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Gen. Harding withdraws from TSA nomination

By | March 28, 2010, 4:50pm PDT

Retired Major General Harding has withdrawn his nomination as Director of the Transportation Security Agency, the second individual to do so. The TSA has been without a leadership since President Obama took office. General Harding nomination was announced March 8th. The Administration is expected to fast track finding a new candidate.

Harding is well known in the intelligence community, having served in a variety of U.S. Army intelligences posts. Upon his retirement from the Army, he was Executive Vice President of INNOLOG, before starting Harding Associates. In 2008 he sold the firm to Six3 Systems. President Obama’s major successes, Health Care Reform and START Treaty Agreements with Russia, ends a possible triple play with Harding’s withdrawal from the most important vacancy within the administration.

The New York Times story reports that it started to unravel for General Harding from a contract with the military in 2004.

His firm, Harding Security Associates, provided intelligence debriefers in Iraq, but after the government ended a $49.2 million contract early in 2004, an audit found that the firm received an overpayment and collected more money for termination costs than it should have.

The audit questioned $2.4 million of the $6 million actually paid to the firm, according to Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the senior Republican on the Homeland Security Committee. In the end, General Harding told the committee Thursday that his firm was forced to refund $1.8 million in a negotiated settlement in 2008.

General Harding is the second nominee for TSA that has failed to pass the nomination stage.

Additional resources:

Retired Maj. General Robert Harding to be nominated to run TSA

Human x-ray machines: Coming soon to an airport near you

EPIC wants TSA to halt implementation of body scanners at airports

White House Video Blog - Airport Security Q&A with Janet Napolitano

EPIC wants TSA to halt implementation of body scanners at airports

Human x-ray machines: Coming soon to an airport near you

Amsterdam’s Schiphol starts body-scanning at airport

FBI Director on cyber threats: We can’t do it alone

US Strategic Command recognizes cyber security challenges

Intelligence community warns Senate committee of increased terror threats

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Disclosure

Doug Hanchard

http://government.zdnet.com/?page_id=5774

Biography

Doug Hanchard

Doug is the principal of Rapid Response Consulting, an advisory group that integrates ICT solutions. He has worked at some of the largest telecommunications firms in Canada, including Bell Canada, Telus and AT&T and is a guest lecturer for several universities and associations. He serves on several advisory boards in Canada and the United States.

Starting with a new national ISP in 1993 in sales, positioning internet access, web sites and network services began the path of telecommunications technologies from the early Bulletin Board Services (BBS) to the first web pages for commercial clients.

Became the National Data Network Service Manager for Frame Relay and Internet access for AccTel Enterprises which was acquired (after 3 mergers already) by AT&T Canada. Interested in how marketing could expand service availability, he moved to Telus to become the Frame Relay / ATM Product Manager and expanded the network across Canada. In 2002 he went to Bell Canada becoming a Solution Architect to get back to his passion for technology working with enterprise clients. In 2006, became the Director of R&D and Senior Solution Architect for Bell Canada Security Solutions Inc, developing I.P. based physical and logical security platforms and ICT services.

This position created new commercial concepts such as Crisis and Disaster technology solutions required for emergency use after an event occurred. He designed interoperable technologies and application combinations allowing any to any I.P. service through landline, broadband, satellite and wireless technologies to be deployed anywhere

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RE: Gen. Harding withdraws from TSA nomination
birumut Updated - 3rd May 2011
Well done! Thank you very much for professional templates and community edition
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