March 29, 2024

Proposed 2.7% Pay Raise for DoD Civilians & Troops

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Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River Morning Coffee logoeconomic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

A 2.7% raise for troops and DoD civilians gains momentum, reports Military Times, as Senate leaders join White House officials and House appropriators in backing the pay raise in 2022.

The House approved five bipartisan measures designed to enhance various aspects of the nation’s cybersecurity, reports The Hill, in a 319-105 vote. It includes measures to fund cybersecurity at the state and local level, bolster reporting requirements, and test critical infrastructure.

Fuel pipeline operators must institute measures to guard against ransomware attacks and other known cybersecurity threats under a new directive issued this week by the Transportation Security Agency, reports FCW. This is the second directive issued by TSA in the wake of the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline’s business IT systems in May, which led to the suspension of pipeline operations for about a week.

Two lawmakers say the Navy’s shipbuilding plan doesn’t tell Congress what the service needs and does not provide certainty for long-term planning, reports Defense One. “It just didn’t start with this 30-year shipbuilding plan,”  the past three shipbuilding plans have not met the needs of Congress, according to Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA).

CNO ADM Mike Gilday says the Navy’s current budget requires cutting ships to meet the long-term needs, reports USNI, and expects to battle lawmakers who oppose this “divest to invest” strategy. Gilday argues the strategy  “gets us to a more capable, a more lethal fleet, but not necessarily a bigger fleet, unless we see a rise in the top line.” The Navy’s FY22 budget hovers at around 300 vessels, despite a mandate for it to build out to 355.

The US conducted its first airstrike in Somalia under the Biden administration, reports Air Force Magazine, on July 20, targeting al-Shabab fighters. Most American troops have left the country. According to DoD, “US forces were conducting a remote advise-and-assist mission in support of designated Somali partner forces. US forces are authorized to conduct strikes in support of combatant commander-designated partner forces under collective self defense.”

A bill advancing in the Senate would move prosecution decisions for serious crimes out of the chain of command, reports Military.com. In the first step to craft the annual defense policy legislation, personnel subcommittee chairwoman SEN Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said the bill contains a provision that would remove prosecution decisions for sex crimes from unit commanders and the chain of command.

The Pentagon inspector general is exploring how to better secure the “nuclear football,” if it should be lost or compromised reports Military Times. The DoD’s inspector general’s office says the project will evaluate the procedures in place should that occur. A “nuclear football” travels at all times with both the president and vice president.

 

 

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: July 19, 2021.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has asked the Federal Trade Commission to take a tougher look at defense industry mergers, questioning a proposal from Lockheed Martin that would allow it to buy the biggest independent maker of rocket motors, Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, reports Economic Times.

KBR Inc. has won  more than $120 million in Navy contracts to deliver engineering services for training systems and aircraft survivability equipment, reports NASDAQ.com. KBR will carry out work for these task orders in Florida and other locations over the next five years.

Chesapeake, VA, defense contractor MI Technical Solutions recently announced a $520,000 expansion project, reports The Virginian-Pilot. The company worked with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and Chesapeake officials on the development, which will also benefit from the Virginia Jobs Investment Program, which provides funding and consulting for employee training and retention efforts around the new positions.

Japan’s defense minister has confirmed it will base its Lockheed-Martin F-35B Lightning II Short Take off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) fighter jets at the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands, reports Defense News.

The 147 Republicans who voted against certifying President Joe Biden’s victory are still feeling the sting of decreased support from corporations, Bloomberg reports on a review of second quarter Federal Election Commission filings. While those Republicans saw a 31% decline in contributions compared to the same period in 2019, many groups have quietly resumed giving, including to the election objectors.

Massive wildfires in the US West bring haze to the East Coast, reports ABC News. Wildfires, including one burning in Oregon that’s currently the largest in the US, are creating hazy skies as far away as New York as the massive infernos spew smoke and ash into the air in columns up to six miles high. Skies over New York City were hazy Tuesday as strong winds blew smoke east from California, Oregon, Montana, and other states. Oregon’s Bootleg Fire grew to 606 square miles — half the size of Rhode Island.

Steps have been taken to help military families hit hard by housing shortages and moving crunches, reports Military Times. Some service officials have added flexibility to dates for service members to report to their next duty station. The Army’s privatized lodging partner extended discounted rates in its hotels for service members who need longer stays to find permanent housing.

A trailblazing admiral and Hall of Fame female diver retires after conquering “fear of the sea,” reports USNI. One of the first female divers in the Navy and one of the first Filipino-Americans to graduate from the US Naval Academy retired this weekend after more than 30 years in the service. For most of her 36-year career, RADM Bette Bolivar has been a rarity in the Navy: A seasoned, female diver whose path into the Navy followed her father’s but which she made into her own from a life-changing experience in her early formidable years.

Pegasus spyware, licensed to to governments worldwide, infiltrated the phones of 10 prime ministers, three presidents, and a king, reports The Washington Post. Among 50,000 phone numbers, the Pegasus Project found those of hundreds of public officials. The military-grade spyware licensed by an Israeli firm to governments for tracking terrorists and criminals was used in attempted and successful hacks of journalists, human rights activists, and business executives as well as government officials.

Contracts:

Jade Creek Construction LLC, Manassas, Virginia, has been awarded an $11,307,381 firm-fixed-price construction contract for the all labor, materials, and equipment necessary to replace existing wind turbine generators. Work will be performed at Ascension Auxiliary Airfield, South Atlantic Ocean, and is expected to be completed Nov 28, 2023. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2017 Energy Resilience Conservation Investment Program funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. The 45th Contracting Squadron, Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA2521-21-C-0016).

Deloitte Consulting, Arlington, Virginia, is awarded a $27,160,067 modification to a previously awarded, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract issued by the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California. This modification is to complete engineering changes to the order to payment system (OTPS), also known as NEST. The objective of this contract is to enable effective management of the current next generation enterprise network contracts, as well as to obtain the full range of systems engineering, software engineering, project management, integration and application sustainment services to assist and support the Navy’s program executive office digital to complete OPTS/NEST engineering changes. This modification adds the second increment of 12 months to this 43-month basic contract. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by January 2024 if all options are exercised. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,787,240; and fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,685,566 will be applied to this contract after award. Obligated funds in the amount of $4,787,240 would have expired at the end of the current fiscal year if this award had not been made. The three option periods, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $49,158,628. This contract was not competitively procured because it is a sole-source acquisition pursuant to the authority of 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) — only one responsible source, Federal Acquisition Regulation subpart 6.302-1. The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California (N00039-20-C-0011), is the contracting activity.

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