Rapid Fire September 13, 2012: There Are Rules Here

* The RAND Corporation has a few interesting maps in its review of the US overseas military presence and the related strategic choices. * The latest Crosstalk [PDF] covers how to build resilient cyber ecosystems. * Maintream media coverage of the Palantir vs. DCGS-A controversy continues with an NPR article quoting representative Duncan Hunter [R-CA] pushing back against the US Army’s procurement procedures as “bureaucratic baloney.” Congressman, the services are not the entities in charge of writing Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS). The Army is compelled by law to follow rules set by Congress and the Department of Defense, and even urgent operational needs are anything but process-free. This does not excuse “stonewalling” if an inferior solution has indeed doggedly been pursued in-house, but they have to follow the rules. * Of course the US Army also has its own layer of rules. For example, they just updated their Engineering for Transportability [PDF] policy. * Stephane Reb who oversaw the Rafale program and other planes at France’s DGA has been named [in French] head of international development for the acquisition agency. * Boeing CEO James McNerney on the potential merger of EADS and BAE: […]