Wednesday, March 11, 2009

MILITARY CONTRACTS March 11, 2009

NAVY

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded an advance acquisition contract with an estimated value of $265,000,000 for long lead materials and effort associated with the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Air System Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Lot IV procurement of 12 Air Force Conventional Take Off and Landing (CTOL) air systems, 14 Marine Corps Short Take-off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) air systems, one Navy Carrier Variant air system, and one Netherlands CTOL air system. In addition, this contract provides for associated ancillary mission equipment, sustainment support, special tooling/special test equipment and technical/financial data. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, (35 percent); El Segundo, Calif., (25 percent); Warton, United Kingdom, (20 percent); Orlando, Fla., (10 percent); Nashua, N.H., (5 percent); and Baltimore, Md., (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in Jan. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-09-C-0010).

Engineering/Remediation Resources Group *, Martinez, Calif.; EOD Technology Inc.*, Lenoir City, Tenn.; Bering Sea Eccotech Inc.*, Anchorage, Alaska; and Pika-Malcolm Pirnie JV *, LLC, Stafford, Texas, are each being awarded a firm fixed price, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity multiple award contract for range sustainment environmental remediation services in support of the Navy and Marine Corps installations nationwide. The maximum dollar value for all four contracts combined is $100,000,000. The work to be performed provides for services for operational range clearance/range sustainment and remediation services, to include demilitarization, mutilation, certification/verification, disposal and recycling of range residue. Work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps installations nationwide. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of Mar. 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with eight proposals received. Four contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, Environmental Core Contracts, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N62473-09-D-2615/2616/2617/2618).

BAE Systems Tactical Vehicle Systems LLP, Sealy, Texas, is being awarded a $33,233,718 firm fixed priced modification to a previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5030) delivery order #0003. The purpose of this modification is to update the unit cost for the following: CLIN (contract line item number) 0241 – Improved Front Seat – LRIP 10; CLIN 0251 – ECP 12 Pin/24V Electrical Connector for Towing and CLIN 0252 – ECP Door Assist System (DAS) Safety Strip – Retrofit. The following CLINs have been added to the contract: CLIN 0031 – Technical Manual Verification; CLIN 0255 – MEAP Technical Bulletin; CLIN 0258 – MAMA Bear IBOM LRIP 11; CLIN 0260 – Repair Damage Vehicles at SPAWAR; CLIN 0262 – Developing CAIMAN DEMIL Procedures; CLIN 1015 – CONUS Instructors; CLIN 1016 – OCONUS Instructors; and CLIN 1017 – OCONUS FSR. The Authorized Stock List Supplemental Spares parts will be delivered to SR W4GG HQ US Army TACOM, Warren, Mich., and Defense Distribution System, Red River, Texarkana, Texas and deliveries associated with this delivery order will take place after receipt of this modification. The work is expected to be completed Jan. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.

BAE Systems, Minneapolis, Minn., is being awarded a $23,500,000 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-5117) to exercise an option for development of the Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP). LRLAPs are guided flight projectiles that are loaded and fired by the Advanced Gun System, a fully automated, single barrel, 155-mm, vertically loaded, stabilized gun mount. Its primary mission is Land Attack Warfare in support of ground and expeditionary forces beyond line-of-sight in the DDG 1000 System's littoral engagement area where precise, rapid-response, high-volume, long-range fire support are required. Work will be preformed in Orlando, Fla., (75 percent) and Minneapolis, Minn., (25 percent), and is expected to be completed by Sept. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

AIR FORCE

The Air Force is extending a firm fixed price contract with Raytheon Company of Tucson, Arizona for $11,397,736. This action will extend the period of performance to provide Contractor Logistics Support for CY09. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 695 ARSS, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida is the contracting activity. (FA8675-08-C-0064, P00007)

Remembrance Ceremony Honors Fallen Military Medics

By Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Carden
American Forces Press Service

March 11, 2009 - Beneath the rows of simple white headstones evenly spaced beneath a dull and cloudy mid-March sky, the stories of those who rest at Arlington National Cemetery here today are anything but ordinary. Some were killed by heavy machine-gun fire. Others were showered with rockets or mortars. And many were surprised by the explosion of an unexpected roadside bomb. But for the more than 210 military medics, corpsmen, doctors and nurses who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11, they were killed trying to save others, the Defense Department's top medical official said.

"Their motto is 'Good medicine, bad places,'" Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant defense secretary for health affairs, said during the first remembrance ceremony and wreath laying for military medical personnel killed in the war on terror. "When it mattered most, they answered the call."

More than 100 friends, relatives and military members turned out for what officials plan to make an annual event to honor their loved ones and pay homage to a profession that almost always places its practitioners in difficult situations.

Casscells, who's also an Army Reserve colonel in the medical corps, talked of his fellow medics and corpsmen who never hesitated to treat their enemy. He read excerpts of medics who were so badly wounded they died giving first aid instructions calmly to others, because they couldn't provide the treatment themselves. He talked of others who gave their last minutes of life bandaging Iraqi children after a suicide bomb detonated.

"The decisions these medics and doctors and nurses make on the battlefield are a triumph of the human spirit," he said. "No greater love has any man than this than to lay down his life for his friends -- and they have done exactly that.

Combat medics have one of the highest-risk jobs in the military, he said, noting the intense, rigorous training they undergo to save lives.

"They had training that didn't exist in Vietnam or World War II," he said. "They're training to the level of [emergency medical treatment] and higher because of the tactical combat environment. They're so intensively trained in things that would make a [civilian] doctor pause."

More than 5,000 U.S. military lives have been lost on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan under the backdrop of guerilla warfare and unpredictably sophisticated tactics and military capability. However, thousands more may have been lost if not for medics and corpsmen first responders in the field, he said.

"Their skill and their bravery is the single most important reason why the fatality rate today in Iraq and Afghanistan is 10 percent vs. 23 percent in Vietnam," he said. "This is despite much more powerful munitions, munitions which explode right under your vehicle."

Deborah Mullen, wife of Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, offered her condolences and praised the military medical corps for their devotion to others. She said to remember them not for the life that was lost, but for the lives they saved.

"We come here today to pay tribute to the heroes of our heroes -- the men and women who risked their own lives and limbs to save the lives and limbs of others," Mullen said. "Time cannot describe and words fail to convey the fidelity and ardor in which these brave souls did their duty."

Defense Decisions to be Subject to 'Hard Scrutiny' During Budget Process

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

March 11, 2009 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will await the results of a thorough review process before making decisions about major defense systems, keeping U.S. security interests at the forefront, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters today. "Every program imaginable is subjected to this very, very hard scrutiny that is under way right now as part of the budget process," Morrell said at today's Pentagon briefing. "We are still very much in the midst of that process."

Morrell responded to questions about news reports that the White House had directed the Pentagon to delay buying new aerial tankers. He acknowledged that the Office of Management and Budget has weighed in on the tanker issue, but clarified that OPM merely suggested options to consider during the fiscal 2010 budget process.

"I can assure you that no decisions have been made about any one of the programs that are under review," Morrell said. "If you hear contrary, you're hearing false information."

Gates' decisions, when made, will be "based upon what is in the best interest of our nation's security," Morrell said.

"He will make recommendations to the president according to that fundamental tenet of this process," he added. "And ultimately, it's up to the president and the Congress to decide if they want to adhere to his advice."

The secretary also is approaching the upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review with an open mind, Morrell said.

A central concept to be reviewed is the so-called "two-war doctrine," Gates said during an interview yesterday with National Public Radio.

"Our military planning ... going back at least 20 years has been to have the ability to fight two major combat operations simultaneously," the secretary said. He explained that the doctrine calls for one of those fights to be "an aggressive effort," while the other is put on hold until the job can be finished.

"I think one of the central questions that this department will face in the Quadrennial Defense Review, which will begin shortly, is whether that model makes any sense in the 21st century," Gates said. The QDR will help determine "whether what may have fit in a Cold War environment or an immediately post-Cold War environment really has application to today's world," he said.

Budget Would Transform VA to 21st-century Organization, Shinseki Says

By Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Carden
American Forces Press Service

March 11, 2009 - President Barack Obama's fiscal 2010 budget proposal is necessary to transform the Department of Veterans Affairs into the 21st century organization he envisions, VA's top official said here yesterday. VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki told the House Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on veterans affairs that the proposed budget is "critical to realizing the president's mission" for future veteran care.

"President Obama has charged me with transforming the VA into a 21st-century organization," Shinseki said. "Not change for the sake of change, not nibbling around the edges, but [to bring] a fundamental and comprehensive view in all that we do for veterans."

The proposal would raise the VA's budget to $112.8 billion for 2010, which is a $15 billion boost from the previous year. The proposal is the largest one-year dollar and percentage increase ever requested by a president for veterans, Shinseki said.

Nearly two-thirds of the $15 billion increase would go to mandatory programs, while the remaining $5.5 billion would be for discretionary funding, he said, noting that the total budget would almost evenly split between mandatory funding at $56.9 billion, and discretionary funding at $55.9 billion.

The 2010 budget proposal would fund the new Post 9/11 GI Bill and allow a gradual expansion of health care eligibility to Priority Group 8 veterans. Priority Group 8 comprises veterans whose injuries are not service-related. This group has been excluded from VA care since 2003, he noted.

The VA expects an expansion of 550,000 new enrollees by 2013, due to the Priority Group 8 veterans, Shinseki said.

"[The budget proposal] contains sufficient resources so that we will maintain our quality of health care for all veterans with no adverse impact on wait times or quality for those already enrolled," he said, noting that the VA's health care system sets the bar for the nation's.

The president's request will provide greater benefits for veterans who are medically retired from active duty and allows highly disabled veterans to receive both their military retired pay and VA disability compensation benefits, he said.

The proposal also supports additional specialty care for aging and homeless veterans, women, mental health and vision issues, and spinal cord injuries. It also will provide an outreach of VA services to rural communities that lack access to care, he said.

Shinseki also addressed the VA's desire to make enrollment and claims easier for veterans by working to go "paperless" and institute a joint venture called "uniform registration" with the Defense Department. The initiatives eventually will create a single electronic record that governs how each department will acknowledge, identify, track and manage its clients in both the active and reserve components, he said.

"From the moment [military members] take the oath of allegiance in uniform, our management decisions will be better, faster, more consistent and fair, and less subject to lost files or destroyed claims," Shinseki said. "We have benefited from the insights and experience and advice of [Defense Department officials], so we are committed to doing this smartly and differently from some of our past hard lessons learned."

The uniform registration initiative also will help control VA's backlogs of claims, he said.

Shinseki called the budget proposal a demonstration of Obama's commitment to the nation's veterans, and a sign that the president is "moving boldly to acknowledge new times, new demographic realities and leveraging new technologies to renew our commitment to veterans wherever they live," he said.

The details of Obama's federal budget proposal are still being assessed, but are expected to be finalized in April for congressional review.

Medical Center Uses Innovative Methods to Improve Patient Safety

By Navy Lt. Jennifer Cragg
Special to American Forces Press Service

March 11, 2009 - Health care providers at the largest Air Force medical center on the West Coast are using state-of-the-art, interactive human patient simulators as just one of many safety initiatives to improve medical care, the medical center's commander said yesterday. "Actually, you would be very surprised. [The simulators] respond just like real patients," Air Force Col. (Dr.) Lee Payne, commander of the 60th Medical Group at David Grant U.S. Air Force Medical Center, Travis Air Force Base, Calif., told "Dot Mil Docs" listeners on Pentagon Web Radio.

"They breathe, they blink, and they talk back to our staff, depending on the scenario," Payne continued. "They have a pulse, and they react when you treat it right or don't treat it properly. It makes the scenario extremely real."

The use of human patient simulators is just one of the many ways the medical center is implementing the Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety, or TeamSTEPPS, program at one of the largest inpatient military treatment facilities in the Air Force.

"[TeamSTEPPS] really builds their confidence," Payne said. "Our doctors, nurses and medical technicians have expressed a greater sense of confidence in their abilities to perform as teams when these concepts are used.

"Applying these concepts is actually like speaking one common language," he continued. "This is due to each team member understanding what their roles and responsibilities are."

Payne said training is built into the work day at the center. "We are consistently implementing TeamSTEPPS training into our practices for our doctors, nurses and medical technicians, and we have seen an increase of incident reporting as a result," Payne noted.

TeamSTEPPS is the cornerstone of the Military Health System patient safety program, Payne said. "Our next goal is to be able prove that [by] improving TeamSTEPPS scores in training scenarios, [we] directly improve patient outcomes and reduce medical errors."

Another positive outcome from TeamSTEPPS is the number of process improvements at the center. "Last year, we used our TeamSTEPPS training in incident reports to generate 46 process improvements," Payne said.

One example is the introduction of debriefing after each procedure and operation.

"That really improved communication, resulting in a 66 percent decrease in incidents where needed equipment wasn't readily available at the time of the procedure," Payne said.

"It's really critical that we encourage reporting of incidences and near-misses," he said. "The identification of these potential problems allows us to intervene before someone is actually harmed, and so increasing incident reporting is one of our key strategic objectives."

Payne said medical center officials continue to set their sights on offering world-class health care. "One of our three stated objectives is to become the nation's safest health care organization," he said. "We submitted our application to [the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration] to be evaluated in June for [Voluntary Protection Program] Star status."

OSHA's Star program is designed for worksites with exemplary health management systems, according to the OSHA Web site.

If they are successful, the center will be one of eight hospitals with that status nationwide, and the first in the Defense Department to receive that recognition.

The medical center provides a full spectrum of care to more than 95,000 eligible beneficiaries, and 400,000 people eligible through the Veterans Affairs Department's Northern California Health Care System.

(Navy Lt. Jennifer Cragg is assigned to the Defense Media Activity's Emerging Media directorate.)

Military Looks to Dispel Myths, Advance Treatment for Brain Injuries

By Mark Heeter
Special to American Forces Press Service

March 11, 2009 - Get a good night's sleep. That is seemingly simple, yet sometimes complicated, advice from medical professionals as part of a reintegration program for redeploying soldiers who might have suffered traumatic brain injuries, the commander of Europe Regional Medical Command said. "When you come back from Afghanistan or Iraq, part of the screening program process is [confirming] if you had multiple concussive injuries downrange," Army Brig. Gen. Keith W. Gallagher said.

The objective of the reintegration is to "get you to where you can function and go to sleep at night," he said. "Sleep is very important for the healing process."

And, contrary to popular misconceptions, these physical injuries will heal, said Army Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Loree K. Sutton, special assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs for psychological health and traumatic brain injury.
"One of the myths out there is that mild traumatic brain injuries, or concussions, means that somehow your brain is broken forever. No, it's an injury," said Sutton, who also is director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.

"If you have some long-term, later symptoms that pop up, that's probably post-traumatic stress. That's probably not related to the concussion," she explained.

Sutton and Gallagher were joined for a recent meeting and video teleconference at the Schweinfurt Army Health Clinic here by Army Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Rhonda Cornum, director of comprehensive soldier fitness for the Army's Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff.

"We need to address [brain injury and psychological health] in a holistic fashion," said Cornum, who aims to see more components of soldiers' total health come into focus through prevention and training across the Army culture.

"[Recruits] come in, and we do the [physical training] test twice a year. We do PT training every week. And so we have a program to make people stronger, but we have not had a program to worry about psychological, spiritual, emotional, family," she said.
"The [Defense] Department has made an enormous investment in both better understanding concussions, mild TBI, and in psychological health," said Sutton, noting that doctors' and researchers' recent discoveries about the brain make this an "exciting" time to be working on injured servicemembers' behalf.

"When I was in medical school, in the '80s, we were taught what was then thought to be true: ... you're born into this world with all the brain cells you're ever going to get," Sutton said, quickly dispelling those old misconceptions with words like neurogenesis and neuroplasticity that define the brain's ability to recover and adapt.

Soldiers -- or anyone -- who have likely suffered a TBI should seek help with their care providers, Gallagher stressed.

"If they're having problems, they can go see their primary care provider. If they're still having problems, go see them again," he said.

"But don't stay awake watching movies because you can't go to sleep, and then wonder why you're getting up late for work. That's not helpful," Cornum advised.

It's not just about that good night's sleep.

(Mark Heeter works at the U.S. Army Garrison Schweinfurt public affairs office.)

Discussions Aim to Resolve U.S. Survey Ship Incident

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

March 11, 2009 - The incident in the South China Sea involving a U.S. ocean surveillance ship is serious enough to merit face-to-face discussions between U.S. and Chinese officials, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said today. The USNS Impeccable – an unarmed Military Sealift Command vessel -- was conducting operations in international waters 70 miles south of Hainan Island on March 8 when the ship was surrounded and harassed by five Chinese vessels.

Morrell said the U.S. defense attaché in Beijing has been talking with China's defense ministry about the incident.
The Chinese defense attaché also is speaking with Defense Department officials.

"[The incident] is serious enough that we believe it requires face-to-face talks to find out what was going on here and to ensure that there are no further incidents of this nature in the future," Morrell said.

Morrell reiterated the U.S. position that the Impeccable was performing its mission in international waters.

"We hope that the Chinese would behave in a similar way, that is, according to international law," he said. "Furthermore, this incident is not at all consistent with the expressed desire of both governments to build a closer relationship, particularly a closer military-to-military relationship."

The U.S. position is that if a ship is lawfully operating in international waters, "that that is legal and permitted, and there should be no ... reason to interfere with those operations," Morrell said. Officials are hopeful that the conversations between the two nations will clear up any misunderstandings about this incident and ensure it doesn't happen again, he added.

Bombs, Bullets and Fast Talk

On March 27, 2009, Conversations with Heroes at the Watering Hole will feature a
discussion Special
James Botting, FBI (ret.) the author of Bullets, Bombs, and Fast
Talk: Twenty-Five Years of
FBI War Stories.

Program Date: March 27, 2009
Program Time: 2100 hours, Pacific
Topic: Bullets, Bombs, and Fast Talk: Twenty-Five Years of
FBI War Stories.
Listen Live:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2009/03/28/Bombs-Bullets-and-Fast-Talk

About the Guest
Special Agent
James Botting (ret.) served in the FBI for twenty-five years, sixteen as a crisis/hostage negotiator. He served as the team leader of the FBI’s Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) from 1981 to 1995 and a supervisory member of its international Critical Incident Negotiation Team since its inception in 1985 until his retirement. He has personally negotiated numerous hostage/barricade incidents and responded to several high-profile events. He lives in California. James Botting is the author of Bullets, Bombs, and Fast Talk: Twenty-Five Years of FBI War Stories.

According to the book description of Bullets, Bombs, and Fast Talk: Twenty-Five Years of
FBI War Stories, “A desperate gunman holds a planeload of innocent passengers hostage. A heavily armed cult leader refuses to leave his compound, threatening mass suicide by a hundred of his brainwashed followers. A neo-Nazi militant in a cabin hideout keeps federal agents at bay with gunfire. A baby disappears; his only trace is an ominous ransom call to his parents. Prisoners riot, threatening the lives of prison officers and hundreds of other inmates. How do you react? What do you do? What do you say? Your words, your actions can save lives--or lose them.”

About the Watering Hole
The Watering Hole is
police slang for a location cops go off-duty to blow off steam and talk about work and life. Sometimes funny; sometimes serious; but, always interesting.

About the Host
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster was a sworn member of the
Los Angeles Police Department for 24 years. He retired in 2003 at the rank of Lieutenant. He holds a bachelor’s from the Union Institute and University in Criminal Justice Management and a Master’s Degree in Public Financial Management from California State University, Fullerton; and, has completed his doctoral course work. Raymond E. Foster has been a part-time lecturer at California State University, Fullerton and Fresno; and is currently a Criminal Justice Department chair, faculty advisor and lecturer with the Union Institute and University. He has experience teaching upper division courses in Law Enforcement, public policy, Law Enforcement Technology and leadership. Raymond is an experienced author who has published numerous articles in a wide range of venues including magazines such as Government Technology, Mobile Government, Airborne Law Enforcement Magazine, and Police One. He has appeared on the History Channel and radio programs in the United States and Europe as subject matter expert in technological applications in Law Enforcement.

Listen, call, join us at the Watering Hole:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2009/03/28/Bombs-Bullets-and-Fast-Talk

Program Contact Information
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA
editor@police-writers.com
909.599.7530