Hogan: Maryland Is Cyber Capital of US

(US Cyber Command photo)

Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River economic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

Among the 105 bills signed into law this month by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) were three bills that aim to strengthen the state’s cybersecurity network, reports Maryland Matters. One provides funding to establish the Cybersecurity Preparedness Unit in the Maryland Department of Emergency Management; another will help centralize the state’s cybersecurity systems management under the Department of Information Technology; and the third establishes a commission through the IT department to advise the state’s chief information security officer on how to modernize technology systems in state agencies.

At the May 12 bill signing Gov. Hogan said that, in signing these bills, he and the legislature’s presiding officers will “further strengthen Maryland’s standing as the cyber capital of America.” With 60 federal civilian agencies and 20 military installations – including the US Cyber Command and the National Security Agency – in the state, it’s no surprise that entrepreneurs coming out of the federal government have brought technology to the commercial market, according to the open.maryland.gov blog.

The House Select Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing today, May 17, on “unidentified aerial phenomena,” reports Military Times. Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Ronald Moultrie and Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray are expected to testify on recent research and findings from the Defense Department.

The US Navy doesn’t want nuclear weapons on ships, despite an interest from some combatant commanders, reports Navy Times. ADM Mike Gilday, chief of naval operations, said it doesn’t make sense to rush into procurement of such weapons, given an already too-small and heavily worked fleet.

Private equity firm Carlyle Group will buy defense contractor ManTech in a $3.93 billion deal that was announced Monday, reports Reuters. The enterprise value of the deal, expected to close in the second half of 2022, is $4.2 billion.

Lockheed Martin avionics experts will supervise the redesign of the panoramic display in the F-35 Lightning IIs to stave-off the effects of electronics component obsolescence, reports Military-Aerospace Electronics.

Lockheed Martin plans to add 300 workers at its Greenville, SC, plant, reports Greenville News. The firm said the additional workers will help meet the increasing demand for the F-16 Block 70/72 fighter jet being produced there.

US DefSec Lloyd Austin spoke to his counterpart in Russia, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Friday for the first time since Russia initiated its invasion of Ukraine, reports CBS News. During the call, Austin “urged an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine,” according to DoD. On Sunday during a call with Ukraine’s Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov, Austin reiterated the “unwavering US support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and security assistance efforts to bolster Ukraine’s capacity to counter Russian aggression.” The hour-long discussion between Austin and Shoigu came after months passed in which Russian leaders avoided phone calls, reports Navy Times.

The war in Ukraine has the US Marine Corps revamping its improvised explosive device training, reports Marine Corps Times. MAJ GEN Julian Alford, head of Training Command, in assessing lessons learned from the ongoing fight against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, said, “No. 1 is we have to have counter-IED programs stood back up, period. It’s criminal if we don’t train our Marines on counter-IED before they deploy.”

 

 

Laura Taylor-Kale, an Obama administration trade official, is the Biden administration’s choice to be the Pentagon’s industrial policy chief, reports Defense News. She has been an innovation, workforce, and industrial policy scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations since 2017.

In April, the Pentagon restructured its Industrial Policy Office to focus on supply chain issues in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Defense One reported at the time.

Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, promised strong support for the Defense Innovation Unit’s mission to leverage commercial technology for military use, as she testified before a House Armed Services subcommittee late last week, reports C4ISRNET. Shyu vowed to increase the DIU’s budget in fiscal 2024. DIU director Michael Brown announced he would resign in September due to a “glaring weakness in modernizing DoD” and a lack of support from senior leadership.

An F-16 Fighting Falcon jet belonging to the South Dakota Air National Guard’s 114th Fighter Wing skidded off of a Sioux Falls runway upon landing last week, coming to rest nose-down in the grass, reports Air Force Times. No injuries were reported, and the investigation into the incident continues.

The Marine Corps is close to releasing its new social media and electronics-use policies, reports Marine Corps Times. While all of the services have policies in place, Corps leadership wants to draw attention to the ways units make information about their activities available, intentionally or inadvertently.

Some sailors at Naval Air Station Key West in Florida must now find new places to live after the closure of two of the base’s barracks, reports Military Times. About 60 junior sailors are looking for alternative places to stay. The Navy said the housing needs to be repaired and renovated.

The American Federation of Government Employees is calling on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to slow down its plans to have workers return to their offices, reports Federal News Network. Approximately 1,400 union-covered EEOC employees were expected to begin partially returning to their offices this week.

Cheshire, CT, native Keith Henry was recently honored by the government of Japan, reports Cheshire Herald. Henry was a former Navy chief of staff and deputy commander of the US Naval Force in Japan. He received Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun award granted by the emperor of Japan. Among the stops in Henry’s military career was the US Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Pax River in the late 1990s.

An incessant need to roll socks. A love/hate relationship with acronyms. These are things that veterans carry with them for life, reports Military Times in its list of nontraditional things that many vets seem to be stuck with for life.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and his wife got their second COVID booster shots, reports WTOP News. Hogan said the booster shots, given at the University of Maryland Medical Center, are the reason why the state has been successful in fighting the pandemic.

The Associated Press reports that four cadets at the US Air Force Academy might not graduate or be commissioned as military officers this month because they have refused the COVID-19 vaccine. They may be required to pay back their tuition costs.

Contracts

Allied Technologies and Consulting LLC, Frederick, Maryland (HT001122D0001); Applied Research Associates Inc., Albuquerque, New Mexico (HT001122D0002); AVOSYS Technology Inc., San Antonio, Texas (HT001122D0003); Axiom Resource Management Inc., Falls Church, Virginia (HT001122D0004); Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio (HT001122D0005); Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia (HT001122D0006); Broadstar LLC, Manassas, Virginia (HT001122D0007); Caduceus Healthcare Inc., Atlanta, Georgia (HT001122D0008); Camris International LLC, Bethesda, Maryland (HT001122D0009); Chenega Health Care Services LLC, San Antonio, Texas (HT001122D0010); Cherokee Nation Operational Solutions LLC, Tulsa, Oklahoma (HT001122D0011); Cognosante LLC, Falls Church, Virginia (HT001122D0012); Concourse Federal Group LLC, Moneta, Virginia (HT001122D0013); Cortina Solutions LLC, Huntsville, Alabama (HT001122D0014); Credence Dynamo Solutions LLC, Vienna, Virginia (HT001122D0015); Credence Management Solutions LLC, Vienna, Virginia (HT001122D0016); Deloitte Consulting LLP, Arlington, Virginia (HT001122D0017); Enterprise Resource Planning International LLC, Laurel, Maryland (HT001122D0018); Foresite Labs LLC, San Francisco, California (HT001122D0019); General Dynamics Information Technology Inc., Falls Church, Virginia (HT001122D0020); Goldbelt C6 LLC, Chesapeake, Virginia (HT001122D0021); Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Inc., Bethesda, Maryland (HT001122D0022); ICON Government and Public Health Solutions Inc., Hinckley, Ohio (HT001122D0023); Irving Burton Associates LLC, Falls Church, Virginia (HT001122D0024); Kapili Services LLC, Orlando, Florida (HT001122D0025); Knowesis Inc., San Antonio, Texas (HT001122D0026); Laulima Government Solutions LLC, Orlando, Florida (HT0011-22-D-0027); Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia (HT001122D0028); LMI Consulting LLC, Tysons, Virginia (HT001122D0029); Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico (HT001122D0030); Mantech Advanced Systems International Inc., Herndon, Virginia (HT001122D0031); MicroHealth LLC, Vienna, Virginia (HT001122D0032); Military Health Research Foundation, Laurel, Maryland (HT001122D0033); MPF Federal LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (HT001122D0034); Odyssey Systems Consulting Group LTD, Wakefield, Massachusetts (HT001122D0035); Parsons Government Services Inc., Centreville, Virginia (HT001122D0036); PGDMS LLC, Meggett, South Carolina (HT001122D0037); PM Consulting Group LLC, Towson, Maryland (HT001122D0038); PotomacWave Consulting Inc., Alexandria, Virginia (HT001122D0039); PPD Development LP, Wilmington, North Carolina (HT001122D0040); RB Consulting, Inc., Frederick, Maryland (HT001122D0041); Research Triangle Institute, Triangle Park, North Carolina (HT001122D0042); Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia (HT001122D0043); Shadowbox Consulting Associates LLC, Annandale, Virginia (HT001122D0044); Sigma Health Consulting LLC, Silver Spring, Maryland (HT001122D0045); Systems Plus Inc., Rockville, Maryland (HT001122D0046); Techwerks LLC, Arlington Heights, Illinois (HT001122D0047);Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc., Huntsville, Alabama (HT001122D0048); Tunnell Consulting Inc., Bethesda, Maryland (HT001122D0049); Universal Consulting Services Inc., Fairfax, Virginia (HT001122D0050); The University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (HT001122D0051); Venesco LLC, Chantilly, Virginia (HT001122D0052); Vysnova Partners Inc., Landover, Maryland (HT001122D0053); Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston Salem, North Carolina (HT001122D0054); Webworld Technologies Inc., Fairfax, Virginia (HT001122D0055); and Zcore Business Solutions Inc., Round Rock, Texas (HT001122D0056), will share in a multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a ceiling of $10,000,000,000 across one five-year base period and one five-year option period to provide military medical research and development services and technologies across four market segments: Research & Development; Research & Development Support Services; Regulatory Processes; and Translational Science Support and Services. Sixty-one offerers submitted a total of 126 proposals across the four market segments. The base ordering period is for five years from June 20, 2022, to June 19, 2027, and the five-year option ordering period is from June 20, 2027, to June 19, 2032. Work location and funding is task-order dependent. The contract has a $2,500 minimum guarantee. This contract was competitively solicited via the SAM.gov website. The Defense Health Agency Professional Services Contracting Division, Falls Church, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

CCI Energy & Construction Services LLC, Garden Ridge, Texas (FA3016-22-D-0017); Butt Construction Company Inc., Dayton, Ohio (FA3016-22-D-0018); LRG Services LLC, Anchorage, Alaska (FA3016-22-D-0019); Lifecycle Construction Services LLC, Fredericksburg, Virginia (FA3016-22-D-0020); SES Electrical LLC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (FA3016-22-D-0021); HGL Construction Inc., Midwest City, Oklahoma (FA3016-22-D-0022); GSI-ENET JV LLC, Honolulu, Hawaii (FA3016-22-D-0023); PM Jenkins Group Professional Management Services LLC, Kalamazoo, Missouri (FA3016-22-D-0024); Dawson Enterprises LLC, McClellan, California (FA3016-22-D-0025); Southeastern Industrial Barlovento JV-2 LLC, Destin, Florida (FA3016-22-D-0026); Gideon Contracting LLC, San Antonio, Texas (FA3016-22-D-0027); Koman Construction LLC, Anchorage, Alaska (FA3016-22-D-0028); and Hasen JV, New Braunfels, Texas (FA3016-22-D-0030), have been awarded a $990,000,000 ceiling, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award construction contract. This contract provides construction services for military facilities at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas; Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas; and Goodfellow AFB, Texas. Work is expected to be completed by May 15, 2032. This award is the result of a competitive small business set-aside acquisition and 35 proposals were received. Fiscal 2022 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,000 per basic contract will be obligated at the time of award. The 502nd Contracting Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, is the contracting activity.

M.C. Dean, Tysons, Virginia (W912DY17-D-0016); Signet Technologies Inc., Beltsville, Maryland (W912DY17-D-0013); KBRWyle Technology Solutions LLC, Columbia, Maryland (W912DY17-D-0014); Johnson Controls Building Automation Systems LLC, Huntsville, Alabama (W912DY17-D-0015); InDyne Inc., Sterling, Virginia (W912DY17-D-0039); Parsons Government Services Inc., Pasadena, California (W912DY17-D-0017); Xator Corp., Reston, Virginia (W912DY17-D-0019); and Williams Electric Company Inc., Fort Walton Beach, Florida (W912DY17-D-0040), were awarded a $95,000,000 modification (P00007) for the Electronic Security System Program. Bids were solicited via the internet with 34 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 5, 2022. US Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity.

Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia (HDTRA1-17-C-0019), is issued a contract modification (P00031) to exercise an option for a six-month extension with a ceiling value of $18,664,816, to a time-and-materials contract for scientific and technical services in support of various projects under the Biological Threat Reduction Program. Work will be performed at various locations throughout the world. The anticipated completion date is Nov. 13, 2022. The contract was a competitive acquisition; the government received 11 offers. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Cooperative Threat Reduction Contracting Office, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded May 13, 2022)