25% Cut to DoD Support Agencies Proposed
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Pentagon support agencies targeted for a 25 percent cut and seven shuttered in a proposal from the chair of the House Armed Services Committee aimed at eliminating bureaucratic waste, reports Defense News. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) said the plan would reap more than $25 billion to reinvest in war fighting from what he called “fourth estate” agencies, which are supported by 200,000 civilian personnel and 600,000 contractors, at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. Opposition came swiftly from the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 700,000 workers in the federal government.
The Pentagon employs 5,508 contractors in Iraq and Syria, reports Military Times, of those 2,869 are US citizens, 760 are locals, the rest are from other nations, according to a DoD quarterly report released in April.
The Navy Times reports how the US positioned its warships to trick Russia ahead of the Syrian strikes.
President Donald Trump overruled DefSec Jim Mattis’ urging he get congressional approval before launching airstrikes against Syria last weekend, reports The New York Times. Military and administrative officials warned that an overly aggressive response risked igniting a wider war with Russia. Nevertheless, on Tuesday, Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefed the full House and Senate on the air strikes against Syria, reports Fox News.
The Coast Guard will continue allowing transgender members to serve until a policy officially bans transgender troops, reports The Hill. Marine Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft told lawmakers that the Coast Guard is “certainly committed” to transgender individuals’ continued service in the military branch.
The Castro era ends in Cuba. This week Raúl Castro steps down as ruler, reports The Washington Post. The Cuban National Assembly is expected to choose Miguel Diaz-Canel, 57, as his replacement.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo recently traveled to North Korea to meet with leader Kim Jong Un. The unusual and secret visit, reports Associated Press, helped prepare for a meeting between Trump and Kim within months.
The Navy and Raytheon completed integration of the AGM-154C Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) onto the Lockheed Martin F-35C Joint Strike Fighter, reports National Interest.
DoD will find the money to pay National Guard troops working the US southern border, reports Military Times, but the total cost remains unknown, Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau, told the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Contracts:
SERCO, Reston, Virginia, is being awarded potential ceiling value $135,843,500 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide life cycle sustainment, integration and acquisition support for Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection Naval Electronic Surveillance Systems during their life cycle and technical expertise to Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Program Executive Offices, other Department of Defense agencies, Department of Homeland Security, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and other government activities as required. This three-year contract includes one two-year option period which, if exercised, would bring the potential ceiling value of this award to an estimated $232,436,620. Work will include operational platform sites, shore-based sites, and training activities located in the continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, and other locations worldwide, and is expected to be completed April 17, 2021. If the option is exercised, the period of performance would extend through April 17, 2023. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated as task orders are issued using primarily other procurement (Navy); and operations and maintenance (Navy). This contract was competitively procured via a request for proposal published on the Federal Business Opportunities website and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems e-Commerce Central website, with three proposals received and one selected for award. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N66001-18-D-0082).
URS Federal Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, is being awarded $34,479,509 for modification P00029 to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N68335-17-C-0272) to exercise an option for integrated support equipment maintenance repair for the Fleet Readiness Center aviation support equipment. Work will be performed in Solomons, Maryland (15 percent); North Island, California (14 percent); Jacksonville, Florida (12 percent); Cherry Point, North Carolina (10 percent); Portsmouth, Virginia (9 percent); El Centro, California (8 percent); Lemoore, California (7 percent); Beaufort, South Carolina (5 percent); New Orleans, Louisiana (5 percent); Fort Worth, Texas (5 percent); Comalapa, El Salvador (4 percent); Cheatham Annex, Virginia (3 percent); Whidbey Island, Washington (2 percent); and Futenma, Japan (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in April 2022. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance (Navy); fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy); fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); and fiscal 2018 working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $11,305,000 will be obligated at time of award; $9,700,000 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.
Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, is being awarded a $10,765,095 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification under a previously awarded contract (N00024-08-C-2110) to exercise an option for material and labor supporting planning and the preliminary accomplishment of the post-shakedown availability/selected restricted availability (PSA/SRA) on USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78). This modification will provide for the continuation of PSA/SRA planning work to prepare for and make ready for the accomplishment. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia (80 percent); and Norfolk, Virginia (20 percent), and will be completed by June 2019. Fiscal 2018 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $10,765,095 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, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.
MacAulay-Brown Inc., Dayton, Ohio is being awarded a $67,897,020 competitive cost-plus-fixed-fee level of effort contract for agency advisory and analytical support in support of technical, engineering, advisory and management support. This contract supports the Missile Defense Agency development and deployment of the Ballistic Missile Defense System by providing advice, assessment, assistance, documentation, and recommendations with strategies, plans, and analyses. The work will be performed in national capital region, Washington, District of Columbia; Dahlgren, Virginia; Huntsville, Alabama; Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico; Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, with an estimated completion date of April 2023. This contract was competitively procured via publication on the Federal Business Opportunities website with three proposals received. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,424,067 are being obligated at time of award. The Missile Defense Agency, Huntsville, Alabama is the contracting activity (HQ0147-18-C-0020).
AOC Logistics LLC, Chantilly, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $23,734,104 hybrid fixed-price-incentive-firm, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for warehouse and distribution operations support. This is a five-year contract with no option periods, inclusive of a three-month transition period. This was a competitive acquisition with six responses received. Location of performance is Virginia, with an April 30, 2023, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2018 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Distribution, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania (SP3300-18-D-5004).
