Will a Government Shutdown Be Avoided?

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.

Congress has only a few days left to pass a funding package for several large federal agencies and general government appropriations to avoid a government shutdown. A partial shutdown would mean that 420,000 federal employees would have to work without pay, a number that constitutes approximately 20 percent of the federal workforce, reports Federal Times. At the heart of the debate is funding for President Donald Trump’s long-promised border wall along the US-Mexico border, reports Newsweek. The Hill reports that the House Democrats are making plans for a prolonged shutdown.

The Coast Guard commandant said he is ready to work with Congress to get back money for a new icebreaker that was stripped from the service’s proposed budget allocation to pay for the border wall, reports Military.com. ADM Karl Schultz is optimistic that the $750 million will be put back in his budget.

A DoD inspector general audit finds there are cyber vulnerabilities in US missile defense system, reports Navy Times. The Army, Navy, and Missile Defense Agency are failing to take basic cybersecurity steps to ensure that information on America’s ballistic missile defense system won’t fall into nefarious hands, according to the audit.

The 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base in Utah received its first two F-35As last week, reports Air Force Times. That wing is scheduled to have a full complement of 78 aircraft by the end of next year.

The US Navy established the Titans of Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 30 late last week. It will be the first unit to field the replacement for the Navy’s fleet of C-2A Greyhound carrier onboard delivery aircraft, reports USNI News.

The National Background Investigations Bureau is slated to transfer its functions, resources, infrastructure, and personnel to DoD over nine months, starting Jan. 1 and ending Sept. 30, 2019, reports Defense Systems, as DoD begins to take over federal background check duties.

Lockheed Martin launched the USS St. Louis littoral combat ship into the Menominee River in Wisconsin over the weekend, Fox 11 News reported.

The Federal 100 is a program that honors women and men who’ve had an impact on federal IT over the past year. Dec. 24 is the deadline to nominate someone. If you know someone whose talents and drive have made federal IT better in 2018, here is a chance to get them the recognition they deserve. Defense Systems notes the guidelines for nominations.

Federal leaders were recognized for their outstanding service to government at the Dec. 13 Presidential Rank Awards Leadership Summit held in Washington, DC, reports Federal Times. Click here to see the award winners.

Organizers of the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle ride in Washington say next year’s event will be the last, Military Times reports. The event is held each May and draws more than 1 million riders and spectators to the National Mall. Cost concerns were given as the reason for stopping the event.

The US Air Force is about to launch the first of a new generation of GPS satellites, reports nbc16.com, designed to be more accurate, secure, and versatile.

Contracts:

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Mississippi, is awarded a $39,395,512 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N0024-16-C-2415 to exercise Option Year 3 for life cycle engineering and support services for the LPD 17 class amphibious transport dock ship program. The services include post-delivery planning and engineering; homeport technical support; class integrated product data environment; data maintenance and equipment management; systems integration and engineering support; LPD 17 class design services; research engineering; obsolescence management; class material readiness; emergent repair provision; training and logistics support; ship alteration development and installation; material management; operating cycle integration; availability planning; and configuration data management. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Mississippi (96 percent); Norfolk, Virginia (1 percent); San Diego, California (1 percent); Mayport, Florida (1 percent); and Sasebo, Japan (1 percent), and is expected to be complete by December 2019. Fiscal 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy); and fiscal 2019 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $19,057,104 will be obligated at time of award and contract funds in the amount of $18,017,669 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

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. 17, 2018. All other information in the announcement is correct.