Navy Bests Army in Annual Football Matchup

(US Navy photo)

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 US Naval Academy Midshipmen beat the Army Black Nights in the annual football matchup Saturday 17-13, reports The Baltimore Sun. Navy now leads the historic series 62-52-7.

Ever wonder why the Army-Navy game matters so much. Army Times and Navy Times spoke with some notable academy graduates and servicemembers with a connection to those institutions and asked them about their favorite traditions and memories. Navy Times compiled some pre-game videos from military units around the world that fans might find more entertaining than the game.

The Navy command in charge of designing, building, and maintaining ships has stood up a new team, reports Navy Times, aimed at preventing the kind of fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard in July 2020.

HMS Queen Elizabeth has returned to her home port marking the end of a seven-month maiden deployment, reports USNI News.

Royal Australian Air Force Base Tindal has received its first four F-35A Lightning IIs, reports Airforce Technology. The F-35As have replaced the RAAF F/A-18A/B Classic Hornet fleet.

Finland will purchase 64 F-35s to replace its aging F/A-18 jets, reports The Epoch Times, at a cost of $9.4 billion. The decision settles one of the last remaining lucrative competitions in Europe, with Lockheed Martin once again coming out on top, reports Defense News.

Lockheed Martin has established a joint venture with Tata Advanced Systems to manufacture F-21 fighter wings in India, reports The Defense Post.

F-35s could get new engines under development under the Adaptive Engine Transition Program, or AETP, with multiple prototypes being tested already, reports The Drive. This could happen as early as 2027.

The Navy commissioned the USS Daniel Inouye guided missile destroyer at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam lat week, The Defense Post reports.

The United States has finished talks with Iraq that bring a conclusion to the US’ mission there, reports The Associated Press. The US will continue to provide assistance, advice, and training for Iraqi forces.

 

 

Biden administration officials met with technology and cybersecurity companies in Silicon Valley last week, reports Politico, as part of an effort to get help from the private sector to fend off increasingly aggressive hackers working for adversarial regimes and criminal gangs.

Sean O’Donnell, the Defense Department’s acting inspector general, told a US Senate panel on Thursday that DoD is not able to say how many service members ― or their families, civilians, or residents of neighborhoods around installations ― have been exposed to toxic chemicals because of DoD, reports Military Times. The Senate hearing was focused on the findings of an IG report which found that DoD hadn’t responded to known threats of PFAS contamination.

The American food supply is likely riddled with far more dangerous toxins than the average consumer would anticipate, reports The Hill and some scientists say they lack sufficient, streamlined data about the “forever chemicals” lurking in food packaging and farmlands.

CMDR Lucian Kins was relieved of his duties Friday as second in command of the USS Winston Churchill destroyer for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine as required and refused to be tested for the virus, reports Military.com. Officials said Kins was the first naval officer to be fired as a result of a vaccine refusal.

The leadership of the Oklahoma National Guard has acknowledged that its fight with the federal government over the COVID vaccine mandate ultimately may lead to “career ending federal action” for troops, reports Military.com.

DoD is considering making the COVID booster mandatory for servicemembers, reports Navy Times.

At least 90% of adults in Maryland have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, reports WTOP News.

Tricare open season ends today, December 13, reports Navy Times. It applies to anyone enrolled in or eligible for a Tricare Prime option or Tricare Select.

ABC “Good Morning America” host Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, daughter of astronaut Alan Shepard, returned safely from space Saturday morning after traveling on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket, reports space.com.

With help from instructors at the US Naval Test Pilot School and Marine aviators from the Light/Attack Helicopter Program Office (PMA-276), Lexington Park Elementary School students got a firsthand look at how the work done at NAS Pax River supports the fleet and makes for a really cool job, reports The BayNet. Students toured the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum, where the museum’s flight simulator introduced them to the excitement of naval aviation.

BetMGM held a ribbon-cutting to mark the opening of its Maryland sportsbook at National Harbor in Oxon Hill last week, reports Maryland Matters. Two other casinos — Live! in Hanover and Horseshoe in Baltimore — were scheduled to open their sportsbooks on Friday. Hollywood Casino in Perryville and Ocean Downs Casino in Berlin are expected to open their sports wagering facilities in the near future.

Contracts:

KBR Services, Houston, Texas, is awarded a $37,015,620 cost-plus-award-fee modification to task order N6247021F9101 to global contingency services multiple award contract N62742-16-D-3551. This modification provides for the exercise of Option Three for the Quantico Expeditionary Staging Area (ESA) at Marine Corps Base (MCB) Quantico, and increases the maximum dollar value of the contract. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $196,061,079. The work to be performed provides for services in supporting Operation Allies MCB Quantico, and includes the mobilization, operation and maintenance, and demobilization for ESA Quantico. Work will be performed in Quantico, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by December 2021. Fiscal 2022 overseas humanitarian disaster and civic aid contract funds in the amount of $37,015,620 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.

Utility Works JV, Virginia Beach, Virginia, is awarded an $11,393,982 firm-fixed-price task order (N6247022F4001) under indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N62470-21-D-0005 for Utility Infrastructure and Condition Assessment Program (UICAP) implementation at various Marine Corps installation command installations at Marine Corps Installations West (MCIWest) and UICAP sustainment at Marine Corps Base (MCB) Quantico. The work to be performed provides for all management, labor, supplies, equipment, information technology, materials, and transportation necessary to perform the four phases of UICAP at seven MCIWest installations, and a year of support is required for UICAP sustainment at MCB Quantico. Work will be performed in California (83%); Arizona (14%); and Virginia (3%), and is expected to be completed by December 2023. Fiscal 2022 operation and maintenance (Marine Corps) contract funds in the amount of $11,393,982 are obligated on this award and will expire on Sept. 30, 2022. One proposal was received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

Amentum Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, is awarded a $26,435,245 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract modification under contract N62742-17-C-3570. This modification provides for the exercise of the fifth option period under for various support services to Department of Defense components conducting humanitarian assistance, civic assistance, minor military construction projects, contingency efforts, supporting various exercises, and other projects. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $176,724,820. Work will be performed at various locations in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Oceania. This option period is from January 2022 to December 2022. Fiscal 2022 operation and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $4,300,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Pacific, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity.

Huntington Ingalls Inc. – Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi, is awarded a $60,425,462 not-to-exceed undefinitized contract action for integration of four Joint Strike Fighter engineering change proposals in support of one amphibious assault ship (General Purpose) replacement (LHA(R)) Flight 1 Ship (LHA 8). Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Mississippi (72%); Chesapeake, Virginia (25%); and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (3%), and is expected to be completed by July 2024. Fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $30,212,731 will be obligated at award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The obligation amount represents 50% of the not-to-exceed price, in accordance with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation 217.7404-4 — limitations on obligations. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) — only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirement. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity (N00024-16-C-2427).

East Coast Repair, Portsmouth, Virginia, is awarded an $8,719,597 firm-fixed-price contract (N3220522C4198) for an 85-calendar day shipyard availability for the mid-term availability of the Military Sealift Command’s fleet oiler USNS Grumman (T-AO 195). This contract includes a base period and four options which, if exercised would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $9,006,443. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Virginia, and will begin Jan. 5, 2022, and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2022. Working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $8,719,597 are obligated for fiscal 2022 and will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was a small business set-aside with proposals solicited via the Government Point of Entry website and six offers received. The Navy’s Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220522C4198).

BAE Systems Ordnance Systems Inc., Radford, Virginia, was awarded an $8,504,429 firm-fixed-price contract for the replacement of Primac-Multimatic fire protection systems. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Radford, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 29, 2024. Fiscal 2020 and 2021 ammunition procurement, Army funds in the amount of $8,504,429 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-22-F-0022).