On DoD 
Top News
- Senators push Tangherlini for assurances GSA is improving
- As VA works to eliminate one backlog, one more might emerge
- Senator: IRS to pay $70M in employee bonuses
- Furlough song: Laugh or you'll cry
- GSA's Dorris builds online gateway to government services
- Navy strikes enterprise licensing deal with Oracle
- Contractors with security clearances lack path to report problems
- NSA leak case gives vendors reason to reevaluate personnel
- Does security clearance process need a makeover?
- 8 contract executives guilty of 8(a) contracting fraud
- Whistleblower suit leads to $12M false claims settlement by SAIC
- NASA engineer, 29, recognized for improving aeronautical testing
- USPS reaches energy reduction goal ahead of schedule
- NOAA meteorologist helps save lives one storm at a time
- NASA picks 8 new astronauts, 4 of them women
- House passes sweeping $638 billion defense bill
- Latest postal reform proposal OKs 5-day delivery
- Wednesday federal headlines - June 19, 2013
Wednesdays, 2:00p.m.
The one-hour show focuses on the programs and policies that affect the Defense Department. Each week, defense reporter Jared Serbu speaks one-on-one and in depth with the people responsible for managing the inner workings of the federal government's largest department, and those who know it best.
DoD building cyber workforce of the future
Military's cyber leaders say job satisfaction has so far trumped salary concerns when it comes to building and retaining a workforce of elite cyber warriors. Building the capacity of that training pipeline is the next challenge.
DoD office helps veterans ease back into civilian life
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve was set up in 1972 to help employers enable members of the National Guard and Reserve to re-enter the civilian job market.
New Army Reserve chief prioritizes suicide prevention, calm message on budget
Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Talley took over as Chief of the Army Reserve in June. He tells Federal News Radio there are only two issues that keep him up at night.
Group takes 'evidence-based' approach to reforming military compensation
Todd Harrison is the defense budget fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. In this week's edition of On DoD, he talks with Jared Serbu about a new study he's just finished: Rebalancing Military Compensation: An Evidence-based Approach. He asked servicemembers which benefits they actually valued and which ones they didn't.
Vets navigate bumpy road in military-to-civilian transition
This edition of On DoD focuses mostly on one bump in the road in the military-to-civilian career transition: the higher education step. When it comes to paying for college, Congress has solved that problem, at least in theory. The relatively generous Post-9/11 GI bill gives recent veterans essentially a full ride scholarship for an undergraduate degree — paying their tuition up to the rate of the most expensive public university in a veteran's home state.
Army agile acquisition to yield payoff
Dan Hughes, who was recently promoted to Army brigadier general, is the director of the Army's System of Systems Integration Directorate within the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology. His office is one of the key players in the agile acquisition process the Army's trying to build.
Army Reserve emphasizes 'circle of talent'
Army leaders are encouraging active duty soldiers to consider entering the Reserves, said retiring Lt. Gen Jack Stultz, former commanding general of the Army Reserve Command. Stultz took off the uniform for the last time after a June 9 change of command ceremony.
Air Force, DLA lead way in suspensions, debarments
In this week's edition of On DoD, we hear from two of the agencies that are using suspension and debarment aggressively. The Air Force and the Defense Logistics Agency together processed more than 800 suspensions, debarments, and proposed debarments last year. We hear from Steven Shaw, the Air Force's deputy general counsel for contractor responsibility, and Normand Lussier, DLA's associate general counsel for contracting integrity.
Army tries to improve and cut back on service contracting
The Army will soon issue guidance to all of its commands telling them to cut the dollars they spend on service contracts, the service's top contracting official tells Federal News Radio.
Agencies explore possibilities of virtual worlds
Paulette Robinson, the iCollege's associate dean for teaching, learning and technology, said the Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds has grown from five members from four federal agencies in 2007 to 3,000 members this year.
DoD R&D prioritizes 'Big Data'
The Defense Department aims to spend $60 million in new procurements to sort out its data deluge. The Pentagon already spends $250 million annually on research projects under the heading of "big data."
Army aims for more speed, security with new IT network standards
The Army has released the implementation plan for how it will get its networked systems to a state it calls the "common operating environment." The strategy is designed to phase out stovepiped systems and begin building technologies to a common set of open standards.
Federal voting program's objective: Make itself obsolete
Even in the 21st century, it can still be awfully tough to vote in an election if you're thousands of miles from your local polling place. Making sure such voters can cast ballots in federal elections is the mission of the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), a Defense Department office that offers assistance not just to military personnel, but to any U.S. citizen who needs help casting a ballot from overseas.
Army IT agency performs big mission with little fanfare
Don Adcock, executive director of the Army Information Technology Agency, tells Federal News Radio's Jared Serbu about how the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks forced the Pentagon to start consolidating data centers long before the topic was on most agencies' radar screens.
DoD to issue new civil liberties guidance
Michael Reheuser is the director of the Defense Privacy and Civil Liberties Office, that oversees the Defense Department's compliance with the Privacy Act, which has been largely unchanged since 1974.
In Army Reserve, clearing out 'deadwood' will make room for best and brightest
The Army Reserve wants to make it easier for soldiers in the active component of the Army to make their way back and forth to the reserve components. To do it, the Reserve will raise its standards for those who continue to serve.
DoD would change strategy even without budget pressure, Pentagon says
Declining budgets are a factor, but not the only factor in DoD's new strategic guidance. In this week's edition of On DoD, Pentagon spokesman George Little and Capt. John Kirby tell Federal News Radio the department would be implementing a new strategy with or without today's fiscal pressure.
Air Force reducing energy consumption in the air, on bases
The Air Force is hungry for energy like no agency in the federal government. The service's top energy official says they're trying to have a smaller appetite without hindering their mission.
Behind Goldwater-Nichols with author Jim Locher
In this edition of On DoD, we take a look back at one of the key events that made the military we have today what it is. 2011 was the 25th anniversary of the Goldwater-Nichols act. We marked the anniversary on Federal News Radio with a special series on how the major Defense reorganization made its way through Congress, and how lawmakers dragged the Pentagon, largely against its will, into a culture of jointness.
DoD plans more formalized training for financial managers
The Pentagon has standardized, course-based training and certification programs for its acquisition workforce. DoD's CFO wants comparable standards for the department's financial management community.
