Commercial satellite service providers question government’s dedication to president’s National Space Policy. While the policy calls for a stalwart pursuit of work with U.S. companies, little progress has been seen in putting this policy into practice.

The Air Force Tactical Air Control Party is upgrading its Close Air Support System software and installing it on a wearable computer that is 75 percent lighter than the previous computers TACP teams used.

The Allied Command Transformation’s virtual training game Boarders Ahoy! took home top honors at a showcase for the latest in modeling, simulation and virtual worlds. Developers say it’s just one step toward a more inexpensive and efficient way to prepare sailors and airmen for challenges in the field.

The Defense Department budget efficiencies announced on January 6 by Secretary Robert Gates will generate program activity in electronic warfare (EW), intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), tactical communications and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to a department statement. These efficiencies, which would total more than $150 billion over the next five years, would be accomplished through personnel reductions, program extensions, consolidations and improved business practices.

As readers have noticed, change can mean opportunity, when selling to the IC. But, if you and I don't take a few moments, every quarter, we'll miss the significance of the changes and the chance to leverage them into our own benefit. Here are some examples that strike me as possibly useful.

Ladies and Gentlemen, put down the keyboards, stop reading the screen for a moment, and take a deep breath. I'll wait. Ok. Now that you've done that, you can relax with the knowledge that we are not currently — nor have we ever been in — a "cyberwar" with any foreign power or group. Yes, including China. So far there have not been any verified examples of cyberwar of any kind. At this point, you probably either think me crazy or correct, but really when we get down to it, this is because our views differ on what the exact meaning of the word "war" is. Now we're done with the Op-Ed for the moment.

New Years is always a good time for top ten stories so I thought I would go this way for the January edition of Mazz-INT. I quickly realized, however, there is little new I that could add to stories such as Wikileaks, the failed jihadist bomb attacks, intelligence issues in Afghanistan, budgetary pressures on the IC, or the swap out of Clapper for Blair as DNI that would pique this readership's interest.