Intercepts

* The Great CIO Saga (continued). The campaign for the key deputy CIO slot at DOD continues unabated, with the fervor usually found in a smalltown election but then, the Pentagon does resemble a small town, albeit with a disproportionate number of supercharged egos. As Intercepts fans remember,

This purported turn of events led former-Hill-aide-turned-PRC-executive Paul Brubaker to mount his own campaign, with a short list of heavyweight supporters in tow. ~Shortly after Brubaker kicked off this effort, I'm told, Langston changed his mind, and he should be anointed in weeks. If not, we can turn this into a serial on the Armed Forces Network. ~~* DISA no more. That's the view of Rear Adm. John Gauss, formerly the agency's D6, who just took over as commander of Navy Spawar in San Diego. There's been much Beltway speculation that after he finished his Spawar tour, Gauss would be well-positioned to return to DISA as director. Gauss, in an interview with the Interceptor, gracefully said he would pass on the chance, preferring to retire in three years upon completion of his Spawar tour. Presumably, more than 30 years on active duty is enough. ~Besides, I've never seen anyone bored at Courthouse Road. ~Folks are already starting to eyeball a possible successor to the current DISA honcho, Lt. Gen. David Kelley. Two potential in-house candidates are the current deputy, Air Force Brig. Gen. John Meincke and the operations chief, Army Brig. Gen. James Hylton. ~~* Nifty new Norfolk NOC. The Navy plans a ''grand opening'' (hopefully with a lot of those flags used for gas station openings) and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station, LANT Network Operation Center next month. Chief of naval operations Jay Johnson, the man who has managed to raise the phrase ''network-centric warfare'' to new heights, will be there for the ribbon-cutting, along with the Interceptor and the famed FCW remote cam for near-real-time World Wide Web coverage. ~~* License plate lingo. This column has a long history of reporting on the license plates affixed to the official Gauss command vehicle, a red Pontiac Fiero, and has this scoop for you: The Fiero, which was relocated from Virginia to San Diego, should soon sport new tags that read "SPAWAR" or, even better, ''SPAWAR00," depending on what's available at the local California DMV. While at DISA, the Fiero zoomed around with "D6 JIEO" tags.* The Great CIO Saga (continued). The campaign for the key deputy CIO slot at DOD continues unabated, with the fervor usually found in a small-town election— but then, the Pentagon does resemble a small town, albeit with a disproportionate number of super-charged egos.

As Intercepts fans remember, last month it looked as though Marv Langston, director of the information systems office at DARPA, planned to sign on to the unenviable task of translating Clinger-Cohen boilerplate into reality— with a draft blueprint produced by former ASD/C3I Duane Andrews providing a lot of clout for the job.

But my E-ring antenna site picked up signals that the Pentagon leadership wanted to water down the responsibilities of the deputy CIO job, at which point Langston balked.This purported turn of events led former-Hill-aide-turned-PRC-executive Paul Brubaker to mount his own campaign, with a short list of heavyweight supporters in tow.

Shortly after Brubaker kicked off this effort, I'm told, Langston changed his mind, and he should be anointed in weeks. If not, we can turn this into a serial on the Armed Forces Network.

* DISA no more. That's the view of Rear Adm. John Gauss, formerly the agency's D6, who just took over as commander of Navy Spawar in San Diego. There's been much Beltway speculation that after he finished his Spawar tour, Gauss would be well-positioned to return to DISA as director. Gauss, in an interview with the Interceptor, gracefully said he would pass on the chance, preferring to retire in three years upon completion of his Spawar tour. Presumably, more than 30 years on active duty is enough.

Besides, I've never seen anyone bored at Courthouse Road.

Folks are already starting to eyeball a possible successor to the current DISA honcho, Lt. Gen. David Kelley. Two potential in-house candidates are the current deputy, Air Force Brig. Gen. John Meincke and the operations chief, Army Brig. Gen. James Hylton.

* Nifty new Norfolk NOC. The Navy plans a ''grand opening'' (hopefully with a lot of those flags used for gas station openings) and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station, LANT Network Operation Center next month. Chief of naval operations Jay Johnson, the man who has managed to raise the phrase ''network-centric warfare'' to new heights, will be there for the ribbon-cutting, along with the Interceptor and the famed FCW remote cam for near-real-time World Wide Web coverage.

* License plate lingo. This column has a long history of reporting on the license plates affixed to the official Gauss command vehicle, a red Pontiac Fiero, and has this scoop for you: The Fiero, which was relocated from Virginia to San Diego, should soon sport new tags that read "SPAWAR" or, even better, ''SPAWAR00," depending on what's available at the local California DMV. While at DISA, the Fiero zoomed around with "D6 JIEO" tags.