More Tax Relief for MD Military Retirees?

(Maryland Governor’s Office photo via Facebook)

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.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore testified last week in support of a bill that would give the state’s military retirees a larger tax break, reports Capital News Service. The bill — Income Tax – Subtraction Modification for Military Retirement Income (Keep Our Heroes Home Act) — is one of the pieces of legislation Moore asked the speaker of the state’s House of Delegates to submit this session. The tax exemption set forth in the legislation would save Maryland veterans an estimated $30 million annually beginning in tax year 2024, according to the governor’s office.

A new bill introduced in the Maryland House aims to give private businesses a new tool to attract and retain workers: a new vision for the work week, reports Maryland Matters. House Bill 181 would allow private businesses to opt into a four-day, 32-hour work week pilot program that would include technical assistance from the Maryland Department of Labor and a tax credit of up to $10,000.

The Four-Day Work Week Act of 2023 is being met by a mix of enthusiasm and skepticism from startup leaders throughout Maryland, reports Technically Media.

The Pentagon has compiled data on drug overdose deaths in the military as part of a request from a bipartisan group of senators, reports Military Times. Fentanyl, a drug that has gained national attention in recent years for its role in the US opioid epidemic, was involved in 174 overdoses, or about 52% of overdose cases, in the military between 2017 and 2021. Fatal fentanyl overdoses more than doubled during that span, according to DoD information released by Under DefSec Gilbert Cisneros Jr. on February 10.

The US Air Force has grounded hundreds of tankers and reconnaissance jets for faulty tail pins, reports Air Force Times. The service directed maintainers to inspect its KC-135 aerial refueling fleet, as well as the RC-135s and the WC-135 Constant Phoenix radiation‐sensing jet.

The US Space Force is preparing for the National Security Space Launch program’s next bulk launch buy and eyeing a significant increase in planned missions, reports Defense News.

DoD’s space policy office is drafting a report explaining how the US will defend satellites in orbit, reports SpaceNews. The Defense Department has a top-secret space defense strategy, but Congress wants an unclassified version that explains to the public the threats facing US satellites and what can be done in response.

With the downing of a Chinese spy balloon over US airspace, the military has begun paying closer attention to lower-altitude flying objects, reports The Hill. The White House announced last week the formation of an interagency task force to investigate the UFOs.

RADM Michael Studeman, head of the Office of Naval Intelligence, said the China balloon incident is a wake-up call to Americans, reports Navy Times. With the balloon’s emergence earlier this month, Americans “actually get to see it, to believe it, to understand what the nature of the threat is,” he said.

Colorado’s Sen. Michael Bennet wants the Biden administration to reverse a 2021 decision to relocate US Space Command from Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs to Huntsville, AL, saying moving the headquarters would delay operations and harm national security, reports Military.com.

Two Tennessee Guard warrant officers were killed last week in a Black Hawk military training helicopter crash in Alabama, reports Army Times. Daniel Wadham and Danny Randolph were assigned to A Company, 1-230th Assault Helicopter Battalion, out of the Berry Field Air National Guard Base in Nashville, TN. A total of 13 American troops and two foreign personnel have died in Army Black Hawk crashes during a spate of accidents between August 2020 and February 2021.

The US Navy is planning to do away with the cryptologic technician networks rating and replace it with a rating that has “cyber” in the name to better reflect the job’s cyber-focused work, reports Navy Times.

When will the war in Ukraine end? Defense News asked national security analysts, lawmakers, and retired officials. Their answers are glum: The war will be expensive, cost lives, and likely last at least a few years — or even become interminable.

Joby Aviation has begun testing at the world’s largest wind tunnel facility at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, reports Business Wire. Joby is developing all-electric aircraft for commercial passenger service. Joby is believed to be the first electric vertical take-off and landing company to test its propeller in the National Full-Scale Aerodynamic Complex’s 40-by-80-foot wind tunnel, according to the news release.

Three NAVAIR employees were recognized as Science Spectrum Trailblazers and seven were recognized as Modern-Day Technology Leaders at the Black Engineer of the Year Awards Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Global Competitiveness Conference held in National Harbor earlier this month, reports Southern Maryland Chronicle.

The Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum offers a feature on former NASA administrator Charles Bolden. After graduating from the US Naval Academy in 1968 and flying combat missions during the Vietnam War, MAJ GEN Bolden continued his career in 1978 as a test pilot at NAS Patuxent River. Two years later, he was selected to be part of the 1980 class of NASA astronauts.

Contracts:

Invicta Global LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $13,188,331 option year modification to previously awarded, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed price contract N400800-19-D-0311 for facilities maintenance. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $66,446,193. The contract modification is for preventive maintenance, inspections and testing for facilities, ground structures, and installed equipment and systems. Work will be performed at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bethesda, NSA Dahlgren, NSA Indian Head, and various other locations in Maryland (64%); Virginia (19%); and Washington, DC (17%). Work is expected to be completed in January 2024. Fiscal 2023 funds in the amount of $13,188,331 will be incrementally obligated from time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.

Gibbs & Cox Inc., Arlington, Virginia, is awarded a $39,659,692 cost-plus-award-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-22-C-2313 to exercise options for supporting surface combatant ship design and engineering efforts for the Navy’s Future Surface Combatant Force, primarily in support of the DDG(X) program, as well as other emerging ship concepts, and to conduct feasibility studies as part of supporting the broader Navy fleet. Work will be performed in Washington, DC (60%); Arlington, Virginia (35%); and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (5%), and is expected to be completed by February 2024. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,646,941 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 (N00024-22-C-2313).

General Dynamics Information Technology Inc., Falls Church, Virginia, is awarded a $16,003,611 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N6523623D1004) with provisions for firm-fixed-price and cost orders. The contract will provide Electromagnetic Environmental Effects, test, evaluation, and range services in support of command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems. The contract includes a five-year ordering period. Fiscal 2023 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds and working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,023,869 will be obligated at time of award. Operation and maintenance funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year and working capital funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Work will be performed in Charleston, South Carolina (70%); Norfolk, Virginia (25%); and Bedford, New Hampshire (5%), and is expected to be completed by February 2028. This requirement was not competitively procured because it is a sole source acquisition negotiated under 10 US Code 3201(a)(1) — only one responsible source and no other services will satisfy agency requirements (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1). Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity.

Parsons Government Services, Centreville, Virginia (W912DY-23-D-0002); HDR Engineering Inc., Colorado Springs, Colorado (W912DY-23-D-0003); Michael Baker International Inc., Moon Township, Pennsylvania (W912DY-23-D-0004); WSP – MOCA JV, Washington, DC (W912DY-23-D-0005); Jacobs Government Services Co., Arlington, Virginia (W912DY-23-D-0006); Pond-Woolpert LLC JV, Dayton, Ohio (W912DY-23-D-0007); Urban Collaborative LLC, Eugene, Oregon (W912DY-23-D-0008); Alliance Consulting Group Inc., Alexandria, Virginia (W912DY-23-D-0009); and John Gallup & Associates – The Schreifer Group JV, Marietta, Georgia (W912DY-23-D-0010), will compete for each order of the $59,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architectural and engineering services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 20 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 21, 2028. US Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity.

Hydrogeologic Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $15,577,663 modification (P00002) to contract W912QR-21-F-0356 for optimized environmental remediation services. Work will be performed in Cape Canaveral, Florida, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 15, 2024. Fiscal 2010 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $15,577,663 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Kentucky, is the contracting activity.

P.J.K. Food Service LLC, doing business as Keany Produce & Gourmet, Landover, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $284,250,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for fresh fruits and vegetables. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. The ordering period end date is Feb. 17, 2028. Using customers are Army, Marine Corps and Department of Agriculture schools. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2023 through 2028 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-23-D-P401).

BAE Systems – Norfolk Ship Repair, Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded a $145,264,056 firm-fixed-price contract action for maintenance, modernization and repair of USS Nitze (DDG 94) for the Chief of Naval Operations scheduled fiscal 2023 depot modernization period. This contract includes options, which if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $161,508,444. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by October 2024. Fiscal 2023 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $135,407,331 (93%); and fiscal 2023 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,856,725 (7%) will be obligated at the time of award, of which $9,856,725 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured using full and open competition via the System for Award website, with two offers received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity (N00024-23-C-4412).

CORRECTION: The contract announced on Feb. 13, 2023, to Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory LLC, Laurel, Maryland, for a $25,000,000 modification to previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract FA8819-18-D-0009, Task Order FA8819-20-F-1005, was actually awarded on Feb. 14, 2023.