Government Executive - Authors - Caitlin Fairchild

Craig Newmark's Badge of Honor: VA 'Nerd-in-Residence'

Caitlin Fairchild — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 14:56:24 -0500

Though he is best known as the founder of Craigslist, Craig Newmark also is a driver of innovation in government. As a consultant to the Veteran's Affairs Department, Newmark likes to call himself VA's "Nerd-in-Residence." His work there focuses on the Blue Button initiative to make electronic health records available to all veterans. The Blue Button program aims to accelerate the processing of claims and improve patient care.

He recently spoke with reporter Joseph Marks at Nextgov Prime in Washington about his work on the project. Newmark noted that one of his most important roles at VA is to stand up for and publicize the people who are doing good work at the agency. If no one hears about it, it's as if it hasn't happened, he said.

"People doing good work deserve to be acknowledged," Newmark said. "If you don't have good medical records around and family history, that can kill you."

Listen to the story:

Download this episode | Subscribe on iTunes

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Consumer Financial Protection Chief Sits Down With Jon Stewart

Caitlin Fairchild — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 13:49:00 -0500

Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, stopped by The Daily Show on Wednesday to discuss his agency.

"Our job is to see that people are treated fairly in the market place and it's an important job, I think." Cordray said.

The interview ranged from new rules implemented following the financial crisis, as well as punitive measures for those who break them.

"It's pretty back-to-basic stuff," he said. "That there should not be debt traps peddled to the American people."

See the entire interview here:

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The Right Way to Fry an Egg in Death Valley

Caitlin Fairchild — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 14:15:42 -0400

Temperatures at Death Valley National Park are soaring past 120 degrees this summer, apparently hot enough to fry an egg. One park employee decided to actually try the experiment, and her video of cooking an egg in a skillet took off, garnering more than 400,000 views so far.

Visitors have flocked to the park hoping to make their own breakfasts, but many have fried their eggs sans skillet, making a mess along the trails, Yahoo News reports.

The park took to Facebook:

“An employee's posting of frying an egg in a pan in Death Valley was intended to demonstrate how hot it can get here, with the recommendation that if you do this, use a pan or tin foil and properly dispose of the contents. However, the Death Valley NP maintenance crew has been busy cleaning up eggs cracked directly on the sidewalk, including egg cartons and shells strewn across the parking lot.

This is your national park, please put trash in the garbage or recycle bins provided and don’t crack eggs on the sidewalks, or the Salt Playa at Badwater.”

Hopefully guests don't switch to french toast.

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Tweeting the Fiscal 2014 Budget

Caitlin Fairchild — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:19:50 -0400

Budget day has finally arrived, and everyone has something to say about it.

President Obama unveiled his fiscal 2014 budget Wednesday morning, including a proposed 1 percent pay raise for federal employees, which was offset by a suggested increase in their retirement contributions.

The White House also wants to increase in technology spending, and the Pentagon hopes to focus more of its budget on cyberspace operations and space capabilities.

See Politicians, agency leaders, journalists and concerned citizens weigh in on Twitter here:

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Storify: GovExec on #SOTU

Ross Gianfortune and Caitlin Fairchild — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 23:53:39 -0500

In addition to liveblogging, the GovExec.com staff was also working on livetweeting the most-tweeted speech in the history of Twitter. The speech included many references to federal government programs, initiatives and partnerships with private industry. President Barack Obama also continually referenced trimming the budget by making government more efficient.

Read GovExec's real-time coverage of the speech below.

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Video: Parks and Recreation Stops by the White House

Caitlin Fairchild — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 13:10:36 -0500

Vice President Joe Biden showed up on television screens Thurs. Nov. 15 during a brief cameo on the NBC show Parks and Recreation.

The office of the vice president even tweeted out a behind the scenes shot during filming at the White House.

Leslie Knope’s last foray to Washington DC had her stopping by the Interior Department and hobnobbing with several senators, including John McCain, R-Ariz.

This time around, fiancée Ben Wyatt gives Leslie the only engagement present better than a waffle tower: a meeting with Vice President Joe Biden.

During his cameo, Biden congratulated Leslie, who serves as Pawnee city councilwoman and previously led the Pawnee parks department, on her public service for Indiana. Meanwhile Leslie, who has high political aspirations of her own, offered to take over as Secretary of State after Hillary Clinton steps down from the position.

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Video: The 'Sweet Sugar of Bureaucracy'

Caitlin Fairchild — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 17:48:16 -0400

Television’s most enthusiastic local government employee got a taste of of what she enthusiastically dubbed the "sweet sugar of bureaucracy," federal-style, during Thursday night's premiere of NBC's Parks and Recreation.

Along with several lawmakers, including Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and John McCain, R- Ariz., the Interior Department made a guest appearance.

In the episode, Leslie, a newly elected city councilwoman in Pawnee, Ind., seeks to present an application for for federal funding to clean up Pawnee’s local river. But when she arrives at Interior's headquarters to meet with a federal official, she’s told he’ll be unavailable for the rest of the week. Instead Knope is forced to add her application to a huge stack of others.

Perhaps next week Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, will stop by Pawnee in next week’s episode to make amends.

In the meantime, here are some federal highlights from the episode:

Watch the entire episode on NBC.com

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Special Delivery

Caitlin Fairchild — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Several weeks before December 2010 Tunisian protests triggered a wave of unrest that spread to other Arab countries, Shane Morris was given the job of ensuring that packages of classified material moved securely between U.S. embassies. Her experience personally escorting State Department pouches in the Middle East and Africa helped in her new role as a supervisor in the Diplomatic Courier Service during the Arab spring.

Morris’ time on the ground equipped her to find creative inroads when traditional routes were blocked. “We have very stringent security requirements,” she says. “The pouches—you go where they go.”

When access to Bahrain was cut off due to political uprisings, Morris quickly found an alternative and organized a meeting between local airport authorities and U.S. personnel to ensure, for the first time ever, that diplomatic couriers had tarmac access in the United Arab Emirates.

“The toughest part is to manage the changes when something falls through,” she says. “We’re forced to use new ways of thinking.”

Fighting the tendency to use the same tried-and-true methods can be tough in the government, which frequently favors the routine. For her achievements, Morris, who recently turned 30, is a finalist for the Service to America Medals Call to Service honor.

“It’s amazing just how much you can achieve when you don’t have the luxury of no for an answer,” she says.

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Photo Gallery: Parks and Recreation

Caitlin Fairchild — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 14:00:00 -0400

Recently, former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain sat down for an interview with the Daily Show and questioned the value of national parks.

“Let’s sell some of these parks, that are nice to have, but do we really need millions of acres of parks in order to say that we are environmentally friendly?” Cain said.

That’s probably easier said than done. National parks remain a major tourist attraction and support the economy.

The 397 national park sites nationwide cover a total of 84 million acres and support more than 250,000 jobs . In 2011 alone there were 278.9 million visits to national parks. Here are the 10 most popular spots.

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The State of Defense

Caitlin Fairchild and Chanin Knight — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Click below to see the full Defense poster included in the Aug. 15 issue of Government Executive.

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Video: Fed leaders stress the need for food drive

Caitlin Fairchild — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:07:13 -0400

Feds Feed Families program at the U.S. Geological Service headquarters in Virginia. The initiative strives to replenish food bank stocks during the summer months when provisions are low. In previous years agencies have collected millions of pounds of food . &amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; ]]>

Photo Gallery: Colorado wildfires

Caitlin Fairchild and Eric Katz — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 17:16:00 -0400

The Waldo Canyon fire, the most destructive in Colorado’s history as measured by number of homes destroyed, began on June 23 near Colorado Springs, about 60 miles south of Denver. It forced more than 30,000 residents to evacuate. The majority of them have since returned, and as of Tuesday, an estimated 70 percent of the fire was contained, thanks in part to help from the federal government.

More than 150 National Guard troops were deployed to assist local law enforcement. The U.S. Air Force sent eight tankers to work with private and commercial aircrafts. The U.S. Forest Service, the Interior Department and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have all participated in the containment effort. More than half of federal firefighting resources are currently staged in Colorado, according to the White House.

The fire has consumed more than 28 million square miles of land and has accumulated a cost of more than $12.4 million, according to an interagency website . Below is a gallery of efforts to contain the blaze.

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Mermaids? NOAA Says No

Caitlin Fairchild — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 17:55:59 -0400

website.

Although NOAA typically works on tracking weather patterns and monitoring fisheries management, the agency felt the need to set the record straight, stating, “No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.”

The clarification came after a recent Animal Planet special, entitled "Mermaids: The Body Found" aired, offering up evidence of cave paintings and mysterious ocean sounds as proof of the existence of the mythological creatures. Viewers of the special contacted the agency with requests to finally reveal the truth about mermaids. Perhaps the Interior Department will be inspired to set the record straight about Bigfoot. ]]>

Petraeus: Likes Fruit, Dislikes Crossing the Street

Caitlin Fairchild — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:22:00 -0400

We all have our idiosyncrasies, and agency heads are no different. Retired general and current CIA Director David Petraeus reportedly has a list of requirements for when he travels, according to the blog The Back Channel.

His request list includes fresh pineapple every night before bed, sliced bananas to top his cereal in the morning, and someone to accompany him on his morning runs on a route devised with no street-crossings.

Petraeus’ requests, while specific, are a far cry from the detailed travel demands of bands like Van Halen, which famously had a 53-page list of requests on tour, including a bowl of M&Ms with all the brown ones removed.

CIA spokesman Preston Golson told the blog the list shows a health and safety conscious director.

“The fact of the matter is that Director Petraeus pays a great deal of attention to his health,” he said. “He has a lifelong commitment to physical fitness, and that naturally includes a careful diet.”

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Video: NIH head takes to late night television

Caitlin Fairchild — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:06:17 -0400

National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins appeared as a guest on the Colbert Report Thursday. Collins will appear in “The Weight of the Nation,” an HBO documentary series on obesity in the U.S.

“What are we going to do about the fact that two thirds of adults and one third of children are obese or overweight,” Collins said, warning of the dangers of obesity. “This generation of kids may be the first one in 100 years that doesn’t live as long as their parents and grandparents.”

During the interview, Collins also discussed his own struggle with weight gain and called for a change in the food industry.

“The problem is this isn’t just about some of us, it’s about all of us,” he said. “We need to think about this holistically.”

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Francis Collins

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

Video Archive

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White House establishing domestic violence policy for agencies

Caitlin Fairchild — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:13:35 -0400

President Obama sent a memorandum Wednesday to all agency and department heads directing them to establish policies for addressing domestic violence among the federal workforce.

“We know that domestic violence doesn’t just stay in the home. It can extend into the workplace, with devastating effects on its victims and costs that ripple across the economy. Federal employees aren’t immune,” Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement. “The president’s memorandum sends a message about what the federal government -- and all employers -- can do to end this abuse.”

After consulting with several agency heads, the Office of Personnel Management will release guidance on domestic violence, including how best to assist employees who are victims, leave policies relating to domestic violence situations and disciplinary actions to take against employees who commit or threaten acts of domestic violence.

According to the memo, managers must submit to OPM within 90 days any current agency-specific policies and practices regarding domestic violence.

Within 120 days after OPM issues new guidelines on domestic violence, each agency must develop or modify its domestic violence policies and submit the new or revised plan to OPM. After receiving these drafts, OPM will review them, and another 180 days after the draft submission, each agency must create and submit their final domestic violence policy.

“Today, President Obama directed the federal government to become a model for all employers in providing a safe workplace and support for any employees who suffer from domestic violence,” Biden said. “For the first time, all federal agencies are required to establish policies to respond to the legitimate needs of employees who are being abused and who might need help.”

The memo comes just as the White House pushes to have the 1994 Violence Against Women Act reauthorized. After expiring in 2011, the act has become the source of a heated partisan battle in the Senate.

“While we wait for Congress to reauthorize this critically needed legislation, the federal government is doing its part,” Biden said in the press release.

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Not-So-Close Encounters With a Russian Spy

Caitlin Fairchild — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:03:00 -0400

This story has been updated.

Notorious Russian spy Anna Chapman got a little too close to a Cabinet official, still serving in the Obama administration, Wired magazine's Danger Room blog reported.

Frank Figliuzzi, head of counterintelligence for the FBI, revealed Chapman attempted to seduce a member of Obama's inner circle.

"She got close enough to disturb us," he said.

Chapman's attempted seduction led the bureau, which was only monitoring Chapman and her spy ring, to close in and arrest the 10 Russians in 2010.

"We were becoming very concerned," Figliuzzi said. "They were getting close enough to a sitting U.S. Cabinet member that we thought we could no longer allow this to continue."

Figliuzzi refused to name the Cabinet member Chapman targeted.

Update:

The FBI has denied the news that Chapman got "dangerously close" to a Cabinet official. FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said that head of counterintelligence Frank Figliuzzi was misquoted.

Figliuzzi's comments, “were consistent with and confined to the information outlined in the criminal complaint [against the Chapman spy ring] that was filed nearly two years ago," Bresson said. "There is no allegation or suggestion in the complaint that Anna Chapman or anyone else associated with this investigation attempted to seduce a U.S. Cabinet official.”

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Video: Clinton -- Communications clearly a 'huge problem' for Syria

Caitlin Fairchild — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:51:20 -0400

As the conflict in Syria continues, the United States has decided to supply communications equipment, along with humanitarian aid, to the rebel forces fighting against the Assad regime. During a weekend summit in Istanbul with several countries important to the Syrian economy, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sat down with Andrea Mitchell of NBC News, to discuss the latest in the Syrian conflict.

“We’re looking at technical assistance, communications assistance,” Clinton said. “I met with a group of the Syrian National Council opposition, including a young woman who just got out of Homs and told us in wrenching terms what it was like being under bombardment by the Assad regime. And she made it clear communications is a huge problem. The United States has a lot of expertise in that.”

Clinton also spoke about current efforts to continue diplomatic negotiations with Iran and the U.S. presidential campaign.

Part 1:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Part 2:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Around Government

Caitlin Fairchild, Timothy B. Clark, and Susan Fourney — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

The Battle of the Bulge

Military bases feature healthier choices on the menu as obesity rises in the ranks.

By Caitlin Fairchild

In the mid-1990s, one in 50 service members wrestled with weight issues, according to Dr. Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of Defense for health affairs. That number jumped to one in 20 by 2005. The military services spend $1.4 billion a year on health care costs related to obesity.

To combat expanding waistlines, the Defense Department is updating menu standards for military bases to ensure healthier foods are served in dining halls and vending machines.

Even before the changes were announced in February, pilot programs already were under way at six posts, including Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, which first lady Michelle Obama visited as part of her Let’s Move! campaign. Offerings include salad bars stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and low-fat dairy products available at every meal.

Portable food stations called Provisions on Demand have been installed at Travis and Elmendorf Air Force bases, allowing diners to grab hot and healthy meals on the go. Weighing in at 100,000 meals served so far, the stations have been a popular part of the initiative.

The first lady praised the Military Health System’s efforts during her visit to Little Rock. “This is truly a national security issue,” she said, emphasizing that the changes were not just about dieting. “I have never been more confident that if we keep coming together like this as a nation, if we keep working together, we can make a real difference for our children, but more importantly, for our entire country.”

A Vision for The Future

Congress in December 2011 approved $12 million in additional spending to fund work on closing out contracts with vendors. What’s more remarkable than the spending decision is the people doing the closeout work are legally blind or have other severe disabilities—and their endeavors will return nearly $38 million in de-obligated dollars to the U.S. Treasury.

Kevin A. Lynch, president of National Industries for the Blind, helped broker a deal with the Defense Acquisition University to provide free training to the workers, who use specially equipped telephone and computer equipment to get the job done. They will close some 26,000 contracts. Under the 1971 Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act, establishing the umbrella AbilityOne program of federal support to programs employing people with disabilities, the government purchases about $3 billion in goods and services.

With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan winding down, and with support from Defense Department procurement official Shay D. Assad, Lynch and NIB Executive Vice President Angela Hartley are working to move more blind people into services jobs.

Timothy B. Clark

Top Jobs

Even seasoned executives often fail to communicate their full potential in job interviews, according to David King and Jim Starkey, authors of High Performance Interviewing, available from Compact Concepts Inc. The book offers tips for developing your key messages, including:

Identify the winning criteria
Find the organization’s pain points and imagine the qualities needed to address those challenges. Match your assets with the winning criteria and identify how you would compensate for any gaps.

Plan your attack
Determine how you intend to win. Think about what combination of assets sets you apart. If your differentiators can be matched by most other candidates, you have not yet found the answer. Think about soft skills as much as hard facts.

Build your vision
Interviewers care about past performance, but don’t make them figure out how you would address the organization’s challenges. Communicate how you would get started, how you would work with your colleagues and how you might handle pitfalls.

Engage
Look for opportunities to talk about what you value doing. Explain the emotional reasons you want the job. Be sure to tell the interviewer why you care, or someone who cares more will
outshine you. Susan Fourney

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OPM cracks down after CFC audit

Caitlin Fairchild — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:36:27 -0400

The Office of Personnel Management has prohibited spending Combined Federal Campaign donations on meals, entertainment or travel the Federal Times reported.

The move follows an audit of the Washington-area CFC, where OPM’s inspector general found more than $300,000 in questionable expenses.

"Effective immediately, [local federal coordinating committees] are instructed not to approve, and [principal combined fund organizations] are directed not to incur, any expenses for food, beverages or entertainment, and no such expenses are to be charged against the proceeds of the campaign," OPM Director John Berry wrote.

In addition to the new rule, OPM ordered Global Impact, the company managing the Washington-area CFC, to repay $309,820 in questionable expenses so the money can be distributed to charities. While Global Impact says the money has been repaid, the president of the organization, Renee Acosta, said the organization will try to appeal the decision.

OPM also will set up a new task force, led by the watchdog Charity Navigator, to further review Global Impact’s finances.

"As the federal agency responsible for overseeing the CFC across the nation and around the world, OPM is committed to ensuring that charitable contributions made by federal employees and service members are properly administered, with the maximum amount reaching charities," Berry said in a statement. "Any failure to abide by OPM regulations regarding the handling of charitable contributions is unacceptable."

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Air Force to offer third round of buyouts

Caitlin Fairchild — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:32:08 -0400

The Air Force is trimming its civilian workforce again, offering the third round of buyouts and early outs in the past six months, Federal News Radio has reported.

As part of an overall effort to return civilian staffing to 2010 levels, the Air Force offered buyouts in January, 6,000 buyouts in September 2011, and implemented a 90-day hiring freeze in August.

"The Air Force recognizes the invaluable contributions of our civilian workforce, but also recognizes the fiscal constraints under which the Department of Defense and the government as a whole are operating," said Maj. Gen. Sharon Dunbar, director of force management policy. "Our civilian workforce is near required target levels, and we're focused on fine-tuning the force while taking care to minimize the effect on our current permanent civilian workforce and their families."

Employees will receive eligibility surveys by May 1 and applications will be due May 15. If approved, employees must leave by Aug. 31.

"We are committed to maximizing voluntary separation measures to preclude involuntary actions," Dunbar said. "However, as we progress toward the end of the fiscal year, it is apparent some bases will need to rebalance the skills of their workforce into other enduring positions."

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Hillary Clinton Aids the Search for Amelia Earhart

Caitlin Fairchild — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:02:36 -0400

After 75 years, the search for Amelia Earhart continues.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with historians and researchers at the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery at an event Tuesday celebrating Earhart’s legacy.

Marking the 75th anniversary of her flight, the group is kicking off a search on the island of Nikumaroro for wreckage of Earhart’s Lockheed Electra plane, the Associated Press reported. Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared on July 2, 1937, during a flight from New Guinea to Howland Island, a part of her attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world.

According to a senior U.S. official, a recent photograph of the island reveals what could be a strut and wheel of an airplane in the water. Underwater robotic submarines and mapping equipment will be brought to aid the group in their search. Previous expeditions recovered artifacts from the island that could have belonged to Earhart and Noonan.

“Amelia Earhart may have been an unlikely heroine for a nation down on its luck, but she embodied the spirit of an America coming of age and increasingly confident, ready to lead in a quite uncertain and dangerous world. She gave people hope and she inspired them to dream bigger and bolder,” Clinton said during her remarks. “When she took off on that historic journey, she carried the aspirations of our entire country with her.”

The State Department supported Earhart in her missions, getting her flight clearances in foreign countries she stayed during her long journeys.

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Sequestration could mean furloughs for many Justice employees

Caitlin Fairchild — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:11:00 -0400

Nearly 86 percent of the Justice Department’s workforce will be furloughed for an average of five weeks if automatic spending cuts take effect in January 2013, Federal Times reported Tuesday.

Unless Congress reaches a deal on cutting $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit through 2021, the sequestration process mandated under the debt ceiling measure approved in August 2011 would lead to $2.1 billion in Justice spending reductions next year.

FBI agents and trial attorneys would be among the more than 100,000 Justice employees subject to the furlough. Workers are not paid for the weeks they are furloughed, though Congress can decide to compensate them retroactively.

"The consequences [of the automatic cuts] are not restricted to simply what happens to the Justice Department here in Washington and in our field offices," Attorney General Eric Holder told a Senate appropriations subcommittee last week. “It would be something that would just simply be devastating.”

In addition to the furloughs, Justice would seek to reduce its workforce, leaving almost 5,000 positions vacant. The department, however, would try to avoid resorting to a reduction in force under sequestration, because the RIF process can be cost prohibitive, according to Federal Times.

As of February, Justice employed 116,000 employees.

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Defense faces lawsuit from sexual assault victims

Caitlin Fairchild — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:27:27 -0500

The Defense Department is under fire this week, with several sources alleging its failure to address sexual assault, hazing and its lack of diversity.

Eight women -- seven veterans and one current service member -- filed a lawsuit Tuesday against current and former military leaders, the Associated Press reported.

Seven of the women said a comrade raped or attempted to sexually assault them during their service in the Navy or Marine Corps, while one woman said during her deployment to Iraq she suffered harassment and threats. Several said they had a superior dismiss their complaints, or they suffered retaliation after coming forward.

The suit, filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, says the Defense Department has not done enough to tackle the problem of sexual assault and has created a hostile environment that discourages sexual assault victims from reporting incidents and punishes those who do.

"This is the year 2012. This kind of conduct is not acceptable,” said Susan Burke, a lawyer representing the eight women.

In an attempt to address such problems, Defense earlier this year introduced several initiatives, including one for implementing a sexual assault advocate certification program and another requiring victim advocates and response coordinators at the department to obtain credentials that meet national standards.

After a December 2011 report found a sharply higher number of sexual assaults at military academies, Defense announced two policy changes to allow victims of sexual assault to request an expedited transfer from their unit or installation, and to standardize the retention period for sexual assault records and make them available to victims.

Cynthia Smith, a Defense spokeswoman, reiterated these recent measures and said that the department has a zero-tolerance policy, but she could not comment on the suit.

"It is important that everyone in uniform be alert to the problem and have the leadership training to help prevent these crimes," she said in a statement.

Congress, meanwhile, is calling into question Defense’s efforts to prevent harassment and increase diversity, The Washington Post reported.

At a joint-congressional forum on Tuesday, lawmakers questioned Defense leaders on their lack of progress in implementing the recommendations of the Military Leadership Diversity Commission, which found that minorities are underrepresented in armed forces leadership. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., noted the services have more than half the recommendations still under review. “It sounds like there’s been a lot of talk, but not enough action,” he said.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., angrily confronted Defense leaders for failing to take harassment and hazing seriously and stated the services do not punish violators adequately.

Chu’s nephew, Marine Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, committed suicide in Afghanistan in April after alleged physical harassment from his fellow Marines.

“Any claims that hazing incidents are isolated are unfounded,” Chu said.

Clarence Johnson, director of the Defense Department’s Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity, told lawmakers the Pentagon is doing its best to combat hazing.

“The department’s policy prohibiting hazing is unambiguous,” Johnson said. “It is contrary to good order and discipline and is unacceptable behavior.”

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Capital area charity drive falls slightly short of goal

Caitlin Fairchild — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:00:00 -0500

The Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area announced Tuesday that it had raised $64.3 million for 2011, missing its target by nearly $3 million despite extending the deadline for donations.

The campaign did reach 95 percent of its goal, according to a spokeswoman, who added the tally will not be final until audited numbers are available in April.

With more than 350,000 federal workers represented, the capital area drive is the largest chapter of the nationwide Combined Federal Campaign. Regional officials made an effort during this round of fundraising to boost participation by creating a Young Donor Advisory Council. For the second year running, they also stressed online donations, and continued the E-Giving Award for agencies that increased their paperless pledges by at least 10 percent.

The Energy Department garnered an award for obtaining more than 70 percent of its donations online. Other agencies, including the CIA, were lauded for their communications programs. CIA Director David Petraeus took on the role of chairman and motivated the agency to achieve 112 percent of its fundraising goal. The U.S. Coast Guard, which far exceeded its goals by raising 140 percent of its target, was recognized for leadership involvement.

The nationwide CFC celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. While the national total for 2011 has not been officially tallied, the fundraiser brought in about $280 million in 2010, and the sum raised since the charity drive’s founding is nearing $7 billion.

CFC representatives met last week in San Antonio for their annual meeting, where the focus was on improving the campaign.

“We're not just here to learn the hows, the whats and the whens,” Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry said. “We're not just here to take pride in the money raised and the job well done. For all the same reasons that the work we do matters, the way we do it matters too. Your business practices are important. OPM's regulations govern the conduct of the campaign, and are designed to safeguard its integrity and ensure that the moneys entrusted to our care by generous federal employees are well-spent.”

The San Antonio meeting marked the final session of the CFC at 50 advisory committee, formed to recommend ways to enhance the fundraiser.

During a December 2011 meeting, panel members determined the campaign should develop a unified Web presence to cut costs and to better coordinate regional drives. Other suggestions included targeting federal and military retirees and establishing stricter requirements for participating charities. Although 25,000 local and national organizations are represented, 80 percent of donations go to 20 percent of the charities.

The commission will submit final recommendations to Berry by March 31.

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