The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

In an effort to clear the existing backlog of solar, wind, and battery projects in need of interconnection, the Department of Energy (DOE) has created a new roadmap to accelerate some ways to get them connected to the nation's grid. It is called the Transmission Interconnection Roadmap, and DOE hopes it will help it hit targets for interconnection improvement by 2030. To learn more about this new tool, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke to Becca Jones-Albertus, the Director of DOE's Solar Energy Technologies Office.

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Each passing year, U.S. politics seem to get uglier and more perverse. All the more reason then to celebrate public servants whose goal in life is to deliver on their missions. And that is what this year's just-announced Service to America Medals finalists demonstrate: Commitment to the mission and to the finest in public service. For a preview, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin, as he does every years, talks with the President and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, Max Stier.

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(5/6/24) - On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin:

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For decades, the Marine Corps prioritized buying weapon systems over quality of life issues, which allowed the service to have enough data to justify its funding requests to purchase new weapon platforms when needed.

It was only recently that the service recognized it didn’t track any information on the state of its barracks. 

“We didn’t have the data to say how we are tracking the facility’s condition in detail to defend more than $200 million a year for that. But we did have the data to say we need this force design weapon system or this modernized vehicle or this modernized weapon platform,” Lt. Gen. James Adams, the deputy Marine commandant for programs and resources, told reporters at the Modern Day Marine conference Wednesday. 

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An Army financial counselor will spend years in prison after his conviction on defrauding Gold Star Families. If nothing else, the story should alert members of the military and their families to use care in picking a financial adviser in the first place. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with someone who has witnessed this sort of bad advice, and he has some tips for avoiding it: Thiago Glieger of RMG Advisors.

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A bill sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), would require vendors of online collaboration tools, like Zoom or Slack, to boost their security. It would require the National Institute of Standards and Technology to come up with the standards, as well as have Homeland Security make sure the companies comply. For analysis, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Miller and Chevalier attorney, and former CIA attorney, Ashley Powers.

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Directed energy weapons, like hypersonics, always seem to be just around the corner. Now a unit of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has finished building what it calls diagnostic system to evaluate the performance of high energy lasers developed by industry. The project is called GRAILE-II, or Government Radiometrically Accurate Instrument for Laser Evaluation Version Two. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Joe Cox of AFRL's Directed Energy Directorate.

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On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin:

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The government might employ some two million people, but no two federal employees are alike. That's why career and retirement planning can be complicated. For instance, what if you're old enough to retire but have less than 30 years in. For insight into what's known as MRA plus 10, Federal Drive Host Tom TEmin spoke to long-time federal retirement expert Tammy Flanagan.

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Citing low recruitment rates and readiness challenges, a coalition of health groups is urging the the Defense Department to do more about obesity. They tell Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that leadership needs system-wide recognition of what it calls an obesity epidemic. For the latest, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke to the American Security Project's Courtney Manning.

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