Va. OKs Largest US Offshore Wind Farm

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.

The largest offshore wind farm in the US wins state approval in Virginia, reports gCaptain. Dominion Energy’s 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind farm will consist of 176 wind turbines to be constructed 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, generating enough energy to power up to 660,000 homes starting in 2026.

DoD revises COVID-19 guidelines for travel, masks, and more, reports Air Force Magazine. The Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness revised the Defense Department’s COVID-19 guidelines in a memo dated August 8. The new rules clarify “up to date” status regarding COVID-19 vaccines and when personnel must wear masks in vehicles, aircraft, and vessels, among other guidelines and standards.

Army Times reports details about former President Donald Trump’s relationship with top military brass include an unsent resignation letter from then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff GEN Mark Milley outlining how the Trump White House was causing fear and distrust of the military in the eyes of Americans across the country. The letter is part of a new book by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser — senior reporters for the New York Times and the New Yorker, respectively, and excerpted this week in the New Yorker.

The Federal Salary Council has found salaries for federal employees fall significantly behind the private sector, reports Federal News Network. The council report found the pay disparity between public and private sector employees, on average, was 22.47%. In late 2020, the council calculated the pay gap at 23.11%. The pay disparity is calculated based on wages only and doesn’t include the value of benefits for the public and private sectors.

The US Senate is questioning the Pentagon’s use of the “Controlled Unclassified Information” label, which was intended to speed the disclosure of information to other agencies and the public, but USNI News reports some legislators say the DoD has used the designation to keep the information from public view. The Senate Armed Services Committee wants to better define how DoD can use the CUI designation in the FY23 Defense Authorization Act.

Russia on Monday announced a freeze on US inspections of its nuclear arsenals under a pivotal arms control treaty, claiming that Western sanctions have hampered similar tours of US facilities by Russian monitors, reports Military.com. The move reflects soaring tensions between Moscow and Washington over Russia’s military action in Ukraine and marks the first time the Kremlin halted US inspections under the New START nuclear arms control treaty.

Advocates for reining in decades-old presidential war powers have their eyes on the FY23 must-pass defense authorization legislation as a vessel for finally achieving their goal in the Senate, reports Politico. A push to repeal the 2002 Iraq War authorization, spearheaded by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Todd Young (R-IN), has garnered bipartisan support. The move, which is backed by President Joe Biden, has yet to come up for a vote despite a pledge last year by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to do so.

Maryland hospitals face their “most critical staffing shortage in recent memory,” according to the 2022 State of Maryland’s Health Care Workforce Report, released on Monday by the Maryland Hospital Association, reports Maryland Matters. The report found one of every four nursing positions is vacant. Maryland is currently short 5,000 full-time registered nurses and 4,000 licensed practical nurses. The report also found “high staff turnover, shifting care delivery models, and an insufficient talent pipeline are pushing the workforce to an unsustainable point.”

NASA opens up Artemis moon missions to all astronauts, reports Space.com. This initiative rolls back a 2020 announcement that selected 18 astronauts for these missions.  “The way I look at it, any one of our 42 active astronauts is eligible for an Artemis mission,” NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, who is head of the astronaut office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, told reporters. “We want to assemble the right team for this mission.”

Cuba gets help from Mexico and Venezuela to fight a port fire at its main oil storage facility, reports gCaptain. Cuba sought on Sunday to bring under control a fire at its main oil storage facility that has killed one firefighter, drawing on help from Mexico and Venezuela to fight the raging flames. A lightning strike on Friday ignited one of eight storage tanks at the Matazanas super tanker port 60 miles east of Havana. A second tank caught fire on Saturday, catching firefighters and others at the scene by surprise. Sixteen people were missing. The second explosion injured more than 100 people, many first responders, and 24 remain hospitalized, five of those in critical condition.

 

 

At least eight people have died in and around Seoul, South Korean authorities said on Tuesday, after torrential rain knocked out power, caused landslides, and left roads and subways submerged, reports Reuters. The southern part of the national capital received more than 3.9 inches of rain per hour on late Monday, according to Korea Meteorological Administration. The accumulated rainfall in Seoul since midnight Monday stood at nearly 18 inches as of 2 pm Tuesday, with more forecast.

Britain’s weather service on Tuesday issued an “Extreme Heat” warning for parts of England and Wales, with no respite in sight from hot dry conditions that have sparked fires, broken temperature records, and strained the nation’s infrastructure, Reuters reports. Temperatures are expected to peak at 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) on Friday and may hit 36C in some places on Saturday. Other European nations have also faced a scorching heatwave in recent weeks with temperatures often exceeding 40C (104F).

Two more grain ships leave Ukraine, bringing the total to 12 under the newly brokered deal, reports Reuters. The Ocean Lion left for South Korea, carrying 64,720 tons of corn and the Rahmi Yagci was carrying 5,300 tons of sunflower meal to Istanbul. The United Nations and Turkey brokered the agreement last month after warnings that the halt in grain shipments caused by the conflict could lead to severe food shortages and even outbreaks of famine in parts of the world. Four ships that left Ukraine on Sunday are anchored near Istanbul and will be inspected on Tuesday, the defense ministry statement said.

The Pentagon’s latest drawdown package for Ukraine is valued at $1 billion and mainly comprising munitions for key systems, reports Air Force Magazine. There is no decision yet on whether to provide the Ukrainian Air Force with Western combat jets, a key DoD official told reporters adding, it could potentially take “a year to three years” before such jets could be delivered.

The US confirms that anti-radiation missiles were sent to Ukraine, reports The Drive, which can launch from at least some of Ukraine’s existing aircraft. ARMs home in on enemy radio frequency emissions with the intent to destroy or disable the enemy’s defense systems.

The Hill reports Russia’s military has suffered roughly 70,000 to 80,000 casualties since it first attacked Ukraine in late February, according to the Pentagon.

US warships will continue to make Taiwan Strait transits despite the recent Chinese live fire drills, reports USNI. COL Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, said, “We will continue to stand by our allies and partners. So even as China tries to kind of chip away at the status quo, our policy is to maintain the status quo with [a] free and open Indo-Pacific, which frankly, is what I think most of the countries in the region would prefer.”

Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s foreign minister, said Tuesday that China is using military drills to rehearse an invasion of the self-governing island democracy, while Taiwan’s military began its own live-fire exercises in a show of readiness to thwart off a potential attack, reports Military.com.

The Air Force launches a program to help sexual assault and harassment survivors at seven bases, reports Military Times. The pilot program will put resources for survivors of domestic abuse, stalking, cyber bullying, and sexual assault in one central base office to make reporting and finding support easier. The initiative follows last year’s finding of thousands of unreported cases within the ranks.

Here’s what’s in the Inflation Reduction Act, the sweeping health and climate bill passed Sunday reports The Hill.

Soldier becomes Rhode Island Guard’s first Black colonel, reports Army Times. COL Sharon Harmon became Rhode Island National Guard’s first Black colonel Saturday, at the Joint Force Headquarters, Camp Fogarty, in East Greenwich, the National Guard said in a statement. “I pray that my promotion is only the starting point for other African-Americans after me,” COL Harmon said.

Army vet Jessica Elaintrell Smith, 30, was sentenced for stealing $2.1 million in gear from Fort Hood, reports Army Times. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by two years of post-release supervision and ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution to the Army. Smith must also pay nearly $1.3 million to the Army as restitution for her role in the Fort Hood theft.

US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones could end up owing as little as 10% of the $45.2 million in punitive damages that a Texas jury awarded to the parents of a Sandy Hook victim last week, legal experts told Reuters on Monday.

Contracts:

Leidos Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland, was awarded a $13,714,121 modification (P00012) to contract W31P4Q-20-C-0015 for the procurement of General-Purpose Electronic Test Station (GETS-1000) test equipment, test program set hardware and software, test equipment upgrades and repair parts. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 9, 2024. Fiscal 2022 Foreign Military Sales (Romania and South Korea) funds in the amount of $13,714,121 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.

Lockheed Martin Corp., Liverpool, New York, is awarded a $17,132,970 fixed-price-incentive-fee and firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract N00024-19-C-6120 to exercise options for Navy equipment. Work will be performed in Liverpool, New York (66%); Millersville, Maryland (33%); and Marion, Massachusetts (1%), and is expected to be completed by September 2023. Fiscal 2022 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $10,195,828 (60%); fiscal 2021 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,466,939 (14%); fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,466,939 (14%); fiscal 2022 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,922,811 (11%); and fiscal 2021 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $80,453 (1%) will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

CORRECTION: The multiple award contract announced July 28, 2022, for Visible, Accessible, Understandable, Linked and Trusted (VAULT) subject matter expert acquisition incorrectly listed “LEIDOS Inc., doing business as SAIC, Reston, Virginia (FA701422D0008),” as one of the seven firms selected. The correct name of the firm is “LEIDOS Inc., Reston, Virginia (FA701422D0008).” All other information in the announcement is correct.