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Senate Panel OKs FY24 Appropriations Bills for DOD, Other Federal Agencies
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Senate Panel OKs FY24 Appropriations Bills for DOD, Other Federal Agencies

The Senate Appropriations Committee has passed a package of 12 appropriations bills that would allocate fiscal year 2024 funds for federal agencies – including the departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Labor, Education and Interior.

Passed in a 27-1 vote, the Defense Appropriations Act for FY 2024 would provide $831.8 billion in funding to support service members and their families, improve military readiness and strengthen deterrent capabilities, the Senate panel said Thursday.

Included in the bill are investments in U.S. Indo-Pacific Command initiatives to enhance deterrence, advance strategic modernization efforts and improve military housing, among other initiatives.

The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations measure seeks to allocate discretionary funding of $224.4 billion for the upcoming fiscal year to fund biomedical research and health care programs, address substance abuse and mental health crises, increase investments in students and families and protect workers’ rights.

$61.3 billion in discretionary funds is included in the Homeland Security Appropriations bill, which would be used to support the processing of people and goods at ports of entry, address the work authorization backlog and back the refugee resettlement program.

The Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act includes $42.7 billion in allocations to fund the Environmental Protection Agency’s programs, support wildfire preparedness and suppression efforts and invest in tribal communities.

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USAF Assistant Secretary for Acquisition Andrew Hunter Receives 2023 Wash100 Plaque From Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson
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USAF Assistant Secretary for Acquisition Andrew Hunter Receives 2023 Wash100 Plaque From Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson

Andrew Hunter, assistant secretary of the U.S. Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, accepted his first Wash100 award from Executive Mosaic CEO and award founder Jim Garrettson.

Hunter was inducted into the 2023 Wash100 group of leaders for driving the branch’s contracting activities, such as its partnership with CrowdAI to use computer vision deep learning to transmit data in space.

In the past year, the Air Force achieved various weapons-related milestones with Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Aerojet Rocketdyne. USAF worked with Northrop to demonstrate the B-21 Raider stealth bomber, while Lockheed and Aerojet helped the service branch conduct trials of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept.

Under Hunter’s leadership, USAF awarded 92 companies spots on a $900 million contract to study innovations in multidomain systems. Research and development contracts were given to Leidos for designing and developing a prototype for electro-optic sensitive defensive electronic warfare, and Battelle for supporting the Microelectronics Security and Embedded System Assurance initiative of the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Hunter accepted the Wash100 plaque during the Potomac Officers Club’s 2023 Air Force Summit held July 18 in Virginia, where he also took part in a fireside chat session with Gerry Dixon, managing partner of the government and public sector practice at EY.

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L3Harris Closes Acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne; Chris Kubasik Quoted
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L3Harris Closes Acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne; Chris Kubasik Quoted

L3Harris Technologies has closed its acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne following the signing of a definitive agreement late last year.

The transaction’s completion created a fourth business unit within L3Harris, which intends to bolster the defense industrial base, create competition and support Aerojet Rocketdyne’s work to improve its offerings, the former announced from its Melbourne, Florida headquarters on Friday.

L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik, a three-time Wash100 Award winner, said he is “thrilled” about the integration of over 5,000 employees into the company’s team.

Ross Neibergall, who was selected to take on the president role for the Aerojet Rocketdyne business segment, commented that as part of L3Harris, the organization will build on its history of providing the “competitive environment that produces innovative, agile solutions” its customers have come to expect.

As a result of the acquisition, L3Harris’ portfolio now includes additional long-cycle backlog and expertise, offering the company more opportunities in missile defense systems, hypersonics and advanced rocket systems as well as other areas. The new business arm will be rebranded as Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company.

“With national security at the forefront, we’re combining our resources and expertise with Aerojet Rocketdyne’s propulsion and energetics capabilities to ensure that the Department of Defense and civil space customers can address critical mission needs globally,” said Kubasik.

The deal — an all-cash transaction totaling $4.7 billion — was announced in December 2022.

In January, L3Harris completed its earlier acquisition of Link 16 (Viasat’s Tactical Data Links product line) for $1.96 billion. The transaction was announced in October 2022, when a definitive agreement was signed.

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Senate Committee Passes Bill to Establish AI Leadership Across Federal Government
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Senate Committee Passes Bill to Establish AI Leadership Across Federal Government

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has passed legislation that would establish artificial intelligence leadership across the federal government.

The AI Leadership to Enable Accountable Deployment Act would create a chief AI officer role at each federal agency to develop and implement policies relating to the design, acquisition, use, risk management and performance of AI technologies, the HSGAC said Thursday.

AI LEAD Act would also establish a Chief AI Officers Council to ensure interagency coordination on AI activities and facilitate the sharing of best practices for using the technology across the federal government.

The bipartisan legislation was led by Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and John Cornyn, R-Texas.

According to Peters, the bill would ensure that federal agencies have the right talent to realize the benefits of AI while mitigating its potential risks to the public and national security.

“Artificial intelligence is constantly evolving, and the federal government must be able to keep up,” Cornyn said. “This bill would establish interagency AI coordination and strategy to ensure they use this technology in a modern and fiscally responsible way.”

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Tickets Running Low: Discover & Connect at POC’s 8th Annual Army Summit
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Tickets Running Low: Discover & Connect at POC’s 8th Annual Army Summit

The Potomac Officers Club is looking ahead with eager anticipation to its Army Summit on Tuesday, August 1. The event has been a yearly tradition for POC for the last eight years, bringing together the most prominent voices in the U.S. Army for discussions that cover the Army’s current priorities, vital updates on where it’s turning its focus in the years ahead and pointers on how members of industry can help. It will be held at the beautiful Hilton McLean in Virginia from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and, like all POC events, provide invaluable opportunities for networking with peers and exclusive chances to meet and interact with many of the speakers.

Spots left are vanishing quickly. Save yours today and register here.

The day’s proceedings are stacked with keynote speeches from some of the Army’s best and brightest:

  • Hon. Gabe Camarillo, undersecretary of the Army and chief management officer
  • Hon. Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology and Army acquisition executive
  • William Nelson, deputy to the commanding general, Army Futures Command
  • Gregg Judge, acting director of enterprise cloud management agency, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Department of the Army

This year’s edition also includes panel discussions covering important issues like artificial intelligence and mission analytics’ impacts on the warfighter and data’s role in contested logistics scenarios. Some of the notable participants in these panels are:

  • Dr. Chris Hill, chief of data and analytics at Army Materiel Command
  • Joe Larson, deputy chief digital and artificial intelligence officer for algorithmic warfare at the Department of Defense
  • Dr. Alex Miller, senior advisor for science and technology and vice chief of staff, U.S. Army
  • MG Mark Simerly, commanding general at U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command and Sustainment Center of Excellence
  • Terrance Westerfield, DoD Strategy (U.S. Army) at Amazon Web Services

And that’s just a brief sampling of some of the brilliant minds who will be leading Tuesday’s event. Don’t miss out and register today!

NSF, EDA Sign Partnership Agreement to Coordinate Regional Innovation Programs
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NSF, EDA Sign Partnership Agreement to Coordinate Regional Innovation Programs

The National Science Foundation and Economic Development Administration have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on advancing regional innovation and economic development in communities throughout the United States.

Under the MOU, the agencies will coordinate their research and education activities, data infrastructure, facilities and outreach programs to enable and accelerate technology advancement and commercialization, entrepreneurship, job creation and workforce training, NSF said Wednesday.

The CHIPS and Science Act authorizes both agencies to use their respective regional innovation initiatives to spur economic growth and development in key technology areas.

“By working closely with EDA, the research and development outputs from NSF Engines could scale at a pace that will keep the U.S. competitive in key technology areas and more quickly address critical national, societal, and geostrategic challenges,” said Erwin Gianchandani, assistant director for technology, innovation and partnerships at NSF.

The NSF Engines program works to advance innovation in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, advanced wireless and biotechnology while EDA’s Regional Technology and Innovation Hub aims to strengthen a region’s capacity to manufacture and commercialize critical technologies.

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FDIC Office of Inspector General Cites Gaps in Cloud Migration Processes
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FDIC Office of Inspector General Cites Gaps in Cloud Migration Processes

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Office of Inspector General recently revealed that the agency had implemented effective cloud migration strategies and governance processes, but stated that improvements are needed in some areas of its cloud operations.

In a new report published Wednesday, the FDIC OIG said that the organization did not adhere to cloud computing standards recommended by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Office of Management and Budget such as creating a well-sorted inventory of its cloud data assets.

The FDIC did not establish an exit strategy to address issues if it needs to terminate a contract with a cloud service provider and did not develop contract management plans for 17 cloud contracts totaling over $546 million, according to the report.

Moreover, the agency did not create strategies to dispose of or decommission its legacy systems.

The FDIC expects to migrate most of its mission-essential and mission-critical systems to the cloud by 2024.

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NASA Practices Propellant Loading, Countdown of 1st Crewed Artemis Lunar Mission
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NASA Practices Propellant Loading, Countdown of 1st Crewed Artemis Lunar Mission

NASA began the first simulated launch of the Artemis II crewed mission to the Moon at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The test included a terminal countdown as well as loading liquid hydrogen and oxygen to power the Space Launch System, the agency said Monday.

Cryogenic loading of the liquid propellants are done nine hours before lift-off. The Artemis II launch team carried out a mock loading and performed troubleshooting of issues such as hydrogen leaks, fires and malfunctioning engine temperature sensors. The challenges were designed by a team from the Exploration Ground Systems Program.

Multiple facilities across NASA are preparing to conduct abort-event scenarios, training events with the four-member Artemis II crew, day-of-launch activities and other types of simulations.

“Each simulation is a little science fiction story, but it’s a story that helps the launch team, NASA, and the country to be more successful in our real endeavors,” said John Apfelbaum, EGS simulation training lead at the Kennedy Space Center. “Yes, we get to be a little devious, and we try to put the launch team in situations they may not have thought of.”

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SEC to Require Public Companies to Disclose Material Cybersecurity Incidents; Gary Gensler Quoted
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SEC to Require Public Companies to Disclose Material Cybersecurity Incidents; Gary Gensler Quoted

The Securities and Exchange Commission has implemented rules that direct public companies to divulge material cybersecurity incidents and report annually material information on cybersecurity strategy, risk management and governance.

The registrants should disclose and describe the material aspects of the cyber incident’s nature, scope and timing on Item 1.05 of Form 8-K within four business days, SEC said Wednesday.

These disclosures may be delayed in the event that the U.S. Attorney General determines that such a move would pose a risk to public safety or national security.

SEC will require registrants to state on Regulation S-K Item 106 their processes for identifying, managing and assessing material risks from cyberthreats and describe how their board oversees risks from such threats. The agency noted that such disclosures will be required in the annual report of a registrant on Form 10-K.

Foreign private issuers will also be required to disclose material cyber incidents on Form 6-K and cybersecurity risk management, governance and strategy on Form 20-F.

SEC said the final rules will take effect 30 days after publication of the adopting rules in the Federal Register.

“Whether a company loses a factory in a fire — or millions of files in a cybersecurity incident — it may be material to investors,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

“I think companies and investors alike, however, would benefit if this disclosure were made in a more consistent, comparable, and decision-useful way,” added Gensler.

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Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney Nominated as Marine Corps Assistant Commandant
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Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney Nominated as Marine Corps Assistant Commandant

President Joe Biden has nominated Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney, deputy commandant for programs and resources at the U.S. Marine Corps, for promotion to the rank of general and to serve as the next assistant commandant of the service.

Mahoney’s nomination was referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday for consideration, according to a congressional notice.

His general officer assignments include commanding general of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing; deputy commander of the U.S. Forces, Japan; director of strategy and plans at Headquarters Marine Corps; and deputy commander of Marine Forces Pacific.

Mahoney previously served as a chief of staff with the Joint IED Defeat Organization at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin in California and as an instructor at the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron-1 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona.

He is a Top Gun graduate and has logged over 5,000 flight hours with F-35, F-18, A-6 and F-5 fighter aircraft.

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