Def Sec Hagel Gives Thanks to Military
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 necessarily reflect those of the Leader’s owners or staff.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel expressed his gratitude to military service members and their families yesterday in a Thanksgiving message, according to the American Forces Press Service. Hagel’s statement reads in part, “This time of year is especially difficult for service members who are serving far away from their families and loved ones. To all those deployed overseas: know that Americans will be thinking about you as they gather around the Thanksgiving table, and praying for your safe return. To the families back here at home: Americans will always be indebted to you for sacrificing on their behalf. And to all DOD personnel everywhere and your families: thank you and happy Thanksgiving.”
The National Archives has collected a series of Department of Defense film clips that show how the US military accomplished the Thanksgiving dinner mission over the years. The collection includes a Navy Chief Commissary cook in 1956 demonstrating the naval method to roast a turkey by turning the bird over from the traditional breast up position to “keep the meaty breast and legs out of the drying heat at the top of the oven. That way the meat is more succulent and tender.” The Navy News Service reports on more recent Thanksgiving advice which gave Naval District Washington personnel insight on how to safely spend their holiday season. Topics included cooking and hosting safety.
The Chinese defense ministry responded to this week’s US unarmed B-52 bomber flights through China’s recently declared air defense zone over the East China Sea, reports CNN. Chinese officials indicated that they had monitored the aircraft activity but they did not criticize the American action.
The Affordable Care Act website has seen recent performance improvements as a result of an around-the-clock effort, but there are still significant doubts it will meet the Obama Administration’s November 30th goal to be “working smoothly for the vast majority of users”, according to Politico. Despite HealthCare.gov personnel’s full court press to improve the online process, support more traffic and transmit accurate client data to insurers, the application module of the site crashed Monday. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is focusing on the positive and this week urged government officials “to not hesitate to recommend that people go to HealthCare.gov and get signed up because that experience is currently working much better and it will continue to work much better.”
A replica of Northrop Grumman’s X-47B drone is now on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum, reports PNJ.com. The unmanned aircraft became a symbol of the future of aircraft carrier flight operations when it successfully landed on the USS George Bush last July. A retired Navy aviator has a different perspective on the new technology and is quoted as saying, “This is, unfortunately from a pilot’s perspective, the wave of the future. There will be more of these on aircraft decks than there are piloted planes.”
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Aerospace Systems, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $13,857,607 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for logistics services in support of the MQ-8B/C Fire Scout unmanned air vehicle. This work will be performed in Patuxent River, Md. (70 percent), and Pt. Mugu, Calif. (30 percent), and is expected to be completed in November 2014. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy funds in the amount of $13,857,607 are being obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Rockwell Collins Inc., Richardson, Texas, is being awarded a $10,834,820 fixed-firm-price contract for sustaining engineering services in support of the E-6B Mercury aircraft. This contract includes sustaining engineering services for the Mission Avionics System, the Long Trailing Wire Assembly, the Short Trailing Wire Assembly, the High Power Transmit Set and the Internet Protocol Bandwidth Expansion Phase 4 system. Work will be performed in Richardson, Texas (60 percent) and Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, Okla. (40 percent) and is expected to be completed in November 2014. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
