Deployments in Europe Likely to Remain Into Summer

The US Navy conducts a maritime patrol alongside the USS Harry S. Truman in the Mediterranean Sea earlier this year. The carrier strike group has been in that region since late last year. DoD has decided to extend the deployment. (US Navy photo by Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Tate Cardinal)

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 Pentagon said that thousands of troops mobilized over the past few months to Eastern Europe will most likely remain into the summer, reports Navy Times. DefSec Lloyd Austin said that troops deployed in Poland and the Truman carrier strike group that has been operating in the Mediterranean Sea since late last year are among those to remain activated.

The Defense Department will send additional aid to Ukraine, reports The Washington Post. DoD said $300 million more in military supplies, including drones, laser-guided missiles, armored vehicles, and machine guns is part of a broader effort to boost Ukrainian forces fighting Russia.

The US has now committed more than $2.3 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration, including more than $1.6 billion in security assistance since Russia’s invasion, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Chairman said Europe’s unpreparedness for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine should serve as a “wake-up call” to other parts of the world, reports The Hill. Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) said Europe’s unpreparedness should set an example for increased deterrence in Asia.

The Boeing KC-46 has been conducting refueling missions in Europe, providing fuel over Germany and Poland to US fighters and bombers bolstering NATO’s eastern front, even though the tanker isn’t yet considered operational, reports Breaking Defense.

Ukrainian officials said hundreds of bodies of civilians have been found in cities near the Ukranian capital Kyiv, reports UPI, as international anger mounts against Russia over alleged war crimes with some world leaders saying they amount to genocide.

A US Navy reservist and a US green-card holder have been freed from detention in Afghanistan, reports Reuters, and one of the pair said they were brothers who were engaged in humanitarian work when the Taliban arrested them.

The US Marine Corps’ 2023 spending wish list includes an amphibious warship, one that the US Navy says it wants to cancel, reports Navy Times. The Navy said in March that it would buy one last amphibious transport dock, LPD-32, and then end the production line. The Marines want funding for the LPD-33.

Two US Navy personnel suffered non-life-threatening injuries in an accident aboard the USS Louisiana, an Ohio-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine docked in Puget Sound in Washington state, reports The Associated Press.

 

 

The USS Milwaukee has completed its deployment and returned to Naval Station Mayport in Florida from a 15-week drug interdiction, reports Florida Times-Union. This comes days after the Navy proposed decommissioning it and seven other Mayport littoral combat ships.

The USS Delaware was commissioned over the weekend in Wilmington, DE, reports The Associated Press. The Delaware is the 18th Virginia-class submarine built, as well as the eighth and final Block III Virginia-class sub. The fast-attack submarine is homeported at Submarine Base New London in Connecticut.

Raytheon has been awarded a contract worth up to $3.2 billion for the hardware production and sustainment of all four SPY-6 radar variants to be delivered to 31 Navy ships over the next five years, reports Breaking Defense. The radar is an integral part of the fleet’s ballistic air and missile defense capabilities.

BRIG GEN Denise Donnell has been named commander of the 5,900-member New York Air National Guard, reports Mid Hudson News. Prior to joining the New York Guard, she served as commander of the 105th Airlift Wing and as operational test director assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 at NAS Patuxent River. She was the first woman to lead a wing of the New York Guard and is now the first female to lead the group.

Many Washington, DC,-area companies are not embracing remote working as much as might have been thought would be the case, reports WTOP News. A recent survey found that many managers want their employees to be on-site full time.

The CEO of a North American financial services company believes working from home is here to stay, reports Montreal Gazette. Teleworking “changes everything with regards to employee management, talent attraction, and the experience people live. I’m profoundly convinced that the world of work will come out of the pandemic forever changed,” said Guy Cormier of Mouvement Desjardins.

SpaceX’s launch of the first all-private mission to the International Space Station has been delayed by two days, reports Space.com. It is now scheduled to lift off no earlier than 11:17 am Friday, April 8. If all goes to plan, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule will reach the space station at 7:30 am Saturday, April 9.

Dmitry Rogozin, head of Russia’s space program, said the future of the ISS hangs in the balance after the US, the European Union, and Canadian space agencies missed a deadline to meet Russian demands for lifting sanctions on Russian enterprises and hardware, reports Military.com.

Veterans unemployment in March fell to its lowest level in three years, reports Military Times, as the American economy continued to show signs of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2.4% unemployment rate for veterans was the lowest monthly mark since April 2019.

Twelve people, including three US Army soldiers, are accused in a gun trafficking ring that prosecutors with the Justice Department allege supplied nearly 100 guns to gang members in Chicago, reports Army Times.

Contracts:

Northrop Grumman System Corp., San Diego, California, is awarded a $65,256,002 modification (P00002) to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N0001921C0054). This modification exercises options to provide continued operation, logistics and sustainment engineering support, to include training, supply chain and spares management for Global Hawk peculiar items, peculiar support equipment, and technical publications in support of ensuring the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator (BAMS-D) aircraft are mission-capable for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland (70%); undisclosed locations outside the continental US (25%); and Rancho Bernardo, California (5%), and is expected to be completed in April 2023. Fiscal 2022 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $15,500,000 will be obligated at the time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Smartronix LLC, Hollywood, Maryland, was awarded a modification (P00011) on firm-fixed-price contract HTC711-20-F-D076 in the amount of $10,554,891. This modification provides continued Amazon Web Services Cloud Service Offering. Work will be performed primarily on-site at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. The period of performance is from March 30, 2022, to March 29, 2023. Fiscal 2021 transportation working capital funds – operations; operations and maintenance funds; and Defense Health Program funds were obligated at award. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract from $19,163,127 to $29,708,018. US Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott AFB, Illinois, is the contracting activity. (Awarded March 31, 2022)