Rural Areas Appealing to More Workers

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.

Survey says: Many Americans would think about moving to rural areas if working-from-home policies become the norm, reports Nextgov.com, citing a recent poll by SatelliteInternet.com. Among the findings is that 67% said that internet availability would affect a decision to move somewhere more rural. Another survey agrees with the sentiment, reports Yahoo!money. Nearly 40% of US adults living in urban areas indicated they would consider moving out of populated areas and toward rural areas, according to market research company Harris Poll.

BroadbandNow’s latest study also highlights access to affordable plans – with states in the Northeast leading the way – and analysis on current trends and challenges in the broadband space. “Now, more than ever, we have to close the massive gaps in connectivity to the internet and it begins by setting a new gold standard,” according to the report.

Globalworkplaceanalytics.com reports 66% of global office workers and 82% of US office workers say they want to continue to work from home, at least weekly, when the pandemic is over.

The primary platform, Commercial Virtual Remote Environment, used by the Defense Department to handle telework for employees will remain in place until at least June 2021, reports C4IRSNET. The CVR platform has long been touted as a major success of ensuring that the department remains productive during the pandemic. Though CVR worked for the quick leap to telework, DoD is working on a lasting solution that will operate at a higher impact level, reports Nextgov.com.

The US Army finished its pilot program that would allow teleworkers to access classified information, reports C4IRSNET, a capability that military leaders rolled out over the summer.

A squad of Navy SEALs rescued an American who was being held in Niger, reports Military Times. The hostage, Philipe Nathan Walton, was taken Oct. 26 from his farm by kidnappers who demanded ransom from his family.

Balvinder Kaur of the US Army’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate at Fort Belvoir, VA, was issued a patent for his video-based biometric sensor technology. With about 30 seconds of video looking at a person’s palm or forehead, the technology can determine heart rate and pretty much instantly calculate a person’s stress level with a high degree of accuracy, reports Tech Link.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) says there is no actual plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by Christmas, reports Defense Defense. President Donald Trump had announced earlier this month that he wanted the troops out by the holiday, Military Times reported Oct. 7.

 

 

Al Qaeda is still “heavily embedded” within the Taliban in Afghanistan, reports BBC, in spite of a historic US-Taliban agreement earlier this year,

Threats were made against some senior Pentagon leaders after the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani early this year, reports NBC News. Information included in a briefing in September suggest the targets are DoD officials who were involved in the plan.

After 17 years of fighting Saddam, AQ, and ISIS, officials say support for Baghdad and its security forces remains key to fending off Iran, Defense One asks: Is Iraq’s Military Good Enough for US Troops to Leave?

President Trump met with US Special Forces troops involved in last year’s raid to kill Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, reports Military Times. During the visit to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, the president presented the troops with a Presidential Unit Citation and visited a Special Forces memorial on base. The raid took place in October 2019.

The littoral combat ship Detroit suffered a problem with its propulsion system and is returning to Mayport, FL, from a deployment to South America, reports Defense News. A string of combining gear casualties with the Freedom-class LCS dates back to at least late 2015. The complicated propulsion systems had proven to be tricky, raising questions about reliability, Defense News had reported last year.

New barracks named after the destroyer USS John S. McCain and its namesakes were opened at Naval Station Great Lakes , IL, reports UPI.

The Space Force’s second highest-ranking general David Thompson is quarantining after testing positive for COVID-19, reports Air Force Times.

The US Naval Test Pilot School hosted a presentation by Amazon Web Services. AWS is moving the Navy’s data and analytics into the cloud to improve real-time access to information by defense personnel stationed around the globe. Personnel learned about how the migration is being accomplished and what some of the early benefits have been, reports The Tester.

Two veterans and former combat aviators — Republican Sen. Martha McSally and Democrat astronaut Mark Kelly — may have a lot of common ground in military experience, but in a tight Senate race in Arizona, they’ve been openly clashing with one another in the final days leading up to a Nov. 3 special election, reports Military Times.

 

Contracts:

Dyncorp International LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $60,040,851 modification (P00046) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable contract N68936-17-C-0052. This modification exercises an option to provide organizational level aircraft maintenance and logistics support on aircraft, systems, subsystems, aircrew systems, search and rescue equipment and support equipment for P-3 Orion, C-130 Hercules, F/A-18 Hornet, E/A-18 Growler, AV-8B Harrier II, H-60 Seahawk and E-2D Hawkeye aircraft in support of the Naval Test Wing Pacific Command. Work will be performed in China Lake, California (50%); Point Mugu, California (40%); Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii (2%); Naval Air Station, Lemoore, California (2%); Patrick Air Force Base, Florida (1%); Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico (1%); Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Maryland (1%); Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, Arizona (1%); Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, California (1%); and North Island, California (1%), and is expected to be completed in October 2021. Working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $46,709,814 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division, China Lake, California, is the contracting activity.

KPMG LLP, McLean, Virginia, is being awarded a maximum $224,033,259 labor hour contract for audit services for the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General audits of the Army financial statements. Work will be performed in McLean, Virginia, with an expected completion date of Dec. 31, 2021. The contract has a one-year base period with four individual one-year option periods, and is the result of a competitive acquisition for which three quotes were received. Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $43,696,323 are being obligated at the time of the award. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Contract Services Directorate, Columbus, Ohio, is the contracting activity (HQ0423-21-F-0005).

WGL Energy Services Inc., Vienna, Virginia (SPE604-21-D-8005, $84,270,116); Reliant Energy Northeast LLC, Houston, Texas (SPE604-21-D-8004, $48,256,472); AEP Energy Inc., Chicago, Illinois (SPE604-21-D-8000, $15,924,871); MP2 Energy NE LLC, The Woodlands, Texas (SPE604-21-D-8003, $15,124,148); and Dynegy Energy Services (East) LLC, Cincinnati, Ohio (SPE604-21-D-8006, $9,060,198), have each been awarded a firm-fixed-price, requirements-type contract under solicitation SPE604-20-R-0408 to supply and deliver retail electricity and ancillary/incidental services. These were competitive acquisitions with nine responses received. They are two-year contracts with no option periods. Locations of performance are Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, DC, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Ohio, with a Dec. 31, 2022, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Army Reserve, Argonne National Laboratory, Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, US National Arboretum, Naval Research Laboratory, National Institutes of Health, Department of Veterans Affairs, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Communication Support System Group, National Agricultural Library, Army Corps of Engineers, Defense Intelligence Agency, Defense Information Systems Agency, Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Contract Management Agency and other federal civilian agencies. Using customers are solely responsible for funding this contract and vary in appropriation type and fiscal year. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

Ernst and Young LLP, New York, New York, is being awarded a maximum $263,438,451 labor-hour contract for financial statement audit services for the Navy. Work will be performed in Alexandria, Virginia, with an expected completion date of Dec. 31, 2021. The contract has a one-year base period with four individual one-year option periods. This contract is the result of a competitive acquisition for which one quote was received. Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $50,270,811 are being obligated at the time of the award. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Contract Services Directorate, Columbus, Ohio, is the contracting activity (HQ0423-21-F-0002).

BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services Inc., Rockville, Maryland, has been awarded a $13,365,920 time and materials task order to provide time and materials for Mobility Air Forces Automated Flight Planning Service (MAFPS) Functional On-Site Support Element. This contract provides services to include support desk activities and assistance with MAFPS flight plan requests, data management, application training, creation/routing/tracking/analysis of customer requests/trouble tickets (trend analysis) and resulting products to ensure Air Operations Center mission requirements are met. Work will be performed in Rockville, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 30, 2024. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,690,571 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8730-20-F-0202).

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Aerospace Systems, Melbourne, Florida, is awarded a $9,789,348 modification (P00004) to cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order N00019-20-F-0025 against previously issued basic ordering agreement N00019-15-G-0026. This modification exercises an option to provide labor to retrofit link 16 crypto-modernization/hybrid-beyond line of sight capabilities on 34 E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia (39.2%); Ronkonkoma, New York (23.98%); Bethpage, New York (18.02%); Petaluma, California (6.8%); Irvine, California (6.76%); Melbourne, Florida (3.25%); Minden, Nebraska (1.5%); and various locations within the continental US (0.49%), and is expected to be completed in April 2022. Fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,789,348 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

GE Aviation Systems LLC, Dowty Propellers, Sterling, Virginia, is awarded an $8,091,000 modification (P00020) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00019-17-D-0089. This modification adds scope to provide logistics services in support of KC-130J R391 propeller upgrades for the Marine Corps. Specifically, this effort provides durability upgrades to the propeller blade polyurethane and leading edge guard. Work will be performed in Sterling, Virginia (56%); and Gloucester, United Kingdom (44%), and is expected to be completed in May 2022. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Test & Evaluation Services and Technologies LLC, Herndon, Virginia, was awarded a $15,217,605 modification (P00002) to contract W900KK-20-D-0012 for threat systems operations and maintenance integrated support. Work will be performed in Herndon, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 26, 2027. Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $15,217,605 were obligated at the time of the award. The US Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Oct. 21, 2020)

ICF Inc. LLC, Fairfax, Virginia, was awarded a $14,155,272 modification (P00040) to contract W911QX-17-C-0018 for mission critical defense cyber operation services. Work will be performed in Adelphi, Maryland; Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland; Fort Belvoir, Virginia; San Antonio, Texas; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Fort Meade, Maryland; and Columbia, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Army) funds in the amount of $2,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. The US Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

National Conferencing Inc., Dumfries, Virginia, was awarded a $13,492,970 modification (P00003) to contract W9124J-20-C-0018 to provide event planning, coordination and logistical support for training requirements of Department of the Army, Chief of Chaplains. Work will be performed in Dumfries, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2020. Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $9,124,231 were obligated at the time of the award. The US Army Field Directorate Office, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is the contracting activity.