Supply Chain to Get Worse

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 global supply chain nightmare is about to get worse, reports CNN. Computer chip shortages; epic port congestion; a serious lack of truck drivers are all contributing to hike prices and slow economic recovery. “As the global economic recovery continues to gather steam, what is increasingly apparent is how it will be stymied by supply-chain disruptions that are now showing up at every corner,” according to Moody’s Analytics.

The White House named Adam Ortiz, an experienced Maryland policy and political hand, administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 3 office, which is based in Philadelphia and oversees EPA activities in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Washington, DC, and works with seven federally recognized Native American tribes, reports Maryland Matters.

The “Last of the First” bottle, as it is called, intended to be opened by the last survivor among the Marines and sailors who served in combat with the 1st Marine Division during World War II, is slated to be opened November 6 at the Marine Corps Birthday celebration and Last of the First salute in Carlsbad, CA, reports San Diego Union Tribune. Seven survivors have been located and invited to share the 1920 bottle of cognac, designated for this purpose in 1944. A nonprofit has formed to help pay the expenses of the Last of the First veterans wishing to attend.

Scary anyway, robot dogs are now carrying rifles, reports The Drive. It was as easy as mounting a SWORD International’s Special Purpose Unmanned Rifle, or SPUR, a 6.5mm Creedmoor rifle to one of Ghost Robotics’ quadrupedal unmanned ground vehicles.

The US Navy is at war against a surging sea but has yet to notch a victory. Despite tens of millions of dollars spent on studies, risk assessments, and guidance documents dating to the 1990s, not a single large-scale resilience project across more than 40 domestic installations is completed, reports eenews.net. Only one major initiative, a $21 billion program to raise dry docks and modernize the Navy’s four primary shipyards, has turned dirt.

Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), who chairs a key cybersecurity subcommittee in Congress, said improved information sharing between the public and private sectors was critical to combat the rise in ransomware attacks seen in recent months, reports The Hill. “So much of our critical infrastructure is within the private sector,” she said.

Katie Arrington, who spearheaded the DoD’s controversial cybersecurity certification program, filed a lawsuit to spur resolution of her May 11 security clearance suspension which placed her on paid, non-duty status for “reported unauthorized disclosure of classified information.” Her lawsuit alleges “NSA did not support” the certification program and “to interfere” with it, sidelined Arrington. Arrington was a GOP state representative in South Carolina and received then-President Donald Trump’s endorsement in 2018 as candidate for Congress, which FCW reports, is not winning her friends in the Pentagon.

The nation’s homicide rates during the COVID-19 pandemic have risen by an average of 34% in 50 of the most populated US cities based on records between the third quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2021, reports Wallet Hub. Washington, DC, and Baltimore rank in the top 10.

The Archbishop for the Military Services USA has released more moral guidance for vaccines, saying Catholic troops can refuse COVID-19 vaccine, reports Military Times. Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio wrote, “No one should be forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccine if it would violate the sanctity of his or her conscience.” Previously, he wrote, “being vaccinated is also an act of charity to our sisters and brothers.”

 

 

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. gained approval to use biogas — gas derived from organic sources such as food waste and lawn clippings — in its distribution system, making it the first utility to do so in the state, reports Maryland Matters. Lily Hawkins, the Maryland organizer for Food and Water Watch, calls it “just a greenwashing scheme.”

Naval Community College prepares for its second influx of sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, reports Navy Times. The Navy is getting ready to kick off the second round of the United States Naval Community College. The pilot program allows sailors to earn an associate’s degree via online courses starting in January 2022.

Havana syndrome has been reported at the US embassy in Bogota, Colombia, reports BBC. The mysterious illness causes a painful sound in the ears, fatigue, and dizziness. First reported in Cuba in 2016, US diplomats around the world have since reported cases of the syndrome. On Tuesday, Wall Street Journal reported emails by US Ambassador to Colombia Philip Goldberg confirmed a number of “unexplained health incidents” or UHIs — the term used for Havana syndrome by the US government — since mid-September. Colombian President Iván Duque told the New York Times that the country is investigating the reports. He added that the US is leading the inquiry.

Facing court-martial today, Thursday, at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina is LT COL Stuart Scheller, the Marine who criticized US handling of Afghanistan withdrawal will plead guilty and seek a favorable discharge, reports The Washington Post, which would allow him to keep some military benefits. He faces charges that include disrespect toward superior commissioned officers, willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer, and dereliction in the performance of duties.

The FBI is seeing evidence of Americans being inspired to potential violence by the Taliban’s recent victory, reports Defense One.

The Navy recovers remains of five sailors killed in August’s Seahawk helicopter crash in the Pacific, reports Navy Times. The wreckage and remains were pulled up from a depth of roughly 5,300 feet last week. A team from Naval Sea Systems Command’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving undertook the recovery mission, and the remains were transferred to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, for identification. The fatal mishap remains under investigation.

Prosecutors seek detention in Navy submarine espionage case, reports Navy Times. Federal prosecutors want  Navy engineer Jonathan Toebbe to remain locked up as they press forward with charges that he tried to sell submarine secrets to a foreign country. He is accused of passing on Virginia-class submarine design information to someone he thought represented a foreign government but who was an undercover FBI agent.

Rising IT and cyber budgets may lay ahead as the Defense Department moves forward with implementing zero trust architecture and begins relying more on artificial intelligence. Kelly Fletcher, who is currently performing the duties of DOD CIO, said that while there is room to be more efficient, the cyber domain may not be an area where flat budgets are the goal, reports Defense Systems.

North Korea flexes its nuclear power amid a regional arms race, wants the US to end “hostile policy,” reports PBS. Surrounded by and flouting missiles and other weaponry, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un puts his nuclear-armed state front and center in its dealings with the US.

USNI News reports the three ships that make up the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group pulled into their home ports this week, ending a deployment that supported the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) reached Naval Station Mayport, FL, while USS Carter Hall (LSD-50) arrived at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, VA, and USS San Antonio (LPD-17) pulled into Naval Station Norfolk, VA.

Contracts:

Schuyler Line Navigation Co. LLC, Annapolis, Maryland (N3220518C3508), is awarded an $11,406,250 option (P00018) for the fixed-price portion of a previously awarded, firm-fixed-price contract, with reimbursable elements, to exercise a one-year option period for the operation and maintenance of the tanker SLNC Goodwill to provide transportation of clean petroleum products in support of the Department of Defense Logistics Agency Energy. This contract includes a one-year firm period of the performance, three one-year option periods, and one eleven-month option period, which if exercised would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $60,816,000. Work will be performed worldwide and is expected to be completed, if all options are exercised, by Sept. 13, 2023. Working capital funds (Transportation) in the amount of $11,406,250 are not yet obligated for fiscal 2022. This procurement was released under full and open competition with an unlimited number of companies solicited via the beta.sam.gov website, with no offers received. The Navy’s Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity.