Profile: Fred Kennedy, Senior Policy Adviser at White House Office of Science & Technology Policy
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Profile: Fred Kennedy, Senior Policy Adviser at White House Office of Science & Technology Policy


Fred Kennedy
Fred Kennedy

Fred Kennedy serves as senior policy adviser for national security, space and aviation at the national security and international affairs division of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy.

He came to OSTP in July 2016 after he previously worked as senior materiel leader at the space production division of the Space and Missile Systems Center’s remote sensing systems directorate for two years.

Prior to SMC, Kennedy held the role of senior materiel leader at the C2ISR division of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s battle management directorate from 2011 to 2014.

He worked at the Joint Staff (J-8) from 2009 to 2011 and managed a space program portfolio that comprises early warning, navigation, communications and intelligence and reconnaissance systems.

He also served as a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; liaison for the Air Force’s Space Superiority Program Office; systems engineer and payload developer at the National Reconnaissance Office; and Air Force intern.

Kennedy helped develop nuclear and solar thermal power and propulsion technologies for spacecraft during his time as a project manager at the Phillips Laboratory in Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.

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NIJ Unveils Final Version of Smart Gun Tech Baseline Specs
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NIJ Unveils Final Version of Smart Gun Tech Baseline Specs


NIJ Unveils Final Version of Smart Gun Tech Baseline SpecsThe National Institute of Justice has released the final version of baseline specifications for minimum technical requirements that law enforcement agencies will seek from potential providers of smart gun technology.

A blog post published Wednesday on the Justice Department website says NIJ drafted the specifications with the help of firearms experts from the DOJ and Department of Homeland Security as well as gun manufacturers and stakeholders from federal, state and local law enforcement groups.

The report noted that the specifications will work to provide guidance to potential manufacturers on the firearm requirements from government agencies and serve as a standard for comparison to measure existing technology.

The standards will also help federal, state and local governments identify remaining research and development gaps, DOJ noted.

“NIJ has produced a final document that both reflects the exacting demands of law enforcement officers and advances the goal of expediting the real-world deployment of smart gun technology,” the report added.

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James Mattis Shortlisted for Defense Secretary Post
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James Mattis Shortlisted for Defense Secretary Post


headshot-james-mattis
James Mattis

James Mattis, retired U.S. Marine Corps general, is among the top candidates as the next defense secretary under president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, CNN reported Monday.

The channel noted that the National Defense Authorization Act will prevent Mattis from an immediate appointment to the defense secretary position unless he receives a waiver from Congress.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Arizona) referred to Mattis as “one of the finest military officers of his generation and an extraordinary leader.”

“This is a very tough warrior who is a strategic thinker that thinks about the second and third order effects of every decision when you use your military,” said Mike Rogers, a former House Intelligence Committee chairman.

“That’s why I think he’s attractive to the Trump folks and why he would, if he could go through this process, would be a really good secretary of defense.”

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GAO: Navy Should Designate Specific Unit to Oversee Assessments of New Contracting Strategy Implementation
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GAO: Navy Should Designate Specific Unit to Oversee Assessments of New Contracting Strategy Implementation


ContractSigningThe Government Accountability Office has recommended the U.S. Navy assign systematic assessment tasks on the implementation of the service branch’s Multiple Award Contract, Multi Order contracting strategy to a single entity.

A report GAO posted Monday says the Navy does not possess a systematic process to assess overall implementation of MAC-MO that involves the fleet- and shore-based maintenance communities.

Auditors noted that contract holders from the former Multi Ship, Multi-Option contracting strategy have expressed concerns on the continual need to compete for work while small businesses look to compete as prime contractors under MAC-MO.

MAC-MO will look to establish more competition and control costs with the help of lessons learned from its pilot maintenance periods, via firm-fixed price contracts and third-party planner utilization, GAO added.

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NASA Chief Charles Bolden, Russian Counterpart Discuss Continued Space Cooperation
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NASA Chief Charles Bolden, Russian Counterpart Discuss Continued Space Cooperation


Charles Bolden
Charles Bolden

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Igor Komarov, head of Russia’s national space organization Roscosmos, have discussed further cooperation on space activities between the U.S. and Russia, Space News reported Monday.

Jeff Foust writes Bolden and Komarov said at a press conference on Saturday crew exchanges between the two countries will start once NASA launches commercial crew vehicles to provide transportation to the International Space Station.

“I believe that it is very important for all participants of the program to have alternative transportation means to the station,” Komarov said.

Komarov added Russian cosmonauts will fly on U.S. commercial vehicles while some NASA astronauts will continue to use Russian Soyuz spacecraft, Foust reported.

Bolden noted the two countries have yet to work out details on crew exchanges, the report stated.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program aims to develop a commercial crew space transportation platform that could end U.S. reliance on Soyuz vehicles.

Air Force Medical Service Continues EHR Development Work
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Air Force Medical Service Continues EHR Development Work


electronic-health-record-EHRThe Air Force Medical Service is working to develop a new electronic health record that can offer soldiers real-time data to help deliver treatment to wounded personnel deployed in harsh or isolated environments.

The U.S. Air Force said Wednesday the Theater Medical -Information Program – Air Force project management office helps test, update and train the Armed Forces Longitudinal Technology Application – Theater, the latter of which serves as the deployed EHR for the AFMS.

Darrell Mayers, TMIP-AF functional analyst, said the Air Force has pushed more than 500,000 ground-based electronic medical records to the field since 2011.

“From a patient safety standpoint, continuity of care is a major piece. When we transmit their records, the medical staff on the ground can see it before the patient ever gets off the plane,” Mayers said.

TMIP-AF offers a three-day training course for system administrators to learn aspects of the applications based on their location and manage a software’s connectivity, as well as components designed to transmit records.

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Navy Survey Highlights Use of Automated Range Mgmt System; Leonard Garcia Comments
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Navy Survey Highlights Use of Automated Range Mgmt System; Leonard Garcia Comments


U.S. NavyThe Navy Installations Command has highlighted in a new survey what it sees as benefits of an automated range management system to the military branch’s warfighters.

The survey covered criteria such as time and manpower savings, data collection, efficiency and effectiveness and the benefits for continued usage, the Navy said Friday.

Across the entire shore enterprise, the Navy implements the Range Facility Management Support System with funds from NIC to handle warfighter training activities.

“With this system, our training range managers and warfighters have a web-based application that automates range management functions such as scheduling, processing requests and collecting utilization data,” said Leonard Garcia, RFMSS functional administrator with NIC.

The Naval Special Warfare components began to use the RFMSS in 2014 to schedule, collect data and report on the usage of range programs under a directive from the NIC.

The NIC has started to fund the maintenance of the system throughout the shore enterprise with an annual average of $150,000 in 2010.

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NASA Experts Provide Tech Support to GeNO, SeaDek Marine Products via Regional Economic Devt Program
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NASA Experts Provide Tech Support to GeNO, SeaDek Marine Products via Regional Economic Devt Program


nasa-regional-economic-development-program-egovSubject-matter experts at NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center in Florida have provided technical support to SeaDek Marine Products and GeNO as part of the agency’s Regional Economic Development program that seeks to increase partnership between the center and local businesses.

NASA said Tuesday KSC’s Cryogenics Test Laboratory provided test equipment as well as test and evaluation procedures to help SeaDek address material limitation for the closed-cell EVA foam that is used for the company’s padded deck protectors.

Biopharmaceutical company GeNO worked with NASA’s mechanical engineers through the RED Program to correct a malfunctioning reaction vessel, NASA added.

“This effort is about connecting our regional industry with NASA’s technology, capabilities and resources, with the goal of solving technology challenges together and driving economic successes for the region,” said Elizabeth Huy, senior manager of business development at the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast.

“The subject-matter experts assisted us in a search for an answer that would have taken us an additional two years to find on our own,” said Ryan Denton, an engineer at GeNO.

KSC and EDC jointly launched a regional economic development pilot program dubbed Technology Docking in January 2015 to facilitate collaborations between the center and companies in the region.

The RED program works to match small companies with subject-matter experts at Kennedy to provide advice, address problems and introduce money-saving methods.

Robert Ashley, project lead for Kennedy Space Center’s RED Program, said NASA seeks to establish an umbrella Space Act Agreement with EDC to further support small companies.

Sixty-nine companies have engaged in initial discussions with NASA experts under the RED program over the past two years and 14 of those companies received additional assistance from the agency through the Technology Docking program.

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Reports: Donald Trump to Nominate Rep. Mike Pompeo as CIA Chief
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Reports: Donald Trump to Nominate Rep. Mike Pompeo as CIA Chief


Mike Pompeo
Mike Pompeo

President-elect Donald Trump has announced plans to nominate Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kansas), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, as CIA director, the Washington Post reported Friday.

David Nakamura and Elise Viebeck write Pompeo is a Harvard Law School and U.S. Military Academy graduate who was elected to the lower chamber of Congress in 2010.

He previously served as a cavalry officer in the U.S. Army, an attorney at the Washington-based law firm Williams & Connolly and president of an oil-field equipment manufacturing company, Nakamura and Viebeck report.

Prior to his political career, Pompeo founded Thayer Aerospace in Wichita, Kansas, according to a report by Elana Schor, Kyle Cheney, Alex Isenstadt and Louis Nelson for Politico.

Former House Speaker John Boehner also appointed Pompeo to serve in a House committee in charge of the investigation into the 2012 Benghazi attack in Libya, the report said.

Pompeo “will be a brilliant and unrelenting leader for our intelligence community to ensure the safety of Americans and our allies,” Trump said in a statement, according to Politico.

The announcement comes a day after Trump named Michael Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general and former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, as national security adviser.

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Pentagon Unveils Website Vulnerability Disclosure Rule, Army’s Cyber Bug Hunting Challenge
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Pentagon Unveils Website Vulnerability Disclosure Rule, Army’s Cyber Bug Hunting Challenge


cybersecurityThe Defense Department has introduced a new policy that seeks to help computer security researchers detect and disclose cyber vulnerabilities in DoD websites and a “bug bounty” challenge that aims to authorize hackers to perform vulnerability identification in the U.S. Army’s networks.

“The Vulnerability Disclosure Policy is a ‘see something, say something’ policy for the digital domain,” Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in a statement released Monday.

“This policy gives [computer security researchers] a legal pathway to bolster the department’s cybersecurity and ultimately the nation’s security,” he added.

DoD consulted the Justice Department’s criminal division to develop the policy.

The Pentagon also opened the registration for the “Hack the Army” bug bounty competition, which is based on the defense digital service’s “Hack the Pentagon” initiative.

The department said it expects approximately 500 participants to take part in the competition and that it will provide cash incentives to security researchers who will identify cyber threats in the Army’s and DoD’s information systems and networks.

DoD will close the registration on Nov. 28 for the Hack the Army competition that is scheduled to run from Nov. 30 to Dec. 21, according to HackerOne’s website.

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