By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
May 14, 2009 - The senior U.S. commander in the Pacific today shared with Indian government and military leaders the importance of the U.S.-Indian military relationship in furthering peace and stability in a challenging neighborhood. Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, told reporters after a whirlwind day of sessions here he hopes that relationship can grow in ways that promote the two countries' shared interests in maritime security, counterterrorism and defense trade.
Keating met with Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and National Security Advisor Mayankote Kelath Narayanan. He also called on Adm. Zurres Mehta, the naval staff chief and chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee; Lt. Gen. Noble Bhawan, vice chief of the army staff; and Air Marshall Pradeep Vasant, slated to take India's top air staff position later this month.
Throughout his visits, Keating said he emphasized the principal tenets of U.S. Pacific Command's strategy: partnership, readiness and presence. He called India an important partner in carrying out that strategy.
"We have a longstanding friendship on a military-to-military basis, we exercise frequently, we exchange personnel, [and] we have frequent visits," he said. "India is a strong partner and a good friend."
The relationship, he told reporters, enhances both militaries' high state of readiness as it enables them to operate together and share expertise and lessons learned.
Keating pointed to the Malabar 2009 naval exercise that wrapped up May 3 as an example of the growing combined exercise program.
India led Malabar 2009, in which about 4,000 members of the Indian, U.S. and Japanese navies trained together in surface, subsurface and air operations. They also conducted a visit, board, search and seize operation aboard USS Blue Ridge to simulate searching a merchant vessel.
Keating said his talks today focused on continuing the increased scope and sophistication of these exercises and exchanges in ways that improve cooperation while sending a strategic message to friends and potential allies alike.
"It demonstrates our commitment to peace and stability throughout the region by being present forward all throughout our area of responsibility," he said.
Responding to reporters' questions, Keating addressed a few of the challenges facing the region: China's military expansion, turmoil in Pakistan and the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka, among them.
Today's talks also focused on violent extremism and ways the United States and India can work together more closely, particularly through the continued sharing of timely information and intelligence that could preclude an attack.
That issue is near and dear to Indians, still stinging from the November terror attacks in Mumbai. The coordinated bombings in the country's financial capital left 173 people dead.
"We want to make it increasingly difficult for those who support violent extremists to move, whether it is financial or logistical support throughout the region," Keating said. "We want those extremists themselves to find it increasingly difficult to move.
"And we want to emphasize our relentless commitment to help those countries who have similar perspectives as we [have], and want to curtail or eliminate the threat of violent extremism," he said. He noted that "almost every country in the world" shares this goal.
Today's discussions also focused on defense cooperation and India's efforts to modernize its military, in part through its military weapons systems program.
This program has grown exponentially since 2006, when India purchased USS Trenton at a cost of $50 million, Joel Ehrendreich, political-military officer at the U.S. Embassy here, told American Forces Press Service.
Since then, India has bought six C-130J Hercules aircraft for its special forces and $2.1 billion in P-8-I maritime reconnaissance aircraft to add more capability to what Keating noted already is a world-class maritime force.
The latest military sales issue on the table involves India's plans to purchase more than 100 multi-role combat aircraft for its air force. The U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcon and F/A-18 Hornet are among the contenders in the $10 billion competition.
India also plans to buy more computer technology so its forces can better network battlefield information, Ehrendreich said.
While boosting India's capabilities, Ehrendreich said, these sales are "completely transforming the way our militaries interact" and improving opportunities for them to work more closely together.
Keating arrived in the world's largest democracy last night as it was wrapping up the last phase of its huge general election. Results are slated to be announced May 16.
"We emphasized from a Pacific Command perspective our terrific respect for and admiration of the democratic process that is unfolding," he said. An estimated 60 percent of India's 714 million eligible voters reportedly cast ballots over the past five weeks.
Regardless of which party wins, Keating expressed confidence that the positive trends between the United States and India will continue. "We look forward to dealing in the same manner in an open, candid exchange of ideas with the new administration in India," he said.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Combined Task Force Makes First Suspected Pirate Capture
American Forces Press Service
May 14, 2009 - Ships from Combined Task Force 151 prevented a piracy attack in the Gulf of Aden, which resulted in the apprehension of more than a dozen suspected pirates aboard an alleged "mothership" yesterday. The South Korean destroyer ROKS Munmu the Great and guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg responded to a distress call from the Egyptian-flagged motor vessel Amira, which reported being attacked about 75 nautical miles south of Mukalla, Yemen.
Several assault rifle rounds and a rocket-propelled grenade round struck the Amira, causing little or no damage. A rope was thrown from the skiff in an attempt to board, but the attempt failed and the suspected pirates abandoned their attack.
Gettysburg and Munmu the Great launched their embarked helicopters which flew immediately to Amira's location. During its flight, the SH-60B helicopter assigned to Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron Light 46 located a small boat suspected of serving as a pirate mothership.
A Gettysburg visit, board, search and seizure team boarded the boat along with members of U.S. Coast Guard Legal Detachment 409 and apprehended the suspected pirates after finding eight assault rifles, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and a rocket-propelled grenade. All 17 of the passengers were brought on board Gettysburg for further questioning.
"This is another clear example of how coordination between the Combined Maritime Forces resulted in the successful disruption of pirate activity," said Royal Navy Commodore Tim Lowe, deputy commander of the Combined Maritime Forces. "It is imperative that all maritime forces continue to synchronize their efforts to deter and disrupt these unlawful and aggressive acts."
Gettysburg and Munmu the Great are operating in support of CTF 151, a multinational task force established to conduct counterpiracy operations under a mission-based mandate throughout the CMF area of responsibility to deter, disrupt and suppress piracy and secure freedom of navigation.
(From a Combined Maritime Forces news release.)
May 14, 2009 - Ships from Combined Task Force 151 prevented a piracy attack in the Gulf of Aden, which resulted in the apprehension of more than a dozen suspected pirates aboard an alleged "mothership" yesterday. The South Korean destroyer ROKS Munmu the Great and guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg responded to a distress call from the Egyptian-flagged motor vessel Amira, which reported being attacked about 75 nautical miles south of Mukalla, Yemen.
Several assault rifle rounds and a rocket-propelled grenade round struck the Amira, causing little or no damage. A rope was thrown from the skiff in an attempt to board, but the attempt failed and the suspected pirates abandoned their attack.
Gettysburg and Munmu the Great launched their embarked helicopters which flew immediately to Amira's location. During its flight, the SH-60B helicopter assigned to Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron Light 46 located a small boat suspected of serving as a pirate mothership.
A Gettysburg visit, board, search and seizure team boarded the boat along with members of U.S. Coast Guard Legal Detachment 409 and apprehended the suspected pirates after finding eight assault rifles, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and a rocket-propelled grenade. All 17 of the passengers were brought on board Gettysburg for further questioning.
"This is another clear example of how coordination between the Combined Maritime Forces resulted in the successful disruption of pirate activity," said Royal Navy Commodore Tim Lowe, deputy commander of the Combined Maritime Forces. "It is imperative that all maritime forces continue to synchronize their efforts to deter and disrupt these unlawful and aggressive acts."
Gettysburg and Munmu the Great are operating in support of CTF 151, a multinational task force established to conduct counterpiracy operations under a mission-based mandate throughout the CMF area of responsibility to deter, disrupt and suppress piracy and secure freedom of navigation.
(From a Combined Maritime Forces news release.)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
MILITARY CONTRACTS May 13, 2009
NAVY
Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Services, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $10,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for advanced development, engineering, and testing efforts in support of reliable acoustic path vertical line array sensor systems for distributed netted systems. Work will be performed in Arlington, Va., (40 precent); Riviera Beach, Fla., (30 precent); Greensboro, N.C., (25 precent); Groton, Conn., (5 precent), and is expected to be completed by Sept. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured as a result of a broad agency announcement with proposals solicited and offers received via FedBizOpps. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-09-C-5215).
McDonnell Douglas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $7,436,085 time and material delivery order against a previously issued Basic Ordering Agreement (N00019-05-G-0026) for wind tunnel testing of the prototype Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGM) on the F/A-18E/F. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., (92 percent); and Philadelphia, Pa., (8 percent), and is expected to be completed in Mar. 2011. Contract funds in the amount of $5,765,878 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., being awarded a $5,828,085 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-5444) for phalanx simulated infrared/visible engagement targets engagement simulator kits with shorting plugs in support of the Phalanx Close-In Weapon System Program. Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) is a fast reaction terminal defense against low and high flying, high-speed maneuvering anti-ship missile threats that have penetrated all other ships' defenses. The CIWS is an integral element of the Fleet Defense in-depth concept and the Ship Self-Defense Program. Operating either autonomously or integrated with a combat system, it is an automatic terminal defense weapon system designed to detect, track, engage, and destroy anti-ship missile threats penetrating other defense envelopes. PHALANX CIWS is currently installed on approximately 187 USN ships and is in use in 20 foreign navies. Work will be performed in Louisville, Ky., (15 percent); Tuscon, Ariz., (5 percent); and England, (80 percent), and is expected to be completed by Jan. 2011. 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 awarding a cost plus fixed fee contract to Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., of Herndon, Va., for $11,541,898. This contract action will provide surface warfare mission development research and analysis to commander, Surface Warfare Development Group. At this time, $55,556 has been obligated. 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-03-D-1380).
The Air Force is awarding a cost plus fixed fee contract to Alion Science and Technology Corp., of Chicago, Ill., for an estimated $6,411,510. This contract action is for Modeling Simulation Information Analysis Center will provide research analysis, findings and recommendations to the newly established Army Enterprise Task Force to establish an enterprise approach to Army decision making management process. At this time, $434,782 has been obligated. 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (FA8722-09-C-0001).
Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Services, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $10,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for advanced development, engineering, and testing efforts in support of reliable acoustic path vertical line array sensor systems for distributed netted systems. Work will be performed in Arlington, Va., (40 precent); Riviera Beach, Fla., (30 precent); Greensboro, N.C., (25 precent); Groton, Conn., (5 precent), and is expected to be completed by Sept. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured as a result of a broad agency announcement with proposals solicited and offers received via FedBizOpps. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-09-C-5215).
McDonnell Douglas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $7,436,085 time and material delivery order against a previously issued Basic Ordering Agreement (N00019-05-G-0026) for wind tunnel testing of the prototype Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGM) on the F/A-18E/F. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., (92 percent); and Philadelphia, Pa., (8 percent), and is expected to be completed in Mar. 2011. Contract funds in the amount of $5,765,878 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., being awarded a $5,828,085 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-5444) for phalanx simulated infrared/visible engagement targets engagement simulator kits with shorting plugs in support of the Phalanx Close-In Weapon System Program. Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) is a fast reaction terminal defense against low and high flying, high-speed maneuvering anti-ship missile threats that have penetrated all other ships' defenses. The CIWS is an integral element of the Fleet Defense in-depth concept and the Ship Self-Defense Program. Operating either autonomously or integrated with a combat system, it is an automatic terminal defense weapon system designed to detect, track, engage, and destroy anti-ship missile threats penetrating other defense envelopes. PHALANX CIWS is currently installed on approximately 187 USN ships and is in use in 20 foreign navies. Work will be performed in Louisville, Ky., (15 percent); Tuscon, Ariz., (5 percent); and England, (80 percent), and is expected to be completed by Jan. 2011. 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 awarding a cost plus fixed fee contract to Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., of Herndon, Va., for $11,541,898. This contract action will provide surface warfare mission development research and analysis to commander, Surface Warfare Development Group. At this time, $55,556 has been obligated. 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-03-D-1380).
The Air Force is awarding a cost plus fixed fee contract to Alion Science and Technology Corp., of Chicago, Ill., for an estimated $6,411,510. This contract action is for Modeling Simulation Information Analysis Center will provide research analysis, findings and recommendations to the newly established Army Enterprise Task Force to establish an enterprise approach to Army decision making management process. At this time, $434,782 has been obligated. 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (FA8722-09-C-0001).
Upcoming Joint Wargame Examines Future Force Capabilities
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - Security experts from inside and outside the Pentagon soon will test out predictions on what the U.S. military will look like and how it will operate in coming years, a senior U.S. military officer said here yesterday. The seminar-type, joint wargame experiments will be held in McLean, Va., from May 31 through June 5, and they'll feature input from national security experts, multinational partners and interagency organizations, said Navy Rear Adm. Dan W. Davenport, chief of U.S. Joint Forces Command's joint concept development and experimentation directorate.
"The idea is to bring the right kind of leaders and thinkers together," Davenport said, to analyze and "deal with the future threat."
The wargame looks ahead to 2020, he said, and will feature scenarios that pit U.S. joint forces against three types of enemies: a globally networked terrorist threat, a peer competitor, and a failed or failing state.
The hybrid-war threat, whereby a potential adversary would employ both conventional and irregular forces during a conflict with the United States, is "probably the most challenging" threat, Davenport said, because "you're really having to deal with the full spectrum of threats, all at one time."
Another challenging, complex scenario, Davenport said, involves instances of military and interagency coordination in transitioning from traditional U.S. warfighting actions to other-than-war tasks, such as providing humanitarian and reconstruction aid.
"We realize that any solution we come up with has got to incorporate and include the interagency and multinational perspectives," Davenport said.
In a related effort, Joint Forces Command is revising its Joint Operating Environment report, known as the JOE, which predicts potential threats to U.S. national security in the years ahead.
The current JOE report predicts a future of persistent conflict and hybrid enemy threats, global instability, increasing access to weapons of mass destruction, the rise of regional state and non-state actors, and the unpredictability of security threats.
Input from the JOE influences the Quadrennial Defense Review, a congressionally mandated report that's prepared every four years that also seeks to predict future threats while balancing U.S. military capabilities to confront them.
The companion piece to the JOE, known as the Capstone concept for joint operations, represents Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen's vision for how the joint force will operate in the future, and it provides proposed solutions to envisioned security threats presented in the JOE. The Capstone also is used to guide U.S. military force experimentation and development efforts.
The JOE outlines the possible problems or threats confronting U.S. joint military forces in the future, Mattis explained, while the Capstone concept presents proposed solutions.
The war gamers in McLean will experiment with the Capstone concept's solutions to predicted potential future threats outlined in the JOE report.
American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - Security experts from inside and outside the Pentagon soon will test out predictions on what the U.S. military will look like and how it will operate in coming years, a senior U.S. military officer said here yesterday. The seminar-type, joint wargame experiments will be held in McLean, Va., from May 31 through June 5, and they'll feature input from national security experts, multinational partners and interagency organizations, said Navy Rear Adm. Dan W. Davenport, chief of U.S. Joint Forces Command's joint concept development and experimentation directorate.
"The idea is to bring the right kind of leaders and thinkers together," Davenport said, to analyze and "deal with the future threat."
The wargame looks ahead to 2020, he said, and will feature scenarios that pit U.S. joint forces against three types of enemies: a globally networked terrorist threat, a peer competitor, and a failed or failing state.
The hybrid-war threat, whereby a potential adversary would employ both conventional and irregular forces during a conflict with the United States, is "probably the most challenging" threat, Davenport said, because "you're really having to deal with the full spectrum of threats, all at one time."
Another challenging, complex scenario, Davenport said, involves instances of military and interagency coordination in transitioning from traditional U.S. warfighting actions to other-than-war tasks, such as providing humanitarian and reconstruction aid.
"We realize that any solution we come up with has got to incorporate and include the interagency and multinational perspectives," Davenport said.
In a related effort, Joint Forces Command is revising its Joint Operating Environment report, known as the JOE, which predicts potential threats to U.S. national security in the years ahead.
The current JOE report predicts a future of persistent conflict and hybrid enemy threats, global instability, increasing access to weapons of mass destruction, the rise of regional state and non-state actors, and the unpredictability of security threats.
Input from the JOE influences the Quadrennial Defense Review, a congressionally mandated report that's prepared every four years that also seeks to predict future threats while balancing U.S. military capabilities to confront them.
The companion piece to the JOE, known as the Capstone concept for joint operations, represents Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen's vision for how the joint force will operate in the future, and it provides proposed solutions to envisioned security threats presented in the JOE. The Capstone also is used to guide U.S. military force experimentation and development efforts.
The JOE outlines the possible problems or threats confronting U.S. joint military forces in the future, Mattis explained, while the Capstone concept presents proposed solutions.
The war gamers in McLean will experiment with the Capstone concept's solutions to predicted potential future threats outlined in the JOE report.
Army Seeks Inexpensive, Lightweight, Reliable Battery
By Navy Lt. Jennifer Cragg
Special to American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - The Army's Advanced Automotive Battery Initiative is searching for the "holy grail" of power technology: an inexpensive, lightweight and reliable battery. "Collaboration is very important, in my opinion," Sonja Gargies, energy storage team leader for the Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, told listeners during an "Armed with Science: Research and Applications for the Modern Military" webcast May 6 on Pentagon Web Radio. "I don't see how one agency alone can accomplish the goal of a more energy efficient world."
Academia and industry, along with the Defense and Energy departments, need to work together to make the goal a reality, she said.
"The 'holy grail' of power is actually the path that leads to an inexpensive, lightweight, reliable and long-lasting battery," Gargies said.
TARDEC and other collaborating agencies, such as the Energy Department and the Army Research Lab, are trying to find dual-use niche markets with industry and academia under this new initiative.
"The battery initiative's outcome is to establish a cost-competitive, flexible, domestic production base where we can have high-quality, advanced automotive battery materials, along with components that have dual-use applications for military ground vehicles, hopefully by 2015," Gargies said.
Toward that end, TARDEC chaired a battery-planning summit meeting, where military and commercial vehicle users worked together to reach a consensus on the near-term equipment for launching and executing this initiative. The result was an Advanced Automotive Battery Initiative white paper.
"Basically, [we are] maximizing the commonality between the military and commercial market," Gargies said. "We're hoping to reduce the overall cost and increase the manufacturing flexibility to address the ... unique vehicle military requirements and weapon systems requirements."
The military is a large consumer of batteries, but that alone doesn't create a sufficient demand to justify the creation of facilities and cell manufacturing that are solely devoted to military applications, Gargies said.
"To reduce the cost for military and industrial applications, we need to grow the niche battery markets while taking advantage of something called 'dual-use' technologies that will help meet the needs of both commercial and military vehicle platforms and products," she explained.
Gargies added that battery research and development is an integral part of the national effort to develop environmentally friendly technology.
"In addition to the conventional applications, they can be used for electric vehicles, hybrid-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, to reduce the greenhouse emissions and the dependence on imported oil," Gargies said. "They can be used to store electricity that is generated by solar energy and wind energy."
(Navy Lt. Jennifer Cragg serves in the Defense Media Activity's emerging media directorate.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - The Army's Advanced Automotive Battery Initiative is searching for the "holy grail" of power technology: an inexpensive, lightweight and reliable battery. "Collaboration is very important, in my opinion," Sonja Gargies, energy storage team leader for the Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, told listeners during an "Armed with Science: Research and Applications for the Modern Military" webcast May 6 on Pentagon Web Radio. "I don't see how one agency alone can accomplish the goal of a more energy efficient world."
Academia and industry, along with the Defense and Energy departments, need to work together to make the goal a reality, she said.
"The 'holy grail' of power is actually the path that leads to an inexpensive, lightweight, reliable and long-lasting battery," Gargies said.
TARDEC and other collaborating agencies, such as the Energy Department and the Army Research Lab, are trying to find dual-use niche markets with industry and academia under this new initiative.
"The battery initiative's outcome is to establish a cost-competitive, flexible, domestic production base where we can have high-quality, advanced automotive battery materials, along with components that have dual-use applications for military ground vehicles, hopefully by 2015," Gargies said.
Toward that end, TARDEC chaired a battery-planning summit meeting, where military and commercial vehicle users worked together to reach a consensus on the near-term equipment for launching and executing this initiative. The result was an Advanced Automotive Battery Initiative white paper.
"Basically, [we are] maximizing the commonality between the military and commercial market," Gargies said. "We're hoping to reduce the overall cost and increase the manufacturing flexibility to address the ... unique vehicle military requirements and weapon systems requirements."
The military is a large consumer of batteries, but that alone doesn't create a sufficient demand to justify the creation of facilities and cell manufacturing that are solely devoted to military applications, Gargies said.
"To reduce the cost for military and industrial applications, we need to grow the niche battery markets while taking advantage of something called 'dual-use' technologies that will help meet the needs of both commercial and military vehicle platforms and products," she explained.
Gargies added that battery research and development is an integral part of the national effort to develop environmentally friendly technology.
"In addition to the conventional applications, they can be used for electric vehicles, hybrid-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, to reduce the greenhouse emissions and the dependence on imported oil," Gargies said. "They can be used to store electricity that is generated by solar energy and wind energy."
(Navy Lt. Jennifer Cragg serves in the Defense Media Activity's emerging media directorate.)
Face of Defense: Maintainer's Idea Earns Big Bucks
By Air Force Staff Sgt. Rachel MartinezSpecial to American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - A simple suggestion earned $10,000 for an engine maintainer here and saved the Air Force thousands more. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jerome Latham, an engine craftsman with the 35th Maintenance Squadron, suggested a technical order change that resulted in validated, tangible savings and was approved for implementation throughout the Air Force.
Latham's idea involved extending the divergent flap wear limit on the exhaust nozzle of the F110-GE-129 aircraft engine.
"We do regular inspections, and these parts were supposed to be replaced," he said. "The wear limits were minimal, and we were throwing them away all the time."
At first seeking simply to obtain a local waiver, Latham contacted the engine manufacturer. He was given permission to increase the wear limit for Misawa and implemented the new practice in December. Looking at past data, he discovered the local change would save the base more than $256,000 annually. Believing the rest of the Air Force could implement the same change, Latham submitted his suggestion to the Air Force's IDEA program – an acronym for "innovative development through employee awareness."
"There was a lot of paperwork that needed to be submitted, but I knew I had the evidence," Latham said. "It was a long process, but it paid off in the end."
Latham was notified recently that his idea was approved and his suggestion would be added to the new technical order. Air Force Col. Robert Craig, 35th Fighter Wing vice commander, presented Latham with the $10,000 check in his work center.
"A lot of people see the same things I did, but don't want to take the time to fix them," he said. "It was just a simple change. Lesson learned: keep your eyes open, save the Air Force money and improve your job by doing it more efficiently."
(Air Force Staff Sgt. Rachel Martinez serves in the 35th Fighter Wing public affairs office.)
Admiral Cites Partnership, Commitment as Keys to Piracy Crackdown
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - With piracy generating big news in the Gulf of Aden, a far-less-recognized multilateral partnership has brought pirates' swashbuckling days to a virtual halt in the strategic Strait of Malacca. Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, praised a partnership among Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and, increasingly, Thailand and the Philippines, that has boosted maritime security dramatically.
An estimated 40 percent of the world's trade -- about 50,000 vessels each year -- transit the narrow passageway that links the Indian and Pacific oceans. Until three years ago, pirates trolling the strait had been launching almost 50 attacks a year, Keating said. Today, that number has dropped to fewer than five.
"That's astounding," he said of the decrease – one he attributes to the initiative of nations bordering the strait, with help from U.S. technology.
"In years past, the nations that border the Strait of Malacca were not nearly as willing as they are today to engage in multilateral, multinational operations," Keating told American Forces Press Service during a flight to India. Not so today, as they've joined forces to increase patrols and to improve their collective maritime domain awareness and law-enforcement capabilities.
"They are sharing information. They are sharing a common operational picture. They're passing information back and forth," Keating said.
Congressionally approved "1206 money," named for the section of the National Defense Authorization Act that authorizes the United States to help other countries build their military capacities, has gone a long way toward promoting this effort, he noted.
The funding covers the cost of highly sophisticated radars, radio capabilities and training, delivering them far more quickly than through other military programs.
"But the larger issue is the nations cooperating and focusing on the issue themselves," Keating said. "More nations are saying, 'We can do a better job ourselves, by cooperating.'"
While praising the effort, Keating stopped short of calling it a blueprint for cracking down on piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast. Piracy in that region has spiked sharply, with pirates successfully carrying out 42 of their 122 attempts in 2008, Michele Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week.
Beyond simple geography – the Somalia-based pirates operate in a region of more than a million square nautical miles -- the challenges extend to the bordering countries themselves.
"The countries whose shores border the Strait of Malacca all have standing militaries, and they're all democracies with firmly established procedures for observing and executing the rule of law," so they're able to prosecute pirates, Keating said.
"The situation is not nearly the same for all the countries bordering the Gulf of Aden, and that is a significant challenge for U.S. Central Command."
Lack of a strong Somali government is a key part of the piracy problem in the Centcom area of responsibility. It provides "freedom of action" for pirates along the Somalia coast, Daniel Pike, the Pentagon's acting principal director of African affairs, told the House Armed Services Committee in March.
The root cause of maritime piracy resides on land, Pike said, emphasizing the need for an international solution to address.
To better confront the problem, Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, who commands U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, the U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces, stood up a multinational anti-piracy effort known as Combined Task Force 151 on Jan. 1. Task force members have national mandates to conduct counter-piracy operations and work together "to support our goal of deterring, disrupting and eventually bringing to justice the maritime criminals involved in piracy events," Gortney explained as the task force became fully operational in mid-January.
CTF 151 operates primarily in and around the Gulf of Aden, but also in the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Red Sea. At any given time, 12 to 16 warships from the task force and from other nations are operating in the region.
"The international presence there is significant," a Navy official said. "We are working with everybody who is there."
American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - With piracy generating big news in the Gulf of Aden, a far-less-recognized multilateral partnership has brought pirates' swashbuckling days to a virtual halt in the strategic Strait of Malacca. Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, praised a partnership among Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and, increasingly, Thailand and the Philippines, that has boosted maritime security dramatically.
An estimated 40 percent of the world's trade -- about 50,000 vessels each year -- transit the narrow passageway that links the Indian and Pacific oceans. Until three years ago, pirates trolling the strait had been launching almost 50 attacks a year, Keating said. Today, that number has dropped to fewer than five.
"That's astounding," he said of the decrease – one he attributes to the initiative of nations bordering the strait, with help from U.S. technology.
"In years past, the nations that border the Strait of Malacca were not nearly as willing as they are today to engage in multilateral, multinational operations," Keating told American Forces Press Service during a flight to India. Not so today, as they've joined forces to increase patrols and to improve their collective maritime domain awareness and law-enforcement capabilities.
"They are sharing information. They are sharing a common operational picture. They're passing information back and forth," Keating said.
Congressionally approved "1206 money," named for the section of the National Defense Authorization Act that authorizes the United States to help other countries build their military capacities, has gone a long way toward promoting this effort, he noted.
The funding covers the cost of highly sophisticated radars, radio capabilities and training, delivering them far more quickly than through other military programs.
"But the larger issue is the nations cooperating and focusing on the issue themselves," Keating said. "More nations are saying, 'We can do a better job ourselves, by cooperating.'"
While praising the effort, Keating stopped short of calling it a blueprint for cracking down on piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast. Piracy in that region has spiked sharply, with pirates successfully carrying out 42 of their 122 attempts in 2008, Michele Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week.
Beyond simple geography – the Somalia-based pirates operate in a region of more than a million square nautical miles -- the challenges extend to the bordering countries themselves.
"The countries whose shores border the Strait of Malacca all have standing militaries, and they're all democracies with firmly established procedures for observing and executing the rule of law," so they're able to prosecute pirates, Keating said.
"The situation is not nearly the same for all the countries bordering the Gulf of Aden, and that is a significant challenge for U.S. Central Command."
Lack of a strong Somali government is a key part of the piracy problem in the Centcom area of responsibility. It provides "freedom of action" for pirates along the Somalia coast, Daniel Pike, the Pentagon's acting principal director of African affairs, told the House Armed Services Committee in March.
The root cause of maritime piracy resides on land, Pike said, emphasizing the need for an international solution to address.
To better confront the problem, Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, who commands U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, the U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces, stood up a multinational anti-piracy effort known as Combined Task Force 151 on Jan. 1. Task force members have national mandates to conduct counter-piracy operations and work together "to support our goal of deterring, disrupting and eventually bringing to justice the maritime criminals involved in piracy events," Gortney explained as the task force became fully operational in mid-January.
CTF 151 operates primarily in and around the Gulf of Aden, but also in the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Red Sea. At any given time, 12 to 16 warships from the task force and from other nations are operating in the region.
"The international presence there is significant," a Navy official said. "We are working with everybody who is there."
Fishing Boat Incidents Indicate Troubling Rift With China, Admiral Says
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - The top U.S. officer in the Pacific called recent Chinese harassment of U.S. Navy ships "troublesome" and lamented China's refusal to resume military-to-military dialogue as a lost opportunity to promote understanding that could prevent conflict. Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, admitted he's as baffled as anyone by the May 1 incident in which two Chinese fishing boats closed in on and maneuvered dangerously close to the USNS Victorious in international waters in the Yellow Sea. That followed on the heels of a March 8 incident in which five Chinese vessels surrounded and harassed the USNS Impeccable as it was conducting operations 80 nautical miles off Hainan Island.
"Their behavior is troublesome," Keating told American Forces Press Service during a flight to India. Chinese vessels defied maritime 'rules of the road,' he said, but also posed a danger to ships operating in accordance with international law.
Keating dismissed any Chinese challenges regarding the right of U.S. Navy ships to operate in China's economic exclusion zone, or EEZ. He noted that 40 percent of the world's waters constitute one or more nations' EEZs, and that other countries' ships regularly operate within them.
"Our ships are operating in accordance with international law and standard rules of the road, and our standing rules of engagement," he said. The Chinese, by harassing them, "are conducting themselves in ... ways that are just not done by normal seafaring men and women."
Bothersome as the incidents are, Keating said, he's even more troubled that there's no military-to-military dialogue between the United States and China to make sure incidents like these don't get out of hand.
China suspended U.S.-Sino military-to-military relations after the U.S. government's announcement in October that it was selling arms to Taiwan. The suspension halted what Keating had considered promising developments.
"In our view, we were making reasonable progress," he said. "We were engendering friendship and improving understanding and a more transparent dialogue."
That progress proceeded despite roadblocks China put in the way – including its sudden denial of port access to the USS Kitty Hawk battle group during the 2007 Thanksgiving weekend, and an earlier denial to U.S. minesweepers seeking refuge from a brewing storm.
"You just don't deny safe harbor to ships that are in need," Keating said. "But we had moved beyond that incident."
That included a new defense hotline for U.S. and Chinese military leaders. It got its first operational use to coordinate U.S. humanitarian support after a devastating earthquake hit southern China last May.
Meanwhile, U.S. and Chinese military delegations conducted senior-level exchanges. Keating made several visits. Another exchange, led by Pacom's senior enlisted advisor, Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Jim Roy, took a delegation of senior enlisted leaders to China. The Chinese reciprocated with a similar visit to Pacom's headquarters in Honolulu.
Keating hasn't been back to China since it severed military ties with the United States, and he conceded he's disappointed that China brought an abrupt halt to progress being made.
He said he wants to see the suspended Military Maritime Consultative Agreement talks, focused on maritime safety, continue. He wants to see China participate in – or at least observe – humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and search-and-rescue exercises.
"We are not able to engage in any of those activities, and in my mind, those are opportunities lost," Keating said. "It is not helpful."
But he's particularly concerned about the potential consequences of cutting off communications. There's no direct way to pick up the phone, dial a number and tell his Chinese counterparts, "I am calling you to tell you I don't understand what you are doing," he said.
"It would be helpful to understand so we don't have confusion," he said. "If confusion persists, that can lead to some sort of confrontation. And confrontation ... can engender a crisis."
And a crisis, if not abated, could lead to conflict, he said.
Keating expressed concern that misunderstandings between the United States and China could escalate if they're not nipped in the bud through simple communication.
"Every day that goes by that we don't have an ability to discuss -- whether it is fairly tactical or broad strategic issues" – with China's military represents "opportunities not realized," he said.
American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - The top U.S. officer in the Pacific called recent Chinese harassment of U.S. Navy ships "troublesome" and lamented China's refusal to resume military-to-military dialogue as a lost opportunity to promote understanding that could prevent conflict. Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, admitted he's as baffled as anyone by the May 1 incident in which two Chinese fishing boats closed in on and maneuvered dangerously close to the USNS Victorious in international waters in the Yellow Sea. That followed on the heels of a March 8 incident in which five Chinese vessels surrounded and harassed the USNS Impeccable as it was conducting operations 80 nautical miles off Hainan Island.
"Their behavior is troublesome," Keating told American Forces Press Service during a flight to India. Chinese vessels defied maritime 'rules of the road,' he said, but also posed a danger to ships operating in accordance with international law.
Keating dismissed any Chinese challenges regarding the right of U.S. Navy ships to operate in China's economic exclusion zone, or EEZ. He noted that 40 percent of the world's waters constitute one or more nations' EEZs, and that other countries' ships regularly operate within them.
"Our ships are operating in accordance with international law and standard rules of the road, and our standing rules of engagement," he said. The Chinese, by harassing them, "are conducting themselves in ... ways that are just not done by normal seafaring men and women."
Bothersome as the incidents are, Keating said, he's even more troubled that there's no military-to-military dialogue between the United States and China to make sure incidents like these don't get out of hand.
China suspended U.S.-Sino military-to-military relations after the U.S. government's announcement in October that it was selling arms to Taiwan. The suspension halted what Keating had considered promising developments.
"In our view, we were making reasonable progress," he said. "We were engendering friendship and improving understanding and a more transparent dialogue."
That progress proceeded despite roadblocks China put in the way – including its sudden denial of port access to the USS Kitty Hawk battle group during the 2007 Thanksgiving weekend, and an earlier denial to U.S. minesweepers seeking refuge from a brewing storm.
"You just don't deny safe harbor to ships that are in need," Keating said. "But we had moved beyond that incident."
That included a new defense hotline for U.S. and Chinese military leaders. It got its first operational use to coordinate U.S. humanitarian support after a devastating earthquake hit southern China last May.
Meanwhile, U.S. and Chinese military delegations conducted senior-level exchanges. Keating made several visits. Another exchange, led by Pacom's senior enlisted advisor, Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Jim Roy, took a delegation of senior enlisted leaders to China. The Chinese reciprocated with a similar visit to Pacom's headquarters in Honolulu.
Keating hasn't been back to China since it severed military ties with the United States, and he conceded he's disappointed that China brought an abrupt halt to progress being made.
He said he wants to see the suspended Military Maritime Consultative Agreement talks, focused on maritime safety, continue. He wants to see China participate in – or at least observe – humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and search-and-rescue exercises.
"We are not able to engage in any of those activities, and in my mind, those are opportunities lost," Keating said. "It is not helpful."
But he's particularly concerned about the potential consequences of cutting off communications. There's no direct way to pick up the phone, dial a number and tell his Chinese counterparts, "I am calling you to tell you I don't understand what you are doing," he said.
"It would be helpful to understand so we don't have confusion," he said. "If confusion persists, that can lead to some sort of confrontation. And confrontation ... can engender a crisis."
And a crisis, if not abated, could lead to conflict, he said.
Keating expressed concern that misunderstandings between the United States and China could escalate if they're not nipped in the bud through simple communication.
"Every day that goes by that we don't have an ability to discuss -- whether it is fairly tactical or broad strategic issues" – with China's military represents "opportunities not realized," he said.
Defense Budget Reflects Lessons Learned, Future Threats, Gates Says
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said his focal points in formulating fiscal 2010 defense budget recommendations were military troops and families, balancing between current and future missions and reforming the Pentagon's buying process. Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discussed the details of President Barack Obama's proposed $534 billion defense budget for fiscal 2010 during a House Armed Services Committee hearing today.
"First and foremost, this is a reform budget reflecting lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet also addressing the range of other potential threats around the world now and in the future," Gates said.
On the heels of a trip to Afghanistan last week, Gates said one purpose of his visit was to get the "unvarnished and unscripted" perspective from troops and commanders downrange.
"As we increase our presence there – and refocus our efforts with a new strategy – I wanted to get a sense from the ground level of the challenges and needs so that we can give our troops the equipment and support to be successful and come home safely," he said. Such input, Gates added, has provided the best source of ideas for directing the Defense Department.
"As I told a group of soldiers on [May 7], they have done their job," he said. "Now it is time for us in Washington to do ours."
Gates laid out his three principal objectives, citing the need to reaffirm the commitment to take care of the all-volunteer force, which he said represents America's greatest strategic asset.
"As Admiral Mullen says, if we don't get the 'people' part of this business right, none of the other decisions will matter," Gates said.
The defense secretary's second objective is to rebalance the Defense Department's programs in order to enhance warfighting capabilities for the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to prepare for scenarios the U.S. is most likely to face in the years ahead, while hedging against other risks and contingencies.
Gates announced his recommendations last month, distributing funds in accordance with what he characterized as the type of "complex hybrid" warfare he expects will be increasingly common. He allotted roughly half of his proposed budget for traditional, strategic and conventional conflict, about 40 percent for dual-purpose capabilities and the remaining 10 percent for irregular warfare.
In addition to the breakdown he outlined, the defense secretary's proposal seeks to move funding away from supplemental budgets and into the baseline budget. Gates said today his suggestions were derived from lessons he's learned during his tenure as defense secretary.
"As you know, this year we have funded the costs of the wars through the regular budgeting process – as opposed to emergency supplementals," he said. "By presenting this budget together, we hope to give a more accurate picture of the costs of the wars and also create a more unified budget process to decrease some of the churn usually associated with funding for the Defense Department."
Finally, Gates reiterated the need to reform the defense acquisition process.
"We must reform how and what we buy," he said, "meaning a fundamental overhaul of our approach to procurement, acquisition, and contracting."
Mullen endorsed the collaborative and comprehensive process by which Gates and the department reached their conclusions about the proposed shape and contents of the budget.
"Decisions to curtail or eliminate a program were based solely on its relevance and on its execution. The same can be said for those we decided to keep," he said. "None of the final decisions were easy to make, but all of them are vital to our future.
"It's been said that we are what we buy, and I believe that," he added. "And I also believe that the force we are asking you to help us buy today is the right one, both for the world we are living in, and the world we may find ourselves living in 20 to 30 years down the road."
American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said his focal points in formulating fiscal 2010 defense budget recommendations were military troops and families, balancing between current and future missions and reforming the Pentagon's buying process. Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discussed the details of President Barack Obama's proposed $534 billion defense budget for fiscal 2010 during a House Armed Services Committee hearing today.
"First and foremost, this is a reform budget reflecting lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet also addressing the range of other potential threats around the world now and in the future," Gates said.
On the heels of a trip to Afghanistan last week, Gates said one purpose of his visit was to get the "unvarnished and unscripted" perspective from troops and commanders downrange.
"As we increase our presence there – and refocus our efforts with a new strategy – I wanted to get a sense from the ground level of the challenges and needs so that we can give our troops the equipment and support to be successful and come home safely," he said. Such input, Gates added, has provided the best source of ideas for directing the Defense Department.
"As I told a group of soldiers on [May 7], they have done their job," he said. "Now it is time for us in Washington to do ours."
Gates laid out his three principal objectives, citing the need to reaffirm the commitment to take care of the all-volunteer force, which he said represents America's greatest strategic asset.
"As Admiral Mullen says, if we don't get the 'people' part of this business right, none of the other decisions will matter," Gates said.
The defense secretary's second objective is to rebalance the Defense Department's programs in order to enhance warfighting capabilities for the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to prepare for scenarios the U.S. is most likely to face in the years ahead, while hedging against other risks and contingencies.
Gates announced his recommendations last month, distributing funds in accordance with what he characterized as the type of "complex hybrid" warfare he expects will be increasingly common. He allotted roughly half of his proposed budget for traditional, strategic and conventional conflict, about 40 percent for dual-purpose capabilities and the remaining 10 percent for irregular warfare.
In addition to the breakdown he outlined, the defense secretary's proposal seeks to move funding away from supplemental budgets and into the baseline budget. Gates said today his suggestions were derived from lessons he's learned during his tenure as defense secretary.
"As you know, this year we have funded the costs of the wars through the regular budgeting process – as opposed to emergency supplementals," he said. "By presenting this budget together, we hope to give a more accurate picture of the costs of the wars and also create a more unified budget process to decrease some of the churn usually associated with funding for the Defense Department."
Finally, Gates reiterated the need to reform the defense acquisition process.
"We must reform how and what we buy," he said, "meaning a fundamental overhaul of our approach to procurement, acquisition, and contracting."
Mullen endorsed the collaborative and comprehensive process by which Gates and the department reached their conclusions about the proposed shape and contents of the budget.
"Decisions to curtail or eliminate a program were based solely on its relevance and on its execution. The same can be said for those we decided to keep," he said. "None of the final decisions were easy to make, but all of them are vital to our future.
"It's been said that we are what we buy, and I believe that," he added. "And I also believe that the force we are asking you to help us buy today is the right one, both for the world we are living in, and the world we may find ourselves living in 20 to 30 years down the road."
Nominee Plans to Draw on Lessons From Past Threat Reduction Programs
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - President Barack Obama's nominee to be assistant to the secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs said yesterday he agrees with a recent report on future opportunities for the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. "It's an excellent report, and I personally endorse all the recommendations," Andrew Weber told the Senate Armed Services Committee regarding the National Academy of Sciences report during his confirmation hearing. "The most important one is that we take lessons learned from our threat reduction programs in the former Soviet Union and expand them geographically to other areas of the world."
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is working on a determination that would allow the use of new authorities given by the committee in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Initially, the focus will be on biological threat reduction programs, Weber said.
It's possible that these programs could be expanded into other parts of the world, such as Southeast Asia and Africa, in the future, he said.
"Another recommendation, which I fully endorse, is the need for less bureaucracy and more agility and flexibility as we implement these programs," Weber said. "And, if confirmed for this position, I will oversee the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and will work with that agency on improving the flexibility.
"Secretary Gates has said that a 75 percent solution in months is better than a 100 percent solution in years," he continued, "and I think that will be sort of our guiding mandate as we move forward with these programs."
Weber currently is an advisor for threat reduction policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he is responsible for initiatives to reduce the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The former foreign service officer is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, where he teaches a course on force and diplomacy in the foreign service program. He also holds a master's degree from Georgetown and earned his bachelor's degree at Cornell University.
American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - President Barack Obama's nominee to be assistant to the secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs said yesterday he agrees with a recent report on future opportunities for the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. "It's an excellent report, and I personally endorse all the recommendations," Andrew Weber told the Senate Armed Services Committee regarding the National Academy of Sciences report during his confirmation hearing. "The most important one is that we take lessons learned from our threat reduction programs in the former Soviet Union and expand them geographically to other areas of the world."
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is working on a determination that would allow the use of new authorities given by the committee in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Initially, the focus will be on biological threat reduction programs, Weber said.
It's possible that these programs could be expanded into other parts of the world, such as Southeast Asia and Africa, in the future, he said.
"Another recommendation, which I fully endorse, is the need for less bureaucracy and more agility and flexibility as we implement these programs," Weber said. "And, if confirmed for this position, I will oversee the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and will work with that agency on improving the flexibility.
"Secretary Gates has said that a 75 percent solution in months is better than a 100 percent solution in years," he continued, "and I think that will be sort of our guiding mandate as we move forward with these programs."
Weber currently is an advisor for threat reduction policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he is responsible for initiatives to reduce the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The former foreign service officer is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, where he teaches a course on force and diplomacy in the foreign service program. He also holds a master's degree from Georgetown and earned his bachelor's degree at Cornell University.
Army Makes Progress in Achieving Balance, Casey Says
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - The Army is making progress toward getting current operational needs and long-term requirements back in balance, but there is still a long way to go, the service's top officer said today. The Army is so weighed down by current demands that it can't do "the things we know we need to do to sustain the all-volunteer force for the long haul and restore our strategic flexibility to do other things," Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. told Pentagon reporters during a media roundtable.
The service is following plans put in place in 2004 and 2007 to address the balance question by 2011. "That sounds like a long time, but in an organization of 1.1 million people that's growing and transforming itself, it's not at all," Casey said.
The general said the next 12 to 18 months are the crunch time for the Army, "because we will actually increase the number of troops we have deployed by about 10,000 as we shift [forces] from Iraq to Afghanistan."
Balance for any military service is important, the general said. "For the Army, it is having procedures revised to deploy a steady stream of trained and ready forces to the combatant commanders," Casey said, "and to do that in a way that is sustainable for soldiers and their families."
The current war is the longest the country has conducted with an all-volunteer force. Casey said there is "a thin red line" that could break the service if it's crossed.
The most important part of balance officials are working to attain is the time soldiers spend at home between deployments, the general said. Currently, soldiers spend a year deployed followed by slightly more than a year at home. Army officials want to get the "dwell time" at home to three years for every year deployed.
"You can fix this two ways: increase the forces, or decrease the need," Casey said.
The Army has grown, and reached its new end-strength limit of 547,000 soldiers this month – more than two years early. Now the service has to fill the structure, and that will take place over the next few years.
Casey said he anticipates a steady deployment of 15 brigade combat teams over the next few years, and said this would get the dwell-time-to-deployment ratio to 2 to 1. "With the president's drawdown plan [in Iraq], we do better than that in 2011," he said. However, he acknowledged, the enemy gets a vote.
Another aspect of balance is the effort to convert the Army from a garrison-based, Cold War force to the nimble, agile and lean force needed to fight the wars of today. Army units must be versatile and adaptable. Conversion to modular brigades is part of this, but so is converting jobs from what worked to hold off the Soviet Union to what is needed today.
The Army is about 85 percent along in its conversion of about 300 brigades to the modular format.
The transformation also requires 150,000 soldiers to change skills, and the service is roughly two-thirds through that process, Casey said. "Since this began, the Army has taken down about 200 tank, field artillery and air defense companies and built an equivalent number of military police, engineers, Special Forces and civil affairs units," he said.
Both efforts will be finished in 2011.
Casey wants to put the Army on a rotational cycle like the one the Navy and Marine Corps already use. "As I look to the future, I believe we will have 10 Army and Marine Corps brigades and regiments in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan for a decade," he said. "To do that, we have to be on a rotational cycle, and we must adapt our institutions to support that cycle."
Balance also requires different Army basing, and the service is in the middle of the latest base realignment and closure process that is scheduled to end in 2011. The process will affect roughly 380,000 people over the next few years.
Restoring strategic flexibility also is a key factor in the effort, the general said. Soldiers must be trained to handle all the missions the Army may face.
"As we look to the future, put out about 14 or 15 [brigades] and associated enablers," he said. "If had nine or 10 brigades in Iraq and Afghanistan, that would leave four or five brigades to handle other things." This would allow some brigades to serve regional assignments for combatant commanders and still leave units for a "911" force to deal with emergencies, the general said.
Casey acknowledged he is worried about the long-term impact of repeated deployments on the force and families. Last year, physicians diagnosed 13,000 cases of post-traumatic stress disorder. The Army is dedicating money and resources to help with this stress on soldiers and their families.
"Another thing that worries me is not being able to draw down in Iraq close to the schedule we have set," he added. "It would be very difficult to sustain the current levels of commitment here for very much longer."
The general also said he's worried about other, unexpected commitments. "I do believe that we will be doing something in the three to five years that none of us is thinking of right now," he said.
This is an era of persistent conflict, and the service will be at this for a while, Casey said. But the bottom line is that if the Army can get through the next 12 to 18 months, "we will get to a very good position here in 2011," he added.
American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - The Army is making progress toward getting current operational needs and long-term requirements back in balance, but there is still a long way to go, the service's top officer said today. The Army is so weighed down by current demands that it can't do "the things we know we need to do to sustain the all-volunteer force for the long haul and restore our strategic flexibility to do other things," Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. told Pentagon reporters during a media roundtable.
The service is following plans put in place in 2004 and 2007 to address the balance question by 2011. "That sounds like a long time, but in an organization of 1.1 million people that's growing and transforming itself, it's not at all," Casey said.
The general said the next 12 to 18 months are the crunch time for the Army, "because we will actually increase the number of troops we have deployed by about 10,000 as we shift [forces] from Iraq to Afghanistan."
Balance for any military service is important, the general said. "For the Army, it is having procedures revised to deploy a steady stream of trained and ready forces to the combatant commanders," Casey said, "and to do that in a way that is sustainable for soldiers and their families."
The current war is the longest the country has conducted with an all-volunteer force. Casey said there is "a thin red line" that could break the service if it's crossed.
The most important part of balance officials are working to attain is the time soldiers spend at home between deployments, the general said. Currently, soldiers spend a year deployed followed by slightly more than a year at home. Army officials want to get the "dwell time" at home to three years for every year deployed.
"You can fix this two ways: increase the forces, or decrease the need," Casey said.
The Army has grown, and reached its new end-strength limit of 547,000 soldiers this month – more than two years early. Now the service has to fill the structure, and that will take place over the next few years.
Casey said he anticipates a steady deployment of 15 brigade combat teams over the next few years, and said this would get the dwell-time-to-deployment ratio to 2 to 1. "With the president's drawdown plan [in Iraq], we do better than that in 2011," he said. However, he acknowledged, the enemy gets a vote.
Another aspect of balance is the effort to convert the Army from a garrison-based, Cold War force to the nimble, agile and lean force needed to fight the wars of today. Army units must be versatile and adaptable. Conversion to modular brigades is part of this, but so is converting jobs from what worked to hold off the Soviet Union to what is needed today.
The Army is about 85 percent along in its conversion of about 300 brigades to the modular format.
The transformation also requires 150,000 soldiers to change skills, and the service is roughly two-thirds through that process, Casey said. "Since this began, the Army has taken down about 200 tank, field artillery and air defense companies and built an equivalent number of military police, engineers, Special Forces and civil affairs units," he said.
Both efforts will be finished in 2011.
Casey wants to put the Army on a rotational cycle like the one the Navy and Marine Corps already use. "As I look to the future, I believe we will have 10 Army and Marine Corps brigades and regiments in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan for a decade," he said. "To do that, we have to be on a rotational cycle, and we must adapt our institutions to support that cycle."
Balance also requires different Army basing, and the service is in the middle of the latest base realignment and closure process that is scheduled to end in 2011. The process will affect roughly 380,000 people over the next few years.
Restoring strategic flexibility also is a key factor in the effort, the general said. Soldiers must be trained to handle all the missions the Army may face.
"As we look to the future, put out about 14 or 15 [brigades] and associated enablers," he said. "If had nine or 10 brigades in Iraq and Afghanistan, that would leave four or five brigades to handle other things." This would allow some brigades to serve regional assignments for combatant commanders and still leave units for a "911" force to deal with emergencies, the general said.
Casey acknowledged he is worried about the long-term impact of repeated deployments on the force and families. Last year, physicians diagnosed 13,000 cases of post-traumatic stress disorder. The Army is dedicating money and resources to help with this stress on soldiers and their families.
"Another thing that worries me is not being able to draw down in Iraq close to the schedule we have set," he added. "It would be very difficult to sustain the current levels of commitment here for very much longer."
The general also said he's worried about other, unexpected commitments. "I do believe that we will be doing something in the three to five years that none of us is thinking of right now," he said.
This is an era of persistent conflict, and the service will be at this for a while, Casey said. But the bottom line is that if the Army can get through the next 12 to 18 months, "we will get to a very good position here in 2011," he added.
Exercise to Test Aerospace Response Over Washington
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - The North American Aerospace Defense Command will conduct an exercise over the nation's capital and its suburbs May 15, Defense Department officials said today. Exercise Falcon Virgo tests the aerospace defense of the national capital area.
Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon jets, Coast Guard Dolphin choppers and Civil Air Patrol Cessnas will participate in the exercise. A number of Falcon Virgo exercises have taken place since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, officials said. The most recent one over Washington was in March.
"The exercise is always held in the middle of the night to not interfere with civilian air traffic," Pentagon spokeswoman Air Force Lt. Col. Almarah Belk said. "The aircraft involved follow all noise abatement procedures."
The exercise is in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Capital Region Command Center, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center, the Continental U.S. NORAD Region, the Civil Air Patrol and the Coast Guard.
Residents in the area can expect flights to occur shortly after midnight and into the early morning hours May 15. The exercise should wrap up during the morning. In the event of inclement weather, it will be cancelled.
American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - The North American Aerospace Defense Command will conduct an exercise over the nation's capital and its suburbs May 15, Defense Department officials said today. Exercise Falcon Virgo tests the aerospace defense of the national capital area.
Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon jets, Coast Guard Dolphin choppers and Civil Air Patrol Cessnas will participate in the exercise. A number of Falcon Virgo exercises have taken place since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, officials said. The most recent one over Washington was in March.
"The exercise is always held in the middle of the night to not interfere with civilian air traffic," Pentagon spokeswoman Air Force Lt. Col. Almarah Belk said. "The aircraft involved follow all noise abatement procedures."
The exercise is in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Capital Region Command Center, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center, the Continental U.S. NORAD Region, the Civil Air Patrol and the Coast Guard.
Residents in the area can expect flights to occur shortly after midnight and into the early morning hours May 15. The exercise should wrap up during the morning. In the event of inclement weather, it will be cancelled.
Training, Humanitarian Assistance Fuse During Continuing Promise
By Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class William Selby
Special to American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - Less than halfway into a four-month deployment to bring medical care and humanitarian assistance to the people of the Caribbean and Central and South America, personnel involved in Operation Continuing Promise 2009 already have treated more than 25,000 patients from three countries, the officer in charge said. "Our primary mission is to go out and train and gain valuable experience, going out and doing humanitarian, civic-assistance missions," Navy Capt. Robert Lineberry, mission commander for Continuing Promise 2009, said during a "DoD Live" bloggers roundtable May 11.
"We constantly talk about the numbers, but it's not about the numbers," he said. "It's really about providing accessible and quality health care to the folks that are really in need."
Continuing Promise is an annual humanitarian and civic assistance operation supported by U.S. and international military medical personnel, U.S. government agencies, regional health ministries, nongovernmental organizations and U.S. academic institutions. It is coordinated by U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and the U.S. 4th Fleet. In addition to providing medical care, and promoting goodwill and partnerships, the mission provides valuable emergency training for the personnel involved.
The operation is being run from the USNS Comfort, one of two Military Sealift Command hospital ships capable of rapid response during emergencies. The ship provided support in New York City following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and in the Gulf Coast region in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
Continuing Promise began when the Comfort departed Norfolk, Va., on April 1, with visits planned to Antigua, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Panama. Each visit is scheduled to last 10 to 12 days.
The medical, dental and veterinary crew of the Comfort includes about 650 medical professionals from the Navy, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard and U.S. Public Health Service, nongovernmental organizations, and other international partners. Canada, Chile, El Salvador, France, the Netherlands and Nicaragua will also provide medical professionals for the mission at some point during the deployment to participate in the training.
"We will rotate through quite a few Navy Reserve [personnel, and] quite a few humanitarian organizations, and probably when it's all said and done after the four months, we'll probably have trained up over 1,400 individuals," Lineberry said.
The crew for Continuing Promise also includes a construction battalion of Seabees tasked with rebuilding and restoring hospitals and other buildings, Lineberry added.
The Seabees already have fully restored a condemned hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and are currently working on a mental hospital in Antigua and Barbuda, he said.
"The Seabees are very rounded. They can do anything you can ask them to do," Lineberry said.
This is the fourth humanitarian-focused U.S. naval deployment to the region in the past three years designed to promote partnerships and goodwill. Building on lessons learned from the past mission, the Comfort is making fewer stops, but for longer durations during Continuing Promise 2009.
"Our goal is to just to go out and just do good things, and we're doing that," Lineberry said.
(Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class William Selby serves in the Defense Media Activity's emerging media directorate.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
May 13, 2009 - Less than halfway into a four-month deployment to bring medical care and humanitarian assistance to the people of the Caribbean and Central and South America, personnel involved in Operation Continuing Promise 2009 already have treated more than 25,000 patients from three countries, the officer in charge said. "Our primary mission is to go out and train and gain valuable experience, going out and doing humanitarian, civic-assistance missions," Navy Capt. Robert Lineberry, mission commander for Continuing Promise 2009, said during a "DoD Live" bloggers roundtable May 11.
"We constantly talk about the numbers, but it's not about the numbers," he said. "It's really about providing accessible and quality health care to the folks that are really in need."
Continuing Promise is an annual humanitarian and civic assistance operation supported by U.S. and international military medical personnel, U.S. government agencies, regional health ministries, nongovernmental organizations and U.S. academic institutions. It is coordinated by U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and the U.S. 4th Fleet. In addition to providing medical care, and promoting goodwill and partnerships, the mission provides valuable emergency training for the personnel involved.
The operation is being run from the USNS Comfort, one of two Military Sealift Command hospital ships capable of rapid response during emergencies. The ship provided support in New York City following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and in the Gulf Coast region in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
Continuing Promise began when the Comfort departed Norfolk, Va., on April 1, with visits planned to Antigua, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Panama. Each visit is scheduled to last 10 to 12 days.
The medical, dental and veterinary crew of the Comfort includes about 650 medical professionals from the Navy, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard and U.S. Public Health Service, nongovernmental organizations, and other international partners. Canada, Chile, El Salvador, France, the Netherlands and Nicaragua will also provide medical professionals for the mission at some point during the deployment to participate in the training.
"We will rotate through quite a few Navy Reserve [personnel, and] quite a few humanitarian organizations, and probably when it's all said and done after the four months, we'll probably have trained up over 1,400 individuals," Lineberry said.
The crew for Continuing Promise also includes a construction battalion of Seabees tasked with rebuilding and restoring hospitals and other buildings, Lineberry added.
The Seabees already have fully restored a condemned hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and are currently working on a mental hospital in Antigua and Barbuda, he said.
"The Seabees are very rounded. They can do anything you can ask them to do," Lineberry said.
This is the fourth humanitarian-focused U.S. naval deployment to the region in the past three years designed to promote partnerships and goodwill. Building on lessons learned from the past mission, the Comfort is making fewer stops, but for longer durations during Continuing Promise 2009.
"Our goal is to just to go out and just do good things, and we're doing that," Lineberry said.
(Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class William Selby serves in the Defense Media Activity's emerging media directorate.)
Armed Forces Day Calls for Recognition and Awareness of Unique Benefits Provided to Military Personnel
May 13, 2009 – Albany, NY – This Saturday, people across the nation will celebrate Armed Forces Day, which honors the men and women in uniform who serve in all branches of the United States Armed Forces. Armed Forces Day has been held annually on the third Saturday of May since the 1950s.
One of the ways the nation pays tribute to military personnel is through the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The Act, which was revised in 2003, is meant to provide peace of mind for soldiers on active duty regarding their affairs back home.
The SCRA allows for the temporary suspension of certain financial obligations and judicial or administrative proceedings during active duty military service. Some of the areas which servicemembers receive protection under the SCRA are:
Reduced interest rates on mortgage payments and credit card debt.
Protection from eviction for the servicemember and his or her dependents if the rent is less than $1200.
Termination of an automobile lease that was entered into before being called to active duty.
Termination of a residential lease that was entered into before being called to active duty.
“While it’s important to honor our military through celebrations like parades and air shows on this day, true recognition for what our serving men and women do for the country is shown through laws like the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act,” said Mathew B. Tully, Esq. Tully is the founding partner of the law firm Tully Rinckey PLLC and serves as a major in the New York Army National Guard. “Many of these soldiers simply drop their lives to answer the call to duty. Their affairs should be protected accordingly.”
Servicemembers involved in civil litigation can also request for the postponement of any judicial proceedings or civil court cases while on active duty. This includes matters ranging from contract disputes to real estate and property issues. “Civil court proceedings can involve some complex issues that are difficult to navigate,” said Tully. “I highly recommend that servicemembers who wish to delay their court proceedings contact a civilian attorney or their unit’s military legal assistance center to ensure their situation is taken care of properly.”
Tully is available for comment on the importance of honoring servicemembers on Armed Forces Day and the unique benefits and protections extended to them under the SCRA. For more information or to speak with Tully, please contact Caitlin Merrill at 518-755-2789 or via email at cmerrill@tullylegal.com.
One of the ways the nation pays tribute to military personnel is through the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The Act, which was revised in 2003, is meant to provide peace of mind for soldiers on active duty regarding their affairs back home.
The SCRA allows for the temporary suspension of certain financial obligations and judicial or administrative proceedings during active duty military service. Some of the areas which servicemembers receive protection under the SCRA are:
Reduced interest rates on mortgage payments and credit card debt.
Protection from eviction for the servicemember and his or her dependents if the rent is less than $1200.
Termination of an automobile lease that was entered into before being called to active duty.
Termination of a residential lease that was entered into before being called to active duty.
“While it’s important to honor our military through celebrations like parades and air shows on this day, true recognition for what our serving men and women do for the country is shown through laws like the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act,” said Mathew B. Tully, Esq. Tully is the founding partner of the law firm Tully Rinckey PLLC and serves as a major in the New York Army National Guard. “Many of these soldiers simply drop their lives to answer the call to duty. Their affairs should be protected accordingly.”
Servicemembers involved in civil litigation can also request for the postponement of any judicial proceedings or civil court cases while on active duty. This includes matters ranging from contract disputes to real estate and property issues. “Civil court proceedings can involve some complex issues that are difficult to navigate,” said Tully. “I highly recommend that servicemembers who wish to delay their court proceedings contact a civilian attorney or their unit’s military legal assistance center to ensure their situation is taken care of properly.”
Tully is available for comment on the importance of honoring servicemembers on Armed Forces Day and the unique benefits and protections extended to them under the SCRA. For more information or to speak with Tully, please contact Caitlin Merrill at 518-755-2789 or via email at cmerrill@tullylegal.com.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Former Army Officer Signs Book Contract
Author and Security consultant, Jeffrey W. Bennett has recently signed a publishing contract with CRC Press. Managing the Security of Classified Information and Contracts is due to be published in August 2009. Landing a contract proved hard work, but he sold the idea with persistence and passion. “I’ve been in the security field for over 20 including my Army and corporate experience,” says Jeffrey W. Bennett. “I realized that there weren’t any commercially published books available to those protecting our nation’s secrets.
Though Federal regulations instruct defense contractors how to work on government contracts, no books have been made available at book stores, libraries or universities. That’s all about to change. “I’ve published a few books already. I wrote my last book to help security specialist study for the Industrial Security Professional Examination. I saw a need, but the market was too small for the editors, so I founded Red Bike Publishing and published it myself. Now it’s on Amazon.com.” That didn’t stop Bennett. He had a dream of getting a contract with a royalty publisher.
“I found the publishers in a market guide and contacted the senior editor about my idea. He left a message explaining the idea was too narrow. However, they left a phone number and that was all I needed.” Over the next year, Bennett continued to contact the publisher about ideas. Finally the publisher agreed to meet him during a Security seminar in Las Vegas. “We had breakfast together and I pitched the winning idea, a book about landing and working on classified contracts. He said it sounded great and asked me to put it in writing and submit it formally.”
Not only did Jeffrey W. Bennett present and idea, but he strengthened his position. “I wrote three sample chapters, a table of contents and a layout of the remaining chapters. I also turned in a market study of the more than 100,000 federal and contractor employees.” Bennett’s market study included the more than 400 defense contractor companies and major military commands in and around Huntsville.. “This book idea will not only help Security specialists, but will also educate college students about a career in Security.” Bennett also anticipates a need from industry as increasing numbers of defense contractors are taking on classified work.
Jeffrey W. Bennett encourages those who are thinking of writing professionally to treat their writing as a business. “Demonstrate a need, conduct a market analysis, get critical feedback, network with other professionals and promote your product. Publishing companies expect professionalism.” Sure enough, though seven months from production, Bennett is already getting the word out to libraries, professional groups and during his presentations.
What’s next? Bennett is already pitching a series of yet untouched Security topics. He is also formulating an espionage thriller. “I’ve done all the background research, to all I need to do is finish the story.”
About Jeffrey W. Bennett
Captain Jeffrey W. Bennett, USA (ret.) is a “former Army officer who has been stationed around the world and has met many peoples of various customs, celebrity and influence. He speaks three languages and holds a Masters Degree in Acquisitions and Procurement Management from Webster University and is an MBA candidate with Columbia College. His experiences have involved adventure training, recruiting, world travel, diving, and flying. He has spoken on many motivational topics to major civic organizations, church groups, college and high school campuses.”
Though Federal regulations instruct defense contractors how to work on government contracts, no books have been made available at book stores, libraries or universities. That’s all about to change. “I’ve published a few books already. I wrote my last book to help security specialist study for the Industrial Security Professional Examination. I saw a need, but the market was too small for the editors, so I founded Red Bike Publishing and published it myself. Now it’s on Amazon.com.” That didn’t stop Bennett. He had a dream of getting a contract with a royalty publisher.
“I found the publishers in a market guide and contacted the senior editor about my idea. He left a message explaining the idea was too narrow. However, they left a phone number and that was all I needed.” Over the next year, Bennett continued to contact the publisher about ideas. Finally the publisher agreed to meet him during a Security seminar in Las Vegas. “We had breakfast together and I pitched the winning idea, a book about landing and working on classified contracts. He said it sounded great and asked me to put it in writing and submit it formally.”
Not only did Jeffrey W. Bennett present and idea, but he strengthened his position. “I wrote three sample chapters, a table of contents and a layout of the remaining chapters. I also turned in a market study of the more than 100,000 federal and contractor employees.” Bennett’s market study included the more than 400 defense contractor companies and major military commands in and around Huntsville.. “This book idea will not only help Security specialists, but will also educate college students about a career in Security.” Bennett also anticipates a need from industry as increasing numbers of defense contractors are taking on classified work.
Jeffrey W. Bennett encourages those who are thinking of writing professionally to treat their writing as a business. “Demonstrate a need, conduct a market analysis, get critical feedback, network with other professionals and promote your product. Publishing companies expect professionalism.” Sure enough, though seven months from production, Bennett is already getting the word out to libraries, professional groups and during his presentations.
What’s next? Bennett is already pitching a series of yet untouched Security topics. He is also formulating an espionage thriller. “I’ve done all the background research, to all I need to do is finish the story.”
About Jeffrey W. Bennett
Captain Jeffrey W. Bennett, USA (ret.) is a “former Army officer who has been stationed around the world and has met many peoples of various customs, celebrity and influence. He speaks three languages and holds a Masters Degree in Acquisitions and Procurement Management from Webster University and is an MBA candidate with Columbia College. His experiences have involved adventure training, recruiting, world travel, diving, and flying. He has spoken on many motivational topics to major civic organizations, church groups, college and high school campuses.”
New York Air Guard Conducts 100th Shuttle Mission
By Air Force Master Sgt. Corine LombardoSpecial to American Forces Press Service
May 12, 2009 - Eight pararescuemen aboard "King 2," an HC-130 Hercules from the New York Air National Guard's 106th Rescue Wing, breathed a collective sigh of relief as the space shuttle Atlantis, traveling more than 3,000 miles an hour, reached orbit yesterday for NASA's final visit to refurbish and restore the Hubble Space Telescope. It was the 100th time airmen from the Long Island-based rescue wing have watched a space shuttle climb into orbit as they stood by to rescue the crew in case something went wrong.
The New York Air National Guardsmen have had this mission since December 1988, when NASA conducted the first shuttle missions after the 1986 Challenger disaster.
"Every member of the 106th Rescue Wing is proud of this mission," Air Force Col. Michael Canders, the 106th's commander, said. "Our unit has played a critical role in the exploration of space for the last 20 years, and we look forward to continuing to support this effort."
The highly trained rescue crew eagerly awaited Atlantis' lift-off here, where they remained alert and prepared to retrieve shuttle astronauts if the shuttle failed to reach orbit. If that had happened, the seven-member Atlantis crew would have used an escape hatch to bail out into the Atlantic.
While "King 2" stood ready at Patrick Air Force Base, a short distance from Kennedy Space Center, a second HC-130, "King 1," orbited the eastern seacoast, prepared to rush to the projected impact area or splash point, if necessary.
Air Guardsmen from the unit, based at Gabreski Field Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., routinely practice this contingency procedure, known as Mode 8 Egress, which is, essentially, a parachute descent to safety.
If an ejection had taken place, the shuttle crew would have been spread out roughly a mile apart, given the speed of the shuttle as the astronauts bailed out. Once the astronauts were located, the pararescuemen would deploy in two teams via parachute, along with a Zodiac inflatable boat, to retrieve the astronauts, Canders said.
"I am always grateful for the outstanding job the 106th Rescue Wing does for NASA's shuttle launches," Mike Leinbach, the NASA launch director, said. "They are a critical part of our overall launch contingency planning, and I am absolutely certain that if called on, they would perform their job in a flawless manner."
Knowing the pararescuemen are close by is important, said Air Force Col. Lee Archambault, who commanded a shuttle mission in March and flew on another in 2007.
"Because of the amount and level of egress training and rescue procedures we receive, we know we are well taken care of should we need to get out of the vehicle if the worst of the worst happens," Archambault said. "We very much appreciate the support of the 106th Rescue Wing and all the rescue personnel on station throughout the world. Without [their] support, we couldn't do what we do."
After the Challenger disaster, the shuttle was redesigned to include an escape hatch, which allows crewmembers to leave the spacecraft in an emergency. Rescue crews were then needed to locate those downed crewmembers and pluck them from the waters off Cape Canaveral. The 106th Rescue Wing volunteered for the mission, developed and validated the astronaut search and rescue procedures, and has been there for nearly every shuttle mission since, Air Force Col. Robert Landsiedel, the wing's vice commander, said.
"Although we're ready, we're relieved we don't have to rescue the astronauts," said Lt. Col. Jim Kelley, 106th navigator and King 2 mission commander, responsible for controlling the rescue package and helicopter refueling plan for this mission. "It's a mission you train for and hope you never have to execute."
(Air Force Master Sgt. Corine Lombardo serves with the New York National Guard.)
Face of Defense: Tattoos Tell Story of Soldier's Loyalties, Losses, Dreams
By Donna MilesAmerican Forces Press Service
May 12, 2009 - The 22-year-old soldier, dressed down in a black T-shirt and jeans on a flight to his new unit at Fort Carson, Colo., is the face of the 21,000 additional troops flowing into Afghanistan as part of the new Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy. But it's his muscular arms, heavily adorned with tattoos as they cradle a portable video game system on his lap, that tell the true story of where he's been, what he's done and what he dreams for the future.
Army Cpl. "KC" – who asked to be referred to only by his initials to avoid making waves at his gaining unit – has seen a lot since heading off to Army basic training exactly one month after his high school graduation in Sacramento, Calif.
He followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, a tough-minded but "pretty cool" Marine who died just four months before KC raised his right hand and swore to defend the United States and its interests. His dad, too, is a Vietnam veteran who passed on his tradition of service to his only son.
A combat medic, KC has put his skills to the test in some pretty tough neighborhoods. He was attached to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Fallujah, Iraq, in late 2004. He deployed again -- on Aug. 29, 2007, his 20th birthday – with the 1st Infantry Division to Baghdad, just ahead of the troop surge ordered to quell violence there.
KC is matter-of-fact about his skills and slow to admit he knows he's enabled wounded troops to return home to their families. "Some people are trained to shoot mortar rounds. Some people are trained to clear houses," he said. "They just trained me to save lives, so I save lives."
When things get "hot," KC said, his training kicks in before he even knows it's happened. "It's total muscle memory," he said. "You just have to know what to do, and you do it. You stop the bleeding, clear the airway, then go on from there. ... You do the best that you can."
When he was assigned for a year at Walter Reed Army Medical Center's oncology ward – a stabilization tour because he'd spent so much of his Army time deployed – KC got a touching personal reminder of the impact of what he does.
He recognized the name of a patient he'd "worked on" in Baghdad after an enemy attack cost him an eye. The two reunited, with KC filling in many of the soldier's unanswered questions as he forged a new friendship with him and his family.
As the time for a new assignment approached, KC turned down a slot with the Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division, knowing many of the division's soldiers were deployed to northern Iraq and that he'd likely end up joining them. Instead, he opted for the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson.
The day before KC left for his new assignment, he got word that he'd be deploying to Afghanistan exactly one month after arriving at his new post. KC is nonchalant about the change of plans.
"I don't think it's right for anybody in the military to be completely blindsided when they're told they are going to deploy," he said, shrugging his soldiers.
KC knows he's bound for Kandahar in the increasingly violent Regional Command South area, part of the increased U.S. troop presence President Barack Obama ordered to turn the situation there around. He's seen what more troops can mean, and he speaks with certainty that they'll have the same impact in Afghanistan. "I think we will definitely make a difference," he said.
As KC shared his story, the tattoos on his arms filled in some of the gaps.
There are the two stars, one on the back of each arm. KC got them in St. Louis during his rest-and-recuperation leave from Iraq to honor his Northern California roots and the mother back in Sacramento he says he wants to make proud.
On the front of his right arm, a 1st Infantry Division crest commemorates the buddies he served with during 15 months in Baghdad.
But it's KC's left arm, where a $400, custom-designed tattoo that stretches from his clavicle to just above his elbow tells stories of loss most civilians his age would never understand. A Gothic-looking character KC said represents him looks down on seven faces, all connected by curlicues called "cancer" in tattoo parlance. "It's a thread that holds everything together," he said.
"They all represent different friends I've lost," KC said of the ghoulish faces. Not all the faces were combat losses, and not all were actually friends, but they all made deep enough an impression on KC for him to carry their memories on his arms for the rest of his days.
One represents his grandfather, who influenced his decision to enlist. Another is a sailor he didn't know, but whose combat death struck KC deeply. A third face represents Army Staff Sgt. Mike Ruoff, his friend's platoon sergeant, who was killed in Ramadi, Iraq. Another face depicts his friend Cpl. Milton Gist, a cook also killed in Ramadi.
A "kind of mysterious" face adorning KC's arm represents a sergeant major's gunner killed when an armor-piercing projectile hit his vehicle in western Iraq. KC didn't know him and didn't "work on him," but got the task of retrieving the soldier's weapons and personal gear from the crippled truck.
There's also an image of KC's friend, Sgt. Evan Cole. KC was deployed to Baghdad when he got work that Cole had been killed in Ramadi. Then, out of the clear blue, he heard from Cole on his Facebook page.
"It was kind of like hearing from a ghost," KC said. When he told Cole what he'd heard about his fate, Cole casually threw back, "I don't think I'm dead."
KC hadn't yet gotten his tattoo, but already had included Cole in the design, and he decided not to change it. "I told him, you're on my arm as being dead, dude," he told his friend.
The final face on KC's arm, a guy "with sad eyes," wasn't a soldier and wasn't killed in the war. It represents a friend back home, Josh, who took his own life at age 15 by jumping in front of a train while KC was in Iraq.
As he prepares to deploy to Afghanistan, KC said, he doesn't want to add more faces to his tattoo.
Looking to the future, he prefers to focus on the message tattooed on his lower right forearm, "Live the Dream."
"Everybody, when they are growing up, has a dream of what they want to be when they grow up," he said.
Asked what that means to him, KC paused to reflect. "I want to be somebody who's respectful," he said.
"Maybe wealthy," he added with a smile, quickly retracting the idea. "No," he said, "I want to be one of those people who is happy with what they have."
Then, as if suddenly remembering that it was Mother's Day as he was heading to his new unit at Fort Carson, he added, "And I want to make my mom happy."
Proposed Recruiting Cuts 'Reasonable,' Pentagon Official Says
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
May 12, 2009 - Despite an $800 million cut in funding for military recruiting and retention in the proposed fiscal 2010 defense budget, a senior Defense Department official expressed confidence in the department's ability to continue to attract and retain quality troops. The funding cuts were submitted to Congress last week as part of President Barack Obama's 2010 budget, which included $17 billion in cuts across federal departments, half of which came from defense programs. The 2010 military recruiting and retention budget is proposed at $6.2 billion.
The cuts come on the heels of record recruiting years, and spending, for the armed services. Yesterday, all 10 active-duty and reserve military components reported meeting or exceeding recruiting goals for April.
All services met or exceeded recruiting goals for 2008, one of the department's strongest recruiting years since 2004. The department more than doubled funding for recruiting and retention, from $3.4 billion to $7.7 billion, between 2004 and 2008.
And all services are on schedule to meet their goals again this year, even as the Army and Marine Corps are growing their ranks. The Army last year exceeded its recruiting goal by nearly 1 percent.
Curtis Gilroy, the department's director of accessions policy, called the cuts for 2010 "reasonable," and said he doesn't predict they will be detrimental to either the quality or quantity of those entering the military.
The economic downturn and rising unemployment have made military recruiting less challenging, he said. It has also allowed the military to be more selective in those it allows within its ranks.
Current data shows that so far in fiscal 2009, 96 percent of new military recruits have a high school diploma, and 71 percent score in the upper half on the armed services qualification test, Gilroy said yesterday. Those figures are up from fiscal 2008, when the department reported 92 percent of its recruits entered with a high school diploma and 69 percent scored in the upper half on the qualification test.
The 2010 cuts likely will be felt in bonuses, advertising and production recruiters, Gilroy said.
For example, re-enlistment bonuses in the active-duty Army likely will drop to $444 million in 2010, down from $626 million requested for fiscal 2009, Army officials said last week. Enlistment bonuses will be capped at $450 million, down from $549 million. The Army this year already has reduced the amount it was doling out in recruiting and retention bonuses.
But Gilroy warned that despite the current recruiting conditions, the services must be careful in their cuts.
"We know the recruiting environment can be very volatile. Things can change rather quickly," he said. "The danger is that we make the wrong choice."
For example, in the post-Cold War drawdown, the number of recruits needed by the military dropped by about a third. But despite the smaller requirement, military recruiting became significantly more difficult and expensive in the late 1990s, according to a Defense Department-contracted study by Rand Corporation's National Defense Research Institute.
The Army and Navy subsequently failed to meet their recruiting objectives in fiscal 1998, and the Army and Air Force failed to meet their requirements in fiscal 1999, according to the study.
The National Defense Authorization Act of 2000 authorized large increases in military pay, bonuses, educational benefits, recruiting resources, and a restoration of retirement benefits, which helped to improve recruiting and retention in fiscal 2000 and 2001, according to the study.
"When things turned around and recruiting became more challenging, we found it very expensive, time-consuming and difficult to ramp back up again when we needed to," Gilroy said.
Services can correct cuts in bonuses and advertising relatively quickly, but putting more recruiters on the streets is not as easy, he said.
The military needs 180,000 new recruits each year for its active-duty force, and another 140,000 for the reserve components.
American Forces Press Service
May 12, 2009 - Despite an $800 million cut in funding for military recruiting and retention in the proposed fiscal 2010 defense budget, a senior Defense Department official expressed confidence in the department's ability to continue to attract and retain quality troops. The funding cuts were submitted to Congress last week as part of President Barack Obama's 2010 budget, which included $17 billion in cuts across federal departments, half of which came from defense programs. The 2010 military recruiting and retention budget is proposed at $6.2 billion.
The cuts come on the heels of record recruiting years, and spending, for the armed services. Yesterday, all 10 active-duty and reserve military components reported meeting or exceeding recruiting goals for April.
All services met or exceeded recruiting goals for 2008, one of the department's strongest recruiting years since 2004. The department more than doubled funding for recruiting and retention, from $3.4 billion to $7.7 billion, between 2004 and 2008.
And all services are on schedule to meet their goals again this year, even as the Army and Marine Corps are growing their ranks. The Army last year exceeded its recruiting goal by nearly 1 percent.
Curtis Gilroy, the department's director of accessions policy, called the cuts for 2010 "reasonable," and said he doesn't predict they will be detrimental to either the quality or quantity of those entering the military.
The economic downturn and rising unemployment have made military recruiting less challenging, he said. It has also allowed the military to be more selective in those it allows within its ranks.
Current data shows that so far in fiscal 2009, 96 percent of new military recruits have a high school diploma, and 71 percent score in the upper half on the armed services qualification test, Gilroy said yesterday. Those figures are up from fiscal 2008, when the department reported 92 percent of its recruits entered with a high school diploma and 69 percent scored in the upper half on the qualification test.
The 2010 cuts likely will be felt in bonuses, advertising and production recruiters, Gilroy said.
For example, re-enlistment bonuses in the active-duty Army likely will drop to $444 million in 2010, down from $626 million requested for fiscal 2009, Army officials said last week. Enlistment bonuses will be capped at $450 million, down from $549 million. The Army this year already has reduced the amount it was doling out in recruiting and retention bonuses.
But Gilroy warned that despite the current recruiting conditions, the services must be careful in their cuts.
"We know the recruiting environment can be very volatile. Things can change rather quickly," he said. "The danger is that we make the wrong choice."
For example, in the post-Cold War drawdown, the number of recruits needed by the military dropped by about a third. But despite the smaller requirement, military recruiting became significantly more difficult and expensive in the late 1990s, according to a Defense Department-contracted study by Rand Corporation's National Defense Research Institute.
The Army and Navy subsequently failed to meet their recruiting objectives in fiscal 1998, and the Army and Air Force failed to meet their requirements in fiscal 1999, according to the study.
The National Defense Authorization Act of 2000 authorized large increases in military pay, bonuses, educational benefits, recruiting resources, and a restoration of retirement benefits, which helped to improve recruiting and retention in fiscal 2000 and 2001, according to the study.
"When things turned around and recruiting became more challenging, we found it very expensive, time-consuming and difficult to ramp back up again when we needed to," Gilroy said.
Services can correct cuts in bonuses and advertising relatively quickly, but putting more recruiters on the streets is not as easy, he said.
The military needs 180,000 new recruits each year for its active-duty force, and another 140,000 for the reserve components.
Officials Urge Reservists to Take Civilian Bosses to Soldier Show
By Army Maj. Elaine M. Gullotta
Special to American Forces Press Service
May 12, 2009 - A long tradition of "entertainment for the soldier, by the soldier" is getting a new lift -- not a facelift, but a "boss lift." National Guard and Reserve servicemembers historically invite their civilian employers to spend time at their military duty location to familiarize them with their employees' military duties. A typical "boss lift" includes a ride in a military vehicle or aircraft, a visit to a shooting range, or maybe even a visit to a military museum.
But reserve-component servicemembers will have something different to show their employers during the 2009 U.S. Army Soldier Show's national tour, as members of the Guard and Reserve are being encouraged to attend the show and bring their civilian employers through the outreach of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.
A Defense Department organization, ESGR encourages military members to look for and create "win-win situations" with their employers. Doing so can make things a lot easier for the reserve-component members when they need their employers' understanding due to a mobilization.
"Guard and Reserve members should consider their employers as strategic partners who support their efforts to serve our nation," said Navy Capt. Ted Fessel, director of national operations and plans for the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. "The show is exciting and patriotic, and is a great way to educate employers about the military culture."
The Army Soldier Show was established during World War I by Sgt. Israel Berlin, soon to become better known as composer Irving Berlin. He conceived and directed the first Army Show - "Yip, Yip, Yaphank" – on Broadway in 1918.
Berlin went on to re-invent, write, direct and produce a Broadway version of the Soldier Show during World War II, under the title, "This is the Army." The 1943 film version of this production featured Ronald Reagan, Joe Lewis and Gene Kelly.
The Soldier Show is a high-energy musical revue with a cast composed entirely of Army personnel from the active duty, Army Reserve and Army National Guard. The cast is under the direction of a team of entertainment professionals, many with years of experience on Broadway.
The show tours the United States from May 1 through mid-November. All shows are free and open to the public.
(Army Maj. Elaine M. Gullotta serves with Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
May 12, 2009 - A long tradition of "entertainment for the soldier, by the soldier" is getting a new lift -- not a facelift, but a "boss lift." National Guard and Reserve servicemembers historically invite their civilian employers to spend time at their military duty location to familiarize them with their employees' military duties. A typical "boss lift" includes a ride in a military vehicle or aircraft, a visit to a shooting range, or maybe even a visit to a military museum.
But reserve-component servicemembers will have something different to show their employers during the 2009 U.S. Army Soldier Show's national tour, as members of the Guard and Reserve are being encouraged to attend the show and bring their civilian employers through the outreach of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.
A Defense Department organization, ESGR encourages military members to look for and create "win-win situations" with their employers. Doing so can make things a lot easier for the reserve-component members when they need their employers' understanding due to a mobilization.
"Guard and Reserve members should consider their employers as strategic partners who support their efforts to serve our nation," said Navy Capt. Ted Fessel, director of national operations and plans for the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. "The show is exciting and patriotic, and is a great way to educate employers about the military culture."
The Army Soldier Show was established during World War I by Sgt. Israel Berlin, soon to become better known as composer Irving Berlin. He conceived and directed the first Army Show - "Yip, Yip, Yaphank" – on Broadway in 1918.
Berlin went on to re-invent, write, direct and produce a Broadway version of the Soldier Show during World War II, under the title, "This is the Army." The 1943 film version of this production featured Ronald Reagan, Joe Lewis and Gene Kelly.
The Soldier Show is a high-energy musical revue with a cast composed entirely of Army personnel from the active duty, Army Reserve and Army National Guard. The cast is under the direction of a team of entertainment professionals, many with years of experience on Broadway.
The show tours the United States from May 1 through mid-November. All shows are free and open to the public.
(Army Maj. Elaine M. Gullotta serves with Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.)
Military Needs New Strategy for Present, Future Threats, General Says
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
May 12, 2009 - The U.S. military requires a new, grand strategy to address today's complex security threats as well as tomorrow's challenges, a senior U.S. military officer said here today. "We have a real need for a grand strategy; any analysis shows that we have that need," Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis, commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command, told attendees at the annual Joint Warfighting Conference held here today through May 14.
Based in Norfolk, Va., Joint Forces Command is one of the 10 unified combatant commands, and it is the primary U.S. military force provider. Mattis wears a second hat as NATO's supreme allied commander for transformation.
The U.S. military's previous grand strategy was based on containment of the Soviet Union, Mattis said, noting that threat ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
However, today's national security environment is much more complex than that of 20 years ago, Mattis said. The emergence of global terrorism, the likelihood that weaker or failed states will rely on a mix of conventional and unconventional forces, known as hybrid warfare, to battle U.S. forces, and the possibility that a near-peer competitor may one day challenge U.S. national security interests, he said, are driving efforts to develop a new, balanced and comprehensive strategy that addresses all of those scenarios.
"Our predicaments today are complex, but I do not believe they are more complex than many that civilizations have faced in the past," Mattis said.
President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates are addressing how the military will confront terrorist threats that exist in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Mattis said, through a multi-faceted strategy that employs military, political, diplomatic, economic development and other components.
Joint Forces Command is working with senior civilian and military leaders and allies, Mattis said, to develop an overarching, grand strategy that addresses current threats, such as terrorism, as well as future threats. Mattis said his organization is revising its Joint Operating Environment report, known as the JOE, which predicts potential threats to U.S. national security in the years ahead.
The current JOE report, Mattis said, predicts a future of persistent conflict and hybrid enemy threats, global instability, increasing access to weapons of mass destruction, the rise of regional state and nonstate actors, and the unpredictability of security threats.
Input from the JOE influences the Quadrennial Defense Review, a congressionally mandated report prepared every four years that also seeks to predict future threats while balancing military capabilities to confront them, he said.
The companion piece to the JOE, known as the Capstone concept for joint operations, Mattis said, represents Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen's vision for how the joint force will operate in the future, and it provides proposed solutions to envisioned security threats presented in the JOE. The Capstone also is used to guide U.S. military force experimentation and development efforts, he added.
The JOE outlines the possible problems or threats confronting U.S. joint military forces in the future, Mattis explained, while the Capstone concept presents proposed solutions.
In about two weeks, Mattis said, U.S. war gamers will begin experimenting with the Capstone concept's solutions "to see if we got it right."
The upcoming experiments, the general said, will feature scenarios that pit U.S. joint forces against three types of enemies: a globally-networked terrorist threat, a peer competitor, and a failed or failing state.
The JOE report, the Capstone concept and the war games are used to help answer questions that are important to U.S. national security, Mattis said.
"That is," he said, "how to maintain our conventional and nuclear superiority -- behind which the international community derives great benefit -- while we build a joint force that can equally checkmate and defeat irregular threats."
American Forces Press Service
May 12, 2009 - The U.S. military requires a new, grand strategy to address today's complex security threats as well as tomorrow's challenges, a senior U.S. military officer said here today. "We have a real need for a grand strategy; any analysis shows that we have that need," Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis, commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command, told attendees at the annual Joint Warfighting Conference held here today through May 14.
Based in Norfolk, Va., Joint Forces Command is one of the 10 unified combatant commands, and it is the primary U.S. military force provider. Mattis wears a second hat as NATO's supreme allied commander for transformation.
The U.S. military's previous grand strategy was based on containment of the Soviet Union, Mattis said, noting that threat ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
However, today's national security environment is much more complex than that of 20 years ago, Mattis said. The emergence of global terrorism, the likelihood that weaker or failed states will rely on a mix of conventional and unconventional forces, known as hybrid warfare, to battle U.S. forces, and the possibility that a near-peer competitor may one day challenge U.S. national security interests, he said, are driving efforts to develop a new, balanced and comprehensive strategy that addresses all of those scenarios.
"Our predicaments today are complex, but I do not believe they are more complex than many that civilizations have faced in the past," Mattis said.
President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates are addressing how the military will confront terrorist threats that exist in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Mattis said, through a multi-faceted strategy that employs military, political, diplomatic, economic development and other components.
Joint Forces Command is working with senior civilian and military leaders and allies, Mattis said, to develop an overarching, grand strategy that addresses current threats, such as terrorism, as well as future threats. Mattis said his organization is revising its Joint Operating Environment report, known as the JOE, which predicts potential threats to U.S. national security in the years ahead.
The current JOE report, Mattis said, predicts a future of persistent conflict and hybrid enemy threats, global instability, increasing access to weapons of mass destruction, the rise of regional state and nonstate actors, and the unpredictability of security threats.
Input from the JOE influences the Quadrennial Defense Review, a congressionally mandated report prepared every four years that also seeks to predict future threats while balancing military capabilities to confront them, he said.
The companion piece to the JOE, known as the Capstone concept for joint operations, Mattis said, represents Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen's vision for how the joint force will operate in the future, and it provides proposed solutions to envisioned security threats presented in the JOE. The Capstone also is used to guide U.S. military force experimentation and development efforts, he added.
The JOE outlines the possible problems or threats confronting U.S. joint military forces in the future, Mattis explained, while the Capstone concept presents proposed solutions.
In about two weeks, Mattis said, U.S. war gamers will begin experimenting with the Capstone concept's solutions "to see if we got it right."
The upcoming experiments, the general said, will feature scenarios that pit U.S. joint forces against three types of enemies: a globally-networked terrorist threat, a peer competitor, and a failed or failing state.
The JOE report, the Capstone concept and the war games are used to help answer questions that are important to U.S. national security, Mattis said.
"That is," he said, "how to maintain our conventional and nuclear superiority -- behind which the international community derives great benefit -- while we build a joint force that can equally checkmate and defeat irregular threats."
Sustained Focus Would Make U.S.-Africa Partnerships 'More Reliable'
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
May 12, 2009 - The United States can be a more reliable partner with African nations if U.S. Africa Command devotes constant attention to the continent, a top Africom official said today. "Up until now, we were episodic in our military and civilian engagements on the continent. We were not there in a constant form," Ambassador Mary Carlin Yates, AfriCom's deputy to the commander for civil-military activities, told reporters at the Foreign Press Center here.
"If we concentrate on Africa 24/7," she continued, "we hope that we will be able to garner enough resources to be able to be a more reliable partner with the African nations."
Invoking the "mantra" of Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward, the commander of Africom, Yates said the partnership requires sustained security engagement. The four main goals of the newest U.S. combatant command, she said, are reducing conflict, improving security, defeating violent extremism and supporting crisis response.
In congressional testimony in March, Ward outlined the conditions for U.S. involvement on the continent, saying America will intervene in conflicts only after warring countries have shown a political will to reconcile.
"The actions that we take come on the heels of a policy decision having been taken by the nations themselves," Ward told the House Armed Services Committee on March 18.
Africom stood up on Oct. 1, 2007, and its headquarters is in Stuttgart, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. military activity in Africa, with the exception of Egypt, which falls under U.S. Central Command. It became an independent unified command Oct. 1, 2008.
What sets Africom apart from other combatant commands is its integrated staff structure, which brings together the U.S. military with the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development and other U.S. government agencies involved in Africa.
Asked today about criticism that Africom is emblematic of an increasing militarization of U.S. foreign policy, Yates demurred, noting that Africom's "whole of government" approach could serve as a model.
"Having lived and worked this for the last two years, I would say this is the exact opposite [of militarization]," she said.
American Forces Press Service
May 12, 2009 - The United States can be a more reliable partner with African nations if U.S. Africa Command devotes constant attention to the continent, a top Africom official said today. "Up until now, we were episodic in our military and civilian engagements on the continent. We were not there in a constant form," Ambassador Mary Carlin Yates, AfriCom's deputy to the commander for civil-military activities, told reporters at the Foreign Press Center here.
"If we concentrate on Africa 24/7," she continued, "we hope that we will be able to garner enough resources to be able to be a more reliable partner with the African nations."
Invoking the "mantra" of Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward, the commander of Africom, Yates said the partnership requires sustained security engagement. The four main goals of the newest U.S. combatant command, she said, are reducing conflict, improving security, defeating violent extremism and supporting crisis response.
In congressional testimony in March, Ward outlined the conditions for U.S. involvement on the continent, saying America will intervene in conflicts only after warring countries have shown a political will to reconcile.
"The actions that we take come on the heels of a policy decision having been taken by the nations themselves," Ward told the House Armed Services Committee on March 18.
Africom stood up on Oct. 1, 2007, and its headquarters is in Stuttgart, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. military activity in Africa, with the exception of Egypt, which falls under U.S. Central Command. It became an independent unified command Oct. 1, 2008.
What sets Africom apart from other combatant commands is its integrated staff structure, which brings together the U.S. military with the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development and other U.S. government agencies involved in Africa.
Asked today about criticism that Africom is emblematic of an increasing militarization of U.S. foreign policy, Yates demurred, noting that Africom's "whole of government" approach could serve as a model.
"Having lived and worked this for the last two years, I would say this is the exact opposite [of militarization]," she said.
Obama Nominates Stavridis to Head NATO, U.S. European Commands
American Forces Press Service
May 12, 2009 - President Barack Obama today nominated Navy Adm. James Stavridis to serve as NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe and as commander U.S. European Command, Pentagon officials said. The dual command is responsible for the overall charge of NATO military operations, which includes identifying and requesting forces from NATO countries for wartime needs and peacetime joint training exercises. The alliance includes 42 member countries and 22 partner countries.
The appointment has no set length; the position previously has been held for as little as one year and for as long as eight. Supreme Headquarters Allied Power Europe has its headquarters at Casteau, north of Mons, Belgium.
Pending U.S. Senate confirmation, Stavridis will succeed Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, who assumed the commands in December 2006. NATO's Defense Planning Committee already has agreed to Obama's request to relieve Craddock and appoint Stavridis, according to a statement released by NATO today.
Stavridis currently commands U.S. Southern Command which overseas U.S. military operations in more than 30 Central and South American countries from headquarters in Miami. He took command there in October 2006 from Craddock as well. Stavridis's replacement has yet to be identified.
Pentagon officials said the switch may take place as early as this summer, and that Craddock is likely to retire after nearly 40 years of military service.
May 12, 2009 - President Barack Obama today nominated Navy Adm. James Stavridis to serve as NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe and as commander U.S. European Command, Pentagon officials said. The dual command is responsible for the overall charge of NATO military operations, which includes identifying and requesting forces from NATO countries for wartime needs and peacetime joint training exercises. The alliance includes 42 member countries and 22 partner countries.
The appointment has no set length; the position previously has been held for as little as one year and for as long as eight. Supreme Headquarters Allied Power Europe has its headquarters at Casteau, north of Mons, Belgium.
Pending U.S. Senate confirmation, Stavridis will succeed Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, who assumed the commands in December 2006. NATO's Defense Planning Committee already has agreed to Obama's request to relieve Craddock and appoint Stavridis, according to a statement released by NATO today.
Stavridis currently commands U.S. Southern Command which overseas U.S. military operations in more than 30 Central and South American countries from headquarters in Miami. He took command there in October 2006 from Craddock as well. Stavridis's replacement has yet to be identified.
Pentagon officials said the switch may take place as early as this summer, and that Craddock is likely to retire after nearly 40 years of military service.
MILITARY CONTRACTS May 12, 2009
AIR FORCE
The Air Force is awarding a firm fixed price contract to Lockheed Martin Corp., of Liverpool, N.Y. for $24,850,000. This contract will provide radar engineering and design support to the government during the technology development phase of Three Dimensional Long Range Radar Program. At this time, $9,857,500 has been obligated. 850 ESG, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity (FA8722-09-C-0003).
The Air Force is awarding a firm fixed price contract to Sensis Corp., of East Syracuse N.Y. for $21,932,585. This contract will provide radar engineering and design support to the government during the technology development phase of Three Dimensional Long Range Radar Program. At this time, $9,857,500 has been obligated. 850 ESG, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity (FA8722-09-C-0001).
The Air Force is modifying a cost plus award fee contract with Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., of San Diego, Calif., for $14,760,570. This action will provide rebaseline of the Joint Interface Control Officer Support System Program. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 653 ELSG/PK, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity (FA8725-04-C-0007, P00068).
The Air Force is modifying a contract letter with University of Hawaii of Honolulu, Hawaii for $7,350,000. This action will provide the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System a multi-year program to develop and deploy a telescope data management system. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. Det 8 AFRL/RDKB, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico is the contracting activity (FA9451-06-2-0338,PP00006).
NAVY
Communications & Power Industries, Microwave Power Products Division, Palo Alto, Calif., is being awarded a maximum $12,230,200 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract for the qualification and production of MK-74 TARTAR-D system traveling wave tubes (TWT) and solenoids. The MK-74 TARTAR-D TWT is a component of the MK-74 Guided Missile Fire Control System (GMFCS). The GMFCS MK-74 functions as part of the missile weapons system to support the anti-air and anti-surface warfare missions of ships. The purpose of this contract is to certify and manufacture a TWT that meets the form, fit and function of the current TWT; which will be manufactured with components that are technologically current and available. This contract involves purchases for the government of Taiwan under the Foreign Military Sales Program. Work will be performed in Palo Alto, Calif., and is expected to be completed by May 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via Federal Business Opportunities, with two offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Ind., is the contracting activity (N00164-09-D-GR11).
General Electric Engine Services, Cincinnati, Ohio, is being awarded an $11,361,435 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to overhaul up to 97 T700 GE-401/401C turbo shaft engines, cold section modules and power turbine modules for the SH-60 helicopter. Work will be performed in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is expected to be completed in May 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $2,240,345 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals, with six offers received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00421-09-D-0008).
Evergreen Helicopters, Inc., McMinnville, Ore., is being awarded a $7,607,213 fixed-price contract for ship-based and/or shore-based vertical replenishment services in support of Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command. This contract includes options, which if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $74,128,527. Work will be performed in the Atlantic Ocean, and the base period is expected to be completed within 365 days. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with two offers received. The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command headquarters, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00033-09-C-1000).
Raytheon, Integrated Defense Systems, Sudbury, Mass., is being awarded a $6,456,012 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order, with delivery incentives, for one AN/SPY-1 radar transmitter multi-mission capability ordnance alteration kit, including radio frequency monitor coherent combiner, technical manual changes and installation/checkout spares. The AN/SPY-1 radar transmitter multi-mission capability modifications are part of the Aegis modernization program along with the multi-mission capability enhancement, a commercial-off-the-shelf based multi-mission signal processor which is being developed in parallel with this procurement. The multi-mission signal processor in conjunction with these transmitter modifications will provide the AN/SPY-1D radar system with near AN/SPY-1D(V) radar performance augmented with full AEGIS ballistic missile defense signal processor capabilities. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Va., (67.5 percent); Sudbury, Mass., (20.5 percent); and Andover, Mass., (12 percent), and is expected to be completed by Oct. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-06-G-5109).
ARGONST, Inc., Smithfield, Pa., is being awarded a $6,247,375 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-6201) to provide additional technical and engineering to complete the engineering development model design through critical design review for the open architecture electronics console, flexible towed body, the upgraded deck handling equipment, and the upgraded modular winch. Work will be performed in Smithfield, Pa., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command is the contracting activity.
ARMY
BAE Systems Analytical Solutions, Huntsville, Ala., was awarded on May 8, 2009, a $10,000,000 Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee, IDIQ, Task Order, level of effort contract. This effort is to support the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command's, Deputy Chief of Staff, G2 (DCS, G-2), in strategic, operational, and tactical program analysis support to CENTCOM. Work is to be performed in CENTCOM AOR with an estimated completion date of Jul. 24, 2009. Sole Source bids were solicited. Space & Missile Defense Command / ARSTRAT, Director of Contracting, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., was the contracting activity (W91260-06-D-0005).
NextiraOne Federal, LLC., Herndon, Va., was awarded on May 8, 2009, a $ 9,798,298 firm-fixed-price contract to furnish, install, secure, test, document and cutover a turnkey solution to upgrade the existing infrastructure and facilities at White Sand Missile Range, N.M. Work is to be performed in White Sand Missile Range, N.M., with an estimated completion date of Mar. 7, 2010. Ten bids were solicited with two bids received. Army Contracting Agency, Information Technology, E-Commerce and Commercial Contracting Center (ITEC4), NCRCC, Alexandria, Va., is the contracting activity (W91QUZ-06-D-0027).
JLG IND. INC, McConnellsburg, Pa., was awarded on May 08, 2009, a $ 5,876,078 firm-fixed=price contract for rough terrain forklifts; 5500 lb capacity diesel. Work is to be performed in Maasmechelen, Belgium with an estimated completion date of May 6, 2010. Four bids were solicited with seven bids received. U.S.A. TACOM, AMSCC-TAC-ADBA, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-06-D-G009).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Eagle Aviation, Inc., Kalispell, Mont.*, is being awarded a maximum $8,434,631 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. Other locations of performance are in Minnesota and Virginia. Using services federal civilian agencies. There were 48 responses to the original proposal. The date of performance completion is June 30, 2012. The contracting activity is the Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-09-D-4510).
Story Distributing Co., Bozeman, Mont.**, is being awarded a maximum $6,367,398 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. Other location of performance is Yellowstone National Park. Using services are federal civilian agencies. There were 48 responses to the original proposal. The date of performance completion is Jun. 30, 2012. The contracting activity is the Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-09-D-4515).
The Air Force is awarding a firm fixed price contract to Lockheed Martin Corp., of Liverpool, N.Y. for $24,850,000. This contract will provide radar engineering and design support to the government during the technology development phase of Three Dimensional Long Range Radar Program. At this time, $9,857,500 has been obligated. 850 ESG, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity (FA8722-09-C-0003).
The Air Force is awarding a firm fixed price contract to Sensis Corp., of East Syracuse N.Y. for $21,932,585. This contract will provide radar engineering and design support to the government during the technology development phase of Three Dimensional Long Range Radar Program. At this time, $9,857,500 has been obligated. 850 ESG, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity (FA8722-09-C-0001).
The Air Force is modifying a cost plus award fee contract with Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., of San Diego, Calif., for $14,760,570. This action will provide rebaseline of the Joint Interface Control Officer Support System Program. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 653 ELSG/PK, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity (FA8725-04-C-0007, P00068).
The Air Force is modifying a contract letter with University of Hawaii of Honolulu, Hawaii for $7,350,000. This action will provide the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System a multi-year program to develop and deploy a telescope data management system. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. Det 8 AFRL/RDKB, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico is the contracting activity (FA9451-06-2-0338,PP00006).
NAVY
Communications & Power Industries, Microwave Power Products Division, Palo Alto, Calif., is being awarded a maximum $12,230,200 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract for the qualification and production of MK-74 TARTAR-D system traveling wave tubes (TWT) and solenoids. The MK-74 TARTAR-D TWT is a component of the MK-74 Guided Missile Fire Control System (GMFCS). The GMFCS MK-74 functions as part of the missile weapons system to support the anti-air and anti-surface warfare missions of ships. The purpose of this contract is to certify and manufacture a TWT that meets the form, fit and function of the current TWT; which will be manufactured with components that are technologically current and available. This contract involves purchases for the government of Taiwan under the Foreign Military Sales Program. Work will be performed in Palo Alto, Calif., and is expected to be completed by May 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via Federal Business Opportunities, with two offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Ind., is the contracting activity (N00164-09-D-GR11).
General Electric Engine Services, Cincinnati, Ohio, is being awarded an $11,361,435 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to overhaul up to 97 T700 GE-401/401C turbo shaft engines, cold section modules and power turbine modules for the SH-60 helicopter. Work will be performed in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is expected to be completed in May 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $2,240,345 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals, with six offers received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00421-09-D-0008).
Evergreen Helicopters, Inc., McMinnville, Ore., is being awarded a $7,607,213 fixed-price contract for ship-based and/or shore-based vertical replenishment services in support of Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command. This contract includes options, which if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $74,128,527. Work will be performed in the Atlantic Ocean, and the base period is expected to be completed within 365 days. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with two offers received. The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command headquarters, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00033-09-C-1000).
Raytheon, Integrated Defense Systems, Sudbury, Mass., is being awarded a $6,456,012 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order, with delivery incentives, for one AN/SPY-1 radar transmitter multi-mission capability ordnance alteration kit, including radio frequency monitor coherent combiner, technical manual changes and installation/checkout spares. The AN/SPY-1 radar transmitter multi-mission capability modifications are part of the Aegis modernization program along with the multi-mission capability enhancement, a commercial-off-the-shelf based multi-mission signal processor which is being developed in parallel with this procurement. The multi-mission signal processor in conjunction with these transmitter modifications will provide the AN/SPY-1D radar system with near AN/SPY-1D(V) radar performance augmented with full AEGIS ballistic missile defense signal processor capabilities. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Va., (67.5 percent); Sudbury, Mass., (20.5 percent); and Andover, Mass., (12 percent), and is expected to be completed by Oct. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-06-G-5109).
ARGONST, Inc., Smithfield, Pa., is being awarded a $6,247,375 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-6201) to provide additional technical and engineering to complete the engineering development model design through critical design review for the open architecture electronics console, flexible towed body, the upgraded deck handling equipment, and the upgraded modular winch. Work will be performed in Smithfield, Pa., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command is the contracting activity.
ARMY
BAE Systems Analytical Solutions, Huntsville, Ala., was awarded on May 8, 2009, a $10,000,000 Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee, IDIQ, Task Order, level of effort contract. This effort is to support the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command's, Deputy Chief of Staff, G2 (DCS, G-2), in strategic, operational, and tactical program analysis support to CENTCOM. Work is to be performed in CENTCOM AOR with an estimated completion date of Jul. 24, 2009. Sole Source bids were solicited. Space & Missile Defense Command / ARSTRAT, Director of Contracting, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., was the contracting activity (W91260-06-D-0005).
NextiraOne Federal, LLC., Herndon, Va., was awarded on May 8, 2009, a $ 9,798,298 firm-fixed-price contract to furnish, install, secure, test, document and cutover a turnkey solution to upgrade the existing infrastructure and facilities at White Sand Missile Range, N.M. Work is to be performed in White Sand Missile Range, N.M., with an estimated completion date of Mar. 7, 2010. Ten bids were solicited with two bids received. Army Contracting Agency, Information Technology, E-Commerce and Commercial Contracting Center (ITEC4), NCRCC, Alexandria, Va., is the contracting activity (W91QUZ-06-D-0027).
JLG IND. INC, McConnellsburg, Pa., was awarded on May 08, 2009, a $ 5,876,078 firm-fixed=price contract for rough terrain forklifts; 5500 lb capacity diesel. Work is to be performed in Maasmechelen, Belgium with an estimated completion date of May 6, 2010. Four bids were solicited with seven bids received. U.S.A. TACOM, AMSCC-TAC-ADBA, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-06-D-G009).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Eagle Aviation, Inc., Kalispell, Mont.*, is being awarded a maximum $8,434,631 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. Other locations of performance are in Minnesota and Virginia. Using services federal civilian agencies. There were 48 responses to the original proposal. The date of performance completion is June 30, 2012. The contracting activity is the Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-09-D-4510).
Story Distributing Co., Bozeman, Mont.**, is being awarded a maximum $6,367,398 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. Other location of performance is Yellowstone National Park. Using services are federal civilian agencies. There were 48 responses to the original proposal. The date of performance completion is Jun. 30, 2012. The contracting activity is the Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-09-D-4515).
Monday, May 11, 2009
MILITARY CONTRACTS May 11, 2009
AIR FORCE
The Air Force is awarding a firm fixed price contract to Raytheon Co., of Tucson, Ariz., for $521,236,837. This contract action is for the 105 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air, Missile Air Intercept Missile All-Up-Round missiles, 11 AIM-120 D air vehicles instrumented, two AIM-120D Integrated test vehicles, 72 AIM-120D captive air training missiles, 495 AIM-120C7 FMS All up rounds, warranty for 72 CATMS, 106 non-developmental itemaAirborne instrumentation units, test equipment, radome Phase 1A activities, obsolescence to quad target detection device parts replacement, USN AIM 120 D test asset, USN AIM 120D guidance section and development infrastructure support equipment 7 upgrades. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 695ARSS, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activitY (FA8675-09-C-0052).
The Air Force is awarding a cost plus fixed price contract to ATK launch systems of Corinne, Utah for $22,383,109. This action will provide one stage III motor case for hydro-testing, one stage III for motor for static testing, one stage III inert motor simulator, one stage III flight test motors. At this time, $3.5 million has been obligated. 526 ICBMSG/PKA, Hill Air Force Base, Utah is the contracting activity (FA8219-09-C-0003).
The Air Force is awarding a cost plus fixed fee contract to Alion Science and Technology Corp., of Chicago, Ill., for an estimated $14,405,769. This action will provide modeling and simulation strategic outreach and special research and development to the director of Defense Research and Engineering and the Modeling and Simulation Coordination Office to promote achievement of the Department of Defense modeling and simulation vision and goals. At this time, $1,000,000 has been obligated. 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (N61339-03-D-0300).
The Air Force is awarding a cost plus fixed fee contract to Wyle Laboratories, Inc., of Huntsville, Ala., for $5,850,143. This contract action is for the Reliability Information Analysis Center will research, test, develop, and deliver engineering configuration change reports, report feasibility studies, process flow improvement reports, and foreign disclosure and technology transfer reports. At this time, $250,000 has been obligated. 55 Cons/LGCD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (HC1047-05-D-4005).
NAVY
Campbell Ewald Co., Warren, Mich., is being awarded a $146,209,282 indefinite- delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00189-09-D-Z040) for advertising and marketing services in support of Navy recruiting for the Navy Recruiting Command, Millington, Tenn. This contract contains four additional one-year options, which if exercised, would bring the total value of the contract to $806,524,158. Work will be performed in Warren, Mich., (99 percent) and Millington, Tenn., (1 percent), and work is expected to be completed by May 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $20 million will expire before the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with four offers received. The Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk, Contracting Department Philadelphia, Pa., office is the contracting activity (N00189-09-D-Z040).
United Technologies Corp., Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Conn., is being awarded an advance acquisition contract with an estimated value of $113,096,750 for long lead components, parts and materials associated with the Lot 4 Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) of 13 F135 Conventional Take Off and Landing propulsion systems for the Air Force, (12) and the Royal Netherlands Air Force, (1); 15 Short Take-off and Vertical Landing, propulsion systems for the Marine Corps, (14) and United Kingdom Royal Navy, (1); and 4 Carrier Variant propulsion systems for the Navy. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Navy, ($11,479,000; 10.1 percent); the Air Force, ($34,437,000; 30.4 percent); the Marine Corps, ($60,211,000; 53.3 percent); and the governments of the Netherlands, ($2,869,750; 2.6 percent); and the United Kingdom, ($4,100,000; 3.6 percent). Work will be performed in East Hartford, Conn., (70 percent); Bristol, United Kingdom, (19 percent); and Indianapolis, Ind., (11 percent), and is expected to be completed in Feb. 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-0015).
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Inc., a sector of Northrop Grumman Corp., Newport News, Va., is being awarded a $77,266,923 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-09-C-2116) for procurement of additional long lead time materials in support of the construction preparation efforts for the second aircraft carrier of the Gerald R. Ford Class (CVN 79). Work will be performed in Newport News, Va., and is expected to be completed by Oct. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity.
TEC, Inc. Joint Venture, Charlottesville, Va., is being awarded a $27,837,445 modification to exercise option 0003 under previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for architect-engineer services for environmental planning. The total contract amount after exercise of this option will be $37,162,555. The contract also contains one additional one-year option period which if exercised would increase cumulative contract value to $65,000,000. Work will be performed predominantly in Guam, (95 percent), and in Hawaii, Saipan, and various locations in areas under the cognizance of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific, (5 percent). Work is expected to be completed May 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity (contract number N62742-06-D-1870).
General Dynamics C4 Systems, Scottsdale, Ariz., is being awarded a $20,801,847 modification to previously awarded contract (M67854-02-C-2052) to incorporate engineering changes that will extend the family of systems solution set through the development of a baseline configuration change of the model F to a model G that migrates current command and control, tactical data systems and applications to services utilizing a service oriented infrastructureS. Work will be performed in Scottsdale, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
American Bridge, Richmond, Va., is being awarded $6,394,500 for firm-fixed-price task order #0003 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N40085-07-D-7021) for Pier 3 fire protection and lighting system repairs at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown. The work to be performed provides for repair to the fire protection system at Pier R3 with renovation work along the existing Naval Weapons Station Yorktown explosives loading pier. Work will be performed in Yorktown, Va., and is expected to be completed by Jul. 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Three proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity.
Marinette Marine Corp., Marinette, Wis., is being awarded a $6,340,820 modification under a firm-fixed-price contract for transportation services of the final shipment of 41 improved Navy literage system modules. These services will commence with 34 modules in Marinette, Wis., going to Jacksonville, Fla., six modules in Charleston, S.C., going to Jacksonville, Fla., and one module in Marinette, Wis., to Little Creek, Va., and will be completed by Oct. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The total contract value after execution of this modification will be $405,607,119. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Headquarters, Washington D.C., is the contracting activity (N00025-03-C-0002).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Panhandle Cooperative Association, Scottsbluff, Neb.*, is being awarded a minimum $5,652,600 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. Other locations of performance are in Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado. Using service is Air Force. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were 48 responses to the original proposed solicitation. The date of performance completion is Jun. 30, 2012. The contracting activity is the Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-09-D-4518).
McDonnell Douglas Corp., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a maximum $84,611,624 firm fixed price, sole source contract for parts. Other location of performance is in Texas. Using service is Navy. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was originally one proposal solicited with one response. The date of performance completion is May 30, 2014. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (N00383-06-D-004H-THA2).
The Air Force is awarding a firm fixed price contract to Raytheon Co., of Tucson, Ariz., for $521,236,837. This contract action is for the 105 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air, Missile Air Intercept Missile All-Up-Round missiles, 11 AIM-120 D air vehicles instrumented, two AIM-120D Integrated test vehicles, 72 AIM-120D captive air training missiles, 495 AIM-120C7 FMS All up rounds, warranty for 72 CATMS, 106 non-developmental itemaAirborne instrumentation units, test equipment, radome Phase 1A activities, obsolescence to quad target detection device parts replacement, USN AIM 120 D test asset, USN AIM 120D guidance section and development infrastructure support equipment 7 upgrades. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 695ARSS, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activitY (FA8675-09-C-0052).
The Air Force is awarding a cost plus fixed price contract to ATK launch systems of Corinne, Utah for $22,383,109. This action will provide one stage III motor case for hydro-testing, one stage III for motor for static testing, one stage III inert motor simulator, one stage III flight test motors. At this time, $3.5 million has been obligated. 526 ICBMSG/PKA, Hill Air Force Base, Utah is the contracting activity (FA8219-09-C-0003).
The Air Force is awarding a cost plus fixed fee contract to Alion Science and Technology Corp., of Chicago, Ill., for an estimated $14,405,769. This action will provide modeling and simulation strategic outreach and special research and development to the director of Defense Research and Engineering and the Modeling and Simulation Coordination Office to promote achievement of the Department of Defense modeling and simulation vision and goals. At this time, $1,000,000 has been obligated. 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (N61339-03-D-0300).
The Air Force is awarding a cost plus fixed fee contract to Wyle Laboratories, Inc., of Huntsville, Ala., for $5,850,143. This contract action is for the Reliability Information Analysis Center will research, test, develop, and deliver engineering configuration change reports, report feasibility studies, process flow improvement reports, and foreign disclosure and technology transfer reports. At this time, $250,000 has been obligated. 55 Cons/LGCD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (HC1047-05-D-4005).
NAVY
Campbell Ewald Co., Warren, Mich., is being awarded a $146,209,282 indefinite- delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00189-09-D-Z040) for advertising and marketing services in support of Navy recruiting for the Navy Recruiting Command, Millington, Tenn. This contract contains four additional one-year options, which if exercised, would bring the total value of the contract to $806,524,158. Work will be performed in Warren, Mich., (99 percent) and Millington, Tenn., (1 percent), and work is expected to be completed by May 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $20 million will expire before the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with four offers received. The Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk, Contracting Department Philadelphia, Pa., office is the contracting activity (N00189-09-D-Z040).
United Technologies Corp., Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Conn., is being awarded an advance acquisition contract with an estimated value of $113,096,750 for long lead components, parts and materials associated with the Lot 4 Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) of 13 F135 Conventional Take Off and Landing propulsion systems for the Air Force, (12) and the Royal Netherlands Air Force, (1); 15 Short Take-off and Vertical Landing, propulsion systems for the Marine Corps, (14) and United Kingdom Royal Navy, (1); and 4 Carrier Variant propulsion systems for the Navy. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Navy, ($11,479,000; 10.1 percent); the Air Force, ($34,437,000; 30.4 percent); the Marine Corps, ($60,211,000; 53.3 percent); and the governments of the Netherlands, ($2,869,750; 2.6 percent); and the United Kingdom, ($4,100,000; 3.6 percent). Work will be performed in East Hartford, Conn., (70 percent); Bristol, United Kingdom, (19 percent); and Indianapolis, Ind., (11 percent), and is expected to be completed in Feb. 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-0015).
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Inc., a sector of Northrop Grumman Corp., Newport News, Va., is being awarded a $77,266,923 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-09-C-2116) for procurement of additional long lead time materials in support of the construction preparation efforts for the second aircraft carrier of the Gerald R. Ford Class (CVN 79). Work will be performed in Newport News, Va., and is expected to be completed by Oct. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity.
TEC, Inc. Joint Venture, Charlottesville, Va., is being awarded a $27,837,445 modification to exercise option 0003 under previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for architect-engineer services for environmental planning. The total contract amount after exercise of this option will be $37,162,555. The contract also contains one additional one-year option period which if exercised would increase cumulative contract value to $65,000,000. Work will be performed predominantly in Guam, (95 percent), and in Hawaii, Saipan, and various locations in areas under the cognizance of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific, (5 percent). Work is expected to be completed May 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity (contract number N62742-06-D-1870).
General Dynamics C4 Systems, Scottsdale, Ariz., is being awarded a $20,801,847 modification to previously awarded contract (M67854-02-C-2052) to incorporate engineering changes that will extend the family of systems solution set through the development of a baseline configuration change of the model F to a model G that migrates current command and control, tactical data systems and applications to services utilizing a service oriented infrastructureS. Work will be performed in Scottsdale, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
American Bridge, Richmond, Va., is being awarded $6,394,500 for firm-fixed-price task order #0003 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N40085-07-D-7021) for Pier 3 fire protection and lighting system repairs at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown. The work to be performed provides for repair to the fire protection system at Pier R3 with renovation work along the existing Naval Weapons Station Yorktown explosives loading pier. Work will be performed in Yorktown, Va., and is expected to be completed by Jul. 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Three proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity.
Marinette Marine Corp., Marinette, Wis., is being awarded a $6,340,820 modification under a firm-fixed-price contract for transportation services of the final shipment of 41 improved Navy literage system modules. These services will commence with 34 modules in Marinette, Wis., going to Jacksonville, Fla., six modules in Charleston, S.C., going to Jacksonville, Fla., and one module in Marinette, Wis., to Little Creek, Va., and will be completed by Oct. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The total contract value after execution of this modification will be $405,607,119. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Headquarters, Washington D.C., is the contracting activity (N00025-03-C-0002).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Panhandle Cooperative Association, Scottsbluff, Neb.*, is being awarded a minimum $5,652,600 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. Other locations of performance are in Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado. Using service is Air Force. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were 48 responses to the original proposed solicitation. The date of performance completion is Jun. 30, 2012. The contracting activity is the Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-09-D-4518).
McDonnell Douglas Corp., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a maximum $84,611,624 firm fixed price, sole source contract for parts. Other location of performance is in Texas. Using service is Navy. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was originally one proposal solicited with one response. The date of performance completion is May 30, 2014. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (N00383-06-D-004H-THA2).
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