{Image: GovExec.com}
National Defense Week
August 19, 2004
The free weekly e-mail newsletter on the federal government's efforts to ensure the
security of the United States. Forward this e-mail to your colleagues and encourage
them to sign up to get their own copy at:
{ Link: http://www.govexec.com/email }
http://www.govexec.com/email. And check out { Link: http://www.govexec.com }
http://www.govexec.com for more tools to help you manage the business of America.
You can also view this newsletter at: { Link:
http://www.govexec.com/email/defense.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/email/defense.htm
_____
Brought to you by TimeVision
{ Link: http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;10151443;5622871;x?http://www.timevision.com/ge
}
{Image: Brought to you by TimeVision}
TimeVision's suite of solutions, including OrgPublisher�, OrgPublisher powered by
OrgBuilder�, OrgPublisher for SAP� solutions and Mobile OrgPublisher�, automate the
process of creating,
distributing and maintaining secure, web-based org charts. With these products,
organizations of any size can perform both simple and complex tasks through the most
commonly understood business graphic, an org chart.
All of this can be done via an organization's Intranet, handheld device, or in print
without the need for external reporting tools.
{ Link: http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;10151443;5622871;x?http://www.timevision.com/ge
}
Click here to learn more about TimeVisions's suite of solutions.
_____
In this issue:
* Troop realignment could cut Defense civilian jobs
* Military counseling services will stay in place
* Officials, lawmakers at odds over how to eliminate security clearance backlog
* Navy appoints new leader for NMCI
* Chairman of 9/11 commission calls on Pentagon to support reform
* GAO: Pentagon lacks management plan for protecting personnel, installations
* Pentagon's management of space personnel inadequate, says GAO
* Quote of the week
_____
1. Troop realignment could cut Defense civilian jobs
By George Cahlink
Hundreds of Defense Department civilian jobs overseas likely will be eliminated as
part of the Pentagon's plans to bring tens of thousands of troops back to the United
States within the next decade.
"There probably will be some reductions in the numbers of civilians and contractors on
the payroll by virtue of the fact that you will be closing or removing U.S. force
structure from up to half, arguably, of the installations where we currently have
force structure," a senior Defense Department official told reporters at a briefing on
Monday. The official spoke only on the condition that he not be identified.
Earlier in the day, President Bush announced long-anticipated plans for the largest
realignment of forces since the end of the Cold War. He said as many as 70,000 troops
would be removed from Europe or Asia and returned mainly to the United States. The
size of the military will not change, however, only its location, Defense officials
stressed.
Full story: { Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/804/081604g1.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/804/081604g1.htm
_____
2. Military counseling services will stay in place
By Shane Harris
The General Services Administration has extended a contract to provide mental health
and counseling services to military service members, a move that likely will please
Defense Department officials, but roil industry executives who have complained that
the contract was unfairly awarded.
GSA awarded a "bridge contract" to Ceridian Corp. so that the company could continue
providing services under the Military One Source project, an online resource for
service members and their families to obtain various mental health and counseling
services, including referrals to physicians. The contract, which took effect Aug. 8,
expires in six months. At that time, GSA will hold a new competition, said agency
spokeswoman Mary Alice Johnson.
The One Source contract has been subject to controversy since last year, when it was
discovered that a unit of GSA made the award using a contract designed for information
technology services, not counseling. The unit, the Federal Technology Service, is
under investigation by the GSA inspector general for similar misuse of technology
contracts in some of its 11 regional offices. FTS procures goods and services on
behalf of other agencies for a fee. The Denver regional office handled the One Source
contract for the Defense Department.
Full story: { Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/081704h1.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/081704h1.htm
_____
3. Officials, lawmakers at odds over how to eliminate security clearance backlog
By David McGlinchey
The security clearance process for Defense Department employees is flawed and plagued
with delays, but there is no consensus on how to resolve the problems and reduce the
backlog of uncleared workers, according to officials and lawmakers who oversee the
system.
In a series of interviews with Government Executive, Defense officials and lawmakers
said the security clearance process is too slow, especially while the military is
engaged overseas.
"The issue is one of national security, more than anything else," said Rep. Jim Moran,
D-Va., a member of the House Appropriations Committee. "It is also a matter of
inefficiency, but that's not the greatest concern."
Full story: { Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/081204d1.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/081204d1.htm
_____
4. Navy appoints new leader for NMCI
By David McGlinchey
Navy Secretary Gordon England has appointed a new chief to lead the development of the
Navy Marine Corps Intranet, a program awash in controversy and delays.
Rear Adm. James Godwin will take the reins of NMCI, a huge, secure computer system
designed to connect all Navy and Marine Corps personnel. Texas-based defense
contractor EDS is developing the intranet, which could end up costing the Navy more
than $8 billion by the time all users are connected. In June, England announced that
Rear Adm. Charles Munns was leaving the program to become the submarine force
commander for the Atlantic Fleet. Program officials believe he will leave NMCI in
October. The Navy announced Godwin's appointment on Aug. 6.
In a June interview, Munns acknowledged that the program has had some troubles, but he
told Government Executive that it has passed its "tipping point" and is improving
rapidly. The program continues to be faced with criticism, from senior officers to
mid-level civilian managers. Service personnel complain that NMCI has poor
connectivity, slow delivery and an inability to handle all the functions performed by
legacy technology.
Full story: { Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/081704d1.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/081704d1.htm
_____
5. Chairman of 9/11 commission calls on Pentagon to support reform
By Chris Strohm
The chairman of the 9/11 commission on Tuesday said he sensed resistance to
governmental reform coming from the Pentagon and called for a unified effort to make
needed changes.
"Reorganizing government is very, very hard. We recognized that when we made the
recommendation and we made the decision to [recommend] it anyway, because it's the
right thing to do," the panel's chairman, Thomas Kean, a former Republican governor
from New Jersey, told Government Executive. Kean said he sensed that the Pentagon's
leadership was resisting some of the commission's recommendations for overhauling the
intelligence community.
"I know that any time you move around power, you have resistance," he added. "We
believe that people have to work together. There has to be a unified intelligence
effort, and we believe we've recommended the right way to do that. But everybody's got
to participate,and everybody's got to be part of it, including the Defense
Department."
Full story: { Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/081804c2.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/081804c2.htm
_____
Brought to you by TimeVision
{ Link: http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;10151443;5622871;x?http://www.timevision.com/ge
}
{Image: Brought to you by TimeVision}
TimeVision's suite of solutions, including OrgPublisher�, OrgPublisher powered by
OrgBuilder�, OrgPublisher for SAP� solutions and Mobile OrgPublisher�, automate the
process of creating,
distributing and maintaining secure, web-based org charts. With these products,
organizations of any size can perform both simple and complex tasks through the most
commonly understood business graphic, an org chart.
All of this can be done via an organization's Intranet, handheld device, or in print
without the need for external reporting tools.
{ Link: http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;10151443;5622871;x?http://www.timevision.com/ge
}
Click here to learn more about TimeVisions's suite of solutions.
_____
6. GAO: Pentagon lacks management plan for protecting personnel, installations
By Chris Strohm
The Defense Department lacks an effective program to protect personnel and facilities
against weapons of mass destruction attacks, and needs a single organization to
coordinate preparedness efforts, according to government auditors.
Defense has spent billions of dollars on protection efforts but lacks a comprehensive
management plan that provides guidance and measures results, the Government
Accountability Office said in a new report (GAO-04-855) on combating terrorism.
"While many of the department's past efforts have focused on enhancing protection and
response capabilities against high-yield explosives, the new security environment
underscores the need for the department to expand its safeguards to include chemical,
biological, radiological and nuclear incidents," GAO concluded. "Until organization
roles and responsibilities are clarified, and an integrating authority is designated,
DOD will be limited in its ability to develop a comprehensive approach, promulgate
departmentwide guidance, and effectively coordinate ongoing billion-dollar improvement
initiatives at the installation level."
Full story: { Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/081304c1.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/081304c1.htm
_____
7. Pentagon's management of space personnel inadequate, says GAO
By Beth Dickey
A congressional audit has found that the Defense Department is not doing enough to
develop and maintain an educated, motivated and skilled cadre of space program
professionals.
In a report (GAO-04-697) issued last week, the Government Accountability
Office assesses the Defense Department's space human capital
strategy and the efforts to build a U.S. space force with personnel from the four
military services.
"It is not clear that DOD can achieve the
strategy's purpose of ... an integrated total force of well-qualified
military and civilian personnel," auditors write. "Failure to achieve
this could jeopardize U.S. primacy in this critical and evolving
national security area."
Full story: { Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/081304b1.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/081304b1.htm
_____
8. Quote of the Week:
"The demand for background checks exceeds our capacity."
-- Stephen Benowitz, with the Office of Personnel Management, saying federal personnel
officials { Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/081204d1.htm }
cannot keep up with security clearances needed for contractors at the Pentagon.
_____
Check out { Link: http://www.govexec.com/email/workforce.htm }
Workforce Week, our new email newsletter that focuses on the pay, benefits, hiring
and human capital management issues that affect every employee, manager and executive
in the federal government. { Link: http://www.govexec.com/email/ }
Click here to sign up for your free subscription.
_____
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
To unsubscribe from National Defense Week e-newsletter
visit this link http://ndw-media.com/uzAAGtQAAAIfAB
Note: It may take our system up to two business days
to process your unsubscribe request and during that time
you may receive one or two more newsletters.
Thank you for reading GovExec.com.
This message was sent from GovExec.com to e-mail address
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
$9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/BCfwlB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kumpulan/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
