“DEFENSE OPINION” By Thomas Graham, Ph.D. “Contractors should look beyond the CMMC phase calendar and understand the requirements in their existing contracts, upcoming solicitations, option years and period-of-performance extensions, as well as the expectations being communicated by their primes and customers.“ _________________________________________________________________________________ “Until July, contractors across the U.S. defense industry had circled Nov. 10 as a wa

“WASHINGTON TECHNOLOGY” By Kristina Messner “Growth stories are made up of talent, capabilities, customer relevance, partnerships, and vision. The companies that communicate clearly — about what they’re building, how they’re helping, and why it matters — will stand out.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “After more than three decades in the GovCon space, I’ve seen the industry shift from one extreme to another — from operating

“DEFENSE ONE” – By WILLIAM BRANIFF, JOE PLENZLER AND ANIL NATHAN “Our nation faces many challenges, from ending the COVID-19 pandemic to inflation to navigating foreign relations with China, Russia, and Iran. While the future is always uncertain, we remain steadfast in our love of this country and in our support for our 250-year-old experiment in democracy. Work to inoculate our communities against disinformation, increase civil participation, and collaborate to build our nat

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “Both the contractor and the government must come to an understanding regarding the scope of effort to be performed. Signing off on a poorly written SOW results in a difficult contract to manage and a high probability for disputes during the performance period.” _______________________________________________________________________________ “Part 1, Section C, is where the technical specifications and statement of work are located in your governmen

“MILITARY.COM” By Blake Stilwall “Poolaw would become the U.S. military’s most decorated veteran, serving in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. During his service, he earned 42 medals and citations, including four Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars and three Purple Hearts, one for each war in which he fought.” _________________________________________________________________________________ “Despite the troubled history between native tribes and the U.S. governmen

“DEFENSE OPINION” – By Roderick Navarro “The strategy is creating a double effect on the industry. Tariffs and defense investment are working aggressively to reshore the American defense supply chain, and in so doing they are reigniting the power of the American defense sector.” _____________________________________________________________________________ “The U.S. military is facing a critical deficit of critical munitions following its war on Iran. Years of slow production

“DEFENSE OPINION” By Paul Maguire “For decades, the Department of Defense has operated on a model that assumes time is an ally. The reality of 2026 and the array of current and evolving threats demand that our procurement cycles speed up dramatically. Staying relevant requires a direct link between those building the tools and those using them in the field.” _________________________________________________________________________________ “For decades, the Department of Defen

“SMALLTOFEDS” – By Ken Larson “The approach works extremely well, imposes on no one, results in the young and old learning by observation, satisfaction and recognition for collective efforts. _______________________________________________________________________________ “The organization mission is conveyed by continuous organization training. Internal experts can be very entrepreneurial in training approaches. Recognize and reward them for doing so and place them in lead po

Vermillion River Valley - Hastings, Minnesota https://www.flickr.com/photos/odysseyof_armaments/55548098396/in/dateposted-public/

Vermillion River Valley - Hastings, Minnesota https://www.flickr.com/photos/odysseyof_armaments/55548098396/in/dateposted-public/

“STARS AND STRIPES” By Jennifer Svan “The field exercise in a wooded training area capped three days of joint instruction aimed at helping chaplains from the United States and nearly a dozen NATO allies and partners work together during a crisis.” ______________________________________________________________________________ “Chaplains in camouflage crawled on the ground, carried stretchers and counseled fellow service members amid a barrage of explosions and gunfire, part of

“MILITARY TIMES” By Tim Kane “A college degree was the steppingstone to a career, but the announcement by more than 15 of the biggest names in business that they would no longer require employees to have a college degree rocked the foundation of higher education. What this means for those transitioning from the military and for veterans is that they are setting themselves up for a successful career transition into an industry that is job rich, faster than what a college degre

“WAR ON THE ROCKS” By Benjamin Jensen, Yasir Atalan And Ian Reynolds “No technology is a panacea or poses a risk independent of the people and institutions surrounding its use. Adapting algorithms to support strategic analysis requires studying the people, culture, and bureaucracy as much as it does model performance.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “Prophecy and alarmism about AI are both overblown. War on the Rocks has been

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “Billing under federal government contracts can cause difficulty for small businesses because they often do not recognize that setting up complete contract identification information on the government billing form is vital to smooth invoice processing.“ ________________________________________________________________________________ “A major feature not recognized by businesses new to government contracting is the relationship between inspection an

The LLM replied as follows: “CHAT GPT” “Large language models have made big leaps in processing and generating human-like language, but they still don’t truly “understand” communications the way people do. The most effective approach right now is a hybrid: AI to amplify speed, breadth, and structure with a human consultant to interpret, adapt and empathize in ways the model can’t yet match.” BOTTOM LINE: The truth will always be ours to determine. https://rosecoveredglasses.w

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “To effectively market a federal government services contract a small business must sell on the basis of having a business system as well as technical performance infrastructure ready to run the job when a contract proposal is submitted. Parallel thinking is required to plan for government project technical effort against a template of necessary business process infrastructure, driven by introducing Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) into the c

Pictorially illustrated, direct links to topics on the Military Industrial Complex, Small Business Federal Government Contracting and Veterans Affairs. (Use toggle feature in frame below and click images to access and follow on Pinterest) https://www.pinterest.com/smalltofeds/sm-bus-fed-gov-contracting/

President John F. Kennedy meets with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor and Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara at the White House on Oct. 2, 1963. “DEFENSE ONE” By Dr. Harlan Ullman – November 17, 2017 “Tragically, the U.S. started these wars for reasons that proved wildly wrong, or intervened based on lack of knowledge and understanding that led to failure. The reasons for failure span generations of leaders and apply equally to both political

Vermillion River - Hastings, Minnesota https://www.flickr.com/photos/odysseyof_armaments/55538127906/in/dateposted-public

“MILITARY TIMES” By Daniel Terrill “Smack” recently raised $61 million in Series B funding to develop Alpha, a wrist-worn device designed to connect operators in the field to real-time data collected and processed through Smack’s Omega AI software.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “For the U.S. military, artificial intelligence tools help analysts turn enormous amounts of data into something actionable, like when to strike a ta