By Debbie Gregory.

Three former executives linked to one of the largest U.S. wartime contractors were charged with scheming to defraud the Pentagon and engage in illicit trade by routing supplies for a multi-billion dollar contract through Iran, a country currently under sanctions by the U.S. government.

The indictment alleges that Abul Huda Farouki, Mazen Farouki and Salah Maarouf conspired to shave costs off the construction of two warehouses at Bagram Airfield by shipping steel through Iran.

The three men, all in their 70s, appeared in federal court in the District of Columbia and pleaded not guilty to the charges of major fraud, conspiracy, international money laundering and other violations.

Abul Farouki, of McLean, VA., and his younger brother, Mazen Farouki, of Boyce, VA., headed Anham, LLC, which had bid for an $8 billion contract in 2011 to build warehouses at Bagram Air Field to store food for troops, according to the indictment. Maarouf operated one of Anham’s suppliers.

The company won the contract with promises to build two warehouses by December 2011, but as the deadline approached, the warehouses were nowhere close to being finishedAnham denied all charges, saying it had saved the U.S. government $1.4 billion by offering lower prices than its competitors. It said the company was confident all the defendants would be exonerated at the end of the judicial process.

“ANHAM continues to cooperate with the Justice Department. Nevertheless, the company continues to believe that the purported violations are without legal merit,” the company said in a statement on its website.

Anham’s contract to supply food and water to the U.S. military had a $30 billion ceiling in the unlikely event the war ramped up again. At the time, the Obama administration was focused on rapidly withdrawing troops and equipment from Afghanistan to reduce the military’s presence to fewer than 10,000 troops by 2014.

By Debbie Gregory.

A federal jury has convicted Patricia P. Driscoll, the former president of the Armed Forces Foundation, for committing fraud and tax evasion.

The Washington-based charity that assists veterans was defrauded of money meant for the charity that instead was spent on jewelry, shopping and other personal expenses.

Driscoll, 40, of Ellicott City, MD was found guilty of two counts each of wire fraud and tax evasion, and one count of first-degree fraud, the office of U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu announced.

She remains free on her own recognizance and is due to be sentenced in March, 2019.

Driscoll resigned in July 2016 after 12 years at the military charity after media reports alleging mishandling of funds. In a tax filing, the foundation reported it had “become aware of suspected misappropriations” by Driscoll totaling about $600,000 from 2006 to 2014.

Driscoll’s defense attorney decried the verdict, insisting his client broke no laws.

“The jury did not get it right — Patricia Driscoll is innocent,” attorney Brian W. Stolarz said in a statement. “We are very disappointed by the verdict and the government’s misconduct in this case. We will appeal. This is not the final chapter to this story.”

The charity was established in 2001 to promote veterans’ emotional and physical health through outdoor activities and small grants to help needy military families pay bills. On its 2015 federal tax filing, it disclosed that it had found evidence that Driscoll had misspent more than $900,000 for personal purposes, starting in 2006.

The foundation reported about $44 million in revenue during those years, according to public tax records.

Driscoll was indicted in September 2016 on eight felony counts but three of those charges were dismissed before the trial concluded, court records show.

Shortly after Driscoll was indicted, the Armed Forces Foundation, announced it was suspending operations and planned to shut down.

By Debbie Gregory.

The Marine Corps has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a new lightweight body armor plate to protect Marines from rifle fire on the battlefield.

Marine Corps Systems Command is seeking RFPs for plates that are some 38 percent lighter than the current plates. The new plates will be fielded in addition to the enhanced small arms protective insert (ESAPI) plates now in use to give commanders a lighter option for low-intensity threat environments.

In August, Marine Corps Systems Command assessed industry’s capability to make a plate that would supplement the Enhanced Small Arms Protective Insert, or ESAPI plates, and provide sufficient protection for the majority of combat environments. MCSC’s Program Manager Infantry Combat Equipment held Industry Days Oct. 17-18, and met with 12 companies to receive feedback on the draft solicitation documents.

“These new plates will be fielded in addition to the existing ESAPI plates,” said Nick Pierce, Individual Armor Team lead in MCSC’s PM ICE. “We expect the plates to be at least 38% lighter than the ESAPI which will significantly increase the mobility of Marines on the battlefield.”

All proposals are due in March 2019, and a contract is expected to be awarded in July 2019, according to the release. Initial fielding could happen as early as fiscal 2020, officials said.

“This, along with other recent initiatives such as the Plate Carrier Gen III, are part of a holistic effort to modernize the personal protective equipment set to give Marines better, lighter, more effective gear,” Pierce said.

The Corps awarded a $62 million contract in late September to New Jersey-based Vertical Protective Apparel LLC to produce and deliver up to 225,886 Plate Carrier Generation IIIs.

The new plate carrier design features less material to make them lighter than the current carriers. They also are made from a laminated laser-cut material, which reduces water absorption.

By Debbie Gregory.

Congratulations to Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan. General Shanahan will lead its new Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, or JAIC. He previously oversaw the Pentagon’s controversial artificial intelligence Project Maven. General Shanahan is currently the Director for Defense Intelligence for Warfighter Support. The new JAIC will coordinate artificial intelligence research across the Department, and with government labs and private companies. JAIC, at the end of the day will have a hand in everything the Pentagon does relating to Artificial Intelligence. Maven has been characterized as being the first serious attempt by the Defense Department to cut through bureaucracy and red tape to deliver AI tools quickly to warfighters.

Maven has been described by Pentagon officials as a “pathfinder”, a model for future artificial intelligence efforts. The project uses machine learning to derive useful intelligence from the vast troves of image data that the military collects, freeing up the analysts who manually scoured video footage, spy photos, and other data sources for relevant imagery. The goal was to have algorithms do the boring repetitive stuff — find the right truck, person, object of interest, in the data haystack — then alert the analyst to make decisions about targeting or other next steps.

The Pentagon described it as using “computer-vision algorithms … to help military and civilian analysts encumbered by the sheer volume of full-motion video data that DoD collects every day in support of counterinsurgency and counter terrorism operations.”

Defense officials have said that Maven was a huge success for the Department. But their private-sector partner on the project, Google, saw major public relations fallout from their involvement after their participation was revealed by Gizmodo. Under pressure from employees, Google officials announced they would not be renewing the contract with the Pentagon.

By Debbie Gregory.

Lauren Hope is the owner, designer, and artisan of Hope Design Ltd. What sets Hope’s hand-crafted jewelry and accessories apart from her competitors is that her creations honor our country’s service members.

Hope is a self-described “military history nerd” who has transformed her interest in vintage buttons and insignias into custom-made cuff links, tie clips, earrings, necklaces, and brooches.

The wife of a soldier and the mother of two boys has found that creating jewelry provides an oasis of sanity in her unpredictable military life. It was also she was able to do in the evenings after her children had gone to bed.

Hope’s entrepreneurial spirit led her to launch her website, HopeDesignLtd.com, one outlet where her creations can be purchased. She also has an Etsy shop. Her designs can also be found at gift shops that support the military-spouse community, including R. Riveter, West Point Spouses’ Club, and Bragg’s Unique Boutique.

Hope treasures the “sweetheart jewelry,” pieces she finds that she is able to restore. These pieces were originally purchased by World War II servicemen for girlfriends and wives back home. Those who served in World War II “are a passing generation, and their stories are being lost,” she says. “I collect and restore those pieces so I can keep the stories alive for the military community.”

Hope also makes poignant jewelry for Gold Star Families who want to wear something from their loved one’s uniform to feel closer to them.

“Each piece has its own story and its own meaning, and when I can know the person in the military community it goes out to, it makes my heart happy,” she says. “Especially with the Gold Star Families I work with, I feel like I’m helping that person be remembered. The sense of pride that these pieces are worn with is not lost on me.”

Hope has also put her energy into building the #ShopMilitary initiative to help other military spouse and veteran entrepreneurs manage their own businesses and find their target markets.

The ShopMilitary.org website compiles and links to businesses participating in the effort. By strengthening military spouses’ abilities to build careers can contribute to higher military retention rates.

“For people who want to support the military, this is a much more effective thing to do than putting a sign in your yard,” Hope says.