McCain Endorses Mattis, Not Waterboarding

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.

Sen. John McCain wants to keep the ban against waterboarding and torture in place, reports Military.com. “I don’t give a damn what the president of the United States wants to do or anybody else wants to do. We will not waterboard. We will not do it.” McCain was subjected to torture as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. However, McCain adamantly endorses President-elect Trump’s rumored choice of retired Marine Gen. James Mattis  for defense secretary, reports The Hill.

Military Times reports, Trump wants a much bigger military. All he needs to do is find the money and political support to make it happen.

The Maryland Transportation Authority has approved a $765 million plan to replace the 75-year-old Gov. Harry Nice Bridge, reports The Daily Record. The new, four-lane bridge that spans the Potomac River between Charles County with Virginia could begin by 2020 and be completed by 2023.

VADM Robert Burke, chief of naval personnel, talks about the Enlisted Rating Modernization and what’s next for the Navy in Military.com. It is about warfighting readiness, he says of the process to retrain and repurpose the force to meet rapidly changing threats.

Aviation Week offers a history of making aircraft safer, with a photo gallery.

The Internet of Things is revamping aircraft design and manufacturing, expanding connectivity to encompass more and bringing the price down as well, reports Aviation Week.

US military personnel can now be approved to carry concealed handguns for protection at government facilities, according to new DoD directive, reports Military Times. Service members are already authorized to carry weapons as part of specific job responsibilities. The new policy allows them to apply to carry their privately owned firearms “for personal protection not associated with the performance of official duties.”

The high-tech destroyer Zumwalt develops problems with heat exchangers and has to be towed to ex-naval station Rodman (Balboa station), reports Defense News.

 Turkey, and the fixings, have been deployed for the troops, reports Military Times. Besides the preparations for troops deployed to other countries and on ships at sea, dining facilities around the world are bringing a taste of home to troops and families. For troops in Afghanistan, 14,968 pounds of turkey, 10,740 pounds of ham, 18,620 pounds of beef,  2,382 pies of various flavors, to include sweet potato and pumpkin, as well as 495 gallons of juice, and 519 gallons of eggnog.

For those in the DC area, Thanksgiving will bring showers along with the week’s warming trends, reports The Washington Post.

Elsewhere in the US, the election counting continues through the holiday. Hillary Clinton’s popular vote lead grows as vote counts continues, reports USA Today. As Trump assembles his cabinet, Michigan’s 16 electoral votes remain up for grabs. FCW reports on who Trump had selected to lead the government agency transition teams heading into the Thanksgiving holiday.

UPI reports Trump  plans to ditch TPP and dump energy restrictions in first 100 days. But there won’t be any video of Trump’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe because the press were not given access to the meeting, reports CNN.

Contracts:

4M HR Logistics LLC, Houston, Texas (FA8108-17-D-0001); Global Logistics Support Services Inc., Huntsville, Alabama (FA8108-17-D-0002); Kay and Associates Inc., Buffalo Grove, Illinois (FA8108-17-D-0003); M1 Support Services LP, Denton, Texas (FA8108-17-D-0004); SKGS-SAIC Services LLC, Polson, Montana (FA8108-17-D-0005); Strategic Technology Institute Inc., Rockville, Maryland (FA8108-17-D-0006); Strata-G Solutions Inc., Huntsville, Alabama (FA8108-17-D-0007); Sunrise Beach Corp., doing business as M2 Services Corp., McKinney, Texas (FA8108-17-D-0008); Y-Tech Services Inc., Huntsville, Alabama (FA8108-17-D-0009); Zenetex LLC, Herndon, Virginia (FA8108-17-D-0010); DRS Technologies Inc., Herndon, Virginia (FA8108-17-D-0011); Pacific Architects and Engineers Inc., Fort Worth, Texas (FA8108-17-D-0012); DynCorp International LLC, Fort Worth, Texas (FA8108-17-D-0013); L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, (FA8108-17-D-0014); M1 Support Services LP, Denton, Texas (FA8108-17-D-0015); URS Federal Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland (FA8108-17-D-0016); and VSE Corp., Alexandria, Virginia (FA8108-17-D-0017), have been awarded a shared not-to-exceed $11,400,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Contract Field Teams. Contractors will compete for task orders that will provide timely and high quality augmentation for fielded active weapon system maintenance. Work will be performed at locations determined in individual task orders, and all work is expected to be complete on Nov. 30, 2023. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition with 25 offers received. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance funds in the combined amount of $ 56,463 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Sustainment Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity.

Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded a $267,250,000 modification (P00042) to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee, fixed-price incentive (firm target) contract (N00019-09-D-0008) for additional joint performance-based logistics support for the Marine Corps MV-22, and the Air Force and Special Operations Command CV-22 aircraft.  Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (40 percent); Ridley Park, Pennsylvania (40 percent); New River, North Carolina (3.9 percent); Hurlburt Field, Florida (3.9 percent); Miramar, California (3.8 percent); Cannon, New Mexico (1 percent); Quantico, Virginia (0.6 percent); Kirtland, New Mexico (0.6 percent); Camp Pendleton, California (0.3 percent); Cherry Point, North Carolina (0.3 percent); Yuma, Arizona (0.2 percent); Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii (0.2 percent); Norfolk, Virginia (0.2); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in November 2018.  Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of  $69,921,463; fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Special Operations Command) funds in the amount of $41,156, 000; fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Air Force) funds in the amount of  $4,409,537; and fiscal 2017 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of  $16,000,000 will be obligated at time of award, $115,487,000 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Navy ($174,679,463); Special Operations Command ($83,531,000); and the Air Force ($9,039,537).  The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is being awarded a $12,883,162 modification (P00009) to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity,  cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00421-12-D-0003) for additional maintenance, manufacturing of parts, instrumentation and engineering support for all models of the F/A-18 and EA-18G aircraft to include ground and flight test programs conducted at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by September 2017. No funding will be obligated at time of award.  Funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Fors Marsh Group LLC, Arlington, Virginia, is being awarded an estimated $10,000,409 firm-fixed-price modification (P00004) to H98210-15-D-0001 to exercise option period two for market research and survey services. This contract provides for survey services, as well as market research and analysis, in support of the Joint Advertising and Market Research military recruiting research efforts. Work will be performed in Alexandria, Virginia, with an expected completion date of Dec. 14, 2017. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be released as individual task orders are issued.  The Defense Human Resources – Procurement Support Office (DHRA-PSO), Alexandria, Virginia, is the contracting activity.