Are Shulkin’s Days at VA Numbered?

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.

Is the Veterans Affairs secretary on his way out? The Associated Press reports President Trump is planning to oust David Shulkin amid a rebellion at the agency and damaging government investigations into his alleged spending abuses. But Politico reports Trump has confidence in Shulkin “at this point in time.”

Still faced with low retention among aviators, Navy officials are sweetening the pot money-wise for the second year in a row, reports Navy Times, announcing new incentives and bonus pay for aviators who opt for a career track.

The US Air Force can continue installing new wings on the A-10 Warthog thanks to $103 million in the omnibus spending bill that will restart the production line, reports Defense News.

Two separate technologies have been used together to knock dozens of drones out of the sky during a recent Army exercise, reports Army Times. High-powered microwave and high-energy laser systems were demonstrated by Raytheon at an Army exercise.

The White House has unveiled a new space strategy that aims to advance industry partnerships and regulatory reforms in a push to help the US maintain its competitive edge in technology and services, reports ExecutiveGov.com. Find a summary of the strategy here.

Russia is arming the Afghan Taliban, US Army Gen. John Nicholson tells BBC News. “We’ve had stories written by the Taliban that have appeared in the media about financial support provided by the enemy. We’ve had weapons brought to this headquarters and given to us by Afghan leaders and said, this was given by the Russians to the Taliban,” Gen. Nicholson said. “We know that the Russians are involved.” Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford told reporters that he can see makings of a shift that the Afghan military can take control of its own nation’s security, reports The Associated Press. There are signs of progress in the Afghan war, he says.

China, in the midst of a military modernization program, conducted a series of exercises in the South China Sea and the Western Pacific, reports The Japan Times, where it sent fighter jets and bombers through Okinawa’s Miyako Strait. China labeled the exercises “rehearsals for future wars.”

More than seven decades after being sunk by a Japanese submarine, the US Navy has a final crew accounting of heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis, reports USNI News. The Navy’s number of survivors in 1945 was correct at 316, and the final crew list for that tragic voyage has been corrected to show 1,195 men were on board and 879 lives were lost. The exact number of sailors who died and a precise accounting of survivors had been hard to determine because crew paperwork went down with the ship.

Residents of south Tucson, Arizona, have filed formal claims against the US Air Force, claiming pollution left behind from its plants and other industries is causing cancer and other illnesses in their community, reports Arizona Daily Star.

Contracts:

NetCentrics Corp., Herndon, Virginia, has been awarded a $13,614,908 time and material, cost reimbursement contract modification. The contract is to obtain Joint Service Provider Information Technology Service Delivery support services for Washington Headquarters Services (WHS), the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Pentagon Force Protection Agency, and the WHS supported organizations. Work performance will take place in the National Capital Region, including the Pentagon, Mark Center and Crystal City, Virginia. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $13,614,908 are being obligated on this award. The expected completion date is June 30, 2018. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.