Election Day Is Finally Here. Vote Nov. 5!
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.
In the lead-up to Election Day, some foreign actors are trying to persuade voters that the process is too corrupt to participate in, some cybersecurity and military experts believe, reports Military Times. Russia, China, and Iran view the Tuesday, Nov. 5, US presidential election as an opportunity to weaken American democracy by sowing doubt about the voting process.
The US Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said it will field complaints from the public on Tuesday, Election Day, related to potential violations of federal voting rights laws and to secure the election from domestic and foreign threats, reports The Washington Informer. Resources for public complaints and protection information are available here.
The Maryland Attorney General’s Office ordered a nonprofit voting group to halt its mailings that left voters “intimidated, shocked, and ill-at-ease,” reports Maryland Matters. The Voter Participation Center defended the tough language used in the letters, saying it’s proven over years to get more voters to the polls.
According to unofficial results, 994,663 took advantage of early voting in Maryland, notes the Maryland State Board of Elections. The turnout total does not include provisional or absentee voters.
With early voting events around the US drawing lines, more than 62.7 million voters nationwide had handed in ballots by Thursday – a landmark number, reports BBC via MSN.
Local election officials in Maryland are keeping a close eye on ballot boxes following incidents of people setting them on fire in Oregon and Washington last week, reports Capital News Service. The drop boxes are under 24/7 video surveillance, said Jared DeMarinis, Maryland’s state administrator of elections.
NavSec Carlos Del Toro said Thursday that the Navy will operate 12 Arleigh Burke class (DDG 51) destroyers beyond their 35-year expected service life, reports Seapower magazine. The extensions meet the intent of Chief of Naval Operations ADM Lisa Franchetti and the CNO’s Navigation Plan, which directs the Navy to “get more ready players on the field.”
The US military is reducing the number of missile defense sites it intends to put on Guam, reports Task & Purpose. That means cutting the original proposal of 22 sites to 16 locations. The new plans come from a draft environmental impact report released by the Missile Defense Agency late last month.
Far out in the South Pacific, there is an island small in size but gargantuan in its mineral wealth, reports The World via MSN. Bougainville is nearly as big as Hawaii’s main island and beneath its soil is one of the world’s biggest veins of copper. And the island has a message for the White House: consider planting a military base on Bougainville. It is also looking for American support for its independence from Papua New Guinea. In a 2019 report, the BBC offered history on the island’s attempts at independence.
Boeing and union leaders representing 33,000 striking workers reached a tentative agreement late last week to end a labor dispute that’s crippling the company’s commercial airplane manufacturing, reports Bloomberg via MSN. Boeing’s new proposal would boost wages by 38% over four years and give workers a $12,000 signing bonus if it’s approved. The union is expected to vote on the proposal today, Nov. 4.
A program office within Naval Air Systems Command is working through the final steps to deliver to the fleet a system designed to modernize shipboard data management of the US Navy and Marine Corps, reports ExecutiveGov. NAVAIR said the command’s Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment Program Office, or PMA-251, Information Systems team has implemented design changes, integrated fleet feedback and demonstrated prototypes of the Marine Aviation Data Management System (MADMS).
The Navy’s Airborne Strategic Command, Control and Communications Program Office (PMA-271) and Strategic Communications Wing 1 (SCW-1) announced a new name for the service’s new Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) mission aircraft: E-130J, reports Seapower magazine. PMA-271 is part of NAVAIR, headquartered at NAS Pax River.
The Pentagon has dropped 51 disqualifying conditions as a way to boost recruitments, reports Military Times. Some of these medical conditions that have prevented individuals from joining the military for decades. For example, DoD has reduced restrictions for select conditions such as attention deficient hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, and childhood asthma.
The pilot who ejected from an F-35B over South Carolina last year said he was fired from his command as a result of the mishap, reports Marine Corps Times. COL Charles “Tre” Del Pizzo, 49, ejected from the jet over Charleston on Sept. 17, 2023, and parachuted into a resident’s backyard. Pizzo said he lost command of Marine Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 after the report on the crash investigation was reviewed. The Marine Corps investigation into the crash found that the F-35 pilot was attempting to climb out of a “missed approach in instrument meteorological conditions and heavy precipitation …,” when he ejected from the plane, reports Breaking Defense. “The pilot incorrectly diagnosed an out-of-controlled flight emergency and ejected from a flyable aircraft, albeit during a heavy rainstorm compounded with aircraft electrical and display malfunctions,” the Corps said.
Virginia defense contractor Cask Technologies LLC and former employee Mark Larsen, 46, have been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly bribing a former San Diego-based Navy civilian worker, reports Times of San Diego via MSN. It is alleged that James Soriano, a one-time contracting officer’s representative at the Naval Information Warfare Center in San Diego, accepted various gifts for helping steer contracts to Cask.
US Navy Reserve commander Jeromy Pittmann was sentenced to 30 months in prison for accepting thousands of dollars in bribes for a visa program reserved for Afghan nationals who worked with the US government prior to the Taliban takeover of the country, reports Task & Purpose.
Prosecutors are seeking a 17-year prison sentence for Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira for leaking highly classified military documents online about the war in Ukraine, reports The Hill. The 22-year-old pleaded guilty in March in federal court to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act after he admitted to illegally collecting the sensitive material and posting it on Discord, a social media platform popular with online gamers.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation will renovate a former Holiday Inn in Detroit, MI, into a home for veterans, reports The Detroit Times. The New York-based nonprofit raises funds to supports first responders and military veterans. The renovation will provide housing for 85 veterans.
WalletHub has released its report on the Best & Worst States for Jobs in 2024, to help those still seeking jobs find the best locations for their new careers. In comparing the 50 states, WalletHub finds Maryland is the sixth hardest working state in the nation.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has released its 2024 Young-of-Year Striped Bass Survey, reports Chesapeake Bay Journal. Striped bass continue to suffer from poor reproduction in the bay, the survey shows, increasing pressure on fishery managers to maintain or even tighten catch restrictions on the popular migratory finfish.
Contracts:
Northrup Grumman Systems Corp., Melbourne, Florida, was awarded a $30,692,100 modification (P00021) to delivery order (N0001921F0064) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N0001920G0005). This modification exercises options to procure continued manufacturing and installation efforts necessary to retrofit the aerial refueling capability on 25 E-2D Advanced Hawkeye fleet aircraft for the Navy. Work will be performed in St. Augustine, Florida (34.7%); Ronkonkoma, New York (28.9%); Melbourne, Florida (5.5%); Plainview, New York (3.1%); Irvine, California (3%); Columbia, Maryland (1.9%); North Hollywood, California (1.5%); East Aurora, New York (1.2%); and other various locations within the continental US (20.2%) and is expected to be completed in August 2025. Fiscal 2025 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $30,692,100 will be obligated at the time of award of which none will expire at the end of the fiscal year. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
A1FED Inc., Reston, Virginia (N00244-25-D-0002); Creek Technologies Co., Beavercreek, Ohio (N00244-25-D-0003); DeVine Consulting Inc., Fremont, California (N00244-25-D-0004); FedWriters Inc., Fairfax, Virginia (N00244-25-D-0005); MKS2 LLC, Austin, Texas (N00244-25-D-0006); Transtecs Corp., Wichita, Kansas (N00244-25-D-0007); and Trigent Solutions Inc., Chantilly, Virginia (N00244-25-D-0008), were awarded a $19,800,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-price contract to provide timely, effective, and reliable means of obtaining educational and research support services to meet Naval Postgraduate School objectives. The contract will include a one-year base period and four one-year option periods which if exercised, the total value of this contract will be $99,000,000. Work will be performed in Monterey, California (90%); and other various locations worldwide (10%). Work is expected to be completed by October 2025; if all options are exercised, work will be completed by October 2029. Fiscal 2025 operations and maintenance (Navy) (O&MN) funds in the amount of $7,000 will be obligated ($1,000 on each of the seven contracts to fund the contracts’ minimum amounts) and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Individual task orders will be funded with appropriate fiscal year O&MN appropriations at the time of their issuance. The requirement was competitively procured on NECO and SAM.gov under a small business set-aside pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 19.502-2 with eight offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center San Diego, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity.
Arcfield, Chantilly, Virginia, is being awarded a $13,845,305 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification (N0003021C0016P00025) for program support services of the Navy’s Strategic Weapons Systems Reentry Subsystem. Work will be performed in Colorado Springs, Colorado (70%); Washington, DC.(22%); Albuquerque, New Mexico (6 %); Cape Canaveral, Florida (1%); and Omaha, Nebraska (1%). Work is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2025. The effort will be incrementally funded. Fiscal 2025 weapons procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $1,197,191; fiscal 2025 research, development, test and evaluation, Navy funds in the amount of $2,500,000; and fiscal 2025 operation and maintenance, Navy funds in the amount of $2,279,244, will be obligated on this initial award. Funding in the amount of $2,279,224 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was awarded to the contractor on a sole source basis in accordance with the authority of 10 US Code 3204(a)(1). Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Oct. 31, 2024)
Amentum Services Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, has been awarded a $12,200,524 modification (P00090) to a previously awarded contract (FA4890-17-C-0005) for support services. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $592,682,960 from $580,482,436. Work will be performed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina; Kuwait; Sultanate of Oman, Qatar; and the United Arab Emirates, and is expected to be completed by Feb. 28, 2025. Fiscal 2025 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $12,195,420 are being obligated at time of award. The Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Oct. 30, 2024)
General Dynamics Applied Physical Sciences Corp., Groton, Connecticut, was awarded a $9,675,903 modification (P00009) to cost-plus-fixed-fee contract HR001123C0054 for the Advanced Propulsor, Experimental model. The modification brings the total cumulative value of the contract from $28,562,226 to $38,238,129. Work will be performed in Cheswick, Pennsylvania (39%); Groton, Connecticut (25%); Niskayuna, New York (25%); Concord, Massachusetts (6%); Imperial, Pennsylvania (4%); and Arlington, Virginia (1%), with an expected completion date of March 2026. Fiscal 2024 research, development, test and engineering funds in the amount of $4,296,870 were obligated at time of award. This contract stems from a competitive acquisition for which three proposals were received in response to Broad Agency Announcement No. HR001122S0046. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HR001123C0054).
Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $55,521,811 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-21-C-2104 to exercise an option to support research and development of advanced submarine technologies for current and future submarine platforms. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by September 2025. Fiscal 2025 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $15,389,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Oct. 30, 2024)
