WH Gold Star Event Sparks Coronavirus Concerns

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A White House event for families of deceased US troops has been thrust into a new light after US Coast Guard ADM Charles Ray’s coronavirus diagnosis, reports The Washington Post. The Sept. 27 ceremony, held on Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day with dozens of people in attendance, recognized the families of 20 deceased service members. Attendees received a coronavirus test the same afternoon of the 5 pm event.

The Air Force has determined that an F-35 crash at Eglin Air Force Base, FL, in May was largely due to excessive speed while landing, but there were multiple contributing factors, reports Defense News.

Air Force bases in the southeastern are again hunkering down for a hurricane, reports Air Force Magazine. Hurricane Delta is slated to hit southeast Louisiana Friday, Oct. 9, and cause a “life-threatening storm surge and dangerous hurricane-force winds,” particularly in Louisiana and Mississippi, according to the National Hurricane Center.

A major change to a popular VA program means the family caregivers of Vietnam, Korea, and World War II veterans may qualify to get paid for their help; gain access to caregiver training, mental health services, and counseling; and more, reports Military.com.

The US military has completed its drawdown from about 5,200 to fewer than 3,000 troops in Iraq, reports Task and Purpose. Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., head of US Central Command, first announced  that the reduction of US forces in Iraq was expected to be completed by the end of the month.

Years after they fought in Afghanistan, US troops watch as their children deploy to the same war, reports Stars and Stripes. Nineteen years ago  a generation of Americans deployed to Afghanistan to root out the terrorists behind the 9/11 attacks, believing that by fighting in the country more than 7,400 miles away, they would spare their children the need to do so too.

 

 

Researchers have developed augmented reality goggles that would allow handlers to give commands to military working dogs while staying out of harm’s way, reports UPI.

Retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal says he endorsed Joe Biden because he approved of decision-making processes under the Obama administration, despite policy disagreements that preceded his ouster in 2010 as the allied military commander in Afghanistan, reports Wall Street Journal. (Paywall.)

US sees ‘important progress’ in Helsinki nuclear arms talks, reports Military Times. Ambassador Marshall Billingslea, President Donald Trump’s special envoy for arms control, gave the upbeat view in a tweet Tuesday, a day after the talks in the Finnish capital with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

A growing number of Democrats in Congress are calling for the Trump administration to immediately suspend security aid to Azerbaijan, as fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces reaches its second week, reports Defense News. The US has provided military training and some equipment to both former Soviet republics, but Russia and Israel dwarf the US as suppliers of military hardware to Azerbaijan.

DefSEc Mark Esper says US needs to compete with China’s plans to be a first-rate military power by 2049, reports Defense News. Esper said the US must grow its fleet to more than 500 ships by 2045, and more than 355 ships by the mid-2030s, confirming a report last month from Defense News.

After a summer of civil unrest over racial injustice in the US, the National Guard has put hundreds of military police on standby specifically to help law enforcement deal with any potential violence in the coming months, reports Reuters. While the units were not specifically created to address potential violence around the Nov. 3 elections, their existence highlights how the military could help deal with unrest around the vote without deploying active duty troops to cities – a key tenet for Pentagon leadership.

Military Times has some USPS suggestions and deadlines for getting your holiday goodies to overseas troops. While there are still a few weeks to go before Halloween, it’s time to start thinking about getting those Christmas and Hanukkah packages and cards to overseas military locations.

Contracts:

CORRECTION: The dollar amounts awarded and obligated on Oct. 1, 2020, to Gryphon Technologies L.C., Washington, DC (FA7022-21-D-0001), for the processing, analysis and quantitative evaluation of environmental samples and other associated services in support of the Air Force Technical Applications Center’s mission were announced inaccurately. The contract amount is actually $49,503,924, and the obligated amount is $4,160,824.

L1 Enterprises Inc., Frederick, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $45,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for medical equipment and accessories for the Defense Logistics Agency electronic catalog. This was a competitive acquisition with 131 responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Maryland, with an Oct. 6, 2025, ordering period end date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2026 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DH-21-D-0050).