March 19, 2024

Trump Wants Out of Afghanistan by 2020 Election

Afghanistan

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President Donald Trump wants troops out of Afghanistan before the 2020 election, according to SecState Mike Pompeo. Military Times reports Pompeo saying he has seen “real progress” with security in the area. “End the endless wars, draw down, reduce,” Pompeo said. “It won’t just be us. … We hope that overall, the need for combat forces in the region is reduced.”

But US troops want to keep deploying to Afghanistan, enlisted leaders say, reports Military.com. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Metheny, the top noncommissioned officer for the NATO Resolute Support mission and US Forces Afghanistan said  troops are still eager to go there and to other combat zones. The opportunity to deploy is also a factor in recruiting and retention, he said, pointing to what he said is a 108 percent retention rate for those serving in Afghanistan.

Two US troops killed in action in Afghanistan, reports Military Times, bringing to nine the total US fatalities there in 2019 and 2,426 US troop fatalities since the start of combat operations there in October 2001.

Japan wants to be an official F-35 partner, but DoD says no, reports Defense News. The Pentagon fears the sale would cause new tensions among the international production base for the Joint Strike Fighter and open the door for other customer nations to demand a greater role in future capability development.

Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland just relocated 200 airmen due to dorm mold — and more moves are coming, reports Air Force Times.

Failing to muster the 67 votes needed to override Trump’s veto, the US Senate allows arms sales to Saudi Arabia, reports Defense News. Trump vetoed three congressional resolutions meant to block his administration from bypassing Congress to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

A US special ops soldier and a British operators were killed last year by friendly fire, reports Military.com. Officials with US Special Operations Command confirmed the incident was not a result of enemy action as originally announced.

Britain tells Iran: release ship to ‘come out of the dark’, reports Reuters. Britain told Iran it must follow international rules and release a British-flagged oil tanker seized by its forces in the Gulf.

US withdrawal from international mail treaty could alter delivery for APO-FPO addresses, reports Stars and Stripes. The Trump administration announced last year that the US would withdraw from the 144-year-old treaty, primarily over growing complaints by some US-based businesses that packages sent to the States from other countries — primarily China — have much lower postal rates.

Man checked missile launcher in luggage at BWI, reports The Associated Press. Federal officials say they’ve found a missile launcher in a man’s luggage at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport.  The unidentified traveler said he was in the military and coming home from Kuwait. He said he wanted to keep the weapon as a souvenir.

Doubts emerge about Trump’s pick for US intelligence chief, reports The Associated Press. Rep. John Ratcliffe has been mayor of a small Texas city, a federal prosecutor, and a member of Congress. His lack of intelligence and foreign policy experience may especially matter at a time when current and former government officials expect Russia to interfere in the 2020 presidential election just as it did in unprecedented fashion when Trump first ran.

Capital One announced that a hacker had accessed about 100 million credit card applications, and investigators say thousands of Social Security and bank account numbers were also taken, reports The Washington Post. The FBI has arrested a Seattle-area woman, Paige A. Thompson, on a charge of computer fraud and abuse, according to court records.

Contracts:

Tidewater, Elkridge, Maryland (W912DY-19-D-0017); NIKA Technologies Inc., Rockville, Maryland (W912DY-19-D-0004); Bowers & Kubota Consulting, Waipahu, Hawaii (W912DY-19-D-0019); and HFS Co., San Antonio, Texas (W912DY-19-D-0018), will compete for each order of the $25,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for project management support, quantity verification and analysis representative, project integration, and other medical support services. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of March 5, 2025. US Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity.

Northrop Grumman, Herndon, Virginia, was awarded a $24,436,905 modification (P00116) to contract W911S0-11-C-0014 for support services in combined arms education, doctrine, and leadership training. Work will be performed in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $24,436,905 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Fort Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

Accenture Federal Services, Arlington, Virginia, was awarded an $11,793,894 modification (P00026) to contract W52P1J-17-C-0022 for General Fund Enterprise Business System-Sensitive Activities cloud migration to IL6. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2021. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 research, development, test and evaluation, Army funds in the amount of $2,681,158 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

Schuyler Line Navigation Co. LLC, Annapolis, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $43,103,161 firm-fixed-price contract for liquefied natural gas.  This was a competitive acquisition with three responses received.  This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Maryland and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with a June 30, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2024 operations and maintenance funds.  The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency, Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia (SPE604-19-D-7518).

Ultra Electronics Advanced Tactical Systems Inc. Austin, Texas, is awarded a $39,920,000 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the sustainment and upgrade of the Common Aviation Command and Control System Virtual Air Defense System Integrator. The program is managed within the portfolio of Program Executive Officer Land Systems, Quantico, Virginia. Work will be performed in Austin, Texas, and is expected to be completed by July 29, 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $2,188,092 will be obligated on the first delivery order immediately following contract award, and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured, in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1 and 10 U.S. Code § 2304(c)(1). The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity (M67854-19-D-0001).

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