America Mourns Passing of President Bush
Lt. j.g. George H.W. Bush and crewmates. From left, radioman Joe Reichert, Navy Lt. jg. Bush, and turret gunner Leo W. Nadeau, stand in front of their TBM-1C Avenger on Nov. 2, 1944. The crew was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto. (Photo courtesy of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum)
Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River 
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Americans have begun saying goodbye to former President George H.W. Bush as his body arrived in Washington for public viewing in the Capitol Rotunda, The Associated Press reports. Members of the public may pay their respects as President Bush’s body lies in state in the rotunda until 8:45 am Wednesday, Dec. 5. The former president’s funeral will be at 11 am Wednesday at the National Cathedral, reports The Baltimore Sun. Find funeral details here. President Bush died late Friday at his home in Houston. He was 94.
VADM Scott A. Stearney, 58, commander of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, was found dead in his home over the weekend in Bahrain, reports Military Times. No foul play is suspected, officials said.
A US Air Force report finds the US dropped more bombs and other munitions in Afghanistan during the first ten months of 2018 than in any other full year since documentation began, reports Stars and Stripes.
Republicans Sen. James Inhofe and Rep. Mac Thornberry, chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services committees respectively, are calling on President Donald Trump to move forward with the $733 billion budget he originally proposed for 2020, reports Breaking Defense. “We cannot and should not balance our budget on the backs of America’s troops,” they said.
Defense experts speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum on Saturday said they believe the biggest question heading into 2019 is whether President Trump’s proposed defense budget plan is a negotiating ploy or a sincere target, reports Military Times.
Also at the forum, DefSec Jim Mattis accused Russia of trying to influence the 2018 midterm elections and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being “duplicitous” in violating international treaties, reports Breaking Defense. “There is no doubt the relationship [between the US and Russia] has worsened,” Mattis said, adding that Moscow “tried again to muck around in our elections this last month.”
The US Army is investing millions of dollars in experimental exoskeleton technology to make soldiers stronger and more resilient, reports The New York Post, in what experts say is part of a push for advanced gear to equip a new generation of “super-soldiers.”
Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing unit of Amazon, is branching into satellite data processing, reports The Washington Post. The goal, company executives say, is to make it cheaper for businesses to access space. The target customers for this service are companies and government agencies that operate hundreds of satellites orbiting the Earth and collecting data, reports Space News.
A Soyuz MS-11 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station on Monday morning, NASA reports. A US Army helicopter pilot and astronaut, Lt. Col. Ann McClain, is part of the crew that will spend six months at the ISS and work on 250 research projects, Army Times reports.
Islamic extremists in Nigeria have begun using drones, the country’s president says, opening a worrying new front in the region’s nearly decade-long fight against Boko Haram and an offshoot linked to the Islamic State, reports Military Times.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency want to apply technology developed for terrestrial and space-exploring robots to underwater robotic systems, reports Defense Systems.
Contracts:
The Navy is awarding 1,870 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award contracts (MACs) to businesses in multiple locations across 46 of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Guam for future competition of support service requirements to be solicited by Department of the Navy activities under the SeaPort Next Generation (SeaPort-NxG) multiple-award contract vehicle. All work under the contracts will fall under two categories (engineering support services and program management support services), which are further divided into 23 functional areas. The government estimates approximately $5,000,000,000 of services will be procured per year via orders issued under the SeaPort-NxG multiple award contracts. These awards contain provisions to set aside requirements for small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, 8(a) business development program participants, woman-owned small businesses and historically-underutilized business-zoned small businesses. Under these multiple-award contracts, each contractor will be provided a fair opportunity to nationally compete for individual task orders. The MACs have a five-year base period of performance with an additional five-year ordering period option. No contract funds will be obligated on the basic MAC awards. Contract funds will be obligated at time of task order award. Multiple funding types may be used. The funding for task orders to be issued under these contracts will come from a variety of sources and will be consistent with the purpose for which the funds were appropriated. These contracts were competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with 1,894 offers received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, Dahlgren, Virginia is the contracting activity (N00178-18-R-7000). NOTE: For a list of contractors receiving awards please visit here.
Logistics Health Inc., La Crosse, Wisconsin, was awarded an $81,000,000 indefinite-delivery bridge contract (HT0011-19-D-0002). This award, titled “Reserve Health Readiness Program,” provides health readiness support services to the military service components to meet medical and dental standards essential in maintaining a deployable force. This short-term bridge contract will permit time to complete a competitive follow-on to this requirement. Services include immunizations, physical examinations, periodic health assessments, post-deployment health reassessments, mental health assessments, dental examinations, dental treatment, laboratory services, and other services as required to satisfy military service component health readiness needs. Services are delivered at military service component designated sites during group events, through the contractor’s call center, and within an integrated network. The work will be performed in every US state, US territory, the District of Columbia, and Germany, with period of performance from Dec. 1, 2018, to May 31, 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds will be obligated on task orders issued under this award. This contract was awarded on an other than full and open competition basis; pursuant to the authority of 10 US Code 2304(c)(1). The Defense Health Agency, Falls Church, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
BridgePhase LLC, Arlington, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0005); Insap Services Inc., Marlton, New Jersey (W15QKN-19-D-0006); Johnson Technology Systems Inc., Dover, New Jersey (W15QKN-19-D-0007); and Softek International Inc., Piscataway, New Jersey (W15QKN-19-D-0008), will compete for each order of the $72,377,360 firm-fixed-price contract for information technology services for Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center. Bids were solicited with seven received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 8, 2023. US Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.
KPMG LLP, McLean, Virginia, is being awarded a maximum $36,039,975 modification (P00027) to exercise Option Year Two to previously awarded labor-hour contract HQ0423-17-F-0010 for fiscal 2019 financial statement audit services of the Army General Fund and Working Capital Fund. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $95,894,268 from $59,854,293. Work will be performed in McLean, Virginia, with an expected completion date of Nov. 30, 2019. Fiscal 2019 Army operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $36,039,975 are being obligated at the time of the award. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Contract Services Directorate, Columbus, Ohio, is the contracting activity (HQ0423-17-F-0010).
Austal USA, Mobile, Alabama, is awarded a $40,369,095 cost-plus-fixed-fee undefinitized contract action for procurement of long lead time material and production engineering for the Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) 14. The EPF class provides high speed, shallow draft transportation capability to support the intra-theater maneuver of personnel, supplies and equipment for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Army. Work will be performed in Novi, Michigan (39 percent); Houston, Texas (12 percent); Chesapeake, Virginia (10 percent); Mobile, Alabama (9 percent); Rhinelander, Wisconsin (7 percent); and Iron Mountain, Michigan (3 percent), with other efforts performed at various locations (each less than 1 percent) throughout the U.S. (4 percent); and various locations (each less than 1 percent) outside the US (16 percent), and is expected to complete by July 2022. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $20,184,547 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively solicited via Federal Business Opportunities website, with one offer received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-C-2227).
The Concourse Group, LLC, Annapolis, Maryland, is awarded a maximum amount $29,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for professional services in support of the Department of Navy’s (DoN) Public Private Venture (PPV) and Real Estate (RE) Programs. The work to be performed will require the contractor to bring professional knowledge, skills, and experience in residential and commercial real estate development and large scale real estate portfolio management to the DoN’s PPV and RE programs. The contractor shall provide advice and assistance to the DoN and conduct the necessary research and analysis to present DoN decision-makers with accurate and relevant information. The contractor will bring best business practices from the private sector to assist the DoN with all aspects of the special venture acquisitions, including family and unaccompanied housing public private ventures, enhanced use leasing, and other public-private venture opportunities such as energy, utilities, and lodging, as well as real estate. The work includes technical advisory services to the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Headquarters Special Venture Acquisition Office and the NAVFAC component commands for the purpose of providing professional services, project development, execution, portfolio management advice and support consistent with the privatization approach adopted by the DoN, as well as technical advisory services to the NAVFAC RE. Work will be performed in Annapolis, Maryland. The term of the contract is not to exceed 36 months, with an expected completion date of November 2021. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $10,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. No task orders are being issued at this time. Future task orders will be primarily funded by operations and maintenance (Navy); and family housing, (Navy), operations and maintenance. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with four proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-19-D-8008).
The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded $10,526,671 for modification P00002 to delivery order N0001918F0520 previously placed against basic ordering agreement N00019-16-G-0001. This modification exercises an option to provide calendar year 2019 Harpoon/SLAM-ER integrated logistics and engineering support services for Navy and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in St. Charles, Missouri (91.84 percent); St. Louis, Missouri (5.47 percent); Yorktown, Virginia (2.64 percent); and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (0.05 percent), and is expected to be completed in November 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy); and FMS funds in the amount of $10,526,671 will be obligated at time of award, $2,530,961 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Navy ($2,530,961; 24 percent); and FMS ($7,995,710; 76 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Nov. 29, 2018)
Farrell Lines Inc., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a one-time only task order under indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract HTC711-15-D-R044 in the amount of $15,747,387. This task order provides cargo transportation services support to the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, US Army. The task order is in support of an Army unit deployment from Fort Bliss, Texas, to multiple forward operating bases in Afghanistan. Work will be performed in the US and Afghanistan. The period of performance is from Dec. 3, 2018, to Feb. 11, 2019. Fiscal 2019 Transportation Working Capital Funds were obligated at award. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $150,886,391 from $135,139,004. US Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity.
