Jared Serbu Reports 
Top News
- Hagel: Accountability breakdown a leading factor in sexual assaults
- SES bonuses under fire at GSA, other agencies
- Photo Gallery: Meet the 2013 Service to America Medal Finalists
- VA's Gould moves the needle on VA challenges
- Causey: Saintly media vs. government devils
- White House wants to root out copycat programs - starting with STEM
- Treasury officials told of IRS probe in June 2012
- Obama appoints Danny Werfel acting IRS head
- In fight over intelligence IT system, Army prioritizes access to data
- House bill protects homeland security budget
- Intelligence Community free from furloughs
- OMB fuels the passion, synergy between mobile, open data
- GAO, OMB spar over whether to measure data center cost savings
- Agencies craving STEMM talent should bolster skills of persuasion
- DoD wants to know real costs of IT business systems
- Monday federal headlines - May 20, 2013
Jared Serbu covers the Department of Defense for Federal News Radio. Jared's reports can be heard Monday - Friday on the Federal Drive and In Depth.
DoD brass still at 'unprecedented' levels
Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates complained there were 30 layers of bureaucracy between him and an action officer. Despite reforms he led, a new report finds the ratio of generals and admirals to the troops they lead remains unprecedentedly high.
DoD failed to report misspent funds, lawmakers claim
Pentagon found more than $800 million in Antideficiency Act violations from 2005 and 2008, but never reported these violations to Congress, lawmakers say.
DoD nominee warns of 'draconian' cuts
Ashton Carter, the nominee to be the new deputy Defense secretary, said DoD will need to consider civilian employee furloughs, the abandonment of major weapons systems and a severe curtailing of military training if the sequestration envisioned by Congress as a budget-cutting forcing function takes effect.
Eight years later, GAO finds DHS halfway there
An assessment of the Department of Homeland Security's transformation since its founding in 2003 finds major operational accomplishments and lingering management challenges. GAO released a status report to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Advocates see some open government dividends
Federal agencies are making progress toward fulfilling the spirit of the White House's open government directives. But the administration still needs to give agencies more direction and more support, according to a new secrecy scorecard just out from a coalition of good government and consumer advocacy groups.
VA opening up its e-health record
The Department of Veterans Affairs celebrated the opening of the online portal where development on its electronic health record system will proceed using an open source model. The effort could fundamentally change the way the government tackles large IT projects, VA's chief information officer said.
Panetta urges more DoD small biz contracts
The Defense Department is poised to once again miss its small business contracting goal, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says in a memo just issued to the department's leadership.
Arlington on its way to single burial database
A year after a scandal upended the leadership at Arlington National Cemetery, the Army is making swift progress toward creating a single database of all those interred at the site. Soldiers are using iPhones to record information and submit it to analysts to check the data against existing records.
Pentagon, WH assure progress in wartime contracting
The Obama administration and the Defense Department said Wednesday they are making progress in reforming contracting in overseas contingency operations. An independent commission found the government has lost up to $60 billion to waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan.
9/11 panel cites unfinished business
The chairman and vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission released a scorecard Wednesday evaluating the government's progress toward implementing the recommendations they made in 2004. Nine critical areas have yet to be addressed, according to the report card.
Navy, USDA, DoE issue big biofuels RFI
The Departments of the Navy, Agriculture and Energy are asking industry how best to spend $510 million on the future of biofuels. They are leaning on a 1950 law that lets the government pour cash into defense-critical industries.
FEMA tightens purse strings on disaster fund
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, facing the prospect of its disaster relief fund running dry by the end of the current fiscal year, has decided to use the fund only for immediate needs related to Hurricane Irene. The decision puts any new spending for projects related to previous disasters on hold until Congress appropriates more money.
Workforce one of three keys to Army's cyber future
The Army's new cyber command, only 11 months old, is working to implement a strategic plan based on three pillars. One challenge is building a workforce that can meet the service's offensive and defensive objectives in cyberspace.
Army strengthens access rules for secret network
The Army has begun moving users of DoD's secret IP network to a more secure, two-factor PKI authentication system. It's one of several measures the service says it's taking to better use trusted identities on DoD networks.
Navy to spend $500M for alternative energy
The Navy and Marines want the private sector to help them come up with replacements for petroleum based fuels as part of the departments' efforts at reducing their reliance on foreign sources of energy.
Takai: DoD CIO can't 'mandate' culture change
Trying to change the culture-driven patterns of IT spending in the military services by issuing edicts would not work, and should not work, the Pentagon's chief information officer said. She said she sees her role as making sure the services have what they need, and that their IT efforts benefit DoD as an enterprise.
Navy targets December for NGEN RFP
The Department of Navy is moving in a different direction for the follow-on to the NMCI contract. Officials said they are unsure how many contract awards they will make.
DISA tackles big IT vision with shrinking budget
The Defense Information Systems Agency is holding its annual conference in Baltimore this week. Enterprise technologies and standardization are key themes. DISA has told its public and private sector partners that it intends to do all of the above, even in a climate in which budgetary resources are declining.
Army cloud email a 'pathfinder' to enterprise services
The Army resumed its migration of users to its new cloud email system on Tuesday. Other enterprise services will follow behind it, including an enterprise version of Microsoft Sharepoint, which will mostly displace the Army Knowledge Online web portal, officials said.
Navy conducts first shipboard cyber inspection
The U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln has become the first Navy vessel to undergo a cybersecurity inspection while at sea. The ship passed with a score that surpassed what the Navy has been able to accomplish even at its shore-based units.
