In Depth Show Blog – Feb. 12, 2014

Discussions of the defense industrial base usually focus on U.S. companies. But U.S. companies are looking at overseas markets more and more, and overseas companies are finding ways to do business in this country. Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Bill Lynn is chief executive officer of DRS Technologies. He was Francis Rose’s guest on Pentagon Solutions. Lynn and Adm. James Stavridis are co-chairs of the Task Force on Strategy, Technology and the Global Defense Industry organized by the Center for a New American Security. Lynn explained what the task force will undertake.

Promising Congress a whoopin’ is an effective way of getting the attention of the people you lead. But it may not be the best way to get things done. AFGE National President J David Cox is trying it. He promised the whoopin’ at a rally this week. Federal News Radio Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says he understands why the union is in high spirits.

With the debt limit fight in the past now, Congress can get on with negotiations on the fiscal 2015 budget. President Obama will take his first step March 4, but Congress is already working. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) says his priority list for those negotiations will help federal employees.

The branches of the military will look considerably different in the coming years than it does today. Congress created the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force to look at how that force should change. Dennis McCarthy is chairman of the commission, former Commander of the Marine Corps Reserves and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. He explains how the commission got started and what went into their recommendations to the Air Force, President Obama and Congress.

The Army deploys a new online tool it hopes will give soldiers and civilians employees a broader view of their own health and maybe give the Army itself better ways to respond to emerging health trends. The Army Fit website helps users assess not just their physical fitness, but what the service calls the “other dimensions” of health: social, emotional, family and spiritual. Lt. Col. Dan Johnston, the program manager for Army Fit, talked about it with Federal News Radio’s Jared Serbu.

Your agency has until May to figure out the effect of the new cybersecurity framework on your operation. The National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Homeland Security Department release the much-anticipated cyber framework today. Federal News Radio executive editor Jason Miller explains what agencies have to do next.