Report: Where Federal Defense Dollars Are Spent

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.

A Pew Charitable Trusts report on where federal defense dollars are spent shows Pentagon contract spending puts Connecticut at No. 1, reports Hartford Courant, by one measure: defense contracts as a percentage of spending. Maryland was 21st on the list. Other categories are salaries and wages, retirement benefits, nonretirement benefits, and grants. In FY2018, the federal government spent a total of $579 billion on defense in the states and the District of Columbia, or $1,772 per capita, according to the report.

The USS Tripoli has left Mississippi to join its fleet in San Diego, reports Naval Technology. The US Navy’s latest amphibious assault ship will be the flagship of an Amphibious Ready Group, the Marine Expeditionary Units. The Tripoli, called LHA 7, is like its predecessor the USS America designed to optimize new aviation assets such as the F-35B and upgraded Osprey helicopters, reports The National Interest. Construction began on the Tripoli in July 2013 at the Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, reports gulflive.com.

Construction of the new Littoral Combat Ship – the future USS Beloit – was started by contractor Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin on July 22. This event was marked by a keel laying ceremony in Marinette, reports Hot Cars.

For the first time in seven years, the US and Russia were expected to meet this week to discuss norms of behavior in space, reports Breaking Defense, even as both nations build capability for war in the heavens.

US Africa Command said more Russian military equipment has been found in Libya capable of assisting in operations against the US and United Nations-backed forces, reports Military Times.

US Army Cyber Command celebrated its new headquarters at Fort Gordon, GA, last week, reports dvidshub.net. The ceremony heralded the arrival of ARCYBER in Georgia from the Washington, DC, area, where elements of the command have been located at Fort Belvoir, Fort Meade and other sites in the national capital region since the organization’s creation in October 2010.

The US Senate’s defense spending bill includes protections for politically sensitive planes based at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, reports Valdosta Daily Times. Although the Senate bill doesn’t mention specific earmarks for Moody, it does shield the A-10 Warthog ground attack aircraft fleet from being disposed of during FY21. The National Interest characterized the Warthog as “the warplane that just won’t die.”

 

 

On Friday, US House lawmakers advanced the largest budget in Veterans Affairs history, reports Military Times, but the spending package faces an uncertain future in the Senate and even tougher odds if it reaches the White House.

VA police officers would be mandated to wear body cameras to record interactions on department campuses and dramatically increase their conflict resolution training as part of a slate of new suicide prevention bills being introduced in the House, reports Military Times.

Funding for Stars and Stripes, the US military’s independent news source, was not included in the Senate’s version of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, setting up deliberations in the House about the future of the publication, reports Stars and Stripes.

The US Navy has recovered a $2 million anti-mine pod inadvertently dropped by one of its helicopters this month off the coast of Virginia, near the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, reports Military.com. An MH-60S Knighthawk had an “unintentional jettison of the AN/AQS-235 Airborne Mine Neutralization pod over water in a training area north of Cape Henry,” said Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg, a spokeswoman for Naval Air Force Atlantic.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Ok) says that President Donald Trump’s goal to withdraw 10,000 American troops from Germany will take years to execute, reports Defense News. Sen. Inhofe backs the idea of shifting the American military forces there to create “a greater number of smaller, well-positioned bases that would increase our reach.” He said details still need to be worked out, but so far he sees no reason for opposition to the idea.

Yeager Airport in Charleston, WV, and the West Virginia National Guard are working to have a 2,000-square-mile swath of airspace over southern West Virginia designated as a military operations area to accommodate tactical training by armed forces aviators, reports Charleston Gazette-Mail.

The upcoming release of “Top Gun: Maverick” will be delayed for a second time until July 2, 2021, reports The Aviationist. The highly-anticipated sequel to the original 1986 “Top Gun” movie was originally slated for theatrical release in the US last month.

Col. Jason J. Lennen assumed command of the 316th Medical Group from Col. Vito S. Smyth during a change of command ceremony at Joint Base Andrews on July 16, reports the 316th Public Affairs Office.

The Delaware National Guard 166th Airlift Wing sees an historic first. Chief Master Sgt. Robbin D. Moore is its first Black female command chief, reports Dover Post.

New testing has detected per– and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, in the St. Mary’s River, reports Bay Journal Media, though at levels much lower than those reported there earlier this year.

Contracts:

CBGG JV LLC, Silver Spring, Maryland, is awarded a $12,982,363 firm-fixed-price contract for trailer procurement Phase II at Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina. Work will be performed in Jacksonville and Havelock, North Carolina. The work to be performed provides for the procurement, delivery and set-up of 75 interim relocatable facilities, with 62 to be located at MCB Camp Lejeune and 13 to be located at MCAS Cherry Point. The new facilities will include administrative, classroom trailers, post office, medical aid station, computer lab, chapel and fire station. Work is expected to be completed by November 2020. Fiscal 2020 procurement (Marine Corps) contract funds in the amount of $12,982,363 are obligated on this award, of which $11,200,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov website and 13 proposals were received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-20-C-0008).

Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $58,487,824 firm-fixed-price contract to ensure suitable time and ceiling are available to meet the requirements of the Automated Installation Entry system. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 27, 2022. US Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QY-15-D-0047).

Carahsoft Technology Corp., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $16,043,475 firm-fixed-price contract for contractor staff augmentation services to migrate the Army Enterprise Systems Integration Program components and Global Combat Support System-Army system. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of July 26, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $16,043,475 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-20-F-0432).