March 29, 2024

Evacuations Continue in Kabul

Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River Morning Coffee logoeconomic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

Flights out of Kabul resumed Monday evening after being grounded to allow troops to corral a crowd of desperate Afghans who had stormed the airport hoping to board C-17 Globemasters, reports Military Times. The Pentagon is working on the logistics to get as many as 22,000 Afghan interpreters, their families, and other vulnerable Afghans into the US by Aug. 31.

Acknowledging the sudden collapse the Afghanistan government was faster than expected, President Joe Biden blamed Afghan politicians and security forces who surrendered in the face of Taliban advances, saying their lack of will justified his decisions to pull all US troops out of the country, reports Military Times.

Amnesty International calls for “swift and decisive action from the international community … [to] take every necessary measure to ensure the safe passage out of Afghanistan for all those at risk of being targeted by the Taliban.” The organization notes the “[t]housands of Afghans at serious risk of Taliban reprisals [range] from academics and journalists to civil society activists and women human rights defenders [and] are in danger of being abandoned to a deeply uncertain future.”

Advocates are reminding veterans that help is available if headlines about the disastrous end of the mission in Afghanistan and the looming Sept. 11 anniversary are triggering anxiety and mental health issues, reports Military Times.

The Department of Defense’s F-35 Joint Program Office is seeking knowledge-based services for its next-generation fighter aircraft. NAVAIR will accept offers for the small business set-aside contracting opportunity until Sept. 13. More information at GovConWire.

 

 

The Port of Baltimore received a $1.6 million grant from FEMA to enhance its cybersecurity infrastructure, reports CBS.

Maryland is 25th, Virginia is 27th, and DC ranked 9th in WalletHub’s assessment of the nation’s state-by-state recovery rate from COVID-19.

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform released findings this week showing reducing or eliminating audit offices in each of the services by 50% to 75% was “not justified relative to the risk or savings,” reports Navy Times. The move would increase risk while reducing oversight and accountability. For much of this year, the then-acting NavSec Thomas Harker defended the cuts as a cost-saving measure which would eliminate redundancies.

For the first time ever, a US Air Force T-38 will be outfitted with an augmented reality training system that allows it to dogfight against simulated Russian and Chinese fighters projected inside the pilot’s helmet, reports Defense News. The Air Force awarded Florida-based tech firm Red 6 a contract worth up to $70 million over its five-year period of performance.

The Army has given the green light to proceed into a competition to replace its aging, runway-dependent Shadow unmanned aircraft system with a new tactical drone, reports Defense News.

An Army civilian employee Randolph Brady has been charged with stealing $2 million worth of ball bearings from White Sands Missile Range, NM, reports Army Times, “in order to recycle them for a profit.” Court records show that their scrapping netted only $1 million.

An Okinawa-based Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey lost a 14-by-18-inch metal panel, and a 9-by-3 fairing while in flight last week, prompting the island’s governor to call for the immediate cessation of flight operations, reports Stars and Stripes. The flight path between the air station and the Central Training Area was mostly over water and the crew did not see the parts fall from the aircraft. No damage or injuries were reported. The missing parts have not been found.

General Dynamics opens new unmanned underwater vehicle manufacturing center in Massachusetts, reports Defense News.

Contracts:

Marinette Marine Corp., Marinette, Wisconsin, was awarded a $38,172,896 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-20-C-2300 to exercise an option for fiscal 2021 engineering and class services requirements in support of detail design and construction of the Constellation-class guided-missile frigate. Work will be performed in Marinette, Wisconsin (40%); Newport News, Virginia (25%); New York, New York (10%); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (10%); Ayer, Massachusetts (5%); Arlington, Virginia (5%); Herndon, Virginia (2%); Camden, New Jersey (2%); and Tulsa, Oklahoma (1%), and is expected to be completed by August 2022. Fiscal 2021 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,000,000 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, DC, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Aug. 16, 2021)

Vane Line Bunkering Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, was awarded a modification (P00009) on contract HTC711-20-C-W003 in the estimated amount of $26,782,956. This modification provides transportation of bulk jet fuel and marine diesel by tug and barge for the Defense Logistics Agency-Energy (DLA-E) in the US Atlantic and Gulf Coast regions. Work will be performed in ports and points along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts as well as inland and coastal waterways from Texas to Maine. This contract also includes support to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The period of performance is from Sept. 1, 2021, to Aug. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2021 defense working capital funds were obligated at award. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract from $26,662,956, to $53,445,912. US Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

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