Inconclusive Findings in Report on UFOs

Screenshot of DoD video of January 2015 incident

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.

An unclassified report from the US Office of National Intelligence reveals very little about strange aerial sightings reported by military pilots over the past few decades, reports CNN. The report describes more than 140 strange objects seen by military personnel across the nation as a threat to flight safety and possibly national security, but says there was no “single explanation” for their appearance of these objects, reports New York Post. The nine-page “Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” was released Friday.

After the main US military force completes its withdrawal from Afghanistan in the next few weeks, about 650 American troops will remain to provide security for diplomats, reports The Associated Press.

The US will begin evacuating some Afghan nationals out of that country to an unspecified safety zone as concerns rise about the safety of allies there, reports Military Times. Calls to move the Afghans to Guam are increasing, reports Military Times.

The US State Department has OK’d the potential sale of F-16 fighter jets, as well as Sidewinder and Harpoon missiles, to the Philippines, reports Reuters. Three separate deals have a combined value of more than $2.5 billion.

US Navy CAPT Tom Ogden, commodore of Destroyer Squadron 7, said the service is trying to maximize the capability and adaptability of littoral combat ships in the current deployments of Independence-variant Tulsa and Charleston, reports Defense News. Active-duty sailors are doing the maintenance, instead of following a contractor-based maintenance plan.

VADM John Nowell Jr., chief of naval personnel, moves to reinstate US Navy grooming standards that had been relaxed during the pandemic, Military.com reports. The service also will resume its biannual physical fitness assessments in July after a break of more than a year due to COVID-19, reports FEDweek.

Satellite imagery shows that North Korea is expanding its Sunchon Airbase near Pyongyang, reports UPI. Work there includes repairs and extension of runways, taxiways, and aircraft apron.

A US House appropriations subcommittee backed White House plans for another big funding boost for the Department of Veterans Affairs next year, reports Military Times, in their first public budget draft released Thursday. That same plan included an increase in funding for military day care facilities.

Bell’s future vertical lift technology demonstrator, the V-280 Valor tiltrotor, has finished its flying career, reports Defense News. Bell and Team Valor are transitioning focus to the critical next phase of the competition supporting Army modernization, reports Just Helicopters.

Lawmakers are worried the Army’s modernization efforts could be undermined by budget cuts, reports Defense Systems, while questioning whether the service can meet ambitious priorities like updating its tactical communications network. The service is asking for $173 billion for fiscal 2022, down $3.6 billion from 2021 enacted levels.

A business coalition is pushing lawmakers to help small businesses access federal government contracts, reports The Hill. One of the key takeaways of the Bipartisan Policy Center report: The number of small businesses providing common products and services to the federal government shrank by 38% from 2010 to 2019.

 

 

Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden said that the US is falling behind China in the realm of computing, reports Military Times. She told the Council on Foreign Relations that China’s growth in advanced computing, including in the development of artificial intelligence and applications used to process and interpret large amounts of data, is “particularly problematic.”

The US Navy carried out the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise last week in the Indian Ocean, reports USNI News, involving the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group along with the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force.

Air Force Reserve KC-135 Stratotankers and airmen assigned to the 459th Air Refueling Wing at Joint Base Andrews participated in Arctic Challenge Exercise 21, a Royal Norwegian Air Force-led exercise taking place in Sweden, Finland, and Norway, reports Dayton Daily News.

Indiana officials are lobbying the Air Force to bring its latest fleet of refueling aircraft to Grissom Air Reserve Base, reports Kokomo Tribune. Joint Base Andrews is among the others vying for the new tankers.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 David Fish, a graduate of the US Naval Test Pilot School in 2018, is returning to NAS Pax an instructor at the school, reports RedstoneRocket. He will serve three years at the school.

RADM Michael  Steffen is the new commandant of the Naval District Washington, reports Seapower Magazine. Other new flag officer assignments include RADM William Chase III as deputy commander of Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network at US Cyber Command at Fort Meade, and CAPT Anthony Rossi, current major program manager of the Mission Integration and Special Programs Office, PMA 298, at Patuxent River, receiving a promotion to rear admiral and an assignment as the director of Navy International Programs Office at the Office of the Secretary of the Navy in Washington, DC.

Offutt Air Force Base’s 55th Wing has a new leader — the first woman to command the 80-year-old reconnaissance unit — COL Kristen Thompson, reports Air Force Times. The 55th Wing at the Nebraska base is the largest wing in Air Combat Command and the second largest in the Air Force.

LT GEN Anthony Cotton has been nominated to be the next commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, Air Force Times reports. He would be the first Black man to lead the organization in charge of the Air Force’s nuclear enterprise, and the only Black person currently running an Air Force major command.

A new report on US military deaths says an estimated 7,057 service members have died during military operations since 9/11, while suicides among active duty personnel and veterans of those conflicts have reached 30,177, reports NPR. The paper for Brown University’s Cost of War Project said that’s more than four times as many.

Contracts:

22nd Century Technologies Inc., Somerset, New Jersey (N66001-21-D-0118); Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia (N66001-21-D-0119); Coherent Technical Services Inc., Lexington Park, Maryland (N66001-21-D-0120); Deloitte & Touche LLP, Arlington, Virginia (N66001-21-D-0121); Effecture LLC, San Diego, California (N66001-21-D-0122); M.C. Dean Inc., Tysons Corner, Virginia (N66001-21-D-0123); McKean Defense Group LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (N66001-21-D-0124); Sentar Inc., Huntsville, Alabama (N66001-21-D-0125); Parsons Government Services Inc., Pasadena, California (N66001-21-D-0126); Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia (N66001-21-D-0127), Solute Inc., San Diego, California (N66001-21-D-00128); and Scientific Research Corp., Atlanta, Georgia (N66001-21-D-0129), are awarded a $28,104,131 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award contract with cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-with-no-fee pricing for support including engineering and technical services for current and emergent afloat, ashore and airborne networks and systems that enable net-centric operations in naval, joint, allied and coalition operations. This three-year contract includes four, one-year option periods which, if exercised, would bring the overall potential value of this contract to an estimated $68,037,938. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (80%); Norfolk, Virginia (7%); and outside the continental US (13%). The period of performance of the base award is from July 12, 2021, through July 11, 2024. If all options are exercised, the period of performance would extend through July 11, 2028. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Fiscal 2021 funds will be obligated as task orders are issued using research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); operation and maintenance (Navy); other procurement (Navy); and aircraft procurement (Navy). This contract was competitively procured via a request for proposal N66001-20-R-0002, published on beta.sam.gov and the Naval Information Warfare Systems e-commerce central website. Fifteen offers were received and 12 were selected for award. Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity.

HP Enterprise Services, Herndon, Virginia, has been awarded a $443,779,321 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-reimbursement contract for the US Strategic Command Information Technology Capabilities. This contract will provide services, capabilities and functions to include information technology infrastructure, mission critical systems and applications. Work will be performed at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, and is expected to be completed June 30, 2026. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. The 55th Contracting Squadron, Offutt AFB, Nebraska, is the contracting activity. (FA4600-21-D-0001).

L-3 Chesapeake Science Corp., Millersville, Maryland, is awarded a $30,103,244 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract containing cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price, and cost only provisions. This contract is for submarine services and materials. Work will be performed in Millersville, Maryland, and is expected to be completed in June 2026. Non-expiring service cost center funds in the amount of $117,300 will be obligated at the first delivery order and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 US Code 2304(c) (5) (authorized or required by statute). The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, is the contracting activity (N66604-21-D-L000).

L3 Technologies, Millersville, Maryland, is awarded a $24,702,510 fixed-price-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only modification to previously awarded contract N00024-16-C-6251 to exercise an option for the production of Navy equipment. Work will be performed in Liverpool, New York (52%); Millersville, Maryland (28%); and Ashaway, Rhode Island (20%), and is expected to be completed by September 2023. Fiscal 2021 other procurement (Navy) (59%) funds in the amount of $14,672,862; 2021 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) (27%) funds in the amount of $6,686,432; and 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) (14%) funds in the amount of $3,343,216 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.

Tactical Air Support Inc., Reno, Nevada, is awarded a $14,800,000 firm-fixed-price contract. This contract provides for the procurement of six block upgrade system kits, consisting of four F-5N+ kits and two F-5F+ kits, in support of the F-5N+/F+ avionics reconfiguration and tactical enhancement/modernization for inventory standardization program. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida (28%); Olathe, Kansas (15%); Carlsbad, California (11%); Clarksburg, Maryland (10%); Grand Rapids, Michigan (7%); Woodland Hills, California (6%); Franklin, North Carolina (6%); Salt Lake City, Utah (4%); Minneapolis, Minnesota (3%); Warner Robbins, Georgia (2%); Camarillo, California (2%); Jupiter, Florida (2%); Avenel, New Jersey (1%); Fairborn, Ohio (1%); Deerfield, Illinois (1%); and Auburn, Alabama (1%), and is expected to be completed in August 2022. Fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $14,800,000 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-21-C-0037).

PAE Government Services Inc., Arlington, Virginia, is awarded a $13,538,239 indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for base operating support services at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni. The maximum dollar value including the base period and four option years is $75,883,617. Work will be performed in Iwakuni, Japan, and is expected to be completed by June 2026. No funds will be obligated at time of award. The work to be performed provides for base operating support services at MCAS Iwakuni include family housing maintenance and repair, facilities repair and maintenance, custodial services, grounds maintenance, wastewater operations and maintenance and environmental services. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy and Marine Corps) contract funds in the amount of $8,720,037 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the base period. This contract was competitively procured via the contract opportunities website with five proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Far East, Yokosuka, Japan, is the contracting activity (N40084-21-D-0060).

Air Transport International Inc., Wilmington, Ohio (HTC711-19-D-W002) (P00003); American President Lines LLC, Washington, DC (HTC711-19-D-W003) (P00003); American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier LLC, Parsippany, New Jersey (HTC711-19-D-W004) (P000030); Amerijet International Inc., Miami, Florida (HTC711-19-D-W005) (P00003); Farrell Lines Inc., Dulles, Virginia (HTC711-19-D-W006) (P00004); Hawaiian Airlines Inc., Honolulu, Hawaii (HTC711-19-D-W007) (P00003); Liberty Global Logistics LLC, Lake Success, New York (HTC711-19-D-W008) (P00003); National Air Cargo Group Inc., Orlando, Florida (HTC711-19-D-W009) (P00003); Northern Air Cargo Inc., Anchorage, Alaska (HTC711-19-D-W010) (P00003); Schuyler Line Navigation Co. LLC, Annapolis, Maryland (HTC711-19-D-W011) (P00003); and United Airlines Inc., Chicago, Illinois (HTC711-19-D-W012) (P00003), were awarded a firm fixed price modification in the estimated amount of $152,588,232 for international, commercial, multimodal transportation service between various continental US and outside continental US points and ports. Transportation services include time-definite, door to door/port to door pickup and delivery, electronic data interchange, customs processing and clearance of containerized and breakbulk cargo. This modification brings the total estimated cumulative face value of the contract to $278,694,196 from $126,105,964. The location of performance is worldwide, as specified on each individual order. The contract period of performance is from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2023. US Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia, is awarded a $15,545,964 firm-fixed-price modification P00008 to previously awarded contract M67400-18-F-0065 to exercise Option Year Three for analysis support services for III Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Corps Installations Pacific (MCIPAC). Work will be performed in Okinawa, Japan, and is expected to be completed July 7, 2022. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Marine Corps) funding in the amount of $15,545,964 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The MCIPAC Regional Contracting Office, Marine Corps Base Camp Butler, Okinawa, Japan, is the contracting activity.

Accenture Federal Services LLC, Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a $14,022,515 firm-fixed-price contract for management of a tracking and correspondence service and a managed service where the contractor administers the application and database. Bids were solicited via the internet with six received. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 14, 2022. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $14,022,515 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-21-C-0025).

Comcast Government Services LLC, Reston, Virginia, was awarded a competitive firm-fixed-price, single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a ceiling value of $71,606,000 for the Commercial Ethernet Gateway Region 5 to provide mission partner access, via Ethernet connections to the Department of Defense Information Network and to enable the replacement of legacy, time division multiplexing-based circuits. The contract, with a $500 minimum guarantee, will be funded by fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds. Primary performance will be at the contractor’s above-identified facility in Reston, Virginia, and government sites, as designated within the individual task orders, throughout the states of California and Nevada. Proposals were solicited via beta.sam.gov and four proposals were received. The period of performance is 10 years, with a six-year base period and two 2-year option periods beginning June 30, 2021, through June 29, 2031. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity (HC1013-21-D-0005).