Hamas Holds American Hostages

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.

The Washington Post reports at least 14 Americans were killed in the attacks by Hamas militants that plunged Israel into war. That number could rise along with the overall death toll in Israel. More than 1,000 people have been killed in Israel and at least 830 in Gaza by retaliatory strikes. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said there are 20 American citizens unaccounted for, at least some of whom are Hamas hostages.

The “smart fence” separating Israel from Gaza is designed to detect any security breach. “The most compelling parts of the system were the ones that provided indicators and warnings,” according to  Matthew Levitt, director of the counterterrorism program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, “but once you don’t see in advance that someone is massed at the fence, it’s still just a fence. A big fence, but just a fence.” Stars and Stripes describes how Hamas used rockets, drones, hang gliders, and paragliders to get over the fence and open channels for heavy ground equipment to follow.

C4ISRNET has what you need to know about Hamas air, land, and sea attack on Israel.

Cross-border attacks expanded on Wednesday when Israeli shelling hit southern Lebanese towns in response to a fresh rocket attack by the powerful armed group Hezbollah, reports AP News. Hezbollah and Palestinian faction Hamas both claimed attacks out of Lebanon on Tuesday. Hezbollah fired a guided missile at an Israeli tank, posting a video of its destruction, and Hamas said it launched a salvo of rockets from Al-Koleilah into Israel.

DefSec Lloyd Austin said Sunday he would send the Ford carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean to assist Israel after Saturday’s surprise attack by Hamas, reports Military Times.

The aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower and its strike group are scheduled to also deploy to the Mediterranean Sea on Friday, reports Navy Times. Although following the attacks and retaliation, Eisenhower’s deployment has been long planned.

The American ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, said on Tuesday that US military assistance to Israel would not come at Ukraine’s expense. New York Times reports the US has committed around $45 billion in weapons and military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, making it the single largest donor to the Ukrainian war effort.

Air Force GEN Charles Q. Brown, on his first trip as the top US general, needs to convince European allies that Washington is committed to supporting Ukraine, despite political chaos in Congress and the Middle East crisis, reports Reuters.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Monday condemned Hamas for its surprise assault on Israel and likened the attack to Russia’s invasion of his own country. In a speech to NATO, he also criticized Iran for its support of Hamas and Moscow, reports The New York Times.

Although Russia denounces “terrorists” and routinely calls defensive Ukrainian strikes “terrorist attacks,” The Washington Post reports that the Kremlin did not condemn Hamas’ attack on Israel, and while calling for peace accused the West of perpetuating “a spiral of violence.”

Russia was defeated in its bid to regain a seat in the UN’s premiere human rights body, reports AP News. The General Assembly voted last year to suspend Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine. Competing for two seats on the Human Rights Council representing the East European regional group, Russia received only 83 votes to Bulgaria’s 160 and Albania’s 123.

“The character of war is changing,” Army Chief of Staff GEN Randy George told Defense News. Massive tanks destroyed by cheap loitering munitions, drones locating artillery targets, and battlefields so flooded with sensors there is no place to hide. The Army is reshaping everything to face the challenge, from acquisition to formations to logistics to modernized tanks and drones.

More than 80% of the highest-ranking military officers who left the service over the past five years moved into jobs working for the defense industry, reports Military.com. A new think tank report found 26 of the 32 four-star officers who retired after June 2018 were then employed by “the arms industry as board members, advisors, executives, consultants, lobbyists, or members of financial institutions that invest in the defense sector.” The report by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a defense-focused think tank that advocates for peace and diplomacy, says the staggering statistic “generates the appearance — and in some cases the reality — of conflicts of interest in the making of defense policy and in the shaping of the size and composition of the Pentagon budget.”

DoD runs 150 schools with 66,000 students and continues to outscore the rest of the nation’s schools, based upon a respected federal exam comparing states and large districts. The New York Times reports the Pentagon’s schools outscored every jurisdiction in math and reading last year and managed to avoid widespread pandemic losses. Among the key differences in military schools, according to teachers and administrators, is that all families have access to housing and health care through the military, and at least one parent has a job. And their teachers are well paid.

The pilot of a private Cessna Citation jet took evasive action to avoid an F/A1-18 fighter jet last month as both tried to land at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, reports Stars and Stripes. It is unclear which military service was operating the fighter or why it was using a civilian airport. The September incident follows a spate of incidents earlier this year, including another close call at the Austin airport. Officials say the close calls reveal the stress within the nation’s aviation system.

To meet its recruiting quotas, the Army needs applicants who can meet a baseline of academic standards as measured by the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. Military.com reports a dwindling pool of young Americans can meet those enlistment academic requirements, forcing the service to fill their applicant’s academic gaps.

The Army announced Tuesday a new career track for recruiters after failing for years to meet its goals, reports Military.com. The changes will shift recruiting from a temporary assignment into a new military occupational specialty.

An Air Force program to up recruitment exceeded expectations when it allowed some applicants who drug-tested positive for marijuana a chance to retest. Anticipating 50 waivers during the year’s pilot program they received 165 candidates free of THC when retested, reports Military.com.

The Navy fell short of its active and reserve duty sailors in FY23, reports Navy Times, with 30,236 new active duty sailors, short of its 37,700 goal, and 1,948 Reserve enlisted, shy of its 3,000 goal. The Navy also failed to meet its officer goals, recruiting only 2,080 new active duty officers rather than the 2,532 target, and 1,167 Reserve officers rather than the 1,940 troops target.

Critics of affirmative action filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing the US Naval Academy of discrimination for using race as a factor in its admissions decisions, reports Navy Times.

A recent wargame pummeled the US Army with 21,000 casualties in seven days, reports Army Times, nearly half the soldiers in a full-strength corps. “It will take everyone to clear the battlefield as quickly as we can when we’re talking about the scale of 21,000 casualties in corps warfighting,” said MAJ GEN Michael Talley, head of the Army’s Medical Center of Excellence.

Defense News reports Turkey’s leading drone maker, Baykar, will invest $100 million for three projects in Ukraine, including production units for its attack drone, company CEO Haluk Bayraktar said. “The construction has already begun,” he said. “It will take about a year and a half to complete. We plan to employ at least 300 people here. Cooperation continues.”

Stars and Stripes reports that Russia will establish a permanent naval base in Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia and cites experts calling it further proof that Ukraine is effectively winning the battle of the Black Sea off its coast.

Satellite photos showing a sharp increase in rail traffic along the North Korea-Russia border, indicate the North is supplying munitions to Russia, AP News cites a report out of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in DC.

A new Marine force that deploys to Southeast Asia for long chunks of time has headed to the Philippines, bolstering US relationship with the strategically located ally. Marine Times reports Marine Rotational Force – Southeast Asia began its second rotational deployment Sept. 26 and is participating in the largest-yet iteration of the multilateral Sama Sama exercise, according to Marine Corps and Navy news releases.

The US has formally declared the ousting of Niger’s democratically elected president a coup d’etat, more than two months after mutinous soldiers seized power. Military Times reports the US had exhausted all avenues to preserve constitutional order. The coup designation comes with the suspension of counterterrorism assistance and military training as well as the pausing of certain foreign assistance programs worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Contracts:

General Dynamics NASSCO, San Diego, California, was awarded a not-to-exceed $15,556,212, firm-fixed-price, undefinitized contract action for the planning of the maintenance, modernization, and repair of USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) and USS James E. Williams (DDG 95) fiscal 2024 depot maintenance period availabilities. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $753,833,510. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia (53%); and San Diego, California (47%), and is expected to be completed by April 2024. If all options are exercised, work will continue through November 2030. Fiscal 2023 other procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $7,778,105 will be obligated at the time of award. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 US Code 3204(a)(7) (Public Interest). Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity (N0002423C4424). (Awarded Oct. 4, 2023)

Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired, Henrico, Virginia, was awarded a $56,125,464 firm-fixed-price contract for full-food services to be performed on Fort Eustis, Virginia. This contract provides cafeteria management services. Work will be performed at Fort Eustis, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2028. This contract was a sole source. Fiscal 2024 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,660,841 are being obligated at time of award. 633rd Contracting Squadron, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity (FA4800-24-C-0002).

Amentum Services Inc., Chantilly, Virginia (HR0011-24-D-0101); Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, Virginia (HR0011-24-D-0102); ECS Federal LLC, Fairfax, Virginia (HR0011-24-D-0103); ManTech SRS Technologies Inc., Herndon, Virginia (HR0011-24-D-0104); Strategic Analysis Inc., Arlington, Virginia (HR0011-24-D-0105); and Systems, Planning, and Analysis Inc., Alexandria, Virginia (HR0011-24-D-0106), were each awarded an indefinite-delivery /indefinite-quantity contract for a maximum amount of $1,250,000,000 (total sum among all six contractors) with cost-reimbursable, fixed-price, and labor-hour task orders for technical and analytical support services. This contract provides for a range of high-level advisory and assistance services to all Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency technical and support offices. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an expected completion date of October 2028. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. These contracts were a competitive acquisition under solicitation HR001123R0001, and 12 offers were received. DARPA, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, was awarded a $967,185,528 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-20-C-2120 for lead yard support and development studies and design efforts related to Virginia Class submarines. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut (95%); McLeansville, North Carolina (3%); Newport News, Virginia (1%); and Newport and Quonset, Rhode Island (1%), and is expected to be completed by October 2024. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $110,000,001 (99%); and fiscal 2021 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,000,000 (1%), 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 Sept. 29, 2023)

Iron Bow Technologies LLC, Herndon, Virginia, was awarded a $12,506,415 firm-fixed-price contract to replace hardware that is out of warranty. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 29. 2026. US National Guard Bureau’s Directorate of Acquisitions, Operational Contracting Division, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W9133L-23-D-5001). (Awarded Sept. 30, 2023) 

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum Heights, Maryland, was awarded a $13,781,296 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00003) to previously awarded contract HR0011-23-C-0020 for a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency project. Work will be performed in Linthicum Heights, Maryland, with an expected completion date of July 2025. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,317,499 are being obligated at time of award. This contract was a competitive acquisition under Broad Agency Announcement HR001122S0025 and 18 offers were received. The Defense Advanced Research Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

Amentum Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, has been awarded a $67,140,359 modification (P00078) to previously awarded contract FA4890-17-C-0005 for 9th Air Force War Reserve Materiel support services. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $554,717,667. Work will be performed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina; Kuwait; the Sultanate of Oman; Qatar; and the United Arab Emirates and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2024. Fiscal 2024 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $67,140,359 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Combat Command Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity. 

Avantus Federal LLC, McLean, Virginia, is awarded a modification (HQ003423F0163) valued at $125,658,160 to a level-of-effort, firm-fixed-price, cost, time-and-material contract (GD00Q140ADU133) to provide technical, professional, and administrative support to the Strategic Capabilities Office. Fiscal 2023 and 2024 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $2,792,577 will be obligated at the time of award. The total amount of this action if all options are exercised is $140,218,588. The contractor will support the Department of Defense Strategic Capabilities Office with technical, professional, and administrative support to enable effective execution of mission objectives including strategic planning support, capability assessment and technical evaluation, project execution and technical support, specialized support, financial and budget planning, general administrative services, and program security support. The work will be performed at the Pentagon Reservation; and at sites in Chantilly, Virginia; and Arlington, Virginia. The estimated completion date is April 30, 2028. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

The Boeing Co., Huntington Beach, California, is awarded a $10,620,251 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-17-C-6307 to exercise options for Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle engineering support. Work will be performed in Huntington Beach, California (75%); and Cockeysville, Maryland (25%), and is expected to be completed by September 2024. Fiscal 2023 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,976,000 (72%); and fiscal 2023 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $774,000 (28%), will be obligated at time of award, of which $1,976,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.

Rhoads Industries Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (N6449824D4009); and VT Milcom Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (N6449824D4010), are awarded a combined $190,910,672 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of engineering and technical services for the outfitting and installation of small to large-scale test sites at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division (NSWCPD). The procurement includes providing constructability support regarding drawing designs for installation of systems and equipment under the cognizance of NSWCPD, including all existing and proposed hull, mechanical, and electrical ship representative systems and equipment. Each awardee will be awarded $500 (minimum contract guarantee per awardee) at contract award. Work will be performed primarily on-site at the NSWCPD in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (56%); and other government sites (1%) including Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Cincinnati, Ohio; Lebanon, Ohio; Fitchburg, Massachusetts; North Mankato, Minnesota; Fort Collins, Colorado; Washington, DC; Newport News, Virginia; Pascagoula, Mississippi; Bath, Maine; Groton, Connecticut; Bremerton, Washington; Marinette, Wisconsin, and other areas as directed. The remaining work will be performed off-site at the contractor’s facilities (43%). Work will be assigned according to the selected awardee for individual task orders and is expected to be completed by October 2029. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,000.00 will be obligated at time of award. This contract was competitively procured via sam.gov, with two offers received. NSWCPD, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity.