The Army’s Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) initiative isn’t just a tech upgrade — it’s a full-stack transformation of how the force fights, communicates and makes decisions.
Our new Special Bulletin Review dives into how the Army Futures Command, PEO C3N and the 4th Infantry Division are collaborating with industry to build a scalable, data-centric ecosystem. It must support artificial intelligence, enable rapid decision-making and withstand contested environments.
What Army leaders told us:
“The first time soldiers are seeing it is immediately upon contract award.” — Col. Chris Anderson, NGC2 program manager, Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications and Network
“We’re doing this every day. … You have to fail a little bit.” — Lt. Col. Nate Platz, deputy chief of staff for NGC2 for the 4th Infantry Division
“Success looks like data free flowing across the battlefield.” — Anthony Nigara, vice president of business development, sales and strategy, L3Harris Technologies
“This is the most significant transformation of command and control in the service’s history.” — Brig. Gen. Mike Kaloostian, director of the C2 Cross-Functional Team, Transformation and Training Command
Get insights into Ivy Sting exercises, multivendor contracting strategies, how the Army is preparing for AI-enabled warfare and more.
Amazon might be most known for how it has mastered the logistics of moving millions of items on the ground. But it’s also active in space, in a race to build out the next generation of enterprise communications capabilities.
Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, has already put some 150 satellites into low earth orbit (LEO), according to its principal business development lead, Rich Pang. Leo’s goal, Pang said, is to “enable connecting folks who don’t have connectivity or who have poor connectivity.”
Operating at a height of about 600 kilometers, the satellites’ RF links “are easily done with small terminals and, because of that closeness to earth, [with] high throughput and low latency,” he said.
That includes enterprises, including the Defense Department and federal national security agencies.
“We know that the defense and national security apparatus is not a fixed force, it’s a mobile force,” Pang said. “It requires multi domain connectivity to ensure that airplanes, ships, trucks, command vehicles are always connected, not only in receiving information, but getting commands out to the field as well.”
He said Leo augments communications capabilities the military and national security components already have with “more resilient and secure connectivity to ensure they have that ability to connect all those operations regardless of which domain they operate in.”
Remote regions of the oceans where the Navy operates come to mind, but land areas also have connectivity gaps, or ground-based comms get knocked out.
“You can’t have guaranteed fiber connectivity or usual connectivity that you’re used to having back at home station,” Pang said. “It’s important to have very flexible types of comms that can respond rapidly to wherever they need to deploy forces.”
“I often think about our first responders, or disaster response customers that have multiple systems at any given time to ensure they have connectivity,” he added.
They already have their radios, microwave and cellular connections. Now, Pang said, “in the event any of those are taken down, they have to have satellite as a backup.”
Resilient, redundant
The addition of LEO satellites, with their low latency relative to geosynchronous satellites, contribute to what Pang called next generation connectivity. It’s marked by resiliency because of the alternate pathways for data movement the satellites bring.
Optical links among the satellites themselves contribute to the resiliency, Pang said. Inter-satellite pathways “remove congestion from certain ground points [and] allow us to have multiple paths to move information … not only on the ground but in space as well.”
Rather than operate as a separate entity, the satellite comms integrate with terrestrial capabilities and, for that matter, to commercial computing clouds, Pang said.
To ensure compliance with customers’ security requirements, Pang said, Leo operates within “this private connectivity directly into the cloud services … for our customers who are seeking secure solutions.” He noted that some industries have security needs at least as rigorous as the FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) requirement of the government.
As a managed service, Pang said, Leo constantly optimizes itself to maintain maximum use of its available bandwidth.
“It’s got varying geometries. It’s got varying frequencies,” he said. “And so inherently, these types of capabilities also make it more secure in that it helps reduce interference, whether meaningful or unintended.”
Beyond that, the Leo satellites fit in with a general trend of internet protocol (IP) as the basis for all communications, whether voice or data. That is, the multiprotocol label switching gives way to IP and software-defined wide area networks.
“I think this opens up the aperture to incorporate a lot of different capabilities throughout the many domains [the DoD] operates and also shorten the timeline in which they get that information from sensors to processing centers to engagement vehicles,” Pang said.
Grand orchestration
Therein lies the importance of redundancy and resiliency, especially in austere or contested environments. Pang described those qualities as “not being locked into a single architecture, but rather having many choices, having alternative to getting your information where it needs to go.”
“Resiliency, in my mind, is creating a dynamic system that allows you to choose the best path to take when you’re moving information around,” he added.
Pang said the government has been working continuously on how to integrate disparate networks and applications at the terminal level, where they operate single apertures that work on multiple networks.” This requires “an orchestration of all those capabilities to build that resiliency into the broader architecture that the Defense Department is trying to deploy now.”
Signal interruption, for instance by weather or intentionally interfered with by adversaries, occur regularly in Defense and national security situations.
“The system is designed to always sense for interference, whether it’s intentional or not,” Pang said. “It’s sensing for weather interference. It’s sensing for intentional interference, so it always knows that it needs an alternate path.”
Sensing and rerouting happen automatically, he said. The system “always knows that if I have interference in a particular path, it knows to look for the alternative or the tertiary path. The system is designed to constantly be optimizing itself very rapidly to ensure that that interference is dealt with.”
Pang said the LEO satellites of Amazon strengthen an important link in the information-to-decision chain. Once data from various sources arrived where it’s needed, “there are a lot of fusion engines, whether they sit on premises, in the cloud or even at the tactical edge.”
Leo is concerned with the movement of the data to those fusion sites.
“Our play is getting information to where it needs to be, whether it’s at the tactical edge or back to a data center to be fused, processed and then redistributed,” Pang said. “As the transport layer, not only can we get all that information back, we can help redistribute that information very quickly to the tactical user, so that commanders can make decisions in a much shortened timeline.”
The Pentagon is taking a major step forward in modernizing how it addresses cybersecurity risks.
Defense Department officials have emphasized the need to move beyond “legacy shortcomings” to deliver technology to warfighters more rapidly. In September, DoD announced a new cybersecurity risk management construct to address those challenges.
“The previous Risk Management Framework was overly reliant on static checklists and manual processes that failed to account for operational needs and cyber survivability requirements,” DoD wrote at the time. “These limitations left defense systems vulnerable to sophisticated adversaries and slowed the delivery of secure capabilities to the field.”
Weeding through legacy manual processes
The legacy of manual processes has built up over decades. Jason Venner, a solutions sales director at Diligent, said agencies have traditionally relied on people and paperwork to ensure compliance.
“It’s no one’s fault,” Venner said during Federal News Network’s Risk & Compliance Exchange 2025. “It just sort of evolved that way, and now it’s time to stop and reassess where we’re at. I think the administration is doing a pretty good job in looking at all the different regs that they’re promulgating and revising them.”
Venner said IT leaders are interested in ways to help streamline the governance, risk and compliance process while ensuring security.
“Software should help make my life easier,” he said. “If I’m a CIO or a CISO, it should help my make my life easier, and not just for doing security scans or vulnerability scans, but actually doing IT governance, risk and compliance.”
Katie Arrington, who is performing the duties of the DoD chief information officer, has talked about the need to “blow up” the current RMF. The department moved to the framework in 2018 when it transitioned away from the DoD Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP).
“I remember when we were going from DIACAP to RMF, I wanted to pull my hair out,” Arrington said earlier this year. “It’s still paper. Who reads it? What we do is a program protection plan. We write it, we put it inside the program. We say, ‘This is what we’ll be looking to protect the program.’ We put it in a file, and we don’t look at it for three years. We have to get away from paperwork. We have to get away from the way we’ve done business to the way we need to do business, and it’s going to be painful, and there are going to be a lot of things that we do, and mistakes will be made. I really hope that industry doesn’t do what industry tends to do, [which] is want to sue the federal government instead of working with us to fix the problems. I would really love that.”
Evolving risk management through better automation, analytics
DoD’s new risk management construct includes a five-phase lifecycle and then core principles, including automation, continuous monitoring and DevSecOps.
Arrington talked about the future vision for cyber risk management within DoD earlier this year.
“I’m going to ask you, if you’re a software provider, to provide me your software bill of materials in both your sandbox and production, along with a third-party SBOM. You’re going to populate those artifacts into our Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service,” she said. “I will have AI tools on the back end to review the data instead of waiting for a human and if all of it passes the right requirements, provisional authority to operate.”
Venner said the use of automation and AI rest on a foundation of data analytics. He argued the successful use of AI for risk management will require purpose-built models.
“Can you identify, suggest, benchmark things for me and then identify controls to mitigate these risks, and then let me know what data I need to monitor to ensure those controls are working. That’s where AI can really accelerate the conversation,” Venner said.
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Federal tech leaders are turning data into mission power.
Deliver faster. Operate smarter. Spend less. That’s the challenge echoing across federal C suites, and data modernization is central to the answer.
In our latest Federal News Network Expert Edition, leaders from across government and industry share how agencies are transforming legacy systems into mission-ready data engines:
Alyssa Hundrup, health care director at the Government Accountability Office, urges DoD and VA to go beyond “just having agreements” to share health care services and start measuring the impact of these more than 180 agreements: “There’s more … that could really take a data-informed approach.”
Duncan McCaskill, vice president of data at Maximus, reminds us that governance is everything: “Governance is your policy wrapper. … Data management is the execution of those rules every day. If you give AI terrible data, you’re going to get terrible results.”
Stuart Wagner, chief data and AI officer at the Navy, calls out the risks of inconsistent classification: “If the line is unclear, they just go, ‘Well, we can’t share.’ ”
Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, deputy chief of Naval operations for information warfare, highlights the power of AI and open architectures: “Let machines do what machines do best … so humans can make the decisions they need.”
And from the Office of Personnel Management, a full overhaul of FedScope is underway to make federal workforce data more transparent and actionable.
In every case: Data is the mission driver.
Download the full ebook to explore how these agencies are addressing modernizing their data strategy!
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Artificial intelligence is no longer a future goal. It’s a present-day mission driver for government agencies. Our latest e-book brings together insights from top technologists who are partnering to help agencies scale AI from pilot to production.
Our Federal Drive Host Terry Gerton talks with:
Sanjeev Pulapaka, principal solutions architect at AWS
JP Marcelino, federal joint solutions manager at Dell Technologies
Kush Gupta, Solution Architect at Red Hat
Kurt Steege, Chief Technology Officer at ThunderCat Technology
These leaders explore:
Infrastructure readiness for AI workloads
Data governance in federated environments
Workforce training and talent gaps
Ecosystem collaboration across OEMs and integrators
Real-world mission impact — from border security to health care
While the understanding is there that AI is a must-do, getting from concept to a viable — and valuable — implementation remains a challenge because, as Dell’s Marcelino points out: “There’s a real shortage of people who know how to build and use AI.”
Download the full ebook to explore how to build out AI that works!
Evan Davis views the federal government’s modernization efforts as a strategic opportunity to rebuild trust and achieve mission success through smarter, more human-centered service design.
The recent executive order on digital design makes the timing ideal, said Davis, executive managing director for federal growth at Maximus.
The key? Agencies need to use every citizen interaction as a data point to improve systems, predict needs and personalize service, he recommended during an interview for Federal News Network’s Forward-Thinking Governmentseries.
Lean into the better design executive order
The Improving Our Nation Through Better Design EO is a natural extension of the push to improve experience and the relationship between the government and its constituents, Davis said. “That relationship needs to get built one encounter at a time.”
That matters because the public’s digital service expectations have expanded as commercial interactions have rapidly surpassed those offered in the public sector.
But right now, “there’s a recognition that these government experiences, when looked at carefully with new technology, can meet not only those new expectations but bring federal government encounters to a place where constituents feel appreciated and feel considered in those engagements,” Davis said.
With more than two decades spent helping agencies connect with their constituents, much of it spent partnering within federal contact centers, we asked Davis to share his perspective on the most effective strategies and tactics for advancing digital maturity across government.
Position contact centers as strategic intelligence hubs
For starters, it’s critical to reenvision government contact centers as far more than transactional endpoints. Davis argues that they are rich, underutilized sources of qualitative data that reveal citizen intent, frustration and unmet needs.
With artificial intelligence and analytics, agencies can mine center interactions to inform policy, improve service design and respond in real time, he said.
“I’m constantly amazed by the wealth of untapped data insights hidden within federal agency call centers,” Davis noted and added that center staff members also have a “real-time understanding of the incredible complexity of what it means to engage with the government.”
3 tactics: To take advantage of contact center data, Davis suggests that agencies should:
Analyze call transcripts for patterns in citizen needs.
Use insights to refine FAQs, digital flows and policy language.
Feed findings into broader customer experience and service improvement efforts.
With this approach, agencies — for the first time — “can truly use data to influence policy, to influence an understanding of what’s important to citizens,” he said
Build a digital-first, omnichannel foundation
Davis stressed that digital first doesn’t mean digital only. Agencies must unify systems and channels to guide citizens to the right help, whether that’s a chatbot, a human agent or a proactive SMS update. An omnichannel foundation will enable cost savings, faster service and trust-building through transparency, he said.
“Digital first is not digital separate. … How do I use that first point of contact to get people to the right place based on where they are at the moment?”
The goal, Davis explained, is to reduce the total amount of time and individual actions that citizens must take to address a need.
3 tactics: He suggested that to establish that omnichannel foundation, agencies should:
Consolidate legacy contact center systems into a scalable, modular platform.
Standardize agent interfaces and data flows.
Enable proactive outreach across channels.
“It will also give agents, regardless of the exact content that they’re responsible for, the same user interface, the same pane of glass to look at every day,” Davis said. “It will also allow them to start pulling in that huge amount of data and doing something with it to inform what next steps they should take.”
Use AI to decode intent and predict needs
Understanding why a citizen contacts an agency is often more complex than a dropdown menu can capture. Davis explained that AI can uncover true intent, match it to policy requirements and guide citizens to resolutions faster. It can also help leaders spot emerging issues before they escalate.
“AI has already proven incredibly adept at understanding true intent of the citizen’s needs” at the micro level and gives agencies more options to quickly respond appropriately, he said. And at macro level, “you can rely on AI to answer things like: What’s changed today? What do I need to know when I wake up this morning as the leader of citizen engagement?”
3 tactics: To speed response times through integrating AI capabilities, Davis recommended that agencies should:
Deploy AI-powered intelligent virtual assistant and agent assist tools.
Use AI to analyze qualitative data and surface trends.
Train models using up-to-date knowledge management systems.
Long term, by integrating AI in these ways and moving to modernized data infrastructures, Davis expects agencies will achieve a state of ongoing transformation and be able to incrementally improve and scale services.
Why tackling service systems matters now
Davis tied these tactics directly to the urgency of the moment: aging systems, rising citizen expectations and the availability of transformative technologies. Agencies must act now, not just to modernize, but to deliver on their missions more effectively, he said.
The beauty of integrating contact center data sources and analyzing that data in real time, Davis pointed out, is that agencies can begin making correlations between circumstances on an interaction that tend to lead to increased costs but also tend to lead to erosion of trust.
“We can begin looking at incredible positive change — to both provide cleaner, simpler, more cost-effective solutions but also to rebuild trust.”
Whenever there is the possibility of a government shutdown, FedChoice Federal Credit Union immediately jumps into action and starts planning direct support for federal employees.
The Lanham, Maryland–based financial institution, which serves more than 25,000 members and manages $447 million in assets, processed assistance for hundreds of federal workers after the shutdown began. The FedChoice strategy focused on addressing the full impact of the crisis: the mind, body, wallet and health of their members.
Between Oct. 1 and Nov. 5, FedChoice welcomed over 400 new members seeking financial support and allowed nearly 350 members to skip consumer loan payments, preserving nearly $150,000 in immediate cash flow for affected households. This $2.4 million in direct financial aid was critical when at least 670,000 federal employees were furloughed, while roughly 2 million continued working without pay, FedChoice President and CEO Brett Noll said.
Addressing the shutdown’s full economic impact
FedChoice wants consumers to know the shutdown affects everyone. Experts estimate the economic impact of this shutdown ranged from $7 billion to $16 billion per week of lost U.S. revenue. The drastic slowdown affects every American because there is less money fueling the economy, creating an anchor on access to lending and competitive rates.
“We know that our federal workers aren’t back on their feet and doing fine just because congress voted to end the shutdown,” Noll said. “We remain committed to helping federal employees return to financial normalcy as quickly as possible. Regardless of there being a shutdown or not, we exist to improve the financial well-being of our members, most of whom are federal employees.”
FedChoice has designed products and services to directly address these issues head on and advance its mission to serve. FedChoice’s FedAssist Program is tailored to put money into federal workers’ pockets at competitive market rates to help them move into their first or next home, purchase or refinance cars and trucks, and more, said Christine Wright, vice president of marketing at FedChoice. The program even offers support like skip-a-pay loan options.
“What is a travel inconvenience for Americans across the country is devastating to our family of federal workers,” Wright pointed out. “The people who are impacted aren’t just a headline on the news. One of our members visiting a branch said, ‘Look, I’m trying to figure out if I need to go to food banks? I’m worried about the gas in my car.’ And he just started hugging people and thanking us. These are the times we see how impactful credit unions can be.”
Providing for needs beyond financial well-being
Since the shutdown started, FedChoice’s efforts have gone far beyond offering traditional financial services, recognizing that health encompasses more than just insurance coverage. It also includes food security, mental well-being and physical resilience, said Alexis Jones, founder and CEO of Transcend Clinical Services.
In early November, the credit union organized a food truck event at its headquarters, serving free meals to federal employees while also connecting them with mental health professionals from Transcend Clinical Services and certified financial planners.
The emotional and financial toll of a shutdown is significant. It’s critical for anyone affected to protect their well-being through resilience.
FedChoice offered three suggestions:
Control the controllables: Focus on your routines, mindset and responses — what you can control, not what you can’t.
Get outside and move your body: Stepping outside and moving can reset your nervous system and reduce anxiety.
Be intentional about what you allow in: Protect your peace by choosing inputs that nourish your spirit over noise.
“You may not be able to control the storm, but you can always control how you care for yourself in it,” Jones said.
From border security to veteran care, federal agencies are transforming how they serve the public — with AI, cloud platforms and human-centered design leading the way.
Explore how leaders from CBP, DoD, USPS and VA are driving innovation, improving trust and putting people at the center of every mission.
You’ll hear from:
Barbara Morton, VA
Janet Pence, CBP
Bill Tinston, FEHRM Office
Ken Gonzalez, Verizon
Read the full Federal News Network Executive Briefing and see how tech is powering better experiences for employees and citizens alike.
The International Trade Administration has a complex mission of supporting U.S. companies in exporting, enforcing trade laws. and increasing foreign direct investment.
In this conversation, Stan Kowalski, ITA’s director of organizational excellence and strategic delivery will share how ITA is modernizing digital services, expanding self-service options and using AI tools to help customers find what they need faster. In addition, Sean Hetherington the director of federal civilian at Adobe will provide the industry perspective of supporting federal agencies.
Featured topics:
Harnessing AI tools to help automate tasks and enhance efficiency
Using customer and employee feedback loops to redesign services and boost satisfaction
Aligning CX, EX and emerging technologies to drive continuous improvement across mission operations
Resumption of Contributions: The most significant change is that for active federal employees, Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) contributions, including the agency matching contributions (for FERS employees), resume with the return of paychecks. During a shutdown, these contributions are typically paused, which can affect long-term growth.
Back Pay and Benefits: Furloughed employees receive retroactive pay for the missed period. This resolves immediate financial hardship and ensures that the “high-3 average pay” used to calculate future annuities is unaffected.
Processing of Paperwork: Delays in processing retirement applications at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and individual agency HR departments should end. This is good news for those who retired or were planning to retire around the time of the shutdown, as it means their full annuity payments will be finalized sooner, and they will move from interim payments to full payments.
Access to Services: Normal access to HR support, retirement counseling sessions, and other planning resources is restored.
For current federal retirees and the general public it means-
Annuity and Social Security Payments: For individuals already retired and receiving a federal pension (Civil Service Retirement System or Federal Employees Retirement System) or Social Security benefits, payments generally continue uninterrupted even during a shutdown because they are funded differently. The government being back in action ensures these operations continue normally without any threat of future disruption.
Market Stability: A resolved shutdown can reduce the political uncertainty that sometimes causes short-term volatility in the stock market, which can indirectly affect the balance of market-based retirement savings plans like the TSP’s C, S, and I funds.
A federal civil service career may not be a way to get rich. Yet after decades of performing meaningful and satisfying work, you can look forward to a financially secure and dignified retirement.
Since the late 1980s, federal retirement has consisted of three basic components. Feds who qualify for full retirement can expect their pension, known as their annuity or Basic Benefit, calculated by the Office of Personnel Management at the time of retirement. Civil service reform of that era added a Social Security benefit to compensate for the larger annuities of the earlier Civil Service Retirement System. You don’t have much control over the specific eventual payouts of these two components; they derive from standard calculations based on salary and time.
When it comes to the third component of retirement – your Thrift Savings Plan – actions throughout your career can greatly influence the account you retire with. Small adjustments in strategy early in a career can magnify to significant gains later on, thanks to the historically long-term gains of the stock market.
But it doesn’t happen automatically. In this article, I’ll outline important steps you can take to help ensure you’ll be able to afford those European river cruises after you’ve left your full-time career.
Put enough in
It sounds obvious: The more you contribute to the TSP, the more you’ll have later. Yet too many federal employees fail to take a basic step; namely, contributing enough to earn the maximum match the government makes to your TSP.
The government contributes 1% automatically to your TSP account each year. It will increase that contribution by 1% increments for each additional 1% you contribute, up to an additional 4%. That is, if you contribute 5% of your salary each pay period, the government will keep matching.
A couple of important details about matching contributions:
For the first 3% of your salary you contribute, the government will match it 100%.
If you contribute another 2% (for a total of 5%), the government will match half of that. In other words, if you contribute the full 5%, the government will add another 4%.
You may contribute more than 5% (up to the maximum allowed), but government matching ceases beyond that.
Also keep in mind that your contribution to the TSP is vested the moment you make it. So is the government’s match – with the important exception of the automatic 1%. That’s subject to a 2-year or 3-year vesting period depending on your position. That means you’d have to forfeit the 1% should you leave government service before the vesting period.
Note that tax law puts a limit on yearly contributions to tax-deferred individual retirement accounts. This year it’s $23,500. To max out your TSP, simply divide that number by the number of pay periods to determine the per-period contribution.
It’s wise to spread out your contributions evenly over the year. That way, you’ll max out the government matching contribution.
And keep this in mind: If you are 50 or older, you can take advantage of a provision known as catch-up contributions. Check with TSP for your own eligibility and catch-up max, but this year FEBA estimates you’ll be able to catch up by as much as $7,500. Those between the ages of 60 and 63 can likely contribute up to $11,250 in catch-up savings.
Pay taxes now?
Most federal employees stick with traditional TSP contributions; those made with pre-tax dollars. This presumes that, once you retire, you’ll fall into a lower tax bracket and thus pay less taxes on withdrawals than you would have on the same income dollars when you were working.
For a myriad of reasons, that’s not always the case. For example, retired senior executives or those with highly technical jobs often find themselves working in industry at or past the age at which they must make required minimum distributions from their TSP accounts. That typically puts them in a higher tax bracket.
This is where the Roth option comes in. A Roth account consists of TSP contributions using after-tax dollars. You therefore don’t pay taxes on eventual withdrawals. (Roth IRAs get their name from former Sen. William
Roth, sponsor of the legislation that enabled this form of retirement savings account.)
TSP statistics show that of the more than 7 million accounts, only about a third are Roth. If you have only a traditional TSP, consider adding a Roth option as a strategy to give you more flexible tax approaches in the future. The TSP offers a way to convert some or all of your TSP to a Roth. Because such a transfer entails taxes now, only do this after consulting with a qualified tax expert who can work through your individual situation.
Timidity = loss
Many TSP participants feel safe by investing most of their dollars in the TSP’s G-Fund. Because it consists of government bonds, the G-Fund never shrinks, meaning you get a basically guaranteed positive return on your investments. But that growth is almost always below the rate of inflation.
The result? Over time your savings have ever less real buying power.
A related mistake is retreating to the G-Fund when the stock market goes through a period of gyration with big swings down and up. No one can time the market, so nervous investors often end up selling low, then buying high as they chase the inevitable upswings.
Over the course of a 25- or 30-year career, the difference between a pure G-Fund investment and a diversified one that includes stock funds can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. It can determine whether you join the ranks of those with at least $1 million in their TSP.
Alternative strategies include contributions aggressively to the C fund. True, the C, S, and I correlate, meaning they move in the same direction at the same time and carry relatively the same risk. But the C fund has a much larger long-term rate of return.
Keep in mind, TSP now automatically puts new hires into the appropriate L fund based on their date of birth. A L-Fund customized such that the “conservative” portion is all G fund and the “aggressive” portion all C-Fund has historically produced a higher return and with lower fees than the standard-issue L-Fund.
Other ways to enhance
Several other practices can help your TSP investment help you. These include:
Staying on top of your intended beneficiaries, such as after divorce and you don’t want your ex to remain the beneficiary. The TSP lets you manage beneficiaries online.
Letting the funds stay put unless you have a dire, potentially life-changing need to take a loan against your TSP investment. TSP loans can go as long as 5 years (15 years for real estate). They are not considered withdrawals if they are in good repayment standing. However if you default on the loan you will get a taxable disbursement and the 10% penalty if under 59 ½.
Making careless withdrawals, such as a large lump sum the minute you hit 73. You’ll end up overpaying taxes.
Finally, consider whether to leave you funds in the TSP after you retire, versus rolling them over into a standard IRA. True the TSP has low fees and a good record of funds management. On the other hand, an IRA gives you access to a vastly larger universe of investment options. You also get more withdrawal flexibility with an IRA. The TSP only lets you make withdrawals proportionately over the funds you’re in. And, unlike the TSP, an IRA lets you make a tax-free qualified charitable donation, or OCD, once you reach the age of 70½.
Regardless of the many possible strategies you choose, contributing to your TSP to the maximum and managing it carefully will go a long way to ensuring you’ll achieve the retirement you hope for.
Learning about contribution limits and strategies. Roth vs. Traditional. When/how to withdraw. Plus more!
How to maximize TSP utilizing the Age-Based In-Service withdrawal.
Forms needed for retirement: The forms you need for retirement vary depending on your specific situation and the retirement system you’re a part of within the federal government.
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ top technology priorities encompass cybersecurity, modernization and veteran experience, emphasizing a shift from compliance-driven cybersecurity to a risk-based, assume-breach model anchored in zero trust and operational resilience.
Join Federal News Network Executive Editor Jason Miller for an exclusive conversation with the Eddie Pool, the acting assistant secretary for information and technology and chief information officer and Travis Rosiek, Rubrik’s public sector chief technology officer as they discuss VA’s evolving modernization strategies and what it means for industry partners.
Learning objectives:
Cybersecurity and zero trust: Explain VA’s shift to a risk-based, assume-breach model and the role of zero trust in achieving cyber resilience
Business process modernization: Describe how streamlined workflows and standardized systems improve veteran services
Data governance and interoperability: Understand the use of authoritative data and enterprise standards to enable better decision-making
AI and analytics in service delivery: Explore how AI and predictive analytics support proactive, data-driven outcomes
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Federal employees weighing their health plan options this Open Season may want to take a closer look at the Foreign Service Benefit Plan offered by the American Foreign Service Protective Association. Despite its name, AFSPA coverage extends far beyond the Foreign Service and far beyond U.S. borders.
CEO Kyle Longton shared that the plan is designed for a mobile, global workforce.
“About a third of our members are outside the United States at any given time,” Longton said during Federal News Network’s 2026 Open Season Exchange. “We’ve structured our plans specifically to meet their needs.”
Taking an ‘in-network’ approach to feds working far from home
That structure includes treating all overseas providers as in-network, offering more than 400 direct billing arrangements abroad and handling translations and currency conversions for claims. AFSPA also provides a 24-hour emergency translation line and a nurse advice line that help members focus on care rather than logistics.
AFSPA has leaned in on telemedicine. Their plan includes access to Teladoc Health for domestic members, and vHealth and Lyra Health for those overseas. Maven Clinic offers virtual care in more than 170 countries, covering everything from fertility and pediatrics to menopause. Physical therapy through Hinge Health is currently U.S.-only but will expand internationally in 2026.
Longton also highlighted AFSPA’s “alternative benefits,” which include coverage for 50 acupuncture, chiropractic and massage therapy visits per year, with no referral required.
“You want a massage, you feel like you need it, go get it,” he said. “We pay up to $75 per visit.”
Prescription, Medicare and nonhealthy-care coverage
For members navigating Medicare, AFSPA offers coordinated benefits, a Medicare Advantage plan with Part D coverage and a stand-alone prescription drug plan through Express Scripts. Longton noted that upcoming changes to prescription drug benefits may make the Part D option more attractive in 2026.
Prescription delivery for overseas members depends on location and medication type, but AFSPA’s dedicated expat team helps members find workable solutions.
“Cholesterol medication can be sent most places,” Longton said. “Temperature-controlled meds are trickier, but we’ll help figure it out.”
Beyond health insurance, AFSPA also offers life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment coverage, and a senior term life program for those aged 60 to 70. Dental plans are available year-round, including one tailored for international coverage.
A critical illness plan is already in place, and a disability plan is expected to launch in the new year.
Reach out with questions
AFSPA’s outreach efforts include webinars, podcasts and live Q&A sessions across social media. Longton and his team also offer one-on-one consulting to help federal employees understand their options even if they’re not AFSPA members.
As Open Season approaches, Longton’s message is simple: “Don’t be fooled by our name. We’re proud of our Foreign Service roots, but most federal employees are eligible for our plan and should consider it.”
It’s commonly cited that just about 5% of participants in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program change their plan during Open Season each year — so it may not be surprising to learn that many FEHB participants who take advantage of Open Season also tend to wait until the last minute to do so.
But during Federal News Network’s 2026 Open Season Exchange, Holly Schumann, principal deputy associate director for health care and insurance at the Office of Personnel Management, urged participants to get started on their research sooner rather than later.
“We do typically see a big surge of traffic on the last few days of Open Season, but I really encourage folks to take action earlier,” Schumann said. “Take the time to study all of the information. And that’s much easier to do if you’re not waiting until the last minute and feeling pressure to make a decision.”
Tips on how to research federal health insurance options
Schumann also gave some advice for where participants can get started on their studying. She recommended going first to OPM’s website. There, participants can find a plan comparison tool, as well as deeply detailed plan information across all health insurance carriers.
The plan brochures from FEHB carriers — as well as those in the Postal Service Health Benefits program — cover benefits changes for 2026, details on Medicare for each plan option, what the premium rates will look like beginning in January and much more.
“We don’t want anybody to be caught surprised by a change in their plan that they weren’t aware of,” Schumann said. “If you have a specific health care need, I really encourage you to take the time find the link on our website, download the brochure and take a few minutes to leaf through it.”
Beyond FEHB and PSHB information, enrollees can also see more details on OPM’s website about the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program, as well as FSAFEDS — the government’s program for flexible spending accounts. FSAFEDS allows current federal employees each year to set aside pre-tax dollars to go toward eligible out-of-pocket medical expenses.
Schumann strongly encouraged participants to consider enrolling in an FSA, to help save on out-of-pocket costs.
“It allows you to save essentially 20% or 30% on what you would pay for those things, when you consider the tax savings,” Schumann explained. “There is a ‘use or lose’ rule with a flexible spending account generally, but there are mechanisms where, on the health care side for example, you can roll over any excess funds up to a certain limit — assuming you enroll in a flexible spending account the next year.”
While benefits inevitably change year-to-year in FEHB and PSHB, there are also a handful of coverage updates coming from carriers in FEDVIP as well, Schumann said. That makes it all the more prudent for participants to take a look at what’s out there this Open Season.
“Among dental plans, there are some who are offering additional enhanced benefits for additional cleanings during pregnancy, for example,” she said. “On the vision side, there are some plans that are offering additional benefits for folks with diabetes, since we know that they require some enhanced vision services. Folks who might be interested in those benefits should take the time to look at OPM’s website and find out more information about those.”
OPM’s year-round work on health insurance
Although Open Season is the most public-facing time of year for OPM’s health insurance office, the work for the agency truly takes place year-round when it comes to the government’s various insurance programs.
Throughout the year, OPM issues call letters to collaborate with carriers on any changes to benefits or coverage for the following plan year, as well as to discuss priorities on premium rates and costs within the insurance programs.
The premiums are, in part, driven by costs of care from prior years, while also incorporating predictions of what health care costs will look like in the year ahead, Schumann explained. Based on the estimations, OPM’s actuarial team then negotiates the rates with carriers to reach the final values.
“Really what we’re seeking to do is to find the right balance of comprehensive medical coverage with affordability — we’re always trying to strike that balance,” she said.
In the weeks leading up to Open Season’s start date, OPM works to update all information on its website — including the plan comparison tool, as well as all carriers’ health plan brochures for the following plan year.
“We can add information, if needed, to make sure that people get what they need to make informed decisions,” Schumann said. “We also monitor the web traffic to our site to see where people are coming from and what information sources they are most interested in, so that we can adapt during Open Season.”
Then once Open Season ends, OPM works closely with FEHB and PSHB carriers to make sure any participants who changed plans during the open enrollment period are able to get their new insurance cards and all the information they need, ahead of the actual start of the new plan year in January.
Medicare Part D — and the final word
During Open Season, Schumann also stressed the importance of considering some key differences within Medicare Part D and how that will operate for participants depending on whether they are in the FEHB or the PSHB program.
“Many FEHB plans, though not all, provide a Part D prescription drug plan that works in conjunction with their plan. And if you’re eligible and Medicare-enrolled, you’ll be opted into that plan,” Schumann said. “But you can opt out, and you will still have coverage under the underlying FEHB plan, if you choose not to enroll in Part D.”
But for Medicare-eligible PSHB participants, there is an important caveat: PSHB enrollees can only access prescription drug coverage through the program if they have Medicare Part D.
All Medicare-eligible participants will be automatically enrolled, but there is no underlying prescription drug coverage for PSHB participants if they choose to opt out of Part D.
“Every PSHB plan offers a Part D plan that works in conjunction with the PSHB plan,” Schumann said. “Enrollees still have the option to go out on the retail market, if they prefer to choose a different plan than the one offered by their carrier, and purchase a Part D plan. But they just need to know that they have to have Part D if they want to have any sort of prescription drug coverage at all” through PSHB.
Ultimately, Schumann doubled down on her recommendation for studying up and getting an early start on Open Season to ensure participants find the best plan option for them.
“I know it can be daunting to make your way through all of this information about all of the benefit choices available to you, but it’s really time well spent to make sure that you get the coverage that’s right for you and for your family,” she said. “We welcome the opportunity to serve you, and we always welcome feedback on how we can make things better in the future. So take the time, make those decisions carefully, and we’ll look forward to a successful Open Season.”
Participants will see yet another year of large premium increases for 2026, with increasing costs that will impact virtually all enrollees in both the Federal Employees Health Benefits and Postal Service Health Benefits programs.
But Kevin Moss, director of marketing and fundraising at Consumers’ Checkbook and our Fed With Benefitscolumnist, said that’s not the full story this Open Season.
“The premiums don’t all move in the same direction,” Moss said during Federal News Network’s 2026 Open Season Exchange. “There are 23 plans next year where the premium is going down in FEHB. … About half of all the other plans are either moving below that average or above that average. So you’ll have to do the research this Open Season.”
Overall, premiums are going up substantially for plan year 2026. FEHB participants will pay an average of 12.3% more toward their premiums. Out of all FEHB plans, 57 are increasing at a rate lower than the average, and 49 plans are increasing at a rate higher than the average.
For PSHB participants, premium costs are rising by an average of 11.3%, with 35 increasing at a rate below the average and 26 increasing more than the average. Thirteen plan premiums are decreasing, and one is staying the same.
Why premiums are on the rise
Some of the major driving factors behind the premium increases are GLP-1 medications, something that the Office of Personnel Management requires carriers to cover, as well as the rising age of enrollees in FEHB and PSHB.
Premiums are also rising in the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), but to a much smaller extent. For 2026, the average dental premium increase is 3.35%, while vision premiums will rise by an average of 0.47%.
Still, there are several ways that enrollees can hedge against the rising costs next year, Moss said. For current federal employees, he recommended contributing to a Flexible Spending Account through the FSAFEDS program. It’s an option that’s available to all active federal employees, but right now, just 20% of the federal workforce takes advantage of the program.
The FSA option allows federal employees to set aside pre-tax dollars for eligible medical, dental and vision costs — and feds may be able to save about 30% on those costs by using an FSA. For 2026, federal employees can contribute about $100 more toward an FSA, for a total contribution limit of $3,400.
“Every federal employee has some out-of-pocket health care costs that they can budget and predict,” Moss said. “When we think about medical expenses and when we also consider vision expenses and dental expenses, I think most federal employees can at least find a few hundred dollars that they predict that they’re going to spend out of pocket.”
Changes to plans and coverage for 2026
At the same time that most health plan premiums are on the rise, it’s inevitable that each year some plans will exit the FEHB marketplace, while some new ones pop up.
For 2026, there will be a total of 47 carriers and 132 plan options available in the FEHB program, according to OPM. For PSHB, there will be 75 total plan options participants can choose from, across 17 different carriers.
A number of smaller and regional plans are leaving the FEHB marketplace next year: Health Alliance’s HMO Standard; AvMed Health Plan’s HDHP and Standard plans; Independent Health’s High plan; Blue Care Network of Michigan’s High plan; and Priority Health’s High plan.
GEHA Elevate and GEHA Elevate Plus are the only two plan options leaving PSHB next year.
But Moss said the most significant change for 2026 are the two plans from the National Association of Letter Carriers that are leaving the FEHB program. NALC’s exit from FEHB will impact about 29,000 enrollees who will have to either select a new plan during Open Season or be auto-enrolled into GEHA High.
That auto-enrollment option might be the right choice for individuals, Moss said, but it also might not.
“You’ll want to find out how it works before getting auto-enrolled in that plan,” Moss said.
There are also several important benefit updates that enrollees should be aware of, Moss explained. There have been some recent changes, for instance, in the coverage of in vitro fertilization through FEHB and PSHB. BlueCross BlueShield Standard and GEHA High both offer a similar benefit of up to $25,000 to cover IVF treatments.
“If you’re thinking about IVF, just make sure that you’re also thinking the other aspects of plan choice before making that plan decision,” Moss said. “What are the premium differences? What about provider network? What about the other benefits that those plans offer? Make sure that you’re really comparing on more than just the IVF.”
OPM additionally requires all carriers in both FEHB and PSHB to cover at least one GLP-1 medication prescribed for weight loss — something that Moss said is ahead of the curve in comparison to the commercial market.
“You’re going to want to go to the prescription drug resource information on the carrier websites to find out about cost coverage, whether there’s pre-authorization requirements and get some pricing information,” he said.
One other notable change for 2026 is that OPM is requiring all carriers to drop coverage of gender-affirming care for participants. OPM’s requirements earlier this year initially told carriers only to stop providing pediatric coverage of gender-affirming care, but OPM later expanded the requirement to block coverage for all enrollees in both FEHB and PSHB.
An important caveat to OPM’s changes, however, is that FEHB or PSHB enrollees who are mid-treatment for gender-affirming care will still be able to continue getting their treatment covered next year.
“The definition of ‘mid-treatment’ is left to the carriers, so anyone who’s using gender-affirming care services will really want to find out from their carrier, either through the plan brochure or the carrier website itself,” Moss said.
Taking advantage of Open Season
Even if enrollees feel satisfied with their plan option, they’d still be wise to do some research during Open Season, Moss said. Usually, just about 5% of FEHB enrollees change their plan options during each year’s open enrollment window.
“There’s homework that every federal employee has, and it all starts with looking at what’s different with your plan that you currently have,” Moss said. “The premium is probably different. The benefits can change.”
Taking a look at section two of a carrier’s plan brochure will detail any changes in benefits and costs that will occur next plan year. Because OPM mandates that all carriers’ plan brochures have the same formatting, it’s relatively easy to compare costs and benefits across different plan options, Moss said.
OPM also has a plan comparison tool, and Consumer’s Checkbook offers a “Guide to Health Plans” for federal employees, which is accessible for free through many federal agencies. The comprehensive guide includes estimated yearly costs and which plans may have the best value.
“All these resources are there for you to help people better understand both their plan and different plan options this Open Season,” Moss said.
In spite of the sharply rising premiums, Moss said, “There could be a positive here: It may spur folks to actually look to see, ‘Are there other plans that maybe can offer greater value, where I can still keep the providers that I’ve grown accustomed to but then save quite a bit of money by switching plans?’ ”
Insurance costs are rising sharply once again for 2026 — and that is certainly an important factor for enrollees in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program to consider when making any changes during this fall’s Open Season.
But David Yoder, senior vice president of BlueCross BlueShield’s Federal Employee Program, said looking at health insurance premiums alone, and not seeing the bigger cost picture, could put FEHB participants at a disadvantage when deciding on a health plan.
Out-of-pocket costs can come from a number of health care needs — such as doctor’s office visits, co-pays for prescription drugs, emergency room visits or telemedicine appointments. And those are all health care options that many enrollees may use on a frequent basis.
“By the time you incur all those costs, plus the premium, you may have been able to go into a different product that may have had a slightly higher premium, but a little bit lower out-of-pocket cost,” Yoder explained.
At the same time, since BCBS is a nonprofit, Yoder noted that the carrier has a slightly different method for calculating costs — something may be especially important to consider in a year where participants are facing another major spike in health premiums.
But according to Yoder, 95 cents of every dollar from BCBS enrollees goes back toward paying for medical costs.
“We try to be very judicious about how we set those rates because we want to make sure we have affordable products,” Yoder said. “We want to make sure that our members are able to access the products we have.”
Looking beyond health care costs
Going beyond cost, Yoder encouraged participants to weigh other key factors when deciding on their health care options — most notably, by comparing provider networks, as well as looking at the drug benefits that are included in various plan options.
“You want to make sure that you understand, if you’re taking a product, that your product is covered,” Yoder said. “There may be alternatives that are covered that may be just as efficacious for you … And they may be covered at a lower cost share overall.”
Despite a year of major uncertainty for federal employees, Yoder said he hopes that health care can remain an area where federal insurance enrollees will feel steadier and will have one less thing to have to worry about.
“In the midst of all these changes, the one thing that they really need and depend on is their health care. That’s the one constant they may have,” Yoder said. “We continue to provide those services no matter what happens moving forward. We try to make sure members are reassured that we’re going to be here for them.”
BlueCross BlueShield offers various health plan options in the federal insurance space. The choices range from coverage for those with minimal health needs, to those seeking broader benefits or better provider flexibility.
“It is our mission to be able to bring the best benefits we possibly can to federal employees, and to make sure that they can get the coverage they need at an affordable price point,” Yoder said. “We offer multiple price point benefits. We’ve really got something for everybody.”
BCBS additionally offers tools and resources to its members, so they can better understand and track changes to their health care costs year to year, as well as consider the key differences between various plan options and what may be most pragmatic for each individual employee.
Amid a lot of change and uncertainty for the federal workforce this year, taking advantage of this fall’s Open Season may be especially important for participants in the government’s health insurance programs.
Raj Vavilala, chief sales, marketing and product officer for G.E.H.A, the Government Employees Health Association, said he has been hearing frequently from federal employees this year about the need for reassurance — and strong continuity of care — within the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program.
“When there’s a lot of change, we pride ourselves in being that trusted advisor, aspire to that status wherein we can actually share what all of this change means to a specific member or their family,” Vavilala said during Federal News Network’s 2026 Open Season Exchange. “Because health care, even though it’s a broad term, it’s very personalized to everybody’s specific needs.”
Individualized health care plans
Vavilala said health care shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all. He noted that G.E.H.A offers a range of both health and dental options for enrollees, depending on their individual situation. That may be critical in a year that has been particularly challenging for the federal workforce.
Generally, the plan choices from G.E.H.A range from those with low premiums, to those with maximum coverage. For Vavilala, the end goal is to find the right fit for each federal employee as they navigate changes to both their careers and their health over time.
“The most important thing for every federal employee right now … is to engage in their health care,” he said. “This is the year of all years to actually take a look at what’s happening underneath the surface of your health care.”
Adjusting health care across your federal career
As any federal employee continues through, and beyond, their career in government, it’s practically inevitable that health care needs will change over time — and that means coverage needs will change over time as well.
Younger federal employees with few health needs or any federal employee that’s looking to save money with a health savings account for health needs in the future, for instance, may find value in a high-deductible health plan, Vavilala explained.
Whereas standard or high plan options may be better suited at later points in a federal employee’s career or for those looking for deeper benefits. There are also Medicare Advantage options, which may appeal more to federal retirees.
But on top of the various options, Vavilala said enrollees can access added benefits from G.E.H.A, in addition to those outlined by the respective federal program. These include vision, fitness and hearing aid discounts — as well as telehealth options. Ultimately, he said the goal is to help enrollees navigate various situations and find the right benefits for them, including through managing any unpredictable changes that may come.
“We care for the health and well-being of our members more than anything else, and that sets a clear guide path on what matters to us, in terms of the decisions we make — whether it’s a product, whether it’s how we talk to members, how we educate them,” Vavilala said. “That’s really our secret sauce.”
Don’t be afraid to ask for Open Season help
And when seeking out different options during Open Season, participants aren’t alone in their search. Vavilala said G.E.H.A offers various ways for enrollees to get answers to their questions. That includes through digital comparison tools, as well as a customer service phone line.
There are also plan brochures available from each FEHB carrier and detailed information on the Office of Personnel Management’s website.
“You’ll have an opportunity to look at the brochure. You’ll have an opportunity to look at the material that all carriers provide to you,” Vavilala said. “But there is really no substitute for a conversation. Have a conversation with us — ask the questions and demand good answers. It’s our responsibility to help, to provide detailed information.”
G.E.H.A, the Government Employees Health Association, is a nonprofit member association that provides health and dental benefits that millions of federal employees and retirees, military retirees and their families have counted on since 1937.
“It’s an amazing honor to be part of this space serving federal employees and their families,” Vavilala said. “Every time we have a conversation with a federal employee, we realize this is not a job — this is a calling and a mission.”
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