DoD Plans Overhead Cuts
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.
The DoD is considering a renewed effort to cut overhead and administrative costs, according to FederalTimes. The initiative targets everything except military services and combatant commands. Potential cuts include the Office of the Secretary of Defense and 16 defense agencies, including the Tricare Management Agency and the Defense Logistics Agency.
American and Chinese military officials are holding talks on rules of behavior at the Pentagon this week, days after the US denounced a “dangerous” Chinese jet intercept of a US Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol plane, reports Reuters. The discussions, planned before the recent incidents, touched on US concerns about Chinese military behavior including the concern that a Chinese provocation could spiral into a broader crisis sparked by a military miscalculation in the disputed territory.
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said the Department of Veterans Affairs should allow service members to use both federal and state education benefits according to The Hill. Senator Durbin said veterans in some states are forced to spend all of their state education benefits before gaining access to federal benefits.
The Navy announced a new study to document the travel, feeding and diving habits of whales off Southern California, reports UT San Diego. The study comes as environmental groups continue to criticize the US military and the National Marine Fisheries Service over a recently renewed 5-year permit for the Navy to use sonar, explosive charges, and other maritime training that affects marine mammals.
Legendary sailor, Captain Walter F. Mazzon, considered one of the Navy’s most exacting underwater detail men, died this month at age 96, reports The New York Times. He played a central role in underwater Navy operations including preventing a submarine from sinking with 40 US sailors onboard and helping to organize the first Sealab tests of human endurance at crushing ocean depths. Captain Mazzon established deepwater diving protocols still used by military and commercial divers today.
Chinese researchers claim they are working on a submarine that could travel the 6,100 miles from “Shanghai to San Francisco in 100 minutes,” reports The Washington Post. The reported design for the super-fast submarine is based on “supercavitation,” a technology that creates a friction-less air “bubble” around a vessel that allows it to “fly” underwater, facilitating incredible speeds.
The DoD released an RFP for an estimated $11 billion program to modernize the management of its health records, reports FederalTimes. The contract for the Defense Health Management System Modernization program, to be awarded in the third quarter of fiscal 2015, will be competed under full and open competitive procedures. Responses are due October 9.
Turkey’s procurement authorities extended a deadline for a fifth time for all three bidders in a disputed air defense contract to submit renewed proposals, reports DefenseNews. The bidders include a partnership of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. The new deadline was set for December 31, 2014.
