DOD Launches Helpline Mobile App: The Defense Department has introduced a mobile device application to assist service members who have been victims of sexual assault in their transition back to civilian life. The DOD Safe Helpline mobile app, which is free for download from Apple or Android app stores, will provide access to critical resources to help in managing the short and long-term effects of sexual assault, states the DOD announcement. “Victims want to choose when and where they get support so we are using technology to provide them as many options as possible,” said DOD Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office Director Maj. Gen. Gary S. Patton.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
