Space Command Tracking Falling Debris

Launch of China’s Long March 5B rocket

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.

Space Command is tracking Chinese rocket-launch junk as it careens wildly toward Earth, reports Start and Stripes. (Paywall.) The rocket is set to reenter Earth’s atmosphere this weekend, raising concerns about where its debris may make impact. According to The Conversation, the debris is part of the Long March 5B rocket that recently successfully launched China’s first module for its proposed space station. A year ago a similar Chinese rocket fell to Earth, reported The Weather Channel, landing in the Atlantic Ocean after leaving a trail of debris in the African nation of Cote D’Ivoire.

A plan to add a Space Force reserve component is “fairly close,” reports Air Force Times. The head of the National Guard Bureau also said this week that he wants free health care for all Guard troops, activated or not, reports Military Times. Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the bureau, testified before the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. “They’re doing the same job as their active or reserve counterparts, but they are treated differently. “One of my most pressing concerns is premium free health care for every guardsmen who serves in uniform.”

Iranian-backed militia threats have forced US contractors to leave the Iraqi F-16 base, reports Air Force Magazine. Focused attacks on key bases in Iraq come as the country works to increase their capacity to train and conduct airstrikes, according to a new report.

American factories are desperate for workers. It’s a $1 trillion problem, reports CNN Business. US manufacturing activity surged to a 37-year high in March, according to Reuters, and the industry has more than half a million job openings. Factories are struggling to find skilled workers for specialized roles such as welders and machinists. Manufacturers are even having trouble hiring entry-level positions that do not require expertise.

Pentagon watchdog launches a UFO probe into the DoD’s actions amid string of sightings, reports Fox News. Last year, the Pentagon released three videos of Navy pilots encountering UFOs in 2004 and 2015.

The VA is opening a new rapid retraining program for thousands of vets who lost jobs due to pandemic, reports Military Times. The program is designed to prepare them for new careers in high-demand specialties.

WalletHub finds Maryland is the worst state to be a nurse. Metrics included openings per capita, health care facilities per capita, average number of hours worked, and average annual salary adjusted for cost of living. In that last category Maryland ranked 49th among the 50 states.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) are pressing the Justice Department and the Pentagon to reopen a probe into conflicts of interest between Amazon ex-employees and consultants and the government architects of a DoD $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud computing program, reports FCW.

White hat hackers will get even more opportunities to poke around the Defense Department for vulnerabilities now that the Pentagon has expanded its bug bounty program to include all of its publicly available information systems, reports FCW.

Gel under development could improve battlefield wound treatment, reports Stars and Stripes. (Paywall.) For arterial bleeding, StatBond, a clear, silicon-based gel, may help. Robert Mantz, a chemistry branch chief with the Army Research Laboratory, said, “The thing that excites me about this is that we have data that shows this works on an arterial bleed, and to my knowledge, none of the other products out there can handle that.”

A scathing report slams the military’s “disturbing” mobile nuclear reactors  program, reports Army Times. The author of an academic report on Pentagon plans to build mobile nuclear reactors to power future combat bases called the effort “extremely disturbing” and “based on a lie.” The report released slams the Pentagon and Army G-4, logistics — specifically the Army office’s 2018 report that lays out the potential uses and needs for such mobile nuclear reactors in future operations.

US military reports the Afghanistan withdrawal process 2% to 6% complete, reports The Hill. Progress on the withdrawal includes moving about 60 C-17 cargo planes worth of material out of Afghanistan. In addition, about 1,300 pieces of equipment have been given to the Defense Logistics Agency for destruction.

There are 10 new coronavirus patients at bases across Japan, reports Stars and Stripes. Japan continues to wrestle with a coronavirus surge that quickened its pace in April. Though modest compared to other nations, the increase in Japan’s case numbers comes three months ahead of the scheduled Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

The Chinese navy will help with the recovery of the Indonesian sub wreck, reports USNI. China has dispatched three ships to Indonesia to assist in the salvaging of the Indonesian attack submarine KRI Nanggala (402). Two ships – the People’s Liberation Army Navy Ocean Tug Nantuo-195 and PLAN Ocean Salvage and Rescue Ship Yongxing Dao-863 – arrived on scene May 3 and the third ship, scientific research vessel Tan Suo 2, is expected to arrive soon. Beijing had earlier made an offer to Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto to assist with the salvaging of the submarine on a humanitarian basis and the offer was accepted.

Contracts:

L3 Adaptive Methods Inc., Centreville, Virginia, is awarded a $13,258,653 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only modification to previously awarded contract N0002420C5211 to exercise an option for the procurement of engineering services, program management, systems engineering, software development, risk management, algorithm and software prototype development, configuration management, and information assurance. This contract combines purchases for the Navy (97%); and the governments of Australia (2%) and Japan (1%) under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Keyport, Washington (30%); Centreville, Virginia (25%); Rockville, Maryland (15%); Manassas, Virginia (10%); Newport, Rhode Island (5%); Herndon, Virginia (5%); Dahlgren, Virginia (5%); Austin, Texas (1%); Moorestown, New Jersey (1%); Honolulu, Hawaii (1%); Fairfax, Virginia (1%); and Laurel, Maryland (1%), and is expected to be completed by May 2022. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,639,250 (32%); fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,569,301 (31%); fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,086,910 (21%); fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $340,723 (7%); fiscal 2021 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $311,000 (6%); FMS Australia funds in the amount of $98,000 (2%); and FMS Japan funds in the amount of $74,000 (1%) will be obligated at time of award, of which funds in the amount of $1,639,250 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with Section 1709 of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act that modifies 15 U.S. Code 638(r), this small business innovative research phase (SBIR) III contract is awarded to L3 Adaptive Methods Inc., which is the same firm that was competitively selected for the SBIR Phase I and II awards. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.

University of Maryland, College Park, Office of Research Administration, College Park, Maryland, was awarded a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity/indefinite-delivery contract (HU000121D0001) with a minimum award amount of $10,000 and a maximum ceiling/face value of $10,000,000 for Mid Atlantic Crossroads (MAX) connectivity that includes supplies and services that will include, but are not limited to, connectivity, colocation and engineering services in support of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Work will be performed at Bethesda, Maryland; and San Antonio, Texas, from May 5, 2021, to May 4, 2026. Operation and maintenance funds will be applied at the task order level. This contract was a sole-source acquisition in accordance with 10 US Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. There are no known congressional interest in this requirement. Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, is the contracting activity.