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Kelli Seybolt: Space Force Sees More Purchase Requests From International Partners
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Kelli Seybolt: Space Force Sees More Purchase Requests From International Partners

Kelli Seybolt, deputy under secretary of the Air Force for international affairs, said the U.S. Space Force has seen an increase in foreign requests for a wide range of systems since its creation as a separate military branch within the Department of the Air Force in 2019, C4ISRNET reported Tuesday.

Aside from GPS equipment and military satellite communications terminals, Seybolt said the department has seen an increasing interest from international partners in counter-space capabilities to safeguard ground systems and satellites from potential attacks.

“Space, by its very nature, is international,” she told reporters at a symposium Tuesday.

“One thing that we’re certainly seeing, especially with some of our closest allies, is that they’re really interested in developing robust space industries within their countries and are looking for more of that,” Seybolt added.

In January, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency reported that weapons sales under the Foreign Military Sales program reached $43 billion in fiscal year 2022.

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John Hill Breaks Down $30B FY24 Budget Request for Missile Defense Programs
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John Hill Breaks Down $30B FY24 Budget Request for Missile Defense Programs

John Hill, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space and missile defense, testified before the House Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces subpanel on Tuesday to discuss the details of the Department of Defense’s fiscal year 2024 budget request of $29.8 billion for missile defense and missile defeat programs.

Hill said the DOD request includes $3.3 billion to improve the cyber resiliency and capability of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, including $2.2 billion for the continued development of the Next Generation Interceptor.

He told House lawmakers that the proposed budget includes $428.7 million for the continued deployment of four over-the-horizon radars and $4.8 billion for the development of proliferated resilient missile warning and missile tracking architectures and the NextGen Overhead Persistent Infrared space and ground architecture.

The request also covers $1.2 billion for additional PAC-3 interceptors; $1 billion for Aegis Standard Missile-3 and Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense interceptors; and $259 million for regional hypersonic and ballistic missile defense space sensors and development of the Glide Phase Interceptor.

The deputy assistant secretary also discussed the air and missile threats posed by Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and non-state actors.

John Hill Breaks Down $30B FY24 Budget Request for Missile Defense Programs

Hill will deliver a keynote speech at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2023 Industrial Space Defense Summit on April 27. Register here for the upcoming event at Hilton-McLean.

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Radha Iyengar Plumb Confirmed as DOD Deputy Undersecretary for Acquisition, Sustainment
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Radha Iyengar Plumb Confirmed as DOD Deputy Undersecretary for Acquisition, Sustainment

The U.S. Senate announced it confirmed Radha Iyengar Plumb, acting deputy director of administration and management at the Department of Defense, as deputy undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment for the DOD in a 68-30 vote Tuesday.

President Joe Biden nominated Plumb to the position in June 2022.

Plumb previously served as chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense.

Prior to DOD, she was director of research and insights for trust and safety at Google with oversight of teams responsible for technical research, data science and business analytics.

She held senior staff positions at the White House National Security Council, DOD and the Department of Energy and was a senior economist at RAND Corp. and global head of policy analysis at Facebook.

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Agencies Issue Joint Cyber Advisory on How Threat Actor APT28 Gains Access to Cisco Routers
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Agencies Issue Joint Cyber Advisory on How Threat Actor APT28 Gains Access to Cisco Routers

The National Security Agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, FBI and the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre have released a joint advisory to inform organizations of the tactics, techniques and procedures used by threat actor APT28 to exploit and gain access to Cisco routers.

APT28 deploys malware and performs reconnaissance of routers by exploiting the vulnerability CVE-2017-6742 and using default and weak Simple Network Management Protocol community strings, NSA said Tuesday.

According to the advisory, SNMP works to enable network administrators to configure and track network devices remotely. Threat actors can exploit this to gain access to sensitive network data.

The agencies called on organizations to perform mitigation measures, such as patching devices, avoiding the use of SNMP to prevent unauthorized access of routers, enforcing a strong password policy and using logging tools to record commands executed on network devices.

The advisory states that APT28 is also known as the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) 85th Special Service Center military intelligence unit 26165, STRONTIUM, Fancy Bear, Pawn Storm, Sofacy and the Sednit Gang.

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Christopher Scolese: NRO Eyes RFP Release for Commercial Electro-Optical Capabilities
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Christopher Scolese: NRO Eyes RFP Release for Commercial Electro-Optical Capabilities

Christopher Scolese, director of the National Reconnaissance Office and a 2023 Wash100 awardee, said NRO expects to release a request for proposals for commercial electro-optical capabilities in the fall of 2023.

During his keynote address at the Space Symposium on Tuesday, he shared that the commercial EO capabilities will serve as the fourth focus area of the agency’s Strategic Commercial Enhancements Broad Agency Announcement program.

“The commercial EO market continues to expand with new capabilities and new providers, and we want to be able to assess and use these capabilities to support our mission,” Scolese remarked.

“We expect the RFP this fall, and this acquisition will be open to both U.S. companies and foreign-owned companies with subsidiaries in the U.S.,” he added.

During the event, Scolese discussed NRO’s efforts to keep ahead of competition, such as modernizing its space and ground infrastructure and advancing automation and machine learning capabilities and multi-intelligence processes.

He also mentioned NRO’s partnerships with other agencies, industry and academia, its commitment to innovation, recruitment efforts and the threats posed by Russia and China in the space domain.

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Zscaler Report Reveals 50% Annual Surge in Global Phishing Attacks
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Zscaler Report Reveals 50% Annual Surge in Global Phishing Attacks

Artificial intelligence tools significantly contributed to the 50 percent rise in global phishing attacks in 2022, according to an annual study released by Zscaler.

The 2023 ThreatLabz Phishing Report, which was published on Tuesday, named the United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Canada and Russia as the countries most targeted by the evolving cyberthreat.

Compared to global phishing data in 2021, attacks against the education sector surged 576 percent last year, Zscaler found. The retail and wholesale market, which was the most targeted industry in 2022, showed a 67 percent decline in phishing incidents.

The cloud security firm attributed the overall increase to the growing popularity of the interplanetary file system protocol for data sharing and storage. Hackers are also using ChatGPT and other technologies from the black market to launch more sophisticated attacks, such as the Adversary-in-the-Middle technique for forging or stealing credentials.

Adobe, Binance, Facebook, Microsoft and Netflix were identified as the top brand targets, while education, finance and government were the most vulnerable sectors, Zscaler noted.

The company urged organizations to install cloud-native and proxy-based zero trust architecture to shield themselves from phishing attacks.

POC - 2023 Cyber Summit

Cybersecurity is increasingly becoming a critical protective element in government, industry and society. The Potomac Officers Club is joining the conversation with its 2023 Cyber Summit, to be held on June 8. Register for the event by clicking on the banner above.

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Argonne Engineers Build Nuclear Training Tool With VR, Gaming Tech; Derek Kultgen Quoted
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Argonne Engineers Build Nuclear Training Tool With VR, Gaming Tech; Derek Kultgen Quoted

Engineers from the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory are exploring the use of extended reality and video game technology to attract and train the next-generation nuclear workforce.

The team used commercially available tools, including high-fidelity visualization software, tablets with LiDAR scanners, headsets and smart hard hats, to digitize operation and maintenance activities at the Mechanisms Test Loop Facility, Argonne said Tuesday.

In partnership with the Implexus Lab and Epic Games, the Argonne team developed a digital twin of the METL’s heating system to serve as a training tool for nuclear professionals.

Argonne aims to use the technology to collect operational data to inform future training efforts.

“As everything transitions to digital, there is an opportunity for the nuclear industry to use extended reality to break down the silos where useful data resides and bring data to the people who need it,” said Derek Kultgen, principal mechanical engineer and METL operations manager at Argonne.

“This breaking down of information barriers between occupations means meaningful work across the board, and that may result in a future workforce that is trained, competent and content enough to stay for a while,” he added.

NSWC in Florida Begins Training Navy Personnel on Grainger 4th Party Logistics Program
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NSWC in Florida Begins Training Navy Personnel on Grainger 4th Party Logistics Program

The Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City, Florida, is leveraging the Grainger Fourth Party Logistics Program to facilitate materials and supplies procurement within the division, the U.S. Navy reported Tuesday.

The center’s purchasing branch launched a training program to educate its personnel about Grainger 4PL, and to show them how to use its Customer Acquisition Group online tool to place orders.

Grainger 4PL began two years ago as a pilot project specific to the Department of Defense and its components. It is compliant with the General Services Administration’s acquisition guidelines on mandatory source of supplies and services, as well as the Military Standard Requisitioning and Issue Procedures.

“With this program, there are no shipping charges or dollar thresholds,” NSWC Purchasing Branch Head DeAnna Pedersen explained. “There are agreed upon and negotiated prices between the government and GSA, free returns on items that are incorrect or damaged, warranty on all products, visibility of estimated ship dates on the website and the ability for NSWC PCD to request materials be added to the program.”

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SkillStorm’s David Donelan Talks Career Highs, Leadership Strategy & Core Values
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SkillStorm’s David Donelan Talks Career Highs, Leadership Strategy & Core Values

As senior vice president of SkillStorm Commercial Services, David Donelan guides both the federal and commercial sides of the company in growing their business. His work is informed by over 30 years of experience in the field and a passion for driving team success.

Donelan recently participated in an interview with the Potomac Officers Club, during which he shared the most impactful achievements of his career, his leadership style and the core values he applies to team-building. 

In this excerpt from the interview, Donelan revealed what he sees as the most fulfilling aspect of being a leader:

“Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to manage many people, so I would say my greatest accomplishment has been seeing my teams grow as individuals and accomplish their major goals. I have contributed to the growth of successful companies such as Digital, EMC, Pegasystems and most recently, SkillStorm, however, having someone who has worked for me tell me how much they learned and enjoyed working on my team is the most rewarding aspect for me.”

For more of Donelan’s insights, read the full Executive Spotlight interview on the Potomac Officers Club website.

Each Potomac Officers Club member has the opportunity to participate in their own Executive Spotlight interview! To determine which membership option is best for you, click here.

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Rear Adm. Darin Via Nominated as Navy Surgeon General
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Rear Adm. Darin Via Nominated as Navy Surgeon General

Navy Rear Adm. Darin Via, deputy surgeon general of the Navy since June 2022, has been nominated to serve as the service branch’s next surgeon general, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Tuesday.

Via is currently deputy chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and director of the Medical Resources, Plans and Policy Division within the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.

If confirmed, Via will succeed Rear Adm. Bruce Gillingham, the Navy’s 39th surgeon general, who has retired after four decades of active-duty service.

Via previously held various leadership roles at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, including chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology, director for surgical services and operative support service line leader.

His military career also includes time as command surgeon of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and medical adviser to the commander of U.S. Central Command.

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