March 29, 2024

VA Health Care Could Merge with DoD’s

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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.

Embattled VA health care system may merge with Pentagon’s, reports Bloomberg, potentially altering how 19 million military personnel, retirees, dependents, and veterans receive care.

Suicides among active-duty soldiers are up about 20 percent in 2018, reports Army Times, though deaths by suicide were slightly down in the total force. Of 303 total reports, 138 came from the active-duty side ― 22 more than in 2017, Defense Department statistics show.

The Hill reports the Russian Navy has a new weapon that makes targets hallucinate and vomit. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reports the weapon is installed on two Russian warships. The weapon fires a beam of light that makes it more difficult for the target to take aim at night and makes the target feel dizzy, nauseous, and disoriented.

Readiness is stuck at 60 percent on the F-35, and the Air Force is pressing the issue, reports Breaking Defense, further noting that the A model’s gun is unacceptably inaccurate.

NASA confirms a huge cavity is growing, un-tethering Thwaites Glacier, which is currently responsible for approximately 4 percent of global sea level rise, reports EPOnline. It holds enough ice to raise the world ocean a little over 2 feet and backstops neighboring glaciers that would raise sea levels an additional 8 feet if all the ice were lost.

National Background Investigation Bureau whittles backlog of background investigations just as its set to transfer that duty to DoD, reports Federal Times. NBIB announced its 566,725 waiting investigations was reduced nearly 22 percent from the bureau’s peak number of backlogged investigations in April 2018.

Stars and Stripes reports the Air Force has named CAPT Zoe “SiS” Kotnik the first female commander of the Air Combat Command’s F-16V Viper Demonstration Team.

The Huawei sting offers a rare glimpse of the US targeting a Chinese giant, reports Bloomberg. Diamond glass could make your phone’s screen nearly unbreakable — and its inventor says the FBI enlisted him after Huawei tried to steal his secrets.

Foreign Policy reports on how US mission creep in Syria and Iraq could trigger war with Iran. An incident in Syria two years ago involving the transport of an Iranian port-a-potty nearly led to a confrontation between American and Iranian forces, underscoring just how quickly even minor events could escalate there.

President Donald Trump says he has no plans to withdraw US troops from South Korea, reports Stars and Stripes, as Trump prepares for another summit with North Korea’s leader.

Navy Times reports the new littoral warship Charleston will be commissioned March 2, 2019, in South Carolina.

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Feb. 4, 2019.

Contracts:

Q.E.D. Systems Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia, was awarded an $11,503,892 cost modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-15-C-4400 for third party advanced planning services in support of Chief of Naval Operations availabilities, Continuous Maintenance Availabilities (CMAVs), inactivation CMAVs, sustainment availabilities, phased modernization availabilities, re-commissioning availabilities, continuous maintenance and emergent maintenance windows of opportunity for Navy surface combatant ship classes (CG 47/DDG 51). Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia (53 percent); San Diego, California (36 percent); and Everett, Washington (11 percent), and is expected to be completed by February 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy); and fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $6,282,400 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Feb. 1,2019)

CACI-ISS Inc., Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a $37,234,235 modification (P00048) to contract W15QKN-15-C-0049 for the Integrated Personnel and Pay System. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2019. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $35,387,111 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.

Bluewater Federal Solutions Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded a firm-fixed-price contract for $8,194,502 on Jan. 22, 2019. The contract has an effective date of Feb. 1, 2019 and was awarded following a competitive solicitation conducted amongst small businesses in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 8.405, using General Services Administration eBuy Schedule 70, Special Item Number 132-56. This award provides for non-personal information technology services in support of mobile application development, web design, web development, and necessary support (to include testing, information assurance compliance and risk mitigation in accordance with Department of Defense standards) for Military Health System internet, intranet, and extranet websites, web applications, and mobile applications. The contractor place of performance is Falls Church, Virginia. In addition, this contract provides for four option periods, if exercised. This contract is funded with fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance appropriations in the amount of $8,194,502. The Defense Health Agency, Contracting Office – Health Information Technology, San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity (HT0015-19-F-0022).

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