Riot & Inauguration Put Pentagon in Crosshairs

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 Pentagon faces scrutiny over its response to the US Capitol riot, reports The Washington Post, accused by DC government and Capitol Police of slow-walking an emergency call for National Guard reinforcements, leaving the Capitol all but defenseless against a marauding group of pro-Trump rioters.

DoD officials are struggling to assess how many troops were involved in the Capitol riot, reports Military Times. Some military retirees can be brought back to face military charges after the Capitol riot, reports The Washington Post, but only in certain circumstances.

The Army will support the burial with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery for Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who suffered fatal injuries while defending the US Capitol against a pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6, reports Military.com

DoD has authorized as many as 15,000 National Guard troops to be deployed to the inauguration, twice the size as troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq combined, reports Military Times. Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), a former Army officer, pressed for reviews to assure troops deployed to the inauguration are not sympathetic to domestic terrorists.

The FBI is warning of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals as well as DC, in the days leading up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, reports Military Times. Maryland Matters reports security will be heightened around the Maryland State House and capital complex. The Maryland General Assembly convenes today, Jan. 13. MD Gov. Larry Hogan (R), DC Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), and VA Governor Ralph Northam (D) are discouraging crowds from heading into DC for Inauguration Day.

Northrop Grumman was the first defense prime to pause political donations to members of Congress; Leidos was the next, reports Defense News.

The Wall Street Journal reports on a gathering of CEOs considering withholding donations to Republican lawmakers seeking to impede the presidential transition. The collaboration marks a tactical shift toward joining forces to take newly strident positions on politics rather than speaking out individually. (Paywall.)

The military knew it had a hate group problem, but not how bad it was, reports Politico. The overall problem of right-wing extremism has dogged the military for decades and tends to be more severe when there is a rise in wider society. A Navy veteran calling himself  “QAnon Shaman” played a leading role and has been arrested, reports Military.com. A retired Air Force officer was part of the mob that stormed the Capitol and was arrested in Texas, reports Military Times. The rioter killed trying to break into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) office was also an Air Force veteran who espoused far-right and QAnon conspiracies, reports LA Times.

 

 

Incoming Foreign Relations chairman Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) is a foe of  President Donald Trump’s massive Mideast arms sales, reports Defense News. Last year, the Senate failed to override a trio of vetoes issued by Trump, allowing the administration to sell billions of dollars of weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Menendez opposed the Trump administration’s s arms sales to the Mideast, its rejection of Cold War arms control treaties, and its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

DoD has not halted US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan despite a law barring it, reports Reuters. The new law prohibiting further reductions without the Pentagon sending Congress an assessment of the risks. The action will likely anger Republican and Democratic lawmakers opposed to further troop cuts and renew concerns about the outgoing Trump administration’s disdain for Congress, even in its waning days.

A new campaign plan focused on developing unmanned systems for the Navy will be released in the coming weeks, reports National Defense. It is focused on unmanned air, surface, and undersea platforms becoming a quarter of its fleet in the next 10 to 15 years. From 2022-2026 about $4.3 billion would acquire 12 large unmanned service vessels, one medium unmanned surface vessel, and eight extra-large unmanned underwater vehicles.

As the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and its thousands of sailors prepare for another long, COVID-restricted deployment, Navy Times reports on the rising concerns regarding morale, even a feared uptick in suicides. Some are wondering why the Navy continues to push the operational pace of last year, as if COVID-19 didn’t even exist.

After 20 years of what two leading lawmakers last year called “absurd acquisition debacles,” the Navy is changing its approach. Instead of building ships and technologies in concert — as it did with the Zumwalt-class destroyer, the littoral combat ship, and the Ford-class carrier — the Navy will design hulls around fielded systems with room for upgrades, says CNO ADM Michael Gilday.

The Navy has issued a posthumous Navy Cross to USS Indianapolis chaplain, Lt. Thomas Conway, reports USNI. Lt. Conway died helping his fellow shipmates after the WW II cruiser sank into the ocean.

Army leaders are fighting distrust from soldiers at Fort Hood, reports Army Times, as the service addresses high rates of assault, harassment, leadership problems, and issues with Fort Hood’s criminal investigation division. More than two dozen soldiers at Fort Hood died in 2020. Findings released last month resulted in 14 people fired or suspended.

Contracts:

AchieveIt Online LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (FA8612-21-D-0101); Aerocine Ventures Inc., Jackson Heights, New York (FA8612-21-D-0102); Aerovation Inc., Tucson, Arizona (FA8612-21-D-0103); AI.Reverie Inc., New York, New York (FA8612-21-D-0104); All Vision Technologies Inc., New York, New York (FA8612-21-D-0105); Allied Associates International Inc., Gainesville, Virginia (FA8612-21-D-0106); Aptima Inc., Woburn, Massachusetts (FA8612-21-D-0108); A-Tech Corp., Albuquerque, New Mexico (FA8612-21-D-0109); BlackHorse Solutions Inc., Herndon, Virginia (FA8612-21-D-0110); Charles River Analytics Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts (FA8612-21-D-0111); CIS Secure Computing Inc., Ashburn, Virginia (FA8612-21-D-0112); Cognitive Space Inc., Manvel, Texas (FA8612-21-D-0113); TeleCommunication Systems Inc., Annapolis, Maryland (FA8612-21-D-0114); Concept Solutions LLC, Reston, Virginia (FA8612-21-D-0115); Crunchy Data Solutions Inc., Charleston, South Carolina (FA8612-21-D-0116); CrowdAI Inc., Mountain View, California (FA8612-21-D-0117); Danbury Enterprises LLC, Arlington, Virginia (FA8612-21-D-0118); Data Machines Corp., Ashburn, Virginia (FA8612-21-D-0119); Defense Architecture Systems Inc., Fulton, Maryland (FA8612-21-D-0120); DTC Communications Inc., Herndon, Virginia (FA8612-21-D-0121); Forcepoint Federal LLC, Herndon, Virginia (FA8612-21-D-0122); Intelligent Waves LLC, Reston, Virginia (FA8612-21-D-0123); Iron Bow Technologies LLC, Herndon, Virginia (FA8612-21-D-0124); KeyW Corp., Hanover, Maryland (FA8612-21-D-0125); Modus Operandi Inc., Melbourne, Florida (FA8612-21-D-0126); Sentenai Inc., Boston, Massachusetts (FA8612-21-D-0128); The Stratagem Group Inc., Aurora, Colorado (FA8612-21-D-0129); Technergetics LLC, Utica, New York (FA8612-21-D-0130); Technica Corp, Sterling, Virginia (FA8612-21-D-0131); RAFT LLC, Reston, Virginia (FA8612-21-D-0132); Enveil Inc., Fulton, Maryland (FA8612-21-D-0133); Sherpa LLC, St. Louis, Missouri (FA8612-21-D-0134); KIHOMAC Inc., Reston, Virginia (FA8612-21-D-0135); Kinnami Software Corpo., Braintree, Massachusetts (FA8612-21-D-0136); KPMG LLP, McLean, Virginia (FA8621-21-D-0137); and Perspecta Labs Inc., Basking Ridge, New Jersey (FA8612-21-D-0138), have collectively been awarded a ceiling $950,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to compete for future efforts associated with the maturation, demonstration and proliferation of capability across platforms and domains, leveraging open systems design, modern software and algorithm development in order to enable Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2). These contracts provide for the development and operation of systems as a unified force across all domains (air, land, sea, space, cyber and electromagnetic spectrum) in an open architecture family of systems that enables capabilities via multiple integrated platforms. The locations of performance are to be determined at the contract direct order level and are expected to be completed May 28, 2025. These awards are the result of fair and open competition. The initial delivery orders will be fully funded by fiscal year research, development, test and evaluation funds. The Air Force Life Cycle Management, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity.

WR Systems Ltd., Fairfax, Virginia, is awarded a $19,191,662 non-commercial, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for engineering and program support services in support of the Relocatable Over-the-Horizon Radar Life Cycle Management Department at the Forces Surveillance Support Center, Chesapeake, Virginia. The contract will include a 48-month ordering period with no options. The ordering period is expected to begin April 2021 and be completed by March 2025. Work will be performed in Chesapeake, Virginia (42%); Fairfax, Virginia (39%); New Kent, Virginia (6%); Corpus Christi, Texas (3%); San Juan, Puerto Rico (3%); Adelaide, Australia (1%); San Diego, California (1%); Dayton, Ohio (1%); Colorado Springs, Colorado (1%); Washington, DC (1%); Arlington, Virginia (1%); and Key West, Florida (1%). Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $10,000 will be obligated to fund the contract’s minimum amount and funds will expire at the end of the fiscal year. One source was solicited for this non-competitive, sole-source requirement pursuant to the authority set forth in 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1, with one offer received. The Naval Supply Systems Command, Fleet Logistics Center, Norfolk Contracting Department, Philadelphia Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00189-21-D-Z015).