DefSec: Climate Change Poses Security Risks
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DefSec Lloyd Austin, speaking at an international climate summit Thursday, said the climate crisis is making it more difficult for the military to defend the US and its allies, reports The Hill. “The climate crisis is a profoundly destabilizing force for our world. As the Arctic melts, competition for resources and influence in the region increases. Closer to the equator, rising temperatures and frequent and intense extreme weather events in Africa and Central America threaten millions with drought, hunger, and displacement,” he said.
DoD is now using a tool developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers to project the effects of climate change on almost 1,400 locations that include major military installations in the US and overseas, reports UPI. According to DoD, the Climate Assessment Tool enables the services to consistently deliver exposure assessments and identify regions or installations that might need more climate-related studies.
On Earth Day, Thursday, the Defense Department announced the winners of the Secretary of Defense Environmental Awards. Eight winners were announced from 27 nominees.
A study by the Key Biodiversity Areas Secretariat in Cambridge, UK, says that only 3% of the planet remains ecologically intact, reports The Guardian. The research was published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change.
DoD says that 22% of the military force has been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, reports Military.com, and the Navy has exceeded the vaccination rates of the other services.
Military leaders say the COVID-19 pandemic has offered the United States a lesson in how to prepare for future chemical and biological warfare, reports Military.com. Since many missions, such as air transportation, basic training, and ships at sea, couldn’t be conducted in a Zoom meeting, the services had to improvise to keep operations going while holding the coronavirus at bay.
The pandemic forced many lifestyle changes. CNN makes these recommendations for which behaviors we should keep.
GEN Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command in the Middle East, is concerned that the Afghani military will not be able to hold its ground after the US pulls its troops out of Afghanistan, reports The Associated Press. He also questions whether there will be proper protection for the US Embassy in Kabul.
The US is currently shipping military equipment to Afghanistan, reports Military Times, as well as finishing up contracts with local service providers in preparation of final troop withdrawals.
The Indonesian navy on Saturday declared its KRI Nanggala 402 submarine “sunk” and the 53 crew members dead, reports CBS News. The submarine made its last dive on Wednesday. The US and Australian navies had been called in to help with the search. The cause of the submarine’s disappearance is not known at this time.
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is currently in the Middle East, and that stop could be extended to help cover the withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan, reports USNI News.
And while US plans continue for the draw down of 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, McKenzie said there are no current plans to begin a withdrawal of the last 2,500 military members in Iraq, reports Military Times.
NATO’s allies will meet in Belgium in June and US President Joe Biden plans to attend, reports Military Times. The meeting should be an opportunity for Biden to rebuild relations with leaders from Europe and Canada that became strained during the Trump administration.
VADM Jeffrey Trussler, deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, said the Navy will experiment with information warfare cells during a military exercise planned for later in 2021, reports C4ISRNET.
More than 50 female Marines have completed the final boot camp exercise required of recruits, reports Military Times. This makes them the first women in the service’s history to graduate from the historically all-male Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.
Navy Chief Machinist’s Mate Mayra Hudgens has become the first woman to be certified as a steam generating plant inspector, reports UPI. She is assigned to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center in Norfolk, VA.
A computer chip shortage has hit automakers causing delays in the building of some vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover said late last week that it will shut down production for a week at two plants in Britain due to the supply shortage, reports UPI. Last month, Bosch, a global car parts supplier, said the shortage is affecting integrated circuits, automotive microcontrollers, and application-specific integrated circuits, reports Reuters. Ford has closed plants in Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri for a few weeks because of the shortage The Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Expect cicadas — Brood X — to appear sometime in mid-May. “Annual cicadas come out every year, but there are periodical cicadas, known as Magicicadas, that emerge in either 13- or 17-year intervals,” NAS Pax River’s environmental expert Kyle Rambo told The Tester. “Brood X is a 17-year cicada, and there are at least a dozen 17-year broods.” The cicadas will be around approximately four to six weeks before things begin to quiet down by the end of June.
Contracts:
The GBS Group, Virginia Beach, Virginia (N64498-21-D-4015); General Dynamics Information Technology Inc., Fairfax, Virginia (N64498-21-D-4016); Green Expert Technology Inc., Haddonfield, New Jersey (N64498-21-D-4017); Life Cycle Engineering Inc., Charleston, South Carolina (N64498-21-D-4018); McKean Defense Group LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (N64498-21-D-2019); and NDI Engineering Co., Thorofare, New Jersey (N64498-21-D-4020) are each awarded cost-plus-fixed fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts for life-cycle engineering support services to ensure readiness and safety of naval surface combatant ships. The work to be performed includes all activities associated with various control systems, computer program development, testing, equipment harvesting and installation on both in-service and new ship construction. The maximum dollar value for all six contracts is $38,876,713. Each awardee will be awarded $100,000 (minimum contract guarantee per awardee) at contract award. Work will be performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be completed by March 2026. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $600,000 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. All other funding will be made available at the task order level as contracting actions occur. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with six offers received. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity.
AGVIQ LLC, Virginia Beach, Virginia, is awarded a $17,287,281 cost-plus-award-fee task order (N4008521F5037) under previously-awarded contract N62470-18-D-7012 for construction of a treatment system as a component of the Operable Unit 2 remedial actions at the former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant, Bethpage, New York. Work will be performed in Bethpage, New York, and is expected to be completed by April 2022. Fiscal 2021 environmental restoration (Navy) funds in the amount of $17,287,281 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This task order was competitively procured under the remedial action contract/multiple award contract, with two proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
Federal Prison Industries, Washington, DC, has been awarded a $9,558,000 modification (P00007) exercising the second one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-19-D-F024) with two one-year option periods for working parkas. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Locations of performance are Washington, DC, and Kentucky, with a May 2, 2022, ordering period end date. Using service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, is awarded a $9,964,864 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for contractor support to operate and maintain the active and passive sonar systems necessary to provide mobile undersea acoustic surveillance capabilities. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $994,036 will be obligated at the time of award. Funding will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. Work will be performed in Yokohama, Japan (84%); Virginia Beach, Virginia (15%); and Reston, Virginia (1%). Work is expected to be completed by February 2022. This contract was not competitively procured because it is a sole source acquisition pursuant to the authority of 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) — only one responsible source in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation subpart 6.302-1. The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California is the contracting activity (N00039-21-C-9003).
Dredgit Environmental Corp., Houston, Texas, was awarded a $17,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide site improvements at the Craney Island Dredged Material Management Area in Virginia. Bids were solicited via the internet with six received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 21, 2024. US Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W91236-21-D-5007).
Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $10,703,000 modification (0001BG) to contract W31P4Q-18-A-0011 for system optimization engineering and live-virtual modeling to the Counter Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device and associated force protection systems. Work will be performed in Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of March 30, 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation, Army funds in the amount of $10,703,000 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.
CORRECTION: The contract announced on April 9, 2021, for National Industries for the Blind, Alexandria, Virginia (SPE1C1-21-D-B106), for $20,994,706 was announced with an incorrect award date. The correct award date is April 20, 2021.
