March 29, 2024

Govt. Agencies Could Be at Risk After Suspected Russian Hack

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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.

All federal civilian executive branch agencies have been directed to search their networks for indications they were compromised after the US Commerce Department was hacked, reports UPI. Commerce confirmed Sunday it had been the victim of a data breach in an attack that is believed to be linked to Russia, reports CNN. Newsweek reports that sources said the hackers entered US systems through updates released by SolarWinds, a software company based in Texas that also provides services to the White House, the Pentagon, and NASA. Russia has denied involvement.

The Electoral College cast its votes for president Monday, affirming Joe Biden’s election as the 46th president of the United States, reports CNN.

The $740.5 billion 2021 National Defense Authorization Act would reduce the active-duty size of the Marine Corps by about 5,000, reports Marine Corps Times. The corps currently has roughly 186,200 Marines in its rank.

Some veterans organizations and lawmakers are calling for Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie to resign, reports Military Times, following a VA Office of Inspector General report that he tried to smear a congressional aide who said she was assaulted at a VA hospital.

The US has returned 12 former military bases to South Korea, but questions are being raised about environmental contamination, reports UPI.

The drawdown in Afghanistan has begun, reports Fox News, after almost 20 years. GEN Mark Milley of the Joint Chiefs of staff has suggested that just two large bases and several satellite ones will remain for the 2,500 soldiers who are staying there.

A recent survey by the Institute of War and Pease Studies says optimism among Afghans regarding the country’s peace process has decreased significantly in the past few months amid a spike in violence, reports The Associated Press. The IWPS is a nonprofit think tank based in Kabul with a focus on strategic military and security, peace-building, conflict resolution, and development and reconstruction studies in Afghanistan, reads its website.

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy could stay on as the service’s top civilian under the Biden administration, Defense News reports. The decision is still under consideration.

 

 

Advocates for the nomination of retired Army GEN Lloyd Austin as US defense secretary tout his historic candidacy — he would be the first black to lead the Pentagon — in the face of other concerns, reports Defense News. Many are concerned about the waiver requirement that would be needed which says the position be filled the someone who has been out of military service for at least seven years.

After searching more than 607 square nautical miles for more than 55 hours, the US Navy has called of the search for a sailor who they believe fell off the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Pacific Ocean last week. Navy Times identified the aviation ordnanceman as Ethan Goolsby of San Antonio, TX.

The US Coast Guard is taking some of the blame for Russian military intimidation of Bering Sea commercial fishermen in August. ADM Charles Ray told a US Senate panel that the Coast Guard knew Russia was conducting military exercises and failed to inform local fishermen, Navy Times reports.

Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse in Long Island, became the first New Yorker — and among the first people in the US — to receive a COVID-19 vaccine Monday, reports Politico.

The US Navy has taken delivery of the USS Mobile. Once the ship is commissioned it will be the fifth USS Mobile in history, reports Fox10 News. Delivery marks the official transfer of the ship from the shipbuilder, Austal USA, to the Navy. It is the final milestone prior to commissioning, which is planned for spring 2021.

The US Space Force took first place in the Call of Duty Endowment’s second annual video game competition, the C.O.D.E. Bowl, which raised funds to benefit veterans employment, reports Military Times. Competitive gamers from the US and the United Kingdom militaries competed. The Code of Duty Endowment provides grants to charities that prepare veterans to compete for good jobs.

The unemployment rate among all veterans rose to 6.3% in November, up from 5.5% in October, reports 13newsnowcom. That translates into about 552,000 veterans looking for employment last month, out of roughly 8.7 million working-age veterans who are able to work.

Dr. Richard Stone, the official in charge of the Veterans Administration health care, said the continuing stress on health care workers, a possible employee mass exodus at the end of the pandemic, and veterans delaying needed health care could combine to create even more of a strain on the system, reports Military Times.

Henry Lee, a Pearl Harbor survivor and US Army veteran, renders honors in the USS Arizona Memorial shrine room on Dec. 7, 2020, as part of the 79th Pearl Harbor Day Remembrance Day ceremony in Honolulu, HI. (US Navy photo by MC2 Charles Oki)

The Blue Angels released their 2022 air show schedule. They have scheduled 63 demonstrations at 32 locations. For 2021, among the demo team’s performances is a flyover at the US Naval Academy May 26-28.

Newsweek’ Best in STEM 2021 introduces its readers to the toymakers and brands that are lending a helping hand to science, technology, engineering, and math education.

A winter storm is making its way to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, reports UPI. For St. Mary’s County, the National Weather Service forecasts a chance of rain and snow before 9 am Wednesday, Dec. 16, then rain. Snow will be likely in areas north of Washington, DC.

Contracts:

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum Heights, Maryland, has been awarded a $163,650,543 requirements contract for the supply chain management of the APY-1/2 surveillance radar systems used on Airborne Warning and Control Systems aircraft. The contract provides for repairs, sustaining spares and engineering services relating to the APY-1/2 systems. Work will be performed in Linthicum Heights, Maryland, and is expected to be completed Sept. 9, 2028. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2021 defense working capital funds are being used and no funds are being obligated at the time of the award. The Air Force Sustainment Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8524-21-D-0006).

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a $13,464,704 requirements contract for the repairs, sustaining spares and engineering services relating to the Aircraft Alerting Communication Electromagnetic Pulse system. Work will be performed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 9, 2028. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2021 defense working capital funds will be used with no funds being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Sustainment Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8524-21-D-0001).

GBD JV, Aberdeen, Maryland, is being awarded a $13,000,000 firm-fixed-price modification to increase the maximum dollar value of an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for new paving, paving repair and/or replacement of various types of paving within Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Washington area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for new paving, paving repair and/or replacement of various types of paving such as roadways, airfields, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, etc. Other incidental types of work, including but not limited to, demolition, site preparations and site drainage are also included in the scope of work. Paving and associated work may be ordered for industrial, commercial and residential locations indicated with each task order. After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $63,000,000. Work will be performed in the NAVFAC Washington AOR, including but not limited to, Maryland (40%); Virginia (40%); and Washington, DC (20%). The term of the contract is not to exceed 48 months with an expected completion date of April 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award and funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); operation and maintenance (O&M) (Navy); O&M (Marine Corps); and Navy working capital funds. NAVFAC Washington, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity (N40080-17-D-0033).

Oakland Consulting Group, Lanham, Maryland, was awarded a $12,407,852 modification (BA0236) to contract W91QUZ-11-D-0018 for enterprise application services support to the Army’s Logistics Modernization Program. Work will be performed in Lanham, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 civil consolidated working funds in the amount of $4,359,142 were obligated at the time of the award. The US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

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