Academy Anniversary Uniforms Introduced
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.
Continuing the 2020 celebration of the 175th anniversary of the US Naval Academy, Navy football will wear specialty uniforms for its annual showdown against archrival Army, reports Capital Gazette. The game is scheduled for Dec. 12, 2020, at West Point, NY and will be broadcast at 3 pm on CBS.
President Donald Trump threatens, again, to veto this year’s defense policy bill, reports Defense News, if lawmakers refuse to overhaul the tech industry’s prized liability shield: Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which protects unfettered speech on the internet. President Trump and other politicians argue that Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms have abused that protection and should lose their immunity from lawsuits. Mr. Trump’s veto threat by tweet late Tuesday adds pressure to closed-door talks among the House, Senate, and White House to finalize the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.
The bipartisan Congressional Oversight Commission overseeing $2.2 trillion in COVID-19 relief funds excoriated the Defense and Treasury departments Tuesday over a $700 million loan to a troubled shipping company, reports The Hill. The departments offered the loan in July when YRC Worldwide was reportedly worth just $70 million and had been sued by the Pentagon for overpriced shipping costs.
The civilian official overseeing policy since March 2017 for the military’s counter-ISIS effort, Christopher Maier, was told Monday that since President Trump had long ago declared the ISIS militant group defeated, his office was being disbanded, reports Military Times. Mr. Maier was then forced to resign in the latest jolt to Pentagon leadership in the waning weeks of the Trump administration.
The House Republican Steering Committee chose Rep. Mike Rogers to be the top House Armed Services Republican, reports Politico. The full House GOP Conference must still approve Rep. Rogers and other committee leaders, which is expected this week. If Rep. Rogers wins, he will succeed retiring Mac Thornberry (R-TX).
The Defense Department’s latest financial statement shows the Pentagon made nearly $5 billion worth of improper payments in its civilian payroll accounts last year, a massive increase from previous years in which the department reported almost none, reports Federal News Network.
This week DoD began holding contractors to the higher cybersecurity standard required in future DoD contracts, reports Breaking Defense. Compliance with the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is a “crawl, walk, run” implementation model, so companies are not put immediately at risk. The “crawl” is a self-report on company handling of controlled unclassified information on a 0 to 110 scale; an audit of those reporting between 80 and 110 is the verification of “walk” portion. Certification is “run.” There are two exceptions: CMMC is not required for “micro purchases” under $10,000 and commercial-off-the-shelf products.
Morgan Stanley analysts noted last month that “Boeing’s struggles with the 737 MAX [have created] a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Airbus to gain significant market share in the narrowbody aircraft market.” Aviation Week asks, Should suppliers shift to Airbus, too?
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has announced the recovery of the remains of 36 more Korean War service members during a yearlong remains recovery process from Oct. 1, 2019, to Sept. 30, 2020, according to Voice of America’s Korean service as reported by UPI. The recovery process slowed as a result of the pandemic and was down from the previous year when DPAA said it had accounted for 73 soldiers.
Marines abusing drugs is “unfortunately not new,” according to a spokesman for the service, but routinely testing Marines for LSD is new, reports Marine Times. In the past, the Marine Corps would only test individuals for LSD if law enforcement requested it. Since the policy changed in the summer fewer than 20 positive LSD readings have appeared on about 4,000 tests.
The White House is expected to name ADM John Aquilino, commander of the Navy’s Pacific Fleet, to lead Indo-Pacific Command, according to Stars and Stripes.
Maryland’s hospital beds are filling up, reports Maryland Matters, as the state reported 2,765 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday morning. Twenty-one hospitals are at more than 90% capacity and 130 patients are receiving treatment in so-called “surge beds” across three temporary hospital facilities meant to avoid overcrowding. Gov. Larry Hogan, announcing this week measures being taken to address the pandemic uptick, also announced the Maryland Department of Health’s Chief Operating Officer Dennis R. Schrader would become acting health secretary.
Contracts:
Rockwell Collins Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is awarded a $14,782,286 modification (P00005) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee order N00019-20-F-0460 against previously issued basic ordering agreement N00019-19-G-0031 in support of the E-6B Mercury aircraft. This modification exercises options to provide sustaining engineering support and diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages management in support of the E-6B take charge and move out airborne command post aircraft. Work will be performed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (80%); Patuxent River, Maryland (10%); and Bellevue, Nebraska (10%), and is expected to be completed in November 2021. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,472,683, will be obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
CGI Federal Inc., Fairfax, Virginia, is awarded a $9,849,208 modification (P00055) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract M67004-16-C-0001 for plans and data support services. This modification extends services for a one-year period. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida, with an expected completion date of Dec. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $4,214,671 are being obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract modification was not competed under the authority of Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1; only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Marine Corps, Blount Island Command, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity.
