Can NSA & CYBERCOM Divorce?

Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the Internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River economic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

There have been plenty of discussions surrounding a possible separation of the National Security Agency and US Cyber Command at Fort Meade. In the first of a four-part series, C4ISR.NET looks at the issues involved. “Such a determination would involve severing the ‘dual-hat’ leadership of these organizations, which share the same chief, as well as raise questions of what CYBERCOM standing up as its own independent organization might look like,” C4ISR.NET reports. Officials have praised the partnership the organizations share, especially the NSA’s history in the signals intelligence business.

A group run by Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies said satellite images show increased activity at a launch site in North Korea. “It is unclear whether this activity is related to launch preparations or other operations,” Reuters reports.

The Obama administration  pushes to expand US use of Australia as a base for US troops and military equipment, wsws.com reports. This comes as the Philippines president threatens to end joint exercises with the US in the South China Sea and as tensions rise with China and Russia.

War game exercises began Saturday at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. tThe US, Canada, France, and Portugal make up the complement of 67 aircraft and 31 warships and submarines. The Print and Journal reports the Portuguese jets are biggest attraction as Operation Joint Warrior begins.

Franchise brands of  many different types of businesses took part in Military Times’ 2017 Best for Vets: Franchises survey. The franchises filled out a survey and submitted their most recent disclosure documents, forms with details on franchise cost and performance. See the list of 43 franchises and how they ranked.

The United Kingdom Royal Air Force remains confident that it will introduce British-made weapons onto its future Protector unmanned air vehicle, Flight Global reports, although a final decision on this element of its program has yet to be made.

Business Standard reports, the Indian Air Force kicked off a global contest among international fighter jet manufacturers to see who can supply that country with a medium, multi-role fighter. It wants to find a company willing to partner with an Indian company to set up a production facility in India and allow significant transfer of technology to the Indian entity.

So you can’t get to Hawaii to see the USS Missouri in person? Let CNET.com take you on a photo tour of the historic battleship. Not present at the attack on Pearl Harbor, she arrived shortly thereafter, and saw battle across the Pacific and in other places around the world.

Tim Horne, director of presidential transition at the General Services Administration, said last week that the presidential transition is unfolding earlier, and with more seriousness and less frenzy than past changeovers, in part because of a law President Obama signed in March, Government Executive reports, that “set up a new infrastructure and creates a formality that gives agencies a chance to have early conversations on how resources will be used.” Horne was speaking last week at Fedstival, a series of Washington, DC, events hosted by Government Executive Media Group.

Forbes reports that the capital region weathered the sequester with “resiliency and durability.” An opinion piece in the magazine discusses “The Sequestration Was Supposed to Devastate Washington’s Economy. Here’s Why It Didn’t.”

Does your weak password put your agency’s network at risk? Was it OK that you accepted a Facebook friend request from that guy you met at a security conference? Check out Nextgov’s cyber assessment tool to find out whether you are the weak link in your agency’s cyber defenses.

A Military Times opinion column discusses the current mental health crisis US veterans are facing. Clinical psychologist Bret A. Moore’s solution: Private and public sector collaboration is the key to bringing safe and effective therapies and programs to the market in a timely manner.

Contracts:

Fred L. Hawkins Company Inc., Havre de Grace, Maryland (W91CRB-17-D-0001); M2 Electric LLC, Mine Hill, New Jersey (W91CRB-17-D-0002); and Relyant Global LLC, Maryville, Tennessee (W91CRB-17-D-0003), will share a $9,999,999 firm-fixed-price contract for range maintenance support services for the US Army Aberdeen Test Center.  Bids were solicited via the Internet with five received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 10, 2018. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity.