Will Women Register for the Draft in FY22?

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Military Times reports the Senate Armed Services Committee wants a $740 billion defense authorization bill, adding billions in equipment purchases beyond the White House request, changing how serious crimes are handled by military officials, and requiring women to register for the possibility of future military drafts, as do men. There is no current draft but almost all male US citizens and immigrants between 18 and 25 must register with the US Selective Service System.

The committee’s version of the FY 2022 NDAA reinstates the second Arleigh Burke class destroyer the Navy had cut from its request, reports Marine Log.com. It also provides the Navy with an additional $270 million for a further expeditionary fast transport vessel. There is pushback against the Navy’s plan to decommission more ships than it builds.

The SASC’s FY22 defense policy bill does permit some aircraft divestments, reports Defense News, but rejects the Air Force’s repeated request to send some A-10s to the boneyard. It would allow for the retirement of 18 KC-135 aircraft and 12 KC-10 aircraft. In addition to blocking retirement of its A-10 Warthog attack planes, Congress is seeking to block the Air Force from retiring any of its  KC-135 refueling tankers and RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drones this fiscal year.

According to a July 22 summary of the SACC’s markup of the FY22 defense policy bill, Defense News reports that the committee also wishes to fund the Army’s entire list of unfunded requirements — also known as a service’s wish list of wants that it can’t pay for out of its top line fiscal 2022 budget request. The Army’s wish list seeks an additional $5.5 billion to reduce risk to operational readiness and protect critical modernization efforts.

President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced Monday the termination of the US combat mission in Iraq by the end of the year, reports Military Times. The plan seeks to shift the American military mission from helping Iraq defeat the Islamic State group, to a strictly advisory and training role.

An Iraqi base housing US troops came under drone attack early Friday morning, reports Military Times. There were no casualties or damage. The attack on Bashur base is the latest in a string of attacks on facilities in Iraq and Syria housing US forces.

GEN Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., overseeing operations in Afghanistan, refused to commit to ending the US’ last remaining military leverage over the Taliban: airstrikes. The New York Times reports that the insurgents’ recent advance across Afghanistan has resulted in the capture of over half the country’s districts, and now threatens its major cities.

Business Insider reports Sen. Elizabeth Warren slam of Jeff Bezos, “the richest guy on Earth can launch himself into space while over half the country lives paycheck to paycheck.” Bezos, founder and former CEO of Amazon, paid $0 in federal income taxes for at least two years between 2006 and 2018, ProPublica reported in June. The bombshell report also revealed Tesla CEO Elon Musk did the same thing in 2018.

Telsa is expected to report its second-quarter earnings of $0.94 per share — a year-over-year growth of over 113% from $0.44 per share seen in the same quarter a year ago. It isn’t all such astronomically good news, Lockheed a mere 13% year-over-year growth in Yahoo News’ list of companies in its  “Monstrous Earnings Week” report.

 

 

Lawmakers have proposed changing the name of the Air Force’s military reserve force, signaling that creating a separate reserve component for the Space Force is likely off the table, reports Military.com.

The Queen Elizabeth Carrier Strike Group is making its way into the South China Sea with some ships already there ahead of carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08), reports USNI. The strike group has partially disaggregated into different elements following the conclusion of Exercise Konkan with the Indian Navy, held last week in the Bay of Bengal.

Most of the Royal Navy’s destroyers are unavailable for deployment, reports Defense News. With five Type 45 destroyers unavailable, only one warship remains in the class capable of operations. Four of the Type 45s currently unavailable are in various stages of maintenance or upgrade. The remaining warship, HMS Diamond, out of action after into technical problems earlier this month while escorting a Royal Navy-led carrier strike group on a deployment to the Indo-Pacific region.

The Navy wants to see a big uptick in Zumwalt-class destroyer operations over the next year, reports Defense News. VADM Roy Kitchener, commander of Naval Surface Forces, said the new technology includes the Zumwalt DDGs fielding hypersonic missiles. First-in-class Zumwalt and sister ship Michael Monsoor enter the fleet in 2022.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced eight bipartisan bills which focus in part on the cybersecurity of mobile service networks and prohibit equipment authorization for Chinese state-backed companies like Huawei and ZTE, reports FCW.

Many soldiers still aren’t vaccinated, reports Military.com, and Army leaders are moving to educate the unvaccinated as the deadly Delta variant sweeps through the country. COL Owen Price, the Fort Bragg Force Health Protection officer, said vaccine hesitancy mostly spurs from health concerns and latching onto misinformation mostly found on social media.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says the US is headed in “wrong direction” on coronavirus, reports AP, as cases soar, fueled by unvaccinated Americans and the virulent Delta variant. Already some local jurisdictions with surging infections, such as Los Angeles County, are calling on individuals to wear masks in indoor public spaces regardless of vaccination status.

He risked his life as an interpreter in Iraq for the US. Now, Sam Al Helli is in the Navy Reserve, reports Navy Times. His long journey to wear an American military uniform culminated July 16 when he was commissioned into the Navy Reserve as a lieutenant during a ceremony at Special Operations Forces Memorial Park on MacDill Air Force base in Tampa, FL. He was pinned by his wife Kayla as his daughter Serein looked on.

Bel Air’s Chase Kalisz won gold in the 400m individual medley in the Tokyo Olympics, in 4 minutes and 9.42 second reports WBALtv. It’s the first gold medal of Kalisz’s career and the first medal of the Tokyo Games for Team USA. He won silver in the 2016 Rio Games. Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus downs Katie Ledecky in first showdown, reports Reuters. Ledecky looks to get her revenge in the 800m freestyle.

Contracts:

Telos Corp., Ashburn, Virginia, has been awarded a $19,397,304 task order for XACTA Information Assurance Manager (XIAM) support services. This contract will deliver assessment and authorization of sensitive compartmented information (SCI); and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) networks and weapons platforms for authorization decision by the authorizing official for Air Force SCI and ISR Mission Systems. The majority of work will be based out of Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, and is expected to be completed March 20, 2026. This is a sole-source acquisition, and fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,750,265 are being obligated at the time of award. The Acquisition Management and Integration Center, JBSA-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity (FA7037-21-F-0049).

Seaward Marine Services LLC, Norfolk, Virginia (N3220521D4124), is awarded a $24,090,612 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for underwater hull cleaning services and associated work for the Military Sealift Command’s fleet of ships. This contract includes five one-year ordering periods that would bring the cumulative value of contract ceiling to $24,090,612. Work will be performed worldwide, with an expected completion date of Aug. 9, 2026. Working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $2,500 for the minimum guarantee will be obligated if appropriate. Orders may be placed throughout the five-year ordering period. Funding for the fiscal year in which orders are place will be utilized at that time. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.sam.gov contracting opportunities website and one timely offer was received. The Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $13,338,114 cost-plus-fixed-fee level of effort modification to previously awarded delivery order N62793-21-F-2001 off of contract N00024-19-D-4306 to accomplish 12 months of the planned incremental availability period planning. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed in March 2022. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $2,000,000 will be obligated at award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Newport News, Virginia, is the contracting activity.