Nat’l Cemeteries Open Dawn to Dusk Memorial Weekend
(Photo by Sgt. Oscar Toscano at 3d US Infantry Regiment “The Old Guard”)
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.
The 155 national cemeteries managed by the Department of Veterans Affairs will be open from dawn to dusk throughout Memorial Day weekend, and more than 130 will hold ceremonies to mark the day of remembrance for those who died in service to the US, reports Military.com. The VA is inviting all veterans, family members, survivors, and the public to the ceremonies, which Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Matt Quinn said will “honor those heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice to our country.”
The yearlong suspension of horse-drawn funerals at Arlington National Cemetery is expected to extend for several more months, reports Stars and Stripes. The Army pulled the 3rd Infantry Regiment’s Caisson Platoon from operations in May 2023 after several horses died from poor living. The Army faces obstacles in improving horse care, and ArmySec Christine Wormuth told senators this week the popular program is still struggling to restart.
A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the felony convictions of five retired military officers who had admitted to accepting bribes from a Malaysian contractor nicknamed “Fat Leonard” in one of the biggest corruption cases in the history of the Navy. The dismissals came at the request of the government — not the defense — citing prosecutorial errors, reports Military Times. Retired Navy officers Donald Hornbeck, Robert Gorsuch, and Jose Luis Sanchez, and Marine Corps COL Enrico DeGuzman had all admitted to accepting bribes from defense contractor Leonard Francis. The three pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of disclosing information. The judge also dismissed the entire case against Navy officer Stephen Shedd.
A group of Republican senators is calling for the firing of VA officials who authorized $10.8 million in incentive bonuses to senior VA executives last year, funding that was intended to be used to retain employees in critically understaffed jobs, reports Military.com. In September, the VA announced the error and in May the VA inspector general found 182 senior executives received nearly $11 million in bonuses, ranging from $39,000 to more than $100,000 for seven executives in the Veterans Health Administration.
The House Armed Services Committee endorses a 4.5% across-the-board pay raise for service members on top of a 15% raise for junior enlisted troops in its draft version of the National Defense Authorization Act. Military.com reports this means the military’s lowest-ranking forces could see a 19.5% pay hike next year if the plan becomes law.
Republican appropriators advanced a budget bill for more than $360 billion for VA operations but also limits abortion access and diversity programs that Democratic lawmakers vowed to fight as the measure moves through Congress. Military Times reports the legislation, the first fiscal 2025 budget draft approved by a House Appropriations Committee panel this year, also includes nearly $18 billion in military construction funds for next year, including $1.1 billion for construction of 11 new military barracks projects and $2 billion for military family housing initiatives.
Veterans Affairs officials have now approved more than 1 million claims through the sweeping toxic exposure legislation signed into law 22 months ago, a milestone White House officials praised as evidence they are “doing better” for veterans seeking help with their service injuries, reports Military Times.
The Pentagon is expanding its paid fellowship program for military spouses to include early-career opportunities, reports Military Times. The current program has provided “career-ready” fellowships for spouses with more education and experience, Patricia Barron, deputy undersecretary of defense for military community and family policy, told reporters Monday.
A provision included in the draft text of the NDAA released this week would prohibit the military from making someone take a test for cannabis as a condition for enlisting or commissioning into the military, reports Military.com.
Trucks began carrying aid for the Gaza Strip rolled across the newly built US pier Friday as Israeli restrictions on border crossings and heavy fighting hindered the delivery of food and other supplies, reports Military Times.
The Pentagon’s top general offered a rare critique of Israel’s war strategy on Monday, warning Israeli troops’ failure to hold ground they had taken from Hamas in northern Gaza could have long-term effects, reports Politico. “Not only do you have to actually go in and clear out whatever adversary you are up against, you have to go in, hold the territory, and then you’ve got to stabilize it,” said GEN CQ Brown, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, drawing on his years in the Middle East.
China announced it had taken measures against 12 companies involved in the US military-industrial complex and their senior executives, in response to the US arming of Taiwan and sanctions on Chinese companies, reports Reuters. The US companies include units of Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and General Dynamics. The measures include freezing assets in China and banning senior executives from entering the country and took effect Wednesday.
The majority of the Navy’s T-45C Goshawk jet trainer fleet is no longer grounded, following an operational pause that followed an engine failure aboard one of the jets on April 12. Military Times reports preliminary findings from a Naval Air Systems Command and Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems Program Office probe indicate that the aircraft involved in the mishap suffered an “engine blade failure due to a manufacturing defect on a low-pressure compressor blade,” Chief of Naval Air Training spokeswoman Anne Owens said.
Japanese cities that surround Yokota Air Base airlift hub in western Tokyo are concerned for their citizens’ safety when the Air Force resumes flying the CV-22 Ospreys stationed here. The 21st Special Operations Squadron has yet to launch its Ospreys again, nearly six months after it lost eight airmen in a fatal crash in southern Japan, reports Stars and Stripes.
After more than seven months deployed, most of it spent fighting off sustained missile and drone barrages fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the men and women of the Navy destroyer Carney returned home Sunday to Naval Station Mayport, FL, reports Military Times. All told, Carney was deployed for 235 days, a record-setting cruise that began in the Mediterranean Sea but saw the warship shift south to the Red Sea following the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
The helicopter that crashed while carrying the Iranian president through mountainous fog was a US-designed Bell 212, according to state media and photographs verified by The Washington Post.
After 55 days stuck in the Patapsco River, the Dali cargo ship was hauled away from the site of its catastrophic crash into the Francis Scott Key Bridge – a crucial step toward fully reopening the busy Port of Baltimore, reports CNN. The ship’s removal will now allow for “all pre-collapse deep-draft commercial vessels to enter and exit the Port of Baltimore,” according to a Monday afternoon news release from the Unified Command, a joint task force composed of multiple government agencies responding to the disaster.
Maryland is the fourth best state for military retirees according to WalletHub which compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on their ability to provide a comfortable military retirement. The analysis uses a data set of 28 key metrics, ranging from veterans per capita to the number of VA health facilities to job opportunities for veterans.
WalletHub also reports Columbia, MD, as the best spot for summer jobs. Four more towns in the mid-Atlantic are on the top 20 list: In Virginia, Richmond at number 13; Virginia Beach, 16; and Chesapeake Beach, 19. Wilmington, DE, is number 20.
The chiefs of America’s biggest companies reached new pay heights in 2023 as stock awards swelled the value of compensation packages. Half of the executives in a Wall Street Journal analysis made at least $15.7 million, a record for median CEO pay in the annual survey, with several making more than $50 million. Median pay for the same companies a year earlier was about $14.5 million, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The Navy took another step toward creating a surface fleet seamlessly integrated with uncrewed vessels by formally establishing its second unmanned surface drone unit. USNI reports the new unit, the “Hell Hounds” of Unmanned Surface Vessel Squadron 3, has received the first four Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft of what’s expected to be “hundreds” of unmanned surface vessels that will deploy and operate with the surface force’s guided-missile destroyers.
The Navy is on track to homeport four Independence-class littoral combat ships in Bahrain next year as part of a new mine countermeasures force in the Middle East, reports Stars and Stripes. The first three ships will be USS Canberra, USS Tulsa and USS Santa Barbara, all based out of San Diego. The fourth is not yet identified, CAPT Nathan Wemett, commander of Naval Surface Group Central, said Friday.
The Navy christened the future USS Pierre (LCS 38) as the newest, and final, Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship on Saturday in a ceremony at Mobile, AL, reports Stars and Stripes. Pierre is the 19th Independence-variant LCS, and the second ship named after Pierre, SD, according to the Navy. Pierre will go through months of sea trials before being handed over to the Navy. A commissioning ceremony for the ship will be held in San Diego next year. The process of the Pierre began in 2019.
Contracts:
Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $23,383,421 modification (P00111) to contract W31P4Q-21-F-0095 for hardware-in-the-loop modeling and simulation and development engineering services. Work will be performed in South Korea, with an estimated completion date of April 14, 2025. Fiscal 2024 operation and maintenance, Air Force funds in the amount of $23,383,421 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.
General Dynamics Mission Systems, Fairfax, Virginia, is awarded a $33,405,737 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-19-C-6407) to exercise options to provide BYG-1 Tactical Control System engineering support. Work will be performed in Fairfax, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by July 2025. Fiscal 2024 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $6,595,260 (48%); fiscal 2024 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $6,210,000 (46%); Year 15 Royal Australian Navy Unique funds in the amount of $603,993 (4%); and fiscal 2024 Australia, United Kingdom, United States funds in the amount of $218,000 (2%) will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.
The National Institute of Building Sciences, Washington, DC, was awarded a $49,500,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for architect-engineer services. This contract provides for developing, publishing, and interpreting the building criteria/codes, standards, specification guides, and other facilities-related technical information necessary to enable optimal planning, construction, operation, sustainment, restoration, and modernization of built infrastructure. Work will be performed primarily in Washington, DC and is expected to be completed by May 21, 2029. This contract was a sole source acquisition. Air Force and Navy operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,061,830 are being obligated at the time of award. The 771st Enterprise Sourcing Squadron, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (FA8003-24-D-0013)
Oceaneering International Inc., Hanover, Maryland, is awarded a $17,775,259 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-20-C-4315) for continued support of the Navy’s domestic and international submarine rescue program, Submarine Rescue Operations Maintenance Contractor. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed by September 2024. Fiscal 2024 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,256,607 will be obligated at the time of award, and funds in the amount of $5,256,607 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.
Goodwill Services Inc., Richmond, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $8,863,398 firm-fixed-price for base supply store support services. This is a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods. The performance completion is June 30, 2025, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2024 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Contracting Services Office Richmond, Virginia (SP4703-24-C-0013).
AMP United LLC, Dover, New Hampshire (N42158-21-D-S001); International Marine and Industrial Applicators LLC, Spanish Fort, Alabama (N42158-21-D-S002); and Q.E.D. Systems Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (N42158-21-D-S003), were awarded a combined $34,205,112 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity modification to exercise Option Year Three for the preservation and maintenance of Navy submarines. The contracts have a base one-year ordering period with four additional optional one-year ordering periods which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $248,692,224 over a five-year period to the three vendors combined. Work for this option year will be performed in Portsmouth, Virginia (80%); and Kittery, Maine (20%), and is expected to be completed by June 2025. If all options are exercised, work will continue through June 2026. No funding will be obligated at time of modification. Funding will be obligated at the time of task order award. These contracts were competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website with three offers received. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
Cape Environmental Management Inc., Norcross, Georgia (W9124J-24-D-0007); EA Engineering Science and Technology Inc., Hunt Valley, Maryland (W9124J-24-D-0008); Environmental Chemical Corp., Burlingame, California (W9124J-24-D-0009); ERRG-VERSAR JV1, Martinez, California (W9124J-24-D-0010); FPM-AECOM JV1, Oneida, New York (W9124J-24-D-0011); Plexus-Pika JV LLC, Alexandria, Virginia (W9124J-24-D-0012); and TW-USAE JV LLC, Elkridge, Maryland (W9124J-24-D-0013), will compete for each order of the $464,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for environmental remediation services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 12 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 21, 2029. Army Field Directorate Office, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is the contracting activity.
