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Col. Jeremy Raley Takes Over as AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate Head
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Col. Jeremy Raley Takes Over as AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate Head

Col. Jeremy Raley officially succeeded Col. Eric Felt as head of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s space vehicles directorate and the AFRL Phillips Research Site during a change-of-command ceremony that took place Wednesday at Kirtland AF Base in New Mexico.

AFRL said Friday that Raley assumed his dual-hatted role after serving as director of the strategic capabilities group within the U.S. Space Force’s Space Rapid Capabilities Office.

“Raley’s credentials in science and technology are long-standing, attaining a doctorate early in his career and applying that knowledge as a bench-level scientist,” AFRL Commander Heather Pringle said.

“His assignments have been diverse, spanning research and development and acquisition, and an operational deployment where he was embedded with warfighters, giving him the opportunity to see how our systems and technology work in the field.”

Prior to his role at SpRCO, Raley served as a division chief within the space vehicles directorate where he oversaw three spacecraft missions and research efforts.

Felt, who led the laboratory’s space vehicles directorate for four years, is now USSF’s deputy executive director for the space architecture, science and technology directorate located at the Pentagon.

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NTT DATA Selected to Provide Consulting and Advisory Services for Hawaii Med-QUEST Division’s Health Analytics Program; Christopher Merdon Quoted
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NTT DATA Selected to Provide Consulting and Advisory Services for Hawaii Med-QUEST Division’s Health Analytics Program; Christopher Merdon Quoted

NTT DATA announced on Friday that the digital business and IT services leader has received a contract from Hawaii’s Med-QUEST Division (MQD) to provide government consulting and advisory services to the State of Hawaii Medicaid agency, which serves over 430,900 residents. 

“As a trusted global innovator, NTT DATA is pleased to be chosen by Hawaii’s Med-QUEST Division to help improve data and analytics used to enhance health and wellness for citizens of Hawaii,” said Christopher Merdon, Group President of the Public Sector with NTT DATA. 

Through the Department of Human Services (DHS), the State of Hawaii is building a Health Analytics Program by developing a single integrated data and analytics platform to support the comparison of health outcomes.

In addition, the platform will also consolidate multiple data sources to support the comparison of health outcomes, access to care, service utilization, costs and other key performance indicators of the Medicaid Program.

NTT DATA’s Government Consulting and Advisory will provide overarching program and project management across multiple DHS contractors working in parallel to achieve DHS’ goals.

“Our proven advisory and consulting work with other states has helped to modernize systems for the future,” Christopher Merdon added.

Visit NTT DATA Public Sector Services for more information on NTT DATA’s work with federal and public sector organizations. 

During a recent Executive Spotlight with ExecutiveBiz, Christopher Merdon discussed the three legs of NTT Data’s IT and delivery services, including building the foundation as well as driving modernization of the company’s digital capabilities and its advisory and consulting services. 

“The threat leg of the stool is a little bit unique for NTT DATA because of our offerings in terms of advisory and consulting services. I’d mentioned before that those areas have been a core solution that we’ve brought to the state governments. We’re now moving up to offer the same for our federal partners as well.”

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DOE’s Ames Laboratory Changes Name to Ames National Laboratory; Geraldine Richmond Quoted
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DOE’s Ames Laboratory Changes Name to Ames National Laboratory; Geraldine Richmond Quoted

The Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has officially changed its name to Ames National Laboratory to reflect the institution’s history and its existing and future work as a DOE national laboratory.

Geraldine Richmond, undersecretary for science and innovation at DOE, said in a statement published Thursday the name change underscores the Ames National Laboratory’s “respected role as one of our seventeen national laboratories, now and into the future.”

Established in 1947, Ames National Laboratory is operated by Iowa State University and supported by the DOE Office of Science. It is tasked with creating materials, technologies and energy platforms designed to solve global challenges.

Adam Schwartz, director of Ames National Laboratory, said the move to change the name of the institution has been under consideration for more than a year.

“This clarifies and reinforces our identity as a DOE National Laboratory and the science we do in service of helping our nation meet its clean energy goals and objectives,” Schwartz explained.

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Pentagon Announces Industry Engagement Day for Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve Program; Heidi Shyu Quoted
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Pentagon Announces Industry Engagement Day for Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve Program; Heidi Shyu Quoted

The Department of Defense will host an industry engagement day on July 26 to discuss with company representatives its plans and objectives for the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve initiative.

The event, which will be held at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, will include classified briefings on RDER’s technology capability requirements and proposal cycle and will provide an opportunity for the private sector to present technology concepts and proposals to defense officials, the Pentagon said Thursday.

Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and a 2022 Wash100 Award recipient, said the private sector will play a key role in supporting the RDER program.

“Engagements like these are essential to ensure that we all understand the warfighting challenges and solicit the most creative ideas from industry,” Shyu said.

The RDER project aims to advance prototyping and experimentation to support joint fires, information advantage, logistics, command and control and other joint warfighting concepts.

In November, Shyu said 32 prototype projects were selected from the 203 proposals submitted to her office for funding that could address joint capability gaps.

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LMI’s Kimberly Stambler Discusses Navigating the Federal Landscape With Potomac Officers Club
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LMI’s Kimberly Stambler Discusses Navigating the Federal Landscape With Potomac Officers Club

Kimberly Stambler, vice president of growth at LMI, was featured recently in an Executive Spotlight interview with the Potomac Officers Club, in which she spoke about her journey in the federal contracting space and credited the colleagues and mentors who have helped shape her career trajectory. Stambler joined LMI in May 2022 from ManTech, where she served in multiple strategic capture roles. 

In this excerpt from her spotlight, Stambler shares how her seemingly disparate areas of focus have helped her to bridge career transitions seamlessly:

“While my most recent roles in federal contracting have been focused on growth and capture, my technical background is in crisis, risk and emergency management. On the surface, these focus areas may seem worlds apart; however, the connection for me with respect to long range planning and managing with uncertainty and high stakes has become a valuable aspect of my approach to winning large contracts. 

My career progression has aligned well to the phrase ‘it’s a jungle gym and not a ladder’ — navigating the evolution of the federal landscape requires leaders to manage both the ‘wildfires’ happening right now and planning for what will be needed to keep growing in the future. My emergency management background, combined with focus in engineering and experience in federal contracting have all helped me adapt and evolve throughout my career so far.”

To read the full Executive Spotlight interview with LMI’s Kimberly Stambler, visit PotomacOfficersClub.com, where you can learn more about the platform’s membership options.

New MQ-9 Reaper Facility Unveiled at Robins Air Force Base
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New MQ-9 Reaper Facility Unveiled at Robins Air Force Base

A U.S. Air Force contractor for depot maintenance, engineering support and software development has opened a new MQ-9 Reaper aircraft facility at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, as part of a collaborative depot activation effort.

USAF said the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex led a ribbon cutting ceremony for the facility that will accommodate aircraft electronics repair activities to ensure that the intelligence-collection asset remains capable of conducting strike, coordination and reconnaissance missions for long-time periods.

The establishment stemmed from a partnership between the 402nd Electronics Maintenance Group and 402nd Software Engineering Group with the WR-ALC, and L3Harris Technologies.

“Work done at the MQ-9 Reaper facility will ensure the communications and information transmission components operate effectively to support the warfighter,” said Ron Fehlen, vice president and general manager at L3Harris.

Meanwhile, Tim Avera, WR-ALC Business Office director, commented, “The workload is expected to extend into the 2040’s or until the sunset of the aircraft.”

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Navy Shares Procurement Agenda With Small Biz Leaders; Carlos Del Toro Quoted
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Navy Shares Procurement Agenda With Small Biz Leaders; Carlos Del Toro Quoted

The Department of the Navy highlighted its priority acquisition programs and contracting opportunities for small businesses at a roundtable held Thursday.

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro led the discussion that was attended by DON’s major buying commands, contracting officials, senior leaders and industry representatives, the department said Thursday.

“Through forums like this, the buyers, purchasers, and contractors collaborate to remove barriers and bring advances through small business opportunities,” Del Toro said. 

“We have to remember that this is both transformative for the business, their communities, and our Navy and Marine Corps.”

DON seeks to contract with companies owned by service-disabled veterans, disadvantaged individuals and women as well as those operating in historically underutilized business zones through its Office of the Small Business Programs.

The federal government has an annual goal of awarding 23 percent of prime contracting dollars to the small business community.

House OKs Fiscal 2023 Defense Policy Bill in 329-101 Vote; Rep. Adam Smith Quoted
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House OKs Fiscal 2023 Defense Policy Bill in 329-101 Vote; Rep. Adam Smith Quoted

The House voted 329-101 Thursday to pass a bill that authorizes $839.3 billion in Department of Defense spending for the next fiscal year, The Hill reported.

The lower chamber authorized $808.4 billion for DOD’s discretionary topline, plus $30.5 billion for national security missions within the Department of Energy and roughly $400 million for other defense programs in the federal government.

Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., and Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, introduced in June an amendment to the House’s 2023 National Defense Authorization Act that reflects a $37 billion increase over the $773 billion DOD budget sought by President Biden.

Sixty-two Republican lawmakers and 39 Democrats voted against the annual defense policy bill, according to the publication.

“At a time when democracies worldwide face both old and new threats, the FY23 NDAA supports investments in what makes our country competitive around the world and strong at home: a diverse and talented military and civilian workforce; groundbreaking science and technology research, especially at Historically Black Colleges and Universities; and the alliances and partnerships we need to meet our biggest global security challenges,” said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash.

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DHS Unveils Cyber Safety Review Board Report on Log4j Vulnerability; Director Jen Easterly Quoted
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DHS Unveils Cyber Safety Review Board Report on Log4j Vulnerability; Director Jen Easterly Quoted

The Department of Homeland Security has issued the Cyber Safety Review Board’s inaugural report on the Log4j vulnerability discovered in December 2021.

The CSRB worked with nearly 80 organizations, software developers and other professionals to collect insights on Log4j and come up with recommendations to prevent and respond to future cyber incidents, DHS said Thursday.

According to the report, the vulnerability “remains deeply embedded in systems” and that the government and industry should advance the development and deployment of capabilities, automated frameworks and other tools that would help developers build secure software.

The report offers 19 recommendations classified into four categories: continued vigilance in addressing Log4j vulnerabilities; adoption of industry-accepted standards and practices for vulnerability management and security hygiene; development of a better software ecosystem; and advancement of technological and cultural shifts in support of the country’s digital security.

To advance a better software ecosystem, recommendations include improving software bill of materials tooling and adoptability and increasing investments in open source software security. 

“The CSRB is a remarkable public-private initiative that has produced an important blueprint for CISA – our nation’s civilian cyber defense agency – to meaningfully increase cybersecurity resilience and preparedness across our country,” said Jen Easterly, director for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and a 2022 Wash100 Award winner.

“I look forward to implementing the CSRB’s impactful recommendations and thank the members for their time and thoughtful counsel,” added Easterly.

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NSA Report Outlines Levels of Hardware Assurance for Defense Microelectronics
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NSA Report Outlines Levels of Hardware Assurance for Defense Microelectronics

The National Security Agency has released a report providing guidance on characterizing threats to defense microelectronics.

The Cybersecurity Technical Report defines three levels of hardware assurance and outlines steps on how to implement them to protect custom microelectronic components used in Department of Defense systems, NSA said Thursday.

These custom microelectronic parts include field programmable gate arrays, application-specific integrated circuits and other components containing reprogrammable digital logic.

NSA’s Joint Federated Assurance Center identified the three levels of hardware assurance that DOD programs can apply to top-level systems and critical components. 

For the first level of assurance, essential defense capabilities will remain available during a system failure but subversion of a system can cause harm to U.S. property, personnel or interests.

Under LoA2, the failure of a system can cause serious harm to personnel or property and that essential operational capabilities may be degraded. Under LoA3, system failure can result in extremely grave consequences and interrupt DOD’s essential operational capabilities.

Once the appropriate level of assurance is determined, the customized microelectronics part is analyzed to identify potential threats to the manufacturing process, according to the document.

Threats are defined by cost and utility characteristics. Cost characteristics include access, technology and investment, while utility characteristics are targetability and value of effect.

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