Navy, Army, Corps All Without Chiefs
US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, center, looks on as ADM Lisa Franchetti, left, assumes responsibilities as acting chief of naval operations during a relinquishment of office ceremony for ADM Mike Gilday at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis on August 14, 2023. (D0D photo by Chad J. McNeeley)
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.
The retirement last week of ADM Mike Gilday as the US Navy’s chief of naval operations leaves the service without a permanent CNO, reports 13newsnow.com. ADM Lisa Franchetti has assumed the role in an acting capacity. The Navy is the third services branch — along with the Marine Corps and Army — to be operating without a Senate-confirmed chief. Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville is blocking more than 300 senior military promotions over opposition to the Pentagon’s abortion policy.
DefSec Lloyd Austin said the hold on the nominations is having negative impacts on the services. “This sweeping hold is undermining America’s military readiness,” he said at Gilday’s ceremony August 14. “It’s hindering our ability to retain our very best officers. And it’s upending the lives of far too many American military families. Our troops deserve better.”
A recent poll found that a majority of Alabama voters thinks Tuberville should drop his hold on the nominations, reports The Hill. The poll also finds that a plurality believes the hold is harming national security, according to the Public Policy Polling survey commissioned by VoteVets. The entire poll may be read here.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s toughest challenge these days? The New York Times said his biggest crisis might just be how his department is handling the backlog of passport applications. The State Department said it is receiving 430,000 applications a week, down some from a peak of 560,000 per week in March. The department is on track to issue 25 million passports this year, an increase from last year’s 22 million, according to NYT.
NAS Pax River awarded a 50-year contract to American States Utility Services Inc. to operate, maintain, and provide construction management services for its water distribution and wastewater collection facilities, reports Business Wire. The contract is worth approximately $349 million.
HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding has launched the US Navy’s third Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Ted Stevens, reports Market Insider. The ship was christened on Saturday in Pascagoula, MS.
The US Navy’s littoral combat ship Sioux City has been decommissioned after less than five years at sea, reports Navy Times. Officials now say that the Freedom-class ships stand little chance of surviving a conventional battle against China or another nation’s navy. The decommissioning of the LCS has disappointed many residents of Sioux City, IA, reports Sioux City Journal. Residents were very proud of the city’s namesake ship and had looked forward to a relationship expected to last 30 years or more for the duration of the ship’s service.
US Army leaders speaking at the AFCEA TechNet Conference said that troops need improved cyber education, reports C4ISRNET. Cyber specialists in the US military guard valuable information, hunt and eradicate malware, expose hacker tools, disrupt foreign networks, and more.
Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show that China appears to be constructing an airstrip on an island in the South China Sea that is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
Chinese satellites were passing over Australia collecting intelligence on military training activities involving the US and other regional partners, reports abc.net.au. The Quad Alliance — the US, Australia, Japan, and India — joined together for Exercise Malabar 2023 in Australia, reports USNI News.
A Reuters-Ipsos poll finds that a majority of Americans believe that the US should increase its preparations for military threats from China, reports The Hill. Less than half of the people polled — 38% — said they would support sending troops to Taiwan in the case of a Chinese attack, according to the poll released August 16.
The US is now promising to fast-track the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, reports The Drive. Training on US-made F-16s for Ukrainian pilots was expected to be delayed until next year, The Washington Post reported last week. Denmark and the Netherlands said Friday that the US has cleared the way to allow F-16s to be re-exported to Ukraine after some of its pilots are trained to fly them, reports The Guardian.
A US treaty with the Czech Republic makes it easier for the US to deploy troops there, reports Military Times. The US has similar agreements with other NATO members, including Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, and Bulgaria.
Norway has received $71 million to provide a new type of counter-drone air defense system to Ukraine, reports The Defense Post. The CORTEX Typhon system will reportedly provide protection against enemy combat unmanned aerial vehicles.
BAE Systems plans to buy US contractor Ball Corp.’s aerospace assets for about $5.6 billion in cash, reports Breaking Defense. Ball is a leading producer of circular aluminum packaging for global beverage and household brands, according to AviationPros.
NASA has named several more space companies that can expect to receive work from the space agency as it awards $150 million in contracts, reports The Motley Fool on MSN. The list of 11 companies includes familiar names such as Lockheed Martin and Blue Origin and some that are not-so-familiar like Pittsburgh, PA’s Protoinnovations and Zeno Power Systems of Washington, DC.
The Office of Naval Research has retired its Floating Instrument Platform, popularly known as FLIP, after 60 years of service, reports Seapower Magazine. FLIP helped scientists and oceanographers better understand the mysteries of the sea, including internal waves, air-sea interaction, and long-range sound propagation.
Seventeen personnel have died at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma this year, reports Military.com, but Air Force officials aren’t saying what the causes of those deaths were. A base spokeswoman said that the personnel were lost to “various causes, and several deaths remain under investigation.”
As the Veterans Health Administration’s staffing levels push higher, agency officials say they aren’t finished yet, reports Federal Times. The VA, in late 2022, was aiming for 52,000 external hires for the fiscal year that ends September 30. Officials say they have hired 48,000 people so far in a variety of positions.
Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports that West Virginia National Guard troops deployed to the US/Mexico border are unhappy with the level of pay they are receiving. Many thought they would be making what the Texas soldiers were — $7,000 a month. The West Virginia soldiers are making closer to $2,000 a month, according to an unnamed Guardsman.
Thirty-two years ago this month, the body of an electronics engineer was found on NAS Pax River. The murder of Vince Paul Caciola remains unsolved. Help is being sought to get justice for Mr. Caciola, his family, and his friends, reports The BayNet. Anyone with information on the case – “old or new, fact, or rumor” – should contact local law enforcement.
Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman (D) toured several places in St. Mary’s County last week, reports The Southern Maryland Chronicle. Among her stops was the St. Mary’s Health Hub on Great Mills Road where revitalization efforts in Lexington Park were discussed. She also visited the St. Mary’s County Regional Airport for a tour of AIRtec Inc., a global commercial airborne services company.
A community garden is expected to be ready for planting next spring at Lexington Manor Passive Park in Lexington Park, reports somdnews.com.
Contracts:
Amentum Services Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, is awarded a $591,653,634 cost reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) supportability follow-on technical support to provide eligible foreign navies access to a broad range of life cycle support, systems upgrades, systems integration, and other related efforts associated with the transfer and acquisition, operation, and maintenance of naval vessels and systems within their inventory. Work will be performed within the continental U.S. (55%), and outside the continental U.S. (OCONUS) (45%). Work will be performed OCONUS in Iraq (25%); Egypt (25%); the Philippines (10%); and various countries to be determined (40%). The contract is for a five-year performance period; work is expected to be completed by August 2028. Non-appropriated, non-expiring FMS case funds (greater than 99%); and FMS Admin funds (less than 1%), which will expire at the end of each fiscal year, will be obligated at the delivery order level. This contract was competitively procured on a full and open, unrestricted basis. Initial notices were published via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with subsequent postings published via the System for Award Management. Four offers were received. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport, Washington, is the contracting activity (N0025323D5000).
Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $12,972,345 firm-fixed-price contract for commercial-off-the-shelf software licenses and maintenance. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Reston, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 20, 2028. Fiscal 2023-2026 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $12,972,345 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W56JSR-23-C-0010).
Constellation NewEnergy, Baltimore, Maryland (SPE604-23-D-8006, $38,509,706); MP2 Energy NE LLC, doing business as Shell Energy Solutions, The Woodlands, Texas (SPE604-23-D-8008, $21,147,837); and Dynegy Energy Services, Irving, Texas (SPE604-23-D-8007, $9,946,868), have each been awarded a fixed-price contract using locational marginal price, under solicitation SPE604-23-R-0405 for electricity supply. This was a competitive acquisition with eight responses received. These are three-year contracts with no option periods. Locations of performance are Washington, DC, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Illinois, with a Dec. 31, 2026, performance completion date. Using customer is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2024 through 2027 Naval working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Trident Systems Inc., Fairfax, Virginia, is awarded a $7,743,710 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to support the procurement and sustainment of Secure Communication Controller systems for the Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Fairfax, Virginia. The ordering period will be for a maximum of five years from Aug. 17, 2023, through Aug. 16, 2028. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders as they are issued. Fiscal 2023 procurement (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $328,085 will be obligated on the first delivery order immediately following contract award. This is a Phase III Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) contract which continues work previously completed under Phase I and II SBIR contracts. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 15 US Code 638(r)(4). Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity (M67854-23-D-2037).
CACI Inc.-Federal, Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded a $414,134,512 cost-plus-fixed-fee, level of effort term task order (FA8750-23-F-0080) for complete spectrum of life cycle software and systems engineering for mission and functional requirements. This order provides for the performance, research, and gathering of data and information processing capabilities to improve battlespace awareness and data for decision making. Work will be performed in Chantilly, Virginia; Omaha, Nebraska; and Reston, Virginia. The work is expected to be completed by Aug. 17, 2028. This contract was a competitive acquisition, and one offer was received. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $250,000; fiscal 2023 procurement funds in the amount of $250,000; and fiscal 2023 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,783,112, are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity.
Zeno Power Systems, Washington, DC, has been awarded a $7,841,963 modification (P00003) to previously awarded FA9453-22-C-A019 to expand research in radioisotope power systems. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $14,997,863. Work will be performed in Washington, DC, and is expected to be completed by July 20, 2026. Fiscal 2023 Space Force research and development funds in the amount of $2,000,000; and fiscal 2023 Department of Defense research and development funds in the in the amount of $2,000,000, are being obligated at time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is the contracting activity.
