Fourth Estate

Leidos nabs $11.5 billion Defense Enclave Services contract

Under the contract, the company will lead an effort to streamline the Pentagon’s vast network infrastructure of non-service-specific agencies. 

DISA Opens For Bids On $11.7B Defense Enclave Services

Defense Enclave Services will “establish the modern infrastructure foundation and united frame of thought needed to deliver cohesive combat support capabilities to the warfighter.”

DES: Defense Enclave Services Will Be DISA’s ‘Crown Jewel’

DES "is an incredibly important endeavor,” said Danielle Metz, acting deputy CIO for information enterprise at the Defense Information Systems Agency. “It is one of the crown jewels."

DISA Unveils New Strategic Plan

This updated strategic plan focuses on cyber defense, the cloud, and enterprise solutions

DES: Multi-Billion Dollar Effort To Modernize DoD’s ‘Fourth Estate’

An exclusive Breaking Defense interview with Don Means, DISA’s Defense Enclave Services Executive, on the DES network modernization effort for independent DoD agencies and commands.

DISA Bets One $11.7B Deal Can Streamline 4th Estate Networks

“The goal of this effort is to modernize the DoD IT architecture, reduce costs, improve business practices, and mitigate operational and cyber risks,” said Col. Chris Autrey, DES program manager.

SecDef Eyeing Moving Billions By Eliminating Offices, Legacy Systems

The Pentagon is about to pitch Congress on a plan to move $5.7 billion from legacy programs to new modernization efforts. Some offices are going to feel some pain.

Is Army Richest Service? Navy? Air Force? AEI’s Eaglen Peels Back Budget Onion

This year’s battle of the budget between the services has been much more public than any in recent memory, as Breaking D readers know. Mackenzie Eaglen, who writes for us regularly on Congress and the budget, does a deep dive and presents the results of which service really wins in the budget — and why […]

Army To Navy: Hey, We Already Get Less $$ Than You

The Navy’s top admiral says he needs a larger share of the Pentagon budget. The Army Secretary retorts his service already gets less than either the Navy or the Air Force.

SecDef Esper, Don’t Make Gates’ Mistakes With Night Court

Pentagon officials seek to show they are reorienting to great power competition with China by shifting money under the flat defense topline. The goal is to spend a more defense dollars on high-end capabilities to match the National Defense Strategy instead of pleading for more, new money. The tradeoffs will become very real for members […]

Esper Starts Setting Up DoD-Wide ‘Night Court’

Over the past several weeks Esper has held a series of internal reviews at the Pentagon, in which offices outline programs they’re working on. Those are cross-checked with other parts of the Defense Department to see if there’s duplication of effort.

Why Chairman Thornberry Failed To Tame DoD’s Fourth Estate

When House Armed Services Chairman Thornberry proposed eliminating seven agencies and reducing personnel by 25 percent, he faced strong opposition. In the HASC's draft bill, he scaled the proposal back to eliminating just three agencies. But that didn't work either. During the committee's markup of the House defense policy bill, members still pushed back.

Fights Over DoD Bureauracy, Space Force Makes Tensions Flare on HASC

House Armed Services Committee pushes through most of the Trump administration's budget requests, absent some of the usual fights. But the return of sequester looms large in 2020.

Cut ‘Pure Overhead,’ Navy Sec. Mabus Says: DFAS, DLA, DOT&E

WASHINGTON: In what looks very much like an opening shot in a fundamental fiscal battle between the four armed services and the Office of Secretary of Defense, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus came right out today and said we should preserve fighting forces by cutting Defense Department agencies that are “pure overhead,” His prime candidates? The testers who make sure the services’ […]