Archive for June, 2008

Expand Networks Optimizes US Air Force JSTARS Aircraft Communications

Sunday, June 29th, 2008

Source: RedOrbit (Original Article)

Expand Networks Optimizes US Air Force JSTARS Aircraft Communications
Posted on: Monday, 30 June 2008, 09:02 CDT
Expand Networks (www.expand.com), the leading provider of WAN Optimization solutions for mobile networks, announced that Northrop Grumman and the United States Air Force have integrated the Accelerator 4820 and Accelerator 6940 into the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) communication system to provide application acceleration and bandwidth optimization. Deployed in production, Joint STARS aircraft and ground stations, Expand Networks Accelerators enhance the functionality of the Joint STARS BLOS communications architecture by providing the Beyond Line of Sight system with accelerated WAN performance to minimize bandwidth requirements for internet protocol (IP) traffic. The Accelerators mitigate the effects of latency and ensure that all applications receive adequate capacity. Optimization is achieved through the implementation of Expand Networks’ patented byte-level caching, compression, Space Communications Protocol Standards (SCPS-based) TCP acceleration (www.scps.org) and Quality of Service capabilities. “The Expand units have been very reliable and provide necessary user insight on the performance of the link. The techniques used have provided a significant increase in bandwidth utilization and link reliability,” stated Bill Guttadauro, chief architect of the Joint STARS BLOS system. The E-8C Joint STARS is an airborne battle management, command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platform. Its primary mission is to provide theater ground and air commanders with ground surveillance to support attack operations and targeting that contributes to the delay, disruption and destruction of enemy forces. As a battle management and command and control asset, the E-8C can support the full spectrum of roles and missions from peacekeeping operations Accountants in QLD beginning with G to major theater war. “Expand has …continue reading

Bush's top general quashed torture dissent

Sunday, June 29th, 2008

Source: Salon (Original Article)

June 30, 2008 | WASHINGTON — The former Air Force general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Richard Myers, helped quash dissent from across the U.S. military as the Bush administration first set up a brutal interrogation regime for terrorism suspects, according to newly public documents and testimony from an ongoing Senate probe.

In late 2002, documents show, officials from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps all complained that harsh interrogation tactics under consideration for use at the prison in Guantánamo Bay might be against the law. Those military officials called for further legal scrutiny of the tactics. The chief of the Army’s international law division, for example, said in a memo that some of the tactics, such as stress positions and sensory deprivation, “cross the line of ‘humane treatment’” and “may violate the torture statute.”

Myers, however, agreed to scuttle a plan for further legal review of the tactics, in response to pressure from a top Pentagon attorney helping to set up the interrogation program for then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

The documents unearthed by the Senate Armed Services Committee, along with testimony from a recent hearing, shed new light on the role played by the man who was the nation’s highest-ranking military officer and who acted, by law, as the top military advisor to President Bush. Until now, it was unclear how Myers handled those duties during the genesis of the military’s harsh-interrogation program.

“He is rarely referenced as one of the usual suspects,” noted Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington Law School who is following the continuing Senate investigation. “He did play a much more central role” than previously known, Turley said. “The minute the military lawyers expressed concern, they were shut down.”

The chain of events involving Myers began in late 2002. Rumsfeld was considering the Gold Credit Card approval of three categories of interrogation …continue reading

Wife's suspicious death forces move of vet's grave

Friday, June 27th, 2008

Source: San Diego Union Tribune (Original Article)

RIVERSIDE – The family of a veteran awaiting burial at Riverside National Cemetery had to find a new grave site because police believe he killed his wife before he died in a car crash, authorities said.

The bodies of Marine Corps veteran James Alan Summers of Corona and his wife Veronica were found May 31 after their sport utility vehicle plunged down a 200-foot embankment.

Police detectives first thought both died in the crash, but after a coroner’s report they came to believe Summers bludgeoned his wife to death before he drove off the road, Corona police Sgt. Jerry Pawluczenko.

Vietnam veteran and retired CHP officer Steve Mackey alerted officials to the suspicions about the dead man.

“I just didn’t think that it was right that he be buried with all the heroes out there at the cemetery,” Mackey said.

The burial that had been planned for June 12 was postponed and Summers’ family had him buried elsewhere.

Federal law bars anyone convicted of capital murder – or those who flee or die before trial – from burial at a national cemetery.

The law was put in place in 1997 after Timothy McVeigh, a Persian Gulf War veteran, was sentenced to die for the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building that lawyer interest calculator killed 168 people.

  

Information from: The Press-Enterprise, www.pe.com

US: Navistar Defense announces US$707m MaxxPro truck support contract

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

Source: Automotive World (subscription) (Original Article)

Navistar Defense, LLC has announced a US$707m contract for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles from the US’ Marine Corps Systems Command. The trucks are to mobile clips be used in Iraq and Afghanistan, the company states.

Alion Awarded $2M Marine Corps Contract To Develop Expeditionary …

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Source: RedOrbit (Original Article)

Alion Awarded $2M Marine Corps Contract To Develop Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle Alternate Bow Flap Concept
Posted on: Tuesday, 24 June 2008, 02:30 CDT
Technology Solutions Company to Design and Test Armored Amphibious Vehicle Structure and Performance Alion Science and Technology Peter J. Jacobs, 703-269-3473 pjacobs@alionscience.com Logo: http://www.alionscience.com Alion Science and Technology, an employee-owned technology solutions company, today announced it received a new contract valued at $2 million from the Marine Corps Systems Command (MARCORSYSCOM) to support the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) alternate bow flap concept development. The single-award contract has a 15-month base period of performance, running from April 7, 2008 through July 7, 2009. Alion will analyze the current design of the EFV bow flap, and a new concept developed by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division, making any needed modifications to improve structure, reliability and performance. As part of this contract, Alion will design, build, install and test a new EFV bow flap prototype using its program management, system engineering, Naval architecture, hydrodynamic analysis, mechanical design and ProE computer-aided design experience. The plan is to build and test the prototype off the coast of California.

“This new customer contract will provide Alion a chance to demonstrate its proven expertise in design, testing and improving structural efficiency and reliability as well as enhancing operational performance,” said Kenneth Siegman, Alion’s JJMA Maritime and Industrial Engineering Group Manager. “Alion has the tools, personnel and capabilities to verify the sea loads and apply them using dynamic analysis tools to improve the reliability of the EFV bow flap concept. A simpler, lighter and more robust bow flap will add to mission dependability, reduced maintenance time and cost, and improve the ride quality of the EFV in its water Frequent Flyer mode.” The EFV is an armored …continue reading

Protected nat'l park bay in NYC is boat graveyard

Saturday, June 21st, 2008

Source: The Associated Press (Original Article)

North Shore District Ranger John Daskalakis, cruises Jamaica Bay, Tuesday, June 17, 2008 in New York. At any time along the Jamaica Bay shoreline, scores of discarded boats _ dinghies, rowboats, runabouts, even the occasional barge _ litter the shores and lie submerged in its shallow water. Daskalakis said a recent GPS survey of Jamaica Bay pinpointed about 88 wrecks and discards along the shore, of which 38 have been recovered, Free Credit Cards leaving 50 yet to be pulled out. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Textron’s Mary Howell Receives Marine Corps Foundation Award

Friday, June 20th, 2008

Source: WebWire (press release) (Original Article)

Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) today announced that Executive Vice President Mary L. Howell has been honored by the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation with the prestigious Charles Ruch Semper Fidelis Award. Howell received the award at the 14th Annual Atlantic City Gala in New Jersey to benefit the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation.

Howell was honored for her long-standing commitment to the U.S. Marines Corps and her leadership in various programs that have supported the Marine Corps mission.

“On behalf of the men and women of Textron, I am honored to receive this award” Howell said. “The Foundation’s work to ensure a brighter future for the children of the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us and our country and for those children with special needs is truly remarkable. I thank them for what they continue to do”

Howell is the first woman to receive the Charles Ruch Semper Fidelis Award. Previous honorees include Gen. Peter Pace, former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. James L. Jones, former Commandant of the Marines Corps and former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO; and Donald Trump.

“Mary Howell is a true patriot and a great American” said Michael diFrancesco, the chair of the Gala and a member of the Foundation’s Executive Committee. “Her tenacity and perseverance, her work on behalf of the Marine Corps and her continuing efforts to make sure that our men and women in the armed services have the best possible equipment that they can have to fight made her well-deserving of this honor”

In its 14-year history, the Foundation has distributed more than $34 million to the children of Marines or federal law enforcement personnel who were killed in the line of duty or who died under extraordinary circumstances while serving the United States at home or abroad. The Foundation also provides financial aid to mentally and physically disabled children of Marines for budgetairlinestips tutoring or medical equipment.

“It …continue reading

Life's path clear after trip to France

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

Source: The Ann Arbor News - MLive.com (Original Article)

Brooke Schaffer discovered her raison d’etre last
summer studying French in Nice.

“I met students from 23 different
countries,” she says. “That’s what
prompted my interest in anthropology. It showed me how
ignorant I was and how I wanted to learn so much more about
other cultures.”

This fall, the South Lyon High School grad will continue
her lifelong journey of discovery as a U.S. Navy ROTC
scholarship student at the University of Michigan.

While in France, Schaffer met Muslim students from Turkey
and was surprised to learn they love American clothes and
music.

“They were just like Americans, only very
polite,” she says. “They like American
culture; they wear Abercrombe & Fitch. I heard so much
American music. Our culture impacts people in Turkey even
though they’re so different from us.”

“Since their country borders Iraq, it was interesting
to have them share their perceptions and to see how they
differ from those of many Americans,” Schaffer
wrote in her cultural diversity essay for the University of
Michigan entrance application. “This made me realize
that there is no one right way to perceive a situation and
that it is important to consider all viewpoints.”

Schaffer says her work as co-founder of the Be the Change
Club at South Lyon High School, team leader of Challenge
Day, class representative in the Shared Involvement Process,
public relations officer for the student council and vice
president of the National Honor Society demonstrates her
commitment to respecting the needs of others.

“She is one of the kindest, most compassionate and
hardworking people I’ve ever known,” says
Julie Schaffer, Brooke’s mother, a licensed
professional counselor. “I would really like her as a
best friend.”

When Schaffer returned from France, she longed to turn her
desire to understand others into a lifelong process, but
didn’t know where to begin. Her uncle, Frequent Flyer Credit Card a U.S. Marine
Corps colonel, encouraged …continue reading

BAE lands new contract

Tuesday, June 17th, 2008

Source: Cincinnati Enquirer (Original Article)

WEST CHESTER TWP.— BAE Systems said today its armoring operations here received a $13 million U.S. government contract to supply 100 armored commercial vehicles including armored Chevrolet Suburbans and armored Sprinter vans.

Production is slated for completion by December.

Commercial armored vehicles use many of the same systems as BAE’s military vehicles but are designed to be inconspicuous and undistinguishable from unarmored vehicles, the company said.

Also, BAE Systems said its plant here, employing 1,600, will perform some work on a $53 million Marine Corps contract for 40 special operations command Mine Resistant St George Starts Low Stays Low Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicles to be delivered by next February.

Newberry Group allowed to compete for $25B in US Navy orders

Monday, June 16th, 2008

Source: Bizjournals.com (Original Article)

The Newberry Group said Tuesday the U.S. Navy awarded the St. Charles-based global IT consulting firm a contract allowing the company to compete for task orders that have a combined worth of up to $25.8 billion a year.

The multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract is part of the Navy's SeaPort Enhanced Rolling Admissions solicitation, which includes services such as software engineering, network support and information technology support.

Under the contract, Newberry can perform services for Naval Sea Systems Command; Naval Air Systems Command; Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command; Naval Supply Systems Command; Military Sealift Command; Naval Facilities Engineering Command; Strategic Systems Programs; the Office of Naval Research; the Defense Threat Reduction Agency; and the U.S. Marine Corps.

The SeaPort contract has a five-year base period with two five-year award terms.

The Newberry Group Inc. is a global IT consultancy specializing in information assurance/cyber flights security, application development, network management and IT staffing services.

matthewallen@bizjournals.com