Policy
Homeland Security Department reissues National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin
Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen reissued last week the National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin pertaining to the terror threat to the U.S. homeland. Nielsen decided to extend the NTAS Bulletin after considering the current threat environment as well as input from... Read More »
Committee approves fiscal year 2018 NDAA with key Arizona funding priorities
The U.S. House Homeland Security Committee approved a national defense spending bill for fiscal year 2019 on Thursday that supports a number of military priorities in Arizona, including $163 million for new A-10 wings and $15 million for a new Aerospace Ground Equipment facility at Davis-Monthan... Read More »
ICE deports Italian national convicted of trafficking assault weapon components
An Italian national sentenced to 11 months in prison for trafficking assault rifle components and night vision goggles into the United States was deported to Italy on Thursday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers. Giovanni Zannoni,... Read More »
American Hospital Association highlights barriers to disaster health response system
The American Hospital Association (AHA) has called on the federal government to provide sufficient funding and guidance to establish a disaster health response system, and for all 50 states to put required licensing arrangements into place, to ensure public health amid “complicated threats.”... Read More »
Clade X: Simulated pandemic to put political leaders, public on notice
The upcoming Clade X exercise hosted by the Center for Health Security, which is part of the Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, will show the world how United States presidential advisors would handle policy decisions for an unfolding mock pandemic crisis. “The... Read More »
Bill encourages artificial intelligence advancement
Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) are supporting a measure seeking to direct attention to maintaining the nation’s artificial intelligence (AI) competitiveness in support of national security and economic interests. Ernst, Cortez Masto said the bill establishes the... Read More »
Rhode Island Airport to receive $7 million for post-9/11 security upgrades
The Rhode Island Airport Corp. (RIAC) will receive nearly $7 million in reimbursements from the federal government for security enhancements made to T.F. Green Airport in Warwick in response to the 9/11 terror attacks, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) announced on Wednesday. RIAC installed in-line... Read More »
3D printing could lead to security threats, labor market disruption
The technology known as 3D printing could disrupt labor markets and exacerbate security threats from violent actors, a new RAND Corporation paper suggests. To the latter point, 3D printing could benefit military adversaries, violent extremists, and even street criminals, who could produce their... Read More »
Firm lands contract to design reconnaissance technology
Intelleuron, LLC has garnered a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate contract to design, develop and test intelligent reconnaissance technology. Officials said the $199,977 award involves working with small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) in support of... Read More »
Sen. Murphy calls on Defense Department to ban use of foreign-made drones
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) recently sent a letter to U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary James Mattis asking him to consider a ban on DoD use of foreign-made drones until the completion of further threat-assessments. The DoD previously deemed drones manufactured in China a potential... Read More »
National Guard troops arrive at Laredo Sector Border Patrol
Operation Guardian Support brought 180 U.S. National Guard troops to the Laredo Sector Border Patrol on Tuesday to serve as pilots, aerial observers, intelligence analysts, communication specialists, camera operators, mechanics and additional non-enforcement roles. Additional National Guard... Read More »
Moniz calls termination of Iran nuclear deal “major strategic mistake”
Former U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz called President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal on Wednesday “a major strategic mistake” that would impair U.S. ability to deter an Iranian nuclear program as well as its ability to prevent nuclear proliferation... Read More »
Reps. McSally, Donovan applaud Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw from Iran Nuclear Deal
President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal on Tuesday was applauded by U.S. Reps. Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Dan Donovan (R-NY), who argued that the agreement was “deeply flawed” and “prioritized Iran’s interests over American security.” In... Read More »
Wisconsin first responders to conduct “Dark Sky” power outage training
The Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs is conducting a training exercise from May 15-17 in the state simulating a long-term mass power outage. The training exercise, known as Dark Sky, will take place in Brown, Calumet, Dane, Fond du Lac, Milwaukee, Outagamie, and Winnebago Counties. It is... Read More »
Firm to provide combat-ready equipment to Marines
A professional services and technology firm has been awarded a contract to provide combat-ready equipment to Marines worldwide. KBR, Inc. officials said the contract calls for a modification by the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) to provide prepositioning and logistics support services for the USMC... Read More »
DARPA awards BAE Systems contract to demonstrate optical seeker for precision munitions
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), through the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, recently awarded BAE Systems a $13.1 million contract to demonstrate an optical seeker for precision-guided munitions. The seeker uses passive electro-optical and infrared sensors to... Read More »House bill would reform U.S. military assistance, security assistance to foreign powers
U.S. diplomats would have access to new tools to rein in state sponsors of terrorism, to counter violent extremism, and to enhance regional and global security under a bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday. The International Security Assistance Act of 2018, H.R. 5677,... Read More »
NIST develops virtual reality testbed for first responder user interfaces
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) staff recently developed virtual reality environments designed to support industry in designing user interfaces for use by first responders. These interfaces could include visual indicators, sounds or voice commands that could be embedded... Read More »
Gen. Nakasone named director of U.S. Cyber Command, National Security Agency
U.S. Army Gen. Paul Nakasone became commander of U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) and director of the National Security Agency (NSA) during a change-of-command ceremony held in Fort Meade, Maryland, on Friday. Nakasone assumed command from retiring U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Rogers. Nakasone, who was... Read More »
DHS to end temporary protected states for 50,000 Hondurans in United States
After concluding that conditions in Honduras have “notably improved” since a 1999 hurricane led to Hondurans being granted temporary protected status (TPS) in the United States, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced plans on Friday to terminate TPS designation in January... Read More »CBP highlights efforts to intercept dangerous pests at Area Port of Baltimore
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists at the Area Port of Baltimore have conducted 3,534 container searches since January, issuing 360 emergency action notifications and executing 625 actionable interceptions of commodities. The Area Port of Baltimore has witnessed... Read More »
First responders from Latin America, Caribbean enhance chemical incident response preparedness
A regional basic training course offered by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in Panama from April 23-27 allowed first responders from Latin America and the Caribbean to improve chemical incident response capabilities. Organized jointly by OPCW and the Panamanian... Read More »
Raytheon to design, maintain air traffic management system for New York UAS testing corridor
The Raytheon Company has been selected to help design, build and support a next-generation air traffic management system for an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) testing airspace corridor in New York State, the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research (NUAIR) Alliance announced on Thursday.... Read More »
TSA PreCheck initiative adds six international carriers
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had added six international airlines to its PreCheck program, the administration announced on Wednesday. The six new partnering airlines include Air Serbia, Condor Airlines, Porter Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines (UK), and... Read More »
Air Force selects locations for three B-21 Raider aircraft
The Air Force announced Wednesday that it will host the new B-21 Raider aircraft at three existing bomber bases beginning in the mid-2020s. The B-21 Raider will replace B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit aircraft at Dyess Air Force Base (AFB), Texas; Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota; and Whiteman AFB,... Read More »
DHS S&T, TSA seeks small business solicitations to enhance security screening technology
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) invited small businesses to submit ideas to enhance security screening to the Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) on Wednesday for a chance to receive up... Read More »
U.S. Navy awards Engility $90 million enterprise services support task order
Engility Holdings, Inc. recently announced that it was awarded a five-year, $90 million task order to provide software engineering and production support to the U.S. Navy's tactical afloat and submarine local area networks. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic awarded the Tactical... Read More »
CBP announces expansion of ROAM pilot program for small boaters in boundary waters
In an effort to enhance security in the boundary waters between the United States and Canada, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Tuesday that it has expanded pilot locations for its Reporting Offsite Arrival-Mobile (ROAM) application for operators of small boats. The ROAM... Read More »
NTI cites verifiable, irreversible denuclearization as critical challenge in North Korea talks
Ahead of an anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un later this month, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) noted on Tuesday that the “critical question” is whether North Korea is willing to relinquish nuclear facilities, materials, and bombs in a “verifiable,... Read More »
DHS S&T takes part in weeks-long assessment of National Security Cutters’ capabilities
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently collaborated with the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard (USGC) to assess critical mission capabilities of two National Security Cutters (NSC) through weeks of at-sea testing. The cutters, the USCGC... Read More »
NATO team wins Locked Shields live-fire cyber exercise
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) announced Monday that the NATO “Blue team,” made up of 30 cyber defenders, won Locked Shields 2018, the world’s largest live-fire cyber exercise. The exercise required participants to counter high-intensity attacks on a fictitious country’s... Read More »
Rep. Donovan hosts security officials for school safety roundtable
Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY) hosted on Monday senior officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), New York City Police Department (NYPD), and the New York City Department of Education (DOE) for a roundtable discussion on school... Read More »
White House cites “new” information on Iranian nuclear ambitions following presentation by Israeli prime minister
Amid conflicting reports about a presentation by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran’s alleged nuclear ambitions, the White House said on Monday it is consistent with what the United States has long known in that Iran currently has a clandestine nuclear weapons... Read More »
Democratic senators call on appropriators to rein in Trump administration immigration enforcement
Citing “indiscriminate enforcement” of immigration laws, a Democratic coalition of senators called on U.S. Senate appropriators on Friday to reject the Trump administration’s request for border wall funding, additional border patrol agents and additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement... Read More »