05 Jan 06. Boeing Realty Corp. announced the sale of 50.3 acres of surplus land at the Boeing Seal Beach site to Overton Moore Properties. The transaction helps Boeing improve its operational efficiency and the use of its assets.
11 Jan 06. Lockheed Martin today opened its new Post Production Center of Excellence for the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) program at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The center consolidates the company’s FBM work performed in Florida for the U.S. Navy’s Trident ballistic missile submarine fleet.
Jan 06. Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO): Back to Basics. The DLO announced (21 Dec 05) that the Bank of Ireland site in Filton, North Bristol, had been acquired as part of the MoD’s plans “to improve the effectiveness of support to the UK Fighting Forces”. Through bringing together staff from the DLO and the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA), the MoD was “seeking to improve how equipment is bought and supported….”. The site is capable of supporting 350 desks, with the potential for an additional 1,150. Comment: ‘DLO News’ (December 2005) forecasts that around 11,000 DLO and DPA staff will be working in the “acquisition hub” after collocation. There is considerable irony in the above announcement when it is recalled that the DPA and the DLO were only created, out of the former Procurement Executive, by the July 1998 Strategic Defence Review. A lot of money could have been saved if the organisation had been left alone and management consultants kept at bay. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 0602, 09 Jan 06)
11 Jan 06. Thales is likely to face a union-led sit-in by employees at the Elancourt site of its subsidiary Thales Systemes Aeroportes with effect from this afternoon, in protest against its plan to cut 350 jobs at the site, which counts a total of 2,650 employees. The subsidiary, which manufactures radar for military aircraft, among other products, indicated towards the end of 2005 that it planned, altogether, to cut 560 jobs, including the 350 at Elancourt, near Paris. (Source: FT.com/Abstracted from Les Echos)
09 Jan 06. Thomas Betro Named Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter today named Special Agent
Thomas A. Betro as director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS)
succeeding former Director David L. Brant, who retired in December. Prior to
his selection as director, Betro served as NCIS deputy director for operations.
05 Jan 06. Northrop Grumman Corporation announced that, effective Jan. 1, 2006, it has established a new sector, Northrop Grumman Technical Services, to leverage existing business strengths and synergies in the rapidly expanding logistics support, sustainment and technical services markets. Headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area, Northrop Grumman Technical Services consolidates multiple programs and approximately 10,000 employees in logistics operations from within the company’s other business sectors.
06 Jan 06. J. Dorrance Smith was sworn in as the assistant secretary of
defense for public affairs, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2006, during a ceremony at the
Pentagon,Washington, D.C. Smith was nominated by President George W. Bush to
be the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs on Sept. 22, 2005.
Jan 06. Senior Officers: Appointments and Promotions. Soldier reports that General Sir Richard Dannatt KCB CBE is to succeed General Sir Mike Jackson GCB CBE DSO ADC Gen as Chief of the General Staff in August 2006. General Dannatt is to be succeeded as Commander-in-Chief Land Command by Lieutenant General Sir Redmond Watt KCVO CBE, on promotion to General. RAF News (6 Jan 06) notes that Air Marshal Sir Joe French KCB CBE is to be promoted to Air Chief Marshal and appointed as Commander-in-Chief, Strike Command on 13 Jan 06. Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Burridge KCB CBE ADC is to retire from the Service. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 0602, 09 Jan 06)
09 Jan