From Jim Garrettson, Executive Mosaic President & Founder
The GovCon sector and its executive leaders gained some gained some clarity this week when Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel previewed the military’s requested budget fiscal year2015.
Hagel said Tuesday the Pentagon will shrink its budget by $75 billion over the next two years — a number that would grow if sequestration takes place in FY 2016 — and also offered a glimpse into future DoD requests for the remainder of this decade.
“The president’s budget for fiscal year 2015 will also contain a new five-year defense budget plan, mapping out defense programs through 2019. Over five years, this plan projects $115 billion more in spending than sequestration levels.”
On Wednesday, several of the military’s top civilian leaders offered industry leaders and investors additional insight into the Pentagon’s decision-making processes at the Credit Suisse/McAleese FY2015 Defense Programs Conference in Washington.
Acting Deputy Defense Secretary Christine Fox sought to highlight GovCon firms and leaders in helping the military take advantage of new innovations in down-budget years with an eye toward the future.
“We can devote some creative thinking to developing technology and then keeping it on the shelf… for several years, if necessary, ready to be turned into procurement when there is a change in either defense budgets or strategic needs,” Fox said.
Air Force Undersecretary Eric Fanning called on industry to further help warfighters use open architecture and source technologies, an area Red Hat’s Lynne Chamberlain highlighted in a conversation with ExecutiveBiz earlier this year.
“Open source is the direction that the public sector, federal system integrators, OEMs, and IT partner’s have transitioned both internally and with their program submissions,” said Chamberlain, public sector BD lead.
Industry and government leaders will meet at the Potomac Officers Club’s “Federal Critical Infrastructure” Summit on March 19 to discuss ways of working together in another area of collaboration: protecting and bolstering U.S. critical infrastructure.
Government leaders Dr. Harvey Davis, NSA director of installations and logistics, and Dr. Timothy Unruh, director of the Energy Department‘s Federal Energy Management Program, will lend their 
insights to the GovCon executive audience.
Former DHS Cybersecurity Deputy Undersecretary Mark Weatherford and Ed Goetz, VP and chief security officer at Constellation Energy, will also offer their perspectives on the state of domestic infrastructure.
POC is also excited to host CACI Executive Chairman and iconic figure Jack London for a March 27 special event, where he will sign copies of his new book “Character: The Ultimate Success Factor.”
All proceeds from that event will go to CAUSE, a nonprofit organization providing rehabilitation support to wounded warriors.
Pamela Drew Steps Up to EVP Role at Exelis
Pamela Drew has been promoted to the EVP ranks at Exelis, where she will lead the company’s critical networks strategic growth platform.
She will continue to lead Exelis’ information systems business as president in addition to the EVP role.
David Melcher, Exelis CEO, said Drew joined the company in January 2013 and she has been a key asset to the senior leadership team.
Drew held leadership positions at TASC and Northrop Grumman before joining Exelis.
CNSI Provides Telecom Support for Los Alamos Lab
CNSI has signed a potential three-year contract extension to continue providing telecommunications services to the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The company operates the lab’s switching and distribution facilities and will now help the lab switch to VoIP technology
“CNSI’s continuing efforts will assist in positioning LANL as one of the most secure and efficient facilities in the world,” said Adnan Ahmed, CNSI president.
CNSI was nominated for the Energy Department’s Small Business of the Year award in 2011 and 2012.
Dell Federal to Help Develop NRC Cloud Infrastructure
Dell Services Federal Government will help the Nuclear Regulatory Commission develop and implement a cloud computing infrastructure.
Dell will focus on IT costs, operational issues and federal cloud migration requirements as it works to help create the private cloud.
“NRC has strict standards and requirements that its systems must support in order to carry out its vital regulatory oversight mission,” said George Newstrom, vice president of the Dell Services Federal Group.
Dell will also help the commission update legacy IT systems and consolidate data centers.
General Dynamics to Support Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center
General Dynamics Information Technology has won a $138 million contract to perform clinical services at the Defense and Veteran Brain Injury Center.
GDIT employees will be spread out across 15 medical treatment sites to aid military doctors.
Marcus Collier, senior vice president of the health and civilian services division for GDIT, said the company intends to deliver healthcare services to military members and support core programs at the DVBIC.
GDIT will conduct epidemiological research to monitor DVBIC patients and assess the clinical intervention outcomes.
Noblis Buys an FAA-Focused Business Unit From Exelis
Noblis has bought a business unit from Exelis that has been working on communications information and network programs under an FAA contract.
“We look forward to new opportunities to partner to meet the demands of today’s complex, dynamic, and challenging aviation transportation environment,” said David Fastabend, vice president of Exelis’ advanced information systems business.
Noblis has worked as a prime contractor on the FAA‘s ECSS contract since 2011.
Amr ElSawy, Noblis president and CEO, said his organization intends for the new employees to help the FAA achieve innovation and business transformation through ECSS.