Defense Does Speak a Separate Language
08/31/09 05:01 pm ET
Quite often, when I read an acronym-laden Defense Department document I am convinced that folks in the military speak a language that bears only a passing resemblance to English.>>
TECHNOLOGY AND THE BUSINESS OF GOVERNMENT
08/31/09 05:01 pm ET
Quite often, when I read an acronym-laden Defense Department document I am convinced that folks in the military speak a language that bears only a passing resemblance to English.>>
08/28/09 02:01 pm ET
The Veterans Affairs Department lack of in-house expertise to support, manage and execute complex information technology projects contributed to the near collapse of the department's efforts to develop a new replacement patient scheduling application at a cost of $167 million over eight years, the VA Inspector General said in a report released yesterday.>>
08/27/09 05:07 pm ET
Based on an internal briefing from early this summer which made its way to my inbox, it looks like the Defense Department is scanning a large heap of medical records so the Veterans Affairs Department can access them.>>
08/26/09 03:48 pm ET
I'm picking up medium strength signals that the director of the Defense Information Systems Agency - currently Army Lt. Gen. Carroll Pollett - will serve as the deputy director of the new U.S. Cyber Command, which goes into business on Oct. 1.>>
08/25/09 05:26 pm ET
The Student Veterans of America has launched an online survey to help it determine whether veterans have received benefits under the new GI Bill on time.>>
08/24/09 05:02 pm ET
I hear that the Chief of Naval Operations will sign off on creation of a new Fleet Cyber Command by the end of this month, and it will have a three star boss. The Air Force and Army cyberwar outfits only have two star commanders.>>
08/21/09 12:19 pm ET
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a well known Twitter and Facebook fan, has now added YouTube to his social media arsenal. He's invited troops to join him for a YouTube-driven virtual town hall between now and the end of the month.>>
08/20/09 11:56 am ET
Roy Wulff, Chief Information Officer for the British Defence staff at the British Embassy in Washington gave the Pentagon a "well done" for its use of a blog to develop policy within the U.S. Defense Department.>>
08/19/09 04:35 pm ET
The Veterans Affairs Department's inspector general has completed two reports (listed here) whose titles are ripe for tabloid headlines: "Administrative Investigation Misuse of Position, Abuse of Authority, and Prohibited Personnel Practices Office of Information & Technology Washington, D.C." and "Administrative Investigation Nepotism, Abuse of Authority, Misuse of Position, Improper Hiring, and Improperly Administered Awards, OI&T, Washington, D.C.">>
08/19/09 10:16 am ET
Yesterday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Phoenix, Ariz., President Obama called for a new reform effort in the Veterans Affairs Department. He said VA should harness the best computer system to cut red tape, reduce the backlog of claims, slash wait times and deliver benefits sooner.>>
08/17/09 04:05 pm ET
Bernie Skoch, an executive vice president with Suss Consulting Inc., wants you to know that he has launched his campaign for the 3rd District seat in the U.S. House. The Northwest Arkansas district, which includes Fayetteville and Bentonville, home of Wal-Mart, is currently held by Republican John Boozman, who serves on the Veterans Affairs and Foreign Affairs committees.>>
08/17/09 03:21 pm ET
This one is pure fun. Thanks to Al Gore and the miracle of the Internet, I can listen to radio stations around the world from my home base in The Original Las Vegas, N.M., including BBC Radio 3, which is in the midst of its "Proms" season -- probably the best live classical music festival in the world.>>
08/14/09 05:52 pm ET
In response to my story on Thursday that the Veterans Affairs Department has a backlog of 191,338 unprocessed educational benefits claims, VA sent along some background information in an attempt to clarify the situation.>>
08/13/09 05:10 pm ET
I have some pretty good intel that the Veterans Affairs Department has narrowed its search for new undersecretary of health and head of the Veterans Health Administration to these four candidates:>>
08/12/09 04:43 pm ET
The Defense Department plans to launch a new Web portal, Defense.gov on Aug. 17, which will serve as "the table of contents for DoD," Tom Dorsz, deputy director for the public Web at the Pentagon, told me.>>
08/11/09 04:53 pm ET
The Defense Department appointed Robert Butler, who previously ran Computer Science Corp's military intelligence biz in San Antonio, Texas, as the new deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber and space policy.>>
08/10/09 11:58 am ET
I'm picking up medium strength signals that retired Army Gen. Elder Granger, who served as program executive officer for the TRICARE management activity in the Military Health System, would really like to become the next assistant secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, replacing Dr. S. Ward Casscells, who retired this April.>>
08/07/09 05:27 pm ET
Despite more than 1,000 news reports to the contrary, the Marine Corps did NOT ban access to social network sites this week.>>
08/06/09 05:39 pm ET
That's the assumption I made after viewing today's meeting of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, which had an in-depth discussion on President Obama's national health IT plan. Somehow they ignored electronic health record systems that cover 9.2 million patients in the Defense Department and another 6.1 million at VA.>>
08/05/09 05:12 pm ET
Laptops containing personnel information from departments like Veterans Affairs and Education keep going on unauthorized walks. Now it's the National Guard Bureau's turn, which alerted soldiers on Wednesday of a stolen laptop.>>
08/04/09 02:12 pm ET
Maj. Gen. Hank Morrow, commander of Air Force North, which is responsible for defending U.S. airspace, thinks a common sense approach to using social network sites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube can assure security that will allow service members to continue relying on the communications tools.>>
08/03/09 04:40 pm ET
Sen. John McCain , R-Ariz., read my entire story on the earmarks Adara Networks had received from Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., for work on Military Health System information technology projects. He then called on the Senate floor for a full investigation of those contracts, something the Defense Department inspector general is doing.>>
