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Ian Richardson, Christian Nauvel Assume Corporate Enforcement Leadership Roles at DOJ National Security Division
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Ian Richardson, Christian Nauvel Assume Corporate Enforcement Leadership Roles at DOJ National Security Division

The Department of Justice’s National Security Division has named Ian Richardson as chief counsel of its corporate enforcement program and appointed Christian Nauvel as deputy chief counsel.

DOJ said Monday both lawyers will coordinate and oversee national security investigations to uncover and prosecute corporate crime and misconduct.

Richardson served for over eight years as assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York and led corporate enforcement and national security prosecutions, including the DOJ’s first conviction of a corporation for providing material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations.

Before joining the division, Nauvel was senior counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division and trial attorney in the DOJ Criminal Division’s money laundering and asset recovery section and with the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team.

“Enforcing the laws that deny our adversaries the benefits of America’s innovation economy and protect technologies that will define the future is core to the National Security Division’s mission,” said Matthew Olsen, assistant attorney general of the National Security Division.

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Navy Hosts Ceremony Seating Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck as Military Sealift Commander
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Navy Hosts Ceremony Seating Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck as Military Sealift Commander

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck formally assumed leadership of the Military Sealift Command during a ceremony aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia.

He succeeds retiring Rear Adm. Michael Wettlaufer, who became the 28th MSC commander in June 2019, the service branch announced Friday.

Sobeck most recently served as director of strategy, policy, programs and logistics at the U.S. Transportation Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. As a surface warfare officer, he was assigned to at least six Naval vessels including the USS Harry S. Truman, Destroyer Squadron 50 and the First Combined United States and United Kingdom Destroyer Squadron.

He also commanded DESRON 50/Task Force 55, as well as the USS Avenger, USS Ardent and USS Farragut.

He took on various onshore roles, including as director of future fleet design and architecture at the Office of Chief of Naval Operations, special assistant to the Navy Digital Warfare Office and military assistant to the 76th Secretary of the Navy.

“I am compassionate about our important mission and vow to build upon the many successes of Wett and his team, and continue to push forward to keep MSC the premier logistics organization in the world,” Sobeck commented.

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Video Interview: Jennifer Ewbank Shares How Digital Trends Are Shaping the Future of US Intel
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Video Interview: Jennifer Ewbank Shares How Digital Trends Are Shaping the Future of US Intel

Advancements in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies are redefining what it means to work in the Intelligence Community. 

2023 Wash100 Award winner Jennifer Ewbank, deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency for digital innovation, spoke on the monumental changes happening within the IC, the technologies driving this transformation and what it means for intelligence agencies going forward during a new video interview with Executive Mosaic.

Video Interview: Jennifer Ewbank Shares How Digital Trends Are Shaping the Future of US Intel

Catch Jennifer Ewbank’s keynote address at the Potomac Officers Club’s 9th Annual Intel Summit next week! Ewbank — along with leaders from ODNI, NGA, DIA and other IC agencies — will be taking the stage to share her insights and priorities on Sep. 21. Click here to register.

“We live in this environment of ubiquitous sensing — something is always recording what we do, where we go, who we meet, what we say. You’ve got commercial satellites, telemetry and facial recognition cameras, and let’s not forget, everyone’s carrying around this multi-functional sensor in their pocket in the form of a really powerful cell phone. And so I think you get the picture [of] how challenging that can be to remain unseen, unknown, undetected in conducting a really dangerous mission,” Ewbank explained.

In this ever-expanding digital landscape, not only have secret intelligence missions become more difficult, but cyber threats have also become more and more prevalent. Technologies like AI are being used to strengthen what Ewbank calls “digital autocracies” and perpetuate a rise in cyber crimes, ransomware attacks and misinformation campaigns.

“We have to adapt and we have to embrace these things. We can’t just pretend that they don’t happen and they don’t exist,” Ewbank warned. “We have to embrace these new technologies for our mission, we have to protect ourselves against them being used by our adversaries at the same time.”

But as the U.S. looks to embrace AI technologies more widely, Ewbank urged leaders to keep America’s values at the forefront. 

“We can’t just dive headfirst blindly into the future without thinking deeply about things like our values, our policies, our law, ethics. All of that has to be at the core of everything we’re doing in the AI world,” said Ewbank.

Hear Jennifer Ewbank and other top IC decision-makers speak at the Potomac Officers Club’s 9th Annual Intel Summit on Sep. 21. Register here while seats are still available!

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DecisionPoint Books Task Order to Modernize TRANSCOM System; Brian Flood Quoted
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DecisionPoint Books Task Order to Modernize TRANSCOM System; Brian Flood Quoted

DecisionPoint Corporation, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, has received a $17 million task order from the U.S. Transportation Command for cloud modernization support.

Under the award, DecisionPoint will provide software engineering services to secure, sustain and improve the Transportation Geospatial Information System and broaden its range of capabilities, the Gaithersburg, Maryland-based company announced on Tuesday.

“TGIS expands DecisionPoint’s support of the USTRANSCOM global mission providing air, land and sea transportation through delivery of essential geospatial data services to the warfighter,” said DecisionPoint Founder and CEO Brian Flood.

He added that the company will hold itself to a standard of excellence in delivering upgraded capabilities “while increasing the velocity, security and impact of USTRANSCOM’s essential national security mission.”

This award follows DecisionPoint’s win of a five-year, $60 million Department of Veterans Affairs contract last month, under which it is responsible for enhancing the department’s Enterprise Customer Experience Suite in collaboration with partner Medallia.

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Senators Query White House on Its Efforts to Prevent AI-Enabled Cyberattacks
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Senators Query White House on Its Efforts to Prevent AI-Enabled Cyberattacks

Sens. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., have called on the White House to offer updates on initiatives to prevent and mitigate potential cyberthreats from artificial intelligence platforms to the country’s critical infrastructure.

In a Sept. 7 letter addressed to Acting National Cyber Director Kemba Walden, the senators highlighted the cybersecurity opportunities that generative AI-related advancements offer for defenders and attackers.

“Our country will benefit enormously from broadening the technical skills across our workforce by making software development more accessible and secure. However, bad actors can also leverage generative AI technology to accelerate their attempts to undermine established cybersecurity protections,” Hickenlooper and Tillis wrote in the letter.

The lawmakers asked the White House to respond to several questions regarding AI implementation and cybersecurity, including how critical infrastructure defenders can use AI to ensure the security of their systems and recommendations for private and public industries that may fall victim to cyberattacks enabled by AI.

They also want to know how the National Cybersecurity Strategy helps address risks posed by generative AI models and if the federal government is establishing partnerships with industry, academia and local government agencies to facilitate coordination on resilient cyber defenses amid generative AI adoption.

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DARPA Collecting Abstracts for Rapid Experimental Missionized Autonomy Program
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DARPA Collecting Abstracts for Rapid Experimental Missionized Autonomy Program

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is now soliciting abstracts from potential offerors for a program that aims to improve stock military and commercial drones by advancing the development of an autonomy capability without being tied to specific drone hardware.

The Rapid Experimental Missionized Autonomy program intends to build a subsystem to facilitate autonomous operations of various drones, according to a presolicitation notice published Monday.

The subsystem will be composed of a drone autonomy adapter, or DA2, and mission-specific autonomy software, or MAS, and could be delivered through rapid development spirals.

DA2 will work to detect the drone type on its own and serve as the interface to the physical drone, while MAS will use the DA2 interface to upgrade the unmanned system from remotely piloted operation to autonomous mission execution.

DARPA expects the program to result in the award of an other transaction agreement for prototype projects.

The agency will accept questions regarding the funding opportunity through Sept. 19 and abstracts until Oct. 3.

Offerors selected for oral presentations will be notified by Oct. 10 and are expected to present their proposals by the end of October.

ORNL Unveils Entrepreneurial Program to Advance Technology Commercialization Efforts
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ORNL Unveils Entrepreneurial Program to Advance Technology Commercialization Efforts

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has launched a new entrepreneurial start-up program to accelerate the commercialization of technologies developed by experts at the lab.

Safari will support the Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions’ Practices to Accelerate the Commercialization of Technologies program to reduce barriers to accessing new capabilities to boost U.S. competitiveness and national security, ORNL said Friday.

The program will connect experienced entrepreneurs to newly developed technologies with the potential for commercialization and assist them with identifying and evaluating a selected business opportunity and developing a commercialization plan.

“Our team has a lot of experience working with researchers who have spun out their own companies as well as with licensing technology to new entrepreneurs and well-established companies,” said Jennifer Caldwell, director of technology transfer at ORNL.

ORNL offers a portfolio of technologies with potential applications in energy and utilities, manufacturing, materials, chemicals, analytical instrumentation and transportation.

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NRO, Space Force Aim to Boost Space Domain Awareness With SILENTBARKER Launch
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NRO, Space Force Aim to Boost Space Domain Awareness With SILENTBARKER Launch

A joint space domain awareness mission between the National Reconnaissance Office and U.S. Space Force launched Sunday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The SILENTBARKER/ NROL-107 mission flew on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket as part of NRO and Space Force’s efforts to strengthen U.S. space domain awareness as well as indication and warning capabilities, NRO said Sunday.

SILENTBARKER is NRO’s last mission onboard an Atlas V rocket. The program is expected to boost the agency’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance programs and Space System Command’s expertise in space domain awareness operations.

“The speed at which this program went from concept to on orbit illustrates our commitment to getting new technologies into use as fast as possible,” according to Col. Eric Zarybnisky, director of the Office of Space Launch. “This helps us stay ahead of our competitors and ensures our users have the best possible space domain awareness to do their jobs.”

GSA to Streamline Customer Service Delivery With Federal Acquisition Service Overhaul
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GSA to Streamline Customer Service Delivery With Federal Acquisition Service Overhaul

The General Services Administration will reorganize several Federal Acquisition Service business lines to enable seamless access to FAS products and services and simplify federal customers’ interactions with the agency.

GSA said Thursday the implementation of the planned overhaul will begin in fiscal year 2024 and focus on deploying a centralized reporting model to replace FAS’ legacy regional structures.

As a result of the reorganization, federal customers will connect to only one FAS team to help them obtain products and services tailored to their mission needs.

FAS Commissioner Sonny Hashmi, a previous Wash100 awardee, noted that the agency will continue maintaining offices and expertise in local communities nationwide.

“Our regional-based employees aren’t going away, but this shift to our structure will meet the growing demand from our customers that FAS respond holistically when it comes to contracting assistance,” Hashmi said.

Hashmi and GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan signed the GSA order approving the changes in August.

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DARPA Launches R&D Program to Improve Smooth Sailing for Ships, UUVs
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DARPA Launches R&D Program to Improve Smooth Sailing for Ships, UUVs

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is establishing a research and development program aimed at reducing in-transit hull resistance experienced by maritime vehicles due to waves and friction.

The Drag Reducing Architected Geometries program, which is part of DARPA’s Disruptioneering initiative, will be conducted in two phases over an 18-month period, the agency said Friday.

Resistance or “drag” forces vessels such as ships, boats, and uncrewed underwater vehicles to increase power to speed up, which requires bigger engines or more fuel.

DRAG will explore innovations in hull design and materials to decrease friction from water contact. It will exclude work on manufacturing scale-up, polymer injection approaches, or biofouling mitigation processes.

The first phase of the program will take place over nine months and involve the development of simulation and modeling tools, and later fabrication of optimized geometry of complex curvatures in the hull. The resulting design tool will be used in the second phase to create a prototype for testing.

“Previous research has enabled ship drag reduction in laminar flow conditions but not in transition and fully turbulent flow,” said Susan Swithenbank, program manager in DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office. “The problem with adding power is that it means you need more batteries, fuel, or a bigger engine, which increases the size of your ship or UUV, adding more drag. We aim to lower the drag coefficient to allow increased speed without increasing power or to go the same speed using less power.”

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