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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.
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Sixty-Seven Senators Urge Obama to Resolve VA Claims Backlog

April 29, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow More than two-thirds of the U.S. Senate sent a letter to President Obama Monday urging his “direct and public involvement” to end the Veterans Affairs Department’s disability claims backlog. The letter, co-authored by Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Dean Heller, R-Nev., and signed by a bipartisan group of another 65 ...

DISA Eyes Wi-Fi at Fort Meade

April 29, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Defense Information System Agency plans to cover its Fort Meade, Md., campus with Wi-Fi service, a technology embraced by coffee shops worldwide about a decade ago. In a request to industry earlier this month, the agency said it wants the network to blanket its campus, which includes five buildings ...

So Long TRICARE Health Management Activity, Hello Defense Health Agency

April 25, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel tapped Air Force Maj. Gen. Douglas Robb for promotion today to the rank of lieutenant general and to serve as director of the new Defense Health Agency. Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter directed the establishment of the new agency – and the dissolution of ...

VA Installs Paperless Claims System at Most Regional Offices

April 25, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Veterans Affairs Department has installed its paperless disability claims processing system in 36 out of 57 regional offices as of this week; five more offices will have the Veterans Benefits Management System next week, Stephen Warren, the department’s acting Chief Information Officer said on a media call today. While ...

Program Chief: Software Problems Could Delay F-35’s Delivery Beyond 2017

April 25, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, program executive officer for the $397 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, told Senate lawmakers yesterday he has concerns that software development challenges could further delay delivery of combat ready aircraft slated to complete final testing by 2019. Contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. is developing ...

Pentagon Finally Gets Around to Clarifying the CIO Role

April 24, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow In August 2010, then Defense Secretary Robert Gates shut down the office of the Assistant Secretary for Networks and Information Integration as one small piece of a budget cutting exercise, with a new and improved Chief Information Officer shop taking over many of the tasks once performed by ASD/NII. This ...

Poor Mental Health Is a ‘Signature Scar’ of Afghanistan and Iraq Wars

April 24, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow This story has been updated. Persistent mental health conditions -- anxiety, depression and sleep disorders -- along with neck, back, and joint pains among Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans may someday “be recognized as signature scars of the long war,” that began with the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, ...

Coming Soon: Defense’s New 100 Gigabit Supercomputer Network

April 24, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow CenturyLink has started work on a contract with a maximum value of $750 million to stitch together Defense Department supercomputer centers with a 100-gigabits-per-second network. CenturyLink won the Defense Information Systems Agency contract on June 8, 2012, but the award was delayed by a protest from Verizon Business, which had ...

Will the Next Veterans Affairs Department CIO Be a Woman?

April 23, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow I’m picking up medium strength signals that two and possibly three women are under consideration by the White House to serve as the chief information officer for the Veterans Affairs Department, a post that’s been open since Roger Baker retired in late March. These candidates all currently hold senior civilian ...

FAA Did Not Require Boeing to Use Strict Test Standards on 787 Batteries

April 23, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Federal Aviation Administration decided not to impose strict test requirements for the lithium ion batteries used on Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner aircraft due to timing and the fact that they exceeded regulatory requirements, agency officials said at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing Tuesday. The 787 fleet was grounded after ...