The SIGNAL Blog

Budget sequestration has made obtaining government-mandated training more difficult—this despite government requirements that individuals earn continuing education units (CEUs) and certification maintenance units (CMUs)”to keep current in their professions. Many of the opportunities in the past were centered around large-scale, efficient training that could certify more people by bringing groups together. However, travel restrictions have complicated this centralized collaboration.

Many organizations and defense-related associations now are providing the training and education needed in unique ways at low or no cost as part of their missions in support of military and government. By using local conference formats, they can deliver the content needed for CEUs, and industry and government are able to maintain the essential dialogue that eliminates waste and leads to relevant and needed services and programs.

For example, through the Engagement Theater concept at the upcoming AFCEA-USNI East: Joint Warfighting in Virginia Beach, May 14 to 16, individuals can hear from preferred providers and other subject matter experts on topics that qualify for CEUs. The Cyber Theater offers CompTIA CEUs through Cypherpath LLC. Several panels at the conference offer CEUs as well, including one at 10 a.m. on May 14 called, “A Contested Environment: How Do We Provide Effective Command and Control to Operators?” An individual can attend the panel and Engagement Theater without cost.

An empty seat at a big production does no one any good. So, the Veteran Tickets Foundation provides free or discounted tickets for all sorts of shows and events to members of the military community. Organization personnel work with leagues, groups and venues to obtain the passes and also accept donations of tickets or funds from the general public. The military community can check out the Events section to find out which shows and games are or will be available. To request tickets, users must create an account with the website.

Through the Hero’s Wish program, certain troops, veterans and families of service members killed in action can ask one time for specific tickets to a single event and donors will help to fulfill the request.

Homefront Help also has a Facebook page where visitors can gather and share information. If you know of a program that is helping service personnel, veterans or their families please submit that information to Rita Boland, SIGNAL’s senior news editor.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released the most comprehensive update to the government’s computer security guide since 2005. The fourth revision of “Security and Privacy Controls for Federal information Systems and Organizations” (SP 800-53) addresses issues such as mobile and cloud computing, applications security, supply chain risks and privacy concerns. It also calls for maintaining routine best practices to reduce information security risks while applying state-of-the-practice architecture and engineering principles to minimize the impact of threats such as cyber attacks.

The U.S. Defense Department, the intelligence community and the Committee on National Security Systems developed SP 800-53 as part of the Joint Task Force.

U.S. Army Research Laboratory officials have announced the winners of the 2013 Federal Virtual Challenge at the Defense Users’ GameTech Conference in Orlando, Florida. 


The challenge featured two distinct focus areas for entries. The first required training critical thinking and adaptability skills in an immersive environment and measuring learners’ progress. The second focused on improving user interfaces in virtual environments, specifically for individual and group navigation.


The winner of the first focus area and $10,000 was Virtual World Activities—“Compound” from Alice Hayden of H2IT Solutions Incorporated, and Dr. Filomeno Arenas of the U.S. Air Force Squadron Officer College. Compound is a virtual team-building game developed for the college’s Virtual World Activities. Students learn how to lead a team, best delegate and communicate tasks, work together to analyze and adapt to the situation, and make decisions to accomplish a mission. Trainees must be able to communicate effectively with one another and to their navigator—the only person with access to the map showing the location of mines. 


The winner of the navigation focus area and $10,000 was VIPE Holodeck—Navigation Interface by Ryan Frost of the Virtual Immersive Training Team at Northrop Grumman Technical Services. VIPE Holodeck explores the use of the low-cost, commercial off-the-shelf motion capture system, resulting in a method for the user to move easily through a virtual environment that feels natural and is easy to adapt to and learn. This entry provided navigation strategies that support a first-person shooter environment. The user can duck, jump, dodge, run and stop with impressive response time.