Raytheon Co., Dulles, Virginia, has been awarded a $20,887,884 firm-fixed-price modification (P00007) to contract FA7022-17-D-0001 for mobile sensors operations and maintenance. This contract modification is for continued non‐personal services for operations and maintenance for mobile sensors. Work will be performed at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, and on board two vessels operating in Indo-Pacific Command and Central Command area of responsibility and is expected to be completed October 31, 2021. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds will be obligated on individual task orders. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $165,000,000.
CENTCOM
Update: As of January 14, the Twitter and YouTube accounts for CENTCOM are back online.
The Twitter and YouTube accounts for the U.S. Central Command, the Defense Department branch responsible for operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan, were hacked Monday by sympathizers of the Islamic State militant group, prompting U.S. officials to suspend the accounts and launch yet another round of investigations into a cybersecurity breach.
CENTCOM’s Twitter feed included an ominous post that read: “AMERICAN SOLDIERS, WE ARE COMING, WATCH YOUR BACK. ISIS.”
The Twitter and YouTube accounts for the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) are back online after hackers, stated to be in support of the Islamic State militant group, broke into the accounts and posted menacing messages.
Military officials still are investigating the breach, which occurred Monday and prompted officials to suspend the accounts.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the hack was “a violation, it wasn’t a big deal,” but it illustrated that militant groups are technologically capable.
Rear Adm. Edward G. Winters, USN, has been assigned deputy chief, Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq.
Brig. Gen. Robert D. McMurry Jr., USAF, has been assigned director, Iraq Security Assistance Mission, U.S. Forces-Iraq, U.S. Central Command, Baghdad, Iraq.
Col. Casey D. Blake, USAF, has been selected for the rank of brigadier general and assigned deputy commander, U.S. Central Command-Joint Theater Support Contracting Command, Afghanistan.
Over the past year, situational awareness (SA) in Afghanistan has received a huge boost via the new Afghan Mission Network, which is transforming how U.S. and coalition partners share intel that's classified secret and below. Formally approved by NATO in early 2010, it reached IOC in the summer. In this month's issue of SIGNAL Magazine, Technology Editor George I. Seffers examines the high-level U.S.
Brig. Gen. Anthony J. Rock, USAF, has been assigned as director, Iraq Training and Advisory Mission-Air Force, U.S. Forces-Iraq, U.S. Central Command, and commander, 321st Air Expeditionary Wing, Air Combat Command, Baghdad, Iraq.
Capt. Thomas H. Bond Jr., USN, has been selected for promotion to rear admiral and assignment as director, CJ-6, U.S. Forces-Iraq.
Brig. Gen. Ross E. Ridge, USA, has been assigned as commander, Task Force 2010, operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan.
Capt. Jeffrey A. Harley, USN, has been nominated for promotion to rear admiral and assignment as deputy director, plans and policy, J-5B, U.S. Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.
Gen. James N. Mattis, USMC, has been nominated for appointment as commander of U.S. Central Command. He succeeds Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, recently named commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Current reality washes away any former notions of romantic high-seas rogues when nations take into account just how piracy has threatened life, limb, and the world economy.
From what would only be referred to as "an undisclosed location," Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, commander, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), joined the Joint Warfighting Conference for lunch via VTC. After only a few brief remarks, Gen. Petraeus opened the floor for questions and spoke eloquently off the cuff to questions on subjects that ranged from cyberspace to shortfalls. The general noted that the topic of the conference, "Combatant and Coalition Commanders: What Will They Need Five Years From Now?" is apropos, but at the same time, he has never met a combatant commander who hasn't insisted that he needs more of everything. That said, Gen.
When the U.S. military began its now popularly termed “Asia pivot” a few years ago, the new outward focus on the Pacific region as a national military priority warranted some internal Defense Department focus on how to achieve the mission—to include bumping up the position for the U.S. Army Pacific commander from a three-star general to a four-star. Accordingly, the new position would need a four-star mission command center.
Technologies including voice over Internet protocol, high-definition video and satellite communications altered the battlefield during years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but as combat operations draw to a close, different challenges are emerging. Technical, fiscal and personnel changes all are shifting, forcing decision makers to reevaluate activities.
The retrograde of equipment from Afghanistan requires a monumental effort after almost 13 years of war and an influx of billions of dollars’ worth of materiel to the country. To return the necessary pieces along with personnel from the landlocked location, logisticians around the military are developing creative solutions that offer redundancy. Plans are progressing more smoothly than in Iraq, as experts apply lessons learned and a hub-and-spoke model that allows for a controlled collapsing of installations.