DoD Reporter's Notebook

• NDAA pushes DoD health care toward more centralization

  2019 Defense bill strengthens role of Defense Health Agency, but omits Senate language that would have completely eliminated the military services' own medical commands.

  DoD Reporter's Notebook

  July 31, 2018
• Faced with dearth of replacement part suppliers, Air Force aims to make itself more self-sufficient

  With new Rapid Sustainment Office, Air Force looks to cut costs it pays to vendors for boutique parts that it could manufacture on its own.

  DoD Reporter's Notebook

  July 31, 2018
• DoD: Transferring GI Bill benefits to your family is ‘not an entitlement’

  The Pentagon says it's upholding the original intent of the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill by insisting that a key component of the bill is not an entitlement, and only a retention incentive.

  DoD Reporter's Notebook

  July 17, 2018
• In pursuit of innovative technologies, DoD creates another pathway around traditional acquisition rules

  New Pentagon guidance lets contracting officers make awards based on informal peer reviews of commercial vendors' wares, instead of head-to-head competitions

  DoD Reporter's Notebook

  July 17, 2018
• Deasy takes control of JEDI, but fate of DoD’s cloud steering group is up in the air

  The Pentagon clarifies CIO's new role in "cloud initiative." Dana Deasy's portfolio of responsibilities includes the JEDI contract, but it's not clear what else.

  Cloud Computing

  July 03, 2018
• Navy signs OTA for up to $100 million in information warfare prototypes

  The Navy awards a $100 million contract to operate the government's latest consortium of companies aiming to get in on the military's increasing reliance on other transaction agreements.

  DoD Reporter's Notebook

  July 03, 2018
• Senate’s NDAA admonishes DoD for failure to obey prior health reform mandates

  Senate's NDAA says DoD has failed to deliver on a military health reorganization Congress ordered two years ago, and mandates more specific reforms.

  DoD Reporter's Notebook

  June 19, 2018
• Defense policy bill orders reforms to deal with security clearances, electronic warfare

  The Senate's Defense policy bill claims DoD has dragged its feet on previously-ordered management reforms that would create cross-functional teams to solve business challenges.

  DoD Reporter's Notebook

  June 19, 2018
• Senate votes to boost civilian oversight of special ops, reinforcing earlier mandate

  The Senate's NDAA orders SOCOM to transfer dozens of personnel to the Pentagon office in charge of overseeing it. In the 2017 NDAA, Congress reorganized the chain of command for special operations.

  DoD Reporter's Notebook

  June 19, 2018
• NDAA would let DoD onboard new cyber officers at much higher pay grades

  The House's version of the annual Defense policy bill would let the military onboard new officers with outside cyber expertise up to the rank of Army colonel or Navy captain.

  DoD Reporter's Notebook

  May 22, 2018
• Army may seek its own authority to hire military spouses, bypassing OPM

  The Army is looking at new steps to boost military spouse employment, potentially including new authorities to hire them as civilian employees.

  DoD Reporter's Notebook

  May 22, 2018
• Wilkie’s nomination for VA secretary leaves giant hole in DoD’s personnel operation

  The office of the undersecretary for personnel and readiness has five Senate-confirmable positions and up until now, Robert Wilkie’s seat was the only one the Trump administration had managed to fill.

  DoD Reporter's Notebook

  May 22, 2018
• Pentagon sticks to its guns on single-award approach to JEDI Cloud, but won’t tell vendors why

  Among more than 1,000 questions about DoD's upcoming JEDI contract, dozens of vendors questioned its single-award approach. But the Pentagon isn't changing its strategy.

  DoD Reporter's Notebook

  April 17, 2018
• In lieu of BRAC, DoD plans big spending to demolish crumbling facilities

  In the absence of congressional permission for base closures, the Defense Department has decided to invest heavily in demolishing structures on existing bases that are no longer worth saving.

  DoD Reporter's Notebook

  April 17, 2018