By Debbie Gregory.

Fielding a replacement for the Bradley fighting vehicle is the Army’s top priority for its Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCVs) program.

The Army named NGCV as one of its top-six modernization priorities that will be supported under the service’s new Futures Command expected to reach an initial operational capability this summer. The NGCV will replace Cold War era fighting vehicles with a new, modern design meant to kit out tank and mechanized infantry units.

Army Secretary Mark Esper revealed that the service will focus first on the “new infantry fighting vehicle, which is what the first Next Generation Combat Vehicle will be.” It will feature driver-assisted, 360-degree situational awareness assisted by artificial intelligence, as well as computer-assisted targeting and acquisition capabilities allowing quicker decision making in combat.

“We can’t wait 15 years. We’ve got to pull that forward because I’m looking at the National Defense Strategy, I’m looking at those countries and I know I have to get there sooner,” Esper said.

Manned and unmanned NGCVs will work together on the battlefield, with the larger manned vehicles carrying a tank gun or squad of infantry troops. The unmanned vehicle will be considerably smaller, but still carry a considerable punch. The unmanned vehicle could be used as a scouting vehicle, traveling ahead of a mixed armored task force.

The Army has budgeted $38 million for advanced prototyping efforts across the six modernization priorities in FY19.

By late FY19, the Army will introduce one manned and two unmanned combat vehicles for testing by the service’s Test and Evaluation Command. The 2019 deadline for a manned vehicle means the first generation NGCV will likely be something relatively new but already in production.

NGCV is the Army’s third attempt to replace the Abrams tank and the Bradley IFV. During the 2000s, the cancelled Future Combat Systems program spent $18.1 billion without fielding a single vehicle.

By Debbie Gregory.

It turns out that Clayton Pressley III, a former sailor who was serving a 50 month prison sentence for stealing the identities of his subordinates, was also ripping off the Navy through an elaborate procurement fraud scheme.

Pressley, who was kicked out of the Navy after nearly 20 years, will now serve an additional two years in federal prison in connection with the $2.3 million scam, which netted him more than $644,000.

Court documents show that Pressley conspired with two others to form a sham government contracting firm in May 2014. The company was ostensibly formed to provide “inert training aids” to Navy units.

The conspirators manipulated the government procurement process to contract with themselves and signed fraudulent documentation indicating the company had delivered product when it had not.

The Navy would pay the company through intermediaries and ultimately the conspirators would distribute the proceeds among themselves.

According to court documents, an unnamed Navy officer who had purchasing authority ordered the aids from two vendors, identified as Firm D and Firm V. It is unclear whether the sales representatives knew the scope of the fraud.

Pressley used the money for travel and home goods.

“The steps taken by Mr. Pressley and others to perpetrate their scheme demonstrated remarkable cunning and deceitfulness,” Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David Layne said in court documents, asking for a sentence of at least three years and 10 months.

Pressley’s attorney, Bruce Sams, said his client was struggling with unspecified mental health issues at the time of his crimes and asked for leniency.

“Mr. Pressley does not really know what reasons led him to engage in his criminal conduct but has expressed his remorsefulness and repentance for having done so,” Sams said in court documents.

Pressley, who was awarded a Bronze Star “for exceptionally meritorious service during Operation Iraqi Freedom” has been ordered to pay full restitution.

By Debbie Gregory.

On May 17^th, the Department of Veterans Affairs inked a 10-year, $10 billion contract with Kansas City, Missouri-based Cerner Corp. to adopt the same commercial electronic health records system as the Pentagon.

“President Trump has made very clear to me that he wants this contract to do right by both Veterans and taxpayers, and I can say now without a doubt that it does,” said Veterans Affairs Acting Secretary Robert Wilkie. He continued, “Signing this contract today is an enormous win for our nation’s veterans. It puts in place a modern IT system that will support the best possible health care for decades to come. That’s exactly what our nation’s heroes deserve.”

The department received nearly $800 million in funding from Congress for fiscal 2018 to begin the contract.

“For too long, service members transitioning from the Department of Defense to VA healthcare have been unable to take their medical records with them,” said Rep. Tim Walz, ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

Cerner President Zane Burke said in a statement that the company is honored to have the opportunity to improve the health care experience for our nation’s veterans.

“The VA has a long history of pioneering health care technology innovation, and we look forward to helping deliver high-quality outcomes across the continuum of care,” said Burke. “We expect this program to be a positive catalyst for interoperability across the public and private health care sectors, and we look forward to moving quickly with organizations across the industry to deliver on the promise of this mission.”

By Debbie Gregory.

The controversy around Google’s cooperation with the military, which has already cost them a dozen employees, may intensify in the coming months as Project Maven expands into new areas.  This is the first known mass resignations at Google in protest against one of the company’s business decisions.

Google’s decision to provide artificial intelligence to the controversial military pilot program will expand to include developing tools to more efficiently search captured hard drives.

Project Maven is formally known as the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team. The technology fielded under Maven can automatically annotate objects such as boats, trucks, and buildings on digital maps.

The use of artificial intelligence in drone warfare has some Google employees protesting the only way they feel would be effective- by resigning. About 4,000 other Google employees have sign a petition in protest, asking Google to immediately cancel the contract and refuse future military work.

Google claims it is only providing open-source software to Project Maven, which means the military would be able to still use the technology, even if Google didn’t accept payment or offer technical assistance.

Google has long been known as one of the coolest companies to work for, with an open culture that encourages employees to challenge and debate product decisions.

Word of the controversial project began to spread internally three months ago. Employees felt that the ethical concerns regarding the project should have been addressed before the contract was signed.

Last month, the Tech Workers Coalition launched a petition of their own, demanding that Google abandon its work on Maven and that other major tech companies, including IBM and Amazon, refuse to work with the U.S. Defense Department.

By Debbie Gregory.

The entrepreneurial spirit is a mindset. It’s an attitude and approach to thinking that actively seeks out change, rather than waiting to adapt to change. It’s a mindset that embraces critical questioning, innovation, service and continuous improvement.

Many millennials get their idea of entrepreneurship from watching Shark Tank, giving little thought to the fact that most of the goods and services they enjoy probably sprang from the imagination of an entrepreneur.

Fred Smith is the founder, chairman, president, and CEO of FedEx. In 1962, Smith entered Yale University. While attending Yale, he wrote a paper for an economics class, outlining overnight delivery service in a computer information age. It is said that his professor told him that, in order for him to get a C, the idea had to be feasible.

Following his graduation, Smith served two tours in Vietnam with the Marine Corps, one as an infantry officer and one as a forward air controller. There he witnessed the military’s logistics operations, using flight to move personnel and equipment on a massive scale.

After leaving the military with a few distinguishing medals, including a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, Smith bought an aviation company that would grow to be FedEx. He named the company Federal Express because he believed the patriotic meaning associated with the word “federal” suggested an interest in nationwide economic activity.

Federal Express officially began operations on April 17, 1973. That night, 14 small aircraft took off from Memphis and delivered 186 packages to 25 U.S. cities.

Today, FedEx is consistently recognized as one of the most admired brands in the world and one of the best places to work. But like many innovative companies, it started out as an idea championed by a determined person.