'Back-Door' Base Closures
Biden Talks Loss With Fallen Troops' Families
Neely Out at GSA
More USPS Buyouts
Gimme My Discount! Deals for Feds
Buyout Watch: Who's Offering What
AUTHOR ARCHIVES
Bob Brewin
Editor at Large
Bob Brewin joined Government Executive in April 2007, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience as a journalist focusing on defense issues and technology. Bob covers the world of defense and information technology for Nextgov, and is the author of the “What’s Brewin” blog.
Grunts, John Wayne and Mary Poppins
2:00 PM ET
FROM NEXTGOV
As I approach the Memorial Day weekend (no longer a time for solemn reflection on those who paid the highest price of military service, but just another three day weekend to enrich hotel operators), it’s good to pause and remember vignettes from my service, particularly in an era where only ...
Some UHF Satcom Help From Down Under
May 24, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
Ground forces in Afghanistan rely heavily on UHF satellites for voice communications. Currently that demand is met by a fleet of eight aging Navy-developed satellites that cannot keep up with the volume of battlefield communications. The Australian Defense Force will help fill some of the demand when it takes control ...
Defense-VA electronic health record cost pegged at $4 billion
May 24, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
The integrated electronic health record planned by the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments to jointly serve military personnel and veterans will cost $4 billion to develop and will go into service in stages from 2014 through 2017, according to Roger Baker, VA chief information officer. Baker said the two departments ...
The Blue Button Nation?
May 23, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
The Veterans Affairs Department’s Blue Button program to allow vets to easily access and download their personal health record continues to gain fans inside the veteran community and outside as well, Roger Baker, the VA chief information officer, told a media briefing Wednesday. More than 500,000 vets have signed up ...
Defense-VA disability evaluation system still broken, Senators charge
May 23, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
The joint Defense and Veterans Affairs department system for disability evaluations remains broken, with the average time to process an active-duty service member taking 394 days, senior members of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee charged Wednesday at hearing on the five-year-old Integrated Disability Evaluation System. The two departments set up ...
Getting More Out of Technology
May 23, 2012 All About Face Time Since 2009, Brandon Friedman, director of online communications for the Veterans Affairs Department, has helped launch a VA blog, 150 Facebook pages and 70 Twitter feeds, all of which have garnered a wide audience of veterans. Though Friedman, a former Army infantry officer who served with ...
Integrated Health Records and the Bureaucracy Thing
May 22, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
Barclay Butler, director of the Defense/Veterans Affairs Interagency Program Office charged with developing integrated electronic health records to serve both departments, said in his first report to Congress that one of his biggest challenges is dealing with bureaucracy. What a surprise. Butler said in the report, which a kind reader ...
No Defense-VA integrated electronic health record until 2017
May 22, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments will not deploy an integrated electronic health record until 2017, eight years after President Obama kick-started the project, according to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. Panetta noted an initial version of iEHR will be deployed by 2014 to medical facilities ...
Wanted: Plain English Translation of Tricare Sole Source Contract
May 21, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
TRICARE, the Defense Department's health insurance plan, awarded a $218,170.37 sole source contract last Friday to an outfit called Simpler North America to support its offices in the Puget Sound region with what appears to be consulting and conference services. I say “appears to be” because I have a hard ...
Defense and VA tap vendor to save clinicians from multiple log-ons
May 21, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments have selected Harris Corp. to provide a key piece of software for their integrated electronic health record system, Nextgov has learned. The software will provide quick and secure access to patient care information in multiple applications. Harris won out after a side-by-side evaluation with ...
