Are we ashamed of contractors killed in action?

At the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it was obvious that contractors would play a historically large role in how those wars were waged.

Once the traditional war fighting was over, contractors were increasingly at risk as they drove convoys, worked as trainers for police forces and were exposed to suicide bombers and other threats.

Aquilent names chief marketing officer

Aquilent has named Helle Huxley chief marketing officer, where she will oversee the company’s marketing efforts.

Huxley will be responsible for all aspects of marketing, including branding, social media, advertising and public relations.

She will also direct new corporate marketing initiatives tied directly to customer communication goals and objectives.

Huxley was previously vice president of marketing for Management Concepts. Before that, she served as vice president of marketing at FedSources & WMG, which became Deltek’s GovWin, the company said in a release.

TASC names new VP of Mission Solutions business

TASC Inc. has named Joseph Pacileo vice president of the company’s Mission Solutions business, where he will oversee TASC operations supporting its intelligence and cyber customers at Fort Meade.

Pacileo joins TASC from ManTech International Corp., where he served as vice president of Cyber Operations. Before ManTech, he was a director at Northrop Grumman, and also has served at the National Security Agency.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from UC Davis, and a M.S.A. degree in administration from Central Michigan University.

SI Org makes deal for part of Telcordia

The SI Organization has acquired Applied Communication Sciences, a company with a history that dates back to the legendary Bell Labs.

Applied Communication Sciences was created as an independent company last year to mitigate U.S. government concerns from the acquisition of Telcordia by Swedish-based Ericsson.

Harris receives $26M order for Falcon III radios

Harris Corp. has received a $26 million order to distribute its Falcon III AN/PRC-117G multiband manpack tactical radios to the U.S. Marine Corps.

These radios form mobile ad-hoc communication networks to exchange voice, video and tactical data reports on the battlefield, Harris said.

Through this order, the Marine Corps will expand its wideband tactical networking capabilities and deliver the tactical Internet down to the individual warfighter.

GD wins subcontract to service littoral combat ships

General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems has won a contract from Austral USA to be the platform systems engineering agency for littoral combat ships 14 and 16.

Ships 14 and 16 are the fifth and sixth ships of the Independence-variant LCS to be ordered by the U.S. Navy under a 10-ship block buy contract awarded in December 2010 to Austal USA, the company said in a release.

Lessons from Lockheed's $4.6B DISA GIG contract

More than two years in the making, and possibly worth $4.6 billion, the capture of the Global Information Grid Services Management Operations contract last year was a highlight for Lockheed Martin Corp.’s Information Systems and Global Solutions business.

They technically won the contract in May 2012 to manage the infrastructure of the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Global Information Grid, or GIG, but a protest by incumbent Science Applications International Corp. delayed the start of the contract until October.

Northrop wins $555M Global Hawk contract

Northrop Grumman has won a $555.6 million contract with the U.S. Air Force to improve the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle.

The Global Hawk can carry a variety of surveillance and intelligence systems, including near real-time high resolution imagery and other reconnaissance capabilities.

Microsoft to combine Yammer, Office 365 sales teams

Microsoft will combine its Yammer sales team of about 100 representatives into its Office 365 sales team, according to Talkin’ Cloud .

This decision comes after the company announced in early March that it was going to offer Office 365 and Yammer together as part of enterprise agreements. Yammer is a web-based collaboration tool.

The company had been talking about moving the Yammer sales team into its Office 365 team since the Yammer acquisition last year, but hasn’t officially announced that it will do so until recently, likely to avoid alienating existing Yammer customers, Talkin’ Cloud reported.

Gnostech takes on Navy's global positioning, navigation facilities

Gnostech Inc. has won a $13 million task order contract to provide the U.S. Navy with services in support of the utilization and enhancement of Space and Naval Warfare System Center Pacific’s Global Positioning and Navigation Systems Division facilities.

The company will provide engineering, analysis and design efforts in support of the center’s facilities.

The cost-plus-fixed-fee contract has a base value of $7.7 million, and has two option years.

Work will be performed in San Diego, Los Angeles, and at Gnostech’s facility in Warminster, Pa., and is expected to be completed May 2016.