Veterans Day Originally Commemorated Peace

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 federal holiday is tomorrow, but Saturday, Nov. 11, is Veterans Day, in the US a day to honor all who have served in the military, past or present, reports USA Today. Nov. 11 was originally known as Armistice Day and an annual day of remembrance. First established in the US after World War I, the day became one of the 10 federal holidays the US recognized in the 1930s. Still celebrated in the Commonwealth nations as Remembrance Day, Armistice Day commemorated the cessation of fighting in World War I, set at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, explains Wikipedia. The United States’ official day of national remembrance of those killed in action is Memorial Day, which predates World War I.

The US Air Force has asked Congress to shield nuclear launch sites from wind power, reports Federal Times. The service’s vast fields of underground nuclear missile silos are tended by military crews aboard UH-1 Huey helicopters which can’t operate safely among wind turbines. The launch sites are small, rectangular plots of land marked only by antennae, a chain-link fence, and a flat 110,000-ton concrete blast door. The turbines are hundreds of feet high, with long, sweeping blades that have parts so large and long they dwarf the 18-wheeler flatbed trucks that transport them.

At the approach of the first month into the Israel-Hamas war, the Pentagon has pulled Defense Department support for congressional visits to Israel and restricted official visits, according to a memo obtained by CNN.

The Gerald R. Ford and Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier strike groups; two Italian frigates, Virginio Fasan and Carlo Margottini; and the US 6th Fleet flagship Mount Whitney, conducted exercises together in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea this week, reports Navy Times.

 US forces are launching reconnaissance drones to help search in support of the Israel Defense Forces-led hostage rescues of Israelis held in Gaza, reports Military Times.

The White House maintained Tuesday that it doesn’t believe Israeli forces should reoccupy Gaza following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comments that his country will have the “overall security responsibility” in Gaza for an “indefinite period” after the war ends, reports CNN.

Top diplomats from the Group of Seven leading industrial democracies announced a unified stance on the Israel-Hamas war on Wednesday and called for “urgent action” to help civilians trapped in an increasingly dire situation in Gaza, including pauses in the fighting to allow aid in and people out, reports APNews.

The Pentagon announced $425 million in new military aid for Ukraine, $125 million for air defense equipment, small arms ammunition, cold weather gear, and various other maintenance and logistical items from US stockpiles, reports Stars and Stripes. The Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative will provide $300 million to procure laser-guided munitions to shoot down Russian drones.

The US and its NATO allies will suspend participation in a 1990 treaty limiting conventional forces in Europe, marking the demise of another landmark arms control agreement, reports Wall Street Journal. The move follows longstanding Western complaints that Moscow wasn’t honoring the terms of the treaty and then Russia’s formal withdrawal from the accord this week.

As the US is loosening its ties, the EU is pulling Ukraine closer, reports Politico. On Wednesday, the European Commission is set to propose that EU countries open talks with Ukraine and several other aspiring members on joining the bloc, embedding the future of Kyiv within the EU.

Women are participating in a course in firearms and urban combat in a forest near Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, reports New York Times. The training includes shooting rifles, finding booby traps, and throwing hand grenades. They said they realized they might some day end up on the front lines.

South Korea plans to launch its first domestically built spy satellite at the end of this month to better monitor rival North Korea, which is expanding its arsenal of nuclear weapons, reports C4ISRNET. DefSec Lloyd J. Austin III’s ninth trip to the Indo-Pacific theater follows South Korea’s announcement that their first-ever reconnaissance satellite will be launched into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA, Nov. 30. Austin is set to visit India, South Korea, and Indonesia, reports Air and Space Forces Magazine.

Politico reports active-duty members of the US military are vulnerable to having their personal information collected, packaged and sold to overseas companies without any vetting, according to a new report funded by the US Military Academy at West Point.

The military has removed 62.5 gallons of fuel from the Navy’s underground Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, HI, reports Stars and Stripes. The tanks held 104 million gallons when defueling began last month. They sit 100 feet above a critical aquifer most of Honolulu relies on for drinking water.

The Kaskaskia Regional Port District will conduct a $350,000 study at the start of next year to determine if building a fuel pipeline from the Kaskaskia River near Fayetteville, IL, to Scott Air Force Base is feasible. The terminal would be located on the river about 15 miles southeast of Belleville, reports St. Louis Public Radio, receive fuel from barges, then ship it roughly 16 miles north to the base.

The DoD continues to push for its highest pay increase ever, 5.2% in FY24, reports USNI.org. If approved, service members would receive around a 10% increase in salary between fiscal years 2023 and 2024, according to Deputy DefSec Kathleen Hicks. She also said, during the Center for a New American Security conference, the 50 years of an all-volunteer force shows it is the right model, but to fill the ranks in a hot labor market, the Pentagon needs to expand eligibility, increase the relevance and awareness of its benefits, reports Air and Space Forces Magazine.

Marine Corps SGT MAJ Troy Black became the US military’s highest-ranking enlisted member last week. Senior enlisted adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also works with the Defense Secretary to address combat readiness and quality-of-life issues at home and abroad, reports Military Times.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) said he’s open to negotiating an end to his blockade of almost 400 military nominees after meeting with fellow Republican senators on Tuesday, signaling a shift after he has dug in on his protest of a Pentagon abortion policy for more than nine months, reports Military Times.

Marine Corps veteran Federico Klein, a politically appointed State Department official in former President Donald Trump’s administration, was sentenced on Friday to nearly six years in prison for attacking police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol, reports AP News.

Contracts:

Systems Planning and Analysis Inc., of Alexandria, Virginia, is awarded a $90,802,247 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Trident II Strategic Weapons System technical support services supporting the Common Missile Compartment program, D5 Life Extension 2 program, Strategic Systems Program (SSP) Facilities Management, Activation and Assessments, and Missile Systems program. This contract also benefits a foreign military sale to the United Kingdom. Fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,977,925; and fiscal 2024 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $700,000, will be obligated upon award. Funds in the amount of $700,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Work will be performed in Alexandria, Virginia (86%); and SSP Headquarters, Washington Navy Yard, Washington DC (14%). Work is expected to be completed April 14, 2029. This contract was a sole source acquisition pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 3204(a)(1). SSP, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.

Peraton Technology Services Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, is awarded a $9,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N0001924F0007) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N0001921G0010). This order provides for the ongoing development and delivery of Theater Mission Planning Center subsystems software upgrades, to include requirements and performance analysis, design, integration, documentation, training, testing, and installation in support of the Tomahawk weapons system for the Navy. Work will be performed in Santa Clara, California (86.42%); and various locations within the continental US (13.58%) and is expected to be completed in November 2024. Fiscal 2024 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,000,000 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Innovative Defense Technologies LLC, Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a $16,352,342 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost modification to previously awarded contract N00024-21-C-5100 to exercise options for engineering labor and support requirements for automated test and analysis capability supporting Navy surface combatant combat system development. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia (40%); Mount Laurel, New Jersey (39%); Kauai, Hawaii (10%); White Sands, New Mexico (9%); and various at-sea events (2%), and is expected to be completed by November 2024. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,267,128 (94%); and fiscal 2024 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $350,192 (6%), will be obligated at time of award, of which $5,267,128 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Nov. 6, 2023)

Advanced Management Strategies Group Inc., Dumfries, Virginia, was awarded a contract (HT001123C0080) valued at $58,528,731 for a six-month base period and four 12-month option periods for Recovery Coordination Program support services. Defense Health Agency Medical Affairs, Clinical Support Division, oversees, monitors, and reports on the accessibility, utilization, and performance of Department of Defense and military service-led warrior care programs; develops instructions and procedures to ensure proper performance and on-going process improvements of these programs; and, in certain circumstances, executes and provides direct support of certain portions of such programs that are designed to assist recovering and transitioning military service members and support military families to meet their needs and achieve their goals. These programs are defined as the Recovery Coordination Program and include Caregiver Support, Transition of Care Interagency Support System, Education and Employment Initiative, Operation Warfighter, National Resource Directory, Military Adaptive Sports Program, and Warrior Games Coaching Support. Fiscal 2024 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $7,636,302 are obligated for contract modification HT001123C0080-P00003 to exercise and fully fund Option One contract line items 1001-1007, 1011-1013, and 1016 for 12 months from Oct. 17, 2023, through Oct. 16, 2024. Services will be performed at various locations in the continental US. DHA, Professional Services Contracting Division, Falls Church, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Oct. 13, 2023)

Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia, was awarded a $17,661,515 modification (P00045) to contract W31P4Q-21-F-B004 for AH-64E technical support. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 3, 2024. Fiscal 2010 Foreign Military Sales (Australia); fiscal 2023 research, development, test, and evaluation, Army; fiscal 2022 aircraft procurement, Army; and 2024 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $17,661,515 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. 

NIKA Technologies Inc., Rockville, Maryland, was awarded a $336,001,800 firm-fixed-price contract for facility support services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 13 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 6, 2030. US Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W912DY-24-D-0004).

OST Inc., McLean, Virginia, was awarded a $97,400,000 modification (P00022) to contract W900KK-17-D-0002 for systems engineering and technical assistance services in support of Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 9, 2025. US Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity.

Innovative Defense Technologies LLC, Arlington, Virginia, is awarded a $16,352,342 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost modification to previously awarded contract N00024-21-C-5100 to exercise options for engineering labor and support requirements for Automated Test and Analysis capability supporting Navy surface combatant combat system development. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia (40%); Mount Laurel, New Jersey (39%); Kauai, Hawaii (10%); White Sands, New Mexico (9%); and various at-sea events (2%), and is expected to be completed by November 2024. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,267,128 (94%); and fiscal 2024 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $350,192 (6%), will be obligated at time of award, of which $5,267,128 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum, Maryland, was awarded a $9,234,025 cost-plus-fixed-fee completion contract for a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency research project for the Miniature Integrated Thermal Management Systems for 3D Heterogeneous Integration (Minitherms3D) program. The Minitherms3D program seeks to revolutionize thermal management 3D heterogeneous integration (3DHI) and significantly reduce thermal resistances within the 3D stack and external to the stack of 3DHI systems, while increasing volumetric heat removal. Work will be performed in Batavia, Illinois (42.5%); Linthicum, Maryland (22.2%); Lincoln, Nebraska (22.1%); Chicago, Illinois (7.3%); Niskayuna, New York (3.8%); and La Jolla, California (2.1%), with an expected completion date of May 2025. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $4,034,707 are being obligated at time of award. This contract is a competitive acquisition in which 11 proposals were received in response to Broad Agency Announcement HR001123S0019. DARPA, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HR001124C0303).

UPDATE: Melling LLC, Alexandria, Virginia (SPE2DE-24-D0003, $8,750,000), has been added as an awardee to the multiple award contract for medical surgical supplies for the Defense Logistics Agency Electronic Catalog, issued against solicitation SPE2DE-18-R-0001 and awarded May 10, 2019.