House Curbs Presidential Deployment Powers

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 House defense bill strips Confederate base names and curbs a president’s powers in troop deployments, reports Defense News. The bill passed with a veto-proof majority and a strong bipartisan vote. The House’s $740.5 billion plan for the annual defense authorization bill also includes provisions for a hefty military pay raise next year.

DefSec Mark Esper has issued “no orders” to remove forces from South Korea, reports Defense News, but left the door open for such a move in the future. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon was drawing up plans to reduce its presence in South Korea, now at 28,500 personnel.

President Donald Trump is determined to bring home US military forces from somewhere, reports The Washington Post, and anxious for a hefty reduction of US troops in Afghanistan. The president is looking for ways to fulfill his 2016 campaign pledge to significantly reduce the nearly 200,000 American military personnel then overseas, already the smallest number in many decades.

Concerns about federal agents wearing military camo were raised by DoD in an after-action review, reports Military Times. Esper wants the public to be able to differentiate between the police and military personnel.

The Pentagon’s legislative chief calls it quits, reports Foreign Policy. The departure of Robert Hood, assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs, will leave 21 of 60 senior positions at the Pentagon unfilled.

Chief of Naval Operations ADM Michael Gilday has ordered his staff to develop a comprehensive drone deployment strategy, reports Defense News, to field unmanned systems in the air, on the water, and under the sea. “We’ve got … a family of unmanned systems we’re working on,” and we need to tie them all together, he said.

The American diet now is a national security threat, reports Military Times. Obesity has become the scourge of the US military as service members across all branches struggle to pass muster on the fitness scale. A study by the Federal Nutrition Research Advisory Group considers diet a national security threat.

 

 

 

Only four women rest among the 9,400 Americans buried at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Three of the women, Pfc. Mary J. Barlow, Pfc. Mary H. Bankston, and Sgt. Dolores M. Browne, are African-American. They were members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the Six Triple Eight, the only all-Black Women’s Army Corps unit to serve in Europe during World War II.

The end of the Marine Corps’ tank battalions missions has begun, reports Military.com. Force Design 2030 is an aggressive plan to set Marines up for future fights, defending ships while at sea and operating in hotly contested spots near the shore. To be ready, the corps must get smaller, including tanks and getting rid of the vehicles.

Military Times interviews Donald Sutherland on his iconic Oddball character in “Kelly’s Heroes” at the movies 50^th anniversary this month.

The Army has restarted its effort to replace the Cold War-era Bradley fighting vehicle with a new Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV), a key priority in the service’s modernization strategy, reports Military.com.

Service members stuck by the travel ban will get lease relief under a bill headed to the president’s desk, reports Military.com. The provisions would allow service members to end a residential lease at a new location if they have been — or continue to be — affected by the Pentagon’s stop movement order.

Dozens of sailors arrive in Texas to support the civilian hospitals during the COVID-19 response, reports Navy Times. About 70 sailors deployed from Pensacola, FL  — including one Acute Care Team and four Rapid Rural Response Teams under the leadership of the US North Command —  in response to a request from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Nearly 22,000 US troops have been diagnosed with COVID-19, almost half occurring since July 1, reports Military.com. Since July 1, the Air Force saw the largest increases in terms of percentage, up 101%; followed by the Marine Corps, up 96%; the Army, up 89%; and the Navy, up 65%. The National Guard saw a 48% increase in the last three weeks.

West Virginia was the first state to allow a mobile voting app option for military members, reports Military Times, in 2018 allowing overseas and military voters the option of using a mobile phone or tablet to vote in an election. In the general election that year, 144 voters stationed in 31 different countries were able to vote using the technology. The mobile voting app was the result of West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner, who, during almost three decades in the Army, experienced the difficulties of voting overseas.

An airman from the 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea has died, reports Air Force Times. He was found unresponsive in a dorm room Monday morning, and declared dead shortly afterward.

A US service member has died in Syria, reports Army Times. “Initial reports indicate the incident was not due to enemy contact,” reads a brief Inherent Resolve press release sent Tuesday afternoon. “The incident is under investigation.”

It has been nearly 680 days since the devastating Hurricane Florence crashed into North Carolina, inundating the region and causing massive damage to two prominent Marine Corps bases ― Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River. It took roughly $3.6 billion to rebuild Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. As of September 2019 tarps were still on the roofs on hundreds of buildings across the two bases, Marine Corps Times previously reported.

The race for a vaccine against the coronavirus intensified this week with three competing laboratories releasing promising results from early trials in humans. The New York Times reports, two of the vaccine developers — the first, a partnership between Oxford University and the British-Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca; the second, the Chinese company CanSino Biologics — published their early results as peer-reviewed studies in The Lancet, a British medical journal.

Contracts: 

AECOM Management Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland (FA3002-20-D-0012); AKIMA Logistics Services LLC, Herndon, Virginia (FA3002-20-D-0013); DynCorp International LLC, Fort Worth, Texas (FA3002-20-D0010); Jacobs Technology Inc., Fort Walton Beach, Florida (FA3022-20-D-0014); Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia (FA3002-20-D-0011); M1 Support Services LP, Denton, Texas (FA3002-20-D-0015); PAE Services LLC, Arlington, Virginia (FA3002-20-D-0016); and Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Missouri (FA3002-20-D-0017), have been awarded a maximum $14,000,000,000 multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract for Aircraft Maintenance Enterprise Solution — a strategic sourcing vehicle for Air Force-wide contracted aircraft maintenance. The contractors will provide all organizational-level maintenance services for all aircraft listed in each individual task order performance work statement, which can include any aircraft platform (excluding rotary wing, tiltrotor and remotely piloted aircraft). Because this is an IDIQ, the location of performance is not known at this time and will be cited on individual task orders. Generally, work will be performed at government facilities and is expected to be completed Sept. 14, 2030. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition with 19 offers received. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Installation Contracting Center, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, is the contracting activity (FA3002-19-R-A001).

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Herndon, Virginia, has been awarded a $16,284,463 cost-plus-award-fee undefinitized task order under the ground subsystems sustainment contract (FA8214-15-D-0001) for the Minuteman III general sustainment. Work will be performed in Layton, Utah, and is expected to be completed Aug. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $8,142,232 are being obligated at the time of award of the base period. The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8214-20-F-0082).

CORRECTION: The contract announced on July 20, 2020, to BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services Inc., Rockville, Maryland, for the Instrumentation Range Support Program, has not yet been awarded.

Patriot Construction Co., Dunkirk, Maryland, is awarded a $7,173,707 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of training facilities at Marine Corps Base (MCB), Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Work will be performed in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The work to be performed is for the construction of Special Operations Forces Human Performance Training Facilities, miscellaneous supporting structures, modifications to buildings RR-136 and RR-136A, utilities, parking, roadways and site work. The structures will be single-story steel frame buildings with brick veneer over metal studs, standing seam metal roofs, metal soffits, translucent wall panels and mezzanines. Special construction features include soil surcharge loads and storm water best management practices. Electrical systems include primary power distribution; lighting; energy monitoring/control systems; intrusion detection system; telephone/data and switch/server rooms; electrical switch gear; transformers; circuits; and fire alarms. Mechanical systems include plumbing; fire protection; compressed air; dehumidification; air conditioning systems; a chiller yard; and digital controls. Information systems include telephone, data, local area network, mass notification and intercom. Site work will include building utility systems; traffic control; parking; domestic water; fire protection water; sanitary sewer; sewage conveyance; propane gas networks; perimeter security fencing; gates; storm water; management; fiber/copper communications; cable television; and area lighting. Construction includes sustainable features complying with high performance sustainable building guiding principles. Work is expected to be completed by February 2022. Fiscal 2019 military construction (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $7,173,707 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website and three proposals were received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-20-C-0142).