FEMA Calls for Face Shields; Lab at Pax River Responds

David Hamm, an engineer with Mechanisms and Modeling and Simulation Lab at Naval Air Station Patuxent River inspects a 3-D printed face shield as part of the COVID-19 response effort on March 28, 2020. FEMA asked the Department of the Navy to help produce personal protective equipment using additive manufacturing. US Navy photo by Peter Fitzpatrick

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.

Demand for face shields has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 public health threat. Reuters reports that 3-D printers are stepping up to make the devices. Nine Department of Navy commands are making these medical face shields, including a lab at NAS Patuxent River, reports Insurance News Net.

US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams shows how you can make your own mask with fabric and rubber bands. Watch the CNN video here. (And for those who didn’t know, Dr. Adams, a vice admiral in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, grew up on a farm in Mechanicsville and attended Chopticon High School.)

Capt. Brett Crozier, commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, was relieved of duty late last week after a letter he wrote about the coronavirus outbreak on the ship was leaked, Navy Times reports. In the letter, Capt. Crozier was pleading for US intervention to stifle a COVID-19 spread on the 4,800-person aircraft carrier. The Hill reports Crozier has tested positive for the coronavirus. The Associated Press reports that nearly 3,000 sailors were taken off the ship late last week. CNN reports the fired captain received a warm and loud sendoff as he left the carrier over the weekend.

DoD’s premiere medical school conferred degrees last week to nearly 200 new doctors and nurses so that they can begin to help combat the coronavirus pandemic sooner rather than later, reports Federal News Radio.

The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman will leave the Middle East, marking the end of the first extended use of two carriers in the region in years amid heightened tension with Iran, reports Politico.

US Indo-Pacific Command head ADM Phil Davidson has a $20 billion budget wish list, reports Defense News. The wish list was specifically requested by some members of Congress who are eyeing it as the basis to deter Chinese military action in the region.

The US Naval Forces Central Command announced Thursday that it conducted joint naval and air integration operations in the Middle East with US Army AH-64E Apache Guardian helicopters assigned to US Army Central Command, reports IHSJane’s360.

The US Naval Air Systems Command is expediting the development of a system that improves low-speed performance of the Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter in poor visibility conditions, reports Flight Global.

 

 

World War II flying ace RADM Edward “Whitey” Feightner has died at the age of 100, reports The Lima (Ohio) News. Mr. Feightner flew with the Blue Angels and, according to his obituary, “was assigned to several of the Navy’s most secret projects at Patuxent River.”

Boeing and the Air Force have finalized an agreement to fix the KC-46 aerial refueling tanker’s most serious technical problem, Defense News reports.

Twins born to a military couple serving in South Korea during the COVID-19 outbreak were medically cleared for a flight to Joint Base Andrews, reports CBS Baltimore. The babies were then sent to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for care.

Despite threats from COVID-19, the Space Force is moving full steam ahead setting itself up as the newest military service, reports Federal News Radio.

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH, said it will transfer five units from the Air Force to the Space Force, Dayton 24/7 Now reports.

The Army has approved a special incentive pay for new soldiers reporting to Fort Wainwright, Fort Greely, and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, reports Army Times, that tops out at $2,000 for single soldiers and $4,000 for those with families.

Contracts:

Carahsoft Technology Corp., Reston, Virginia, is awarded $4,183,518 for a firm-fixed-price blanket purchase agreement (BPA) contract to deliver BlackBerry software licenses and renewals, software maintenance support and professional consulting services of the BlackBerry Unified Endpoint Manager (UEM). Work will be performed in but not limited to Reston, Virginia, and services will be performed at other contractor’s facilities. BlackBerry UEM provides control over servers, data and devices via a supported web browser to access the service, offers trusted end-to-end security and provides for the control needed to manage all endpoints and ownership models. Expected completion date is unknown due to future task orders.  Future contract actions will be issued and funds obligated as individual task orders. This BPA includes a one-year base ordering period and two one-year optional ordering periods, which if exercised, would bring the estimated cumulative value to $11,965,788. No funding will be obligated at the time of award. This BPA was issued against Carahsoft’s General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule 70 Contract GS-35F-0119Y and was competitively procured with quotations solicited via GSA’s eBUY Portal from all GSA 70 holders whose scheduled contracts include the relevant special item numbers as specified in the request for quotation. The government received four quotations in response to the solicitation. The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N00039-20-A-0003).

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Pascagoula, Mississippi, is awarded a $1,508,730,501 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) Class 31 and the LPD 17 Flight II ship. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Mississippi (82%); Crozet, Virginia (3%); Beloit, Wisconsin (2%); and New Orleans, Louisiana (2%), with other combined efforts performed at various sites throughout the US (11%). Work to be performed is the detail design and construction of LPD-31, the 15th ship in the LPD-17 amphibious transport dock ship class and will meet all the capability and capacity requirements for the amphibious ship replacement. Work is expected to be complete by February 2027. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $532,100,000 will be obligated at 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.

Alutiiq C&W Services LLC, Anchorage, Alaska (N62473-20-D-0044); Chugach Consolidated Solutions LLC, Anchorage, Alaska (N62473-20-D-0045); Claxton LTS JV LLC, Stafford, Virginia (N62473-20-D-0046); King and George LLC, Fort Worth, Texas (N62473-20-D-0047); and Melgar Facility Maintenance LLC, San Jose, California (N62473-20-D-0048), are awarded a combined $99,000,000 for an 8(a) program administration, set-aside firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award contract for custodial services at Navy and Marine Corps installations located primarily within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest Area of Operations (AO). All work on this contract will be performed in California (91%); Nevada (5%); Arizona (1%); Colorado (1%); New Mexico (1%); and Utah (1%). The work to be performed provides for recurring and non-recurring custodial services throughout the period of performance to meet routine and daily operational needs. The custodial services may include space cleaning, emptying waste, dusting, restroom cleaning, recycling containers, low and high area cleaning, lunch/break room cleaning, interior and exterior window cleaning, window blinds cleaning, drinking fountain cleaning and floor care. Work is expected to be complete by April 2025 and the term is not to exceed 60 months. The maximum dollar value for all five contracts combined is $99,000,000. No task orders are being issued at this time. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance Navy (O&MN) contract funds in the amount of $2,500 ($500 for each contract) are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by O&MN and O&M (Marine Corps) funds. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website and eight proposals were received. These five contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity.

Advanced Technology Systems Co., McLean, Virginia (FA8730-20-D-0018); Atlantic CommTech Corp., Norfolk, Virginia (FA8730-20-D-0022); BCF Solutions Inc., Chantilly, Virginia (FA8730-20-D-0017); CACI Inc., Arlington, Virginia (FA8730-20-D-0015); Chenega Security International LLC, Chantilly, Virginia (FA8730-20-D-0010); Evergreen Fire and Security, Tacoma, Washington (FA8730-20-D-0016); Government Contracting Services LLC, Tacoma, Washington (FA8730-20-D-0009); InDyne Inc., Crestview, Florida (FA8730-20-D-0013); Johnson Controls BAS LLC, Rockville, Maryland (FA8730-20-D-0008); KBRwyle Technology Solutions LLC, Columbia, Maryland (FA8730-20-D-0006); LINX Defense LLC, Deston, Florida (FA8730-20-D-0012); LVW Electronics (Low Voltage Wiring), Colorado Springs, Colorado (FA8730-20-D-0021); M.C. Dean Inc., Tysons, Virginia (FA8730-20-D-0014); Professional Project Services Inc. (Pro2Serve), Oakridge, Tennessee (FA8730-20-D-0020); Prometheus Security Group Global, Austin, Texas (FA8730-20-D-0011); VT Milcom, Virginia Beach, Virginia (FA8730-20-D-0019); and Xator Corp., Reston, Virginia (FA8730-20-D-0007), have each been awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for force protection site security systems solutions. The total not-to-exceed amount for these multiple contracts combined is $783,000,000. This contract provides for worldwide acquisition, upgrade and sustainment of a family of integrated base defense security systems. The location of performance will be determined in each delivery order with all work expected to be completed by April 12, 2028. This award is the result of a competitive solicitation with 31 offers received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,500 are being obligated at the time of award to each contractor. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity.

Thales Defense and Security Inc., Clarksburg, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $8,041,670 firm-fixed-price contract for H-60 reel and cable assemblies. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 US Code 2304(c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a one-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Maryland, with a Sept. 30, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 Navy working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPRPA1-20-C-Y011).