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Cubic Secures Contract Amendment to Provide Weapon Effects Simulation Support for Canadian Army; Mike Knowles Quoted
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Cubic Secures Contract Amendment to Provide Weapon Effects Simulation Support for Canadian Army; Mike Knowles Quoted

Cubic Mission and Performance Solutions (CMPS), a Cubic Corporation business, has booked a two-year contract amendment from Public Service and Procurement Canada to continue providing live simulation support to the Canadian Army.

Under the Contractor Conducted Logistics Support contract amendment, CMPS will continue to provide logistics assistance services to the Canadian Weapon Effects Simulation program across four Canadian Forces Bases located in New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and Alberta through October 2023, the company said Monday.

Mike Knowles, president of Cubic Mission and Performance Solutions and senior vice president of Cubic Corporation, noted that the amendment continues the company’s long-standing partnership with the Canadian Army.

“This contract extension expands on the work we have accomplished together to effectively advance the Canadian Army’s live training experience, improve operational readiness, and reduce training costs,” Knowles explained.

The contract, which was originally awarded in 2003 on behalf of Canada’s Department of National Defence, covers services that address deficiencies in simulating the realistic effects of weapons used during force-on-force field training exercises, which is meant to improve the Canadian Army’s evaluation of tactics, techniques and procedures.

As part of the amendment, CMPS will provide support across new CWES capabilities including the Multi-Code Instrumented Harness Kit, the Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle, the Medium Support Vehicle System and the Urban Operations Training System.

Recently, CMPS was awarded a follow-on research and development contract from the U.S. Air Force to develop a high-capacity backbone prototype that will enable joint forces aerial communication.

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Karen Mumford Appointed DIA Contracting Activity Head
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Karen Mumford Appointed DIA Contracting Activity Head

Karen Mumford, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA) small business programs office, took on a new role as head of contracting activity at DIA, according to her LinkedIn account.

In her more recent position, she led efforts to increase acquisition opportunities for small, disadvantaged, women-owned, veteran-owned, service-disabled and HUBZone companies.

The nearly 13-year DIA veteran also oversaw the agency’s 8(a), mentor-protege and subcontracting management programs.

Mumford previously served as chief of the DIA’s resource management office and supervisory contracting officer. She joined the agency in 2009 from BAE Systems’ U.S. subsidiary, where she worked for three years and managed contracts in a senior role.

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IBM Center Report Outlines Recommendations for Achieving Effective Technology-Oriented Training
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IBM Center Report Outlines Recommendations for Achieving Effective Technology-Oriented Training

The IBM Center for The Business of Government has released a new report outlining recommendations on how federal government agencies can deliver technology-oriented training to upskill their employees and close the information technology skills gap in their workforce.

The report, titled “Reskilling the Workforce with Technology-Oriented Training,” stated that an effective technology-oriented training program must allow employees to gain technical, functional and contextual knowledge that they need to perform their work functions.

To achieve effective training outcomes, Authors Stacie Petter of Baylor University and Laurie Giddens of the University of North Texas recommended that agencies identify employees who are interested in participating in reskilling training programs, design appropriate learning methods for the selected employees and provide continued support to employees post-training.

Petter and Giddens assessed the DeliverFund’s Counter Human Trafficking Intelligence Operations Course and the Chief Information Officers Council’s Federal Cyber Reskilling Academy as part of the research and found that employee’s personal characteristics, training design and delivery and the work environ­ment may affect the transfer of training to employees.

While the authors acknowledged that these factors may pose challenges, they noted that technology-oriented training still provides more positive outcomes for agencies looking to reskill their workforce as they seek to transform their digital infrastructures.

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Brig. Gen. John Olson: AI, ML Key ‘Enablers’ for Joint All-Domain Command & Control Concept
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Brig. Gen. John Olson: AI, ML Key ‘Enablers’ for Joint All-Domain Command & Control Concept

Brig. Gen. John Olson, a U.S. Space Force mobilization assistant, described artificial intelligence and machine learning as necessary tools for the military’s kill chain as part of the Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) framework, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.

He said at an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics-hosted panel discussion that the use of such algorithms could help users understand data coming from connected networks and work within compressed decision-making timelines.

“Artificial intelligence and machine learning are absolutely essential enablers to make us able to react, and respond, and again, make sense of the information then act upon it,” Olson told the panel.

The Pentagon’s JADC2 strategy aims to connect sensors across the military into one network.

In June, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks announced a department-wide initiative to advance data-driven or AI-based warfighting concepts such as JADC2 through combatant command exercises.

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Virgin Orbit-NextGen Merger Announces Board of Director Nominees; Dan Hart Quoted
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Virgin Orbit-NextGen Merger Announces Board of Director Nominees; Dan Hart Quoted

Virgin Orbit Holdings, a planned business combination between Virgin Orbit and NextGen Acquisition Corp. II, has announced the nominees for its board of directors, which will be convened upon the closing of the transaction.

The board’s nominees include seven executives with wide-ranging experience spanning areas of strategic, financial, operational, industry and public company governance leadership, Virgin Orbit said Monday.

“We are very fortunate to have assembled a world-class group of deeply experienced directors for Virgin Orbit Holdings who share our purpose and extend our mission to open space for good,” said Dan Hart, CEO of Virgin Orbit and nominee for Virgin Orbit Holdings’ board of directors.

Hart added that each nominee brings critical business experience and subject matter expertise to the board of directors as the company goes public and works to scale its business. 

Nominees for the Virgin Orbit Holdings board of directors also include:

  • Susan Helms, U.S. Air Force lieutenant general, retired NASA astronaut, member of the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel and member of the Aerospace Corporation’s board of trustees
  • Evan Lovell, chief investment officer for Virgin Group
  • George Mattson, co-founder and co-chairman of special purpose acquisition company, NextGen
  • Gregory Summe, co-founder and co-chairman of NextGen
  • Katharina McFarland, former assistant secretary of defense for acquisition and chairman of the board for Army Research and Development at the National Academies of Science
  • Abdulla Mohamed Shadid, executive director of growth and M&A for Mubadala’s direct investments platform and member of the board of directors for Strata

 

The Virgin Orbit-NextGen merger was originally announced in August 2021 and will result in Virgin Orbit becoming a publicly-traded company with an enterprise value of approximately $3.2 billion.

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Erin Hayes Appointed to Oversee DHS’ Cyber Talent Management System Operations
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Erin Hayes Appointed to Oversee DHS’ Cyber Talent Management System Operations

Erin Hayes, who most recently oversaw the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity authority program, has been named director of DHS Cyber Talent Management System (CTMS) operations.

She will oversee a federal personnel system designed to help the department hire and retain professionals who can protect the country’s critical infrastructure from threats in the cyber domain.

DHS aims to attract personnel to join its Cybersecurity Service through CTMS’ simplified hiring processes, competitive compensation structures and career development opportunities.

Hayes joined DHS in March 2007 as a manager and worked at George Washington University as an adjunct faculty member from 1999 to 2016.

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FedRAMP Saw More Reused Cloud Security Packages in Fiscal 2021
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FedRAMP Saw More Reused Cloud Security Packages in Fiscal 2021

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) saw the number of cloud security packages reused by agencies increase to 2,864 in fiscal year 2021, up from 1,971 in FY 2020. 

The program authorized 45 new cloud products into the FedRAMP Marketplace and the number of authorized cloud service offerings rose to 239 in FY 2021, up 18 percent from the previous fiscal year, according to a blog post published Nov. 9.

FedRAMP facilitated more than 600 meetings with agencies and cloud service providers and conducted seven events with industry stakeholders and seven agency trainings in FY 2021.

The redesigned FedRAMP website has recorded more than 1 million views since launch, while the program’s Youtube channel logged more than 38,000 views in FY 2021.

FedRAMP said it plans to further advance the use of automation and improve business processes in FY 2022.

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Shalanda Young Nominated as Permanent OMB Director
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Shalanda Young Nominated as Permanent OMB Director

President Biden plans to nominate Shalanda Young, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, to become the permanent leader of the agency.

Young has been performing the responsibilities of OMB director on an acting basis since March when she was confirmed by the Senate as deputy director, the White House said Wednesday.

In her current role, she advises the Biden administration on the federal budget process and helps oversee the implementation of regulations and policies across the executive branch.

Young previously served as staff director of the House Appropriations Committee and a presidential management fellow at the National Institute of Health.

Biden also announced his intent to formally nominate Nani Coloretti, senior vice president at the Urban Institute, as OMB deputy director.

Coloretti has experience working for the federal government, having held senior positions at the departments of Housing and Urban Development and Treasury and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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CISA, DOD Spearhead 5G Security Assessment Method Development; Vincent Sritapan Quoted
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CISA, DOD Spearhead 5G Security Assessment Method Development; Vincent Sritapan Quoted

The departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Defense (DOD) have drafted a five-step framework meant to help agencies determine a security baseline for 5G technology projects, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) worked with DOD to create the guide for defining federal use cases of newer wireless communications equipment, identifying an assessment boundary and security requirements, aligning the conditions with federal assessment and authorization policies, and assessing any policy gap.

Vincent Sritapan, who leads new services innovation in CISA’s Cybersecurity Quality Services Management Office, said at a Palo Alto Networks-hosted event that the partnership seeks to address “the need to assess 5G technologies and incorporate it into our operational environment.”

He added that the 5G security evaluation methodology also covers mobile telecommunication protocols such as standards from the 3rd Generation Partnership Project.

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New DOD Group to Synchronize Airborne Object Identification, Management Efforts Across Government
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New DOD Group to Synchronize Airborne Object Identification, Management Efforts Across Government

The Department of Defense has announced plans for a new organization that will assess unidentified aerial phenomena taking place on or near military training ranges and installations.

The Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group will harmonize U.S. efforts to detect, identity and attribute objects of interest in special use airspace that could threaten aircraft and national security, DOD said Tuesday.

AOIMSG will succeed the U.S. Navy’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force and operate under the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.

Representatives from the Pentagon and the U.S. Intelligence Community will form the Airborne Object Identification and Management Executive Council to lead the new group.

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