Audit: 41 Navy Subs Lacked Cybersecurity Inspections

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.

A Naval Audit Service report finds that many submarines of Naval Submarine Force Pacific did not receive the required cybersecurity inspections in recent years, reports Navy Times. Inspections of 41 submarines and two tenders were not conducted as required from 2016 to 2018, and the Navy Fleet Cyber Command failed to document the reasons why the inspections didn’t take place.

The US has upped the number of troops in Afghanistan to 6,000, reports ABC News, to help safeguard the airport in Kabul amid the chaos that unfolded Monday as the evacuation of US personnel and the locals employed to help the US mission took place.

The Sunday news that the Taliban had taken over the country’s capital, Kabul, drew mixed concerns from members of Congress, reports The Associated Press. Republicans blasted the Biden administration, blaming his withdrawal plans for the Taliban advance. Democrats expressed concern about getting American personnel and Afghan allies out of the region.

President Joe Biden defended the decision to withdraw the US’ military from Afghanistan in a news conference Monday afternoon, reports NPR. “I am president of the United States of America, and the buck stops with me,” he said. “I am deeply saddened by the facts we now face, but I do not regret my decision.”

Defense News reports the US spent almost $83 billion training Afghanistan’s security forces since 2002 and asks how they collapsed so quickly. Some security experts say the US should have seen this collapse coming. ABC News asks: Did US intelligence get it wrong? Some defense officials say that the collapse of Kabul into the hands of the Taliban followed a string of intelligence failures, reports Politico.

CAPT (sel) Josh Guerre is the new Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Office (PMA-262) manager at NAS Patuxent River, reports The Southern Maryland Chronicle. A change of command ceremony was held Thursday.

NAVAIR has completed the planned maintenance interval two (PMI-2) procedure of the final E-2C Hawkeye at Fleet Readiness Center Southwest, reports Naval Technology. The E-2C Hawkeye, delivered by Northrop Grumman, is an all-weather airborne early warning aircraft.

For the first time, a civilian will be in charge of the US Army’s Criminal Investigation Command, reports Military.com. Gregory Ford will be the next CID director.

The death toll from a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in Haiti stands at nearly 1,300 people as rescuers race to find survivors in the rubble ahead of an approaching tropical storm Grace, reports CBS News. Heavy rains were expected to hit the island late Monday, reports The Washington Post, bringing rainfall rates topping two inches per hour and the threat of flooding and mudslides.

US Southern Command has established Joint Task Force-Haiti to deliver assistance to the people of Haiti, reports dvidshub.net.

 

 

General Dynamics is launching a new center of excellence in Taunton, MA, reports ExecutiveBiz.com, for the production and testing of unmanned undersea vehicles.

The US Space Force stood up the second of its three field commands last week, reports C4ISRNET. The new Space Systems Command in Los Angeles replaces the Space and Missile Systems Center. MAJ GEN Michael Guetlein is the new commander of the SSC.

The Blue Origin space company, owned by Jeff Bezos, has filed a complaint in federal court against NASA, reports CNBC, continuing its protest that the agency wrongly awarded a contract worth about $2.9 billion to Elon Musk’s SpaceX in April.

Students from eight community college and university teams will see more than a year of effort take flight into space with the launch of Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Thursday, Aug. 19, reports NASA.

Recently released declassified information about the sinking of the US Navy submarine USS Thresher in 1963 has raised more questions about what took place on the nuclear-powered sub, reports Military.com. New details draw attention to the fact that disagreement remains on what initially caused the submarine to lose power and sink.

A memorial dedicated to Native American veterans opened last week in Wyoming, reports Army Times. The Path of Honor Wind River Veterans Memorial is located on the Wind River Reservation in Fort Washakie.

A Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier who served as an operations officer at I Corps, in Washington state, has died of complications caused by COVID-19, reports Military News. LT COL Scott Flanders was 56.

The US Naval Academy shows off a special Marine Corps-themed uniform the Navy football team will wear for the Sept. 11 game against Air Force, repots The Baltimore Sun. Navy will open the 2021 season on Sept. 4 against the Thundering Herd of Marshall University at the Navy-Marine Crops Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.

Naval Academy cornerback Cameron Kinley, who was given a special exemption by DefSec Lloyd Austin to delay his service commitment so he could try to make an NFL roster, has been released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, reports The Washington Post.