By Debbie Gregory.

TITAN, stands for Tactical Interface Tracking Application Node and allows users to log in anywhere in the world with a computer on the Secure Internet Protocol Router Network, using an internet browser, without the necessity for downloads to communicate worldwide with deployed units. This software provides important situation awareness that is important to success. To date, soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division have tested the system.

This works well with the Army’s Home Station Mission Command initiative that moves the service away from deploying division main elements to theater and instead, deploys smaller and more agile units that require less logistics. TITAN has the ability to pull up maps, view multiple global locations and color-code soldiers’ locations. It also enables chat, messaging, sending attachments, situation reports filing as well as creating distribution lists and it does not require training. This will be the Army’s next-generation friendly-force tracking system.

The pilot program for Titan was begun by the Army in August and should be finished soon. There will be additional capabilities developed. TITAN was used during the unit’s National Training Center rotation in November. Major Adam Cloniger, officer-in-charge for the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division is very pleased with Titan.

By Debbie Gregory.

A field-deployable liquid chemical identifier called the VK3 has received positive feedback from warfighters and first responders in a recent field test funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

U.S. Army research officials have developed the handheld detector that can “taste” suspicious liquids to see if they are dangerous chemical warfare agents.

The VK3 uses a camera and small computer to identify chemical agent by analyzing colorimetric sensors on an assay.

“We had seen and heard that those who are tasked with site exploitation — the first people in a facility where somebody is making something — needed tools to better identify the substances being made,” said Army research biologist Aleksandr Miklos in a recent service press release. “Maybe it’s perfectly legal and safe, but maybe they’re doing something illicit and dangerous. The first examiner has to decide what tools to bring. We thought something like this with a colorimetric array would be helpful.”

The small, cube-like device features a camera and small computer, and the kit includes paper colorimetric assays. After placing an assay on the device’s stage for a reference image, a drop is added to the assay. As various spots on the assay change color, they are captured by the camera and continuously analyzed by the computer to identify the substance.

During the recent Chemical Biological Operational Analysis, or CBOA, the VK3 demonstrated its ability to identify chemical liquids in the field, including chemical warfare agents.

“What we were able to get was informal, verbal feedback from the assessor and from end users in the Army and civilian law enforcement,” said Miklos.

“It’s a really cool research prototype, and now we know more about how it works,” he said. “The question is going to be whether it gets more funding for advanced development. What we need is for someone to say, ‘Yes, we want that.’ “

By Debbie Gregory.

Patrick M. Shanahan became the 33rd Deputy Secretary of Defense on July 19, 2017.

Mr. Shanahan most recently served as Boeing senior vice presidento, Supply Chain & Operations. A Washington state native, Mr. Shanahan joined Boeing in 1986 and spent over three decades with the company. He previously worked as senior vice president of Commercial Airplane Programs, managing profit and loss for the 737, 747, 767, 777 and 787 programs and the operations at Boeing’s principal manufacturing sites; as vice president and general manager of the 787 Dreamliner, leading the program during a critical development period; as vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems, overseeing the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, Airborne Laser and Advanced Tactical Laser; and as vice president and general manager of Boeing Rotorcraft Systems, overseeing the Apache, Chinook and Osprey. He previously held leadership positions on the 757 program, 767 program and in the fabrication division.

Mr. Shanahan is a Royal Aeronautical Society Fellow, Society of Manufacturing Engineers Fellow and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate Fellow. He served as a regent at the University of Washington for over five years.

Mr. Shanahan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington and two advanced degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering, and an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

On January 2nd, former Boeing executive Patrick Shanahan became the acting Secretary of Defense of the United States, replacing General James Mattis.

Mattis resigned in protest, stating that his views on pulling troops out of Syria and other national security issues were not “aligned” with those of President Trump.

Shanahan, 56, is a native of Seattle, Washington and graduated from Bishop Blanchet High School in 1980. He attended the University of Washington where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He then earned a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Master of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Shanahan’s career at Boeing began in 1986 with the 777 program. He remained there until 2017 when President Trump announced his intent to nominate Shanahan as the 33rd Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon’s second-highest civilian position.

As Deputy Secretary of Defense, Shanahan spoke of renewed “great-power competition” with China and Russia. His message on his first day was largely focused on China during a special meeting of all the military service secretaries and the undersecretaries of defense.

His decision to urge the Pentagon’s leadership to focus on the threat posed by China came just hours before he attended a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

Shanahan, who has no military experience and very little government experience, has yet to detail his thoughts on the way forward in Syria, where the Pentagon plans a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops over the coming months.

During the president’s visit with U.S. soldiers in Iraq over Christmas, Trump praised Shanahan as a “good buyer” of military equipment, not some master strategist. “I’m in no rush” to replace him, the president declared.

Shanahan plans to remain hands-on in formulating a proposal to establish a new military branch for space. The Space Working Group was established last year by Shanahan to hash out the details of standing up the new service branch. The group includes representatives from across the Defense Department.

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.