# Three moves, one direction: DoD is trying to lower the barriers to entry

**URL:** <https://community.iquasar.com/t/three-moves-one-direction-dod-is-trying-to-lower-the-barriers-to-entry/673>\
**Category:** News, Updates & Market Insights\
**Created:** [September 8, 2026, 6:20am UTC](https://community.iquasar.com/t/three-moves-one-direction-dod-is-trying-to-lower-the-barriers-to-entry/673 "2026-09-08T06:20:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![farrukhshah](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.iquasar.com/farrukhshah/32/409_2.png) [@farrukhshah](https://community.iquasar.com/u/farrukhshah)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 6:20am UTC](https://community.iquasar.com/t/three-moves-one-direction-dod-is-trying-to-lower-the-barriers-to-entry/673/1 "2026-09-08T06:20:10Z")

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![GovCon](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/uploads/iquasar/original/1X/13b504615105f5ba3df241138f6abf3adb470536.webp)

Three things moving in GovCon this week that cleared contractors and staffing firms should be watching.

𝟭. 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗻’𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝗖𝗜𝗙 𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗲𝘁: DoD’s new “Secure Space Network” will deploy about 50 mobile SCIFs across military bases, tech accelerators, and other mission-relevant locations nationwide. It builds on the Bridge Program’s four shared facilities (Pittsburgh included) and nine privately owned SCIFs planned for Austin, San Francisco, Boston, Charleston, Chicago, Cleveland, Louisville, and New York. For years, the biggest gatekeeping capable small businesses out of classified work wasn’t talent or technology; it was a locked door. If this scales, it changes who gets to compete, not just who gets to win. Watching: how fast these get accredited, and whether “mission-relevant locations” means somewhere your team can actually get to.

𝟮. 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗔’𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 11 combatant commands. 231,000 users. 200 sites worldwide. One deadline: September 30, 2028. That’s the scale of DISA’s push to move every combatant command’s IT onto DoDNet, and industry is now asking a pointed question: Is this real market research, or are requirements being written narrow enough to justify handing the work sole-source again? This came after GDIT protested DISA adding the combatant commands to Leidos’s Defense Enclave Services contract without competing it. GAO dismissed the protest only after DISA agreed to redo its market research and acquisition approach. Since then, DISA has issued two sources-sought notices in quick succession, and sources are openly questioning whether the agency is rushing rather than actually reconsidering. Every combatant command runs different systems and has different operational needs. That’s not a detail you route around with a fast timeline. Worth watching if you’re on the identity, ICAM, zero trust, or infrastructure-as-code side of things.

𝟯. 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗗𝗖𝗦𝗔 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘃𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮: Cleared industry just told DCSA, in a public meeting, that continuous vetting has a visibility problem. At the September 2 NISPPAC meeting, ManTech’s LaToya Coleman asked DCSA directly for more data on how CV alerts get resolved and how long it’s actually taking. The concern isn’t the concept; it’s the black box. Contractors are seeing cleared people sidelined by alerts with no clear adjudication timeline, and that turns into real delays getting people onto contracts. This lands right as DCSA discontinued periodic reinvestigation requests at the end of June, making CV the primary model going forward, and as the same approach extends to non-sensitive public trust employees. A system that flags people faster only helps if it also resolves them faster. If you staff cleared talent, an unresolved alert on a candidate you’re trying to start is a staffing problem before it’s a policy problem.

Same underlying theme across all three: the department is moving to lower barriers and modernize faster, and in each case, industry is right to press on execution before taking the win for granted.

Sources: [Pentagon plans fleet of portable SCIFs | Federal News Network](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2026/09/pentagon-plans-fleet-of-portable-scifs/)

> **[Contractors want more data on ‘continuous vetting’ clearance model | Federal...](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/hiring-retention/2026/09/contractors-want-more-data-on-continuous-vetting-clearance-model/)**
>
> Industry says the time it takes for DCSA to adjudicate some CV alerts has led to delays in getting cleared employees working on contracts.

> **[Pentagon plans fleet of portable SCIFs | Federal News Network](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2026/09/pentagon-plans-fleet-of-portable-scifs/)**
>
> The initiative may allow more nontraditional contractors to contribute to national security, collaborate with government teams and compete for classified work.

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**Author:** ![Iram\_Sehar](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.iquasar.com/iram_sehar/32/165_2.png) [@Iram\_Sehar](https://community.iquasar.com/u/Iram_Sehar)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 6:08pm UTC](https://community.iquasar.com/t/three-moves-one-direction-dod-is-trying-to-lower-the-barriers-to-entry/673/2 "2026-09-08T18:08:08Z")

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The CV issue in #3 is huge for recruiters right now. Discontinuing periodic reinvestigations makes sense on paper, but turning continuous vetting into an opaque red-light system freezes revenue for staffing firms. A candidate with an unexplained alert is functionally un-billable until DCSA creates a real-time resolution workflow.

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**Author:** ![farrukhshah](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.iquasar.com/farrukhshah/32/409_2.png) [@farrukhshah](https://community.iquasar.com/u/farrukhshah)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 8:03am UTC](https://community.iquasar.com/t/three-moves-one-direction-dod-is-trying-to-lower-the-barriers-to-entry/673/3 "2026-09-09T08:03:42Z")

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Absolutely. The challenge isn’t continuous vetting itself; it’s the lack of visibility into what happens after an alert is triggered. When candidates can’t get clear timelines for resolution, contractors are left managing staffing gaps, delayed starts, and revenue impacts. Greater transparency would benefit both security and mission readiness.