More Troops Deploy, More Readied

Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner conduct strike scenarios while underway in the Mediterranean Sea on Oct. 11, 2023. Thomas Hudner is part of the Gerald R. Ford strike group and is currently operating in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jordan Klineizquierdo)

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.

A US Marine rapid response force is headed to the waters off the coast of Israel and the Pentagon is preparing American troops for a potential deployment to the country, reports CNN. Two defense officials familiar with the planning said the rapid response force, consisting of 2,000 Marines and sailors, is being sent. On Sunday evening, DefSec Lloyd Austin ordered that roughly 2,000 troops prepare for a potential deployment to Israel to help with tasks such as medical and logistical support.

No decisions have yet been made to deploy the 2,000 troops ordered to prepare, Military Times reports on a DoD release on Tuesday.

President Joe Biden pledged solidarity with Israel on Wednesday and said a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital seemed to have been caused by a rocket misfired by militants as he ended a Middle East peace mission that was curtailed by the explosion, reports Reuters.

Gaza’s health ministry said an Israeli air strike on Tuesday killed hundreds of people at a hospital in the Palestinian enclave, but Israel said a Palestinian barrage had caused the blast. The death toll was by far the highest of any single incident in Gaza during the current violence, killing 471 people according to Palestinian officials, and triggering protests in the occupied West Bank, Istanbul, and Amman, raising fears of wider instability, reports Reuters.

The Biden administration is drafting a $100 billion foreign aid package that includes assistance for Israel as well as other top security priorities. ABC News reported from sources that the “bulk” of the assistance will likely go toward Ukraine, while others also said that it included $10 billion for Israel. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss details that hadn’t been announced yet by the White House.

Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group released a video Monday showing snipers shooting at and destroying surveillance cameras placed on five army posts along the Lebanon-Israel border, reports Military.com.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for a visit that underscores China’s support for Moscow in Ukraine and also Russia’s backing of China’s bid to expand its world influence. The informal alliance is complicated by the Israel-Hamas war. China seeks to balance ties with Israel against its friendly relations with Iran and Syria, two countries strongly backed by Russia.

Putin shook hands with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in China on Tuesday — the first photographed handshake between the Russian president and an EU leader since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, reports Politico.

A days-long attempt by Russian forces to storm a strategically important city in eastern Ukraine appears to be running out of steam, claimed Kyiv officials on Monday, the 600th day of the war, reports Military.com. Ukraine claimed its forces repelled 15 Russian attacks from four directions on Avdiivka over the previous 24 hours.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is developing a contract to build what essentially looks like a traffic control system for satellites, reports Washington Technology. NOAA is the lead agency for an intergovernmental effort to build the Traffic Coordination System for Space, or TraCSS. A new sources sought notice says NOAA wants to hire a systems integration and cloud management service provider to build out that system.

Military retirees and disabled veterans will see their monthly checks increase by 3.2% for 2024, thanks to the annual Cost of Living Adjustment for inflation. While 3.2% may look low compared to the 2022 (5.9%) and 2023 (8.7%) adjustments, Military.com says it’s still above the average of 2.6% for the prior 20 years.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is encouraging veterans to reach out to 10 of their veteran friends next week as part of the first National Buddy Check Week, an initiative aimed at improving former service members’ mental health by having them connect or reconnect with one another, reports Military.com.

Charles Darwin proposed in his 1859 book “On the Origin of Species” that species change by acquiring traits that favor survival and reproduction — a revolution in scientific thought. Now 164 years later, reports Reuters, nine scientists and philosophers proposed a new law of nature that includes Darwin’s biological evolution as a vibrant example of a much broader phenomenon, one that appears at the level of atoms, minerals, planetary atmospheres, planets, stars, and more.

The Amazon River fell to its lowest level in over a century this week as a severe drought continues to upend life in the Brazilian rainforest, reports Reuters.

Military.com tells the story of how an Air Force Technician, hacking the phone system, led to the creation of Apple Computer. It’s a circuitous tale through phreaking (the use of artificial tones to manipulate phone systems), an airman with perfect pitch, some jail time, and a piece of the inspiration leading Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak to create Apple Computer. Thank you, former Airman 1st Class John Draper.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday said Tesla will recall 54,676 Model X vehicles manufactured between 2021-2023, as the vehicle controller is likely to fail to detect low brake fluid and not display a warning light, according to Reuters. Tesla has released an over-the-air software update, free of charge, to fix the issue, the NHTSA said.

Contracts:

Meltech Corp. Inc., Landover, Maryland (N0016724D0013); Sandow Construction Inc., Bladensburg, Maryland (N0016724D0014); Gideon USA Construction LLC, San Antonio, Texas (N0016724D0015); Jade Creek Construction Inc., Herndon, Virginia (N00016724D0016); and MIG GOV Construction Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (N0016724D0017), are each awarded a $44,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to support the sustainment, restoration, and modernization efforts at Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD) and its satellite offices. Each awardee will be awarded a $1,000 minimum contract guarantee at contract award. These five contracts include options which, if exercised, would bring the total value of each contract to $44,000,000 over a five-year period. Work will be performed in NSWCCD, West Bethesda, Maryland (20%); NSWCCD Olney Support Facility, Gaithersburg, Maryland (10%); NSWCCD Combatant Craft Division, Norfolk, Virginia (10%); NSWCCD Southeast Alaska Acoustic Measurement Facility, Ketchikan, Alaska (10%); NSWCCD Acoustic Research Detachment, Bayview, Idaho (10%); NSWCCD South Florida Ocean Measurement Facility, Dania Beach, Florida (10%); NSWCCD Detachment Large Cavitation Channel, Memphis, Tennessee (10%); NSWCCD Puget Sound, Silverdale, Washington (10%); and NSWCCD South TOTO Acoustic Measurement Facility, Andros Island, Bahamas (10%). If all options are exercised, work will continue through April 2029. Fiscal 2024 overhead funding in the total amount of $289,434 will be obligated across the contracts for the minimum contract guarantees and for the initial task order. These contracts were competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with twelve offers received. NSWCCD, West Bethesda, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, Andover, Maryland, was awarded a $30,621,464 fixed-price incentive contract for Radar Interface Unit lite. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Andover, Maryland; and Huntsville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2028. Fiscal 2024 Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $30,621,464 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-24-C-0004).

Tyto Government Solutions Inc., Herndon, Virginia, is awarded a $65,790,815 firm-fixed-price contract (HT940224F0001) to provide support for the Defense Health Agency E-Commerce Operational Systems Support and includes tasks to maintain, operate, and provide engineering, and technical support to the entire enterprise information technology enterprise for the private-sector healthcare system. This was a competitive fair opportunity acquisition through the Alliant 2 General Services Administration Governmentwide Acquisition Contract program with four offers received. The period of performance is a base year starting Dec. 1, 2023, and four one-year option periods with a completion date of Nov. 30, 2028. Subject to the availability of funds, fiscal 2024 operations and maintenance funds and research and research, development, test and evaluation funds will be obligated. The place of performance is Aurora, Colorado. The Defense Health Agency Managed Care Contracting Division, Aurora, Colorado, is the contracting activity.

Carahsoft Technology Corp., Reston, Virginia, is awarded a $7,543,117 firm-fixed-price delivery order to provide salesforce software licenses and non-personal support services to manage, build, deploy, and maintain a fully operational salesforce-based online portal that addresses the statutory requirements defined in section 575 of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This requirement is specific solely to Military Service Academy Nomination and Admissions processes that include collection, reporting, availability, and standard classifications of reporting requirements, as codified within the NDAA. This action supports the acquisition of organizational change management and strategic communication support services to facilitate portal adoption and use by congressional and non-congressional nominating sources. In addition, this acquisition covers Tableau data visualization and data analytics professional support services to address congressional reporting requirements defined in Section 575. This action also covers the procurement of MuleSoft licenses and implementation services to integrate Service Academy admissions systems and other data sources with the online portal to streamline reporting and data collection capabilities. This portal only supports the nomination process and corresponding reporting requirements for the US Naval Academy, US Military Academy, and the US Air Force Academy, in support of the US Naval Academy. The contract will include a 12-month base period with an additional two 12-month ordering period options pursuant of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.217-9 – option to extend services, which if exercised, will bring the total estimated value to $17,723,839. The base ordering period is expected to be completed by October 2024; if all options are exercised, the ordering period will be completed by October 2026. All work will be performed in Reston, Virginia. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,500 will be obligated at time of award, and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The solicitation was posted through the NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement Government-Wide Acquisition Contract as a sole-source procurement in accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B) with one offer received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department Norfolk Office, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00189-24-F-0017).