Military Housing, Day Care, Malpractice Back Before Congress
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economic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.
House Democrats want to add $140 million to the president’s military construction budget for next year to address issues “such as mold, vermin and lead in military family housing,” reports Military Times.
After tearful testimony from victims of military medical negligence, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers announced new legislation to eliminate legal rules protecting the Defense Department from medical malpractice lawsuits, reports Military Times.
Navy and Marine Corps leadership were grilled Tuesday on Capitol Hill about why they had not planned for new child care facilities in the proposed fiscal 2020 budget as thousands of families wait for openings, reports Stars and Stripes.
AP reports the US military has stopped releasing information regarding the battlefield stalemate in Afghanistan, reflecting a trend of less information being released about the war in recent years, often at the insistence of the Afghan government, which had previously stopped the US military from disclosing the number of Afghans killed in battle as well as overall attrition within the Afghan army.
US Vice President Mike Pence says the USS Harry Truman will not be retired, reports USNI. The announcement reverses an earlier proposal included in the Trump administration’s FY 2020 Department of Defense budget request sent to Congress to skip the carrier’s upcoming scheduled refueling and complex overhaul, essentially ending its life 25 years early.
The US is conspicuously missing from Beijing’s second Belt and Road summit marking the two-year anniversary of China’s initiative to coordinate trillions of dollars of infrastructure across Eurasia and the Indian Ocean in a broad effort to recreate the old Silk Roads. Politico says the US’s dismissal of the initiative is a mistake.
A beluga whale wearing a harness that suggests links to a military facility in Russia is so tame that residents of a hamlet near Norway’s northernmost point can pet the mammal on its nose, reports Navy Times.
A tight budget could reduce the size of the Marine Corps and its number of priority missions, to assure readiness to meet its requirements under the National Defense Strategy, reports in a resource-constrained budget.
RADM Sean S. Buck, head of the US naval arm in Central and South America has been nominated to be the next superintendent of the US Navy Academy, USNI News reports. Nominated to be the 63rd superintendent, he will follow VADM Ted Carter if confirmed.
The US Navy will bolster its forward-deployed amphibious forces in Japan with two ships, including a new amphibious assault vessel designed to operate a larger aviation component, reports Defense News.
Contracts:
Systems Application and Technologies Inc., Largo, Maryland, is awarded a $14,583,586 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to procure continued support services to the Air Vehicle Modification and Instrumentation (AVMI) Department and the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). Required services include support for the designing, developing, procuring, building, installing, testing and evaluating, calibrating, modifying, operating and maintaining instrumentation on aircraft and engines for the Navy and other government and commercial customers. Work will be performed at Patuxent River, Maryland (74 percent); China Lake, California (13.5 percent); and Point Mugu, California (12.5 percent), and is expected to be completed in November 2020. Working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with four offers received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-19-C-0023).
Callan Marine Ltd., Galveston, Texas (W912EP-19-D-0023); Cashman Dredging and Marine Contracting Co. LLC, Quincy, Massachusetts (W912EP-19-D-0024); Cavache Inc., Pompano Beach, Florida (W912EP-19-D-0025 ); Continental Heavy Civil Corp., Miami, Florida (W912EP-19-D-0026 ); Cottrell Contracting Inc., Chesapeake, Virginia (W912EP-19-D-0027); Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, Oak Brook, Illinois (W912EP-19-D-0028); J.T. Cleary Inc., Spring Valley, New York (W912EP-19-D-0029); Manson Construction Co., Seattle, Washington (W912EP-19-D-0030); Marinex Construction Inc., Charleston, South Carolina (W912EP-19-D-0031); Norfolk Dredging Co., Chesapeake, Virginia (W912EP-19-D-0032); Orion Marine Construction Inc., Tampa, Florida (W912EP-19-D-0033); Southern Dredging Co. Inc., Charleston, South Carolina (W912EP-19-D-0034); The Dutra Group, San Rafael, California (W912EP-19-D-0035); Waterfront Property Service LLC, doing business as Gator Dredging, Clearwater, Florida (W912EP-19-D-0036 ); Weeks Marine Inc., Covington, Louisiana (W912EP-19-D-0037); Cavache Inc., Pompano Beach, Florida (W912EP-19-D-0038); CJW Construction Inc., Santa Ana, California (W912EP-19-D-0039); Coastal Dredging Co. Inc., Hammond, Louisiana (W912EP-19-D-0040); Cottrell Contracting Inc., Chesapeake, Virginia (W912EP-19-D-0041); Florida Dredge and Dock LLC, Tarpon Springs, Florida (W912EP-19-D-0042); Southern Dredging Co. Inc., Charleston, South Carolina (W912EP-19-D-0043); Southwind Construction Corp., Evansville, Indiana (W912EP-19-D-0044); and Waterfront Property Service LLC, doing business as Gator Dredging, Clearwater, Florida (W912EP-19-D-0045), will compete for each order of the $495,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for dredging and shore protection projects. Bids were solicited via the internet with 24 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2024. US Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity.
STG Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $7,645,240 firm-fixed-price contract for operational and technical engineering. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $7,645,240 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W91RUS-19-F-0142).
