From Steve Losey at the Pentagon: The National Security Personnel System Task Force is about to recommend the Defense Department continue with NSPS with some major revisions, such as improved communications between managers and employees and improved transparency for the pay pool process. Check back with FederalTimes.com later today for Steve’s full report on the task force’s NSPS recommendations.
Browsing: Defense
Robert McNamara, the controversial former Defense Secretary who spent his twilight years apologizing for escalating the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, died early this morning in Washington. He was 93 years old. McNamara was a top manager at the Ford Motor Co. and had just taken over the company in 1960Â when President John F. Kennedy tapped him to run the Pentagon. According to the Washington Post, McNamara used his considerable management skills to tame the military’s massive bureaucracy: At the Pentagon, McNamara quickly put his own stamp on the sprawling military bureaucracy in what amounted to a management…
The House passed the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act in a 389-22 vote today. The House version of the bill would suspend the use of public-private competitions for federal jobs for three years, end the department’s pay-for-performance system and direct new contracting reforms.
Federal agencies having a tough time meeting the plethora of green government mandates should take a close look at the 15 federal teams who have been recognized this year for spearheading environmentally sustainable practices at their agencies. Winners of the 2009 White House Closing the Circle Awards — handed out Wednesday during the middle of the three-day 2009 Federal Environmental Symposium East in Bethesda, Md. –Â Â are demonstrating best practices in areas such as recycling, green purchasing and fuel conservation. The big winner was the Air Force, which received four awards for initiatives under way at local bases and headquarters. The…
Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn gave a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies this morning. He didn’t make any big announcement about the possible Pentagon “cyber command,” as some people had been speculating. He did, however, rattle off a few interesting statistics about the cost of cybersecurity: Cyber attacks on our military networks have not cost any lives, not yet. But in a six-month period, the Defense Department spent more than $100 million defending its networks… and we spend billions annually in a proactive effort to protect and defend our networks. $200 million annually on cybersecurity —…
We’ve done a lot of reporting on cybersecurity over the past few months (cf here, here and here), mostly focused on defense — how the federal government protects itself against intruders. But the government is also improving its offensive capabilities, a story that gets far less coverage. The New York Times has an interesting article about it this morning: President Obama is expected to propose a far larger defensive effort in coming days […] But Mr. Obama is expected to say little or nothing about the nation’s offensive capabilities, on which the military and the nation’s intelligence agencies have been…
The Air Force likely will have some explaining to do following this particularly poorly thought-out photo op, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Seems the Air Force thought it was a good idea to have a Boeing 747 fly very low around Manhattan while being escorted by an F-16. Apparently, the FAA and the New York City Police Department were told of the stunt, but no one warned the public. Understandably, more than a few New Yorkers made for the exits, as reported by WSJ: The low-flying 747 sent workers worried about a repeat of the Sept. 11, 2001,…
Want to hear more on Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ plans to dramatically reshape his department’s programs and priorities? You can watch him discuss those plans in an interview tonight on PBS’ The New Hour with Jim Lehrer. Gates announced yesterday his long-awaited plan to make some deep program cuts. His plan would end some defense programs such as the Air Force’s F-22 fighter and combat search-and-rescue helicopter program, the Army’s Future Combat Systems armored vehicle programs, the Navy’s new DDG-1000 destroyer, and the Marine Corps’ presidential helicopter program. And he proposes to beef up spending on other priorities such as…
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he will convert 11,000 acquisition contracting jobs to Defense employees and hire 9,000 more government acquisition staff by 2015. He plans to start with 4,100 employees in fiscal 2010, the budget he presented at a news conference today. You can read his full budget speech here.
The Defense Department’s reporting of fraud cases to the Justice Department dropped 76 percent during the Bush Administration, according to Justice Department data obtained by the non-profit Center for Public Integrity. During the same period, contracting at the department (and government in general) more than doubled, the report notes. This leaves the question: did the department underreport fraud? The story suggests yes, citing concerns from the Defense Inspector General and the fact that investigative staffs shrunk alongside the decline in fraud reports. In December, new rules went into effect requiring contractors tell on themselves or face suspension or debarment if…