The Department of Homeland Security is preparing to quickly end the practice of sending asylum seekers back across the border to await a decision on their applications for US protection, reports The Washington Post. The announcement came after US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk lifted his injunction blocking Biden officials from ending the “Migrant Protection Protocols.” The Supreme Court ruled June 30 that Biden has the authority to terminate the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” program.
$54B+ for US Semiconductors
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Calling it a “once in a generation investment in America,” President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed into law a $54.2 billion measure to boost semiconductor production in the US, reports Route-Fifty. The bipartisan bill passed by Congress last month includes $39.4 billion in subsidies to encourage companies to manufacture chips.
The bill is dubbed the Chips and Science Act, says CNBC. In addition to the $52 billion semiconductor boost are billions more in tax credits to encourage investment in chip manufacturing. The White House said that multiple companies, “spurred” by the chips bill, have announced more than $44 billion in new semiconductor manufacturing investments.
Renaming nine Confederate-honoring Army posts will cost $21 million, reports Defense News. The first part of an independent commission’s report on removing Confederates’ names from US military installations, ships, and other awards and items, went to Congress on Monday. Reasons for the renaming and the process of selecting new names were included as well as a cost estimate of $21 million for renaming nine Army posts.
The Pentagon is reviewing how the DC Guard is activated for duty, reports Air Force Times, and is considering changes in the wake of recent incidents that highlight the city’s lack of autonomy in emergencies. “What they’re trying to do is to take a look at it today and make sure that all the decision-making processes make sense in how the requests come through,” National Guard Chief GEN Daniel Hokanson said.
A prime contractor has been selected for a $10 billion contract to provide medical and health care services to the Pentagon, Battelle, one of the 100 largest defense companies in the world, according to the latest ranking by Defense News. Defense News reports the Defense Health Agency’s Omnibus IV contract is a 10-year, multiple-award contract to deliver medical and technical services.
A major test of the first possible Lyme vaccine in 20 years begins, reports API. Researchers are seeking thousands of volunteers in the US and Europe to test the first potential vaccine against Lyme disease in 20 years — in hopes of better fighting the tick-borne threat. Lyme is a growing problem, with cases rising and warming weather helping ticks expand their habitat. While a vaccine for dogs has long been available, the only Lyme vaccine for humans was pulled off the US market in 2002 from lack of demand, leaving people to rely on bug spray and tick checks.
Truck driver acquitted in deaths of seven “Jarhead” motorcyclists in 2019, reports Marine Corp Times. A jury acquitted Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, now 26, of causing a horrific accident that killed seven members of the Marine JarHeads motorcycle club in New England. He had been found to be under the influence of unspecified drugs. He was found innocent on seven counts of manslaughter, seven counts of negligent homicide, and one count of reckless conduct in connection with the June 21, 2019, crash in Randolph, NH.
Former Twitter employee Ahmad Abouammo, a US resident born in Egypt, has been convicted of spying for Saudi Arabia, reports Bloomberg. Abouammo was convicted of turning over personal information of platform users who’d used anonymous handles to criticize the Kingdom and its royal family. He was found guilty by a jury Tuesday of charges including acting as an agent for Saudi Arabia, money laundering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and falsifying records, following a two-week trial in San Francisco federal court. He faces 10 to 20 years in prison when he’s sentenced.
Analysts and experts are hoping the military’s FY24 budget shows a commitment to a layered homeland missile defense architecture, according to Defense News. “Missile defenses are critical for defending the US homeland and for defending our deployed forces and our allies and partners,” John Plumb, assistant defense secretary for space policy, testified in May before the Senate Armed Services Committee after explaining, “The sobering reality of the tragic events in Ukraine, in which Russia has used and continues to use a broad array of missiles to attack and, in my opinion, terrorize civilian populations, highlights the extent to which our adversaries are prepared to use missiles in a conflict.”
The Navy has salvaged the Super Hornet that blew off USS Harry Truman in the Med, reports Defense News. The aircraft was blown overboard July 8 by winds and rains and pulled from a depth of about 9,500 feet onto multi-purpose construction vessel Everest on August 3. Sailors used a 6,400-pound, remotely operated deep ocean salvage vehicle to retrieve the F/A-18, which isn’t the only fighter jet salvaged from the briny depths this year. The service in March recovered an F-35C Lightning II from the South China Sea after a landing mishap on the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson.
Tests conducted in December by the Hawaii Department of Health found no traces of PFAS, potentially cancer-causing compounds widely known as “forever chemicals” in the well at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam contaminated by petroleum in a massive spill the month before. Military.com reports the health department tested the water for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, after discovering the fuel that tainted the drinking water had pooled for months in a fire suppression system line meant to hold firefighting foam containing PFAS.
If you still haven’t yet had your fill of “Top Gun Maverick” — already a cultural landmark, its current international box office take standing at $1.352 billion — from August 12-14, 2022, viewers who attend a “Top Gun: Maverick” screening at participating theaters can also see behind-the-scenes as the filmmakers worked with the Navy to film and live on an active warship, the USS Roosevelt. Plus, reports Military.com, get a free, limited-edition, “Top Gun: Maverick” print. While supplies last.
Two soldiers based in Fort Benning, GA, are dead in a weather-related incident, reports Army Times. Three other soldiers were injured Tuesday during training at Yonah Mountain in the northern part of the state. Details and names have not been released.
The Navy is offering promotions to senior and master chief petty officers in exchange for orders to specific ships — like the USS George Washington, reports Military.com. The Senior Enlisted Advance to Position, or SEA2P, is “designed to keep deploying units mission-ready by aggressively filling critical at-sea leadership billets,” according to the announcement.
Contracts:
Serco Inc., Herndon, Virginia, is awarded a $152,322,533 cost-plus-fixed-fee indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides program management support in support of the full acquisition lifecycle of the F-35 program, to include development, production, and sustainment. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia (93.53%); Dayton, Ohio (2.99%); Fort Worth, Texas (1%), and various locations within the continental US (2.48%) and is expected to be completed in August 2027. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal; nine offers were received. The Naval Air System Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N0001922D0026).
Lockheed Martin Corp. Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is awarded a $12,872,086 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N6426718C0132 for AEGIS design agent field engineering services. This contract with all options exercised brings the cumulative value to $63,992,064. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia (30%); San Diego, California (30%); Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (10%); Wallops Island, Virginia (10%); Yokosuka, Japan (8%); Seattle, Washington (3%); Mayport, Florida (3%); Dahlgren, Virginia (3%); and Port Hueneme, California (3%), and is expected to be completed by September 2023. Fiscal 2022 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $823,839 (65%), FMS Japan funds in the amount of $264,655 (21%); and fiscal 2022 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $177,000 (14%) will be obligated at time of award, of which funding in the amount of $177,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity.
