New Brace Salvages Limbs, Mobility, Morale

By Elaine Sanchez
American Forces Press Service

SAN ANTONIO  – A wounded warrior limped into Ryan Blanck’s office at the Center for the Intrepid here one day with a plea for help.

The doctors at San Antonio Military Medical Center had saved the service member’s leg after a combat injury, but due to the pain, he couldn’t walk comfortably, let alone run.

Blanck, a leading prosthetist at the state-of-the-art rehab center, found himself in an unfamiliar position: at a loss. “There wasn’t a go-to option,” he said, referring to devices for wounded warriors with lower leg injuries.

So Blanck created one. He designed the Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis, or IDEO, a streamlined, energy-storing brace that delivers nearly instantaneous results. Now, most troops with salvaged limbs who wheel or limp into his office walk out a short time later, pain and limp-free.

The injured warriors are impressed by the results. When they strap on the brace for the first time and start walking, Blanck said, some stumble midway across the room, but not due to discomfort.

“They’re uncontrollably weeping,” he said. “It’s the first time they’ve walked without pain in two or three, or seven years in one guy’s case.”

Brace Proves to be ‘Game-Changer’

Blanck’s creation is a lightweight, streamlined carbon-fiber device that can be tucked under a pant leg and into a boot or sneaker. It comprises a cuff that wraps around the leg just under the knee connected to a footplate by carbon-fiber rods.

The brace works by offloading the limb and allowing the patient to operate the lower limb in a way that avoids pain, he explained. When a service member’s heel strikes, the device stores energy through the gait cycle, then delivers it back to propel the foot forward.

“That’s the concept behind it all; energy storage and power,” he said.

Prior to IDEO, Blanck noted, “there wasn’t a combination device that would allow offloading, adequate range restriction and then power generation.”

The device is proving a “game-changer” for service members with salvaged limbs, said Johnny Owens, a CFI physical therapist who is working hand-in-hand with Blanck in treating IDEO-fitted warriors. “We’re seeing immediate changes we don’t usually see,” he said.

Owens said the device also is singlehandedly helping to turn the tide on a trend of wounded warriors opting for delayed amputations -- amputations several months after injury. He attributes the trend to the slow, and sometimes frustrating, recovery for troops with lower leg injuries.

“Prior to all this, limb salvage was a little bit of an unknown,” Blanck explained. “You couldn’t tell a patient, ‘you’re going to run.’”

But amputees -- depending on the situation and barring other injuries -- can regain significant functions about six months after amputation, he noted. Meanwhile, limb salvage patients sit on the sidelines watching their amputee battle buddies walking or running as their own progress proceeds painfully slow.

Frustrated by their limitations, some troops with salvaged limbs opted for late amputations.

“It’s enticing,” Owens said. “You’re in pain, but if you cut your leg off, you can run. Many invested a year or two in recovery and then decided to cut [a limb] off. It was psychologically frustrating to see these guys work so hard and then just cut it off.”

Thanks to IDEO, these troops now have another option, he said, that enables them to not only walk, but run, sprint and jump.

Returning to Service

Word is spreading of IDEO and its astounding results, and Blanck now is fitting troops from around the country with his device. After hearing of Blanck’s and Owens’ success, Army 1st Lt. Matthew Anderson traveled here from his unit at Fort Carson, Colo., hoping for similar results.

Anderson, an infantry platoon leader, was injured in October 2010 while on a dismounted combat patrol in Kandahar, Afghanistan. As his unit cleared a building, he stepped on a landmine. “It felt like a jackhammer hitting my ankle,” he recalled. The explosive shattered his heel into a dozen pieces.

The doctors salvaged his limb, but the injury left Anderson in pain and with a pronounced limp. While he was able to start walking again after about six months, this strapping, lifelong athlete figured his running days were over.

It took Blanck just a few minutes to prove him wrong. With the IDEO, Anderson was walking comfortably within minutes and running within days.

“It put the biggest smile on my face,” the infantry platoon leader said. He had stopped by the CFI early one morning so Blanck could make adjustments to his device and fit him for another.

“I went from walking with a severe gait issue and a limp to walking normally,” Anderson said.

Blanck finished his adjustments, and Anderson pulled a sneaker over the foot plate and walked across the office with a smooth stride.

Once he got the brace, “I could run on it, jump vertically, laterally shuffle,” Anderson said. “Things that there’s no way I’d be doing with that much speed, efficiency or lack of pain.

“For a guy that’s in his late 20s that’s always been a jock athlete, being hampered by these injuries is pretty tough mentally,” he continued. “When you’re given the option to get back into it, it’s huge; it means a lot to me.”

Anderson soon will return to duty at Fort Carson. Of the nearly 200 cases they’ve seen, Owens noted, more than 30 have returned to service and 11 have combat deployed.

As they test and improve the current design, Blanck and Owens also are looking into what they call a “widespread potential” for people with issues such as ankle arthritis, strokes and head, back and other injuries.

The program’s success has one limitation: space. Between amputees and warriors with salvaged limbs, the CFI can get crowded at times. The pair would like to see a rehab center like the CFI, but devoted to wounded warriors with salvaged limbs. There would be no shortage of demand, Owens said, noting that for every one amputee, there are about 10 limb salvage patients.

Meanwhile, they have no plans to cut back, no matter how great the demand. Just seeing the joy in a wounded warrior’s face at walking again pain-free, they said, makes every extra hour at work worthwhile.

“I never thought I’d come to work and get hugged by a 220-pound, 6-foot-4, Special Forces guy,” said Blanck with a smile, “but I’ve had a few hugs.

“I loved my job before this, but this is a whole new level.”

Amputee Soldier Carries Torch at Warrior Games

By Elizabeth M. Collins
Army News Service

May 11, 2010 - A soldier whose leg was amputated below the knee carried the torch into the Olympic Training Center here yesterday during opening ceremonies for the inaugural Warrior Games.

Army Sgt. Robert Price was the first servicemember to carry the torch before handing it over to representatives from each of the other services. Hall-of-Fame football player, U.S. Naval Academy graduate and Vietnam veteran Roger Staubach completed the short journey and lit the Olympic flame. Price, who remained in the Army after losing his right leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq, is a cadre member at the warrior transition battalion at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. He was given the honor because he made sure other soldiers had the opportunity to compete as well.

"I helped out quite a bit [with] other posts that don't have the training materials or for people to ... get them out and do their training at my post," he explained. "I just took the initiative [and] took over the BAMC part of it for the Warrior Games [to], get these guys to come in and start doing it at Fort Sam Houston.

"I was actually very surprised," he continued. "I didn't even expect [to carry the torch]."

He was happy to do it, though, especially because sports helped to keep him in the military. In fact, one of the reasons he decided to stay in the Army after losing his leg was to show other soldiers that they could, too.

"I'm walking, living proof of that," he said. "I'm out there. I made a difference. I'm out doing the right thing, being better. The importance of having an event like this is it gives all these wounded and injured or sick servicemembers out here ... that sitting back in your room playing X-box, that's not what your life is about. There are other things you can go do, more things you can go out and do. There are a lot of sports activities. You can intermingle with your community again. Life doesn't come to an end just because you're sick or you're injured."

Price didn't even make allowances for his injuries while training for the Warrior Games. Nothing, he said, could slow him down. He plans to compete in three sports: archery, which he took up after his injury three years ago; 10-meter prone shooting, because he's always loved to shoot; and sitting volleyball, which is a lot harder than it sounds, Price said, explaining that it requires a lot of core strength. "You've got to have some strong abs, some strong arms to move around," he said.

Bearing the torch and taking part in the history-making competition isn't all fun and games to Price, however. Equally important, he said, are the friends and comrades who can't be there to cheer him on.

"It felt great," he said, "but at the same time, you have happiness and joy, but you've also got the sorrow part that goes inside the back of your head when you're sitting there going, 'I've lost a bunch of friends. A bunch of people aren't here to see this, to experience this."

MILITARY CONTRACTS December 16, 2008

Air Force

The Air Force is exercising an option with Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Tx., for $784,122,174. This action will exercise an option for CY 2009, for F-22 Weapon System Sustainment Pre-Priced Options. The location of performance is Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Marietta, Ga.

The Air Force is exercising an option with United Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Group East Hartford, Conn., for $285,020,056. The option is for 2009 sustainment of the F119-PW-100 Engines.

The Air Force is modifying a contract with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Sunnyvale, Calif., for $252,000,000. This effort is a Change Order that will implement additional vehicle-level Thermal Vacuum (TVAC) testing to the first Space Vehicle. The first Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite is undergoing a significant amount of rework on mission critical unit's dues to anomalies.

The Air Force is modifying a contract with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Corp., Sunnyvale, Calif., for $102,513,429. This action is a change order that will acquire additional long lead materials for the Space Based Infrared Program. In addition, the modification will make changes to the Systems Requirements Review/System Design Review (SRR/SDR) criteria and change the Preliminary Design Schedule (PDR).

The Air Force is modifying a firm fixed price contract with DPL Energy Resources, Dayton, Ohio for $19,673,732. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base requires electricity generation and transmission to accommodate an estimated annual volume of 416,000,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh). DPL ER will be responsible for providing and coordinating all electrical generation and transmission to the designed point of delivery for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

The Air Force is awarding a firm fixed price contract to L3 Communications Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah for $8,949,174. This effort will build Predator Primary Data Link Test Stands. The location of performance is L3 Communications in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Air Force is awarding a contract to Chromalloy Component Services Inc., San Antonio, Texas for $8,745,485. This action will provide remanufacture for Module 12 Assemblies, in support of F-108 engines.

NAVY

Bell Helicopter Textron Inc, Hurst, Texas, is being awarded a three year cost type requirements contract in the amount of $102,372,611 for repair of items in support of the UH-1Y and AH-1Z aircraft. Work is to be completed by Dec. 2011. Work will be performed in Hurst, Texas (100 percent). Funding is provided by APN6 and Navy Working Capital Funds (NWCF). Contract funds will not expire before the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not awarded competitively. One company was solicited and one offer was received. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity (N00383-09-D-003N).

ARINC Engineering Services, Annapolis, Md.; General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), Fairfax, Va.; Science Applications International Corp., (SAIC), San Diego, Calif.; SYS Technologies, San Diego, Calif., are being awarded an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity multiple-award contract, with a combined, potential value of $47,000,000 for integration and implementation of Command and Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) and radio frequency communications systems. Services that may be ordered under this contract include implementation and integration, configuration management, integration logistics support, on-site technical assistance, engineering, test and evaluation, quality assurance, and life-cycle management for a range of programs during the critical period from system conception through system operation. This five-year contract includes eight, six-month award terms, which if awarded, would bring the cumulative combined value of this multiple award to $90,747,000. All work will be performed in San Diego, and work is expected to be completed Dec. 17, 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited on an unrestricted basis via publication on the SPAWAR e-Commerce web site and Federal Business Opportunities web site, with four offers received. All four awardees may compete for the task orders during the ordering period. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) is the contracting activity (N66001-09-D-0042 / N66001-09-D-0043 / N66001-09-D-0041 / N66001-09-D-0026).

Lockheed Martin Systems Integration, Owego, N.Y., is being awarded a $37,513,573 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 18 MH-60S Common Cockpits; 30 MH-60R Common Cockpits; and 1 MH-60R Trainer Common Cockpit. Work will be performed in Owego, N.Y., and is expected to be completed in Apr. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-04-C-0028).

Conquistador Dorado JV,* Sanford, Fla., is being awarded a $10,574,000 modification under a previously awarded firm fixed priced contract (N69450-08-C-1267) to exercise Options 0005 - 0015 which provides for the design and construction of drainage and conveyance systems within the airfield area, removal of vegetation, and clearing and grubbing of existing vegetation at the Naval Air Station, Key West, Fla. The work to be performed is for the design and construction of drainage and conveyance systems within the airfield area, removal of vegetation, and clearing and grubbing of existing vegetation. The total contract amount after exercise of these options will be $21,769,000. Work will be performed in Key West, Fla., and is expected to be completed by September 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity.

Diversified Maintenance Systems, Inc.*, Salt Lake City, Utah, is being awarded a maximum $6,000,000 firm fixed price, indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract for Public Works projects at Naval Support Activity, Panama City, Fla. The work to be performed includes, but not limited to, facility repair projects, renovation, and minor construction projects. This contract contains options, which if exercised, will bring the contract value to $30,000,000. All work will be performed in Panama City, Fla., and work is expected to be Dec. 2009 (Dec. 2013 with options). 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 18 proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity (N69450-09-D-0756).

Lockheed Martin Corp., Simulation, Training and Support Div., Orlando, Fla., is being awarded a $5,894,958 modification to a previously awarded firm fixed priced contract (N00019-00-C-0480) to exercise an option for the F/A-18 Operational Test Program Set Production effort, developed and produced under the Consolidated Automated Support Systems program. Work will be performed in Orlando, Fla., and is expected to be completed in Dec. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

ARMY

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Ct., was awarded on Dec. 15, 2008 a, $619,903,014 firm fixed price contract for funding of second program year of multi-year contract for Navy Lot 7 consisting of 24 each MH-60R Sea Hawk Helicopters. Third program year for Navy Lot 11 consisting of 18 each MH-60S Sea Hawks Helicopter and also Tooling; Program Systems Management and Technical Publications. Work will be performed in Stratford, Ct., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2012. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. US Army Aviation & Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-08-C-0003).

AM General, LLC, South Bend, Ind., was awarded on Dec 12, 2008, a $17,240,560 firm fixed price contract for 146 EA High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles to contract. Work will be performed in Mishawaka, Ind., with an estimated completion date of Dec 31, 2009. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (DAAE07-01-C-S001).

Zebra Imaging Inc, Austin, Texas, was awarded on Dec. 15, 2008 a, $10,124,000 cost plus fixed price contract for Dynamic 3D Display development program. Work will be performed in Austin, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Apr. 30, 2010. Bids solicited were via the Broad Agency Announcement and one bid was received. US Army Research Development & Engineering Command, Rock Aberdeen, Md., is the contracting activity (W91CRB-09-C-0031).

Nova Technologies, Panama City, Fla., was awarded on Dec 15, 2008 a, $6,813,476 cost plus award fee contract for exercise of contract options for Special Operations Forces planning, rehearsal, and execution preparation support services. Work will be performed in Panama City, Fla., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2009. Bids solicited were via the Web and six bids were received. Program Executive Office, Stimulation, Training and Instrument, Orlando, Fla., is the contracting activity (N61339-07-C-0080).

Swank Enterprises, Valier, Mont., was awarded on Dec 15, 2008 a, $6,807,660 firm fixed price contract. Project is for construction of Army Reserve Center Butte, Montana. Work will be performed in Butte, Mont., with an estimated completion date of Mar. 31, 2010. Bids solicited were via the Web and six bids were received. US Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Ky., is the contracting activity (W912QR-08-C-0045).

Staying Power: Air Force Family Liaisons Help Wounded Warriors, Families

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Dec. 1, 2008 - Air Force family liaison officers have an important role in assisting wounded warriors and their families, a San Antonio-based Air Force senior noncommissioned officer said. The Air Force's family liaison officer program "truly is the lifeblood of taking care of our war wounded," said Chief Master Sgt. Stephen B. Page, assigned to the 12th Flying Training Wing at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. Page has assisted in the selection of family liaison officers that serve in his area.

Family liaison officers, or as FLOs, are appointed by local commanders, according to the Air Force's survivor assistance Web site. They provide assistance to surviving family members of deceased servicemembers and also render aid and support to injured military members and their families.

"Our ability to take care of our people is paramount," Page, a 30-year Air Force veteran, said. "This program is so vitally important for us to ensure that we rehabilitate and put our airmen back on to their feet to the best ability that we can -- not just for them, but [also] to take care of their families."

Four family liaison officers operating in his area serve seven military families, Page said, noting that such assignments can last for years. FLOs support injured warrior families, he said, by attending to tasks such as medical appointments, housing, transportation, financial issues, daycare and more.

"I'm looking for the absolute best" people to serve as family liaison officers, Page said. "The second thing is I'm looking for a person who can be and remain committed, because this is a long-term process."

Air Force Senior Airman Daniel Acosta, 24, has served as a family liaison officer at Randolph for about a year now. Acosta himself is a wounded warrior, having lost his left arm to amputation due to a roadside bomb in Baghdad in December 2005.

Acosta assists Air Force Staff Sgt. Matt Flaydon and his wife, Annette. The injured staff sergeant is receiving treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. A bomb blinded Flaydon near Baghdad, and he also lost his left arm to amputation, Acosta said.

"The purpose of the family liaison program is to basically take all the stress off the family member so that they can focus on their loved one who is recovering," Acosta explained.

Acosta said he does "everything and anything" to assist Flaydon's wife, Annette, including running errands and scheduling appointments.

"This program is great," Acosta said. Family liaison officers, he added, can be especially helpful to spouses with limited knowledge of the military.

"That family liaison officer is that person who helps, who closes that gap and answers all those questions that the spouse cannot answer," Acosta said.

The Air Force is totally dedicated to taking care of its wounded warriors and their families, said John Beckett, the Washington-based program manager for the Air Force's Wounded Warrior and Survivor Care programs.

It takes teamwork to support wounded warriors, Beckett said, citing the "fantastic" quality of today's military medical care.

"People are surviving that would have never survived in previous wars," Beckett said.

Determined, resilient airmen, Beckett said, are working to recover from very serious wounds, some of which required amputation of limbs. Some severely injured warriors, he said, participate in marathon races.

"It is unbelievable to watch these folks," Beckett said. "They're just pushing and moving forward."

Lab Offers Last-Ditch Effort to Identify Servicemembers

By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

Nov. 10, 2008 - As U.S. military recovery teams scour the jungles and mountains and woods and fields around the world looking for missing servicemembers from past wars, they hope to find enough remains to identify and return to their families for a proper burial. A jawbone with some teeth intact or a piece of a thigh bone with its DNA still salvageable sometimes can be all that is needed to finally put to rest a servicemember who died fighting on foreign soil decades ago.

But sometimes there simply are no remains left, or very little, and the recovery teams return home with what looks to the untrained eye like only a box of scraps – varied buttons and corroded buckles, scorched cloth and shredded boot soles.

For those cases, the Hawaii-based Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, the agency charged with recovering and identifying the remains of missing servicemembers, has one last-ditch try at answering the burning question of family members: "What happened to my loved one?"

"When the cases come here, we are the last hope. If we cannot come up with an answer, there may not be an answer for the families who are waiting," said John A. Goines III, chief of the Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory here.

The JPAC has identified nearly 1,500 formerly missing servicemembers, mostly through a combination of DNA and dental identification. But 88,000 are still buried on foreign shores and at sea. And in some cases, like those that end up at Goines' lab, it is likely no remains will ever be found.

The lab deals mostly with identifications from aircraft crash sites, because they are less likely to yield human remains. The heat, fed by jet fuel and loaded munitions, incinerates most human remains as temperatures reach several times those of a crematorium. But many pieces of military uniforms and equipment will withstand those temperatures.

Goines and his handful of equipment analysts are students of history and experts in aircraft ejection systems, parachutes, life support equipment and uniforms. Most are veterans. Remarkably, most times they are able to piece together with scientific accuracy the likely final moments of servicemembers based on the artifacts.

The lab supports the services' accident boards investigating current aircraft crashes, and it also provides feedback to agencies working to develop new uniforms and life-support systems. But its primary purpose is to help the JPAC with its cases, Goines said. The JPAC sends the lab about a dozen cases every year that can take anywhere from a few weeks to six months to work through, Goines said.

The lab began supporting the JPAC mission part-time in 1988 and started supporting it full-time in 1994. Since 1994, it has analyzed 156 cases and accounted for 172 servicemembers. And while an identity cannot always be made from the artifacts, sometimes they still provide enough clues for the JPAC teams to return to the site, Goines said.

The 21,000-square-foot lab at the former Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio is home to more than 50,000 uniforms and pieces of equipment from as far back as World War I. Parachutes dangle from racks, and rows of 250 ejection seats line the walls. The rebuilt cockpits of more than a dozen aircraft, mainly of the Vietnam War era, are parked on its floors, and workstations with microscopes are scattered among the artifacts.

Goines is a life-long collector of military uniforms and equipment. His first piece was an Air Force ball cap worn by airmen in his father's unit, he said. Goines was then 3 years old. He continued collecting patches, uniforms and equipment into his college years. Goines watched television in his college dorm room while sitting in an F-4 Phantom II fighter jet ejection seat, which now resides at the lab, where he started working full-time after college.

Goines estimates he has about 20,000 items in his personal collection, which he brings in when needed to help on a case.

The analysts use the artifacts and equipment at the lab as comparisons to those shipped to the lab from a recovery site. Goines is constantly on the lookout for new relics to add to the collection.

"Pretty much every night I'm on eBay looking for anything we don't have either in my personal collection or here in the lab to use as a reference item," Goines said.

Nearly every piece delivered from the field yields a clue. Melted pistols reveal portions of serial numbers, traceable back to the servicemember. Boot soles can be matched to the servicemember by uniform records. They also can indicate whether the pilot was still in the cockpit pressing down on the plane rudder at impact. A seatbelt buckle melted together in the closed position is a telltale sign that the pilot likely died in his craft.

These clues are pieced together like a puzzle and matched with historical reports, witness accounts, military records and other evidence.

It can be tedious and painstaking work, said equipment analyst Jim Hodges. He has worked at the lab since 1988 after finishing a career as an egress systems expert in the Air Force.

"It's very challenging. There's a lot of frustration, too," he said.

The analysts can spend hours hovering over a microscope analyzing fabric and piecing together uniforms. In Hodges' last case, he pinned together 122 individual pieces of a flight suit.

Hodges said he views the lab's mission as the fulfillment of the U.S. commitment to returning servicemembers home.

"When they say we never forget, that's not lip service," Hodges said. "There are a lot of people in this program still trying to account for those that are missing. And I'm proud to be a part of that."

Sometimes, though, despite their best efforts, there is not enough found at the site to render a conclusive identity.

"That's where the frustration is, when you just can't figure it out," Hodges said. "There's not enough there. You need more."

No speculation is allowed, Goines said. Everything must be proven. The integrity of the lab's report is critical, because families rely on it, he said.

To make an identity, lab officials work to match the remnants brought from a site to those of the aircraft believed to have crashed. This can be done with serial numbers found on data plates at the site, or by identifying equipment distinctive to a specific model.

They also try to pinpoint the timeframe of the crash, based on the artifacts, to verify a match with the case under investigation. For example, there were many uniform variations during the Vietnam War. Those found at the site must match those worn by those believed to have crashed.

It also is critical to find artifacts from the exact number of people reportedly in the crash. For example, recovering the soles of two right-foot boots would indicate that two people were in the crash. If the sizes match those worn by the two reported in the crash, that's more proof of identity.

Finally, the analysts try to determine, based on damage to the artifacts, if the crash was survivable.

"We have to follow all of those different leads to try to come up with the answer [to the question], 'What really happened at the event?'" Goines said.

A handful of families travel to the lab every year to find out about the last moments of their loved ones. The lab has an open-door policy and will accommodate anyone wanting to understand its identification process.

"The families who lost somebody lost somebody very important. And the hurt -- the 'miss' -- never goes away," said Robert S. Browning III, an equipment analyst at the lab. "There's no such thing as closure, but you can answer their questions. You can tell them what happened. In some cases, you can put their minds at ease that there was no suffering."

"You can, in fact, bring them to a better place," Browning said. "I think that's an important thing to do for people who have sacrificed a great deal."

MILITARY CONTRACTS October 9, 2008

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Valero Marketing & Supply Co., San Antonio, Texas is being awarded a maximum $234,721,965 fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity contract for fuel. Other locations of performance are Pasadena and Corpus Christi, Texas. Using service is Foreign Military Sales. This proposal was originally Web solicited with three responses. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Sept. 30, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-08-D-0454).

NAVY

Lockheed Martin Systems Integration, Owego, N.Y., is being awarded a $173,000,000 modification to a previously awarded cost plus award fee contract (N00019-05-C-0030) for the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) of the VH-71 Presidential Helicopter. The SDD Phase will consist of engineering design and integration activities for the various communications, navigation, and mission systems required for the Presidential Helicopter support mission. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Md., (28 percent); Owego, N.Y., (26 percent); Yeovil, United Kingdom, (20 percent); Cascina Costa, Italy, (15 percent); Rolling Meadows, Ill., (3 percent); Lynn, Mass., (3 percent); Clifton, N.J., (2 percent); Denton, Texas, (1 percent); Grand Rapids, Mich., (1 percent); and Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in Sept. 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, Keyport, Wash., is being awarded a $171,124,519 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-04-C-6101) to provide MK48 and MK54 torpedoes on a firm fixed-price basis. This effort is a continuation of MK48 ADCAP, MK48 Common Broadband Advance Sonar System and MK54 torpedo programs under contracts N00024-98-C-6107, N00024-00-C-6100, N00024-00-C-6102 and N00024-03-C-6104. The primary purpose of this contract is to purchase the necessary quantities of torpedoes and support services necessary to support Fleet operational requirements for the various torpedo product lines. Work will be performed in Keyport, Wash., (50 percent) and Portsmouth, R.I., (50 percent), and is expected to be completed by Jul. 2011. The total amount funded at contract award will be $166,368,226. Contract funds in the amount of $48,946,820 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

AIR FORCE

Systems Research and Applications Corp., of Fairfax, Va., is being awarded an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract for $49 million. The objective of this program is to improve human performance and organizational effectiveness within Cyber Science and Technology, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance operator optimization S&T, Special Programs, Information/Influence Operations (S&T), Training S&T, and related research domains. Focus areas include: Cyber R&D, Information Operations/ISR, Special Programs/ISR, Special/Bio-Math, Influence Operations, IO/Cyber/ISR Training, Cyberspace Target Characterization/ Visualization, Anticipatory/Predictive Environment, IO Speech-to-Speech Translation, and AF Transformation. At this time $600,000 has been obligated. AFRL Det 1 /PKHB, WPAFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-09-D-6939, Task Order: 2013).

Teledyne Technologies Inc., Teledyne Continental Motors – Turbine Engines, of Toledo, Ohio, is being awarded an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract not to exceed $15 million. The Versatile Affordable Advanced Turbine Engines (VAATE) Phase I. The VAATE Program is a Joint DOD/NASA/DOE/Industry effort to develop revolutionary and innovative technologies by the 2017 timeframe that will permit an order of magnitude increase in turbo-propulsion affordability over the year 2000 state-of-the-art Technology. The Task order 0001 will conduct a study of conceptual candidate turbofan engine configurations and component technologies that meet the requirements of 1000 1b missile systems. At this time $1,000 has been obligated. Det 1 AFRK/PKPB, WPAFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-09-D-2929 and Task Order: 0001).

The Air Force is modifying a firm fixed price contract with McDonnell Douglas Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Boeing Co., of St Louis, Mo., for $11,859,754. The T-38C Data and Video Transfer System, which improve the audio and video recording capability of the T-38C aircraft by replacing the current video tape recorder and data transfer system with a more modern, robust design that combines all data transfer functions into a single recording device, alleviates impending obsolescence issues, improve resistance to damage, and enhances operations. At this time all funds have been obligated. 663 AESS/SYKA, WPAFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8617-04-C-6153, Modification Number: P00096).

Army

L-3 Communications System West, Salt Lake City, Utah, was awarded Oct. 7, 2008, a $26,649,683 firm fixed price contract for Remote Operational Video Enhanced Receiver systems. Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, Utah, with estimated and completion date of Dec. 30, 2009. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-07-C-0209).

Conrad Shipyard LLC, Morgan City, La., was awarded on Oct. 8, 2008, a $19,926,923 firm fixed price contract for acquisition of 250 feet crane barge for the Montgomery Point Lock and Dam Project. Work will be performed in Morgan City, La., with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2010. Bids were solicited via the Web and one bid was received. Corp of Engineer, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (W912BU-09-C-0001).

AM General LLC, South Bend, Ind., was awarded Oct. 7, 2008, a $14,600,563 firm fixed price contract. These kits are urgently needed to improve the overhead protection from small arm weapons for the M1151A1 Up-Armored High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles. Work will be performed in Mishawaka, Ind., with estimated and completion date of Dec. 31, 2009. TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting (DAAE-07-01-C-S001).

Correction: This contract has not been signed for Oshkosh Corp., Killeen, Texas, was awarded on Sept. 26, 2008, a $17,500,000 cost plus fixed price contract for technical services and M939 Repower Kit. Work will be performed in Killeen, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2012. Bids were solicited via the Web and one bids were received. TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-08-C-0730).

MILITARY CONTRACTS September 18, 2008

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

SupplyCore, Inc., Rockford, Ill. is being awarded a maximum $525,000,000 fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity contract for Maintenance, Repair and Operation for Supplies. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, federal civilian agencies and Defense Logistics Agency. This proposal was originally Web solicited with 11 responses. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Sept. 18, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM500-02-D-0122).

Valero Marketing & Supply Co., San Antonio, Texas is being awarded a maximum $381,048,496 fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity contract for aviation fuel. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Defense Energy Support Center. There were originally 69 proposals solicited with 16 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Oct. 30, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-08-D-0502).

Tesoro Hawaii Corp., Kapolei, Hawaii is being awarded a maximum $198,914,133 fixed price with economic price adjustment, partial set-aside, indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity contract for aviation fuel. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Defense Energy Support Center. This proposal was originally Web solicited with 16 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Oct. 30, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va. (SP0600-08-D-0512).

Petro Star Inc., Anchorage, Ala., is being awarded a maximum $158,669,053 fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity for aviation fuel. Other location of performance is Valdez, Ala. Using service is Defense Energy Support Center. There were originally 69 proposals solicited with 16 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Oct. 30, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-08-D-0507).

U.S. Oil Trading LLC, Tacoma, Wash., is being awarded a maximum $103,462,873 fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity contract for aviation fuel. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Defense Energy Support Center. There were originally 69 proposals solicited with 16 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Oct. 30, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-08-D-0501).

Chevron Global Aviation, Houston, Texas is being awarded a maximum $87,998,492 fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity contract for aviation fuel. Other location of performance is Salt Lake City, Utah. Using service is Defense Energy Support Center. There were originally 69 proposals solicited with 16 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Oct. 30, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-08-D-0505).

Sinclair Oil Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah is being awarded a maximum $59,710,349 fixed price with economic price adjustment, partial set-aside, indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity contract for jet fuel. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Defense Energy Support Center. This proposal was originally Web solicited with 16 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Oct. 31, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va. (SP0600-08-D-0511).

Sargent & Greenleaf, Inc., Nicholasville, Ky., is being awarded a maximum $25,000,000 fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite quantity contract for high security padlocks. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. This proposal was originally Web solicited with one response. This contract has two year base period and three one-year option periods. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Sept. 17, 2010. The contracting activity is Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa. (SPM5L5-08-D-0264).

ConocoPhillips, Bartlesville, Okla., is being awarded a maximum $7,121,381 fixed price with economic price adjustment, partial set-aside, indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity contract for jet fuel. Other location of performance is Commerce City, Colo. Using service is Defense Energy Support Center. This proposal was originally Web solicited with 16 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Oct. 30, 2008. The contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va. (SP0600-08-D-0509).

Caterpillar Inc., Mossville, Ind., is being awarded a maximum $6,681,190 firm fixed price contract for backhoe loaders. Other location of performance is N.C. Using service is Marine Corps. There were originally four proposals solicited with three responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal years. The date of performance completion is Apr. 24, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM500-01-D-0059-0215).

Air Force

AAR Manufacturing, Inc., DBA AAR Mobility Systems, of Cadillac, Mich., is being awarded a firm fixed price contract for a maximum of $137,959,200. This action will provide depot-level repair of 463L pallets. A maximum quantity for 120,000 each for the two year basic plus three option years with a maximum quantity of 60,000 each per year. At this time no funds have been obligated. 642 CBSG/GBKBA, Robins AFB, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8519-08-D-0008).

The Air Force is modifying a cost plus award fee contract with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., of Littleton, Colo., not to exceed $30.7 million. The purpose of this modification is to provide a program for the development and implementation of a Global Position System metric tracking to include a detailed program acquisition/execution plan and Integration Master Schedule supporting a Sept. 2011 IOC (Atlas configurations) and 2012 (Delta configuration) availability. Identified milestones will be evaluated at the time the individual Statements of work are resubmitted. This is an initial study that will lay the foundation for the actual development of the launch requirements. At this time $17,320,801 has been obligated. Space and Missile Systems Center, Space Launch and Range Systems Material Wing, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8816-06-C-0002, P00097).

The Air Force is modifying a cost plus fixed fee contract with Boeing Launch Services of Huntington Beach, Calif., for $6,279,686. Launch Services for NASA Kepler mission. This contractor will plan, organize, control, integrate, and execute the Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV) III program to meet the requirements, as defined in the MLV III Statement of Work and Kepler SOW. At this time all funds have been obligated. Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), Launch and Range Systems Wing, Los Angeles AFB, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (F04701-93-C-0004, P00377).

Wyle Laboratories, Inc., of Huntsville, Ala., is being awarded a cost plus fixed fee contract for an estimated $38,647,319. This contract action is for the Reliability Information Analysis Center to research, develop, review, and evaluate data lists and technical data packages as well as develop specialized prototypes of integrated avionics, Integrated Weapon Systems, and aircraft platform systems/subsystems. At this time $289,855 has been obligated. 55th Contracting Squadron, 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt AFB, Neb., is the contracting activity (HC1047-05-D-4005, DO: 0080).

The Air Force is modifying a firm fixed price contract with the Boeing Co., Integrated Defense System, of Wichita, Kan., for an estimated $35,660,000. This modification is to provide additional contract funding in support of the fourth year of a five-year Contractor Logistics Support contract for the VC-25A aircraft. 727 ACSG/PKB, Tinker AFB, Okla., is the contracting activity (FA8106-04-C-0006 / P00086).

Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc., of Colorado Springs, Colo., is being awarded a firm fixed price contract for $29,772,521. This delivery order will procure the Transportable Remote Tracking Station, part of the Satellite Contact Network. The Transportable will be designed to operate in three scenarios: 1) a stand-alone satellite tracking station that can completely replace a fixed site tracking station; 2) a stand-alone antenna subsystem that can replace a fixed site's antenna (only); and 3) a stand-alone computer electronics subsystem that can replace a fixed site's computer electronics suite (only). This ability to split the Transportable into separate stand-alone parts will give the Air Force the flexibility to fix specific problems at specific satellite tracking sites simultaneously. The Transportable will also be used to provide extra satellite communications support in "hot spots" around the world without having to build costly permanent satellite tracking sites. At this time $16,375,782 has been obligated. Space and Missile Systems Center Satellite Control Network Group/PK, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (F04701-02-D-0006; DO: 0127).S

Navy

Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corp., San Francisco, Calif., is being awarded a cost plus fixed fee contract for Naval Nuclear Propulsion work. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $9,723,700,000. Work will be performed in Schenectady, N.Y. (30 percent); Idaho Falls, Idaho, (15 percent); and Pittsburgh, Pa., (55 percent). Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with three offers received via the U.S. Department of Energy's Industry Interactive Procurement System. No work completion date or additional information is provided on Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program contracts. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-08-C-2103).

Parsons Infrastructure & Technology Group, Inc., Pasadena, Calif., is being awarded $59,923,547 for firm-fixed price task order #WE01 under a previously awarded multiple award Seaport-e contract for engineering and program support for Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), Mid-Atlantic. The work to be performed provides for technical, project management and data management support services to the Capital Improvements Business Line Government workforce at NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic. Work will be performed in Va., (70 percent) and N.C., (30 percent), and is expected to be completed by Sept. 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Five proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N00178-05-D-4487).

DCK Pacific Guam, LLC, Barrigada, Guam, is being awarded a $15,399,603 firm fixed price contract for repair and alteration of existing facilities to administrative offices for the Joint Region Marianas Headquarters at Nimitz Hill. The work to be performed provides for the repair and alteration of existing reinforced concrete facilities to administrative offices for the Joint Region Marianas Headquarters. Work includes repair and alteration of administrative buildings and a generator building. The facilities will include administrative spaces, operations center, and conference rooms for approximately 300 personnel. The contract also contains one option, which if exercised, would increase cumulative contract value to $18,649,630. Work will be performed in Nimitz Hill, Guam, and is expected to be completed by Mar. 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with three proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Marianas, Guam, is the contracting activity (N40192-08-C-1316).

McDonnell Douglas Corp., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $14,580,005 ceiling-priced delivery order contract for spares in support of the E/A-18 G Growler aircraft. Work will be performed at St. Louis, Mo., and work is expected to be completed by Mar. 2011. The contract funds will not expire before the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity.

McDonnell Douglas Corp., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $13,000,000 ceiling priced modification to delivery order #0004 under previously awarded contract (N00383-06-D-001J) for support equipment and engineering support for the E/A-18 G Growler aircraft. Work will be performed at St. Louis, Mo., and work is expected to be completed by Apr. 2010. Contract funds will not expire before the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity.

Northrop Grumman Corp., Integrated Systems Western Region, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $12,629,951 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus fixed fee contract (N00019-05-C-0057) for operations and maintenance support for the Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration (GHMD), including operation and sustainment, logistics support and sustaining engineering throughout the demonstration. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Md., (90 percent) and San Diego, Calif., (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in Sept. 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $12,629,951 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

J. Kokolakis Contracting, Inc., Rocky Point, N.Y., is being awarded an $11,412,000 firm-fixed-price construction contract for renovations at U. S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point. The work to be performed provides for the renovation of Murphy Hall, a three-story dormitory, and includes demolition and replacement of all interior finishes, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, intercommunication and fire protection systems. The work will be performed in Nassau County, N.Y., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 2009. 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 three proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N40085-08-C-2103).

Goodrich ISR Systems (formally Recon/Optical Inc.) Barrington, Ill., is being awarded a $10,350,998 firm-fixed-price contract for seven CA-247 cameras to be deployed in Iraq. The existing camera system, CA-247 is currently being tested and is scheduled to transition to the Marine Corps in Sept. 2008. The development of the CA-247 camera was to develop special optics, special housings, and special software in support of adapting their current line of barrel sensors to the sensor with appropriate imaging capabilities and an appropriately large field of view to be capable of wide area persistent surveillance. Work will be performed in Barrington, Ill., and work is expected to be completed in Sept. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was procured under an other than full and open competition. The Naval Research Laboratory, Washington D.C., is the contracting activity (N00173-08-C-2134).

JKT/PCL, A Tribal 8(A) Joint Venture*, Bellevue, Wash., is being awarded a $10,281,916 firm fixed price contract for design and construction of a new Fleet Region Readiness Center at Naval Station Everett. The work to be performed provides for construction of a new facility, renovation of administrative support spaces in building 2000, and a new parking lot. The new facility will include instructor offices, classrooms, laboratories, and support spaces. Work will be performed in Everett, Wash., and is expected to be completed by Mar. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured, limited to eligible eight (a) firms located in Small Business Administration Region X, via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with four proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Northwest, Silverdale, Wash., is the contracting activity (N44255-08-C-6008).

Databuoy, LLC*, Vienna, Va., is being awarded a $10,000,000 ceiling amount, indefinite delivery indefinite-quantity contract for a Phase III Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract under Small Business Technology Transfer Topic N06-T004 for Embedded Systems Command and Control (EC2) low-power, self-exploiting, netted sensor capability utilizing a collaborative network of sensor components. Work will be performed in Vienna, Va., and is expected to be completed in Sept. 2013. Contract funds in the amount of $4,344,970 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This SBIR Phase III contract was not competitively procured, pursuant to FAR 6.302-5. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00421-08-D-0012).

Bell-Boeing Joint Program Office, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded a $9,751,814 not-to-exceed modification to a previously awarded cost plus incentive fee contract (N00019-03-C-0067) to exercise an option for interim contractor support for the CV-22 operational flight at Hurlburt Field, Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., and potential deployed locations. This modification also provides for operational training support at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. Work will be performed at Hurlburt Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, Fla., (60 percent) and Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, N.M., (40 percent), and is expected to be completed in Jan. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Miss., is being awarded an $8,571,775 modification on a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-08-C-0019), to exercise an option for the Phase II study and analysis to develop innovative solutions to be used in mission requirements for the Affordable Weapons System (AWS). This weapon system is being designed to fill a sea-based land attack and strike mission, to operate from ships, with potential for a sea-based Navy and Marine Corps aircraft launch capability. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Miss., and is expected to be completed in Sept. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

Furniture By Thurston *, Grass Valley, Calif., is being awarded a $6,353,483 firm fixed price supply contract for furnishing and installing furniture under the Whole Room Furniture Concept in nine barracks located throughout Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, Calif. Work will be performed in Camp Pendleton, Calif., and work is expected to be completed Jan 2009. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Request For Quote was sent to the contractors listed under the Fleet Industrial Supply Center, Norfolk, Va., Blanket Purchase Agreement for Barracks Furniture. USMC Regional Contracting Office Southwest, Marine Corps Installations West, Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, Calif., is the contracting activity (N00189-07-A-0058) (NG-01).

Digital Sandbox Inc.,* McLean, Va., is being awarded a $5,707,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract for systems architecture, model refinement, data gathering, analysis and processing validation and verification. Work will be performed in Washington, D.C., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 2009. Contractfunds in the amount of$1,400,000willexpire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively awarded. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Charleston, S.C., is the contracting activity (N65236-08-D-6019).

Sauer Incorporated, Jacksonville, Fla., is being awarded $5,622,420 for firm-fixed price task order #0005 to build a new conference center at the Naval Air Station, Patuxent River. The work to be performed provides for a full service restaurant and three ballrooms each with projection systems, pull down screens, internet connectivity and video teleconference capabilities. Work will be performed at Patuxent River, and is expected to be completed by September 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Four proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, Public Works Department, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N62477-04-D-0036).

Army

BAE Systems National Security Solutions, Burlington, Mass., was awarded on Sept. 16, 2008, a $7,165,136 cost plus fixed fee price contract. The objective of this work is to develop an analyst exploitation tool to rapidly search through video archives based on content. Work will be performed in Burlington, Mass., Cambridge, Mass., and Los Angeles, Calif., with an estimated completion date of Mar. 16, 2010. Bids were solicited via Broad Agency Announcement and twenty bids were received. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity (HR0011-08-C-0134).

General Atomics Aeronautical System, San Diego, Calif., was awarded on Sept. 17, 2008, a $37,158,705 cost plus incentive fee price contract for incremental funding for systems development and demonstration (including integration of the Hellfire Missile) for the extended range multi-purpose unmanned aerial vehicle. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., Adelanto, Calif., Palmdale, Calif., Salt Lake City, Utah, Hunt Valley, Md., and Huntsville, Ala., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2009. One hundred and twenty bids were solicited and three bids were received. U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Arsenal Redstone, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

Cazador, Anchorage, Ala., was awarded on Sept. 17, 2008, $11,768,865 firm fixed fee price contract. The project provides for purchase and installation of furniture in the Sustainability Centers of Excellence, Fort Lee, Va. Work will be performed in Fort Lee, Va., with an estimated completion date of Mar. 30, 2009. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. U.S. Army Engineering District, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (W91236-08-C-0063).

ECC International LLA, (ECCI), Burlingame Calif., was awarded on Sept. 17, 2008, a $7,950,041 firm fixed price contract. The project consists of the design & construction of the Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan Forwarding Operating Base. Work will be performed in Heart, Afghanistan, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 30, 2009. Bids were solicited via the Web and three bids were received. U.S. Army Engineering District, Afghanistan, is the contracting activity (W917PM-07-D-0015).

American Science & Engineering, Billerica, Mass., was awarded on Sept. 16, 2008, a $22,123,830 firm fixed price contract for maintenance and sustainment for vehicle and Cargo Inspection Systems located in Southwest Asia. Work will be performed in Southwest Asia, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 27, 2011. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. TACOM-Rock Island, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W52H09-08D-0393).

Whiting Turner, Baltimore, Md., was awarded on Sept. 17, 2008, $19,773,000 firm fixed fee price contract Co., Operations Facility (COF), Fort Eustis, Va., Design & Construct a standard unit operations facility. The project includes a (COF), classrooms, arms vault, nuclear, biological and chemical equipment storage. Work will be performed in Fort Lee, Va., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 1, 2011. Three bids were solicited and two bids were received. U.S. Army Engineering District, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (W91236-08-D-0069).

High-Water Vehicles Highlight Guard's Response Arsenal

By Air Force Master Sgt. Greg Rudl
Special to American Forces Press Service

Sept. 12, 2008 - In war, they're called combat vehicles. But when Mother Nature strikes and people are stranded by flood waters, those big trucks with their big tires and high ground clearance get a different name. National Guard units in some states call them high-water vehicles. Others describe them as high-clearance or high-wheeled. But whatever the name, governors, adjutants general and other state military leaders want to know how many they have, especially when the waters rise.

During domestic response missions, the big trucks plow through high water to rescue residents, carry boats that also help rescue people, and bring food and water to the victims of calamities.

Just how vital are these big trucks to the Guard's domestic response missions?

-- As Hurricane Ike approached the Gulf Coast yesterday with predictions of five to 10 inches of rain, the Texas National Guard was assembling 900 personnel and 500 high-water vehicles in San Antonio for major search-and-rescue missions.

-- In August, Florida Army Guard soldiers drove a high-water vehicle through flooded roads in Osteen, Fla., searching for people needing assistance or evacuation due to the floodwaters from Tropical Storm Fay.

-- Missouri soldiers used high-water vehicles to deliver 11,520 meals to residents of flood-ravaged Iowa in June.

-- The National Guard from several states pre-positioned more than 3,800 high-water vehicles in and around New Orleans in late August as Hurricane Gustav approached.

-- When storms flooded Vernonia, Ore., in early December 2007, high-water vehicles were used to rescue hundreds of people.

-- When flooding hit Pennsylvania and New Jersey in June and July 2006, more than 1,000 Guard members used high-wheeled vehicles for water rescues, evacuations and other emergency operations along the Delaware River.

While as little as six inches of water can cause a car to lose control, and two feet can carry most cars away, most high-water vehicles can plow through several feet of water.

"The [light medium tactical vehicle] can carry up to 15 people and has a high ground clearance, which allows them operate in up to four feet of water," Army Lt. Col. Len Gratteri, a Delaware National Guard spokesman, said in early May after tidal flooding and heavy rains in his state led Guard members to deploy LMTVs.

Army National Guard logistics division officials said the 54 states and territories have 22,244 high-water vehicles, ranging from 1,159 in Pennsylvania to 15 in the Virgin Islands. The division considers everything from 2.5-ton trucks to the M977 heavy, expanded-mobility tactical truck, or HEMTT, as high-water vehicles. The total doesn't include the ubiquitous Humvee, which can ford through five feet of water when equipped with the proper kit.

For emergency response, the Army Guard relies heavily on the LMTV -- its cargo and van models have a 2.5-ton capacity -- and the medium tactical vehicle, which has a 5-ton capacity. Both entered service in 1996, have automatic transmissions, and run on jet fuel.

The HEMTT comes in five models and stands more than eight feet tall. The lightest version weighs well over 30,000 pounds and is capable of fording water up to four feet deep. Although the Humvee is not considered a high-water vehicle, with a deep water-fording kit it can drive through five feet of water.

These trucks are heavy as well as high, which means they are considerably less likely to float away. The LMTV, for example, weighs more than 13 tons.

Florida Army Guard transportation soldiers made sure their high-water vehicles were in working order as Hurricane Gustav neared their state in late August.

Also in August, after Tropical Storm Fay brought heavy rain to much of Florida, members of the 254th Transportation Battalion used high-water vehicles in four southern counties to help emergency first-responders perform damage and flood assessment.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Robert Talent, a truckmaster for the battalion, helped with the assessment missions.

"The LMTV is very useful, because it is so versatile," he explained, pointing out the five high-water trucks in the motor pool at his armory. Talent added that LMTV drivers know and follow their safety guidelines when driving through high water.

(Air Force Master Sgt. Greg Rudl serves at the National Guard Bureau.)

First Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Dies in San Antonio

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

July 28, 2008 - Retired Air Force Gen. Robert T. Herres, the first vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, died July 24 after a long illness. He was 75. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said all members of the armed forces mourn the passing of a man he called a pioneer.

"As we mourn his passing, so too should we reflect on his contributions to our national security -- of the thousands of lives he guided, the careers he mentored, the difference he made simply by virtue of his leadership," Mullen said. "We are a stronger, more capable military today in large part because of his efforts to make us so. He will be missed."

Herres was born in Denver on Dec. 1, 1932. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy, but took his commission in the Air Force in 1954. He flew F-86 fighters and served at various posts in the United States and Europe.

In 1966, the Air Force selected Herres as an astronaut-pilot for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, but officials cancelled the program in 1969, and Herres never got a chance to fly in space.

As a colonel, Herres commanded the provisional 310th Strategic Wing, based in Utapao, Thailand. The wing supported U.S. operations in Southeast Asia. He became a brigadier general in 1974. He commanded Air Force Communications Command at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., from 1979 to 1981 and 8th Air Force based at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., from 1981 to 1982.

In 1984, Herres pinned on his fourth star and took over North American Aerospace Defense Command. The Defense Department was working to put all space assets under one command, and on Sept. 23, 1985, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation creating the U.S. Space Command and appointed Herres as its first commander.

Military actions in the early 1980s in Iran, Grenada, Lebanon and other areas highlighted the need for the services to act jointly. The result was the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the Joint Chiefs of Staff and created the position of vice chairman. Reagan selected Herres to be the first vice chairman, and he took office serving first under Navy Adm. William J. Crowe and then under Army Gen. Colin Powell during their terms as chairman.

The job was new, and Crowe, Herres and Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger set out to make it meaningful. In addition to acting as the chairman when the chairman was not available, they decided the vice chairman would chair the Joint Requirements Oversight Council and the Nuclear Command and Control System. Herres also served as the vice chairman of the Defense Acquisition Board. These positions allowed him to help set military requirements for major acquisitions. During his term, he concentrated on close-air support, space-based surveillance and anti-satellite systems.

Herres retired in February 1990. He moved to San Antonio and joined USAA, an insurance and financial services association.

"As the very first vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, ... it was he who institutionalized the role of the military in setting requirements for major weapons systems, putting that process back in the hands of the Joint Staff," Mullen said. "He served his nation nobly for more than 35 years as a skilled pilot, engineer, programmer and analyst. He was an early pioneer of aerospace research and a master of command, control and communications management, leading at virtually every level in the U.S. Air Force."

Herres is survived by his wife of 51 years, Shirley, and three children: Julie Latenser, Michael Herres and Jennifer Babeon. He will be buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.