MD Ranks #2 for Military Retirees in US
Photo by Gary Knight under Creative Commons license.
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WalletHub found Maryland ranked 2nd overall in its report: 2025’s Best & Worst States for Military Retirees. The report compares the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 28 key indicators of retirement-friendliness toward veterans, including the number of VA Benefits-Administration Facilities per number of veterans. The report included some Memorial Day Facts as well.
The DoD will lean on commanders and existing medical screenings to find and discharge transgender service members, Military.com reports. The Supreme Court lifted a hold on the Trump administration’s ban on transgender people serving in the military. DoD said about 1,000 service members had already voluntarily come forward to be separated in the first phase of the policy. Meanwhile, a legal fight over the ban is still winding its way through the lower courts.
As Elon Musk’s reach extends deeper into military space operations, traditional defense contractors no longer confront SpaceX as another supplier but as the Pentagon’s transformative partner, says Space News. The company’s military-focused satellite constellation, Starshield, has already captured market share from operators that have supported the DoD for generations.
Politico reports the United States has officially accepted a controversial luxury jet from Qatar for use as Air Force One, according to the Pentagon, despite concerns from lawmakers and MAGA allies about the financial and ethical implications.
President Donald Trump named four-star Space Force GEN Michael Guetlein to oversee development of Golden Dome, a massively expensive space-based missile shield the president has promised to build over the US, reports Military.com.
Military families struggling with food insecurity could be among potentially millions who could lose food assistance benefit cuts being advanced by House Republicans working to enact Trump’s agenda, which cuts federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, reports CNN.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has directed a one-quarter reduction of the US Coast Guard’s 46 flag officer positions, following DefSec Pete Hegseth’s order to cut DoD’s general and flag officer ranks by 10% and four-stars by 20%, reports Military.com. The Coast Guard will cut at least a dozen positions over the next seven months to reach a 25% reduction. The positions will be eliminated and the flag officer corps redesigned.
The DoD is reviewing a request from Homeland Security for 20,000 National Guardsmen to help with “interior immigration enforcement,” reports Military.com. Helping immigration enforcement inside the US would be an unprecedented mission from the supporting role the Guard has traditionally played in security at the southern border, such as helping patrol and build barriers.
Federal Judge Gregory Wormuth has dismissed about 100 cases of individuals charged with trespassing on a newly created New Mexico military zone along the US southern border, delivering the latest legal blow to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, reports Military.com. The new military zones, another is in Texas, are an effort to reduce border crossings by snaring migrants with new criminal charges. Wormuth ruled that the federal government did not do enough to establish probable cause that migrants entering the country willfully trespassed onto the military property.
The first flight carrying migrants who chose to self-deport from the United States as part of a new Department of Homeland Security initiative offering free flights and $1,000 stipends has landed in Honduras. The flight carried 64 people, according to a Homeland Security official. It is expected to continue to Colombia to drop off the remaining migrants who opted for self-deportation, reports CNN.
A bipartisan chorus of House Armed Services Committee members expressed profound unease Friday about the Trump administration’s management of the military’s cyber operations, reports Military.com. The concerns revolve around several matters, including the firing in April of the general who led US Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, as well as cuts to the command’s workforce and what members called inadequate readiness.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s deputy executive assistant director for cybersecurity, Matt Hartman, is expected to soon leave the agency, reports NextGov/FCW. Hartman’s planned departure follows multiple senior officials in 2025, including Bob Lord and Lauren Zabierek, who managed much of the agency’s Secure by Design initiative. CISA’s first chief artificial intelligence officer, and Lisa Einstein, who resigned in March amid the Trump administration’s mass layoffs.
Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman heads home to Naval Station Norfolk after a nearly eight-month deployment as a key component in the mission seeking to degrade the Yemen-based Houthis’ abilities to attack commercial and military shipping in the Red Sea, reports USNI. The Truman lost several F/A-18 Super Hornets during this deployment. Cruiser USS Gettysburg shot down one of the carrier’s jets in a friendly fire incident. Two fell overboard, one in tow in the hanger bay as the ship made an evasive maneuver, another after a failed landing on the carrier. No personnel were killed in the three incidents.
The US and United Arab Emirates formalized a “comprehensive US-UAE Major Defense Partnership” during Trump’s trip to the Middle East. Breaking Defense reports the agreement follows an initial September announcement by the Biden administration, designating the UAE as a major defense partner.
On the heels of Trump’s visit, the UAE launched a new Arabic language artificial intelligence model on Wednesday, reports Reuters. Trump said last week that an AI agreement with the UAE creates a path for it to access some of the advanced AI semiconductors from US firms, a major win for the country as the regional race to develop AI technologies accelerates.
The corruption trial of retired ADM Robert Burke concluded Monday with him being found guilty of four criminal counts, including bribery charges, by a jury in Washington, DC, reports Military.com. Burke, once the second-highest ranking leader in the Navy, was charged by federal prosecutors last year on allegations that he directed a lucrative Navy contract to an executive training company, Next Jump, in 2021 while serving as a four-star admiral. The company later hired him in 2022 for a starting salary of $500,000 per year.
Nearly nine years after it voted to leave the bloc, Britain reached a wide-ranging deal with the EU including a security and defense pact, fewer restrictions on British food exporters and visitors, and a contentious new fishing agreement, reports Reuters.
The night before Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending hostilities, Russia launched 273 Shahed drones, predominantly targeting the central Kyiv region. Ukraine called it Russia’s largest drone attack since the war began, reports CNN. The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched a further 112 drones in the early hours of Monday, attacking the regions of Kharkiv, Sumy, Donetsk, Cherkasy, and Kirovohrad.
“I suspect he assessed his negotiating position incorrectly,” Boris Pistorius said of Trump and his now-abandoned efforts to pressure Putin into accepting an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, reports Reuters. Germany’s defense minister made the comment on Wednesday, after a phone call between the two leaders yielded no progress in Ukraine peace talks, prompting Europe to announce new Russia sanctions.
Denmark received four more F-35 fighter jets last week, bringing their total to 15 F35s at Skrydstrup air base, more than half of the country’s ordered fleet, reports Defense News.
This upcoming Memorial Day weekend Maryland’s roll-out of mandatory reservations begins at Greenbrier and Sandy Point state parks, reports Maryland Matters. Later this summer, the reservation requirement will expand to include Point Lookout, Newtowne Neck, and North Point state parks. Day-use reservations will be required on weekends and holidays from Memorial through Labor Day.
If you need a reminder about the sacrifices that inspired Memorial Day, Hollywood has delivered quite a few movies that offer a chance to recognize the sacrifices made for freedom. Military.com provides a list of 10 along with trailers and a synopsis.
Contracts:
The Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, California, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $31,617,525 modification (P00037) exercising the sixth and seventh option periods of a three-year delivery order (SPE4AX-18-D-9433), with seven one-year option periods, issued against a five-year base contract (SPRPA1-17-D-009U), with one five-year option period, for V-22 spare consumable and depot level repairable parts. This is a firm-fixed-price requirements contract. Locations of performance are Texas and Pennsylvania, with a May 10, 2027, performance completion date. Using military services are Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2025 through 2027 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
BAE Systems Technology Solutions and Services Inc., Rockville, Maryland, is awarded a $138,549,731 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-plus-award-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides engineering services, installation engineering, equipment integration, overhauls, design engineering for airborne capabilities, test and evaluation, user and maintainer training, and on-demand operational support in support of various airborne capabilities for a variety of manned and unmanned airborne platforms for the Navy. Work will be performed in St. Inigoes, Maryland, and is expected to be completed October 2030. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competed; one offer was received. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N0042125D0075).
Capital Center for Credibility Assessment Corp., Alexandria, Virginia, is being awarded a $41,868,715 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract in support of Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s Polygraph Service Field Office providing polygraph support services and conducting counterintelligence scope polygraph examinations throughout the US The contract includes a five-year ordering period with no options and is expected to be completed by May 31, 2030. Work will be performed at various locations across the U.S. based on Department of Defense needs and the percentage of work at each location cannot be determined at this time. Fiscal 2025 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $100,000 will be obligated to fund the contract’s minimum amount and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Individual task orders will be subsequently funded with appropriate fiscal year appropriations at the time of their issuance. This contract was competitively procured under a small business set-aside requirement via the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) website pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 15 (Contracting by Negotiation) with three offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk Pentagon Directorate, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00189-25-D-Z016).
Parsons-Versar JV, Centreville, Virginia, was awarded a $75,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect-engineer, construction phase support services. 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 May 18, 2030. US Army Corps of Engineers, Middle East District, is the contracting activity (W912ER-25-D-0009).
CACI Inc. – Federal, Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded a $147,508,174 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for intelligence, logistics and engineering services. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of May 23, 2030. Fiscal 2010 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $1,099,583 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W50NH9-25-C-0007).
Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, was awarded a $16,000,000 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-15-C-2114) to support Navy Sailor Readiness and Shipbuilder Workforce Improvement. This modification will support sailors stationed at Newport News Shipbuilding and the shipbuilding workforce. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by December 2026. No funds will be obligated at time of award. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 US Code 3204(a)(1) (only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements). The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.
CORRECTION: The contract announced on May 15, 2025 for All Above Pavements Inc., Chatham, Illinois (W9128F-25-D-A002); Applied Pavement Technology Inc., Urbana, Illinois (W9128F-25-D-A003); Pavement Technical Solutions Inc., Broadlands, Virginia (W9128F-25-D-A004); RDM International Inc., Sterling, Virginia (W9128F-25-D-A005); and TR Consulting Services LLC, Fort Collins, Colorado (W9128F-25-D-A006), to compete for each order of the $25,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architectural and engineering services was actually awarded on May 16, 2025.
