A statement of record issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "FAA’s pilot training requirements for certification of commercial pilots are not aligned with airline operations or emphasize skills that airlines consider important for greater aviation safety."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From fiscal years 2005 through 2011, the physical condition of the Coast Guard's legacy vessels was generally poor. A primary Coast Guard measure of a vessel's condition--the operational percent of time free of major casualties--shows that the high endurance cutters, medium endurance cutters, and patrol boats generally remained well below target levels from fiscal years 2005 through 2011."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since a peak of 22 U.S. commercial space launches in fiscal year 1998, the annual number of launches generally ranged from 4 to 9 launches. The number of commercial space launches is expected to increase in the next 8 years as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to procure 51 launches from commercial cargo companies to resupply the International Space Station. FAA also expects space tourism to begin in the next several years, although no companies have applied for a FAA launch license and companies developing these services have experienced delays in the past. FAA faces several challenges overseeing the commercial space launch industry. For example, FAA expects its licensing and oversight responsibilities to expand in anticipation of an increased private sector role, suggesting that FAA and Congress must remain vigilant so that potential conflicts in FAA’s safety oversight and industry promotion roles do not occur. Also, as the commercial space launch industry grows and FAA continues to implement NextGen—FAA’s effort to develop a more automated, aircraft-centered, satellite-based air traffic management system—the agency will have to manage a mix of earth-based aircraft and space vehicles. FAA …

Version 1.0 glossary of terms for converting National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data to hate crime data.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The November 2011 memorandum that discussed the management of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program was prepared based primarily on the observations of the former Director of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Infrastructure Security Compliance Division (ISCD), a division of the Office of Infrastructure Protection (IP) within the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD). The memorandum was intended to highlight various challenges that have hindered ISCD efforts to implement the CFATS program. According to the former Director, the challenges facing ISCD included not having a fully developed direction and plan for implementing the program, hiring staff without establishing need, and inconsistent ISCD leadership--factors that the Director believed place the CFATS program at risk. These challenges centered on three main areas: (1) human capital issues, including problems hiring, training, and managing ISCD staff; (2) mission issues, including problems reviewing facility plans to mitigate security vulnerabilities; and (3) administrative issues, including concerns about NPPD and IP not supporting ISCD's management and administrative functions."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOD has identified DAWDF as a key tool used to address gaps in the acquisition workforce through additional hiring and training initiatives. For example, DOD officials noted they used DAWDF funds to hire about 5,855 new acquisition staff through fiscal year 2011 and enabled the Defense Acquisition University to provide 19,000 additional classroom seats, among other improvements. However, DOD’s ability to effectively execute hiring and other initiatives has been hindered by delays in the DAWDF funding process and the absence of clear guidance on the availability and use of related funds. DOD has not collected and distributed funds within required timeframes, sometimes delaying distribution to components until the following fiscal year. For example, only about 39 percent of the total amount of fiscal year 2011 transfer funds were distributed before the end of the fiscal year. These delays can result in uncertainty about the availability of funds, and negatively impact the components’ ability to execute according to their approved plans for the year. Additionally, DOD officials noted that the delays contributed, at least in part, to the amount of unobligated funds that were carried over to future years. …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since we designated the implementation and transformation of DHS as high risk in 2003, DHS has made progress addressing management challenges and senior department officials have demonstrated commitment and top leadership support for addressing the department's management challenges. However, the department has significant work ahead to achieve positive outcomes in resolving high-risk issues. For example, DHS faces challenges in modernizing its financial systems, implementing acquisition management controls, and improving employee satisfaction survey results, among other things. As DHS continues to mature as an organization, it will be important for the department to continue to strengthen its management functions, since the effectiveness of these functions affects its ability to fulfill its homeland security and other missions."

Document containing photographs from a TXSSAR President's Day event on February 20, 2012.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A total of 22 of the 39 former high-ranking officials (admiral-level and SES officials) who separated from the Coast Guard from 2006 through 2010 were compensated at some point from 2006 through 2011 by contractors that received obligations from the Coast Guard in calendar year 2011. We found that 12 of these former officials were compensated in calendar year 2011 by major Coast Guard contractors--those contractors receiving more than $10 million in obligations during that calendar year. The responsibilities of these officials vary, but 9 of these 12 officials were assigned by major contractors to positions involving the development of new business."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Social Security Administration (SSA) has made several changes to improve the process it uses for updating its medical criteria, but continues to face challenges ensuring timely updates. SSA’s medical criteria for adults are in the form of listings of medical conditions and impairments organized under 14 body systems, which SSA periodically updates. To help ensure timely, periodic updates of a body system’s listings, SSA is moving away from comprehensively revising a body system’s listings toward a more targeted approach, wherein SSA selects for revision those impairment listings most in need of change. To date, SSA has completed comprehensive revisions of listings for 8 of the 14 body systems and now is in the process of reviewing them to determine whether and which targeted revisions are appropriate. In 2010, the SSA Commissioner set a 5-year cycle time for updating listings for each body system, replacing the agency’s prior practice of setting expiration dates for listings that ranged from 3 to 8 years and then frequently extending them. To further increase the timeliness and accuracy of decisions, SSA has sought recommendations from the Institute of Medicine and has acted …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Bill Barrow. Barrow joined the Navy in April of 1944. And, beginning in June, Barrow served aboard the USS Claxton (DD-571). Barrow was assigned to a 40-millimeter gun and served as a deckhand. They went to the Solomon Islands, escorting other ships and the old USS Mississippi (BB-41). He discusses life aboard the Claxton, and his initiation experiences crossing the equator. They participated in the Battle of Peleliu and the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944. Barrow was discharged in February of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Fred Daum. Daum joined the Navy in February 1942 and received basic training at Great Lakes and electrician’s mate training at the University of Minnesota. Upon completion, he was assigned to USS LCI-67, where he was responsible for all the electrical work aboard ship. At Bougainville, on Christmas Eve 1943, his ship was tasked with going one mile behind the Japanese position with the purpose of drawing artillery fire to locate their battery; fortunately, the Japanese never opened fire and Daum escaped unscathed. He was transferred back to the States in July 1944, helping run bond rallies, using search lights to illuminate the latest military equipment. Daum was discharged in October 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Schneider. Schneider joined the Navy in January 1945. He describes his training at radio school including how he was taught Morse Code and typing. Schneider was assigned to PC-1244 and was based in Guam. He briefly discusses going through two typhoons with his tight-knit crew. Schneider was discharged from the Navy in July 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Lindsey. Lindsey provides background on his family’s history. He completed a Civilian Pilot Training program in Monticello, Arkansas. He began flying school in February of 1941, training in San Angelo, Barksdale and Great Falls, Montana. The US Army Air Corps accepted him in the 41G Class. He became a Ferry Pilot, working with Jimmy Doolittle’s organization in Pendleton, Oregon, practicing take-offs in B-25s to bomb Japan. He ferried planes in 1942 out of Long Beach, and then Great Falls. He participated in the China Burma India Theater in 1945 and flying The Hump. He traveled several times to Japan. Lindsey provides much detail on flying various types of aircraft and life overseas. He was discharged in December of 1945 and remained in the inactive reserves until 1959.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOD's fiscal year 2011 report partly addressed the required reporting elements and omitted some additional information that, while not required by law, would be useful for congressional oversight and decision making. Specifically, DOD's report addressed the first five required elements. However, information on the sixth element was incomplete because, while DOD highlighted concerns relative to the commands' theater objectives and strategies and prepositioned materiel and equipment, DOD's report did not provide a list of operation plans affected by a shortfall in prepositioned stocks and a description of actions taken to mitigate risk. In addition, DOD's report did not address the six elements added by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. DOD officials said that those elements were not addressed in DOD's fiscal year 2011 report because the report was already drafted when the requirements were enacted last December, and they plan to address these elements in their next annual report. DOD's report also did not contain some additional information on prepositioned materiel and equipment, which we recommended in our May 2011 report because it would provide a fuller scope of DOD's prepositioning programs. For example, …

The purpose of this report is to provide a concise status update for value-added products (VAP) implemented by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility. The report is divided into the following sections: (1) new VAPs for which development has begun, (2) progress on existing VAPs, (3) future VAPs that have been recently approved, (4) other work that leads to a VAP, and (5) top requested VAPs from the Data Archive. New information is highlighted in blue text. New information about processed data by the developer is highlighted in red text. The upcoming milestones and dates are highlighted in green.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

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Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may grant a certificate of authority to a foreign school, including a foreign medical school, pursuant to section 61.306 of the Education Code (RQ-I062-GA).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a home-rule municipality may require sex offenders who reside within the city to register with the sheriff rather than with the chief of police (RQ-I064-GA).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county bail bond board may permit a licensed bail bond holder to change part of the collateral he or she posted as security (RQ-1067-GA).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Cherokee County Community Supervision and Corrections Department may prescribe a procedure that permits the issuance of checks without the signature of the county auditor (RQ-1069-GA).