Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Air Force has a new digital strategy focused on building a robust IT infrastructure and enhancing its data architecture. It’s also going to need to change the way it uses its cyber airmen. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione took a trip to Montgomery, Alabama, with the Air Force Acting Secretary Matt Donovan and Vice Chief of Staff Stephen Wilson. On Thursday, Federal Drive with Tom Temin heard their discussion about how warfare is going more digital. During the plane ride they also talked about what they need from cyber airmen and how the new strategy will affect all airmen.

One thing people in national defense do a lot of is training. Now the Defense Threat Reduction Agency wants to improve the training for those involved in potential nuclear warfare and make it more efficient — the training, that is. They're looking for help from industry. DTRA's Test Director for Nuclear Technologies, Lyndon Wrighten, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more.

How exactly do you check every shipping container coming into the United States for radioactive material? It seemed like a good idea and one nearly impossible to carry out. But Leticia Pibida helped in a big way to solve that problem. She is a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and a finalist in this year's Service to America Medals program. She joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more details.

The National Science Foundation is looking to foster a new convergence of artificial intelligence and wireless spectrum. It's about to host a workshop on that very topic. With what it's all about and some of the goals, Thyagarajan Nandagopal, deputy division director for the Division of Computing and Communication Foundations at NSF, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

In the ongoing drama of the Agriculture Department's efforts to relocate the headquarters for two of its research bureaus, there's a new chapter. Federal News Network learned earlier this week the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture are exploring whether their former employees might come back and consider working for their agencies part-time. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss why.

The National Nuclear Security Administration, a part of the Energy Department that oversees the country's nuclear weapons stockpile, has entered into a multimillion-dollar agreement with Cray Computer to build not just a new supercomputer but an "exascale" supercomputer. Mark Anderson, the acting assistant deputy administrator for Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation at the NNSA, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more details.

Last month, the admiral who was all set to become the Navy’s top officer suddenly announced his retirement. At the time, Navy officials said it was because Adm. Bill Moran had shown bad judgement by exchanging emails with a former subordinate who’d been disciplined for inappropriate behavior. On Wednesday, the Pentagon’s inspector general issued the findings of its investigation into Moran’s actions. The report paints a much clearer picture of what led to Adm. Moran’s downfall. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to talk about the findings.

Vice Adm. Raquel Bono, the director of the Defense Heath Agency, is retiring. Her departure comes as all of the military medicine facilities in the eastern half of the United States move from the armed services to the DHA. The transfer marks the consolidation of more than half of military medical facilities under one agency. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the latest details.

An often overlooked element in delivering excellent service to the public is having employees who themselves are taken care of by internal services like human resources, IT and contracting. The Partnership for Public Service took a close-up look at three agencies delivering good service, and how what goes on inside matters. For more, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to the partnership's executive vice president, Meroe Park.

The government’s experiment with Google apps is over. The Department of Homeland Security bucked a recent trend for not renewing large multiple award contracts. And the General Services Administration is rethinking and expanding one of its major governmentwide acquisition vehicles for small businesses. In his weekly feature, the Reporter's Notebook, Federal News Network Executive Editor Jason Miller brought us another edition of "As the Federal Procurement World Turns." He joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for a rundown on the latest episode of this soap opera.

It sounds simple — diplomatic and military mail goes to a specially designated Postal Service center and out it goes to diplomatic and military installations around the world. But the reality is a little messier. As Joshua Bartzen, audit manager for the USPS office of inspector general explained, several delays along the delivery route persist. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Earlier this year, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine demoted one of the spaceflight community's most influential members. Bill Gerstenmaier had served as NASA's associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations since 2005. However, after ongoing delays with the Space Launch System rocket and the risk of not returning to the moon by 2024, Bridenstine decided a change was needed. Eric Berger is Senior Space Editor at Ars Technica and has been closely following this incident. He told Federal News Network's Eric White what led up to Gerstenmaier's removal, and what it means. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Air Force Space Command is trying to bring its data systems and sets together to benefit its operations.

The National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation has urged the Federal Labor Relations Authority to end automatic payroll deductions for federal employee union dues, citing a Supreme Court ruling last year that struck them down for nonfederal government employees. William Messenger, staff attorney for the foundation, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss more.

Congress returns to Capitol Hill in two weeks with a long to-do list. The bipartisan budget deal congressional leaders struck with the White House earlier this summer sets top line spending numbers for the next two years. The deal is a start to avoid another government shutdown at the beginning of the next fiscal year. But it's only a start. The Senate hasn't touched a single appropriations bill yet. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for what comes next.