Army Mini-Drones Join the Afghanistan Mission

A paratrooper from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, prepares to launch a Black Hornet personal drone Aug. 9, 2019, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in support of a foot patrol. US Army photo by Thomas Cieslak

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.

Army brigade uses mini drones for first time in Afghanistan, reports Stars and Stripes, during a counterterrorism mission. Paratroopers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, used the Black Hornet Personal Reconnaissance System last week to support a foot patrol in Kandahar province.

The House’s No. 3 Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and other Republicans voice skepticism on possible US-Taliban peace deal, reports Defense News.  “Accepting a phony deal that puts America’s security in the hands of the Taliban would mean conceding defeat to al Qaeda, the group responsible for killing nearly 3,000 Americans on 9/11,” Cheney said.

“We’re here to deter Iran, not go to war,” Capt. William Reed, air wing commander in the USS Lincoln, told  CNBC about the growing volume of military assets in the Persian Gulf.

The British warship HMS Kent set sail Monday to join the US-led tanker escort mission in the Gulf, reports Reuters. The mission intends to protect vessels in the region amid heightened political tension between the West and Iran.

Navy to trade new technology for old to help avoid ship collisions. Stars and Stripes reports touch-screen throttles and helms on destroyers will be replaced with hand-held ones to address confusion with the touch screen controls which contributed to the USS John S. McCain’s deadly collision in 2017.

Most of the 123 grounded C-130s OK’d to fly again, reports Air Force Times. Concerns about potential cracking in a crucial wing joint grounded the Hercules last week. The Air Force has only found one defect so far among the 74 returning to duty.

A dozen Marines are confined to Camp Pendleton brig awaiting charges for alleged human smuggling and drug offenses, reports Marine Corps Times. Two of the 12 were arrested by Border Patrol agents for alleged involvement in smuggling three undocumented immigrants near the US-Mexico border for financial gain.

Debauchery, cocaine, fraudulent urinalysis, posing with an enemy corpse, and Army General Richard Clarke has had enough. The head of the  Special Operations Command calls for another review into the entire command’s culture and ethics, reports Military Times.

The 2020 US Census will count troops by base home address, reports Military.com, both stateside and overseas. Census data determines how population-driven federal programs are implemented and counts voters for congressional redistricting. Troops stationed stateside will be counted as living where they are physically based, while those stationed overseas will be counted as residing at the last stateside location at which they lived.

China Lake repair costs might top $2 billion, reports Navy Times. Twin Independence Day weekend earthquakes and thousands of aftershocks rocked the California region where the base is located. The community suffered buckling roads, igniting fractured natural gas lines and breaking home furnishing. The majority of buildings on base suffered damage as did its infrastructure.

Blue Origin files pre-award protest in US Air Force’s launch vehicle competitionfor the next generation of rockets, reports Defense News.

Air Force Chief Gen. David Goldfein first lost an airman under his command to suicide in the early 1990s, and “I don’t have a solution,” reports US News & World Report. As he grapples with a rash of suicides plaguing the Air Force he said programs in place today aren’t working.

Blast at Iraq weapons depot injures 13, cause unclear, reports The Associated Press. The large explosion took place at an ammunition depot southwest of Baghdad. The base houses a weapons depot for the Iraqi federal police and the mainly Shiite militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces.

Contracts

DTH Corp., Newport News, Virginia (FA4830-19-D-A002); S&W Sales and Service LLC, Fort Valley, Georgia (FA4830-19-D-A003); Artesian Contracting Company Inc., Albany, Georgia (FA4830-19-D-A004); Pyramid Contracting LLC, Irmo, South Carolina (FA4830-19-D-A005); A.C. Blount Concrete Service Inc., Moultrie, Georgia (FA4830-19-D-A006); Veterans South Contracting LLC, Tuskegee, Alabama (FA4830-19-D-A007); Nisou LGC JV LLC, Detroit, Michigan (FA4830-19-D-A008); Precision 2000 Inc., Atlanta, Georgia (FA4830-19-D-A009); and Standard Contractors, Valdosta, Georgia (FA4830-19-D-A010), have been awarded a not-to-exceed $225,000,000 multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for multi-discipline construction task orders. Work will be performed at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia; and Avon Park Range, Sebring, Florida, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 12, 2024. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 40 offers were received. Operations and maintenance funds will be applied to individual task orders as needed. The 23d Contracting Squadron, Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity.

Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a $46,533,950 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to support the US National Data Center (US NDC) Operations Support and Studies (OSS) mission. This contract provides support to the US NDC in the areas of maintenance, sustainment, configuration management, database and system administration, development, testing and integration of geophysical data processing software, hardware, and geophysical data from both traditional and non-traditional sources into the US NDC system that includes the operational subsystem, alternate subsystem, training subsystem, sustainment/development subsystem, and special purpose/special access subsystems. The US NDC OSS II effort will include conducting studies focused on improving and developing the US NDC tools and methodologies for data collection, data analysis, event detection, event association, event location, event magnitude/yield estimation, event classification, seismic signatures repository, and advanced geophysical data processing needed to meet treaty-monitoring and national needs. Work will be performed at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds will be used and no funds are being obligated at the time of award. The Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA7022-19-D-A002).

G2 Global Solutions LLC, Gainesville, Virginia, has been awarded a base year plus four option year time and materials contract (HHM402-19-F-0139) with a ceiling of $84,683,469 to provide analytical services for the Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA) Directorate of Operations. Through this award, DIA will procure services of senior and mid-level analysts to who will provide strategic-level analytical support through focused all-source analysis to advance national and Department of Defense (DoD) strategic goals and objectives for protecting DoD personnel, operations and missions. Work will be performed in the National Capital Region with an expected completion date of Feb. 6, 2025. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $7,780,767 are being obligated at time of award. This contract has been awarded through a 100% 8(a) set-aside competition and four offers were received. The Virginia Contracting Activity, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

Maersk Line Ltd., Norfolk, Virginia, was awarded a $7,124,218 modification (0001 77) to contract W52P1J-14-G-0023 for logistics watercraft and logistics support services in support of Army Prepositions Stock-4. Work will be performed in Yokohama, Japan, with an estimated completion date of March 16, 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $1,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity.