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Jared Serbu Reports 
Top News
- House passes sweeping $638 billion defense bill
- Contractors with security clearances lack path to report problems
- USPS reaches energy reduction goal ahead of schedule
- House presses VA for more details after cyber attacks
- NIH tops list of best companies for baby boomers
- DoD maintains BRAC fight, despite opposition
- IRS official contradicts claims about reviews
- GSA to review all internal contracting practices after latest IG report
- Military plans would put women in most combat jobs
- NASA picks 8 new astronauts, 4 of them women
- ICE Director John Morton stepping down
- Assaults increase on rangers, park police
- GAO: Agencies should expand TechStat reviews
- Lawmakers, industry press OFPP not to make strategic sourcing mandatory
- Classified cyber sharing program slow to take off
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 maintains BRAC fight, despite opposition from Congress
Amid nearly unanimous congressional opposition, the Defense Department says it needs to stop operating military facilities it no longer wants or needs.
Industry driving development of first-ever critical infrastructure cyber framework
NIST, charged with developing the nation's first-ever cybersecurity baseline for critical infrastructure, says its job is to provide technical assistance to companies, but industry itself must lead the way. Gen. Keith Alexander said NSA will review the use of contractors.
DoD assures Congress contractors will share in the pain of sequestration
The Defense Department is examining all of its contracts as part of the reductions necessary under automatic budget cuts. Reductions to contractors, not civilians, will make up "the majority" of the cost savings.
From left, right and center, analysts beg DoD to tackle overhead costs
In an open letter to congressional leaders and to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, a broad array of military scholars argue the cost of running the Pentagon bureaucracy soon will crowd out the spending necessary to fight and win wars.
Sequestration slows network modernization that Navy can't wait for
In the initial round of installations, the Navy hoped to outfit 15 ships with the new standardized IT architecture. But fiscal 2013 budget problems will cut the number of ships roughly in half.
Marine Corps prepares to cut cord on NMCI
The Marine Corps will transition on Saturday to a government-owned, government-operated IT network, ending its 12-year reliance on the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI). The Navy said it expects to award the follow-on contract to NMCI by June 30.
Navy targets billions more in IT savings
Navy CIO Terry Halvorsen says the Navy and Marine Corps have already reduced IT spending by $2 billion, and will soon target billions more in technology spending.
Air Force rolls out more aggressive energy efficiency plan
After reaching one of its energy efficiency goals three years early, the Air Force has adopted a more ambitious plan. On this week's edition of On DoD, Dr. Kevin Geiss offers an update on where the Air Force is at now.
DoD waging 'continuing war' on unproductive acquisition bureaucracy
The Pentagon will begin tracking how much time its acquisition managers spend performing and responding to oversight in an effort to remove "non-value-added" processes from the procurement system.
VA chipping away at oldest disability claims in backlog
All veterans who have waited two years or more for a decision will have their cases decided by next month, the Department of Veterans Affairs told Congress. Half of the Veterans Benefits Administration's oldest cases already have been removed from the backlog.
DoD chooses interoperability over integration for new e-health record system
Frank Kendall says many different factors played into the Pentagon's decision to go with a competitive bidding process to develop its integrated electronic health record system, instead of adopting VA's VistA program. He said DoD wants to ensure its system is interoperable not just with VA hospitals but with civilian health facilities as well. In addition, Kendall cited cultural differences between the two large agencies.
Hagel: Accountability breakdown was leading factor in sexual assaults
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he's taken several steps to improve the military's response to and prevention of sexual assaults, but that the problem can't be solved by policy directives alone. On the matter of sexual assaults, he said he believes the military's chain of command has suffered an accountability breakdown.
In fight over intelligence IT system, Army prioritizes access to data
The Army says hard-won lessons on the battlefield have taught it that stovepiped IT systems have no place in the business of intelligence collection and sharing. It also acknowledges that enforcing a single set of common standards comes with some tradeoffs.
DoD upends slow approval process for mobile devices
In the past, DoD's security review process took so long that devices were off the market by the time the Pentagon allowed them on government networks. This week, DoD approved a secure, commercial version of Android before its manufacturer even released it.
Hagel makes 'difficult choice,' civilian furloughs to begin July 8
The Defense Department reduces the number of furlough days from 14 to 11. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said it's possible the number could drop further, but he offered no promises.
DoD's military construction budget appears safe from sequestration cuts
Funding reductions in 2013 appropriations act are sufficient to protect military construction accounts from further sequestration cuts, but funds used for upkeep on existing buildings are severely impacted.
DoD eases rules for health care approvals after contractor 'failure'
Citing unacceptable delays by its contractor, the Pentagon waives the requirement for preauthorization of specialty care for military members, families and retirees in TRICARE's western region.
DoD's budget reprogramming won't help with sequestration
Pentagon says it will use its limited budget flexibility to compensate for unexpected war costs, not to blunt sequestration. Services continue to warn Congress about how budget cuts are impacting readiness.
DoD's BRAC wish hitting brick wall on Capitol Hill
The Pentagon insists it is paying to maintain much more military base infrastructure than it needs, and the problem will only get worse as the Defense Department shrinks due to budget reductions. Congress, however, remains unsympathetic.
DoD grants network access to Android, BlackBerry 10 devices
The Pentagon's mobile plan includes device approvals that will involve some up-front costs. The expectation is those costs will be quickly offset by eliminating the inefficiency of the slow, stovepiped and outdated approaches that have characterized DoD mobility up until now.
