Aug 28 2023

QUICK HITS

• DOD, VA team up to improve IT at Joint Health Care Facility near Chicago: Only fully integrated DOD and VA healthcare facility.

• How revisiting naval aviation’s lessons can (and cannot) inform military AI innovations: Researcher argues WWII lessons abound.

• New DFARS rule gives DOD permanent authority in commercial acquisition: A CSO program is an alternative acquisition method designed to lower barriers to entry in the DOD.

DEFENSE & AEROSPACE

Navy seeks to offer virtual training to more of the fleet.

During a major exercise this month, aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower was tied to the pier at Naval Station Norfolk, but appeared to be operating alongside fellow carrier Gerald R. Ford across the Atlantic in European waters. The virtual presence of the ship was enabled by the live, virtual, and constructive training environment the Navy has spent $1.5 billion over the last five years building. Read more

24 hours to launch: Space Force, DIU kick off new ‘tactically responsive space’ mission.

The Space Force and the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit have kickstarted a follow-up to the service’s Tactically Responsive Space-3 mission to launch a prototype satellite, called Victus Nox, within 24 hours of a “go” order. The new effort, called Victus Haze and announced in a call for industry proposals, is being managed by Space Systems Command’s Space Safari program office, designed to rapidly turn around a launch of a prototype satellite and quickly perform an up-close on-orbit inspection of a (simulated) threatening spacecraft. Read more

Senators could be forced to ram through some military nominations soon.

Senators could circumvent the lingering hold on more than 300 senior military nominees as soon as they reconvene in September. It would just take until next spring to finish the work. Chamber leaders have already ruled out the approach as cumbersome and impractical; squabbling continues. Read more

ICYMI Snippets

• Navy says it’s achieved big UX improvements amid DOD effort to ‘fix our computers.’

• Despite major reform to military justice system, Navy still leaves public in dark.

• NBIS says it will deliver continuous monitoring for all customers by December.

• House bill would require DOD to use commercial algorithms to calculate basic allowance for housing (BAH).

• RFI: DOD issues on-ramp for DOD IAC MAC.

Defense Contract Awards

• Sedaro wins $1.5M SBIR Space Force contract to develop spacecraft digital twins.

• HII wins $138M Air Force professional services recompete.

• NASA selects Boeing, Northrop to design Mach 2-Plus Air Vehicles.

• DHA awards $44M Risk Management, Audit Response, Audit Remediation, and Sustainment Support Services contract.

• Patriot wins $303M contract to support Military Sealift Command Vessel Operations.

Follow the Defense Leaders

• Capt. Anthony Saxon takes over DISA Joint Interoperability Test Command.

Defense Job Openings

• Army Education and Training Command is seeking a Chief Enrollment Management and Institutional Affairs.

• The Pentagon is seeking a Foreign Relations and Domestic Policy Manager.

• The Immediate Office of the Chief of Naval Operations is hiring a Senior Advisor.

DAILY FUNNY

INTEL COMMUNITY

There’s a surprise: China casts CIA as the villain in new anti-spying push.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expanding a campaign to harden the country against foreign efforts to steal its secrets, with his spymasters warning citizens abroad to guard against enticement from the CIA. The Ministry of State Security—China’s main civilian intelligence agency—recently accused two Chinese nationals of spying for the U.S., saying both were recruited by the CIA while living overseas. Read more

ICYMI Snippets

• China, U.S. test intelligent-drone swarms in race for military AI dominance.

• INSA seeks applications for 2024 Charlie Allen Achievement Awards.

• CIA stairwell attack among flood of sexual misconduct complaints at spy agency.

LAST WEEK’S DHS RECOMPETE REPORT

CIVILIAN

General Dynamics IT, GovCIO switch roles in protest battle.

The battle between General Dynamics IT and GovernmentCIO over a $400 million VA contract is once again in the protest phase. But the roles are reversed this time. GovCIO is now the protester instead of GDIT. Read more

NOAA CTO urges careful evaluation of AI tech for agency missions.

With the rapid growth of AI technology in both the private and public sectors, NOAA Chief Technology Officer Frank Indiviglio recently explained the importance of procuring trustworthy AI tools from potential vendors. Read more

More than 1,000 federal systems flaws fixed via CISA’s bug reporting platform.

CIA says it has a secret weapon that is rapidly improving vulnerability management and compliance reporting across the federal enterprise. A new report assessed the effectiveness of CISA’s Vulnerability Disclosure Policy platform and said it had facilitated the remediation of over 1,000 vulnerabilities since it was first launched in 2021. Read more

ICYMI Snippets

• TMF adds guidance for IDEA Act proposals.

• EEOC finalizes electronic filing options for feds.

• RFI: VA issues enterprise SaaS eFOIA RFI.

• GAO says DHS could improve acquisition risk management.

Civilian Contracts Awards

• NIH NIAMS awards Steampunk, Inc. $8M IT Applications Development Services and Support contract.

• FDA awards International Business Machines Corp. OCS-CDER Analytical and Programming Expertise Support task order.

• MyRadar to validate technology with NOAA SBIR funding.

Follow Civilian Leaders

• Former CMS data chief rejoins government.

• Interior Department taps new CISO.

• Microsoft hires Azure director with federal and commercial and healthcare experience.

• Chief Growth Officer named at Procurement Sciences AI.

• Accenture Federal Services has hired a Data Science Innovation principal director.

Civilian Job Openings

• HHS IHS seeks Chief of Contracting Office.

• HHS OIG seeks Director of Operations.

• IRS is hiring a Senior Digital User Experience Analyst.

M&A CORNER

Trive-based Forward Slope acquires Soar Technology.

Forward Slope Inc., based by venture capital firm Trive Capital, has acquired Forward Slope, Inc., a supplier of AI solutions to solve complex problems for DOD and national security customers. SoarTech executives will continue to serve in Forward Slope, continuing a 15-year partnership. Read more

SCOUT Space acquires Free Space.

SCOUT Space, a space technology company and-space observation data provider, announced the acquisition of Free Space Inc. to strengthen SCOUT’s defense and technical capabilities and broaden SCOUT’s work with DOD, intelligence community, and civilian agencies. Read more

Sidus Space purchases Exo-Space.

Sidus Space announced its acquisition of Exo-Space, a firm specializing in Edge Artificial Intelligence software and hardware for space applications. Through the transaction, Sidus officials hope to expand the company’s offerings in the Earth and Space Observations services market. Read more

SHOWER THOUGHTS 🚿

How a whistleblower says Booz Allen Hamilton defrauded the government.

Only a few months into a new finance job, Sarah Feinberg felt stunned when a senior manager with a Northern Virginia-based defense contractor called federal auditors “too stupid” to notice overcharging, according to a federal complaint she filed. Read more

Geoengineering sounds like a quick climate fix.

When soaring temperatures, extreme weather and catastrophic wildfires hit the headlines, people start asking for quick fixes to climate change. The U.S. government just announced the first awards from a $3.5B for projects that promise to pull carbon dioxide out of the air. Policymakers are also exploring more invasive types of geoengineering − the deliberate, large-scale manipulation of Earth’s natural systems. Read more

It’s hard times now - and ahead - for U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control.

This summer’s blockbuster movie Oppenheimer tells the story of the scientists who developed the first U.S. atomic bombs during World War II. It also recounts how J. Robert Oppenheimer and others subsequently struggled to devise an approach to lessen the threat posed by the awesome weapons they had created. These efforts bore little fruit at the time. After the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb in August 1949, Washington and Moscow entered a massive arms race, each side stockpiling tens of thousands of nuclear weapons. Read more

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