Shooting Sparks Call for Concealed Guns on Bases

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 letter from dozens of US Navy pilots to lawmakers and top military officials asks that more pilots be allowed to carry arms on military installations, Fox News reports, and allow those standing watch at flight schools across the country to be armed. This request comes in the wake of the deadly shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida by a Saudi Arabian aviator training there.

Boeing will halt production of 737 Max airplanes indefinitely beginning next month, reports The Washington Post. Boeing is the single biggest component of the Dow Jones industrial average, effects of its decision on employment and stock prices could be swift. 737s were grounded nine months ago following two crashes that killed 346 people. The company has been unable to show regulators the planes are safe to fly.

DefSec Mark Esper said he wants to expand foreign military training despite fallout stemming from the shooting in Pensacola that claimed the lives of three service members and wounded eight others, reports Military Times. On Thursday, the Pentagon announced no new international military students will come to the US for training until new screening procedures are in place, reports The Associated Press.

The US Naval Academy Midshipmen dominated their rivals from West Point 31-7 in front of a crowd of 68,705 on Saturday, snapping a three-game loss in the rivalry with Army, reports Military Times.

The Pentagon said last week that Turkey will have to get rid of the advanced S-400 air defense system that it bought from Russia as a first step in improving relations with the US and NATO, reports Military.com.

Pending Pentagon approval, curriculum known as Tier 2 Tactical Combat Casualty Care could become the uniform standard taught to troops with non-medical jobs, reports Army Times. The new curriculum would replace Combat Lifesaver Training.

Poland is looking to a US-led military exercise next year to bolster its status as a leader of NATO’s Eastern European and Baltic states, reports Breaking Defense.

Israel is demonstrating that it has the most powerful military in the Middle East, reports The National Interest. Here are the five greatest weapons in that country’s arsenal.

The Pentagon’s top official in charge of personnel and readiness, Jimmy Stewart, resigned Friday after a little over a year on the job, making him the second top official last week to say they would step down, reports The Hill. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Randall Schriver said he plans to leave the department after being in the role since January 2018, reports The Washington Times.

 

 

Recent deaths during military training across the services are the subject of a new Defense Department inspector general project, reports Military Times. The DoD IG is also going to look at how troops are being used at the US-Mexico border and what the rotations have cost.

A soldier will be heading to court-martial for involuntary manslaughter, among other charges, in the case of a vehicle rollover that killed a West Point cadet and wounded about 20 others in June 2019, reports Army Times.

The Australian Air Force has taken delivery of its 12th P-8A Poseidon, reports Defence Connect. The RAAF is in the process of replacing its aging fleet of P-3C Orions. The anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft is expected to enhance Australia’s maritime security in its isolated Southern Ocean territories. Defence Connect also reports the RAAF welcomed its latest batch of seven F-35As.

Lockheed Martin has delivered the Mars 2020 rover’s aeroshell to NASA, reports Aerospace Technology. Featuring a backshell and heat shield, the aeroshell will protect the rover as it enters Mars’ atmosphere.

NASA scientists have released a map showing water ice that is as little as 1 inch below surface of Mars, reports Space.com. “You wouldn’t need a backhoe to dig up this ice. You could use a shovel,” said Sylvain Piqueux of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. “We’re continuing to collect data on buried ice on Mars, zeroing in on the best places for astronauts to land.”

Meet the graduates of the latest class of the US Naval Test Pilot School. Class 156 had 33 students, reports dcmilitary.com. Graduates included members of the US Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force; students from Australia, Finland, Italy, and Singapore; and civil service engineers from the Departments of the Army and Navy.

Contracts:

Sysco Hampton Roads, Suffolk, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $90,716,317 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for perishable and semi-perishable subsistence supplies. This was a sole-source acquisition in accordance with 10 US Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a 363-day bridge contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Virginia, with a Dec. 11, 2020, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 and 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-20-D-3241). (Awarded Dec. 12, 2019)

Attain LLC, McLean, Virginia, was awarded a $30,492,418 modification (BA07 27) to contract W91QUZ-11-D-0016 to acquire and retain contractor employees with technical experience. Work will be performed in Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2020. Fiscal 2020 cost-plus-fixed-fee funds in the amount of $ 8,174,474 other procurement, Army funds were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

General Dynamics Mission Systems, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is awarded a $299,886,600 cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00030-20-C-0005) for fiscal 2020 through 2023 U.S. and United Kingdom Trident II (D-5) Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarines Fire Control System, Guided Missile Submarines Attack Weapon Control System, and Support Equipment Rework Facility support. Work will be performed in Pittsfield, Massachusetts (90%); Kings Bay, Georgia (3.0%); Bangor, Washington (2.0%); Dahlgren, Virginia (2.0%); Cape Canaveral, Florida (1.0%); Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Washington (1.0%); and Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Virginia (1.0%). Work is expected to be completed Dec. 30, 2024. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,061,163, fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $14,907,880, fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,006,230, and United Kingdom funds in the amount of $8,890,232 are being obligated on this award. Of this amount, $10,067,393 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is being awarded to the contractor on a sole source basis in accordance to 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) and (4) and was previously synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities website. Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

Lockheed Martin, Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $27,681,322 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-19-C-6400 to exercise options for systems engineering and integration on Navy submarines. This option exercise is for engineering and technical services and includes all material travel, subsistence and incidental material in support of those services. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia (68%); Groton, Connecticut (10%); Waterford, Connecticut (10%); Middletown, Rhode Island (7%); and Newport, Rhode Island (5%), and is expected to be completed by December 2020. Fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) and fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funding in the amount of $7,198,430 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $9,111,111 predominantly firm-fixed-price undefinitized contract to provide technical security team support services in support of the Pakistan F-16 program. Work will be performed in Pakistan and is expected to be complete by June 18, 2020. This contract involves 100% foreign military sales to Pakistan. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Foreign military sales funds of $4,464,444 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8630-20-C-5020).

Cape Fox Facilities Services LLC, Manassas, Virginia, was awarded a three-year contract (one-year base and two option periods) with an estimated value of $19,500,300.  This contract supports the Defense Health Agency, Deputy Assistant Director for Information Operations, Solutions Delivery Division. The contractor shall perform all activities within the scope of this contract under the construct of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), specifically the service operation and service transition domains. This initiative supports all operations and maintenance activities for the applications listed below under the ITIL construct. The seven applications are as follows:  MHS Management Analysis and Reporting Tool, Patient Encounter Processing and Reporting, Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics, Protected Health Information Management Tool, Business Objects Common Services, Defense Medical Human Resources System – Internet and the Expense Assignment System. The contract was awarded on a sole source basis as authorized and in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 US Code 637(a)(1)). The location of performance is inside the US. The base year is funded with fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funding in the amount of $8,065,200. The Defense Health Agency, Professional Services Contracting Division, Falls Church, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HT0011-20-C-0001).

UPDATE: Atlantic Diving Supply Inc., doing business as ADS Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (SPE8EC-20-D-0052), has been added as an awardee to the multiple award contract issued against solicitation SPE8EC-17-R-0005 announced April 5, 2017.