Preparing for the Worst, Again

An airman assigned to the 6th Air Refueling Wing fills sandbags with family members ahead of Hurricane Milton at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, Oct. 7, 2024. Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall in the Tampa Bay area later this week. (US Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Lauren Cobin)

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.

Even before Hurricane Milton neared the US, the second catastrophic hurricane to hit Florida within two weeks looked capable of collapsing the financial stability of federal disaster programs, reports Politico. Among other shortfalls, the federal flood insurance program could be within weeks of running dry of cash. Lawmakers of both parties clamor for Congress to return to Washington before the November election to approve additional disaster funding. Fiscal conservatives in the House have balked at that.

As the week opened the Pentagon was already preparing  high-water vehicles and helicopters for both search and rescue and transporting relief supplies and troops in central Florida after Hurricane Milton. Task & Purpose reports nearly 10,000 soldiers and other service members are deployed to relief efforts of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina, Tennessee, and elsewhere in that storm’s path.

MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, ordered all personnel living in the path of Hurricane Milton, including on-base housing, to evacuate by 4pm Tuesday, reports Military Times. Mission-essential personnel, those assigned to a hurricane recovery team, and child development centers to accommodate those personnel remain on base. Parts of MacDill were temporarily powerless and flooded in low-lying areas after Hurricane Helene struck Florida Sept. 26, as it passed north.

The week opened with another 500 active-duty troops sent to North Carolina, to help with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts, reports Military Times. The move brings the total number of DoD personnel deployed to the southeast United States for hurricane response to 7,600 troops, from 18 different states. By Wednesday, more than 5,000 Florida National Guard troops had been mobilized to prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Milton, reports Military Times.

The Army’s 18th Airborne Corps is for the first time using a battlefield capability to map road closures, cellular outages, supply needs, and other data in real time to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency and US Northern Command help people whose homes and communities were battered by Hurricane Helene late last month, reports Military Times.

The Navy is looking to work with the US Merchant Marine Academy and six maritime academies nationwide to recruit mariners for Military Sealift, which operates about 125 civilian-crewed ships responsible for a range of tasks, such as replenishing Navy ships. Stars and Stripes reports about 5,500 civilians fill about 4,500 billets across Military Sealift. but about 10,000 are needed.

Military.com reports the United States has spent at least $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since the war in Gaza began, according to a report for Brown University’s Costs of War project, released Monday on the anniversary of Hamas’ attacks on Israel. An additional $4.86 billion has gone into stepped-up US military operations in the region since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, researchers said in findings first provided to The Associated Press.

US-arranged flights have brought about 350 Americans and their immediate relatives out of Lebanon this week during escalated fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, while thousands of others still there face airstrikes and diminishing commercial flights, reports AP News.

A $1,000 investment in Lockheed-Martin, made in October 2014, would be worth $3,393.13, or a gain of 239.31%, as of October 7, 2024, according to Yahoo Finance’s calculations. This return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.

Navy didn’t want to simply end a losing streak against Air Force. It wanted to swing the pendulum back its way with authority. Military.com reports, in a 34-7 blowout of the Falcons in front of a sellout crowd at Falcon Stadium on Saturday, the Midshipmen did just that.

A  proposed rule to establish regulations surrounding AI-generated content, proposed by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel this summer, would impose disclosure requirements if AI was used to create political content at both the federal and state level. Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr, one of two Republican picks at the five-member FCC, is voting against the proposed rule. worried the wrong approach could overtake innovation in the burgeoning field, says NextGov/FCW.

The United Kingdom accused Russia of deploying chemical weapons in its war on Ukraine, and is freezing the assets of agencies and enforcing travel bans on the individuals it says are responsible, reports Politico.

The Netherlands will deliver F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine over the coming months, with the Dutch defense minister acknowledging for the first time that the handover of 24 warplanes to the embattled country is underway, reports Defense News. The Dutch will also provide $439 million to jointly develop and produce advanced drones for reconnaissance, defense, and attack, mainly in the air but also on land and at sea, Ruben Brekelmans said on a surprise visit to the embattled country on Sunday.

North Korea is likely sending its soldiers to fight and die in Ukraine alongside Russian troops, reports Politico. South Korea’s defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, told the country’s parliament on Tuesday, “As Russia and North Korea have signed a mutual treaty akin to a military alliance, the possibility of such a deployment is highly likely,” adding that more of Pyongyang’s soldiers are likely to be deployed.

Fort Liberty in North Carolina could revert to its former name honoring an unsuccessful Confederate general if former President Donald Trump is reelected in November, reports Military.com. “I think I just learned the secret to winning absolutely and by massive margins. I’m going to promise to you, as I said at the beginning, that we’re going to change the name back to Fort Bragg,” Trump said at the town hall-style event in Fayetteville, NC.

Michael Cohen says to believe Trump when he says he would use military force to “round up” his opponents if he wins back the White House in November. The Hill quotes Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, “The big warning that I want people to understand is: When Donald Trump says something, stop sane-washing it. Stop trying to make it into something which has some normalcy to it. What he says, he intends to do.”

An Iran-based website, “Not Our War,” is targeting US veterans and active-duty service members with a disinformation campaign, reports Stars and Stripes, in a broader effort to influence American voters before the November election, according to a report from Defense of Democracies. This website is part of a larger network of about 20 websites purporting to cover US politics and election issues with content tailored for specific readers, including veterans, Black voters, and people who are Spanish-speaking.

WalletHub researched the States With the Best & Worst Representation on Election Day, to identify which states’ voting populations most closely resemble their actual electorates. Maryland will be the third best-represented state in key demographics, including age, race, gender, employment status, family income, educational attainment, and marital status.

Contracts:

Ashford Leebcor Enterprises IV LLC, Williamsburg, Virginia (N69450-22-D-0002); CCI Solutions LLC, Anchorage, Alaska (N69450-22-D-0003); Dawson Enterprises LLC, Honolulu, Hawaii (N69450-22-D-0004); P&S Construction Inc., North Chelmsford, Massachusetts (N69450-22-D-0005); Southeastern Industrial Barlovento JV-2, Destin, Florida (N69450-22-D-0006); VHB LLC, Boyds, Maryland (N69450-22-D-0007); Walga Ross Group 3 JV, Joplin, Montana (N69450-22-D-0008); and Web LLC (doing business as WEBCO), Springfield, Virginia (N69450-22-D-0009), are awarded a combined $70,000,000 firm-fixed-price modification to their respective previously awarded contracts. This modification provides for increasing the capacity for general building type projects. Award of this modification brings the total cumulative value for all 8 contracts combined to $319,000,000. Work will be performed in Florida (34%), Georgia (33%), and South Carolina (33%), and is expected to be completed by November 2026. No funds will be obligated at time of award. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity.

SAAB Inc., East Syracuse, New York, was awarded a $13,512,696 cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded contract (N6339421C0009) to exercise options for engineering, technical, logistical, and material support services for lifecycle sustainment of the AN/SPS-77 (variants) Radar Systems, Marine Corps AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar Systems, Celsius Tech Radar and Optronic Site 200 Fire Control Radar Systems, and other SAAB Sensor Systems. Work will be performed in Syracuse, New York (68%); Sweden (22%); Washington, DC (5%); and Dam Neck, Virginia (5%), and is expected to be completed by September 2025. Fiscal 2024 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $306,662 (23%); fiscal 2023 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $165,005 (12%); and fiscal 2022 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $863,000 (65%) were obligated at time of award and all will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Sept. 10, 2024) 

Lyon Shipyard Inc., Norfolk, Virginia (N42158-22-D-S003); Colonna’s Ship Yard Inc., Norfolk, Virginia (N42158-22-D-S004); Fairlead Boatworks Inc., Portsmouth, Virginia (N42158-22-D-S005); QED Systems Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (N42158-22-D-S006); and East Coast Repair & Fabrication LLC, Hampton Roads, Virginia (N42158-23-D-S002), were awarded a combined $11,000,000 modification to a previously awarded, multiple award contract to exercise Option Year Two for the maintenance and overhaul services to service craft (barges), small boats, and camel systems (fendering) under the custodianship of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, with a period of performance from Sept. 20, 2024, to Sept. 19, 2025. Work under this contract includes furnishing the necessary facilities, management, material, support services, labor, supplies, and equipment to provide marine boatyard and industrial support to craft located specifically in the Norfolk, Virginia, area. The contracts have a base one-year ordering period with four additional optional one-year ordering periods which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $23,240,000 over a five-year period to the five vendors combined. Work will be performed in surrounding cities within Hampton Roads, Virginia. If all options are exercised, work will continue through June 2027. No funding will be obligated at time of modification. Funding will be obligated at the time of task order award. These contracts were competitively procured via the System for Award Management website, with five offers received. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
(Awarded Sept. 19, 2024)

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Melbourne, Florida, is awarded a $10,768,532 firm-fixed-price contract (N0001925F0036) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N0001920G0005). This contract procures a lifetime quantity of 4-inch silicon carbide transistor wafers. The end-of- life buy is required to maintain production, spares, and repairs for the APY-9 RADAR’s primary power supply, power amplifier module in support of the E-2D aircraft. Work will be performed in Durham, North Carolina (90%); and Baltimore, Maryland (10%), and is expected to be completed in February 2027. Fiscal 2023 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $10,768,532 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was not competitively procured. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Ivyhill Technologies LLC, Hyattsville, Maryland, is awarded a $9,374,230 firm-fixed-price contract (HT001424D0002) for the Defense Health Agency (DHA) Integrated Referral Management and Appointing Center (IRMAC), National Capital Region Consolidated Call Center/Referral Management Support. The IRMAC is an integrated on-demand call center for National Capital Region military hospitals and clinics providing referral management and appointing services for the network and serves as the point of contact for beneficiaries seeking health care. The IRMAC assists beneficiaries with appointments, navigating the direct care system, and providing referral management oversight. Place of performance is Bethesda, Maryland, however, based on mission requirements, the duty location for service-providing personnel may be located at a military hospital or clinic or an authorized telework location within the National Capital Region. Fiscal 2025 operations and maintenance funds will be obligated when available after award. Period of performance is Oct. 1, 2024, to Sep. 30, 2025. This action was conducted as a competitive negotiated acquisition, with 11 offers received. DHA, Northeastern Healthcare Operations Contracting Division, Falls Church, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Sept. 30, 2024)

Tecolote Research Inc., Goleta, California, was awarded a $148,131,860 firm-fixed-price contract for acquisition and financial advisory and assistance services. This contract provides for Space Systems Command Assured Access to Space programs. Work will be performed at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California; Kirtland AFB, New Mexico; Vandenberg Space Force Base, California; Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida; and the Pentagon, Washington D.C.; and is expected to be completed by Nov. 13, 2029. This contract was a competitive acquisition, and one offer was received. Fiscal 2024 space procurement funds in the amount of $2,400,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Space Systems Command, Los Angeles AFB, California is the contracting activity (FA8811-25-F-B003).

General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a not-to-exceed $878,000,000 undefinitized contract action modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-17-C-2100) for additional material in support of the planned Virginia Class submarines SSN 812 and SSN 813 and in furtherance of the Navy’s commitment to the health and stability of the industrial base. Work will be performed in Chesapeake, Virginia (6%); El Cajon, California (4%); Waltham, Massachusetts (3%); Westfield, Massachusetts (2%); Depew, New York (2%); South El Monte, California (2%); Ladson, South Carolina (2%); Linden, New Jersey (2%); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2%); Jacksonville, Florida (2%); Manchester, New Hampshire (1%); Parsippany, New Jersey (1%); Spring Grove, Illinois (1%); Woburn, Massachusetts (1%); Sunnyvale, California (1%); and other locations less than 1% (68%), and is expected to be completed by September 2033. Fiscal 2024 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $658,500,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

CORRECTION: The Oct. 3, 2024, announcement of a $42,855,952 contract to IT Concepts Inc., Vienna, Virginia (HT0011-24-F-0053), included incorrect award information. The contract was competitively awarded.