March 28, 2024

Task Force to Study Racism in the Navy

Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River Morning Coffee logoeconomic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

The US Navy has created Task Force One Navy, a group that will seek to “address the issues of racism, sexism and other destructive biases and their impact on naval readiness,” reports Navy Times.

The USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier is named for a segregationist and some are calling for it to be renamed. The Virginian-Pilot reports it was named for Mississippi senator Stennis who signed the infamous “Southern Manifesto” decrying integration. The report says he also fought black equality in the Navy.

VADM Lisa Franchetti turned over command July 1 of the US 6th Fleet, ending a historic posting as the first woman to lead that numbered fleet, reports USNI News. VADM Gene Black takes over. He is the former commander of Carrier Strike Group 8. VADM Franchetti is moving to the Pentagon.

US Air Force F-35 pilots at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada will now be able to step into a simulator and train alongside virtual F-16s, F-15s, and other aircraft, reports Defense News.

China is researching quantum radars to track and kill submarines, reports The National Interest. China is even developing a satellite-based laser surveillance system aimed at detecting vessels submerged as deep as five hundred meters.

US aircraft carriers carried out exercises July 4 in the South China Sea, reports UPI News. Military officials said China was also conducting its own drills in the area.

Global Times reports China’s helicopter carrier is expanding its capabilities with a drone. The exact type of drone has not been determined.

Meet the US Navy’s new “Fat Albert.” The Blue Angels showed off the C-130J as the team’s pilots and crews arrived in the UK to perform maintenance tests before departing for the transatlantic flight that will take the aircraft to its new home at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, reports The Aviationist.

The city of Palmdale, CA, has applied to be the home of the US Space Command, reports Antelope Walley Press. To be considered, communities must have a population base that is within the top 150 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the country, be located within 25 miles of a military base, and have a livability index score of at least 50 points out of 100 as determined by the American Association of Retired Persons Public Policy Institute. The Space Force opened up the bidding process in May to select a permanent HQ location, reports Space News.

 

 

The Navy identified a sailor assigned to the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt who died Thursday “following a medical emergency” aboard the ship, reports Navy Times. Justin Calderone was a chief aviation electronics technician.

The House Armed Services Committee has passed its defense authorization bill, with a lot of extra provisions made it into the bill, reports Federal News Network.
They have compiled some of the more important amendments that will go into the House version of the bill.

The US Air Force is buying General Electric F110-GE-129 jet engines to power at least some of its future F-15EX Eagle fighter jets, reports The Drive. The service says this is an “unusual and compelling urgency acquisition” and comes ahead of a formal competition to decide on the F-15EX’s powerplant.

Six US soldiers were injured in a training accident in Germany when they drifted off course during a parachute drop, reports Army Times.

A recent Verizon Specials report ranks Maryland No. 7 on its list of states where people spend the most time on their devices, reports thebaynet.com. Hawaii holds the top spot.

Virgin Galactic will show off the interior cabin design of its SpaceShipTwo space plane at the end of the month, reports Space. The spaceship is expected to carry six people.

SOUTH CHINA SEA (July 4, 2020), An F/A-18E Super Hornet flies over the flight deck of the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, maintaining Reagan’s tactical presence on the seas. Ronald Reagan is the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5. The Nimitz and Ronald Reagan CSGs are conducting dual-carrier operations as the Nimitz Carrier Strike Force. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Samantha Jetzer/Released)

Last Thursday was UFO Awareness Day, reports Patch.com, and witness accounts from across America indicate there’s plenty to see in the heavens. Hundreds of reports about unidentified flying objects have been received by the National UFO Reporting Center.

Annapolis native Chris Hopkinson will attempt an ambitious, 240-mile journey on the Chesapeake Bay, reports PennLive, on a 14-foot paddleboard. His goal is to raise $200,000 in nine days for oyster restoration that will help the health of the bay.

At the Maryland Board of Public Works meeting last week, Gov. Larry Hogan Jr. warned that the failure to make more state spending cuts could result in the layoffs of thousands of state employees, reports Maryland Matters.

Contracts:

EA-Baker JV, Hunt Valley, Maryland, was awarded a $99,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract to support the US Army Corps of Engineers in executing the Defense Logistics Agency Energy fuels infrastructure mission for fuel leak detection. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 2, 2025. US Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, is the contracting activity (W9128F-20-D-0028).

NCI Information System, Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $57,285,857 contract for information technology and audiovisual engineering and installation services.  Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of July 1, 2022. Fiscal 2020 procurement, defense-wide funds in the amount of $57,285,857 were obligated at the time of the award. The Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity. (W50NH9-20-F-0039).

Huntington Ingalls Industries – Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $36,566,645 cost-plus-fixed-fee option exercise modification to previously awarded contract N00024-20-C-2109 for engineering, technical, trade and program management support of industrial type work for operational and decommissioning submarines, submarines undergoing availabilities/conversion, special mission submersibles and submarine support facilities. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia (90%); Kings Bay, Georgia (3%), Bremerton, Washington (2%); Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (2%); Kittery, Maine (2%); and Groton, Connecticut (1%). This contract includes advanced submarine research and development, including studies to support the future development, production and sustainment phases of the platforms. Work is expected to be completed by September 2022. This contract was not competitively procured. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $5,461,081 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, DC, is the contracting activity.

New Market Veterans, New York, New York (SPE1C1-20-D-1296, $15,061,167); Big Apple Visual Group, New York, New York (SPE1C1-20-D-1294, $14,604,768); and Hilo Enterprises, McLean, Virginia (SPE1C1-20-D-1295, $13,235,571), have each been awarded a maximum firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract under solicitation SPE1C1-20-R-0102 for surgical masks. These were competitive acquisitions with 98 offers received. They are five-month contracts with no option periods.  Locations of performance are Virginia, New York, China, and Taiwan, with a Dec. 31, 2020, ordering period end date. Using customer is Health and Human Services. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Leave A Comment