Tuberville Holding Up Your Raise?

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.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has thus far held up more than 300 military promotions in his months-long campaign against the Pentagon providing leave for female troops with health needs is unavailable at their posting. Military Times wants to hear from troops whose lives are on hold as a result of Tuberville’s hold. Anonymity is provided.

Niger is one of several West African countries where US military-trained officers have seized control. Since 2021 this includes Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali, reports Politico.com. The Biden administration faces a tricky choice in Niger, whether to sever a military partnership or work with the military junta.

Niger’s junta claimed Sunday it had gathered evidence to prosecute the country’s ousted President Mohamed Bazoum for “high treason,” upping the stakes in their brinkmanship against key neighbors in West Africa who have vowed to restore constitutional order in the coup-hit country, reports CNN.

The Pentagon wants to restructure the DC National Guard to address problems highlighted by the chaotic response to the January 6 riot and safety breaches during the 2020 protests over the murder of George Floyd, reports APNews. Changes could exchange the DC Guard’s aviation units with more military police, often the most significant need grappling with crowd control and large public events.

Fresh off sending 10 Nebraska state troopers to Texas for law enforcement along the border, Gov. Jim Pillen announced he’ll also send another 60 Nebraska Army National Guard members. But this time Nebraska will use federal COVID-19 recovery funds, money some lawmakers say should be spent in the state. It’s rare in the multistate disaster-response system to not bill the state requesting assistance, says Military Times.

Cecily Aguilar has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for helping dispose of the body of US soldier Vanessa Guillén, killed in 2020 at Fort Cavazos (formerly  Hood) near Killeen, TX. Army Times reports Aguilar pleaded guilty in November to accessory to murder after the fact, having aided her boyfriend, US soldier Aaron Robinson, in dismembering and disposing of Guillén’s body. Robinson committed suicide July 1, 2020, the day Guillén’s remains were found.

COVID-19 cases among Veterans Health Administration patients have nearly tripled in the last month to more than 4,000, reports Military Times. “The spikes are concerning,” said Dr. Shereef Elnahal, VA Under Secretary for Health, but VA officials aren’t bringing back masks or recommending any significant changes in hospital or quarantine procedures, for now.

The next big space business is satellite pictures of other satellites, reports Defense One. As space debris proliferates and new weapons appear, Maxar Technologies received a license from NOAA to sell space imagery for companies to track their orbiting assets. Maxar has filled US government orders for “several years,” according to the company, which further touts the service as a solution to space-traffic management.

Economic downturns are usually horrible for poor people, bad for the middle class, and an inconvenience for the rich. But if the economy enters a recession in 2023, or even just narrowly evades one, the well-heeled might take a bigger hit than usual. Call it the richcession, says The Wall Street Journal.

Yahoo! reports that Bernstein Research, after a year of posting monthly layoffs in the tech industry, concluded the series this week with the announcement, “The Tech Job Recession is Over” based on comparing more than 300,000 tech employees laid-off in the first half of 2023, to less than 5,000 the first half of August.

US Navy officials continue to support contractor-owned/contactor-operated UAS systems with a $19.5M contract to Textron Systems for UAS operational support to LCS variants. Janes reports NAVAIR now has seven ships conducting operations with Textron Systems. The company already provides such support for Expeditionary Sea Base-4 and ESB-5, as well as two guided-missile destroyers.

Some 20,000 users have been approved to connect to the Army guarded networks via their personal mobile devices, reports C4ISRNET. The Army seeks ubiquitous connectivity, on and off the battlefield, to ensure information reaches the right person, at the right time. The venture relies on Halo, an application from small business Hypori.

A congressionally mandated commission has begun urging the Pentagon and Congress to overhaul the DoD’s budget planning process, reports Federal Times. Some suggestions can be implemented immediately. Proposals requiring DoD and congressional feedback include making some single-year appropriations available for two years and allowing the Pentagon to reprogram certain funds. The final report is due in March.

Russia sent a clear message to Turkey by bombing Ukrainian business Motor Sich, which makes engines for Turkish aircraft, says Defense News. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his government took over the Zaporizhzhia-based facilities of Motor Sich in November. The August 6 missile and drone attack killed six people, Kyiv officials said.

Russian forces unleashed missiles across Ukraine early on Tuesday, killing and wounding civilians and damaging infrastructure, reports Military Times. The barrage came just hours before top Russian military officials and their counterparts from allied countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa gathered outside Moscow for a security conference.

Ukraine said Russia attacked its grain storage facilities Tuesday night, but a container ship left the Black Sea port of Odesa on Wednesday despite Moscow’s threat to target shipping, reports Reuters. Russian sources said stringent capital controls were being considered by officials as the rouble showed the strains of Russia’s huge military spending and Western sanctions.

Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu is visiting Russia and Belarus in a show of support for those nations which the West has sought to isolate over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reports Military Times.

President Joe Biden will host Japan’s prime minister and South Korea’s president this week for his first leaders summit at Camp David, with plans to announce joint military exercises — and a possible new crisis hotline among the three allies, reports Axios. Friday’s summit is designed to send a loud and clear message to China and North Korea that the allies are fortifying their military and economic ties.

North Korea confirmed Wednesday that Private 2nd Class Travis King bolted into the North across the heavily armed Korean border last month after being disillusioned with the inequality of American society and racial discrimination in its Army, reports Military Times. King entered the North while on a tour of a Korean border village on July 18. He became the first American detained in the North in nearly five years.

The Defense Department’s inspector general has launched reviews of the Navy and Marine Corps’ sexual harassment complaint process as well as the Army’s handling of harassment prevention and response to determine whether the services are effectively managing their efforts to protect service members, reports Military.com.

Recent results from an experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, IL, brings physicists one step closer to figuring out if there are more types of matter and energy composing the universe than have been accounted for, reports The New York Times. The results are a measurement that addresses the deviant motion of the muon and was announced to the public and submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters on Thursday morning,

Contracts:

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, was awarded a $19,405,894 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-16-C-2116 to procure spare main propulsion unit rotors to support Ford Class aircraft carriers. Work will be performed in Summerville, South Carolina (92%); and Newport News, Virginia (8%), and is scheduled to be complete in August 2029. Fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $19,405,894 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Aug. 15, 2023)

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum Heights, Maryland, was awarded a $15,750,325 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to the previously awarded contract N00024-22-C-5520 to exercise an option for design agent engineering of Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program Block 3 systems. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland (88%); Goleta, California (7%); and Wallops Island, Virginia (5%), and is expected to be completed by August 2024. Fiscal 2023 other procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $2,957,633 (62%); fiscal 2021 other procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $910,152 (19%); fiscal 2023 operations and maintenance, Navy funds in the amount of $545,565 (12%); and fiscal 2022 other procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $343,489 (7%), will be obligated at time of award, of which $1,455,717 will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Aug. 15, 2023)

Advancia Aeronautics LLC, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is awarded a $63,959,630 firm-fixed-price contract (HT942523C0077) to provide budgeting, financial, accounting, property, system support, financial improvement, audit readiness, category management, business process re-engineering, and training support services, in support of the Defense Health Agency Office of the Comptroller to ensure the highest level of accuracy of the agency’s financial and accounting computation and uniform application of policies, procedures, and acceptable accounting standards to reflect the true financial reporting position to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The award is the result of a non-competitive direct 8(a) acquisition. Fiscal 2023 Defense Health Program operation and maintenance funding will be obligated at the time of award. Place of performance is Falls Church, Virginia. Period of performance is Aug. 17, 2023, to Aug. 16, 2024. The contracting activity is US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, Fort Detrick, Maryland.

Skayl LLC, Westminster, Maryland, was awarded a $20,000,000 modification (P00002) to contract W911W6-20-D-0002 for a configurable transport services segment product. 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 Jan. 30, 2030. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.

Northrop Grumman, McLean, Virginia, was awarded an $11,593,264 firm-fixed-price contract for training and organizational support services. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed at Fort Cavazos, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 7, 2024. Fiscal 2023 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $11,593,264 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (W900KK-23-C-0032).

BAE Systems Ordnance Systems Inc., Radford, Virginia, was awarded a $37,169,655 modification (P00001) to contract W519TC-23-F-0174 for facility sustainment and recapitalization. Work will be performed in Radford, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2025. Fiscal 2022 procurement of ammunition, Army funds in the amount of $18,584,827 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. 

Chavis’ Inc., Maxton, North Carolina (W912472-3-D-9010); Driven Contractors LLC, Maxton, North Carolina (W91247-23-D-9011); New Dominion Construction LLC, Dumfries, Virginia (W91247-23-D-9012); Outside the Box LLC, Richmond, Virginia (W91247-23-D-9013); W-T Federal JV, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (W91247-23-D-9015); and Ames 1 LLC, Anchorage, Alaska (W91247-23-D-9016), will compete for each order of the $249,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for maintenance, repair, and construction projects at Fort Liberty. Bids were solicited via the internet with 19 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2028. 419th Contracting Support Brigade, Fort Liberty, North Carolina, is the contracting activity. 

Mount Rogers Community Services, Atkins, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $14,085,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for helmet covers. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. The ordering period end date is Aug. 16, 2028. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2023 through 2028 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-23-D-N012).

Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia (W5J9CQ-18-D-0001, P00001); and General Dynamics One Source LLC, Falls Church, Virginia (W5J9CQ-18-D-0002, P0007), will compete for each order of the $99,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for geospatial services. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 12, 2024. US Army Corps of Engineers’ Army Geospatial Center, Alexandria, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Aug. 12, 2023)

Accenture Federal Services LLC, Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a $35,461,002 modification (P00030) to contract W52P1J-21-C-0025 for the Enterprise Task Management Software Solution. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 14, 2024. Fiscal 2023 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $35,461,002 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

Northrup Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum, Maryland, has been awarded an $8,120,800 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and development of Advanced Staring Infrared Search and Track Technologies. This contract provides for the development of infrared sensor technology. Work will be performed at Linthicum, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 16, 2026. This contract was a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test, and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,444,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA2377-23-C-0002).

Advancia Technologies LLC, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is awarded $18,500,548 to exercise Option Year Three of a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (HT001120C0017). The purpose of this work is to provide budgeting, financial, accounting, budget data modeling optimization, and general fund enterprise business systems global technical support services in support of the Defense Health Agency Enterprise and Office of the Comptroller. Work will be primarily performed in Falls Church, Virginia. Fiscal 2023 operation and maintenance funds are obligated at the time of this award. The contract was a direct award through the Small Business Administration 8(a) program in accordance with 15 U.S. Code 637 as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-5(b)(4) and was executed on Aug. 16, 2020. The period of performance for this option period exercise is Aug. 16, 2023, to Aug. 15, 2024. The Defense Health Agency, Professional Services Contracting Division, Falls Church, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

Marinette Marine Corp., Marinette, Wisconsin, is awarded an $80,267,282 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost modification to previously awarded contract N00024-20-C-2300 to exercise options for engineering and class support requirements and to fund projects for the frigate surface combatant industrial base and workforce development in support of detail design and construction of the Constellation-class guided-missile frigate. Work will be performed in Marinette, Wisconsin (65%); Newport News, Virginia (13%); New York, New York (5%); Columbia, Maryland (5%); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (5%); Ayer, Massachusetts (3%); Arlington, Virginia (3%); and other various locations (1%), and is expected to be completed by May 2034. Fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion, Navy funds in the amount of $45,500,000 will be obligated at time of the award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.