Budget Calls for 4.6% Pay Raise for Service Members

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 White House released its fiscal 2023 budget Monday, reports Army Times. The $773 billion defense spending plan calls for a 4.6% pay raise for service members, reports Navy Times, but the services would see its active-duty end strength drop. The Navy would see a decrease of about 600 personnel. Although no details had been available before the release, lawmakers had moved ahead with the annual oversight work, inviting a number of combatant commanders to testify on their needs and wants for next year. President Joe Biden’s plan asks for a 4% boost for the Defense Department, reports Defense News. Republican leaders had been pushing for a 5% increase in defense spending, Navy Times reported earlier this month.

In the proposed budget, the Air Force receives 30.3%, with the Navy receiving 29.9%, reports DoD. The Army receives 22.9% and defense-wide is pegged at 16.9%.

A provision passed in the defense spending bill in December will for the first time allow cadets at US military academies to have children, reports The Hill. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) sponsored the CADET Act, which says a cadet cannot be forced to give up a child, may not be expelled after becoming a parent, and allows the student to take leave up to one year before returning to the academy.

Russia has shifted its focus to try to grind Ukraine’s army in the eastern part of the country, reports The Associated Press. With its hopes for a quick victory dashed by the Ukrainian resistance, Russia has increasingly focused on grinding down Ukraine’s military in the east in the hope of forcing the capital Kyiv into surrendering part of the country’s territory to possibly end the war.

With the invasion of Ukraine now a month old, Ukrainian resistance has exposed issues with Russia’s perceived military dominance, reports Breaking Defense. Experts are puzzled by Russia’s apparent lack of widespread use of advanced electronic warfare capabilities.

Ukraine could declare neutrality and offer security guarantees to Russia to secure peace “without delay,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said ahead of another expected round of talks today, Tuesday, March 29, between the two sides, reports Military.com. The talks are scheduled to take place in Turkey.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country is developing “overwhelming military power that cannot be stopped,” reports UPI, just days after North Korea conducted its largest-ever test of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The US and the Philippines began their biggest joint military drills since 2015, reports Reuters, underscoring improved defense ties after President Rodrigo Duterte had scaled back some earlier war games to pursue warmer ties with China. The Star reports that 5,100 US military personnel will participate.

The Philippine Coast Guard reported a recent incident of “close distance maneuvering” by a Chinese Coast Guard vessel in the disputed South China Sea, reports CNN, that “constrained” the movement of a Philippine ship nearby. China lays claim to most of the waters in the South China Sea.

The US Air Force’s B-2 conducted a mission in the Indo-Pacific with Royal Australian Air Force fighters, the Air Force reports. A US Air Force B-2 Spirit flew from Whiteman Air Force Base, MO, to Australia to train at RAAF Amberley for the first time. Joining in on the training were F-22 Raptors from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickman, a KC-135 Stratotanker from the Alaska Air National Guard, and two RAAF F-35As.

 

 

The world’s largest maritime exercise is set to take place in July and August in the Pacific near Hawaii, reports Defense News. The Rim of the Pacific, or RIMPAC, will involve 27 countries, 41 ships, four submarines, more than 170 aircraft, and nearly 25,000 personnel.

The first 15 enlisted female submariners to ever complete a strategic deterrent patrol have just returned to their home port at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, GA, reports The Brunswick News. They are assigned to the USS Wyoming ballistic missile submarine.

BRIG GEN Eyal Grinboim, the Israeli Air Force chief of staff, visited Naval Air Station Pax River last month for a CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter program update, reports The Southern Maryland Chronicle. The visit included an opportunity for Grinboim to co-pilot the aircraft with US Marine Corps LT COL Luke Frank.

Watershed Security LLC, a certified provider of cybersecurity and information technology solutions, has been awarded the Naval Aviation Systems Command, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Webster Outlying Field RAPID multiple award contract, pr.com reports. The Chesapeake, VA, firm Watershed will be delivering cyber security products and services to NAWCAD that include the identification and analysis of information technologies, cyber resiliency, security, risk posture, and documentation development in support of cyber accreditation and certification for information systems.

Northrop Grumman was awarded a $65 million contract to carry-out full-rate production of the Link-16 tactical datalink for the US Marine Corps AH-1Z attack UH-1Y utility helicopters, reports Military & Aerospace Electronics. Link-16 will enable the AH-1Z and UH-1Y to carry out sensor networking, and share data and communications securely with other aircraft and other users of secure military networks.

Greg Kausner, the Pentagon’s former acting head of acquisition, has joined Anduril, a defense and security technology company based in California, to broaden its international business, reports Defense News. Kausner previously served as executive director for international cooperation in the Pentagon’s acquisition and sustainment office. He was also a Navy fighter pilot and served two combat tours in Iraq.

The bodies of four Marines who died in a military aircraft crash during an exercise in the Arctic Circle earlier this month were brought back to the US on Friday, reports Marine Corps Times. The Marines had been taking part in a long-planned NATO exercise called Cold Response, which authorities said was unrelated to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The container ship that has been stuck in the Chesapeake Bay for more than two weeks might be freed as early as today, Tuesday, reports WTOP News. The US Coast Guard said the initial attempt will involve five tugboats which will try and pull the ship from the mud and refloat it.

Two Fort Hood, TX, soldiers were sentenced to prison Friday after they pleaded guilty to charges in connection to transporting immigrants in the country illegally last year, reports The Hill.

Contract:

AMEC/Wood, City, State Blue Bell, Pennsylvania (FA8903-18-D-0001); Enterprise Engineering, Anchorage, Alaska (FA8903-18-D-0002); AECOM, Los Angeles, California (FA8903-18-D-0003); Argus, Overland Park, Kansas (FA8903-18-D-0004); Burns & McDonnell, Kansas City, Missouri (FA8903-18-D-0005); CJW Ventures, Lynchburg, Virginia (FA8903-18-D-0006); GTP Consulting Engineers Inc., Duluth, Georgia (FA8903-18-D-0007); HDR, San Antonio, Texas (FA8903-18-D-0008); Pond Co., Peachtree Corners, Georgia (FA8903-18-D-0009); Robert and Co., Atlanta, Georgia (FA8903-18-D-0010); Stanley Consultants Inc., Austin, Texas (FA8903-18-D-0011); Tetra Tech Inc., Collinsville, Illinois (FA8903-18-D-0012); and Weston Solutions Inc., Chester, Pennsylvania (FA8903-18-D-0013), have been awarded an $82,000,000 ceiling increase to previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts. This increase will facilitate additional capacity to order engineering design and engineering support at Defense Logistics Agency fuels locations. Work will be performed in locations to be determined at the task order level and are expected to be completed by March 1, 2026. Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity.