Government Executive - Authors - Susan Fourney

Around Government

Susan Fourney and Patrick Tucker — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 10:00:06 -0400

When Bots Call the Shots

Fast-forward 35 years: Human troops might not control the fight.

Faster “battle rhythm” will increasingly push human beings out of the decision-making loop, according to thought leaders from the Defense Department, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, the Institute for Defense Analysis and academia at a recent workshop on the next three and a half decades of war. Their report, “Visualizing the Tactical Ground Battlefield in the Year 2050,” reads like a Tolkienesque saga, a fascinating mashup of futuristic concepts, far-off capabilities and emergent technologies.

The authors of the report note that their views “do not reflect positions or views of their employers.” It’s easy to see why. Many of them diverge considerably from standard military talking points.

Military leaders insist that a human will always decide when to pull the trigger. The report foresees a slightly different future: Humans won’t be entirely cut out of lethal engagements, but they’ll play umpire, rather than pitcher.

“To enable humans to partner effectively with robots, human team members will be enhanced in a variety of ways,” says the report. “These super humans will feature exoskeletons, possess a variety of implants, and have seamless access to sensing and cognitive enhancements. They may also be the result of genetic engineering. The net result is that they will have enhanced physical capabilities, senses, and cognitive powers. The presence of superhumans on the battlefield in the 2050 timeframe is highly likely because the various components needed to enable this development already exist.”

Imaginary or not, the report explores a future in which humanity can no longer control technological progress. That may be far more threatening than any particular enemy.

- Patrick Tucker

From the Archives

Here’s what we were saying about the state of federal management in the pages of Government Executive 10, 20 and 30 years ago.

2005

“So how is it that a nation whose security apparatus purportedly is focused significantly on unconventional, catastrophic events occurring here in the homeland seemed utterly unprepared to respond in the aftermath of a hurricane?”

1995

“Government may well be shut down for a time if, as seems likely as of this writing, Republicans driving to shrink agencies and programs cannot reconcile their differences with the Clinton White House.”

1985

“Another terrible distortion of the process is the annual “supplemental appropriations” routine, which regularly occurs now about the middle of the fiscal year, which for most appropriations started with a continuing-resolution crutch the preceding year.”

Don’t Mess With the Geese Police

The National Park Service wants to make sure Washington doesn’t become a dumping ground for unwelcome guests who indiscriminately swoop in to do their business and leave.

No, we’re not talking about politicians.

Canada geese—anywhere from several hundred to 1,000 at a time—have been making their mark across the National Mall at an alarming rate. Each Canadian honker can produce up to 2 pounds of poop a day, leading to slippery walkways and algae blooms in the Reflecting Pool, among other unsavory outcomes.

In May, NPS commissioned a team of border collies to establish a no-fly zone over the Washington Monument grounds, the Reflecting Pool and nearby JFK hockey fields. Employed by Geese Police DC, the four-legged contractors are responsible for keeping the areas “100 percent goose free, 95 percent of the time,” says NPS spokesman Michael Stachowicz. The annual performance-based contract starts at $28,500 for the first year, with four option years.

Now, Stachowicz says, only the occasional gaggle of geese pop in—a real testament to government performance improvement.

- Susan Fourney

Your Vote Counts

It’s tough to get the boss’s ear on management issues when that person is the president of the United States. And for federal employees the problem is compounded when a new leader transitions in—potentially every four years. The Transition in Governance 2016 Initiative, a bipartisan coalition of 16 good government groups, hopes to remedy that problem.

“Every new administration comes into office promising to fix long- standing management problems in the federal bureaucracy, but they quickly learn that changing the way government does business is incredibly difficult,” says Carl DeMaio, a senior fellow at the Performance Institute, who is the project’s director. “The coalition’s goal is to flag some of the biggest challenges a new administration will face and offer thoughtful recommendations and reforms for consideration.”

The group is hosting a series of 10 town hall meetings with current and former executive branch officials to define those priorities. Proposals emerging from the first town hall, in May, include:

- Evaluating program performance and consolidating programs.

- Creating a venture-capital fund to improve government performance.

- Expanding pay-for-success initiatives to encourage innovation.

- Establishing a State and Local Government Performance Office within the Office of Management and Budget.

- Creating a governmentwide chief operating officer to tackle major management challenges.

To share your ideas and vote for the reform proposals you consider most pressing for your agency, go to www.transitions2016.org.

- Susan Fourney

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Around Government

Charles S. Clark, Kellie Lunney, Susan Fourney, and Eric Katz — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 07:00:00 -0400

Defying Ranger Danger

NPS’ Matt Hudson says he was just doing his job during a courageous nighttime rescue.

After Matt Hudson received the call that his services were needed to rescue a man stuck on a rock amid Class IV rapids, he and his team—Brett Painter and Thomas Hall—had an hour’s drive to think about all the risks and dangers awaiting them.

Hudson, a National Park Service ranger at Obed Wild and Scenic River in Tennessee, never got cold feet on the ride over to Big South Fork National River, where the individual was stranded. He was not sure he and his partners would be able to run the rapids in the dark (he received the call around 10 p.m.), but Hudson still took his inflatable kayak into the water while Painter and Hall took a raft.

“You have a waterproof headlamp but it doesn’t project very far,” Hudson says of navigating at night. “The thing that replaces sight is knowledge of the river.”

The rescuers eventually were able to pull the man to safety, give him shoes and dry clothing, and let him walk along the riverbank while Hudson kayaked in the water. After a short period, however, the bank became unwalkable and Hudson gave up the kayak for the victim and swam next to him.

Hudson refuses to take too much credit.

“The swimming thing may sound cooler than it actually is,” he says. “I was basically swimming in calmer water.” Hudson notes, however, the victim almost certainly would have drowned if he had tried to swim on his own before the rangers arrived, and also was at risk for hypothermia.

Despite his modesty, Hudson, as well as Painter, Hall and 12 additional Park Service employees were recognized in May at the 70th Honor Award Convocation in Washington.

While he was indeed honored, Hudson still plays it cool.

“It’s just what rangers do,” he says. “We go out and we paddle and we rescue people.”

- Eric Katz

Sacked, Suspended, and What Comes Next

The tiny Merit Systems Protection Board is a major player in the debate over whether it should be easier to fire federal employees. But a lot of people, including lawmakers, still don’t totally understand its role in federal personnel law.

MSPB comes in at the end of the process for workers who’ve been fired or subjected to some other adverse personnel action. Two things have to happen before the MSPB gets involved: The agency acts, and an employee appeals that action. “There is no preemptive role that we take,” says Susan Tsui
Grundmann, MSPB chair.

Grundmann and her agency are pushing back against some misconceptions about MSPB’s role, including whether employees who are appealing their case are receiving a paycheck. “When we get the case, the employee is off the rolls,” says Grundmann, dispelling the notion that agencies don’t take expeditious action in misconduct cases because they are waiting for MSPB’s decision. “They’ve been fired, they’ve been suspended, whatever. They don’t receive any [back] pay unless they prevail with us.”

MSPB published a report in May on the history and case law surrounding due process, how it applies to the federal workforce, and a list of fallacies related to suspending or sacking an employee. The agency was clear that firing a government worker may be difficult, but it’s not impossible.

- Kellie Lunney

Safety in Numbers

When hurricane season bears down on communities across the country, few people think about how federal operations will persevere—unless they don’t. The same goes for a multitude of natural and human events like wildfires, floods, power outages, protests and security breaches. This is where federal executive boards come in. Located in 28 cities, FEBs work to improve communication and coordination among agencies across the country. Aside from workforce and community support, a big part of their mission is emergency preparedness and safety:

774k Federal civilians served in FEB areas in fiscal 2014

128 Operating status reports issued for severe weather, fires, power outages and security breaches

74 Emergency planning workshops hosted by FEBs, serving 4,400 participants

32 Continuity of operations exercises serving 2,200 participants

Solar Ready Vets

A bright-burning future is the lure for anyone who navigates a career transition. But perhaps none view their prospects with more intensity than warfighters returning to civilian ambitions.

In April, President Obama announced the Solar Ready Vets program, a joint Energy and Defense department effort to give service members the skills needed in the growing alternative energy industry.

It’s a merger of Energy’s training program called Sunshot and the Pentagon’s Skillbridge, a collection of internships and apprenticeships that allows service members to train up to six months before they muster out.

Now operating at 10 military bases, the program will train vets to size and install solar panels and connect electricity to local grids—they may also become sales people and inspectors. Courses are taught by companies, unions and academics.

The program “makes good business sense,” says Frank DiGiovanni, the Pentagon’s director of force readiness and training. “Since service members continue to receive military pay and benefits while participating, the training provider does not pay the service member to participate,” and the employer gets a “test run” with the veteran.

Chris Cortez, a Microsoft vice president, says, “These young military people bring skills, work ethic, and this is the kind of employee the industry needs.”

With solar firms now hiring at 10 times the rate of other industries, Obama set a goal of training 75,000 workers for the renewable energy industry by 2020.

- Charles S. Clark

Govlish as a Second Language

“Govlish is the language of Govland. Native Govlanders write and speak in it. Demystify it, and government is accessible to everyone.”

That is the mission statement on the website Govlish, which aggregates and analyzes more than 100,000 terms to help people decode the federal bureaucracy. Founder Robert Mander conducted
a study of public sentiment toward government speak. A scant 2 percent of respondents called the terms “precise and logical,” 61 percent called the language “insider jargon,” 12 percent said it was “mumbo jumbo,” and none said it was “easy to learn.”

Surprisingly, these ratings are from people in the know. Most survey respondents were government employees or contractors. To test your fluency, you can take a quiz on Govlish.

- Susan Fourney

What’s an SME?
A. Systems Maritime Engineer
B. Subject Matter Expert
C. Stupid Manager Error

What does LORACS stand for?
A. Logistics Office Request for Application to Contractor Status
B. Little or Reduced Access to Common Sense
C. Liaison Officer for Recognized and Authorized Classification Societies

How do you say “OSDBU” (Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization)?
A. It sounds like oh-SAD-bee-you
B. You cannot say OSDBU
C. It’s said as OZ-dih-boo

(Answers: B, C, C)

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Around Government

Charles S. Clark, Susan Fourney, and Michael Grass — Wed, 06 May 2015 09:00:00 -0400

The New Rat Pack

HeroRATs are on a global mission to sniff out danger and save lives.

By Susan Fourney

Hallmark could have a field day with this one: April 4 was World Rat Day (also U.N. Mine Awareness Day). OK, maybe a greeting card would be over the top. But APOPO, a nongovernmental organization that trains African giant pouched rats to save lives, believes more people should feel the love. Here’s why:

They sniff out land mines. In post-war regions like Angola, lives are still endangered by land mines. HeroRATs are 25 times faster than using metal detectors, according to the organization’s fact sheet. APOPO says it has disabled more than 43,000 explosive devices in six countries, sparing over 900,000 lives.

They can detect tuberculosis. The rats can spot the disease 20 times faster than conventional diagnostics. APOPO screens 1,500 sputum samples per week in Tanzania and Mozambique, and credits HeroRATs with identifying more than 7,000 new patients and halting spread of the disease to more than 50,000 people.

APOPO (a Dutch acronym for anti-personnel land mines detection product development) is based in Tanzania, and its global partners include the Defense Department, the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The aim is to partner with more agencies and train HeroRATs for missions like cancer screening, search and rescue, and container security.

The rats grow to about 4 to 6 pounds and can live for seven years. APOPO even offers an adoption program, in which proud donors can pick a name and track the birth, training and deployment of their HeroRAT.

The perfect gift for World Rat Day.

Star Power

The shine may have worn off some brands across government, but one agency continues to dazzle audiences with its star appeal. NASA was recently named one of the World’s 50 Most Popular Brands in a report by Infegy, a research firm that analyzes social media to quantify consumer sentiments. That puts NASA in the same galaxy as corporate giants like Google, Twitter, Apple and Nike. Infegy analyzed some 800 brands based on volume and tone of online conversations.

NASa’s online stats

26.4m

Total posts in 2014

3.5m

Posts per week in October 2014

68%

Positive responses

64%

Male audience

36%

Female audience

Colorado State of Slim

Colorado is already known as a very fit state in terms of the health and wellness of its residents. One survey late last year declared the Centennial State as the least obese in the nation.

But what about Colorado’s state workers?

The 16-week State of Slim pilot program, offered by the University of Colorado Anschutz Health and Wellness Center through the State of Colorado Employee Wellness Program, has been showing great results for the first group of 20 participants, which overall has lost a total of 282.1 pounds.

Some state employees who have participated have lost as much as 34 pounds. On average, participants have lost 8.59 percent of their body weight.

According to an announcement from the Colorado Division of Human Resources and the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center:

“In terms of weight loss, the program teaches employees how to get outside their comfort zone and have the right mind-set and motivation to transform themselves. Unlike typical weight loss programs, State of Slim teaches participants not only how to get the weight off, but how to keep it off.”

What’s next for the State of Slim beyond its successful pilot? The state government plans to offer the program to additional departments
in phases.

“State of Slim is an innovative and exciting way to get state employees to make healthy choices a part of their everyday life,” Beth Soberg, CEO of UnitedHealthcare of Colorado said in a statement. The health insurer paid for the program’s first phase.

- Michael Grass

The Foreign Service has braved a lot since that pivot point in 1997 when President Clinton nominated James Hormel as the first openly gay U.S. ambassador.

On March 24, 2015, six openly gay envoys assembled at Washington’s Newseum for a discussion organizers billed as an historic celebration of global equality.

Pictured from left are John Berry (Australia), James Brewster (Dominican Republic), Rufus Gifford (Denmark), Daniel Baer (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), James
Costos (Spain) and Ted Osius (Vietnam).

The event was sponsored by the Harvey Milk Foundation, the Human Rights Campaign and GLIFAA, the State Department organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender personnel.

At a time of legal expansion of same-sex marriage but continuing prejudice in many countries, “your personal story matters,” said Gifford. He gets “goosebumps and wakes up in disbelief” at his appointment, for which he and others thanked President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry. “As an ambassador, we present a strongly more nuanced version of what it means to be an American.”

Osius recalled how GLIFAA was founded in secret at a time when LGBT diplomats risked losing their jobs and security clearances if exposed. He said he was “amazed at the warm reception” average Vietnamese gave his whole family, affirming the lesson, “Be who you are.”

The envoys influence attitudes domestically and overseas, in corridors of power and on the street, panelists noted. Progress “doesn’t come naturally,” said Baer. “It takes hard work.”

- Charles S. Clark

Down for the Count

The Census Bureau’s fiscal 2016 budget includes funding to modernize the way the 2020 population count would be collected and processed. Budget documents say conducting the 2020 census using the same framework for 2010 would potentially cost an extra $5.1 billion from fiscal 2018 to 2020.

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Making Room for a Modern Workforce

Susan Fourney and Patrick Boynton — Wed, 06 May 2015 09:00:00 -0400

The U.S. Forest Service inhabits one of the more visible historical landmarks in Washington. The brick red Sidney Yates building, which opened its doors in 1880, sits at the edge of the National Mall.

The Forest Service, which turns 110 this year, grew out of its headquarters space years ago and leased offices across the Potomac in Rosslyn, Virginia. After a seven-month, $30 million renovation, completed in January 2014, the agency now boasts some of the most modern workspace in the city.

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Around Government

Charles S. Clark, Rebecca Carroll, and Susan Fourney — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 00:00:00 -0500

The Disease Detectives

CDC’s intelligence officers were on the case even before the Ebola outbreak made headlines.

By Susan Fourney

Imagine having a job and not knowing where your next commute will take you or what will be expected of you when you get there, and if the work doesn’t get done right, people could lose their lives. No pressure.

In early November, Dr. Leisha Nolen was packing her bags for Sierra Leone, the epicenter of the largest Ebola outbreak in history. Nearly 5,000 people had died by then, and the work of containing the disease promised to stretch weeks, if not months, into the future.

Nolen, an epidemic intelligence officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tracks myriad public health mysteries. She has traveled to places like the Democratic Republic of Congo to hunt down monkey pox and Micronesia to investigate melioidosis. She made two trips to West Africa in recent weeks.

“You get there and do what’s needed. You never know what that will be. When I arrived I ended up doing a lot of policy work,” says Nolen, who helped the local ministry develop a universal plan for addressing the outbreak. Other assignments include data collection, lab work and training local health officials in contact tracing. “You’re literally working every day from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.,” she adds.

As the situation worsened last spring, CDC put out a call for volunteers from across the agency to travel to West Africa. A core team of six to eight has grown to as many as 180. The Ebola outbreak signals only the third time in the agency’s history that it has cranked its Emergency Operations Center up to the highest activation status—Level 1. The other two times were post-Hurricane Katrina and during the 2009 outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus.

“It’s a horrible, horrible situation. But this is one of those times when you know why you’re there,” Nolen says. “Even doing something little is having some impact, and that’s really satisfying.”

Gone to Pot And the Dogs

Dogs are known for precision sniffing, which is why security and law enforcement agencies use them to find bombs and drugs. It’s also why federal scientists tasked with improving explosives and narcotics detection at airports and other checkpoints started studying dog noses and then 3-D printing what the National Institute of Standards and Technology calls “the first anatomically correct dog nose that realistically sniffs.”

The devices, modeled after a female Labrador retriever, expel strong air jets away from the nostrils the way real dogs do when exhaling. This helps pull in new smelly air “from impressive distances,” says NIST scientist Matthew Staymates. The process repeats up to five times a second.

NIST’s dog nose research started as a side project to track the movement of vapor—potentially carrying explosives or narcotics. “We built an artificial dog nose that sniffed like a real dog and began flow visualization experiments in our schlieren optical system,” Staymates says, referring to a device that can visually render variation in air temperature and density.

The researchers will soon print their best dog nose yet with the Connex500 3-D printer the agency bought in August for $228,977. The machine can print multiple substances, such as the hard and soft parts of the model nose, into one object.

The artificial noses aren’t used at security checkpoints. “This is strictly a research tool,” Staymates says.

-Rebecca Carroll

Feel Well, Work Well?

Consultant helps agencies align employees’ mood with the mission.

Managers worried about disengaged staffers have a new remedy on offer. The General Services Administration has booked the Ken Blanchard Companies—founded by the author of The One Minute Manager —to deliver Employee Work Passion Assessments to any agencies feeling the need.

Unveiled in October to several dozen federal employees at Washington’s City Club, the new tool updates Blanchard’s long-standing situational leadership development system with onsite coaching and employee surveys designed to dovetail with President Obama’s management agenda.

The federal government loses 19,000 work years annually due to sick days, according to the company’s literature, which cites 35 years’ experience with corporations like Nissan, Johnson & Johnson and Nike as well federal customers ranging from the CIA to the Marines to the Food and Drug Administration. Workshop surveys measuring 12 engagement factors—among them “task variety”—have shown retention increasing 17 percent, turnover cut by 28 percent and productivity rising 10 percent, the sales team noted.

In a nutshell, improving engagement means awakening employees to what they can gain from autonomy, according to the Blanchard group. “Motivation is a skill that can be taught and nurtured. But the new F-word in business and government is ‘feelings,’ ” said motivational speaker and author Susan Fowler, adding that too many employees are feeling insecure.

Disengagement, added Bob Freytag, a senior partner at Blanchard, comes from “worry about being judged and seeming needy, which keeps people from asking leaders for what they need and discussing goals.” An optimally motivating workplace offers employees a “sense of well-being aligned with the mission,” which promotes above-average work, discretionary effort and good citizenship, he said.

Blanchard licenses cost $60 per person annually for federal agencies with fewer than 25,000 employees and $45 for those with more.

- Charles S. Clark

Money to Burn

Agencies on average spend 4.9 times more in the fiscal year’s final week than they do in a typical week, according to a report examining 14.6 million federal contracts from 2004 to 2009. The last-minute spending surge was more modest at the Justice Department, which has special authority to roll over up to 4 percent of budget for information technology projects. The authors suggest allowing some rollover of excess funds into the next budget year would allow agencies to spend more wisely.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

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Around Government

Rebecca Carroll, Susan Fourney, and Eric Katz — Sun, 01 Sep 2013 01:00:00 -0400

Films About War

Iraq War veteran Michael Chan pursued two dreams—the military and movies.

By Susan Fourney

High on the list of risky career moves are fighting wars and making movies, and Michael Chan took a chance on both. The 27-year-old Iraq War veteran, who served two tours with the Marines in Fallujah, was honored at the 2013 GI Film Festival in May. The nonprofit’s annual showcase highlights films about military service and veterans issues.

Chan’s award-winning documentary, Choice, is based on his wrenching decision to enlist in the military as a teen. “I wanted to do something bigger with my life,” says Chan, who was raised in New York’s Lower East Side. After the nearby World Trade Center towers fell to terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, he found himself on the doorstep of a Marine Corps recruiting office. Knowing his family would not approve, he enlisted on his 18th birthday.

In Fallujah, Chan filmed parodies with his digital camera to take the edge off. He made his comrades laugh. “At that point I knew I wanted to tell stories,” he says.

Breaking into the movie business hasn’t been easy for Chan. “My first year back home I was rejected from every film school you could possibly name,” he says. Finally, he was accepted to the University of Southern California, where he received a degree in 2012. Chan now is a production assistant on the upcoming movie Thor: The Dark World at Marvel, where he was paired with a mentor through American Corporate Partners, a nonprofit that helps vets gain a foothold in their field.

Chan also is working on a full-length script that he hopes will help counter the stigma of post-traumatic stress disorder. “This is the type of story I want to tell” he says. “Whether it’s good or not is for people to judge when it comes out.”

Tracking Tech Talent

The push is on to attract skilled professionals to science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medical jobs at federal agencies. In 2012, 28 percent of federal workers were in STEMM fields, compared with 25 percent a decade earlier.

The Furlough Five-Miler

Federal employees are sequestering their own exercise.

Defense Department employees Beth Flores and Christel Fonzo-Eberhard organized a fun run to help their colleagues stay positive during what they call a “really bad period.” Civilian workers could give up as much as 20 percent of their pay thanks to furloughs required by budget cuts. The Furlough Five-Mile Fun Run—from the Pentagon to the Capitol—took place on July 12, the department’s first furlough day.

Unbeknownst to the 50 participants, the finish line was at the four-mile marker, where a banner read: “This is what 80 percent looks like.” The shortened work window, in this case, was meant as a welcome relief.

“They tell you to ‘Do the best you can four days a week, and oh, by the way, you’re getting a pay cut,’” says Fonzo-Eberhard. “So that starts to have a really serious impact on morale.”

Other event plans include a charity outing, possibly with the Wounded Warrior Project. “By doing something like this, you really get to take some ownership over your fate and not feel like a pawn,” she adds. “And that was really the goal.”

- Eric Katz

Weeding Out Waste

David Walker takes his federal efficiency campaign to Capitol Hill.

David Walker, the former comptroller general, has spent the past five years heading nonprofits focused on tackling the fiscal crisis and streamlining government. With bills introduced in Congress, his latest project, the Government Transformation Initiative, has moved closer to its goal of creating a bipartisan commission to eliminate wasteful programs.

GE: What motivated you to take on the Government Transformation Initiative?

Walker: I was motivated by my 15 years of federal government experience, where I saw what worked and did not work . . . I believe there is a need for a Government Transformation Commission that would make specific and actionable recommendations to the Congress relating to the organization and operations of government . . . No matter what you believe the size and scope of the federal government should be, it should do its work in an economical, efficient and effective manner. There is a lot of room for improvement.

GE: Is management reform sexy enough to win attention from Congress?

Walker: It is virtually certain that the Senate and House will not be able to reach agreement on a budget . . . A Government Transformation Commission combined with biennial budgeting and much more substantive “No Budget: No Pay” legislation would be positive steps that could resonate with the public.

GE: Does corporate funding bias the initiative toward fiscal austerity?

Walker: GTI is not about austerity, it is all about efficiency and effectiveness. A Government Transformation Commission would make recommendations that result in cost savings. It could also make recommendations to invest more in areas that are effective.

Daring Deliveries

You need a little extra spring in your step to deliver mail to the houses around Wisconsin’s Lake Geneva. A practice dating back more than a century involves jumping off and back on a moving passenger boat to drop mail at some 70 piers. Lake Geneva Cruise Line has been hiring summer workers to uphold this tradition for more than 50 years. The U.S. Postal Service pays the cruise line $1 a year to make the deliveries.

- Rebecca Carroll

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Around Government

Charles S. Clark, Chawndese Hylton, Susan Fourney, Eric Katz, and Kedar Pavgi — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Debating the Draft

One lawmaker says women should sign up, while others say shut it down.

The decades-old military draft system could be in line for a face-lift if some in Congress have their way.

Lawmakers are making moves to reform the Selective Service, the agency in charge of registering young men for compulsory service in the event of a military call-up. The agency was created in 1948, and the last draft was in the early 1970s during the Vietnam War.

One bill, sponsored by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., would reinstate the draft and require women to register with the Selective Service System—which now applies only to men ages 18 to 25. According to Rangel, the Defense Department’s new policy to allow women in combat should require them to sign up as well.

“Requiring women to register with the Selective Service would compel the American public to have a stake in the wars we fight as a nation,” he said in
a statement.

Two other lawmakers want to eliminate the Selective Service. Reps. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., and Mike Coffman, R-Colo., say the agency’s $24 million budget is a waste of taxpayer money. They argue that the Pentagon is unlikely to resort to a draft if a conflict breaks out, and say Congress is unnecessarily prolonging the agency’s life.

Either proposal would bring significant change to the Selective Service System. Since the shift to an all-volunteer military force in 1973, the agency and its workforce of about 130 employees has taken a back-seat role in supporting Defense. Still, registration with Selective Service is mandatory for eligibility in many federal programs, including student financial aid and government employment.

Though legislation is unlikely to make headway anytime soon, the movement to change the draft is likely to persist in Washington’s tough budget environment.

- Kedar Pavgi

For the Birds

Government transparency is considered an aspirational goal these days, but on occasion it can ruffle some feathers.

Collisions with glass buildings cause up to 1 billion bird deaths each year, according to Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., who has introduced a bill to compel the General Services Administration to incorporate bird-safe building materials and design features into federal structures.

“This completely cost-neutral bill will save these birds’ lives without requiring unrealistic actions or expenditures,” Quigley wrote on his website. “The way we live our lives cannot be detrimental to other species, and yet collisions with glass on buildings is a man-made issue.”

- Susan Fourney

Tornado Relief Fund Started

Terri Long was known as a fighter.

During her career at the Federal Aviation Administration, she fought against her cancer—which she defeated—and for her co-workers, as vice president of the Oklahoma chapter of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists.

Long died May 20, one of 24 people killed by tornadoes in Moore, Okla. Federal employees have mobilized to help her family and other storm victims.

“We have been nonstop since [the tornado hit],” says LeAnn Jenkins, president of Oklahoma’s Federal Executive Board. “There’s been a lot of communication and coordination of resources and unmet needs.”

There are at least 5,000 FAA employees in Oklahoma, many of whom work at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City. The storm—and a tornado in Shawnee the previous day—destroyed the homes of many federal employees.

A Social Security Administration building was damaged, and the local post office in Moore was destroyed. U.S. Postal Service employee Richard L. Jones was killed. Two weeks later, another tornado outbreak ripped through the region and killed 14 people.

To make a donation to the Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund for tornado relief, go to www.feea.org.

- Eric Katz

Getting Personal

The perils of using private email accounts for federal business.

It’s tempting, with modern remote access to email worldwide, to toggle back and forth between personal and business accounts. But for federal officials, the temptation can spell trouble.

Several Obama administration officials have been taken to task recently for conducting government business using private email. Lisa Jackson, before leaving as Environmental Protection Agency administrator in December, drew attention from EPA’s inspector general and Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Texas, who serves on the House Science and Energy committees, for using a secondary email account for selected communications—along with other agency officials. The account used the pseudonym Richard Windsor.

Thomas Perez, President Obama’s nominee for Labor secretary, faced a rocky confirmation battle in the Senate this spring, in part because of some 1,200 emails from his personal account in which he discussed Justice Department strategy in a controversial housing discrimination case in St. Paul, Minn.

Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, was criticized by his agency’s inspector general in May for using a personal email account in discussing regulators’ handling of the collapse of the brokerage firm MF Global Holdings in 2010.

William Bransford, general counsel to the Senior Executives Association, says using personal email for work is not advisable because of the need to archive. “With a personal account, the government can’t investigate something that may be inappropriate or on the edge—they would need a search warrant,” he says.

EPA argues it is standard practice and that the personal accounts are subject to the same disclosure requirements as official accounts. Lawmakers argue it violates the administration’s commitment
to transparency.

- Charles S. Clark

Out of Africa

A virtual trip can be the next best thing to being there when tight budgets make the trek impossible. That’s why the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art has partnered with Polycom to use video collaboration tools to bring art and science exhibits like “African Cosmos: Stellar Arts” into the classroom. The free interactive virtual field trips offer “a way for schools to enhance their art education without spending resources or traveling,” says Deborah Stokes, NMAA’s curator for education.

- Chawndese Hylton

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In Focus: Funding Defense

Susan Fourney and Kelly Martin — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:59:31 -0400

The national defense base budget has outweighed non-defense spending for much of the past three decades, according to data compiled by the Congressional Research Service. In constant dollars, defense base budget authority in 1977 was lower than non-defense -- $340.6 billion versus $421.1 billion. In 2012, national defense spending was higher than non-defense -- $554.3 billion versus $489 billion.

The national defense budget includes military operations and defense-related activities at other federal agencies, including the Energy Department. The base budget does not include supplemental spending for wars and emergency operations.

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and Pentagon leaders warned lawmakers in February that sequestration cuts would result in a “drastic shortfall in the funding we need to do training, which inhibits our capacity to fight.” But it appears consensus is building around scaling back military spending. Factoring in war costs, the Pentagon’s budget is 12 times that of the civilian agencies, former Office of Management and Budget defense analyst Gordon Adams said at a March forum hosted by the Center for International Policy.

Here's a look at how defense and non-defense dollars have ebbed and flowed from the Carter administration to President Obama's. Amounts are adjusted for inflation in fiscal 2012 constant dollars and exclude spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Budget Winners and Losers

Susan Fourney and Kelly Martin — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:50:24 -0400

While federal deficit reduction and sequestration have dominated the national conversation during the past year, not all agencies would see spending cuts under President Obama’s fiscal 2014 budget proposal .

Eight departments and major agencies would see increases in discretionary funding under the president’s plan. The State and Commerce departments would see the biggest hikes over actual spending levels in fiscal 2012. State would receive a 15.6 percent increase, from $41.6 billion to $48.1 billion, while spending at Commerce would rise 11.7 percent, from $7.7 billion to $8.6 billion.

Still, Obama said Wednesday that his plan includes difficult cuts to grow the economy and ensure the nation lives within its means.

“This budget continues my commitment to reforming and streamlining our government for the 21st century,” the president’s budget message states. “It builds on my Campaign to Cut Waste by further targeting and eliminating wasteful spending wherever we find it. It reorganizes and consolidates agencies and programs to make them leaner and more efficient. It increases the use of evidence and evaluation to ensure we are making smart investments with our scarce taxpayer dollars. And it harnesses new technologies to allow us to do more with less.”

For the second consecutive year, the Justice Department is in line for the biggest request reduction by far -- 39.4 percent -- from $26.9 billion to $16.3 billion. Justice officials note, however, that excluding changes in mandatory programs, the department's spending power would increase by 3.1 percent over its fiscal 2012 enacted budget. The next largest cut would be absorbed by the Small Business Administration. After a budget increase last year, SBA spending would be reduced by 11.1 percent, from $900 million to $800 million.

Here's a look at how the major agencies would fare under Obama’s proposal.

Correction: The original version of this article misstated figures for the Small Business Administration and the percent change for the Interior Department. This story also has been updated to include comment from the Justice Department.

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In Focus: Where the Federal Workforce Counts

Susan Fourney and Kelly Martin — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:34:41 -0400

As agencies scramble to determine which employees might be subject to furlough and for how long, states are bracing for the economic fallout from sequestration. Government’s budget crunch sometimes is viewed as solely a Washington problem, but its impact also will be felt disproportionately in other parts of the country where the federal workforce is omnipresent.

Among a federal civilian workforce of than 2 million, Washington, D.C., ranks No. 4 with about 165,000 employees, trailing California (242,000), Texas (187,000) and Virginia (171,000), according to data compiled by Janet Kopenhaver, the Washington representative for Federally Employed Women . States with the fewest feds include Delaware (5,300), Vermont (6,500) and New Hampshire (8,000).

Drawing on data from the Office of Personnel Management and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, FEW breaks down the population of federal civilians (where they work) and retirees (where they live) by congressional district and provides the information to lawmakers each year. “These statistics are very important to legislators and their staffs on Capitol Hill so that they will know how many federal workers and retirees are employed and live in their state and district,” Kopenhaver said in a news release. “So the next time lawmakers say that federal workers are overpaid, wasteful and not productive, and that furloughs and/or layoffs should be implemented, let them remember that they are referring to their own constituents and their livelihoods.”

At a 2012 news conference releasing projections that sequestration would cost the nation’s economy 2.14 million jobs , two big city mayors sounded the alarm. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said the cuts “would likely put Arizona in a recession.”

Especially in states with a significant military presence, furloughs and spending cuts loom large. In March, Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter sent letters to the governors of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington, warning that spending cuts at military installations could have a ripple effect on local economies.

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In Focus: Clocking Clearances

Chanin Knight and Susan Fourney — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:35:00 -0400

As recently as 2007, if you were a federal employee or contractor who needed a security clearance to handle classified information you could expect to wait more than 100 days before your background investigation was complete. Now the average wait is little more than a month, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management.

Since the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act set timeliness standards for clearance processing, investigation times have plummeted by 75 percent. Under the 2004 law, agencies were expected to complete 80 percent of background checks within 90 days by fiscal 2007 and 90 percent within 40 days by fiscal 2009 -- plus 20 days for the adjudication process. Target times are longer for certain types of clearances.

The Obama administration has made strides in streamlining security clearances, according to the Government Accountability Office, which removed the process from its high-risk list in 2011. The Defense Department, which handles the majority of government security clearances, has vastly improved timeliness by standardizing investigation and adjudication procedures.

But more work lies ahead, U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro noted in congressional testimony last year. “Emphasis on quality in clearance processes should promote positive outcomes,” he said, "including more reciprocity among agencies in accepting each other’s clearances."

Timeliness of Background Checks

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Timeline: The March Into Combat

Susan Fourney and Kelly Martin — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 17:05:29 -0500

As Pentagon leaders figure out how to integrate female service members into direct ground combat units, they have more than 200 years of precedent to fall back on. Women have been on the battlefield since the American Revolution, albeit surreptitiously at times. Before World War II, most of them were nurses or cooks or laundry maids. Others went undercover, disguising themselves as men to serve on the front lines.

Indirect combat and support roles have been open to female service members for decades. In 1974, for example, Barbara Allen Rainey became the U.S. military’s first female pilot. By 2009, 92 percent of specialties were open to service women, according to a Defense Department report for the White House Council on Women and Girls. Women comprise 14 percent of active-duty military members, and more than 280,000 have deployed to Southwest Asia since 2001, according to the Defense figures. About 150 have been killed, and more than 800 have been wounded.

The decision to reverse the 1994 Defense policy excluding female service members from direct ground combat units is not without controversy. Some critics say women lack the physical and psychological strength to fight on the front lines, and others believe integrating the genders could exacerbate the military’s troubling record of sexual harassment and assaults. But challengers of the ban say the real danger is precluding women from receiving the same combat training as their male counterparts.

Already more than 90 percent of military jobs are open to women. The Pentagon plans to open new positions in stages after the services review their current structure to determine how and when to integrate combat units. Here’s a look at how military roles for women have evolved through the years.

Caitlin Fairchild and Jodie Morris contributed to this report.

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Around Government

Chawndese Hylton, Susan Fourney, and Kedar Pavgi — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Nobel Pursuits

NIST scientist David Wineland’s work leads to the call of his life.

By Kedar Pavgi

People in government tend to associate the 3 a.m. phone call with a crisis. For National Institute of Standards and Technology scientist David Wineland it was one of the best surprises of his life. In mid- October, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences called Wineland in the wee hours at his Colorado home to inform him that he had won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physics. He had only one word running in his mind: “Wow.”

Wineland was awarded the Nobel Prize alongside French physicist Serge Haroche for their research in quantum physics. His work has focused on controlling subatomic particles using lasers for further applications in atomic clocks and quantum computing. Wineland is the fourth NIST scientist in 15 years to receive the Nobel Prize, and one of the first to receive it in the quickly transforming field of quantum physics.

Wineland says in 1975 he chose to come to NIST because of the broad opportunities it offered. “I had my heart set on going into academia, but after looking at, and seeing what the real possibilities were, it just seemed that I would be able to do more if I came to NIST,” he says.

Wineland is the first to point out that his achievements are a team effort. His working group on subatomic particles—which includes scientists James Bergquist, Wayne Itano and John Bollinger—goes by the name Team Ions around the office.

Applications from their work are now used in everything from satellite technology and Global Positioning Systems to data servers needing critical time measurements.

Glossy Government

The Library of Congress has stepped up its government cool factor with a new magazine, LCM. The color glossy is a far cry from the library’s first publication, launched during World War II as a mimeographed newsletter. LCM’s first cover story details how the fledgling congressional library, which was burned by the British during the War of 1812, came back to flourish. Its collection has grown to 151 million manuscripts, photos, maps and movies—enough to fill the pages of LCM for years to come.

- Susan Fourney

Coordinating Camo

Best dressed is more than just a fashion statement when it comes to warfighting. But a recent report from the Government Accountability Office says the military services must better coordinate their uniform policies to fit missions and budgets.

Before 2002, all the services outfitted their troops with the Army’s version of the desert camouflage uniform. Since then each branch has introduced its own version to meet specific needs, according to GAO. Many of the changes have been technological, such as new fabrics that add flame resistance or blend into the environment.

The 2010 defense authorization directed the Pentagon to establish joint criteria for future ground combat uniforms, but limited guidance has failed to produce consistency, according to auditors. “Without a policy . . . the services could fall short of protecting all service members equally, potentially exposing a number to unnecessary risks,” the report said.

The cost of making new uniforms isn’t cheap either. GAO said replacing the Army’s battlefield uniform would cost nearly $4 billion over a five-year life span.

- Kedar Pavgi

Forever Fed

Sarkis Tatigian, the oldest Defense employee, is going strong at 90.

While many federal workers are looking forward to retirement in the next few years, 90-year-old Sarkis Tatigian has no immediate plans to hang up his spurs. The oldest employee in the Defense Department, Tatigian became eligible for retirement in 1973. Yet, this September he celebrated 70 years of service with the Navy.

Many public servants move on to new opportunities in the private sector, but Tatigian believes those who stay “do so because they like what they do.” For Tatigian, “a personal sense of accomplishment and reward” and a variety of experiences are what have kept him at the same agency for so long. He joined the Navy in 1942 as a junior radio inspector at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia. While on active duty, he helped develop one of the first radar-guided missiles, the BAT, which was used in combat in 1945. Tatigian began his civilian career in 1946, and in 1979 he became associate director of the small and disadvantaged business utilization office.

“He helps steer billions of dollars that generate thousands of jobs across our country,” Sean Crean, director of the Office of Small Business Programs, said at the September event. “He has been part of the greatest Navy the world has ever seen, in the course of time that would easily be two or three careers for anyone else.”

- Chawndese Hylton

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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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Government Executive - Authors - Susan Fourney

Around Government

Around Government

Around Government

Making Room for a Modern Workforce

Around Government

Around Government

Around Government

In Focus: Funding Defense

Budget Winners and Losers

In Focus: Where the Federal Workforce Counts

In Focus: Clocking Clearances

Timeliness of Background Checks

Timeline: The March Into Combat

Around Government

Around Government

Making Room for a Modern Workforce