DoD Transfers $1B to Border Wall, Seeks $600M to Address $9B in Hurricane Damage
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.
DoD transfers $1 billion from Homeland Security to the Army Corps of Engineers to begin new wall construction along the Yuma and El Paso section of the US southern border, reports CNN. Every Democratic senator on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s subcommittees on Defense and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies objected, saying the Pentagon did not seek permission before notifying the committee of the transfer.
The Pentagon did ask Congress to reprogram $600 million toward $9 billion needed for hurricane damage, reports Defense News, and plans to ask Congress for more supplemental dollars to deal with a series of natural disasters that have left the Air Force and Marines reeling.
Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson says flooded Offutt will be rebuilt “better than it was,” reports Air Force Times of the flood that swamped one-third of the Nebraska base.
Navy unveils its $3.2B unfunded list seeking more F-35s, more offensive punch, and bolstered depot maintenance, reports Breaking Defense. The annual unfunded requirements list tells Congress the great things the Pentagon could do for a few billion more.
The Navy is short 6,200 sailors at sea, reports Navy Times, but that’s a big improvement. Years of drawdowns followed 2011 “sequestration” budget cuts that placed caps on defense spending to divert default on the federal government’s debt payments.
Navy Times reports Beijing “closely monitored” a US Navy destroyer and Coast Guard cutter transiting the Taiwan Strait as American seeks to portray the strait as an international thoroughfare not a Beijing backwater.
Snipers from around the world tested their reconnaissance tactical skills at the US Army Special Operations Command International Sniper Competition this month, reports Army Times. Shooters on 21 teams competed with their own sniper rifles, firing either 7.62 mm or 5.56 mm, their own carbines with 5.56 mm, and their own pistols in a variety of calibers.
Defense News has video of a successful testing of the US missile defense system taking out an intercontinental ballistic missile, reports Defense News. The ICBM target launched from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, more than 4,000 miles from the interceptors buried in silos in the ground at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
VA to offer new Ketamine-based nasal spray for depression, reports Military.com. The treatment will be available to veterans who have tried at least two antidepressant medications and continue to have symptoms of major depressive disorder.
SecState Mike Pompeo warns Russia “to cease its unconstructive behavior” in Venezuela, reports CNN, after Russian planes arrived Saturday at Simon Bolivar International Airport near Caracas.
Where in the world today? One of the Navy’s newest class of warships, the Zumwalt docks at an Alaska port for a rare visit, reports The Associated Press.
Contracts:
Huntington Ingalls Industries, Pascagoula, Mississippi, was awarded a $1,471,290,677 fixed-price-incentive modification to previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-2406 for the procurement of the detail design and construction of Landing Platform Dock (LPD) 30, the first LPD 17 Flight II ship which will meet all the capabilities and capacities requirements for the Amphibious Ship Replacement. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Mississippi (82 percent); Crozet, Virginia (3 percent); Beloit, Wisconsin (2 percent); and New Orleans, Louisiana (2 percent), with other efforts performed at various sites less than one percent throughout the U.S. (11 percent), and is expected to be completed by February 2025. Fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,369,362,790 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded March 25, 2019)
The Raytheon Co., McKinney, Texas, is awarded $39,718,809 for modification P00036 to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-15-C-0116). This modification exercises an option for the procurement of three APY-10 Radar System production kits for the Navy, four for the government of the United Kingdom, and five for the government of Norway, as well as related services in support of P-8A Poseidon Lot 10 production aircraft. Work will be performed in McKinney, Texas (77.1 percent); Andover, Massachusetts (7.2 percent); Chelmsford, Massachusetts (3.4 percent); Woodland Park, New Jersey (3.3 percent); Black Mountain, North Carolina (1.8 percent); San Carlos, California (1.7 percent); Ashburn, Virginia (1.6 percent); Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada (1.4 percent); Simsbury, Connecticut (1.3 percent); and Clearwater, Florida (1.2 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2022. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy); and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) funds in the amount of $39,718,809 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Navy ($9,168,076; 23 percent); and FMS ($30,550,733; 77 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
National Institute of Building Sciences, Washington, District of Columbia, is awarded a maximum amount $25,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for architectural design and engineering services for the National Institute of Building Sciences, District of Columbia. The work to be performed provides for ongoing criteria preparation and shall fall under the following two categories: preparation and dissemination of emerging innovative technology source information and/or criteria, commercially supported, embedded within the whole building design guide; and make findings and advise public/private sectors of the economy with respect to the use of building science and technology in achieving nationally acceptable standards and the irregularities and inconsistencies which arise from their application to particular localities or special local conditions. Work will be performed in Washington, District of Columbia. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date of March 2024. Fiscal 2015 Office of the Secretary of Defense contract funds in the amount of $5,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. No task orders are being issued at this time. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction funds. This contract was a sole-source procurement under Federal Acquisition Regulations 6.302-5, authorized or required by statute. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-19-D-5013).
QRC Technologies, Fredericksburg, Virginia, is awarded a $13,748,268 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract for the purchase of QRC brand materials and components, hardware deliverables, and engineering services required to support design, upgrade, integration, test, and evaluation of sensor system integration projects for the U.S. Special Operations Command and the Navy. This three-year contract includes a two-year option which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $21,660,140. All work will be performed in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The period of performance of the base period is from March 27, 2019, through March 26, 2022. If the option is exercised, the period of performance would extend through March 26, 2024. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Funding will be obligated via task/delivery orders. The types of funding to be obligated include operations and maintenance (Navy); other procurement (Navy); and research, development, test and evaluation (Navy). This sole-source procurement is issued using other than full and open competition in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 6.302-1 and 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) – only one responsible source. The Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N66001-19-D-3403).
DZYNE Technologies Inc., Fairfax, Virginia, has been awarded a $48,990,806 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Mobile Onboard Nexus for Autonomy and Radical Computation Handling (MONARCH) Small Business Innovative Research III effort. This contract provides for further development of technologies they have established under previous and current contracts, and the rapid development and maturation of novel Airborne, Space, and Terrestrial (ground) technologies and systems so that MONARCH technologies and associated capabilities can be transitioned to military markets. Work will be performed in Irvine, California, and is expected to be complete by March 27, 2024. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-19-C-9203). (Awarded March 25, 2019)
CACI Inc.-Federal, Chantilly, Virginia, has been awarded a $10,031,056 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for technical and functional services for the Defense Agency Initiative. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a one-year base contract with three one-year option periods. Locations of performance are Virginia and other areas in the continental US, with a March 28, 2020, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds; and fiscal 2019 through 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Contracting Services Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SP4701-19-C-0009).
