Incoming
The House Armed Services Committee will consider how to increase DOD's acquisition work force, which is too small because Congress has reduced it too much.
“The belief of the new majority is [that] the reduction of acquisition work force went too far,” Andrew Hunter, an HASC majority professional staff member, said during a discussion hosted by the Industry Advisory Council.
The fiscal 2006 DOD authorization bill instructed DOD to increase the number of acquisition professionals by five percent a year in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Hunter said a challenge is finding funds to hire more acquisition professionals. “Once you give away those positions, it is hard to get them back,” he said.
Defense, VA plan a combined e-health records system
The Veterans Affairs and Defense departments plan to collaborate on a joint inpatient electronic health record system for hospitalized active-duty military personnel and veterans. The system will let physicians share medical data seamlessly, VA secretary Jim Nicholson said. VA and DOD currently can exchange only certain data.
VA and DOD first will examine their clinical and business processes and perform a feasibility study of their requirements, said William Winkenwerder Jr., DOD assistant secretary for health affairs.
Pentagon wants to apply security standards to contractors
The Defense Department is proposing to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement to address training requirements that apply to contractor personnel who perform information assurance functions for DOD.
The proposed change provides that contractor personnel accessing information systems must meet the requirements of DOD Directive 8570.1, Information Assurance Training, Certification and Workforce Management, and DOD Manual 8570.01-M, Information Assurance Workforce Improvement Program.
Comments can be submitted using the federal e-rulemaking portal at www.regulations.gov or via e-mail to dfars@osd.mil.
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