DHS Downplays Russian Threat, Says Whistleblower
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Top Trump appointees at the Department of Homeland Security repeatedly sought to censor or stop reports on Russian influence activities in the United States, according to a whistleblower report released by the House Intelligence Committee, reports Politico. The claim aligns with concerns expressed recently by national security officials that the administration is trying to draw attention away from the acute threat posed by Moscow — which the intelligence community says is trying to boost Donald Trump’s reelection, as it did in 2016.
AP reports Asian shares declined on Wednesday after a sell-off of big technology stocks on Wall Street pulled US benchmarks lower. Crude oil prices and Treasury yields also weakened. Troubles with Astra-Zeneca’s coronavirus vaccine trial and simmering China-US tensions also have rattled investors.
New York state, New Jersey, and Connecticut added Maryland to their coronavirus travel advisory, requiring individuals who visit the state to self-quarantine for 14 days, reports The Baltimore Sun. Johns Hopkins placed Maryland’s seven-day rolling positivity rate at 6.23% as of Tuesday, the highest since July 29. New York state on Tuesday had a seven-day rolling positivity rate of 0.89%.
The rate of COVD-19 infection has bent downward in the Northeast, reports The New York Times, but remains high across many states in the Midwest and South — and evidence suggests that students returning to big campuses are a major factor.
Half of active duty troops believe the ongoing coronavirus pandemic represents a significant threat to military readiness and operations, reports Military Times. Respondents split over whether service leaders have done enough to respond to the coronavirus pandemic — roughly 48% do not think so, 46% do have confidence in leadership’s response. The Military Times poll results were collected in partnership with the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University.
Jilted cloud provider Amazon Web Services plans to continue contesting the Pentagon’s decision to award the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract to Microsoft, claiming the contract was “politically corrupted” by President Donald Trump, reports sdx central.
USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Sept. 7 2020.
California National Guard crews rescued hundreds in Creek Fire, the most dangerous flying of their lives. McClatchy reports the crews of an Army National Guard CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Black Hawk kept going back across the Creek Fire line, down into the smoke-filled valley and toward campers desperate for help. Night vision goggles enabled them to keep finding their way and 214 people were saved.
FCW spotlights the 2020 Federal 100 in a searchable list of the winners along with their accomplishments. These men and women, writes FCW, are proof positive of what one person can make possible in federal IT.
Army Chief of Staff GEN James McConville pushed back on President Trump’s assertion that Pentagon leaders go to war to please arms manufacturers, reports Defense One. “I can assure the American people that the senior leaders would only recommend sending our troops to combat when it’s required for national security and a last resort.”
A group of senators, including one Republican, is asking the Trump administration to alter its plans for a mandatory payroll tax deferral for federal employees and service members that could result in unwanted tax consequences in the future, reports FCW. The plan to boost workers’ pay during the pandemic is gaining little traction in Maryland, or elsewhere, reports The Baltimore Sun. Workers who earn less than $104,000 qualify for the payroll tax deferral through December 31, 2020, but need to repay the deferred taxes by the end of April.
More than a million troops will see a temporary boost in paychecks this month, but automatic repayment deductions begin in January, reports Military Times. More than a million military members earning $8,666.66 or less per month will see their paychecks increase by 6.2% of their basic pay beginning with the mid-September paycheck, but it’s only temporary and will be repaid in paycheck deductions in January.
The US Space Force can now collect critical weather data from a repurposed government satellite, reports C4ISRNET. Known as GOES-13, the satellite will now provide cloud characterization and theater weather imagery of the Indian Ocean region to the DoD, filling a critical gap between the end of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program and the launch of a new constellation of weather satellites operating in low Earth orbit.
The Navy has called off search and rescue operations in the North Arabian Sea for a sailor missing from the aircraft carrier Nimitz. The Navy Times reports that the search was for Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Ian McKnight.
Northrop Grumman has captured a $13.3 billion award for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent competition and will build the Air Force’s next-generation intercontinental ballistic missiles, reports Defense News. Northrop was the sole bidder for the engineering, manufacturing, and development contract after Boeing dropped out from the competition last July over Northrop’s acquisition of solid rocket motor manufacturer Orbital ATK, now known as Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems.
Contracts:
Sabre Systems, Inc., Warrington, Pennsylvania, is awarded an $8,174,314 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N68335-20-F-0212) against previously issued basic ordering agreement N68335-16-G-0022. This order provides support for the rapid research, development, maturation, procurement, integration, training and sustainment of cyber resilient and full spectrum cyber warfighting capabilities for the Digital Analytics, Infrastructure and Technology Advancement Group. These solutions support various systems within the Naval Air Systems Command portfolio throughout all phases of acquisition, operational field demonstrations, prototyping, experiments, operational assessments, extended user evaluations and fleet/force deployments. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland, and is expected to be completed in September 2025. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Defense wide) funds in the amount of $667,721; and fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $52,000 will be obligated at time of award, $52,000 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $126,934,433 cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost only contract modification to previously awarded contract N00024-17-C-6259 to exercise and fund options for Navy engineering services, materials and spares. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia (65%); Clearwater, Florida (32%); Syracuse, New York (2%); and Marion, Florida (1%), and is expected to be completed by December 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Navy (63%); and fiscal 2020 research development test and engineering, Navy (37%) funding in the amount of $1,400,676 will be obligated at time of award, of which $882,426 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.
Core Services Group Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia, is awarded a $29,000,000 commercial firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide test and evaluation support services for Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force Aviation Warfare Division. The contract will include a 60-month base ordering period with an additional six-month ordering period option pursuant of Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8. The option to extend services, if exercised, will bring the total value to $32,000,000. The base ordering period is expected to be completed by November 2025; if the option is exercised, the ordering period will be completed by May 2026. All work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,500 will be obligated to fund the contract’s minimum amount and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Individual task orders will be subsequently funded with appropriate fiscal year appropriations at the time of their issuance. This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted on beta.sam.gov as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business set-aside using commercial items procedures, with four offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center, Norfolk, Contracting Department, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00189-20-D-0020).
Science Application International Corp., Reston, Virginia, is awarded a $17,816,869 single-award, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide advanced technical training of shipboard communication and network systems in support of the Water Front Training Delivery Program for the Center for Information Warfare Training, Pensacola, Florida. The contract will include a five-year base ordering period with no options. Work will be performed in Pensacola, Florida (52%); San Diego, California (22%); Virginia Beach, Virginia (19%); and Groton, Connecticut (7%). Work is expected to be completed by September 2025. Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $100,000 will be obligated to fund the contract’s minimum amount and funds will expire at the end of the fiscal year. Individual task orders will be subsequently funded with appropriate fiscal year appropriations at the time of their issuance. This contract resulted from a full and open competitive solicitation through the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center, Norfolk, Contracting Department, Philadelphia Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00189-20-D-Z032).
Valneva USA Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $60,601,800 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Japanese Encephalitis vaccines. This is a one-year base contract with two one-year option periods. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 US Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. Locations of performance are Maryland and United Kingdom, with a Sept. 8, 2021, ordering period end date. Using military services are Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DP-20-D-0005).
Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio, was awarded a $49,525,698 modification (P00006) to contract W9132V-19-F-0005 for geospatial research, development, technology and evaluation of current and emerging geospatial technologies that will help characterize and measure phenomena within the physical and social environments encountered by the Army. Work will be performed in Washington, DC, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 28, 2023. Fiscal 2020 revolving funds in the amount of $1,038,309 were obligated at the time of the award. The US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, Mississippi, is the contracting activity.
Accenture Federal Services, Arlington, Virginia, was awarded an $8,293,896 modification (P00001) to contract W52P1J-20-C-0005 for unified enterprise resource planning capability support services. Work will be performed at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 8, 2026. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $8,293,896 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity.
CORRECTION: The contract announced on Sept. 8, 2020, for Amentum Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland (W56HZV-20-F-0396), for $29,034,547, was announced with an incorrect award date. The correct award date is Sept. 9, 2020.
