CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE “THE CIPHER BRIEF” By Edward Han “Veteran skill sets naturally lend themselves to roles where human judgment, leadership under uncertainty, and adversarial thinking are most valuable: precisely roles least susceptible to AI disruption and most critical to national security.“ _______________________________________________________________________________ “I spent my formative adult years in service to my country—from seventeen to twenty-nine—and the core

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “For government contracting success it is vital to understand the roles, responsibilities and authorities for the principal personnel with whom the contractor must do business.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “PROCUREMENT CONTRACTING OFFICER During a federal government contract proposal you will come to know the Procurement Contracting Officer (PCO) assigned to the solicitation that runs the source

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article from “Military.Com” featured at this posting is a treatise from an employer perspective about the challenges often faced by veterans returning to or entering the civilian workplace. It does not fully address, however, an understanding of why these challenges exist and what to do about them from both employer and employee perspectives. For that insight I suggest you combine your review of this article with the linked article below at our

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “The world has become tightly wired technologically and the current economic situation ties us inexorably to foreign economies. It is likely small business will encounter the import/export process either on the selling or the buying end of federal government contracts involving foreign countries.” _______________________________________________________________________________ “This is particularly true with Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contracts th

“WASHINGTON TECHNOLOGY” By Bruce Lyman “Servant leadership – putting employees and their work first by creating an environment in which employees are safe, challenged, effective, motivated and productive. Other leadership goals like organizational performance, profits, and cost-cutting will become more easily — and more naturally — accomplished.“ _________________________________________________________________________________ Ensure employees and their families are safe All

“SMALLTOFEDS” – By Ken Larson “When considering submitting a proposal to a given government solicitation, conduct a bid/no bid exercise. By going through that process you will begin formulating your win strategy or you will discover that you should not bid this job for lack of such a strategy.“ ______________________________________________________________________________ “Government contract proposal preparation is time consuming and can be costly. Meeting the agency Request

“THE DAILY BEAST” By Kevin Maurer “Anne, [“SPARKLE”] an Air Force staff sergeant, a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) sensor operator or “sensor.” “When you hit a truck full of people, there are limbs and legs everywhere,” Sparkle said. “I watched a guy crawl away from the wreckage after one shot with no lower body. He slowly died. You have to watch that. You don’t get to turn away.” _________________________________________________________________________________ “Anne crawled

Veterans Home - Hastings, Minnesota (click the link and then the pic for close-up view) https://www.flickr.com/photos/odysseyof_armaments/55326931204/in/dateposted-public/

“MILITARY TIMES” By Richard Sisk “The unemployment rate for veterans dipped to 3.2% in May, bolstered by a gain among women veterans despite fears that artificial intelligence could trigger layoffs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs report.” _________________________________________________________________________________ “The jobless rate for all veterans fell from 3.7% in April to 3.2% in May. The rate for the post-9/11 veterans ticked up from 4.0% i

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “The prudent small business will target agencies and teaming partners that best fit its products and services, positioning itself to acquire advance information on customer requirements.” _________________________________________________________________________________ “Your enterprise must market on several targeted government contracting fronts to be successful. Simply registering as a federal government contractor or acquiring a small business s

“NATIONAL DEFENSE MAGAZINE” By Pete Sfoglia “The marriage of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics and crippling regulation creates a perfect storm headed straight at the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program” ________________________________________________________________________________ “The marriage of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics and crippling regulation creates a perfect storm headed straight at the Cybersecurity Matu

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “A small business set-aside designation can be a valuable tool if adequately documented, registered, certified and prudently used for bidding work that your enterprise is capable of performing successfully. Carefully select your small business designations when preparing your business and marketing plans for federal government contracting. Keep in mind that self-certifications are verified through records checks and site visits before contract awar

“FEDERALNEWS NETWORK” By Roslyn Layton, PhD “A“ best of breed” strategy – assembling a mix of commercial providers instead of betting on a single vendor – as a way to accelerate its “artificial intelligence-first” war fighting vision.“ _________________________________________________________________________________ “The Pentagon is quietly overhauling one of its most entrenched systems: how it sources and buys modern technology — and by extension, who controls it. After a pu

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “Intellectual property and proprietary data protection should be tailored to your organization, its industry relationships, people and practices. It must grow as the company grows, adapt to changing conditions and be ever-sensitive to risk.“ ________________________________________________________________________________ DEFINITIONS The World Intellectual Property Organization defines IP as:“….creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artist

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE By Ken Larson There is only one way forward in developing a mutual understanding of our respective values and cultures in lieu of fighting wars. Getting on with both environment and peace objectives have a common thread – communicative, learned negotiation. _______________________________________________________________________________ What I have learned in two combat tours and 36 years in the weapons systems business is that the only thing war settles

Vermillion River Valley - Hastings, Minnesota https://www.flickr.com/photos/odysseyof_armaments/55313894103/in/dateposted-public/

“Tailored guidance and encouragement to develop your business. These programs provide the tools for you to avoid costly missteps, sharpen your strategy and confidently pursue growth.” _________________________________________________________________________________ SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION “For veterans and military spouses, entrepreneurship provides a powerful pathway to continue serving—by turning military-honed skills, such as leadership, adaptability and resilience,

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “Unsolicited proposal opportunities generally arise as a result of observing or cultivating a requirement that the company could uniquely fulfill, but for which the government has yet to issue a formal solicitation” _________________________________________________________________________________ “Most enterprises in government contracting encounter the possibility of submitting an unsolicited proposal. These opportunities are normally large enoug

“NEXGOV/FCW‘ By Alexandra Kelley “The updated rule is expected in the next couple weeks and will set a preference for fixed-price models, making the GSA a “more predictable business partner” to original equipment manufacturers” ________________________________________________________________________________ “The General Services Administration is developing changes to artificial intelligence acquisition provisions within its general rules that will prioritize a firm fixed-pri

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “Values-Based’ marketing does not relate to a client’s perception of your product or service value. Rather, it relates to your understanding of the client’s personal values and using that knowledge to motivate the client to buy. It occurs when you become uniquely aware of what motivates specific personnel internal to a customer company, a buyer or a prospective teaming partner to make favorable decisions regarding your product or services.”...