Bay Filled With ‘Forever Chemicals’
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Groundwater at numerous military installations close to the Chesapeake Bay shows high levels of contamination from the toxic fluorinated “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, reports EWG.com. Eight installations register above the EPA’s recommended limit of 70 parts per trillion with NAS Pax River reporting 84,757 parts per trillion. Military Times lists the Chesapeake bases, including the other seven registering between 0.8 and 2.2 million parts per trillion; they include in Maryland, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Naval Research Laboratory Blossom Point and at Chesapeake Beach, Martin State Airport Air National Guard Base, the Naval Academy, and Joint Base Langley-Eustis and Naval Weapons Station Yorktown in Virginia.
The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group includes the F-35C for the first time in history and also a beefed-up complement of EA-18G Growlers and E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes for an “air wing of the future,” reports Defense News. Military leaders think this complement can defeat high-end adversaries before they even spot the US Navy coming.
A bill to connect more veterans with service dogs trained to support mental health conditions is headed to President Joe Biden’s desk, reports Military.com.
The Senate has rejected a Republican proposal to add $50 billion in defense infrastructure spending, reports Defense News. Democrats remained unified and the amendment was defeated on a bipartisan basis, 53-46 with Republicans Sens. Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and Mike Braun voting with the majority.
Venture capital firm Harpoon Ventures in San Diego announced a new $120 million investment fund to focus on early-stage tech startups that might one day seek the government as a customer, including defense agencies, reports Fast Company.
The Senate included more than $1.9 billion in cybersecurity funds in the $1 trillion infrastructure package approved this week, reports The Hill. The funds will go toward securing critical infrastructure against attacks, helping vulnerable organizations defend themselves, and providing funding for a key federal cyber office, among other initiatives.
Defense News reports White House national security official Sasha Baker is Biden’s pick for deputy undersecretary of defense for policy. Currently the National Security Council’s senior director for strategic planning, Baker previously served as an adviser to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). During the Obama administration, Baker served as deputy chief of staff to DefSec Ash Carter.
The Senate confirmed veteran defense official Mara Karlin to lead Pentagon strategy hours after Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) lifted a procedural hold on the nomination over China policy concerns, reports Defense News. Hawley released the hold after receiving Karlin’s assurances that she favors centering the Pentagon’s force planning process on China. The Senate also confirmed Caral Spangler to be Army comptroller and assistant secretary of the Army for financial management. Gil Cisneros, the pick for undersecretary for personnel and readiness, still awaits full Senate consideration.
USNI reports on NavSec Carlos Del Toro’s first message to the fleet, noting “Like [DefSec Lloyd] Austin, I view our most pressing challenges as the four Cs – China, Culture, Climate, and COVID, and we need the resources and capabilities to address each now.” In addition to swearing in Del Toro, the White House announced its pick for the Navy’s general counsel position, John “Sean” Coffey, a former naval aviator who went to Georgetown University Law Center.
Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of US Northern Command, says deterrence is not enough that “defense of the homeland” requires signaling and messaging to make sure that a weapon is never launched against the US or its forces, reports Breaking Defense. Right now, the Pentagon is just too slow to make that happen, he said.
The Biden administration is preparing for Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, to fall within six to 12 months, a far more rapid disintegration of security revising previous assessments, reports The Washington Post.
Contracts:
Baker-Stanley-Cardno JV, Moon Township, Pennsylvania (FA8903-21-D-0019); Mead & Hunt/Mott MacDonald JV, Middleton, Wisconsin (FA8903-21-D-0027); ADC Engineering Inc., Hanahan, South Carolina (FA8903-21-D-0018); Johnson, Mirman & Thompson Inc., Hunt Valley, Maryland (FA8903-21-D-0025); Burns & McDonnell Inc., Kansas City, Missouri (FA8903-21-D-0020); HDR Environmental, Operations and Construction Inc., Spring Branch, Texas (FA8903-21-D-0021); WSP- Mason & Hanger JV, Washington, DC (FA8903-21-D-0031); Tigerbrain Engineering, Oviedo, Florida (FA8903-21-D-0030); DRMP-AVCON JV, Orlando, FL (FA8903-21-D-0023); Jacobs Government Services Co., San Antonio, Texas (FA8903-21-D-0022); Suhail-CHA JV, Chagrin Falls, Ohio (FA8903-21-D-0029); Pond-CDM Smith JV L.P., Peachtree Corners, Georgia (FA8903-21-D-0028); KZF Design, Cincinnati, Ohio (FA8903-21-D-0026); and Aviation Engineers JV, Newport News, Virginia (FA8903-21-D-0024), are each awarded fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award contracts to support worldwide architect and engineer services for the Air Force under the AE-Next Pool I (Airfield Infrastructure) contract vehicle. The AE-Next program has a shared ceiling of $2,000,000,000. Task orders will be competitively awarded under these contracts, which may be performed both in the US and worldwide, as appropriate. Each of the contracts has a 10-year ordering period beginning July 30, 2021, and, with execution of the five-year option, July 29, 2031. Fiscal 2021 funding in the amount of $42,000 has been obligated for the initial task order. These contracts were competitively procured using full and open competition, and 25 proposals were received. The 772nd Enterprise Sourcing Squadron, San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity. (Awarded July 30, 2021).
DCS, Corp., Alexandria, Virginia, is awarded a $25,080,326 modification (P00026) to a previously awarded, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This modification increases the ceiling to address labor cost increases to provide continued systems engineering, analysis, research, development, logistics, configuration and data management services to the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division’s aircraft integrated product teams in support of the development, integration, test, evaluation, and fielding of new and upgraded capabilities to the F/A-18, EA-18G, F-35, AV-8B, AH-1/UH-1 aircraft and unmanned aerial systems for the Navy. Work will be performed in China Lake, California (86.5%); Eglin, Florida (7%); Ridgecrest, California (5%); Point Mugu, California (1%); and various locations within the continental US (0.5%), and is expected to be completed in October 2022. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Point Mugu, California, is the contracting activity (N68936-18-D-0006).
Textron Systems Corp., Hunt Valley, Maryland, is awarded an $11,285,913 five-year, long-term, firm-fixed price contract under a previously awarded performance-based logistics requirements contract (N00383-19-D-U501) for the logistics and repair support of MV-22B, CMV-22 (Navy) and CV-22 (Air Force) Osprey components in support of the Joint Service Electronic Combat Systems Tester system. All work will be performed in Hunt Valley, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by August 2026. Appropriate fiscal year working capital funds (Navy) will be obligated as individual task orders are issued, and funds will not expire before the end of the current fiscal year. One source was solicited for this non-competitive requirement and one offer was received in accordance with 10 US Code 2304 (c)(1). Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00383-21-D-ZD01).
