for the development of UAS, c-UAS and electronic warfare capabilities. 

The Army already included at least $858 million for c-UAS in its budget request for fiscal 2026.

“If it’s a piece of technology that moves faster than the traditional budgetary cycle, we need to look at how we make agility and agile funding as part of how we do this,” Mingus added.

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VA OIG: IT Procurement Should Prioritize Accessibility for Individuals With Disabilities
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The VA’s Office of Inspector General sees a need to improve the agency's IT procurement process to comply with Section 508.

The Department of Veterans Affairs must improve its procurement process for information and communication technology systems to better comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which mandates accessibility for individuals with disabilities, according to a new audit released by the VA’s Office of Inspector General.

The audit, which follows up on a similar 2024 report, evaluated 30 critical IT and communications systems that the VA procured and found that only four were classified as compliant with Section 508 standards, noting the VA officials’ failure to ensure that the systems they procured would meet the required accessibility standards.

According to the report, VA contracting officers and program officials conducted market research on vendors to meet business requirements; however, they did not verify the accessibility of the systems for individuals with disabilities.

OIG Recommendations to Address Procurement Issues

The OIG recommended that the assistant secretary for information and technology, who also serves as the department’s chief information officer, ensure that staff involved with acquiring information and communication technology are adequately trained on federal and VA requirements for Section 508 standards.

The OIG also recommended that the assistant secretary update VA Handbook 6221 to identify roles and responsibilities related to ensuring Section 508 compliance during procurement.

Furthermore, the assistant secretary should establish a way to ensure that compliance documentation and market research on any information and communication technology being procured are submitted to the VA Office of 508 Compliance for review so that the office can determine whether the technology is the most compliant under Section 508.

Finally, the OIG recommended that the deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and logistics collaborate with the VA Office of 508 Compliance to develop policies and procedures to ensure VA’s information and communication technology procurements comply with Section 508 requirements.

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Jeff Conklin, Casie Antalis Join CISA
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Federal civilian leaders Jeff Conklin and Casie Antalis joined CISA

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has appointed federal civilian leaders Jeff Conklin and Casie Antalis as chief security officer and program director of the Joint Cyber Coordination Group, or JCCG, respectively.

In a LinkedIn post published Tuesday, CISA announced that Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala presided over the swearing-in ceremony of Conklin and Antalis.

Jeff Conklin as CISA Chief Security Officer

As CSO, Conklin will oversee CISA’s internal security and threat management programs and provide executive leadership for the Office of the CSO executive officer and associate chiefs for security programs, personnel security, enterprise security, threat management and internal affairs.

Before CISA, the former Marine Corps officer was the CSO for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. He also served as chief information officer for USCIS and deputy CIO at the U.S. Coast Guard.

The U.S. Naval Academy applied science graduate holds a master’s degree in software engineering from National University in San Diego.

Casie Antalis as CISA Joint Cyber Coordination Group Program Chief

In her new role, Antalis will oversee the CISA group, which works across the agency’s Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans and the Integrated Operations Division to centralize the advancement of cybersecurity initiatives and priorities across the Department of Homeland Security.

Before joining CISA, she was the principal deputy assistant secretary for the DHS Office of Counterterrorism, Threat Prevention and Law Enforcement. She also served as deputy assistant secretary for screening and vetting at DHS.

According to her LinkedIn profile, the University of Maryland graduate’s government career included time as chief of staff at the Customs and Border Protection; director of security screening and vetting at the White House National Security Council; and deputy group chief for screening and vetting at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

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John DeGoes Confirmed as Commander of Air Force Medical Command
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Lt. Gen. John DeGoes was confirmed as commander of the Air Force Medical Command

Lt. Gen. John DeGoes, the current Air Force surgeon general, has been confirmed by the U.S Senate as commander of the Air Force Medical Command.

DeGoes’ New Role and Responsibilities

The Air Force Medical Service said Tuesday DeGoes will leverage 35 years of clinical and command experience to oversee all functions of the AFMEDCOM, including performing its mission of providing medical readiness, operational support and health service logistics for the Air Force and Space Force. AFMEDCOM was also formed to fast-track medical innovation and integrate with joint and coalition forces.

DeGoes will continue serving as the surgeon general and spearheading the AFMS, which ensures the medical readiness of the Department of the Air Force’s programs and policies. In this capacity, he has been instrumental in modernizing the Air Force’s medical arm, enhancing operational efficiency and the ability to conduct critical operations in contested environments.

DeGoes previously served as deputy surgeon general and commander of various AFMS units, including the 59th Medical Wing. He was also the command surgeon under the Northern Command and CEO of the Mike O’Callaghan Federal Medical Center.

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Senate OKs Trump-Backed Bill With $150B in DOD Funding
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The Senate passed a Trump administration-backed budget reconciliation measure

The Senate on Tuesday passed a massive budget reconciliation bill that includes $150 billion in additional funding for the Department of Defense, Breaking Defense reported.

The upper chamber approved the Trump administration-backed measure, also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” in a 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance breaking a tie.

According to the report, the bill is now headed to the House and is expected by President Donald Trump to reach his desk before Friday, July 4.

Mandatory Defense Funding Through Congressional Reconciliation

The bill’s passage came days after senior DOD officials and military leaders unveiled the department’s proposed $961.6 billion fiscal year 2026 budget, which includes $848.3 billion in discretionary funding and $113.3 billion in mandatory funding through congressional reconciliation.

A senior DOD official said Thursday the mandatory reconciliation funding would support shipbuilding, munitions production, missile defense and other Trump administration priorities. 

The Pentagon’s FY 2026 budget request includes $25 billion for the proposed Golden Dome for America missile defense initiative and $60 billion for the nuclear triad and nuclear modernization efforts.

Learn about the Golden Dome initiative in Gen. Michael Guetlein‘s keynote address at the 2025 Air and Space Summit on July 31 and in an all-industry panel featuring representatives from industry giants like RTX, L3Harris, Booz Allen and more!

Senate OKs Trump-Backed Bill With $150B in DOD Funding
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GAO Calls on DOD to Improve Billing Procedures for Commercial Use of Federal Launch Sites
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GAO urged the DOD to develop clear guidance to recoup launch support costs

The Government Accountability Office has warned that the Department of Defense is missing opportunities to bill private companies that use federal sites to launch satellites into space.

In a report published Monday, the congressional watchdog revealed that the Pentagon does not have clear cost collection and reimbursement procedures for supporting commercial launch needs.

The DOD also does not have sufficient commercial scheduling information needed to manage payload processing, which refers to the process of integrating payloads into the launch vehicle to prepare for the mission. The absence of commercial scheduling information could impact coordination and affect payload processing for government missions.

Billing Commercial Companies for Using Federal Launch Sites

The report pointed out that commercial launches have “more than quadrupled since 2021,” increasing demand and putting a strain on government launch infrastructures, called ranges, that support space missions.

To support the growing volume of commercial and military launches, the DOD plans to spend over $18 billion in the next five years to improve ranges.  

By billing commercial companies that use ranges, the government can get reimbursements for the costs of maintaining, operating, upgrading and modernizing space-related facilities.

GAO Recommendations for DOD

The congressional watchdog urged the U.S. Space Force to collaborate with the under secretary of defense comptroller to improve guidance on direct and indirect cost collection and reimbursement for support at ranges.

GAO also advised Space Force to solicit information on commercial payload processing schedules to improve capacity and coordination.

The DOD concurred with all recommendations. 

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Office of Personnel Management to Upgrade FedScope for Better Data Access
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The U.S. Office of Personnel Management will overhaul its FedScope platform.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, or OPM, plans to upgrade FedScope, a platform that provides statistics of federal employment. The agency announced in a press release on Tuesday that the move of the site is part of a broader effort to modernize its data and digital platforms.

Changes to FedScope

Changes to the FedScope website have already started, including publishing updated data on employment, accessions and separations through March. OPM plans to further enhance the platform in the coming months by adding interactive visuals, thorough datasets and response mechanisms to answer common queries about federal employment. The new website is expected to launch by fall, seeking to address the needs of researchers, journalists, federal managers and the public.

According to the Federal News Network, the current data on the FedScope website does not completely reflect the federal workforce overhauls during the Trump administration.

The Government Accountability Office previously recommended in a 2016 report that the OPM should modernize its FedScope platform and improve the availability of payroll data in the Enterprise Human Resources Integration system.

Remarks by OPM’s Chuck Ezell

Commenting on the overhaul of FedScope, OPM Acting Director Chuck Ezell said, “Data transparency is essential to building trust in the federal government.”

“By modernizing FedScope, weʼre delivering on our promise to make federal workforce data easier to access and understand, ensuring the public and agencies alike have the information they need to make informed decisions.”

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DISA Director Highlights Need for Proactive Approach to Cybersecurity
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DISA Director Lt. Gen. Paul Stanton urges cyber professionals to take a proactive approach to cybersecurity.

Army Lt. Gen. Paul Stanton, Defense Information Systems Agency director and commander of the Department of Defense Cyber Defense Command, has urged cyber professionals to shift from a reactive cyber incident response to a proactive mindset to better protect the Department of Defense Information Network from adversaries.

Speaking at a fireside chat at the recent HammerCon convention, Stanton stressed that cybersecurity is not about reacting to random incidents, but anticipating the moves of adversaries and imposing costs on them.

“Don’t randomly chase incidents. Don’t chase events. Think in context. Think about what the enemy is attempting to accomplish. Think about what missions are relevant to us. Think about where our missions and the enemy’s intent and capabilities overlap, and in the center of that Venn diagram, build your engagement area, and then beat the enemy,” the DISA director said.

Embracing a Warfighting Mindset in Combating Cyberthreats

Stanton highlighted the need to view cybersecurity through a warfighting lens and the importance of applying warfighting principles to cyber defense, prioritizing missions, identifying enemy intent, and focusing resources on defending what matters most, drawing on his military experience, including leading soldiers in combat during the initial invasion of Iraq.

“Attempting to defend everything effectively defends nothing, because you spread yourself too thin,” said Stanton.

To enhance DODIN security further, Stanton recommended modernizing the architecture and developing a workforce with the skills to operate the network. He described DODIN as a weapon system that requires rigorous training and a certain level of understanding, noting the complex process associated with the configuration of a zero trust environment.

“If you don’t understand the tools that are inherent to it, then you’re not going to configure it right,” the DISA director explained. “If you don’t configure it right, then you’ve wrapped yourself in a false blanket of confidence that you have security.”

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Can the DOD Build a Unified IT Ecosystem?
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Acting DOD CIO Katie Arrington introduces Mission Network as a Service, a forthcoming unified data-sharing ecosystem.

The Department of Defense this year, like much of the federal government, is undergoing changes, reevaluations and reforms, prompted by the new Trump administration. One forthcoming line of effort raised by senior Pentagon officials is a potential unified information ecosystem that encourages accessible data access and breaking down siloed or stovepiped individual tech systems, allowing them to all work as one.

Acting DOD Chief Information Officer Katie Arrington said at a recent conference that she’s angling to create a “Mission Network as a Service” system. This would, presumably, be modeled after “as-a-service” subscription-based delivery methods for software, infrastructure and other tech offerings, which are provided via the internet rather than managed on-premises.

“I’m collapsing all the disparate networks,” Arrington, who won GovCon’s top prize, the Wash100 Award in 2020, said, according to MeriTalk. “It’s all getting collapsed into one.”

At the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Navy Summit, there will be a panel focused on how to achieve a unified IT architecture through modernization. Experts sitting for the Aug. 26 discussion include PEO Digital Executive Director Jeffery Proudfoot; Navy Enterprise Networks and Cybersecurity Director Scott St. Pierre; and Office of Naval Research Global CIO Christian Williams. Don’t miss this highly informative defense IT dialog!

“You can’t be lethal and ready if you’re not efficient, right? So, let’s get the efficiency.”

Why Create Mission Network as a Service?

Arrington said she has quickly become frustrated with how, unlike in industry, access to DOD data is often dictated by location and division.

“How are we so far behind?” she asked when comparing to the private sector. “We have to do better … I can’t go to any command I want to and put my CAC [Common Access Card] in and access data. Is that crazy?”

The CIO clarified that “tenants” on the “core, central fabric” would have the ability to develop individualized and customized programs for their own purposes, they just need to build them to be able to converse and connect with the rest of the ecosystem. And, of course, someone’s clearance level would determine what amount of data within the system they could see.

This all comes back, in the spirit of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency to consolidation and strengthened operations by trimming fat, she explained.

“You can’t be lethal and ready if you’re not efficient, right? So, let’s get the efficiency,” Arrington declared.

Who Is Katie Arrington?

Arrington is currently performing the duties of the CIO for all of DOD. It isn’t the first time she’s served at the Pentagon. During the first Trump administration, she was the first chief information security officer for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, wherein she worked to build up and integrate cybersecurity defense for acquisition and sustainment activities.

Notably, she directed and oversaw the team that established the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification; her career has in large part been dedicated to cyber pursuits.

The experienced public and private sector executive has held roles at Exiger and Booz Allen Hamilton and was an elected member of the South Carolina House of Representatives.

The 2025 Navy Summit is fast approaching. Come to the Hilton McLean on Aug. 26 to have all of your burning questions about that service’s unified IT efforts answered by industry-leading experts. Stay for fast-paced GovCon networking in a high-level environment.

Can the DOD Build a Unified IT Ecosystem?
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