Is Universal Conscription Needed Now?

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.

Conscription is getting a lot of attention: An all-volunteer force can’t meet the Pentagon’s future needs, military conscription advocates warn. Military Times reports the All-Volunteer Force Conference described unsustainable recruiting methods, civil-military disconnect that allows military adventurism and long-running wars, and a lack of socioeconomic diversity among the difficulties an all-volunteer force poses for a modern military. In February a petition filed with the US Supreme Court challenges the constitutionality of an all-male draft. In March, the National Commission on Public Service advocated women register for the draft but did not advocate re-instituting conscription.

The Pentagon’s cybersecurity compliance program launched a new advisory council to collect defense contractors’ feedback on the implementation process for accreditation, reports FCW. The new advisory council will be comprised of 12 industry members and operate separate from the compliance accreditation body and DoD.

Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH) serve on a DHS oversight committee and want the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to provide documents highlighting the capabilities and limitations of the federal government’s cybersecurity programs, such as Einstein, reports FCW.

The powerful technology behind the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines’ use of synthetic messenger RNA, or mRNA, to protect against the coronavirus is the result of decades of research, PBS reports.

Walter Reed Army Institute of Research is preparing clinical trials for a vaccine that may be effective against all coronaviruses, reports Military.com. Fifteen months after launching the effort, the Army is seeking volunteers for a small safety study. The Army’s vaccine candidate uses a new technology involving a Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle, or SpFN, that researchers hope can be adapted to protect against any coronavirus, including those that cause the common cold or deadly diseases such as COVID-19, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, MERS.

 

 

World powers and Iran hold “constructive” talks on reviving a nuclear deal, reports Reuters. The nations agreed to form working groups to discuss the sanctions Washington might lift and the nuclear curbs Tehran might observe as they try to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. The Washington Post reports that Tehran says that talks are on the right track.

The ship of an elite military force of Iran’s, thought to be spying, was attacked Tuesday near Saudi-Yemeni waters, reports Wall Street Journal. It wasn’t clear yet who attacked the Saviz. Israeli officials declined to comment. The US confirmed no US forces were involved in the incident.

Six new telescopes will help the US Space Force watch for hostile satellite activity during the daytime, reports The Drive, offering a key advantage over existing technologies that typically operate at night. The ground-based telescopes, able to observe objects more than 22,000 miles away, could, for example, warn of space-based weapons maneuvering toward US satellites.

Fort Benning, GA, is the latest military base under consideration to temporarily house migrant children, reports Stars and Stripes.

A Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Fantahun G. Woldesenbet, 38, shot two other military members at an off-base “military institution” in Frederick, MD, then was killed breaching Fort Detrick Army base, reports Navy Times. One of the sailors remains in critical condition at a Baltimore hospital, while the other is expected to be released tomorrow.

The Marine Corps launched another investigation into the July 30, 2020, amphibious assault vehicle accident that killed nine service members, reports Marine Corps Times.

In its first flight test, the Air Force’s hypersonic booster failed to launch, reports Defense News. A B-52 Stratofortress bomber attempted to launch the ARRW booster vehicle during tests over Point Mugu Sea Range off California, but couldn’t complete the launch sequence and returned, with the test vehicle, to Edwards Air Force Base.

Advocacy groups for veterans and military families across the political spectrum call for adherence to a May 1 deadline to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan, reports The Hill. In a letter to President Joe Biden nine organizations argue the May 1 deadline “presents the best opportunity any president over the past twenty years has faced to end America’s longest ever war.”

Military.com reports there are promising signs that the Biden administration may be open to fixing the troubled visa program for Afghan contractors who risked their lives to help the US. This immigration program is broken, according to a report released this week.

Reflecting service under Democratic and Republican administrations, a coalition of 140 national security leaders call for a 9/11-style panel to review the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, reports The Hill. They wrote, “The events of January 6th exposed severe vulnerabilities in the nation’s preparedness for preventing and responding to domestic terrorist attacks.

Recently published papers on quantum breakthroughs led by the efforts of the Army and Air Force have found new ways to correct longstanding errors in quantum methods, using machine learning techniques to improve sensing, and methods to build quantum communication networks, reports Army Times.

Contracts:

Weston Solutions Inc., West Chester, Pennsylvania, is awarded a $16,940,210 firm-fixed-price task order (N4008021F4389) under previously-awarded contract N39430-20-D-2227 for the repair of fuel farm and tanks, Building 398, Marine Helicopter Squadron 1, Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington, DC. Work will be performed in Washington, DC, and is expected to be completed by March 2023. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $16,940,210 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Two proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News Shipbuilding Division, Newport News, Virginia, is awarded an $8,780,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to the previously awarded contract N00024-16-C-4316 to continue performance of the repair, maintenance, and upgrade efforts on the USS Helena (SSN 725) dry-docking selected restricted availability. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by May 2021. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,780,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) — only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirement. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair, Newport News, Virginia, is the contracting activity.