Trump Names New National Security Adviser
StateSec Mike Pompeo, right, officiates the swearing-in ceremony for Robert O’Brien as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, at the US Department of State in Washington, DC, on July 17, 2018. (State Department photo)
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.
President Trump named hostage-affairs official Robert O’Brien as national security adviser Wednesday to fill the position left vacant when John Bolton was ousted last week, reports The Washington Post. USA Today reports Mr. O’Brien played a role in the release of rapper A$AP Rocky from Swedish custody during the summer.
Iran has warned the US that it will retaliate if Tehran is targeted over a weekend attack on Saudi oil installations, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Senate Republicans are advising against immediate military action against Iran in response to the attack, calling for more analysis and discussion first, reports Defense News. StateSec Mike Pompeo is heading to the Middle East as the administration sent mixed messages about how the US would respond to the attack, reports USA Today.
Three proposed sections of border wall for Arizona are on hold, reports Military Times. The US Army Corps of Engineers “has determined that there are insufficient contract savings to undertake the three additional” projects, totaling 20 miles of construction on the US-Mexico border.
US military leaders were joined by officials from Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom to observe how the ground-based Joint Precision Approach and Landing System-guided F-35Cs landed on a designated runway landing point using multiple approaches, reports ExecutiveBiz.com. Raytheon’s demonstration took place at NAS Patuxent River.
Raytheon unveiled its new medium-range, air-to-air missile, reports Flight Global. The Peregrine offers the range of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, with the maneuverability of the AIM-9X Sidewinder. “We’ve taken the technologies from those two superior systems and we’ve combined them into what you see today,” said Mark Noyes, the company’s business development executive for air warfare systems.
Cmdr. John M. Neuhart, a former helicopter squadron commander, pleaded guilty to assaulting a fellow officer and will spend a year behind bars, reports Navy Times.
The Naval Sea Systems Command reports that more than 600 participants from across the NAVSEA enterprise, government, industry, and academia partnered together to help solve cybersecurity problems for the US Navy at the 2019 Hack the Machine contest held in New York earlier this month.
The battleship USS Texas was commissioned in March 1914 and saw action in Mexican water. It also sailed sorties in the North Sea in WWI. It earned a total of five battle stars in WWII and was finally de-commissioned in 1948.
Interest in bringing the battleship Texas to Galveston is growing as a citizen-led committee prepares to outline its recommendations on where to berth the historic ship, reports Navy Times.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein has a message for commanders on their physical condition: Get on a fitness program or your job is at risk, reports Military.com. Gen. Goldfein was speaking at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference this week at National Harbor in Oxon Hill. Read more about the conference here. Lt. Gen. Brad Webb, speaking at the conference, said the Air Force’s experimental pilot training is almost ready to integrate some of its tricks into the full pilot curriculum, reports Federal News Radio. “We will cherry pick the things that are ripe from Pilot Training Next to incorporate into the [undergraduate pilot training] of the future,” he said at the Air Force Association event. “The idea will be to scale all of those mature technologies.”
A federal research vessel operated by universities in Louisiana and Mississippi is expected to begin studies in the Gulf of Mexico in 2023, reports Navy Times. It will be the third of three research ships being built for the National Science Foundation to add state-of-the-art vessels to the shrinking research fleets in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Gulf.
A new WalletHub report shows that Marylanders are pretty darn happy, reports Patch.com.
Contracts:
Altamira Technologies Corp., McLean, Virginia (FA7146-19-D-0700); Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, Virginia (FA7146-19-D-0710); Deloitte Consulting LLP, Arlington, Virginia (FA7146-19-D-0720); Fulcrum IT Services, Centreville, Virginia (FA7146-19-D-0730); ManTech Advanced Systems International Inc., Herndon, Virginia (FA7146-19-D-0740); MCR Federal LLC, McLean, Virginia (FA7146-19-D-0750); Novetta Inc., McLean, Virginia (FA7146-19-D-0760); and SAIC, Reston, Virginia (FA7146-19-D-0770), have been awarded a not-to-exceed $950,000,000 multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for analytical and technical services. This contract vehicle provides for analytical and technical services for the Secretary of the Air Force’s Concepts, Development, and Management Office. Work will be performed as indicated in each order and is expected to be completed by September 2029. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 10 offers received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $5,000 are being obligated to each of the eight initial task orders. The Secretary of the Air Force’s Concepts, Development, and Management Office, Fairfax, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
Range Generation Next LLC, Sterling, Virginia, has been awarded a $122,345,824 fixed-price-incentive-firm target modification (P00262) for the previously awarded contract FA8806-15-C-0001 in support of operations, maintenance and sustainment on the Launch and Test Range System. The modification exercises the fifth option period effective Oct. 1, 2019. Work will be performed at the Western Range, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California; and the Eastern Range, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2020. No funds are being obligated at time of award. The Space and Missile Systems Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting activity.
Thales Air Traffic Management Inc., Clarksburg, Maryland, was awarded a $21,818,801 modification (P00012) to contract FA8730-18-C-0034 for the purchase of six additional deployable instrumental landing systems. Work will be performed in Clarksburg, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by June 30, 2022. This sole source award is the result of a priced option of the contract previously mentioned. Fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2019 other production funds in the amount of $21,818,801 are being obligated at the time of the award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity.
Forcepoint Federal LLC, Salt Lake City, Utah, is being awarded an estimated $13,462,622 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price and time and materials contract for the purchase of software and associated technical support services. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and at contractor facilities in Northern Virginia. Work is expected to be completed by 2024. The contract includes a single five year ordering period. No funding is being placed on contract at time of award. Contract funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders. Fiscal 2019 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $414,895 will be obligated on the first delivery order. Funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured because it is a sole-source acquisition pursuant to the authority of 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) – only one responsible source, and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements (Federal Acquisition Regulation subpart 6.302-1(a)). The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N00039-19-D-0034).
John Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, Maryland, has been awarded a $11,442,418 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. This contract is to support the government with development of prototypes, test plans, rapid fielding, operational experiments and changes in existing acquisition programs with a focus on identification and reduction of programmatic and technical risk provides for applied research. Work performance will take place primarily in Laurel, Maryland. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $607,000; fiscal 2019 research, development, test, and evaluation funds in the amount of $8,835,418; and fiscal 2019 procurement funds in the amount of $2,000,000 are being obligated on this award. The expected completion date is May 30, 2024. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HQ0034-19-D0006).
