Digital Government
DOD uses low tech to find MIAs
The Pentagon owns and operates the most advanced computer and communications equipment available but during this month's mission to recover remains of American soldiers missing in action in the Korean War the Defense Department had to opt for decidedly lowtechnology tools. Typically when the DOD P
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Institute calls for privatizing GPS
A conservative think tank last month released a report calling for the Air Force to sell its satellite communications system which provides troop locations and guides weapons to pinpoint accuracy to a private company. The Reason Public Policy Institute a Los Angeles public policy research group tha
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Intercepts
New Orleans pork update. It's our favorite time of the year here at Intercept central appropriations bill season when we have the opportunity to check out what kind of technopork Rep. Bob Livingston (RLa.) put into the DOD spending bill for his district a budding Silicon PlainontheMississi
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CIA tales spun on Web
Love a good spy yarn? Then tap into the Center for the Study of Intelligence (CSI) site (www.odci.gov/csi) on the World Wide Web where true CIA tales match or rise above fiction. CSI the academic arm of the Office of the Director of Central Intelligence conducts research into CIA operations and pub
Digital Government
Joint Chiefs revisit DMS; COTS likely
The Pentagon Joint Staff has launched a sweeping study of the Defense Message System FCW has learned including a reevaluation of requirements set almost a decade ago and the technology solutions offered by DMS contractor Lockheed Martin Corp.
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Langston conducts IT-21 ensemble
Marv Langston the Navy's chief information officer likes his jazz smooth and mellow not loud or brassy.
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Pentagon searches for COTS tech
Gesturing to the PCs and workstations crammed into the already tight spaces in the control room of the attack submarine USS Atlanta Fire Control Technician 1 Richard Parks summed up the essence of Joint Warrior Interoperability Demonstration (JWID) '97.
Digital Government
Lucent, GTE to share Navy Vivid contract
The Navy last week awarded contracts to four vendors for up to $2.9 billion worth of telecommunications equipment and services only to see two of the winners abruptly withdraw from the program because they feared their awards were too small to cover the required investment in the program.
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Intercepts
As DISA turns. In yet another installment of my favorite series 'What's Up on Courthouse Road? ' I've confirmed that Col. (promotable) James Hylton will depart the Army Signal Command at Fort Huachuca Ariz. later this month for a new job as director of operations for DISA. Hylton currently the ASC
Digital Government
Navy awards 5 BPAs
Over the last two weeks the Navy's Atlantic Fleet has awarded blanket purchase agreements (BPAs) to five vendors for PC notebooks desktops and servers that conform to the Navy's Information Technology for the 21st Century strategy. Under the new BPAs open Navywide BTG Inc. GE Capital Informatio
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INTERCEPTS
Reform pork. The bulk of the Defense Reform Act of 1997 (see story Page 12) deals with all kinds of reforms but a clause tacked on to the end shows stopping technopork is not one of them. This section of the bill directs the Pentagon to install a fiberoptic metropolitanarea network (MAN) in at l
Digital Government
Bill calls for DOD tocompete with vendors
The House last week overwhelmingly passed the 1998 Defense authorization bill (H.R. 1119) which calls for the Defense Information Systems Agency and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to compete with the private sector by 2000 for operation of 'inherently nongovernmental functions' such as
Digital Government
Pentagon launches $500M GBS program
A new era in military satellite communications came one step closer to reality last week when four teams submitted bids on the $500 million Global Broadcast Service a program designed to give soldiers on the battlefield the power to select largescale images and videos much the same way a TV viewer
Digital Government
Navy brings substance, style to JWID '97 site
To stand out in the sea of images available on the World Wide Web many sites take the outdoorbillboard approach relying on graphics that visually scream at the clickby Net cruisers. That might have worked well in the pioneering days of the Web but to stand out today it helps to adopt a subtler ap
Digital Government
House mulls slashing DOD work force
A key congressional panel has called for slashing the Defense Department acquisition work force by 40 percent and Pentagon headquarters staffs by 25 percent predicting the cutbacks will save $15 billion during a fiveyear period. The House Committee on National Security inserted these provisions wh
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Lockheed revamps DMS architecture
Lockheed Martin Corp. has revamped its Defense Message System architecture from a "messagingcentric" architecture to a "groupwarecentric" system that will better meet the needs of Defense Department users with "significant cost savings " according to company officials. Paul LeVesque a Lockh
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Intercepts
The NT ceiling. My WesPac mobile unit reports that the Navy DMS Tactical Pilot on the USS Blue Ridge command ship of the 7th Fleet has run into a Windows NT reality that could crimp the style of IT21 power users. NT servers currently can't handle anything above 16G of stored files a real problem
Digital Government
DISA scales back DMS 'grand design'
The Defense Information Systems Agency has abandoned its 'grand design' plans for the halfbilliondollar Defense Message System and will refocus its development efforts so DMS 'converges' more closely with commercial products according to Lt. Gen. Al Edmonds who acknowledged on June 6 his last day
Digital Government
Intercepts
CIO confusion. SecDef William Cohen who should have more insight than anyone into the ClingerCohen Act of 1996 (except for Clinger) waited until June 2 one business day after Emmett Paige Jr. departed the building as ASD/C3I to send out a policy memo designating the ASD/C3I as the DOD CIO. Thi
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