Amid Spring Disasters, Military Preps for Hurricane Season

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.

The National Guard is gearing up for hurricane season, which officially kicked off Saturday and will last until the end of November, reports Army Times. The Guard has already had a busy spring after responding in the aftermath of flooding and tornadoes that have hit the Midwest. Last year’s hurricanes were particularly destructive for some of the military’s most critical bases, reports Military.com.

Military exercises with South Korea are still on hold. Acting DefSec Patrick Shanahan said Sunday that he does not see a need to restart large-scale exercises that have been curtailed as a diplomatic olive branch to North Korea, reports Military Times.

USS John F. Kennedy is about 92 percent complete, reports Navy Times. This after a 72-foot high island superstructure was placed on the aircraft carrier’s flight deck. The Maritime Executive offers a video of the ceremony that took place at the Newport News, VA, shipyard.

The Army’s 1st Armored Division Headquarters stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, will relieve 4th Infantry Division Headquarters as part of a regular rotation of forces in Iraq, reports Army Times. About 250 soldiers will deploy.

Over the weekend, the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a US Air Force B-52 bomber conducted military exercises in the Arabian Sea, reports Military Times. These military resources were sent to the Middle East region in early May after some troubling warnings.

The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved $132 million in funding for the A-10 Warthog in the SASC version of the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, reports the Arizona Daily Star.

Boeing says that the United Arab Emirates wants to buy three KC-46A Pegasus tankers, reports Defense News.

Defense One reports the increase in defense spending in the Asia-Pacific region reflects the desire of the Philippines and other countries for more sophisticated weapons to ward off Chinese encroachment.

The Federal Aviation Administration has been told that parts on the 737 Max and 737 NG may have been improperly manufactured and may not meet regulatory requirements, reports CNBC.

Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers and one of the more traditionally conservative voices in the White House, will leave his post, Politico reports.

Following the Thunderbird flyover last week at the US Air Force Academy graduation ceremony in Colorado Springs, a bird struck the canopy of one of the planes, reports Air Force Times. No one was injured in the incident.

For the first time since a deadly crash three years ago, the US Navy Blue Angels will return to the Greater Tennessee Air Show on June 8 and 9, reports Pensacola News Journal. The Blue Angels will headline the Ocean City, MD, air show June 15 and 16, reports Delmarva Now.

The Air Force is changing the ways its officers are promoted, reports Air Force Times. The changes are designed to make the process fairer and to reflect changes in the service where space, cyber, information systems and many more occupations have become more important.

Contracts:

HDT Expeditionary Systems Inc., Solon, Ohio, has been awarded a maximum $200,000,000 firm-fixed-priced, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for commercial off-the-shelf shelters and tents. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a one-year base contract with three one-year option periods. Locations of performance are Alabama, Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky, with a June 4, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-19-D-1158).

Accenture Federal Services LLC, Arlington, Virginia, is awarded a $79,074,099 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide program and project management; support of the Navy Tele-Mentoring Program; system administration; training; communications support; data analytics; tele-radiology; and support of the Health Experts Online Portal and Pacific Asynchronous TeleHealth in support of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Work will be performed in Falls Church, Virginia (83 percent); San Diego, California (10 percent); Portsmouth, Virginia (2 percent); Camp Pendleton, California (2 percent); Lemoore, California (1 percent); Twentynine Palms, California (1 percent); and Bremerton, Washington (1 percent). The contract will include a 60-month ordering period that will begin July 2019, and is expected to be completed by July 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Defense Health Procurement) (O&MDHP) funds in the amount of $10,000 will be obligated to fund the contract’s minimum amount and those funds will expire at the end of fiscal 2019. Subsequent task orders will be funded with the appropriate fiscal year O&MDHP funds. This contract resulted from a full and open competitive solicitation pursuant to the authority set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation 16.504. The requirement was solicited through the Federal Business Opportunities and Navy Electronic Commerce Online websites, with 11 offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department, Philadelphia Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00189-19-D-Z024).

AAI Corp., doing business as Textron Systems, Hunt Valley, Maryland, has been awarded a $24,318,602 undefinitized contract action for AC-208 contract logistics support and maintenance training. This contract provides for contractor logistics support and maintenance training for the AC-208 aircraft. Work will be performed at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, and is expected to be complete by May 31, 2020. Fiscal 2018 Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $7,406,993 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Training Aircraft Division, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8617-19-C-6234).

CORRECTION: The contract announced on May 31, 2019, for DirectViz Solutions LLC (DVS), Chantilly, Virginia (W91RUS-19-C-0014), was not awarded. No new award date has been set.