Navy Training Jets Collide: NAS Kingsville
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economic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.
Two Navy training jets collided Monday morning over Texas, reports Navy Times. The T-45 Goshawks collided in mid-air over over Ricardo, TX. One plane landed safely at NAS Kingsville, the instructor and student ejected from the second aircraft, the instructor reported minor injuries, according to a message posted to the Chief of Naval Air Training’s social media account.
More than 100 retired generals and admirals signed on to a prank letter by a faux flag officer RADM Jack Meehoff. The pranked brass signed an open letter from Flag Officers 4 America that repeated lies of election irregularities in 2020. Task and Purpose writes, “If you don’t get the joke, just say the name ‘Jack Meehoff’ aloud. That’s right. You understand now.”
DefSec Lloyd Austin is weighing the policy change in the final months of the Trump administration that allows the military to run influence campaigns — often called “psyops” — more quickly and with less time for input from the State Department. The policy change, reports Politico, highlights tension between military leaders and diplomats about how the US handles gray-area operations that fall short of all-out war.
Iron Dome intercepts a drone during combat for the first time, reports Defense News. Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system intercepted a drone belonging to the Hamas militant group, bringing the total to six intercepted drones using multiple countermeasures, the Israel Defense Forces said, since hostilities began May 10 between Israel and Hamas.
Commenting on the Biden administration’s plan to sell precision-guided munitions to Israel amid ongoing conflict with Gaza, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said the $735 million sale “would be appalling … without any strings attached in the wake of escalating violence and attacks on civilians,” according to The Hill.
As builders scour for cheaper lumber, futures prices tumble, reports Bloomberg. The price of lumber for July delivery has dropped 23% from its May 10 peak of $1,733.50 per 1,000 board feet — a level then that was more than four times higher than a year ago. Prices have fallen for six straight days, marking the longest streak for declines since September.
Saifullah Paracha, 73, the oldest prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center has been approved for release after more than 16 years in custody at the US base in Cuba, reports Military Times. He has been held on suspicion of ties to al-Qaida but never charged with a crime and was cleared by the prisoner review board along with two other men. Notifications do not provide detailed reasoning, concluding only that Paracha is “not a continuing threat” to the US. It does not mean his release his imminent. This is a crucial step before the US government negotiates a repatriation agreement with Pakistan.
A $1.9 billion spending bill to bulk up Capitol security includes nearly $521 million to reimburse the cost of the National Guard’s deployment in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, reports The Hill. The amount in the bill, which House Democrats unveiled Friday, matches what National Guard officials have projected will be the cost of deploying thousands of service members through May 23.
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is higher among soldiers and Black service members, reports Military Times, reflecting significant variations between different demographic groupings’ resistance to vaccination, according to a new military study. In addition to race, ethnicity, and age, researchers found that initiation of the vaccine process varied by branch of service, occupational specialty, and level of education.
President Joe Biden is boosting the world vaccine sharing commitment to 80 million doses, reports AP News. The announcement comes on top of his administration’s prior commitment to share about 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which will be available to ship once they clear a safety review by the Food and Drug Administration.
The USS Gerald R. Ford is returning to Newport News this summer for modernization work after its full ship shock trials — a test involving blowing up a lot of high explosives next to the Navy’s newest carrier — the aim really isn’t to fix things that might have been shaken loose, but to install the latest updates to equipment and take care of maintenance work that’s harder to do at sea, reports Defense News.
The Navy will decommission Littoral Combat Ships USS Freedom (July 31) and USS Independence (Sept. 30), reports USNI News. They have served 13 and 11 years.
A forklift damaged “high-valued” electronic warfare gear last month at a Navy base in Indiana, reports Navy Times, by accidentally striking a crate and damaging the equipment, resulting in a Class A mishap.
The Marine Corps is still under the gun to integrate women despite success of its first boot camp class, reports Defense News. Now that one group of female Marines has graduated boot camp in San Diego, the corps is still under a congressional deadline to end gender segregation.
The DoD recorded more than 42,000 incidents of domestic abuse in its population from 2015 to 2019, but the real number is likely higher. That’s because the data collected by the department is incomplete, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, reports Military.com.
UFOs are going mainstream. For some Navy pilots, UFO sightings were an ordinary event: “Every day for at least a couple years,” reports The Washington Post. When one Navy pilot first spotted the strange object hovering in restricted airspace off the Atlantic Coast, he was stunned — no exhaust plume, no visible engine, and all the makings of something secret, something mysterious, or something dangerous.
Contracts:
Lone Star Aerospace Inc., Addison, Texas, was awarded a $7,799,797 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00013) to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract (N0042116D0012). This modification increases the ceiling to continue to address T-45 engine availability shortages that are adversely affecting the ability to train student naval aviators by utilizing existing modeling tools and subject matter experts, enabling the identification of focused improvements in depot-level engine maintenance procedures, including suboptimal production system flow, lack of trained manpower, high personnel turnover, coordination, communication, and prioritization of tasks. Work will be performed in Addison, Texas (99%); and Patuxent River, Maryland (1%), and is expected to be completed in October 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. (Awarded May 17, 2021)
Chenega Analytic Business Solutions LLC, Lorton, Virginia, has been awarded a ceiling $8,800,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for continental US (CONUS) international military student support services. This contract provides for lodging, transportation, and meal support services for international military students at various CONUS locations. Subsequent task orders will be in support of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) international military student training for various partner nations. The work is expected to be completed May 17, 2026. FMS International Training Funds in the amount of $2,500 will be obligated at the time of award. The 338th Enterprise Sourcing Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, is the contracting activity (FA3002-21-D-0001).
Triple Canopy, Herndon, Virginia, was awarded a $38,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for uniformed security guard services. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 17, 2026. US Army 409th Contracting Support Brigade, Kaiserslautern, Germany, is the contracting activity (W564KV-21-D-0003).
