VA Leaves Millions Unspent for Suicide Outreach

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.

Veterans Administration has failed to spend millions available for suicide outreach campaigns in 2018 and severely curtailed their messaging efforts, reports Military Times. The Government Accountability Office study found that of $6.2 million set aside for suicide prevention media outreach in fiscal 2018, only $57,000 — less than 1 percent — was actually used.

Retired Marine Col. Jim Turner became the fifth veteran since 2013 at Bay Pines Department of Veterans Affairs in Florida to take his life, reports Military.com.  He put on his dress uniform and medals and drove to the complex. He got out of his truck, sat down on top of his military records and took his own life with a rifle. He left a suicide note blasting the VA for failing to help him. He was remembered as a professional and a leader.

White House officials appeared to end their threat of a partial government shutdown over Christmas, Federal Times reports, saying they will find ways to fund President Donald Trump’s controversial border wall through other means. The Federal Times reports that the administration will look elsewhere for the funds for the wall.

Hospital ship Comfort returns to US after humanitarian mission in Central and South America, reports Navy Times. Its crew treated thousands of people including migrants who fled crisis-wracked Venezuela.

Army snipers might soon see a new ghillie suit that they’ll actually want to use, reports Army Times. “Ghillie suits provide snipers that edge and flexibility to maintain a concealed position, which is partial to our trade,” said Staff Sgt. Ricky Labistre, a tester and sniper team leader.

The Navy eyes cutting Blue Angels’ 2020 season if the budget ax falls, reports Defense News.

Breaking Defense reports increasing anxiety about China has the Navy arming subs with ship-killing missile, shifting from decades focused on projecting power ashore.

USS Freedom is underway after two years of repairs, reports USNI, and will rejoin the four-ship LCS test force. The other Freedom-class ship in the test division, USS Fort Worth (LCS-3), was also sidelined for repairs.

Air Force braces to meet DefSec Mattis’ 80 percent readiness order by the end of fiscal 2019, which requires four out of every five F-16, F-22, and F-35 fighter jets ready to fly at any given time, reports Air Force Times.

Turkey is cleared by the US for a $3.5 billion Patriot missile deal despite Turkey’s decision to buy a Russian air defense system, reports Defense News.

The possibility of leaving the European Union without a Brexist deal prompted Britain to put 3,500 troops on standby in case there’s a disruption of supplies, says UPI. According to The Guardian, the troops will include regulars and reserves “in order to support any government department on any contingencies they may need,” said UK Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson.

Contracts:

Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, Marlborough, Massachusetts, is awarded a $114,065,820 cost-plus-fixed fee, firm-fixed-price, cost only contract for air and missile defense radar AN/SPY-6(V) integration and production support efforts.  The work to be performed is the integration and production support for continued combat system integration and test, engineering, training, software and depot maintenance, and field engineering services, as well as the procurement of spare parts. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $357,827,708. Work will be performed in Marlborough, Massachusetts (64 percent); Kauai, Hawaii (18 percent); Portsmouth, Rhode Island (8 percent); San Diego, California (7 percent); Fair Lakes, Virginia (2 percent); and Moorestown, New Jersey (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2019. Fiscal 2017 and 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2018 and 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $46,221,947 will be obligated at time of award and funding in the amount of $6,887,511 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. This contract was procured under the statutory authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) – only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-C-5501).

Deloitte Consulting LLP, Arlington, Virginia, is awarded an estimated value $23,041,113 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for a Training Virtual Environment (TVE) that will host the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) training curriculum and deliver curriculum packages for CANES baselines. Orders issued under the contract will produce a training environment capable of being accessed from Navy electronic classrooms and provide multiple instances of cloud-based training for CANES system administrator training that will be established. The TVE will include a virtualized computing environment that fully replicates the functionality of CANES to provide realistic and testable training and scenarios. The TVE will provide a centrally located and integrated learning management system that allows for rapid curriculum updates and configuration changes. The TVE will facilitate training as well as record keeping (e.g., synchronization with current approved fleet training tracking databases) to document and track progress and training completion. Additionally, the scope of this procurement will include conducting front-end analysis; job, duty, task analysis; curriculum delivery; and training delivery, as well as conduct train-the-trainer and course events. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by December 2023. Fiscal 2017 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,800,000 will be obligated with the first task order at the time of award. Funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with seven bids received. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N00039-19-D-0007) .

CSRA LLC, a General Dynamics Information Technology company, Stafford, Virginia, is awarded a $78,804,642 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract (N00039-17-D-0002) for Information Technology (IT) services to support the Navy’s outside the US (OCONUS) Naval Enterprise Network (ONE-Net). The ONE-Net contract is used to continue IT services during the transition from the ONE-Net contract to the proposed Next Generation Enterprise Network Re-compete family of contracts in support of the Naval Enterprise Networks program office. ONE-Net provides OCONUS Navy commands and claimants core IT services such as: Non-Classified Internet Protocol Router Network and Secret Internet Protocol Router Network access, network connectivity and security, mobile access and desktop support. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $159,641,872. Work will be performed in Navy and Marine Corps locations in Bahrain, Greece, Guam, Italy, Japan, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Singapore, Spain and United Arab Emirates, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 18, 2020. If all options are exercised, work could continue until May 2020. Contract funds in the amount of $19,920,766 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. No funds will be placed on contract or obligated at the time of award. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity.

Marshall Communications Corp., Ashburn, Virginia, is awarded $9,671,972 for firm-fixed-price order N0042119F0244 against a previously issued NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement contract (NNG15SD82B). This order provides for the customization and configuration of the Teamcenter Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system. The Teamcenter PLM system will be a common system used to manage maintenance and repair data across Fleet Readiness Centers. This order also provides for the migration of existing maintenance and repair data that resides within separate standalone systems into the Teamcenter PLM system. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland (70 percent); Cherry Point, North Carolina (10 percent); Jacksonville, Florida (10 percent); North Island, California (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2019. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,671,972 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Pivotal Software Inc., San Francisco, California, has been awarded a $100,116,589 fixed-base, production-other-transaction agreement for support of the Kessel Run Experimentation Lab and will utilize the prototyped methodology and the software and services that support them across the entire Air Force enterprise architectures. Work will be performed in Boston, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Washington, District of Columbia, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 18, 2019. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $10,620,123; and fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $764,500 are being obligated at the time of award. This contract is a follow-on to the successful prototype contract between Pivotal Software Inc. and the Army Contracting Command-New Jersey. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8730-19-9-0002).

Raytheon Co., Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, has been awarded a $33,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity modification (P00008) to contract FA8730-17-D-0006 for the delivery of Identify Friend or Foe transponders and ancillary equipment. work will be performed in Largo, Florida, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 7, 2022. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $111,000,000. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. Aerospace Management Systems, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity.

L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Mississippi, has been awarded an estimated $35,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity modification (P00015) to contract FA8106-17-D-0001 for contractor logistic support of the Air Force C-12 fleet. Work will be performed in Madison, Mississippi; San Angelo, Texas; Okmulgee, Oklahoma; Buenos Ares, Argentina; Gaborone, Botswana; Brasilia, Brazil; Bogota, Columbia; Cairo, Egypt; Accra, Ghana; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Budapest, Hungary; Joint Base Andrews, Maryland; Nairobi, Kenya, Rabat, Morocco; Manila, Philippines; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Bangkok, Thailand; Ankara, Turkey; Edwards Air Force Base, California; Holloman AFB, New Mexico; Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; and Yokota Air Base, Japan. Work is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2019. The estimated cumulative face value of the contract is $70,000,000. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity.

Applied Research Associates, Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been awarded a $33,556,686 cost-plus-fixed-fee/firm-fixed-price contract for Technology Enabler Raptor Environment for Cloud Compute Services. This contract provides for development of cloud-based software development environment(s) within the Amazon Web Services Secret Cloud Compute Service region. Work will be performed in Raleigh, North Carolina; and Fulton, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by November 2022. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition for a task order placed against the General Service Administration. Fiscal 2018 research, development, text and evaluation funds in the amount of $7,609,682 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8611-19-F-0002).

Affigent LLC, Herndon, Virginia, was awarded an $18,233,752 modification (BA04 08) to contract W91QUZ-09-A-0001 for software maintenance. Work will be performed in Herndon, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of May 24, 2020. Fiscal 2019 Army working capital; research, development, test and evaluation; operations and maintenance Army; and other funds in the combined amount of $18,233,752 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

Ernst & Young LLP, Washington, District of Columbia, is being awarded a labor-hour contract option with a maximum value of $32,961,728 for audit services of the Department of the Air Force General Fund and Working Capital Fund Financial Statements and Examination. Work will be performed in Washington, District of Columbia, with an expected completion date of Dec. 31, 2019. This contract is the result of a competitive acquisition for which one quote was received. The contract had a 16-month base period plus three individual one-year option periods, with a maximum value of $135,006,112. This award brings the total cumulative value of the contract to $68,367,603. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Air Force funds in the amount of $32,961,728 are being obligated at the time of this option award. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Contract Services Directorate, Columbus, Ohio, is the contracting activity (HQ0423-16-F-0114).

CORRECTION: The contract announced on Dec. 14, 2018, to Peraton Inc., Herndon, Virginia (FA8750-19-F-0003) for Xdomain technology through research, evolution, enhancement, maintenance, and support software and report, was actually awarded today, Dec. 19, 2018. The expected completion date is now Dec. 18, 2023. All other information in the announcement is correct.