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Federal News Network Defense Reporter Jared Serbu speaks one-on-one and in depth with the people responsible for managing the inner workings of the federal government's largest department, and those who know it best.

PodcastOne / Federal News Radio


    • Oct 28, 2024 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 43m AVG DURATION
    • 123 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from On DoD

    Improving the employee onboarding process across the Office of the Secretary of Defense

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2024 35:09


    We spend a lot of time talking and about the federal hiring process and how long it takes. What gets less attention is the onboarding process: all the steps that have to happen once the hiring process is over to get new employees in a position to actually do their jobs. Previous studies have shown the onboarding process is especially troublesome in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, a collection of 19 sub-organizations that tend to each do things their own way. From basic things like getting people signed up for benefits to issuing Common Access Cards and IT equipment, there's not much of a structure in place to make the onboarding process efficient, so on average, it takes about 90 steps. Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks recently approved an implementation plan to modernize the onboarding process for OSD's workforce. On this edition of On DoD, we're joined by one of the officials will lead the effort: Danielle Metz, OSD's chief information officer.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    Improving the employee onboarding process across the Office of the Secretary of Defense

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2024 35:09


    We spend a lot of time talking and about the federal hiring process and how long it takes. What gets less attention is the onboarding process: all the steps that have to happen once the hiring process is over to get new employees in a position to actually do their jobs.Previous studies have shown the onboarding process is especially troublesome in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, a collection of 19 sub-organizations that tend to each do things their own way. From basic things like getting people signed up for benefits to issuing Common Access Cards and IT equipment, there's not much of a structure in place to make the onboarding process efficient, so on average, it takes about 90 steps.Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks recently approved an implementation plan to modernize the onboarding process for OSD's workforce. On this edition of On DoD, we're joined by one of the officials will lead the effort: Danielle Metz, OSD's chief information officer.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Where we stand on DoD's long path toward a clean financial audit

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2024 44:02


    It would be a bad idea for anyone to predict the exact year in which the Defense Department will relieve itself of its status as the only federal department unable to pass a financial audit. But the oversight body closest to the process seems to think there are glimmers of light at the end of what's still a very long tunnel. On this episode, a deep dive into where things stand with the DoD audit process. Our guests are Troy Robertson and Dr. Coralis Rodriguez with the DoD Inspector General's office. Both worked on the OIG's latest annual plain-language summary of the financial statement audit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    Where we stand on DoD's long path toward a clean financial audit

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2024 44:02


    It would be a bad idea for anyone to predict the exact year in which the Defense Department will relieve itself of its status as the only federal department unable to pass a financial audit. But the oversight body closest to the process seems to think there are glimmers of light at the end of what's still a very long tunnel.On this episode, a deep dive into where things stand with the DoD audit process. Our guests are Troy Robertson and Dr. Coralis Rodriguez with the DoD Inspector General's office. Both worked on the OIG's latest annual plain-language summary of the financial statement audit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Navy's sustainment system refocuses on real-world readiness

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2024 45:43


    This episode features two discussions from the 2024 Sea Air Space conference, starting with a focus on sustainment and logistics. Over the past several years, the Navy has been using a sweeping process improvement effort to wring almost a billion dollars in savings out of its supply chains under a project called Naval Sustainment System-Supply. Now, under a 2.0 version of NSS-Supply, the focus is changing – to boosting the readiness of the Navy's ship and aircraft fleets. For more on how it's all going, Jared Serbu talked with Commander Kirk Engler, the director of NSS-Supply at Naval Supply Systems Command, and Melissa Olson, the project's deputy director.Later on the show, we'll have some highlights from a panel Jared moderated at this year's Sea Air Space conference on digital transformation with senior leaders from the Coast Guard, Navy and Marine Corps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    system navy real world marine corps readiness coast guard sustainment sea air space naval supply systems command jared serbu
    Navy's sustainment system refocuses on real-world readiness

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2024 45:43


    This episode features two discussions from the 2024 Sea Air Space conference, starting with a focus on sustainment and logistics. Over the past several years, the Navy has been using a sweeping process improvement effort to wring almost a billion dollars in savings out of its supply chains under a project called Naval Sustainment System-Supply. Now, under a 2.0 version of NSS-Supply, the focus is changing – to boosting the readiness of the Navy's ship and aircraft fleets. For more on how it's all going, Jared Serbu talked with Commander Kirk Engler, the director of NSS-Supply at Naval Supply Systems Command, and Melissa Olson, the project's deputy director. Later on the show, we'll have some highlights from a panel Jared moderated at this year's Sea Air Space conference on digital transformation with senior leaders from the Coast Guard, Navy and Marine Corps.

    system navy real world marine corps readiness coast guard sustainment sea air space naval supply systems command jared serbu
    In Japan, half of military spouse health workers unemployed amid 'shortage' of providers

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2024 51:15


    Federal News Network has covered the difficulties federal employees and military members have seen when it comes to getting access to health care in Japan. On this edition of the show, we're going to talk about that – but not just about that. We're also going to talk about military spouse unemployment. In the case of Japan, and Okinawa specifically, the two things are very related. A new report by a volunteer group of experts called Hire Oki Spouses found there are actually plenty of spouses in Okinawa with health care expertise who could be working as nurses, for example, to solve the provider shortage there. They're just not being hired. On the show this time, we're joined by two of the co-authors of the report who've both lived in Okinawa recently and seen a lot of these issues firsthand: Elayne Saejung is an Air Force spouse and public health researcherKelly Pretorius, is Ph.D. health care researcher and licensed nurse practitioner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    In Japan, half of military spouse health workers unemployed amid 'shortage' of providers

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2024 51:15


    Federal News Network has covered the difficulties federal employees and military members have seen when it comes to getting access to health care in Japan. On this edition of the show, we're going to talk about that – but not just about that. We're also going to talk about military spouse unemployment. In the case of Japan, and Okinawa specifically, the two things are very related. A new report by a volunteer group of experts called Hire Oki Spouses found there are actually plenty of spouses in Okinawa with health care expertise who could be working as nurses, for example, to solve the provider shortage there. They're just not being hired. On the show this time, we're joined by two of the co-authors of the report who've both lived in Okinawa recently and seen a lot of these issues firsthand: Elayne Saejung is an Air Force spouse and public health researcher Kelly Pretorius, is Ph.D. health care researcher and licensed nurse practitioner

    Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland on the Defense Health Agency's new strategic plan

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2023 44:20


    It's been a decade of major change for the Military Health System in general, and the Defense Health Agency in particular. From its beginning as primarily a shared services provider, DHA has grown to become the sole operator of all of the military's hospitals and clinics, the overseer of the TRICARE health plans and a central player in most other aspects of Defense health care. On this episode of On DoD, Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland, DHA's director, talks with Jared about the agency's new strategic plan – including her intent to move DHA from a long period of transition to the “execution phase.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland on the Defense Health Agency's new strategic plan

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2023 44:20


    It's been a decade of major change for the Military Health System in general, and the Defense Health Agency in particular. From its beginning as primarily a shared services provider, DHA has grown to become the sole operator of all of the military's hospitals and clinics, the overseer of the TRICARE health plans and a central player in most other aspects of Defense health care. On this episode of On DoD, Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland, DHA's director, talks with Jared about the agency's new strategic plan – including her intent to move DHA from a long period of transition to the “execution phase.”

    Commercial technologies are about to completely redefine IT capabilities in the Navy's afloat community

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 26, 2023 44:01


    On this edition of On DoD, Jared talks with two leaders from the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) who are experimenting with technologies like 5G and proliferated low-earth orbit satellites. We'll talk about the massive increase in bandwidth those technologies allow and the improvements they might enable -- both for quality of life issues when sailors are underway, and for mission requirements. Our guests:-- Rob Wolborsky, NAVWAR's chief engineer-- Ron Wolfe, the Navy's technical warrant holder for mobility  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Commercial technologies are about to completely redefine IT capabilities in the Navy's afloat community

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 26, 2023 44:01


    On this edition of On DoD, Jared talks with two leaders from the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) who are experimenting with technologies like 5G and proliferated low-earth orbit satellites. We'll talk about the massive increase in bandwidth those technologies allow and the improvements they might enable -- both for quality of life issues when sailors are underway, and for mission requirements. Our guests: -- Rob Wolborsky, NAVWAR's chief engineer -- Ron Wolfe, the Navy's technical warrant holder for mobility 

    Secret-level version of Microsoft 365 rolls out to top Pentagon offices as new OSD CIO marks its one-year anniversary

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2023 43:50


    On this edition of On DoD: Up until a year ago, the Office of the Secretary of Defense was a bit of an outlier when it came to IT management and governance. Despite having 19,000 employees, there was no single person in charge of making sure those workers had a decent user experience, and no one in charge of delivering common IT services. That changed last October, when Danielle Metz became the OSD chief information officer. She joins Jared Serbu to talk about what's happened and what's ahead, including the impending rollout of Microsoft 365 at the classified level. Later in the hour, Federal News Network's Jason Miller talks with Leo Garciga, the Army's new CIO. We'll hear details about his plans to institutionalize and simplify cloud computing across the Army, and a big push to get the service to start moving toward DoD's new JWCC cloud contract.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Secret-level version of Microsoft 365 rolls out to top Pentagon offices as new OSD CIO marks its one-year anniversary

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2023 43:50


    On this edition of On DoD: Up until a year ago, the Office of the Secretary of Defense was a bit of an outlier when it came to IT management and governance. Despite having 19,000 employees, there was no single person in charge of making sure those workers had a decent user experience, and no one in charge of delivering common IT services. That changed last October, when Danielle Metz became the OSD chief information officer. She joins Jared Serbu to talk about what's happened and what's ahead, including the impending rollout of Microsoft 365 at the classified level. Later in the hour, Federal News Network's Jason Miller talks with Leo Garciga, the Army's new CIO. We'll hear details about his plans to institutionalize and simplify cloud computing across the Army, and a big push to get the service to start moving toward DoD's new JWCC cloud contract. 

    Navy says it's achieved big UX improvements amid DoD effort to 'fix our computers'

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 24, 2023 41:00


    Up until this summer, it wasn't uncommon for Navy IT users, even at the most senior ranks in the Pentagon, to plan part of their mornings around the 10 minutes it took for their computers to boot. But as part of a concerted effort to improve user experience, the service has shown it's possible to cut those maddening daily waits to only about 30 seconds.On this episode of On DoD, Justin Fanelli, the Department of the Navy's acting chief technology officer talks with Jared about what the Navy's learned from its digital experience pilots so far, and how quickly they might be able to scale throughout the fleet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Navy says it's achieved big UX improvements amid DoD effort to 'fix our computers'

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 24, 2023 41:00


    Up until this summer, it wasn't uncommon for Navy IT users, even at the most senior ranks in the Pentagon, to plan part of their mornings around the 10 minutes it took for their computers to boot. But as part of a concerted effort to improve user experience, the service has shown it's possible to cut those maddening daily waits to only about 30 seconds. On this episode of On DoD, Justin Fanelli, the Department of the Navy's acting chief technology officer talks with Jared about what the Navy's learned from its digital experience pilots so far, and how quickly they might be able to scale throughout the fleet.

    DoD financial management workforce gives low marks to decades-old PPBE system

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2023 48:18


    The Pentagon's decades-old planning and budgeting process doesn't have a lot of fans – least of all the people who work within it every day. The American Society of Military Comptrollers has been surveying the DoD financial management workforce for their views about the planning, programming, budgeting and execution process as part of a task force on PPBE reform. Among other things, ASMC found 71 percent of the workforce thinks PPBE keeps the department from quickly responding to its mission needs, and strong majorities say the information technology tools they use to plan hundreds of billions of dollars in spending each year are woefully inadequate.On this episode of On DoD, we get an update from ASMC on the broader PPBE reform conversation -- including some new insights from the practitioners ASMC surveyed. Our guests are: Rich Brady, the CEO of the American Society of Military Comptrollers Maj. Gen. Cameron Holt (Ret.), former deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for contracting and member of the ASMC PPBE Reform Task Force Michael Conlin, former DoD chief data officer and chairman of the ASMC PPBE Reform Task Force Full results of ASMC's PPBE surveys are available in the most recent issue of the organization's quarterly journal, available at this link. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    DoD financial management workforce gives low marks to decades-old PPBE system

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2023 48:18


    The Pentagon's decades-old planning and budgeting process doesn't have a lot of fans – least of all the people who work within it every day. The American Society of Military Comptrollers has been surveying the DoD financial management workforce for their views about the planning, programming, budgeting and execution process as part of a task force on PPBE reform. Among other things, ASMC found 71 percent of the workforce thinks PPBE keeps the department from quickly responding to its mission needs, and strong majorities say the information technology tools they use to plan hundreds of billions of dollars in spending each year are woefully inadequate. On this episode of On DoD, we get an update from ASMC on the broader PPBE reform conversation -- including some new insights from the practitioners ASMC surveyed. Our guests are: Rich Brady, the CEO of the American Society of Military Comptrollers Maj. Gen. Cameron Holt (Ret.), former deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for contracting and member of the ASMC PPBE Reform Task Force Michael Conlin, former DoD chief data officer and chairman of the ASMC PPBE Reform Task Force Full results of ASMC's PPBE surveys are available in the most recent issue of the organization's quarterly journal, available at this link.

    Pentagon has a new plan for 'customer-led' IT service delivery

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 8, 2023 43:15


    The Pentagon has a new plan to improve technology services inside the actual Pentagon – or big parts of it anyway. The first-ever enterprise IT implementation plan for the Office of the Secretary of Defense promises to take a user-centric approach to improving IT services for the 17 major offices that make up OSD. Danielle Metz, the OSD chief information officer talks about the specifics in a wide-ranging discussion with Federal News Network's Jared Serbu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Pentagon has a new plan for 'customer-led' IT service delivery

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 8, 2023 43:15


    The Pentagon has a new plan to improve technology services inside the actual Pentagon – or big parts of it anyway. The first-ever enterprise IT implementation plan for the Office of the Secretary of Defense promises to take a user-centric approach to improving IT services for the 17 major offices that make up OSD. Danielle Metz, the OSD chief information officer talks about the specifics in a wide-ranging discussion with Federal News Network's Jared Serbu.

    An update on DoD's deployment of MHS Genesis

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 30, 2023 45:11


    Holly Joers, the program executive officer for Defense Healthcare Management Systems talks with Federal News Network's Jared Serbu and Jason Miller about DoD's ongoing deployment of a new electronic heath record, how the new EHR will work with other federal agencies, and the centrality of data in PEO-DHMS's future mission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    An update on DoD's deployment of MHS Genesis

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 30, 2023 45:11


    Holly Joers, the program executive officer for Defense Healthcare Management Systems talks with Federal News Network's Jared Serbu and Jason Miller about DoD's ongoing deployment of a new electronic heath record, how the new EHR will work with other federal agencies, and the centrality of data in PEO-DHMS's future mission.

    A progress report from the commission tasked with overhauling DoD's 60-year-old budgeting process

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2023 43:15


    The expert commission Congress has tasked with proposing overhauls to DoD's planning and budgeting processes is still a year away from delivering its final report. But the Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution Reform has already gathered a huge amount of information. In its first progress report, the commission says it's held 27 formal meetings, interviewed 280 people and organizations, and launched research studies on more than a dozen topics. For an update on the commission's work, Jared Serbu talked with the panel's chair and vice chair: Bob Hale, a former DoD comptroller and chief financial officer, and Ellen Lord, a former DoD undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    A progress report from the commission tasked with overhauling DoD's 60-year-old budgeting process

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2023 43:15


    The expert commission Congress has tasked with proposing overhauls to DoD's planning and budgeting processes is still a year away from delivering its final report. But the Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution Reform has already gathered a huge amount of information. In its first progress report, the commission says it's held 27 formal meetings, interviewed 280 people and organizations, and launched research studies on more than a dozen topics. For an update on the commission's work, Jared Serbu talked with the panel's chair and vice chair: Bob Hale, a former DoD comptroller and chief financial officer, and Ellen Lord, a former DoD undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment.

    Air Force finds ways to bake cybersecurity into weapons systems, and bolt it on where necessary

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 9, 2023 20:00


    The Air Force believes it's made significant progress toward improving the cybersecurity of its weapons systems -- both brand new ones, and systems that have been fielded for decades. On this episode of On DoD, Jared Serbu talks with two leaders from the Air Force's Cyber Resiliency Office for Weapons Systems (CROWS) about how the Air Force is working to bake cybersecurity into new platforms, and bolt it onto the ones that have been in the inventory for decades. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Air Force finds ways to bake cybersecurity into weapons systems, and bolt it on where necessary

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 9, 2023 20:00


    The Air Force believes it's made significant progress toward improving the cybersecurity of its weapons systems -- both brand new ones, and systems that have been fielded for decades.  On this episode of On DoD, Jared Serbu talks with two leaders from the Air Force's Cyber Resiliency Office for Weapons Systems (CROWS) about how the Air Force is working to bake cybersecurity into new platforms, and bolt it onto the ones that have been in the inventory for decades.

    How DoD's own budget process keeps the military on the wrong side of the 'valley of death'

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2022 47:39


    A new study by George Mason University's Center for Government Contracting chronicles the ways in which the Defense budgeting process has become increasingly inflexible over the last seven decades, how it's shackled technological innovation in DoD, and what to do about it. On this episode, co-authors Jerry McGinn and Eric Lofgren talk with Jared Serbu about findings and recommendations from their report:

    Getting to work on fixes to the Pentagon's broken budgeting system

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2022 51:20


    No one particularly likes the way the Defense Department andCongress handle the DoD budgeting process. It's rigid, inflexible, and veryslow. But the PPBE process, as it's called, has been encoded into the DNA ofthe Defense bureaucracy for more than 60 years, and turning the ship around isgoing to be very tough. That's why there are at least two panels of experts who'llbe working on the problem over the next year or more: one chartered by Congress, andone organized by the American Society of Military Comptrollers. On this week'sshow, Jared Serbu talks with several participants in the latter group: -- Michael Conlin, former DoD chief data officer and chairmanof the ASMC PPBE Reform Task Force -- George Kovatch, former DoD deputy comptroller and ASMC taskforce member -- Maj. Gen. Cameron Holt (ret.), former deputy assistantsecretary of the Air Force for contracting, and member of the ASMC task force -- Rich Brady, a retired Marine Corps colonel and the CEO ofASMC

    New initiatives to bring small businesses into the Army technology ecosystem, and a big acceleration of BYOD

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 12, 2022 50:12


    We start this week's show with an exclusive interview withGabe Camarillo, the undersecretary of the Army, about several new initiativesthe Army's launching to incorporate small, innovative businesses into its technology ecosystem. Later in the program, Kenneth McNeill, the National Guard'schief information officer, talks us about a big expansion of the Army's pilot tolet soldiers use their personal devices to access Army networks.

    To institutionalize DevSecOps, Navy's Black Pearl aims to 'commoditize the boring stuff'

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2022 25:37


    When the Navy Department set about the process of simplifying its journey to modern software development, officials decided it didn't make much sense to reinvent the wheel. So instead of building a software factory and development pipeline from scratch, they borrowed heavily from the Air Force's Platform One initiative and tailored it to the Navy's needs where necessary. On this week's edition of On DoD, Jared Serbu talks with Manuel Gauto, the chief engineer for Black Pearl, and Bob Stevens, a vice president at Gitlab, the company that provides the development platform Black Pearl runs on.

    One reason Navy ship maintenance is taking too long: workers stuck waiting for supplies

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 22, 2022 45:59


    Maintenance periods for the Navy's ships and submarines are taking longer than they should. And there are a lot of reasons for that, but one that the Navy's only recently discovered is that most of the supplies shipyard employees need to do the work aren't on hand at the time the work's supposed to start. On average, less than a third of the material needed for a given maintenance availability is even identified before the work starts. The Navy's trying to fix that as part of a broader logistics improvement program called Naval Sustainment System Supply (NSS-S). On this week's show, Rear Adm. Peter Stamatopoulos, the commander of Naval Supply Systems Command talks with Jared for an update on NSS-S -- including how it's tackling shipyard material availability.

    Five years into DoD financial audits, progress has stalled

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2022 46:16


    The Defense Department and its components are now into their fifth year of having their financial statements independently scrutinized by independent auditors. In the first few years, there were some very promising signs that DoD was on the path to eventually earning a clean opinion, as every other federal agency has already done. But the DoD inspector general says it's getting more difficult to find clear signs of widespread financial improvement. On this week's show, Marcus Gullett, the deputy assistant inspector general for audit, financial management and reporting, joins Jared to talk about the fiscal 2021 audit results, and what the OIG things DoD needs to do to get its financial improvement program back on track.

    Va. National Guard's 'Smart Weapon' aims to stop wasting airmen's time on paperwork

    Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2022 45:44


    Just like innumerable other government agencies, the Air Force runs on paper-based forms that have to be filled out manually, and each one takes time. How much? That was a difficult question to answer until the Virginia Air National Guard's 192nd Wing saw a chance to do things differently. ' Chief Master Sergeant Joe Young, who's been leading the testing process, talks with Jared Serbu about the initiative, called HR Smart Weapon.

    Federal News Network Special Report | Nowhere safe to hide: What online harassment is doing to service members and the military

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2022 32:28


    The internet is a forum for harassment that women in the military can't escape. They are being bombarded by toxic comments, vile memes and even stalking. Yet, the Pentagon has few answers for a problem that is hurting mental health and retention.In this extended special report, Federal News Network's Scott Maucione and Amelia Brust explore the problem in detail, and ask what the military services can and should be doing to address it.

    How the Pentagon's first chief software officer sees the state of software management in DoD

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2022 42:47


    Jason Weiss was appointed back in January 2021 as DoD's first-ever Chief Software Officer. Weiss has decided he's ready to move back to the private sector. In this episode, he tells Jared Serbu about his takeaways from his tour of duty, including some of the ways DoD's started to experiment with new funding models for software, how software factories have started to permeate the department, and how he wishes he'd had more authority to direct change. Later in the episode, Department of the Navy CIO Aaron Weis and Jennifer Edgin, the Marine Corps' Assistant Deputy Commandant for Information talk with Jared about IT modernization in the Navy and Marine Corps.

    The logistics of fuel storage in INDOPACOM and the military's moving contract

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2022 44:07


    On this episode of On DoD, a bit of a logistics focus. First, we talk with Tim Walton, a fellow at the Hudson Institute, about DoD's somewhat surprising decision to close down its Red Hill fuel storage facility near Honolulu. We'll also talk with Al Thompson, the CEO of HomeSafe Alliance. That's the company U.S. Transportation Command finally selected to reform the military's household goods moving system. HomeSafe has a green light to get to work on the multibillion dollar contract, now that the Government Accountability Office has dismissed each of the bid protests that challenged it.

    DoD's Danielle Metz on how the multibillion dollar JWCC cloud contract will actually work

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2022 48:18


    On this episode, an extended discussion with Danielle Metz, the deputy DoD chief information officer for information enterprise. Metz explains how Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle will actually compete for work under the up to $9 billion contract, in an approach that's novel for government procurement. Federal News Network reported on the key details of this interview in mid-December, when the coversation was first recorded. This episode of On DoD contains the full interview.

    Army's DEVCOM takes 'future of work' from concept to reality

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 31, 2021 43:40


    It's fair to say there are a lot of institutions across government that are still figuring out what the future of work will look like. In this episode, we revisit one of the Army organizations that's much further along than most when it comes to answering some of those questions. John Willison, the deputy to the commanding general at Army Combat Capabilities Development Command makes a second appearance on On DoD. Last April, he talked with us about what was then just a concept paper for the future of work at DEVCOM. This time, he joins us to talk about what the command has done to turn that paper into reality, including by giving supervisors “maximum flexibility” to decide when and where their employees work.

    DoD's new moving contract and the Army's new unified network plan

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2021 44:28


    On this week's show, we talk to Al Thompson, the CEO of Homesafe Alliance, the joint venture U.S. Transportation Command just picked for a $6.2 billion contract to overhaul the military's household goods moving system. Later, Jared talks with Maj. Gen. Rob Collins, the Army's program executive officer for command, control and communications-tactical, Brig. Gen. Jeth Rey, the director of the Network Cross-Functional Team at Army Futures Command, amd Joe Welch, the director of the Army C5ISR center about the Army's new Unified Network Plan.

    Demystifying Other Transaction Agreements

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 3, 2021 48:46


    On this edition of On DoD: a deep dive on other transactionagreements. According to the Federal Procurement Data System DoD's useof OTAs has skyrocketed from 342 agreements worth $1.4 billion in 2016 to 3,200agreements worth more than $16 billion in 2020. Despite that growth, the rulesgoverning OTAs – what few rules there are – aren't universally understood eveninside the department's own acquisition bureaucracy. To help demystify OTAs, we're joined by Hallie Balkin, oneof DoD's leading experts on OTAs. She is a government procurement attorney whocurrently works at Defense Acquisition University, where she's the learningdirector for other transactions. Balkin is also involved in an effort with theOffice of the Secretary of Defense to update and reissue DoD's OtherTransactions Guide.

    Top priorities for two of the Pentagon's newest senior technology executives

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2021 44:17


    On this edition of On DoD, Jared Serbu talks with two newly-sworn-in DoD technology leaders about their priorities: -- Heidi Shyu, the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering -- Jay Bonci, the Air Force Chief Technology Officer

    DAU leadership's take on the future of Defense acquisition

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2021 41:52


    The Defense acquisition workforce has faced challenges at other times in its history, but as of 2021, it's living in interesting times. Contracting officers, program managers and other acquisition professionals are navigating their way through some big changes. Just to name a few: a major recent rewrite of the DoD 5000.02 series of policy instructions, a massive rise in interest in other transaction agreements and other nontraditional procurement vehicles, a new “pathway” designed for software acquisition, and new ways to budget for those software procurements. On this special edition of On DoD, we're joined by three of the key leaders who are helping to prepare the workforce for these new challenges, and who are also finding new instructional and collaboration mechanisms to provide acquisition professionals with the tools they need to meet their missions. Our guests are James Woolsey, the president of Defense Acquisition University, Frank Kelley, DAU's vice president, and Michelle Currier, professor of contract management at DAU.

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