Coast Guard Interviews Potential Shipbuilders
According to an August 19 report from the Federal Times, the first contracts for the Coast Guard's next cutter program are still a year away, and the winner in the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) competition isn't expected to be announced for another four or five years, but the Coast Guard already is talking with shipbuilders about different ways to approach the acquisition and award strategy, and how to build the new ships. The meetings started Aug. 10 in Washington. At least eight shipbuilders were taking part separately in discussions with Coast Guard budget managers and staff members from the Acquisition Directorate. (Source: Federal Times)
Blogging New Territory
As the Internet continues to serve as a vital platform to instantly and publicly disseminate information and opinions, blogging has increasingly become more mainstream, and even, a pertinent resource for the Navy and other government agencies. Since emerging in the late 1990s, Web Logs, or blogs, have come a long way. In fact, the Navy, well known for its effective public outreach, has encouraged use of the web as an informational tool within guidelines. "The WWW is an extremely powerful public information tool, and its use, within these guidelines, is encouraged." As the popularity of blogs within the ranks grew, in 2005, the Navy issued a regulation (SECNAVINST 5720.47B) and said, "There is also no prohibition on blogs operated by individual members as private citizens.
