March 29, 2024

1st Ship in Fleet Oiler Class Is Christened

Oiler Class USNS John Lewis

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

The US Navy christened the future USNS John Lewis (T-AO-205) in San Diego, CA, on Saturday, reports USNI News. It is the first ship in the service’s new class of oilers. In 2016, General Dynamics NASSCO was awarded the Navy contract for the detailed design and construction of the next generation of fleet oilers, the John Lewis-class, previously known as the TAO(X), the company said in a news release.

The USS Eisenhower is back in Norfolk, reports Navy Times, after completing what the service call a “double-pump” deployment.  The carrier got underway for deployment in February 2021, after having just returned from its previous deployment in August 2020. The strike group’s 4,600 sailors were awarded Navy Unit Commendation awards.

In wake of recent ship collisions, the Navy is changing the training for surface officers. The service has a new $40 million, 130,000-square-foot surface ship training center on Naval Base San Diego. The center, the first of two that are planned, is preparing to graduate its first class of surface warfare officers, reports The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Marines in an experimental infantry battalion at Camp Lejeune, NC, are conducting tests this month with drones that can be fired from grenade launchers, reports Marine Corps Times.

The head of US Northern Command wants the Defense Department to adopt the use of artificial intelligence tools that would give decision-makers earlier, and better, options, reports Breaking Defense. GEN Glen VanHerck said this could help the military not just to defeat an adversary on the battlefield, but for actually avoiding warfare in the first place.

Seventy percent of active-duty troops have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, reports Military.com. That is behind the Pentagon’s original goal, when officials said earlier in the year that the entire force could be vaccinated by mid-July.

More than 100 Monocular Night Vision Devices are missing from a maintenance facility at Fort Hood, TX, reports Army Times. Last July, a Fort Bragg soldier was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $250,000 in restitution for stealing night vision googles from the Army, Task & Purpose reported at the time.

The National Guard has found itself $521 million in debt, reports Military Times. The Guard is hoping it will be reimbursed after it sent thousands of troops from a dozen states to guard the US Capitol complex after the Jan. 6 insurrection to provide security. If Congress doesn’t pass funding to reimburse the Guard, it will have to cancel training and drill weekends to close that gap.

Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Danish Siddiqui, who worked for Reuters, was killed in Afghanistan last week while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters, reports The Hill.

Retired GEN David Petraeus told CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” that the situation in Afghanistan “has become increasingly dire with each passing week,” reports Politico.com. He said he believes the US will look back and regret the decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

 

 

A federal grand jury indicted four Chinese nationals with a cyberattack campaign that attacked dozens of companies, colleges, and government agencies from 2011 to 2018, reports UPI.

With the US Coast Guard now allowing women to wear ponytails or braids while in uniform, that makes the Marine Corps the only service that hasn’t yet gotten with the program, reports Task & Purpose.

An additional 16 million veterans are now eligible to use the Defense Department’s discount travel site, reports Military Times, under an expansion by DoD’s American Forces Travel and Priceline.

PBS News Hours examines how the military handles day care for military families. It asks: Could the government-supported child care that supports military families be a model for civilian care throughout the US?

Citing dilapidated conditions of military child development centers and barracks, 24 Democratic representatives in Congress want the House and Senate budget committees to allocate a $15 billion investment in these facilities, reports Military Times. “We face a crisis in the quality and capacity of facilities for child care for military families and housing for unaccompanied military personnel,” reads the July 15 letter.

Andrew Tezna, 36, of Leesburg, VA, a former NASA employee, was sentenced for cheating the government out of nearly $275,000 in pandemic-related financial assistance, reports The Associated Press.

There’s a new, free app making it easy for craft beverage fans to keep track of all of the options in Maryland, reports WTOP News. The Maryland Craft Beverages app is available on the Apple and Google Play stores.

NASA said that astronauts aboard the International Space Station are growing red and green chile peppers for the very first time, reports CBS News. NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough initiated the experiment, Plant Habitat-04.

Contracts:

Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia (W911S0-21-D-0004); CAE USA Mission Solutions Inc., Tampa, Florida (W911S0-21-D-0005); JANUS Research Group LLC, Evans, Georgia (W911S0-21-D-0006); and Valiant Global Defense Services Inc., San Diego, California (W911S0-21-D-0007), will compete for each order of the $240,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for mission support services for the Futures and Concepts Center. Bids were solicited via the internet with 15 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 18, 2026. US Army Field Directorate Office, Fort Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

Ideal Innovations Inc., Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a $9,528,289 modification (P00009) to contract W15QKN-18-F-0090 to provide continued information technology support services to the Defense Forensics Science Center. Work will be performed in Clarksburg, West Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 14, 2022. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $9,528,289 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Newark, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.

Serco Inc., Herndon, Virginia (N64498-21-D-0007); CACI International Inc., Norfolk, Virginia (N64498-21-D-0008); Gryphon Technologies LC, Washington, DC (N64498-21-D-0009); Life Cycle Engineering, Inc., Charleston, South Carolina (N64498-21-D-0010); McKean Defense Group LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (N64498-21-D-0011); and Reliability & Performance Technologies LLC, Dublin, Pennsylvania (N64498-21-D-0012), are each awarded a cost-plus-fixed fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of engineering and technical services program management, and information technology support services for Navy surface ship programs including DDG-51, DDG-1000, LCS, LPD, LX(R), LHA(R), Landing Crafts, Military Sealift Command, Coast Guard, International Program (Foreign Naval program initiatives) and test sites for the Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division. The maximum combined value of all six contracts is $218,593,779. Serco is awarded a maximum value $39,541,849; CACI is awarded a maximum value $35,777,234; Gryphon is awarded a maximum value $38,839,253; LCE is awarded a maximum value $35,721,880; McKean is awarded a maximum value $32,866,855; and R&P is awarded a maximum value $35,846,708. Each awardee will be awarded $100,000 (minimum contract guarantee per awardee) at time of contract award. Fiscal 2021 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $300,000 (50%); 2021 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $200,000 (33%); and 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $100,000 (17%) will be obligated at time of award, of which $100,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. All other funding will be made available at the task order level as contracting actions occur. Work will be performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (34%); Washington, DC (28%); Norfolk, Virginia (12%); Mayport, Florida (10%); San Diego, California (10%); and Bath, Maine (6%). The contracts are expected to be completed by February 2026. These contracts were competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with six offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity.

Raytheon Missiles and Defense, Marlborough, Massachusetts, is awarded a $35,660,407 firm-fixed-price order under previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00024-19-G-5107 for the procurement of AEGIS modernization (AMOD) kits for Navy DDG 51-class destroyers and for the government of Japan under the Foreign Military Sales program. This contract combines purchases for the Navy (59%); and the government of Japan (41%) under the Foreign Military Sales program. Work will be performed in Andover, Massachusetts (72%); Chesapeake, Virginia (14%); Marlborough, Massachusetts (12%); San Diego, California (1%); and Burlington, Massachusetts (1%), and is expected to be completed by July 2024. Foreign Military Sales (Japan) funds in the amount of $14,507,284 (41%); fiscal 2021 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $12,319,235 (35%); fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,662,300 (21%); and fiscal 2021 defense-wide procurement funds in the amount of $1,171,588 (3%) will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This order was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) — only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity (N0002421F5314).

BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair Inc., Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Corp., Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded an $8,060,500 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract N00024-20-C-4446 to incorporate a request for contract change for a 215-day extension for the accomplishment of the growth work on the USS Vicksburg (CG 69) modernization period availability. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by June 2022. This modification will bring the cumulative value of the contract from $189,006,920 to $197,067,420. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance, Navy upward obligation funds will be utilized in support of this modification, which expire at the end of the fiscal year. This appropriation is being utilized in accordance with Title 31 US Code 1553. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

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