Who Should Take Your Temperature at the Airport?
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.
Why isn’t the FAA mandating temperature checks of everyone who enters an airport? Aviation Week says because airlines want government agencies to take on the responsibility. If the US were to begin checking for virus symptoms at airports, it isn’t clear which department would be in charge: Transportation, which includes FAA or Homeland Security, which includes the Transportation Security Administration. It also unclear what mask policy would apply, now that each airline has its own standard.
An American company has inked a contract with Kurdish authorities in northeastern Syria to develop and export the region’s crude oil. Politico reports the secretive deal was approved by the US government months after President Donald Trump announced he was leaving US troops to “secure the oil.” The company, Delta Crescent Energy LLC, was incorporated in Delaware in February 2019, its partners include former US ambassador to Denmark James Cain; James Reese, a former officer in the Army’s elite Delta Force; and John P. Dorrier Jr., a former executive at GulfSands Petroleum, a U.K.-based oil company with offices and drilling experience in Syria.
The Polish government will pay the majority of costs associated with stationing 5,500 US troops at bases within its borders as part of a new security cooperation pact, reports Breaking Defense.
Germany’s defense minister describes the planned withdrawal of some 12,000 US troops from her country as “regrettable,” while suggesting it underlines the need for Europe to do more for its own security, reports Military Times. About 6,400 US troops in Germany are slated to return home, about 5,600 to shift to other countries in Europe, and about 24,000 remain. The plan needs support and funding from Congress.
About 9,000 children signed up for the virtual option as DoD schools reopen, report Military Times. This is about 13% of students enrolled in DoDEA schools. Students enrolled in the virtual option commit to at least one semester, but can transition to attending classes in person at the beginning of the second semester if conditions permit.
States are preparing to pull thousands of National Guard troops off the front lines of coronavirus relief efforts with federal funding set to expire later this month and no response from the White House on governors’ pleas to extend the deployments for the rest of the year, reports Politico. The National Governors Association has asked the president to extend deployment authorities for thousands of National Guard troops still working on coronavirus relief missions, reports Military Times. The governors say the support will likely be needed “until a vaccine is available.”
The Project On Government Oversight reports Atlantic Diving Supply obtained a Paycheck Protection Program loan worth between $2 million and $5 million, one of at least 27 companies with estimated 2019 sales of more than $1 billion that received the SBA loans. There are 2,068 PPP loan recipients with estimated annual sales of over $100 million in 2019. ADS and some of its officers settled last year a fraud allegations of wrongly obtaining $2.8 billion in contracts meant to go to small businesses; “the largest False Claims Act recovery based on allegations of small business contracting fraud, according to the Justice Department.
The British Ministry of Defence is coming under fire from members of Parliament opposed to the MoD inviting foreign companies to take part in early plans to build Royal Navy ships, reports Express and Star.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) curtails the power of local health officers to order blanket school closures, reports The Washington Post. Hogan’s two-word revision to his April 5 executive order added “(except schools)” to a section granting the counties and Baltimore city the power to impose tighter restrictions on business activity and social interaction than the state’s. The revision followed Montgomery County’s decision Friday to ban classroom instruction at private schools until Oct. 1, which meant Barron Trump would be unable to attend classes at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, reports Maryland Matters.
House panel calls new postal chief to explain mail delays, reports Federal Times. A plan imposed by the new postal chief, Louis DeJoy, eliminates overtime for hundreds of thousands of postal workers and orders that mail be kept until the next day if postal distribution centers are running late. The Sept. 17 hearing will focus on “the need for on-time mail delivery during the ongoing pandemic and upcoming election,” which is expected to include a major expansion of mail-in ballots.
Gov. Hogan demanded the Maryland State Board of Elections explain why voters haven’t been mailed applications to request mail-in ballots yet, reports Maryland Matters. In his letter, Mr. Hogan gave the State Board of Elections 48 hours to explain why those ballot applications have not been mailed to voters, and reiterated his call for election officials to open every available polling center for the Nov. 3 general election.
The U-2’s latest feat is passing data from F35s to Army missiles, reports Defense One. The venerable U-2 took another step toward the Pentagon’s vision of 21st-century warfare as it relayed sensor from F-35 aircraft through Lockheed Martin communications gear to an Army missile-command system, company officials said Monday.
Congress has awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, its highest honor, to surviving crew members of the USS Indianapolis, the ship that delivered key components of the first nuclear bomb and was later sunk by Japan during World War II. Four days after delivering its top secret cargo, the ship was sunk by Japanese torpedoes on July 30, 1945. The ship had 1,195 personnel aboard. Of nearly 900 men who went into the Philippine Sea, just 316 survived before being rescued nearly five days later. The final death toll of 879 was the largest single disaster at sea in US Navy history.
Contracts:
Atlantic Diving Supply Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (M67854-20-D-5127); and Vizocom Government Services, El Cajon, California (M67854-20-D-5128) are awarded a $17,000,000 maximum amount, multiple award, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the purchase of soft wall shelters and shelter repair parts. Work will be performed in Virginia Beach, Virginia; and El Cajon, California, and is expected to be completed by July 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $151,483 will be obligated on the first delivery order immediately following contract award. Funds will expire the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was a competitively procured via beta.SAM.gov website and two offers were received. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting agency.
PHE-Baker JV2 LLC, Rockville, Maryland (W91278-20-D-0050); Stell Environmental Enterprises Inc., Exton, Pennsylvania (W91278-20-D-0051); Swift River Vesar SB JV, Anchorage, Alaska (W91278-20-D-0052); and Vernadero Group Inc., Phoenix, Arizona (W91278-20-D-0053), will compete for each order of the $40,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect and engineering services to support the US Army Corps of Engineers South Atlantic Division Mobile District’s planning and environmental division. Bids were solicited via the internet with 28 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 3, 2025. US Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama, is the contracting activity.
Radiant Mission Solutions Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded a $12,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide the Army Geospatial Center with remote ground terminal systems. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 4, 2023. US Army Corps of Engineers, Alexandria, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W5J9CQ-20-D-0006).
