By Joe Davidson
Special to American Forces Press Service
June 23, 2009 - "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" hits theaters nationwide tomorrow as the culmination of more than a year of Defense Department support, ranging from script and uniform notes to C-17 aerial maneuvers and jumps from the Army's Golden Knights parachute demonstration team. The first Transformers film released in July 2007 used a variety of Air Force assets. In the latest film, DreamWorks and Paramount studios partnered with all four services to highlight America's military members and combat power on the big screen. Deciding how and why to work with the services was essential in making the film work, producers said.
"There are really a lot of similarities between a military operation and a movie production," said Army Lt. Col. Greg Bishop, the department's project officer for the movie. "The mobility of the operation, the logistics and planning required, and the problem-solving skills required to pull the whole thing off are very much alike."
Transformers executive producer and director Michael Bay has worked with military leaders on other films and frequently consults with them to make action sequences in his movies appear more authentic.
"You know the first thing we're going to look at is that if you're going to fight these 32- to 125-foot robots, who else would you fight them with?" Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said.
Like its predecessors, the latest Transformers movie uses hundreds of military members from all the services and from throughout the country to make the film feel more realistic.
"I enjoyed being able to walk on the set and there are a hundred real soldiers as opposed to walking on and it's a hundred actors from Orange County or L.A. in fatigues," said Megan Fox, the film's female lead actor. "It was just an overall pleasant experience, and I have an immense amount of respect for the soldiers and for our troops."
That realism extends to military equipment as jet fighters roar from the deck of an aircraft carrier to the recoiling sounds of M1-A1 Abrams tanks firing 120-mm rounds at their deceptive and at times overpowering foes.
"What [the military] bring to it is obviously a sense of reality. But for us what is most interesting about it is our interaction with them," di Bonaventura said. "Because you actually get to see these people who have made a life choice and the honesty of that choice comes through each and every time you meet these guys. So, for us, that's the really exciting thing. We get to hang out at the base and see the joy they get out of being a part of us, and you also see us get affected by their level of commitment."
This latest Transformers film shows an extreme example of what the military does in everyday life.
"Though the 'enemy' in this film are alien robots, we strove to make the depiction of operations as realistic and accurate as possible," said Capt. Bryon McGarry, the Air Force project officer for the movie. "As in real-world operations, we go to 'war' against the Decepticons in the film jointly to achieve coordinated, balanced and devastating results. If they ever came to Earth, we'd be ready for them."
DreamWorks and Paramount pictures have given permission to provide special screenings of "Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen" at bases that provided support for the film and also aboard the USS John C. Stennis.
(Joe Davidson is assigned to The Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base).
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Web Site to Open Sign-Ups for Post-9/11 GI Bill Transfers
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
June 23, 2009 - It's official. The Defense Department signed off yesterday on policies and procedures servicemembers will use to transfer their unused Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to their spouses or children, a Pentagon official said today. Eligible servicemembers will be able to register their immediate family members to receive those benefits when a new Defense Department Web site goes live June 29, according to Bob Clark, the Pentagon's assistant director for accessions policy.
Defense officials are asking those whose families won't use the benefits for the upcoming fall semester to hold off registering until mid-July so applicants who need immediate attention get processed first.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill takes effect Aug. 1, offering a two-fold benefit, Clark said. It gives the military a tool to help encourage recruiting and retention, while allowing career servicemembers the first opportunity "to share the benefits they've earned with those they love," he said.
The transferability provision -- which Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates pushed after first hearing the idea from a military spouse group at Fort Hood, Texas -- has generated a lot of excitement.
"We have had an overwhelming response and do expect quite a few of our members to take advantage of this," Clark said.
To prepare for the anticipated response in the run-up to the Aug. 1 effective date, the department will launched a secure Web site next week so servicemembers can register any immediate family members to receive their unused benefits, Clark said.
"What we are doing is queuing up requests and approvals for the many family members that we expect to be going to school this fall" with hopes of using their spouse's or parent's Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, he said.
The site, https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/TEB/, will be accessible using a common access card, Defense Department self-service user identification or a Defense Finance and Accounting Service personal identification number.
Eligible servicemembers can register the names of any immediate family member they would like to share their benefits with, even designating how many months of benefits each person named can receive, Clark explained.
The servicemember's 36 months of benefits – the equivalent of four nine-month academic years – can be transferred to a spouse, one or more children or any combination, he said. The family member must be enrolled in the Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System to receive the benefits.
Servicemembers also have the option to use some benefits themselves and transfer what they haven't used to one or more family members.
Even after transferring the benefits, they remain the "property" of the servicemember who earned them, who can revoke them or redesignate who receives them at any time.
However, new names can be added as long as the member is in the military, but not after separating or retiring, Clark said. So defense officials advise erring on the side of caution and including every eligible family member on the registration form.
"We are recommending that every eligible dependent receive at least one month of benefit," he said.
Once the servicemember registers for the transferability provision, the application automatically gets forwarded to the appropriate service for processing. Clark said he expects that process to take about a week, at least after the initial surge.
When the service verifies that the member is eligible to receive Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits and processes the transferability provisions, the family member will receive a certificate of eligibility that can be used to cover educational costs.
In a nutshell, any enlisted or commissioned member of the armed forces serving on active duty or in the Selected Reserve on or after Aug. 1 will be eligible to transfer their benefits -- as long as they qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill and meet specific service requirements, Clark explained.
He emphasized that, by law, anyone who has retired or separated from the service before that date -- even if it's July 31 -- won't be entitled to transfer their benefits. Also excluded will be members of the Individual Ready Reserve and Fleet Reserve.
Most servicemembers who have at least six years of military service as of Aug. 1 and agree to serve an additional four years qualify, he said. But department officials have proposed measures to cover several categories of servicemembers whose circumstances don't fit neatly into the formula.
For example, those with at least 10 years of service -- but who can't serve an additional four years because of a service or department policy -- also would qualify, Clark said. They must, however, serve the maximum time allowed before separating from the military, he said.
"What we did not want to do was to penalize those people who had a service policy or statute that would not permit them to commit for the full four years," he explained.
Another sunset provision will cover servicemembers who will reach the 20-year service mark, making them retirement-eligible, between Aug. 1, 2009, and Aug. 1, 2013.
Clark explained the breakdown, which basically enables those affected to transfer benefits as long as they complete 20 years of service:
-- Those eligible for retirement on Aug. 1, 2009, will be eligible to transfer their benefits with no additional service requirement.
-- Those with an approved retirement date after Aug. 1, 2009, and before July 1, 2010, will qualify with no additional service.
-- Those eligible for retirement after Aug. 1, 2009, but before Aug. 1, 2010, will qualify with one additional year of service after approval to transfer their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.
-- Those eligible for retirement between Aug. 1, 2010, and July 31, 2011, will qualify with two additional years of service after approval to transfer.
-- Those eligible to retire between Aug. 1, 2011, and July 31, 2012, will qualify with three additional years of service after approval to transfer.
American Forces Press Service
June 23, 2009 - It's official. The Defense Department signed off yesterday on policies and procedures servicemembers will use to transfer their unused Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to their spouses or children, a Pentagon official said today. Eligible servicemembers will be able to register their immediate family members to receive those benefits when a new Defense Department Web site goes live June 29, according to Bob Clark, the Pentagon's assistant director for accessions policy.
Defense officials are asking those whose families won't use the benefits for the upcoming fall semester to hold off registering until mid-July so applicants who need immediate attention get processed first.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill takes effect Aug. 1, offering a two-fold benefit, Clark said. It gives the military a tool to help encourage recruiting and retention, while allowing career servicemembers the first opportunity "to share the benefits they've earned with those they love," he said.
The transferability provision -- which Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates pushed after first hearing the idea from a military spouse group at Fort Hood, Texas -- has generated a lot of excitement.
"We have had an overwhelming response and do expect quite a few of our members to take advantage of this," Clark said.
To prepare for the anticipated response in the run-up to the Aug. 1 effective date, the department will launched a secure Web site next week so servicemembers can register any immediate family members to receive their unused benefits, Clark said.
"What we are doing is queuing up requests and approvals for the many family members that we expect to be going to school this fall" with hopes of using their spouse's or parent's Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, he said.
The site, https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/TEB/, will be accessible using a common access card, Defense Department self-service user identification or a Defense Finance and Accounting Service personal identification number.
Eligible servicemembers can register the names of any immediate family member they would like to share their benefits with, even designating how many months of benefits each person named can receive, Clark explained.
The servicemember's 36 months of benefits – the equivalent of four nine-month academic years – can be transferred to a spouse, one or more children or any combination, he said. The family member must be enrolled in the Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System to receive the benefits.
Servicemembers also have the option to use some benefits themselves and transfer what they haven't used to one or more family members.
Even after transferring the benefits, they remain the "property" of the servicemember who earned them, who can revoke them or redesignate who receives them at any time.
However, new names can be added as long as the member is in the military, but not after separating or retiring, Clark said. So defense officials advise erring on the side of caution and including every eligible family member on the registration form.
"We are recommending that every eligible dependent receive at least one month of benefit," he said.
Once the servicemember registers for the transferability provision, the application automatically gets forwarded to the appropriate service for processing. Clark said he expects that process to take about a week, at least after the initial surge.
When the service verifies that the member is eligible to receive Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits and processes the transferability provisions, the family member will receive a certificate of eligibility that can be used to cover educational costs.
In a nutshell, any enlisted or commissioned member of the armed forces serving on active duty or in the Selected Reserve on or after Aug. 1 will be eligible to transfer their benefits -- as long as they qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill and meet specific service requirements, Clark explained.
He emphasized that, by law, anyone who has retired or separated from the service before that date -- even if it's July 31 -- won't be entitled to transfer their benefits. Also excluded will be members of the Individual Ready Reserve and Fleet Reserve.
Most servicemembers who have at least six years of military service as of Aug. 1 and agree to serve an additional four years qualify, he said. But department officials have proposed measures to cover several categories of servicemembers whose circumstances don't fit neatly into the formula.
For example, those with at least 10 years of service -- but who can't serve an additional four years because of a service or department policy -- also would qualify, Clark said. They must, however, serve the maximum time allowed before separating from the military, he said.
"What we did not want to do was to penalize those people who had a service policy or statute that would not permit them to commit for the full four years," he explained.
Another sunset provision will cover servicemembers who will reach the 20-year service mark, making them retirement-eligible, between Aug. 1, 2009, and Aug. 1, 2013.
Clark explained the breakdown, which basically enables those affected to transfer benefits as long as they complete 20 years of service:
-- Those eligible for retirement on Aug. 1, 2009, will be eligible to transfer their benefits with no additional service requirement.
-- Those with an approved retirement date after Aug. 1, 2009, and before July 1, 2010, will qualify with no additional service.
-- Those eligible for retirement after Aug. 1, 2009, but before Aug. 1, 2010, will qualify with one additional year of service after approval to transfer their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.
-- Those eligible for retirement between Aug. 1, 2010, and July 31, 2011, will qualify with two additional years of service after approval to transfer.
-- Those eligible to retire between Aug. 1, 2011, and July 31, 2012, will qualify with three additional years of service after approval to transfer.
CONTRACTS June 23, 2009
NAVY
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $213,772,399 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-2222) for the procurement of long lead time materials (LLTM) in support of LPD 26. The Navy is modifying contract N00024-06-C-2222 with Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding for advanced procurement or manufacture, inspection, test, storage and maintenance of LLTM items and accomplishment of preconstruction activities to support the orderly construction of LPD 26, the tenth LPD 17 Class ship. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss., and is expected to be completed by December 2013. 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.
ViaSat, Carlsbad, Calif., is being awarded a $20,999,283 firm-fixed-price delivery order for multifunctional information distribution system-low volume terminals (MIDS-LVTs). The MIDS-LVT provides secure, high-capacity, jam-resistant, digital data and voice communications capability for Navy, Air Force and Army platforms. This delivery order combines purchases for the United States (80 percent), the government of Germany (13 percent), and the government of Canada, (7 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales Program. Contract funds in the amount of $3,874,195 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Work will be performed in Carlsbad, Calif., (30 percent), in various other sites worldwide (70 percent), and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2010. This delivery order was competitively procured with two proposals solicited and two offers received via the SPAWAR E-commerce web site. ; The synopsis was released via the Federal Business Opportunities web site. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N00039-00-D-2101).
BAE Systems Technology Solutions and Services, Inc., Rockville, Md., is being awarded a $9,763,980 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00421-06-D-0038) for the procurement and installation of a 55 civil global positioning system with electronic flight bag for the C-130T aircraft. In addition, this modification provides for the procurement of 45 install kits, 23 instrument display systems and 45 engine instrument display systems. Work will be performed in Crestview, Fla., (90 percent) and Calif., Md., (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
UNITED STATES SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND
Rockwell Collins, Inc., of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is being awarded a $45,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for software integration and maintenance support services in support of the U.S. Special Operations Command Technology Applications Program Office. The work will be performed in Cedar Rapids and the contract performance period ends Jun. 14, 2013. This contract was awarded through sole source procedures in accordance with FAR 6.302-1. The contract number is H92241-09-D-0004.
ITT Industries, Inc., of Clifton, N.J., is being awarded a Contractor Logistic Support (CLS) indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract, with a maximum value of $27,379,199, a combination firm-fixed price, labor-hour, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and time and material effort, for the Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Counter measures legacy, integration, and low rate in production systems in support of U.S. Special Operations Command, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). The work will be performed primarily in Clifton, and is expected to be completed June 2012. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This CLS effort was awarded under Authority 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1). Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The solicitation was posted electronically on FedBizOps and no other offers were received. The contract number is H92241-09-D-0003.
ARMY
Rolls Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Ind., was awarded on June 19, 2009 a $8,986,055 firm-fixed-price contract for the production of 40 gas turbine engines (Model 250-C30/R3) (part No. 23065550) and engine containers (Part Number 23088248). Work is to be performed in Indianapolis, Ind. with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2010. One bid solicited with one bid received. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aviation and Missile Center, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-09-C-0049).
DEFENSE COMMISSARY AGENCY
Rose Acre Farms, Inc., 8105 Wesclin Rd, Germantown, Ill., is being awarded an indefinite-delivery, requirements type contract on Jun. 23, 2009, to provide fresh, shell-protected eggs for resale at commissary locations in Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio. The estimated award amount is $6,167,025. Contractor will deliver to the store locations as needed. The contract is for a 2-year base period beginning Jun. 23, 2009, through July 23, 2011. Twenty-eight firms were solicited and six offers were received. The contracting activity is the Defense Commissary Agency, Resale Contracting Division, Resale Services Support Branch, 1300 E Avenue, Fort Lee, Va., (HDEC02-09-D-0009).
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $213,772,399 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-2222) for the procurement of long lead time materials (LLTM) in support of LPD 26. The Navy is modifying contract N00024-06-C-2222 with Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding for advanced procurement or manufacture, inspection, test, storage and maintenance of LLTM items and accomplishment of preconstruction activities to support the orderly construction of LPD 26, the tenth LPD 17 Class ship. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss., and is expected to be completed by December 2013. 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.
ViaSat, Carlsbad, Calif., is being awarded a $20,999,283 firm-fixed-price delivery order for multifunctional information distribution system-low volume terminals (MIDS-LVTs). The MIDS-LVT provides secure, high-capacity, jam-resistant, digital data and voice communications capability for Navy, Air Force and Army platforms. This delivery order combines purchases for the United States (80 percent), the government of Germany (13 percent), and the government of Canada, (7 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales Program. Contract funds in the amount of $3,874,195 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Work will be performed in Carlsbad, Calif., (30 percent), in various other sites worldwide (70 percent), and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2010. This delivery order was competitively procured with two proposals solicited and two offers received via the SPAWAR E-commerce web site. ; The synopsis was released via the Federal Business Opportunities web site. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N00039-00-D-2101).
BAE Systems Technology Solutions and Services, Inc., Rockville, Md., is being awarded a $9,763,980 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00421-06-D-0038) for the procurement and installation of a 55 civil global positioning system with electronic flight bag for the C-130T aircraft. In addition, this modification provides for the procurement of 45 install kits, 23 instrument display systems and 45 engine instrument display systems. Work will be performed in Crestview, Fla., (90 percent) and Calif., Md., (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
UNITED STATES SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND
Rockwell Collins, Inc., of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is being awarded a $45,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for software integration and maintenance support services in support of the U.S. Special Operations Command Technology Applications Program Office. The work will be performed in Cedar Rapids and the contract performance period ends Jun. 14, 2013. This contract was awarded through sole source procedures in accordance with FAR 6.302-1. The contract number is H92241-09-D-0004.
ITT Industries, Inc., of Clifton, N.J., is being awarded a Contractor Logistic Support (CLS) indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract, with a maximum value of $27,379,199, a combination firm-fixed price, labor-hour, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and time and material effort, for the Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Counter measures legacy, integration, and low rate in production systems in support of U.S. Special Operations Command, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). The work will be performed primarily in Clifton, and is expected to be completed June 2012. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This CLS effort was awarded under Authority 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1). Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The solicitation was posted electronically on FedBizOps and no other offers were received. The contract number is H92241-09-D-0003.
ARMY
Rolls Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Ind., was awarded on June 19, 2009 a $8,986,055 firm-fixed-price contract for the production of 40 gas turbine engines (Model 250-C30/R3) (part No. 23065550) and engine containers (Part Number 23088248). Work is to be performed in Indianapolis, Ind. with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2010. One bid solicited with one bid received. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aviation and Missile Center, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-09-C-0049).
DEFENSE COMMISSARY AGENCY
Rose Acre Farms, Inc., 8105 Wesclin Rd, Germantown, Ill., is being awarded an indefinite-delivery, requirements type contract on Jun. 23, 2009, to provide fresh, shell-protected eggs for resale at commissary locations in Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio. The estimated award amount is $6,167,025. Contractor will deliver to the store locations as needed. The contract is for a 2-year base period beginning Jun. 23, 2009, through July 23, 2011. Twenty-eight firms were solicited and six offers were received. The contracting activity is the Defense Commissary Agency, Resale Contracting Division, Resale Services Support Branch, 1300 E Avenue, Fort Lee, Va., (HDEC02-09-D-0009).
Contrarian Approach for PTSD
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
Geisinger Health System senior investigator and U.S. Army veteran Joseph Boscarino, Ph.D., is proud of his military service, yet he doesn’t like to talk much about his combat experiences.
Before becoming a renowned researcher of psychological trauma, Dr. Boscarino served a tour of duty with an artillery unit in Vietnam from 1965-66, during which he witnessed heavy combat and its aftermath. To this day, he tries hard not to reflect on those battlefield memories.
The research by Dr. Boscarino and Tulane University investigator Charles Figley, Ph.D., shows that for some people exposed to traumatic events, repressing these memories may be less harmful in the long run.
“Going back to the days of Sigmund Freud, psychiatrists and mental health experts have suggested that repression of traumatic memories could lead to health problems,” Dr. Boscarino said. “Yet we have found little evidence that repression had an adverse health impact on combat veterans exposed to psychological trauma many years later.”
In a study that appears in the June issue of the research publication Journal of Nervous & Mental Diseases, Drs. Boscarino and Figley examined the long-term mortality rates of Vietnam veterans who were evaluated in 1985 with followup in 2000.
By studying the death certificates and records of a random sample of more than 4,000 veterans 30 years after military service, the researchers found that having PTSD along with a repressive personality trait does not necessarily lead to premature death.
The researchers say this is an important finding because exposure therapy is a prevailing practice in psychiatry, a technique that encourages patients to relive painful or traumatic events. Yet, for some patients, this therapy may inadvertently cause a resurfacing of PTSD symptoms and psychological distress, putting that patient at risk for health problems.
Previous research by Boscarino has shown that PTSD may cause premature death from heart disease, leads to elevated white blood cell counts and higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate levels (both of which indicates inflammation), and may cause other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
“While the dominant therapy model for PTSD should not be abandoned at this point, emerging research suggests that it might need to be seriously re-evaluated, at least for some PTSD patients,” Dr. Boscarino said. “More research is clearly needed.”
Dr. Figley, another renowned trauma scholar who co-authored the 2007 book Combat Stress Injuries, said he was not surprised by the findings since they are consistent with a new theory of combat-related stress.
“Repression is a self-regulator and a method of memory management,” Dr. Figley said. “In other words, ‘keeping your stressful memories inside or it will kill you’ is a myth.”
Dr. Figley, who served in Vietnam as a Marine at the same time as Dr. Boscarino, believes this study is a wakeup call to all those who care about combat veterans.
“These men and women deserve our respect in recognizing that they often know better than we do in how to manage their stressful memories, in most cases,” Dr. Figley said.
Source: Geisinger Health System
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A Line Through the Desert, Led Zeppelin, Heavy Metal
I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk a bit more about my novel, A Line Through the Desert.
It follows one young soldier, Sgt. Jake Bloom, and his travails in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment during the First Gulf War.
Jake's got a girl back home, though she broke his heart before leaving for college. His folks, over protective Jewish parents, never approved of him joining the army. They wanted him to go to college, despite his C- average and utter hatred of school. Jake loved the army and loves being a soldier, he's found the purpose and brotherhood he's always yearned for.
Readers may recall I wrote a post a few weeks back which quoted some Iron Maiden songs. Yes, I'm a metal head, and have the class of 1992 photos to prove it. Jake's a metal head too. Like me, his favorite band is Led Zeppelin. Sgt Bloom listens to them in the barracks, out of maneuvers, and during the 100 hours in Iraq. In an act of brotherhood and kindness, Jake's driver, who likes working on low rider cars, stencils their unit designation Dragoon, Ghost,2, G-53 in the form of Led Zeppelin's rune symbols on the turret of their M-1.
Jake's favorite album; Houses of the Holy, favorite song; Over the Hills and Far Away. I did notice that he seems to listen to Led Zeppelin II a lot. Ten Years Gone, from Physical Graffiti, means a lot to him too.
In the coming weeks I plan to post some more on music and heavy metal, and I'll argue that metal is greatest incarnation of rock and roll and that Zeppelin, of course, is the greatest rock band ever (sorry folks, until about 1966 the Beatles were a boy band, there will be more on this too.)
Will's novel, A Line Through the Desert: The First Gulf War may be purchased at Amazon.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Gates Praises Volunteers' Efforts at Walter Reed
By Fred W. Baker IIIAmerican Forces Press Service
June 22, 2009 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today commended the work of the volunteers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here, saying they set the example for the rest of the country. Gates met with wounded soldiers and volunteers using the occasion to help kick off President Barack Obama's "United We Serve" summer campaign aimed at boosting volunteerism and community service.
"You already have answered that call and answered it resolutely," Gates told the group of volunteers, hospital staff and soldiers gathered. "Your work plays a vital role in uplifting spirits and easing the burdens on the families of our wounded."
Fittingly, Gates made his remarks standing on bricks laid in place by volunteers who raised $300,000 for a new patio at the Mologne House, a place for soldiers and families to live during their recovery at the hospital.
Two years ago the spot was only dirt with a few older grills scattered about. Dirt paths led from the house to the hospital. Now a 10,000-square-foot, professionally designed brick and concrete patio with grills, handicap-accessible paths and a gazebo stands in its place.
About 1,500 volunteers are at the hospital, part of more than 560 organizations that pitch in to help with the needs of staff, soldiers and families there. Already they have logged nearly 27,000 hours volunteering this year.
Gates told the group that he could not fully express his appreciation for their efforts within the few words he was limited to in his speech.
"Your work here is invaluable ...," the secretary said. "For those whose lives you've touched, every gesture, no matter how small, has a tangible impact."
Army Col. (Dr.) Norvell V. Coots, commander of Walter Reed Health Care System, said that volunteers pick up the tasks that the staff simply does not have time for. Volunteer duties range from answering phones to spending time with the soldiers and families and taking them to appointments.
Soldiers are transported to Walter Reed often within a few days of being injured. They have few clothes and none of the comforts of home. These are all provided by volunteers at the hospital, Coots said.
If there were no volunteers, "that would leave us scrambling to make up the difference. Because they really do a tremendous amount of work," Coots said. "A lot of the things that they do would be impossible for us to do simply because of the manpower and time constraints that we have in the hospital."
Cynthia Rome, the director of Army Community Service, said the hospital has always had a strong volunteer base. Some have volunteered for more than 30 years. Several of those who man the information booth have logged in more than 20 years each.
But in the past three years the volunteer program there has flourished. Now she has two full-time staff whose job it is to organize the program and find jobs for the volunteers. Commanders there want anyone who volunteers to find meaningful work.
The average volunteer spends only about four hours a week on the grounds, but some spend as much as 40, Rome said.
Some volunteer only for specific functions or special events, others pick up trash or plant flowers, and some volunteer to host regular dinners for wounded soldiers and their families. It is all aimed at making them feel at home while some spend as long as a year there recovering.
Deno Reed, an 81-year-old retired medical scientist and World War II veteran, volunteers one day a week in the physical therapy department. Mostly he helps the therapists and just talks and listens to the soldiers, he said.
"The value is to me, not to the others. I'm doing a service to people who have placed their lives on the line, and they're providing a major service for all of us," Reed said.
Grace Park, a college student, is also a volunteer, although more than 60 years Reed's junior. Park spends a lot of her time checking out videos to the troops. But she also said a lot of what she does is just hanging out and talking with the troops. Being younger, Park said, she fits in with the younger population of troops.
They talk about anything, she said, including politics, movies and sports.
Park largely discounts her efforts, and plans to make volunteering a life-long venture.
"Why wouldn't we volunteer? These wounded warriors did so much for us and we just come in ... six hours a week to rent out videos. It's such a small service compared to what they do for us. It's just our way to ... give a helping hand," Park said.
Gates told the group that it takes a "special kind of person" to devote time to make troops' lives better.
In fact, Gates admitted that after taking the job as defense secretary, he was somewhat unsure how he would handle visiting wounded troops.
"I wasn't sure I could keep it together," Gates said.
But people kept telling him that the troops would inspire him -- "lift him up."
"They did, and they do," Gates said. "Their grit, and resilience, indomitable spirit amaze me and inspire me every time."
Gates reiterated his stand that, other than winning the two current wars, caring for the wounded is his greatest priority. And, he said, those who volunteer are stepping up.
"At the heart of the volunteer force is a contract between the United States of America and the men and women who serve our military. A contract that is simultaneously legal, social and sacred. That when young Americans step forward of their own free will to serve they do so with the expectation that they and their families will be properly cared for should something happen on the battlefield," Gates said.
Forensic Investigator
Editor's Note: Good information on career opportunities after service.
On July 24, 2009, Conversations with American Heroes at the Watering Hole will feature a discussion with Esther McKay, a former Detective Senior Constable and Forensic Investigator with the New South Wales Police Force (Australia).
Program Date: July 24, 2009
Program Time: 2100 hours, Pacific
Topic: Forensic Investigator
Listen Live:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2009/07/25/Forensic-Investigator
About the Guest
Esther Mckay served seventeen years in the New South Wales Police Force, attaining the rank of Detective (technical) Senior Constable. She worked in the area of Forensic Services for fifteen years, attaining expert status in crime scene examination and vehicle identification. She also worked in Training and Research, as well as Document Examination. She has a Diploma of Applied Science in Forensic Investigation (NSW Police), and was awarded the National Medal for service in 2001 and the Ethical and Diligent Police Service medal with fifteen-year clasp in 2008.
Esther Mckay was discharged from the force in 2001 with post-traumatic stress disorder as a direct result of her forensic work. Her best-selling autobiography, Crime Scene: True Stories from the Life of a Forensic Investigator.
Esther Mckay works actively in supporting traumatized serving and former Police and is the President of the Police Post Trauma Support Group. She was awarded the Pride of Australia Medal in 2007 for Community Spirit for her work with traumatized Police, and regularly speaks to various groups and schools about her life experience, writing and former forensic work. Esther is patron of the Australian Missing Persons Register and has been an Australia Day Ambassador since 2007. She lives in the Southern Highlands with her husband and two children.
About the Watering Hole
The Watering Hole is Police slang for a location cops go off-duty to blow off steam and talk about work and life. Sometimes funny; sometimes serious; but, always interesting.
About the Host
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster was a sworn member of the Los Angeles Police Department for 24 years. He retired in 2003 at the rank of Lieutenant. He holds a bachelor’s from the Union Institute and University in Criminal Justice Management and a Master’s Degree in Public Financial Management from California State University, Fullerton; and, has completed his doctoral course work. Raymond E. Foster has been a part-time lecturer at California State University, Fullerton and Fresno; and is currently a Criminal Justice Department chair, faculty advisor and lecturer with the Union Institute and University. He has experience teaching upper division courses in Law Enforcement, public policy, Public Safety Technology and leadership. Raymond is an experienced author who has published numerous articles in a wide range of venues including magazines such as Government Technology, Mobile Government, Airborne Law Enforcement Magazine, and Police One. He has appeared on the History Channel and radio programs in the United States and Europe as subject matter expert in technological applications in Law Enforcement.
Listen, call, join us at the Watering Hole:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2009/07/25/Forensic-Investigator
Program Contact Information
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA
editor@police-writers.com
909.599.7530
On July 24, 2009, Conversations with American Heroes at the Watering Hole will feature a discussion with Esther McKay, a former Detective Senior Constable and Forensic Investigator with the New South Wales Police Force (Australia).
Program Date: July 24, 2009
Program Time: 2100 hours, Pacific
Topic: Forensic Investigator
Listen Live:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2009/07/25/Forensic-Investigator
About the Guest
Esther Mckay served seventeen years in the New South Wales Police Force, attaining the rank of Detective (technical) Senior Constable. She worked in the area of Forensic Services for fifteen years, attaining expert status in crime scene examination and vehicle identification. She also worked in Training and Research, as well as Document Examination. She has a Diploma of Applied Science in Forensic Investigation (NSW Police), and was awarded the National Medal for service in 2001 and the Ethical and Diligent Police Service medal with fifteen-year clasp in 2008.
Esther Mckay was discharged from the force in 2001 with post-traumatic stress disorder as a direct result of her forensic work. Her best-selling autobiography, Crime Scene: True Stories from the Life of a Forensic Investigator.
Esther Mckay works actively in supporting traumatized serving and former Police and is the President of the Police Post Trauma Support Group. She was awarded the Pride of Australia Medal in 2007 for Community Spirit for her work with traumatized Police, and regularly speaks to various groups and schools about her life experience, writing and former forensic work. Esther is patron of the Australian Missing Persons Register and has been an Australia Day Ambassador since 2007. She lives in the Southern Highlands with her husband and two children.
About the Watering Hole
The Watering Hole is Police slang for a location cops go off-duty to blow off steam and talk about work and life. Sometimes funny; sometimes serious; but, always interesting.
About the Host
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster was a sworn member of the Los Angeles Police Department for 24 years. He retired in 2003 at the rank of Lieutenant. He holds a bachelor’s from the Union Institute and University in Criminal Justice Management and a Master’s Degree in Public Financial Management from California State University, Fullerton; and, has completed his doctoral course work. Raymond E. Foster has been a part-time lecturer at California State University, Fullerton and Fresno; and is currently a Criminal Justice Department chair, faculty advisor and lecturer with the Union Institute and University. He has experience teaching upper division courses in Law Enforcement, public policy, Public Safety Technology and leadership. Raymond is an experienced author who has published numerous articles in a wide range of venues including magazines such as Government Technology, Mobile Government, Airborne Law Enforcement Magazine, and Police One. He has appeared on the History Channel and radio programs in the United States and Europe as subject matter expert in technological applications in Law Enforcement.
Listen, call, join us at the Watering Hole:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2009/07/25/Forensic-Investigator
Program Contact Information
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA
editor@police-writers.com
909.599.7530
Suicide Prevention Message Rolls Through Cities Nationwide
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
June 22, 2009 - The Department of Veterans Affairs took to the road, literally, when it decided to advertise about its "VA Suicide Prevention Lifeline" on public transportation buses in 124 communities across the country. "We continue to look for new, innovative ways to reach our veterans," said Tammy Duckworth, assistant secretary of veterans affairs for public and intergovernmental affairs. "VA wants to make sure to exhaust all avenues to reach those in need of our services."
Currently, that includes public service announcements by actor Gary Sinise and TV news personality Deborah Norville. Suicide prevention coordinators also have been passing out information for several months now, Jan Kemp, the VA's national suicide prevention coordinator, said.
"There's a lot of publicity going on. [The buses are] just one mechanism that we're using to get the word out," she said. "We're kind of saturating the population as best we can."
The current bus campaign began this month and will conclude Sept. 1. It started as a pilot program here and ran for about three months last summer.
"The calls in D.C. and the surrounding areas actually doubled toward the end of the campaign there," Kemp said. "Our theory was that we would test it there and then roll it out to various other places."
While none of the buses rolling through the nation's capital now bear the VA's suicide prevention ad, they may again as the campaign continues, Kemp indicated.
"I think we will cycle around again, but I think we recognize the fact that sometimes a consistent message doesn't get seen as being new any more," she said.
The cities currently seeing the ad on their public transportation were carefully selected based on the availability of that transportation and the suicide and attempted suicide rates in the area. VA officials also looked at the current call volume from those cities and whether the ads could make a difference.
Available resources also were taken into consideration, Kemp said.
The campaign is aimed at veterans, but because it is being advertised in a very public manner, there are bound to be civilians who see the number and call in. And that's OK, Kemp said.
"We have arrangements with the national network of crisis centers to be able to transfer callers to the appropriate crisis center, depending on where they're calling from," she said. "Of course, if it's an extreme emergency, we do what we need to do and help the person. Otherwise, it's up to the [resources] in their area."
What's important is that if people thinks they're in crisis, preferably before they hit the crisis point, they should reach out for help.
"Early intervention is really the key to suicide prevention," Kemp said. "We can hook people up with local suicide prevention coordinators at all of our sites across the country, and ... there truly is no shame in asking for help."
The VA Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255) is staffed by trained mental health professionals prepared to deal with immediate crises 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
American Forces Press Service
June 22, 2009 - The Department of Veterans Affairs took to the road, literally, when it decided to advertise about its "VA Suicide Prevention Lifeline" on public transportation buses in 124 communities across the country. "We continue to look for new, innovative ways to reach our veterans," said Tammy Duckworth, assistant secretary of veterans affairs for public and intergovernmental affairs. "VA wants to make sure to exhaust all avenues to reach those in need of our services."
Currently, that includes public service announcements by actor Gary Sinise and TV news personality Deborah Norville. Suicide prevention coordinators also have been passing out information for several months now, Jan Kemp, the VA's national suicide prevention coordinator, said.
"There's a lot of publicity going on. [The buses are] just one mechanism that we're using to get the word out," she said. "We're kind of saturating the population as best we can."
The current bus campaign began this month and will conclude Sept. 1. It started as a pilot program here and ran for about three months last summer.
"The calls in D.C. and the surrounding areas actually doubled toward the end of the campaign there," Kemp said. "Our theory was that we would test it there and then roll it out to various other places."
While none of the buses rolling through the nation's capital now bear the VA's suicide prevention ad, they may again as the campaign continues, Kemp indicated.
"I think we will cycle around again, but I think we recognize the fact that sometimes a consistent message doesn't get seen as being new any more," she said.
The cities currently seeing the ad on their public transportation were carefully selected based on the availability of that transportation and the suicide and attempted suicide rates in the area. VA officials also looked at the current call volume from those cities and whether the ads could make a difference.
Available resources also were taken into consideration, Kemp said.
The campaign is aimed at veterans, but because it is being advertised in a very public manner, there are bound to be civilians who see the number and call in. And that's OK, Kemp said.
"We have arrangements with the national network of crisis centers to be able to transfer callers to the appropriate crisis center, depending on where they're calling from," she said. "Of course, if it's an extreme emergency, we do what we need to do and help the person. Otherwise, it's up to the [resources] in their area."
What's important is that if people thinks they're in crisis, preferably before they hit the crisis point, they should reach out for help.
"Early intervention is really the key to suicide prevention," Kemp said. "We can hook people up with local suicide prevention coordinators at all of our sites across the country, and ... there truly is no shame in asking for help."
The VA Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255) is staffed by trained mental health professionals prepared to deal with immediate crises 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Gates Welcomes Four Senior Pentagon Officials
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
June 22, 2009 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today welcomed four high-ranking new arrivals to the Pentagon, hailing them as "welcome additions" to the Defense Department. The new officials -- nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate -- will work under Gates in the areas of defense acquisition, congressional affairs, global defense strategy and nuclear, chemical and biological programs.
They've been on the job for several weeks, but today's event provided an opportunity for Gates to welcome them formally to the department.
"With a wide range of experience in national security, diplomacy and nuclear deterrence and proliferation issues and congressional affairs, the four new officials we are honoring today are a welcome addition to the Department of Defense," Gates told an audience in the Pentagon auditorium here. "The Department of Defense is fortunate to have professionals of such talent and experience."
The new senior officials are:
-- Ashton B. Carter, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. Under the authority of the defense secretary, Carter serves as the principal staff assistant and advisor for all matters relating to the defense acquisition, research and development, technology developmental testing and evaluation; production; logistics; installation management; military construction; procurement; environment security; and nuclear, chemical and biological matters.
-- Michael Nacht, assistant secretary of defense for global strategic affairs. Nacht heads a newly configured directorate in the Office of the Secretary of Defense that develops policy for the secretary on countering weapons of mass destruction, nuclear forces and missile defense, cyber security and space policy.
-- Elizabeth L. King, assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs. King is responsible for providing support to the secretary of defense in his dealings with the White House, Cabinet members, members of Congress and the State Department. King also serves as liaison and maintains relationships with members of Congress and the executive branch.
-- Andrew C. Weber, assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological programs. In this role, Weber is the principal advisor to the defense secretary, deputy defense secretary and undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics for all matters concerning the formulation of policy and plans for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs.
"Our honorees have already begun to settle in and pack their respective portfolios, but I'm glad to have the opportunity today to formally greet them and highlight the experience and talents they bring to this department," Gates said, adding that he looks forward to working closely with them on critical decisions ahead of the department.
"Let me thank all four of you for accepting positions that will demand hard work and long hours. And again, thanks to your families for loaning you to us," Gates said. "I know that every decision we make, you will keep in mind our men and women in uniform and how best to help them accomplish their mission and return home safely."
American Forces Press Service
June 22, 2009 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today welcomed four high-ranking new arrivals to the Pentagon, hailing them as "welcome additions" to the Defense Department. The new officials -- nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate -- will work under Gates in the areas of defense acquisition, congressional affairs, global defense strategy and nuclear, chemical and biological programs.
They've been on the job for several weeks, but today's event provided an opportunity for Gates to welcome them formally to the department.
"With a wide range of experience in national security, diplomacy and nuclear deterrence and proliferation issues and congressional affairs, the four new officials we are honoring today are a welcome addition to the Department of Defense," Gates told an audience in the Pentagon auditorium here. "The Department of Defense is fortunate to have professionals of such talent and experience."
The new senior officials are:
-- Ashton B. Carter, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. Under the authority of the defense secretary, Carter serves as the principal staff assistant and advisor for all matters relating to the defense acquisition, research and development, technology developmental testing and evaluation; production; logistics; installation management; military construction; procurement; environment security; and nuclear, chemical and biological matters.
-- Michael Nacht, assistant secretary of defense for global strategic affairs. Nacht heads a newly configured directorate in the Office of the Secretary of Defense that develops policy for the secretary on countering weapons of mass destruction, nuclear forces and missile defense, cyber security and space policy.
-- Elizabeth L. King, assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs. King is responsible for providing support to the secretary of defense in his dealings with the White House, Cabinet members, members of Congress and the State Department. King also serves as liaison and maintains relationships with members of Congress and the executive branch.
-- Andrew C. Weber, assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological programs. In this role, Weber is the principal advisor to the defense secretary, deputy defense secretary and undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics for all matters concerning the formulation of policy and plans for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs.
"Our honorees have already begun to settle in and pack their respective portfolios, but I'm glad to have the opportunity today to formally greet them and highlight the experience and talents they bring to this department," Gates said, adding that he looks forward to working closely with them on critical decisions ahead of the department.
"Let me thank all four of you for accepting positions that will demand hard work and long hours. And again, thanks to your families for loaning you to us," Gates said. "I know that every decision we make, you will keep in mind our men and women in uniform and how best to help them accomplish their mission and return home safely."
MILITARY CONTRACTS June 22, 2009
AIR FORCE
The Air Force is awarding a cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Electromagnetic System Laboratory, of San Jose, Calif., for $71,047,776. This contract action will provide MQ-1 unmanned aerial system communications intelligence airborne signals intelligence Payload-1 C scaled sensors for the Predator UAS. At this time, $69,851,657 has been obligated. Reconnaissance Systems Wing (ASC), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-08-C-3004).
CORRECTION:
The Air Force is modifying a cost-plus-award-fee contract with Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems and Solutions of Papillion, Neb., for $8,472,770. This action will provide for integrated strategic planning and analysis system (ISPAN) contract modification to develop software enhancement for ISPAN collaborative information environment and the Global Situational Awareness Tool. The requirement focuses on enhancing CIE to support a global customer base, which includes enhancements to software required to support the needs of a global user set and purchasing the necessary hardware to support the development. At this time, $8,472,770 has been obligated. 850 ELSG/PK, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (FA8722-04-C-0009, P00098).
NAVY
PC Mechanical LLC, Santa Maria, Calif., is being awarded a $26,184,518 firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the overhaul, preventative maintenance, and services of civil engineering support equipment for the Naval Facilities Expeditionary Logistics Center located at Naval Base Ventura County, Calif. The work to be performed is for the repair, overhaul and preventative maintenance and services of civil engineering support equipment such as automotive vehicles, motorized and non-motorized construction equipment, material/weight handling equipment, international standard organization shipping containers, mineral products plant facilities, and mobile utilities support equipment. Repair services shall be performed at the contractor's facility, except when servicing need to be accomplished immediately where the equipment is located, or when the equipment cannot be moved. This contract contains options, which if exercised, will bring the cumulative value of this contract to $139,495,275. Work will be performed at the Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, Calif. (60 percent), and the Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport, Gulfport, Miss. (40percent), and is expected to be completed by June 2014. Contract funds in the amount of $26,184,518 will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with two proposals received. The Naval Faci! lities E ngineering Command, Specialty Center Acquisition NAVFAC, Port Hueneme, Calif., is the contracting activity (N62583-09-D-0003).
Fraser Fogle Architects, Bellevue, Wash., is being awarded a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity architect/engineering contract with a maximum amount of $20,000,000 to provide architect/engineer services in support of architectural projects for the NAVFAC Northwest area of responsibility. Work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps facilities and other government facilities within the NAVFAC Northwest AOR including, but not limited to Wash., (94 percent), Ore., (2 percent), Idaho, (2 percent), Mont. (1 percent), and Alaska, (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by June 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the NAVFAC e-solicitation website with twenty proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Northwest, Silverdale, Wash., is the contracting activity (N44255-09-D-4004).
Chugach World Services, Inc., Anchorage, Alaska, is being awarded $12,858,355 [$5,129,675 firm-fixed price (FFP) and $7,728,680 indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity(IDIQ)] for the base period under a combination FFP/IDIQ contract to perform housing operations and maintenance services and change of occupancy maintenance services in the U.S. Territory of Guam for Commander, Naval Forces Marianas. Work will be performed at various Naval housing areas on Guam and the base period is from June 2009 to December 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured utilizing the Small Business Administration's 8(a) Program and was advertised via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with eight proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Marianas, Guam, is the contracting activity (N40192-09-D-9000).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
General Electric Aircraft Engines, Lynn, Mass. is being awarded a maximum $11,815,213 firm-fixed-price, sole-source, requirements type contract for parts. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The original proposal was DIBBS-solicited with one response. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a ten-year contract with a 2-year base and four 2-year option periods. The date of performance completion is July 30, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Richmond, Richmond, Va., (SPM400-00-D-9403).
Government Sewing & Apparel, Hope, Ark.*, is being awarded a maximum $8,630,204 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract for Marine Corps combat utility uniform. Other locations of performance are in Arkansas and Puerto Rico. Using service is Marine Corps. The original proposal was Web solicited with 10 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is exercising option year three. The date of performance completion is Jun. 25, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SP0100-06-D-0362).
Agland, Inc., Eaton, Colo.*, is being awarded a minimum $5,829,630 fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. Other locations of performance are at various DoD locations in Texas and Colo. Using services are Army and Air Force. The original proposal was Web solicited with 48 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Jun. 30, 2012. The contracting activity is the Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-09-D-4526).
ARMY
Booz Allen Hamilton, Atlanta, Ga., was awarded on Jun. 18, 2009 a $ 11,677,787 indefinite-delivery / indefinite quantity time and material Task Order contract for information technology support services for headquarters forces command G-6 on Fort McPherson, Ga., with a base period of 12 month and four 1-year options. Work is to be performed in Fort McPherson, Ga., with an estimated completion date of Jun. 30, 2014. Sixteen (16) bids solicited with two bids received. Mission and Installation Contracting Command, McPherson, Ga., is the contracting activity (W91QUZ-06-D-0019).
The Air Force is awarding a cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Electromagnetic System Laboratory, of San Jose, Calif., for $71,047,776. This contract action will provide MQ-1 unmanned aerial system communications intelligence airborne signals intelligence Payload-1 C scaled sensors for the Predator UAS. At this time, $69,851,657 has been obligated. Reconnaissance Systems Wing (ASC), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-08-C-3004).
CORRECTION:
The Air Force is modifying a cost-plus-award-fee contract with Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems and Solutions of Papillion, Neb., for $8,472,770. This action will provide for integrated strategic planning and analysis system (ISPAN) contract modification to develop software enhancement for ISPAN collaborative information environment and the Global Situational Awareness Tool. The requirement focuses on enhancing CIE to support a global customer base, which includes enhancements to software required to support the needs of a global user set and purchasing the necessary hardware to support the development. At this time, $8,472,770 has been obligated. 850 ELSG/PK, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (FA8722-04-C-0009, P00098).
NAVY
PC Mechanical LLC, Santa Maria, Calif., is being awarded a $26,184,518 firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the overhaul, preventative maintenance, and services of civil engineering support equipment for the Naval Facilities Expeditionary Logistics Center located at Naval Base Ventura County, Calif. The work to be performed is for the repair, overhaul and preventative maintenance and services of civil engineering support equipment such as automotive vehicles, motorized and non-motorized construction equipment, material/weight handling equipment, international standard organization shipping containers, mineral products plant facilities, and mobile utilities support equipment. Repair services shall be performed at the contractor's facility, except when servicing need to be accomplished immediately where the equipment is located, or when the equipment cannot be moved. This contract contains options, which if exercised, will bring the cumulative value of this contract to $139,495,275. Work will be performed at the Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, Calif. (60 percent), and the Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport, Gulfport, Miss. (40percent), and is expected to be completed by June 2014. Contract funds in the amount of $26,184,518 will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with two proposals received. The Naval Faci! lities E ngineering Command, Specialty Center Acquisition NAVFAC, Port Hueneme, Calif., is the contracting activity (N62583-09-D-0003).
Fraser Fogle Architects, Bellevue, Wash., is being awarded a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity architect/engineering contract with a maximum amount of $20,000,000 to provide architect/engineer services in support of architectural projects for the NAVFAC Northwest area of responsibility. Work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps facilities and other government facilities within the NAVFAC Northwest AOR including, but not limited to Wash., (94 percent), Ore., (2 percent), Idaho, (2 percent), Mont. (1 percent), and Alaska, (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by June 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the NAVFAC e-solicitation website with twenty proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Northwest, Silverdale, Wash., is the contracting activity (N44255-09-D-4004).
Chugach World Services, Inc., Anchorage, Alaska, is being awarded $12,858,355 [$5,129,675 firm-fixed price (FFP) and $7,728,680 indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity(IDIQ)] for the base period under a combination FFP/IDIQ contract to perform housing operations and maintenance services and change of occupancy maintenance services in the U.S. Territory of Guam for Commander, Naval Forces Marianas. Work will be performed at various Naval housing areas on Guam and the base period is from June 2009 to December 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured utilizing the Small Business Administration's 8(a) Program and was advertised via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with eight proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Marianas, Guam, is the contracting activity (N40192-09-D-9000).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
General Electric Aircraft Engines, Lynn, Mass. is being awarded a maximum $11,815,213 firm-fixed-price, sole-source, requirements type contract for parts. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The original proposal was DIBBS-solicited with one response. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a ten-year contract with a 2-year base and four 2-year option periods. The date of performance completion is July 30, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Richmond, Richmond, Va., (SPM400-00-D-9403).
Government Sewing & Apparel, Hope, Ark.*, is being awarded a maximum $8,630,204 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract for Marine Corps combat utility uniform. Other locations of performance are in Arkansas and Puerto Rico. Using service is Marine Corps. The original proposal was Web solicited with 10 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is exercising option year three. The date of performance completion is Jun. 25, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SP0100-06-D-0362).
Agland, Inc., Eaton, Colo.*, is being awarded a minimum $5,829,630 fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. Other locations of performance are at various DoD locations in Texas and Colo. Using services are Army and Air Force. The original proposal was Web solicited with 48 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Jun. 30, 2012. The contracting activity is the Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-09-D-4526).
ARMY
Booz Allen Hamilton, Atlanta, Ga., was awarded on Jun. 18, 2009 a $ 11,677,787 indefinite-delivery / indefinite quantity time and material Task Order contract for information technology support services for headquarters forces command G-6 on Fort McPherson, Ga., with a base period of 12 month and four 1-year options. Work is to be performed in Fort McPherson, Ga., with an estimated completion date of Jun. 30, 2014. Sixteen (16) bids solicited with two bids received. Mission and Installation Contracting Command, McPherson, Ga., is the contracting activity (W91QUZ-06-D-0019).
I saluted someone today.
I saluted someone today.
I have not done that in 40 years.
When I was in the Army, it was required for the person being saluted to acknowledge and return the salute. This was not done. I did not take it personally, nor did the 143 other people who were with me. We were veterans of one war or another and had come to pay our respects to a fallen soldier. I did not know him but in a way I knew the kind of person he was.
I had served with guys just like him in Vietnam. I was 20 years old at the time. Jake Velloza was 22 when a sniper ended his life outside the town of Mosul, Iraq.
There was no “welcome home” committee for me when I stepped off the plane at Travis Air Force base on a cold November day in 1967. No fanfare or American flags held high with their stars and stripes supported by a light afternoon breeze. It did not bother me any.
It was important for me to be there when Jake arrived at San Francisco International Airport by charter aircraft.
His flag draped coffin was slowly unloaded and met by a well-disciplined Honor Guard.
To say it was a sad vision to mentally capture would be a gross understatement. I watched his parents drape the flagged receptacle with their bodies, the father not wanting to leave, or believe, until he was ushered away by family members. Like my other comrades, I held back my tears, feeling unworthy to be part of something so personal. In a way I was paying respect to my own fallen friends who were owed such a return but never received one.
We mounted our flag bearing motorcycles and formed a procession to follow Jake from the San Francisco airport to his transitory resting spot in Petaluma. The road would lead us under multitudes of overpasses with hundreds of other Americans taking time out to forget about their own problems and honor one person who paid the ultimate price for service to his country.
The reality of war will always cost more then the money it takes to fight one.
As I rode, I thought about how one day Jake I and would meet and my salute would be returned.
I have not done that in 40 years.
When I was in the Army, it was required for the person being saluted to acknowledge and return the salute. This was not done. I did not take it personally, nor did the 143 other people who were with me. We were veterans of one war or another and had come to pay our respects to a fallen soldier. I did not know him but in a way I knew the kind of person he was.
I had served with guys just like him in Vietnam. I was 20 years old at the time. Jake Velloza was 22 when a sniper ended his life outside the town of Mosul, Iraq.
There was no “welcome home” committee for me when I stepped off the plane at Travis Air Force base on a cold November day in 1967. No fanfare or American flags held high with their stars and stripes supported by a light afternoon breeze. It did not bother me any.
It was important for me to be there when Jake arrived at San Francisco International Airport by charter aircraft.
His flag draped coffin was slowly unloaded and met by a well-disciplined Honor Guard.
To say it was a sad vision to mentally capture would be a gross understatement. I watched his parents drape the flagged receptacle with their bodies, the father not wanting to leave, or believe, until he was ushered away by family members. Like my other comrades, I held back my tears, feeling unworthy to be part of something so personal. In a way I was paying respect to my own fallen friends who were owed such a return but never received one.
We mounted our flag bearing motorcycles and formed a procession to follow Jake from the San Francisco airport to his transitory resting spot in Petaluma. The road would lead us under multitudes of overpasses with hundreds of other Americans taking time out to forget about their own problems and honor one person who paid the ultimate price for service to his country.
The reality of war will always cost more then the money it takes to fight one.
As I rode, I thought about how one day Jake I and would meet and my salute would be returned.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The New York Times Keeps a Secret
A New York Times reporter, who had been held for several months by the Taliban, escaped and is now home. Interestingly, the reporter, David Rohde, had been in captivity for several months. Ed Morrissey, one of the best bloggers out there, reports that he had known about the kidnapping for several months, as had other persons, but had kept a lid on it at the behest of the Times, which feared publicity would endanger their man.
For those with a short memory, it should be noted that the NYTs have had a problem keeping secrets, at least during the Bush Administration.
Now they ask people to keep a secret that't important to them.
Will's novel, A Line Through the Desert: The First Gulf War may be purchased at Amazon.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Afghanistan Past and Present
I have an article in the latest issue of Military Heritage Magazine which describes the Soviet War in Afghanistan.
The problem faced by the Soviets is very similar to that of the United States and NATO. The Pashtun border region was dominated by Afghan rebels, who receive aid from their brethren in Pakistan and as well as Pakistan's ISI. Foreign arms also flooded in, from Egypt, China, and Israel (who sold captured Arab weapons to the CIA).
The Soviets waged several campaigns of annihilation in the valleys along the border. Soviet troops eradicated everything in their path, displacing hundreds of thousands of refugees in Pakistan. The camps were of course excellent recruiting grounds for Mujaheddin fighters.
Interestingly, two of the best rebel fighters during the Soviet era, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Jalaluddin Haqqani are now arch enemies of the United States.
Today, the rebels of Afghanistan air helped by Al Qaeda. They receive weapons from Iran and from Soviet era stockpiles in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The United States and NATO are not going to wage a campaign of annihilation in the border valleys. For years they've been doing the opposite, flooding the country with billions in foreign aid funding infrastructure, humanitarian efforts, and the Afghan National Army, which is already far better than anything the communist government put into the field.
Despite this effort the forntier area has become more violent and chaotic, and the Taliban, while suffering thousands of casualties per year, shows no sign of beaing defeated.
The Soviet stick has failed, as has the American carrot. So what is the solution then?
Will's novel, A Line Through the Desert: The First Gulf War may be purchased at Amazon.
The problem faced by the Soviets is very similar to that of the United States and NATO. The Pashtun border region was dominated by Afghan rebels, who receive aid from their brethren in Pakistan and as well as Pakistan's ISI. Foreign arms also flooded in, from Egypt, China, and Israel (who sold captured Arab weapons to the CIA).
The Soviets waged several campaigns of annihilation in the valleys along the border. Soviet troops eradicated everything in their path, displacing hundreds of thousands of refugees in Pakistan. The camps were of course excellent recruiting grounds for Mujaheddin fighters.
Interestingly, two of the best rebel fighters during the Soviet era, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Jalaluddin Haqqani are now arch enemies of the United States.
Today, the rebels of Afghanistan air helped by Al Qaeda. They receive weapons from Iran and from Soviet era stockpiles in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The United States and NATO are not going to wage a campaign of annihilation in the border valleys. For years they've been doing the opposite, flooding the country with billions in foreign aid funding infrastructure, humanitarian efforts, and the Afghan National Army, which is already far better than anything the communist government put into the field.
Despite this effort the forntier area has become more violent and chaotic, and the Taliban, while suffering thousands of casualties per year, shows no sign of beaing defeated.
The Soviet stick has failed, as has the American carrot. So what is the solution then?
Will's novel, A Line Through the Desert: The First Gulf War may be purchased at Amazon.
Chairman Urges Athletic Directors to Help Wounded Warriors
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
June 20, 2009 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke to a nontraditional audience that believes in some very traditional American values here today. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen told the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics annual convention that its members are in a position to connect veterans – especially wounded veterans – to their greater communities.
The chairman spoke about the role that sports has played in his life, and how coaches – going back to a Little League coach in mid-1950s Los Angeles – influenced him along the way. It also made him a Dodgers fan, a Lakers fan and a UCLA basketball fan, he added.
Sports even influenced the admiral's decision to attend the U.S. Naval Academy. He played basketball in high school and wanted to play on the East Coast where Bill Bradley – a standout for the Princeton Tigers – played. Sports allowed Mullen the opportunity to attend the Naval Academy, which he called "a place that literally changed my life forever."
The admiral said he wants the athletic directors to do what they can in their communities for wounded warriors, noting that young men and women from the Wounded Warrior Project were attending their convention. "What you do and the people you touch make such a difference in our country," Mullen said to them.
The 170,000 to 180,000 young men and women in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan are his main concern as chairman, Mullen said. The military is in its eighth year of war and the force is pressed, he added, noting that, on average, servicemembers are on their fourth deployment.
The admiral told the athletic directors that he is a Vietnam vet. "That was my first war, and I remember it like yesterday," he said. "I am fortunate enough to be in a position of leadership to make sure that some of the things that happened back then – particularly the disconnect between the American people and its military – never recur. Your support of these young men and women is a big part of that."
The country must take care of those who are wounded and provide for the families of those killed, Mullen said. "We must take care of, provide for [and] create opportunities for them for the rest of their lives," he added.
The directors' participation, he told the group, is important to recognize the sacrifices servicemembers have made and to help wounded warriors and their families continue. "Their lives have changed forever, but their dreams haven't changed at all," he said.
Recognition on college campuses around the United States helps to connect the American people to its military, the admiral said.
"We're a much smaller military than we used to be – 2.2. million men and women who serve – and being able to tell their stories and to connect with the rest of America is absolutely vital," he said. "Those who serve overseas in these wars just want to know one thing: Are the American people behind us? When that question is answered positively, they don't have questions. They don't worry about the politics; they carry out the mission. And the American people are behind our men and women in the military."
More than 35,000 young men and women serving in the military have been physically injured since Sept. 11, 2001, the chairman noted, along with "tens of thousands more who are suffering from combat stress, post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries – the signature injuries of the war. I believe that we, as a country, owe them for what they've done, even in tough economic times."
It all goes back to their dreams, Mullen said. These veterans want an education, a good job, a chance to send their children to school and to own their own homes. "The dreams haven't changed, but the path has," said he told the athletic directors.
Civilian communities, he told the group, are part of the map that charts the path. The Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs have a role, he said, but so do communities.
More than 100,000 servicemembers need "people to put their arms around them and support them as they move to their future," Mullen said. "The only way we can do that is to have communities throughout the land know that combat warriors are living in their communities, and to match up the individual needs with community support."
He spoke of meeting a young Navy SEAL who had been blinded in combat. His home county had people waiting for him when he got home, the chairman said. They helped him with education, training and rehabilitation, and in finding a job. And the young man is poised – like the rest of his comrades – to contribute to the United States for the rest of their lives, the chairman said.
American Forces Press Service
June 20, 2009 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke to a nontraditional audience that believes in some very traditional American values here today. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen told the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics annual convention that its members are in a position to connect veterans – especially wounded veterans – to their greater communities.
The chairman spoke about the role that sports has played in his life, and how coaches – going back to a Little League coach in mid-1950s Los Angeles – influenced him along the way. It also made him a Dodgers fan, a Lakers fan and a UCLA basketball fan, he added.
Sports even influenced the admiral's decision to attend the U.S. Naval Academy. He played basketball in high school and wanted to play on the East Coast where Bill Bradley – a standout for the Princeton Tigers – played. Sports allowed Mullen the opportunity to attend the Naval Academy, which he called "a place that literally changed my life forever."
The admiral said he wants the athletic directors to do what they can in their communities for wounded warriors, noting that young men and women from the Wounded Warrior Project were attending their convention. "What you do and the people you touch make such a difference in our country," Mullen said to them.
The 170,000 to 180,000 young men and women in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan are his main concern as chairman, Mullen said. The military is in its eighth year of war and the force is pressed, he added, noting that, on average, servicemembers are on their fourth deployment.
The admiral told the athletic directors that he is a Vietnam vet. "That was my first war, and I remember it like yesterday," he said. "I am fortunate enough to be in a position of leadership to make sure that some of the things that happened back then – particularly the disconnect between the American people and its military – never recur. Your support of these young men and women is a big part of that."
The country must take care of those who are wounded and provide for the families of those killed, Mullen said. "We must take care of, provide for [and] create opportunities for them for the rest of their lives," he added.
The directors' participation, he told the group, is important to recognize the sacrifices servicemembers have made and to help wounded warriors and their families continue. "Their lives have changed forever, but their dreams haven't changed at all," he said.
Recognition on college campuses around the United States helps to connect the American people to its military, the admiral said.
"We're a much smaller military than we used to be – 2.2. million men and women who serve – and being able to tell their stories and to connect with the rest of America is absolutely vital," he said. "Those who serve overseas in these wars just want to know one thing: Are the American people behind us? When that question is answered positively, they don't have questions. They don't worry about the politics; they carry out the mission. And the American people are behind our men and women in the military."
More than 35,000 young men and women serving in the military have been physically injured since Sept. 11, 2001, the chairman noted, along with "tens of thousands more who are suffering from combat stress, post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries – the signature injuries of the war. I believe that we, as a country, owe them for what they've done, even in tough economic times."
It all goes back to their dreams, Mullen said. These veterans want an education, a good job, a chance to send their children to school and to own their own homes. "The dreams haven't changed, but the path has," said he told the athletic directors.
Civilian communities, he told the group, are part of the map that charts the path. The Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs have a role, he said, but so do communities.
More than 100,000 servicemembers need "people to put their arms around them and support them as they move to their future," Mullen said. "The only way we can do that is to have communities throughout the land know that combat warriors are living in their communities, and to match up the individual needs with community support."
He spoke of meeting a young Navy SEAL who had been blinded in combat. His home county had people waiting for him when he got home, the chairman said. They helped him with education, training and rehabilitation, and in finding a job. And the young man is poised – like the rest of his comrades – to contribute to the United States for the rest of their lives, the chairman said.
Friday, June 19, 2009
President Acknowledges Military Father's Sacrifices, Contributions
By Donna MilesAmerican Forces Press Service
June 19, 2009 - President Barack Obama recognized in his Father's Day proclamation the sacrifices military fathers make every day, and hosted the Military Father of the Year today at the White House for a town hall session on fatherhood. Navy Chief Petty Officer John Lehnen, the father of four children with special needs and recipient of the 2009 National Fatherhood Initiative-Lockheed Martin Military Fatherhood Award, was among five fathers invited to participate in the forum slated to coincide with the national Father's Day observance.
Lehnen, a quartermaster, shared his story about the challenges he and other military fathers face, and how he stays connected to his children's lives during deployments and reconnects with them after he returns home.
Obama recognized in his Father's Day proclamation issued today the strength military fathers like Lehnen bring, not just to their families, but to their country as well.
"We ... express special gratitude to fathers who serve in the United States armed forces for the sacrifices they and their families make every day," the president said. "All of these individuals are making great contributions, and children across the country are better off for their care."
While most Americans are planning backyard barbecues and family outings to celebrate Father's Day, many military families with deployed husbands and fathers will be settling for more subdued observances.
At Camp Lejeune, N.C., for example, three 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit families whose babies were born after the MEU deployed in May will get treated tomorrow to an interactive video with their loved ones.
Frank Smith, the unit's family readiness group officer, said it will be the first time most of the Marines have seen their newborn children in anything but e-mailed photos.
"It will be an opportunity for them to see and hear them face to face," said Smith, a retired Marine master sergeant. "And it's also a way to let them know that while they are out there in the face of danger, those of us in the rear appreciate what they are doing and are looking our for their families."
Meanwhile, other families of deployed servicemembers – an estimated 150,000 of them fathers -- and their families are expected to observe Father's Day in quieter ways.
Many already have made their treks to the post office to ship off Father's Day cards and care packages of snack foods, batteries and other coveted goodies.
Air Force Lt. Col. James "Andy" Leinart, an operations analyst deployed to Baghdad, knows a care package is en route from his wife and three daughters in Annandale, Va.
While he's not expecting a repeat of last year's breakfast in bed and carefully crafted gifts from his little girls, Leinart is keeping a stiff upper lip about missing his special day with his family.
"I miss my wife and children every day, whether it's Father's Day or not," he said. "I guess the only real difference is that Father's Day will give me a pause to reflect more on it." Quickly brushing any hint of melancholy aside, Leinart said he'll be happy with a call home or a Skype session on the Internet.
And he'll make a point to call his own father in Waco, Texas. "There's probably no better day than Father's Day to do that," he said.
MILITARY CONTRACTS June 19, 2009
NAVY
Austal USA, Mobile Ala., was awarded a $99,557,548 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-08-C-2217) on Jun. 17, 2009, for long lead time material (LLTM) for Ships 2 and 3 of the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) Program. This contract provides LLTM for main propulsion engines, aluminum, waterjets, reduction gears, generators, and other components to support construction of JHSV Ships 2 and 3, commencing in June 2010. The LLTM procured or manufactured for construction or installation in JHSV 2 and 3 will be subsumed with their associated costs into their respective ship construction line items upon award of construction contracts for JHSV 2 and 3. Work will be performed in Detroit, Mich., (38 percent); Chesapeake, Va., (18 percent); Henderson, Australia, (13 percent); Gulfport, Miss., (10 percent); Ravenswood, W.Va., (9 percent); and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., (4 percent); Mobile, Ala., (3 percent); Auburn, Ind., (2.6 percent); Winter Haven, Fla., (1 percent); Gardena, Calif., (1 percent); and Davenport, Iowa, (.4 percent). Work is expected to be complete by July 2013. Contract funds will not expire before the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command is the contracting activity.
J&R Tool Inc. Loogootee, Ind.*, (N00164-09-D-JS60); Process Development & Fabrication Inc., Brazil, Ind., * (N00164-09-D-JS61); C&S Machine, PlainVille, Ind.*, (N00164-09-D-JS62), and American Manufacturing Solutions, North Vernon, Ind.*, (N00164-09-D-JS63), are being awarded a $49,900,000 multiple award, ($5,000 min) indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract for machine shop services used for the fabrication of prototype hardware and items requiring low rate production. This contract will provide prototype fabrication, low rate production, prototyped development support to include but not limited to items manufactured from: metals, polymers, ceramics, fabrics, woods, glass, masonry materials, and coatings for such materials. Work will be performed in Loogootee, Ind.; Brazil, Ind., PlainVille, Ind., and North Vernon, Ind., as determined by each task order, and is expected to be completed by May 2013. These four contractors will compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the contract, therefore, definitive location percentages for where the work will be performed cannot be determined at this time. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with unlimited proposals solicited and 15 offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Ce! nter, Cr ane, Ind., is the contracting activity.
Rockwell Collins, Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is being awarded a $31,411,443 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for ultra-high frequency satellite communications and high frequency communications waveform software support for the network enterprise domain under the Joint Program Executive Office Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS). This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $45,401,519. Work will be performed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is expected to be completed by June 2011. If all options are exercised, work could continue until June 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured and one offer was received via the SPAWAR e-Commerce Central website. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N00039-09-D-0021).
Converteam, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., is being awarded a $22,984,640 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-09-C-4203) for the DDG 1000 Baseline Tactical High Voltage Power Subsystem (HVPS) for use in the Navy's integrated power system land based test site. The DDG 1000 HVPS includes an advanced induction motor, motor drive, harmonic filters and resistors for dynamic braking and neutral grounding. The HVPS distributes electrical power for the ship's turbine-generators to the various electrical loads and also provides for electric propulsion. These components will meet the same specification established by the DDG 1000 shipyards for the lead ships installation. Work will be performed in Pittsburgh, Pa., and is expected to be completed by March 2011. 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.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Systems Integration - Owego, N.Y., is being awarded a $13,819,474 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of Specialized Test Equipment used to perform depot level repairs to the Common Cockpit Avionics Suite Components for the MH-60. The Specialized Test Equipment consist of one Audio Management Computer, one Relay Assembly, one Flight Management Computer, one Mission Computer, and the Communication Systems Controller testers. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., (50 percent); Owego, N.Y., (25 percent); and Farmingdale, N.Y., (25 percent), and is expected to be completed in Oct. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., (N68335-09-C-0149).
T B Penick & Sons, Inc., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded $10,199,734 for firm-fixed price task order #0005 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62473-08-D-8618) for construction of a Marine Corps Reserve Training Center at the Naval Air Station Lemoore. The work to be performed provides for construction of two new single story buildings to provide training facilities, administrative spaces and support spaces in a Reserve Training Center and a Vehicle Maintenance Facility for Marine Wing Support Squadron 473, Detachment Alpha and incidental related work. The facility will replace the existing inadequate facilities. The task order also contains one unexercised option, which if exercised would increase cumulative task order value to $10,482,734. Work will be performed in Lemoore, Calif., and is expected to be completed by July 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Five proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.
Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $9,983,058 cost-plus fixed-fee delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-06-G-0001) for Cuff and Yoke conceptual design and preliminary tooling release for the H-1 aircraft, to include a rotor parametric study. Work will be performed in Ft. Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in October 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $5,626,065 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Northrop Grumman Corp., Rolling Meadows, Ill., is being awarded an $8,481,024 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 3 Electro-Optic Third Generation Consoles for the Governments of Australia (2) and Finland (1), to include spares, installation kits, and ancillary equipment, in support of F/A-18 and MH-60R/S weapon systems. Work will be performed in Rolling Meadows, Ill., and is expected to be completed in August 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract combines purchases for the Government of Australia, ($4,426,670; 52 percent) and the Government of Finland, ($4,054,354; 48 percent), under the Foreign Military Sales Program. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-09-C-0333).
Navistar Defense LLC, Warrenville, Ill., is being awarded a $6,413,738 firm-fixed-priced delivery order #0004 modification under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5032) for the procurement of OCONUS field service representative mechanics, back ramp retrofit kits, and several contract data requirement lists. This order is in support of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicle Program. The MRAP vehicles are armored vehicles with blast resistant underbodies designed to protect the crew from mine blasts, fragmentary, and direct fire weapons. Work will be performed in West Point, Miss., and in Iraq, and work is expected to be completed August 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $7,291,171 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The base contract was competitively awarded, and the new requirements are sole source additions to the contract. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
US Foodservice Lexington, Lexington, S.C., is being awarded a maximum $40,857,062 firm fixed price, prime vendor contract for food and beverage support. Other location of performance is Lexington, South Carolina. Using services are Army Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Non-DOD customers in South Carolina. The original proposal was Web solicited with four responses. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is exercising the fourth option. The date of performance completion is Jun. 19, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM300-08-D-3057).
AIR FORCE
The Air Force is awarding an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to SNC Telecommunications of Washington, D.C., for $23,000,000. This contract action will provide Airman Battle System Fire Resistant Gear (coats/shirts/trousers). At this time, $2,694,600 has been obligated. ASC/648th AESS/TAC, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8621-09-D-6287, Delivery order 0001).
The Air Force is modifying an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to Jacobs Technology, Inc., of Tullahoma, Tenn., for $25,083,864. This contract will provide Technical, Engineering and Acquisition Support at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and various other tenant organizations. This modification is to increase work requirement. At this time no funds have been obligated. AAC/PKES, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity (FA9200-07-C-0006, P00030).
ARMY
E.W. Howell Co., Inc., Woodbury, N.Y., was awarded on Jun. 18, 2009 a $ 15,493,883 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction addition and alteration of existing Army Reserve Center (ARC). Work is to be performed in Suffolk County, N.Y., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 20, 2010. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with six (6) bids received. Corps of Engineers, Louisville District, Louisville, Ky., was the contracting activity (W912QR-09-C-0040).
Great Lakes Dredge & 7 Dock Co., LLC. Oak Brook, Ill., was awarded on Jun. 18, 2009 a $ 28,834,000 firm-fixed-price contract for WBV-14c.1, West Bank and Vicinity, New Orleans, Louisiana, Hurricane Protection Project, Westwego to Harvey Canal, New Westwego Pumping Stations to Orleans Village Levee, Third Enlargement. Work is to be performed in Jefferson parish, La., with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2010. Bids were solicited via FedTeds with three (3) bids received. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, New Orleans District, New Orleans, La., is the contracting activity (W912P8-09-C-0071).
Advanced Interactive Systems, Inc. Orlando Fla., was awarded on Jun. 16, 2009 a $ 6,351,670 firm-fixed-price contract to procure the Light Armor Range Complex-C for U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center. Work is to be performed in Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., with an estimated completion date of Jun. 26, 2010. Bids were solicited using the World Wide Web with two (2) bids received. U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W91CRB-09-C-0080).
Austal USA, Mobile Ala., was awarded a $99,557,548 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-08-C-2217) on Jun. 17, 2009, for long lead time material (LLTM) for Ships 2 and 3 of the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) Program. This contract provides LLTM for main propulsion engines, aluminum, waterjets, reduction gears, generators, and other components to support construction of JHSV Ships 2 and 3, commencing in June 2010. The LLTM procured or manufactured for construction or installation in JHSV 2 and 3 will be subsumed with their associated costs into their respective ship construction line items upon award of construction contracts for JHSV 2 and 3. Work will be performed in Detroit, Mich., (38 percent); Chesapeake, Va., (18 percent); Henderson, Australia, (13 percent); Gulfport, Miss., (10 percent); Ravenswood, W.Va., (9 percent); and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., (4 percent); Mobile, Ala., (3 percent); Auburn, Ind., (2.6 percent); Winter Haven, Fla., (1 percent); Gardena, Calif., (1 percent); and Davenport, Iowa, (.4 percent). Work is expected to be complete by July 2013. Contract funds will not expire before the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command is the contracting activity.
J&R Tool Inc. Loogootee, Ind.*, (N00164-09-D-JS60); Process Development & Fabrication Inc., Brazil, Ind., * (N00164-09-D-JS61); C&S Machine, PlainVille, Ind.*, (N00164-09-D-JS62), and American Manufacturing Solutions, North Vernon, Ind.*, (N00164-09-D-JS63), are being awarded a $49,900,000 multiple award, ($5,000 min) indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract for machine shop services used for the fabrication of prototype hardware and items requiring low rate production. This contract will provide prototype fabrication, low rate production, prototyped development support to include but not limited to items manufactured from: metals, polymers, ceramics, fabrics, woods, glass, masonry materials, and coatings for such materials. Work will be performed in Loogootee, Ind.; Brazil, Ind., PlainVille, Ind., and North Vernon, Ind., as determined by each task order, and is expected to be completed by May 2013. These four contractors will compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the contract, therefore, definitive location percentages for where the work will be performed cannot be determined at this time. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with unlimited proposals solicited and 15 offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Ce! nter, Cr ane, Ind., is the contracting activity.
Rockwell Collins, Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is being awarded a $31,411,443 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for ultra-high frequency satellite communications and high frequency communications waveform software support for the network enterprise domain under the Joint Program Executive Office Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS). This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $45,401,519. Work will be performed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is expected to be completed by June 2011. If all options are exercised, work could continue until June 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured and one offer was received via the SPAWAR e-Commerce Central website. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N00039-09-D-0021).
Converteam, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., is being awarded a $22,984,640 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-09-C-4203) for the DDG 1000 Baseline Tactical High Voltage Power Subsystem (HVPS) for use in the Navy's integrated power system land based test site. The DDG 1000 HVPS includes an advanced induction motor, motor drive, harmonic filters and resistors for dynamic braking and neutral grounding. The HVPS distributes electrical power for the ship's turbine-generators to the various electrical loads and also provides for electric propulsion. These components will meet the same specification established by the DDG 1000 shipyards for the lead ships installation. Work will be performed in Pittsburgh, Pa., and is expected to be completed by March 2011. 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.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Systems Integration - Owego, N.Y., is being awarded a $13,819,474 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of Specialized Test Equipment used to perform depot level repairs to the Common Cockpit Avionics Suite Components for the MH-60. The Specialized Test Equipment consist of one Audio Management Computer, one Relay Assembly, one Flight Management Computer, one Mission Computer, and the Communication Systems Controller testers. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., (50 percent); Owego, N.Y., (25 percent); and Farmingdale, N.Y., (25 percent), and is expected to be completed in Oct. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., (N68335-09-C-0149).
T B Penick & Sons, Inc., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded $10,199,734 for firm-fixed price task order #0005 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62473-08-D-8618) for construction of a Marine Corps Reserve Training Center at the Naval Air Station Lemoore. The work to be performed provides for construction of two new single story buildings to provide training facilities, administrative spaces and support spaces in a Reserve Training Center and a Vehicle Maintenance Facility for Marine Wing Support Squadron 473, Detachment Alpha and incidental related work. The facility will replace the existing inadequate facilities. The task order also contains one unexercised option, which if exercised would increase cumulative task order value to $10,482,734. Work will be performed in Lemoore, Calif., and is expected to be completed by July 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Five proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.
Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $9,983,058 cost-plus fixed-fee delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-06-G-0001) for Cuff and Yoke conceptual design and preliminary tooling release for the H-1 aircraft, to include a rotor parametric study. Work will be performed in Ft. Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in October 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $5,626,065 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Northrop Grumman Corp., Rolling Meadows, Ill., is being awarded an $8,481,024 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 3 Electro-Optic Third Generation Consoles for the Governments of Australia (2) and Finland (1), to include spares, installation kits, and ancillary equipment, in support of F/A-18 and MH-60R/S weapon systems. Work will be performed in Rolling Meadows, Ill., and is expected to be completed in August 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract combines purchases for the Government of Australia, ($4,426,670; 52 percent) and the Government of Finland, ($4,054,354; 48 percent), under the Foreign Military Sales Program. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-09-C-0333).
Navistar Defense LLC, Warrenville, Ill., is being awarded a $6,413,738 firm-fixed-priced delivery order #0004 modification under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5032) for the procurement of OCONUS field service representative mechanics, back ramp retrofit kits, and several contract data requirement lists. This order is in support of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicle Program. The MRAP vehicles are armored vehicles with blast resistant underbodies designed to protect the crew from mine blasts, fragmentary, and direct fire weapons. Work will be performed in West Point, Miss., and in Iraq, and work is expected to be completed August 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $7,291,171 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The base contract was competitively awarded, and the new requirements are sole source additions to the contract. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
US Foodservice Lexington, Lexington, S.C., is being awarded a maximum $40,857,062 firm fixed price, prime vendor contract for food and beverage support. Other location of performance is Lexington, South Carolina. Using services are Army Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Non-DOD customers in South Carolina. The original proposal was Web solicited with four responses. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is exercising the fourth option. The date of performance completion is Jun. 19, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM300-08-D-3057).
AIR FORCE
The Air Force is awarding an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to SNC Telecommunications of Washington, D.C., for $23,000,000. This contract action will provide Airman Battle System Fire Resistant Gear (coats/shirts/trousers). At this time, $2,694,600 has been obligated. ASC/648th AESS/TAC, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8621-09-D-6287, Delivery order 0001).
The Air Force is modifying an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to Jacobs Technology, Inc., of Tullahoma, Tenn., for $25,083,864. This contract will provide Technical, Engineering and Acquisition Support at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and various other tenant organizations. This modification is to increase work requirement. At this time no funds have been obligated. AAC/PKES, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity (FA9200-07-C-0006, P00030).
ARMY
E.W. Howell Co., Inc., Woodbury, N.Y., was awarded on Jun. 18, 2009 a $ 15,493,883 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction addition and alteration of existing Army Reserve Center (ARC). Work is to be performed in Suffolk County, N.Y., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 20, 2010. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with six (6) bids received. Corps of Engineers, Louisville District, Louisville, Ky., was the contracting activity (W912QR-09-C-0040).
Great Lakes Dredge & 7 Dock Co., LLC. Oak Brook, Ill., was awarded on Jun. 18, 2009 a $ 28,834,000 firm-fixed-price contract for WBV-14c.1, West Bank and Vicinity, New Orleans, Louisiana, Hurricane Protection Project, Westwego to Harvey Canal, New Westwego Pumping Stations to Orleans Village Levee, Third Enlargement. Work is to be performed in Jefferson parish, La., with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2010. Bids were solicited via FedTeds with three (3) bids received. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, New Orleans District, New Orleans, La., is the contracting activity (W912P8-09-C-0071).
Advanced Interactive Systems, Inc. Orlando Fla., was awarded on Jun. 16, 2009 a $ 6,351,670 firm-fixed-price contract to procure the Light Armor Range Complex-C for U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center. Work is to be performed in Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., with an estimated completion date of Jun. 26, 2010. Bids were solicited using the World Wide Web with two (2) bids received. U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W91CRB-09-C-0080).
Flight to Nation's Capitol Honors World War II Veterans
By Samantha L. QuigleyAmerican Forces Press Service
June 19, 2009 - When an "honor flight" from Long Island, N.Y., lands here tomorrow with 31 mostly World War II veterans aboard, it's likely to be met in the same manner as others before it: with much applause and fanfare. The Honor Flight Network is a nonprofit group that transports World War II survivors and other veterans who may be terminally ill to the nation's capital to visit and reflect at their memorials. Hundreds of veterans have taken advantage of the opportunity to visit the national memorials at no cost.
"The reason I'm involved in this is to make a difference, and I feel that we are," said retired Army Command Sgt. Maj. Eric L. Haney, whose book, "Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counter-terrorist Unit," was the basis for the hit TV series "The Unit."
Haney also is a spokesman for Theragenics Corp., a partner with the Honor Flight Network for this year's honor flights. On behalf of the corporation, Haney said, he hopes to educate the veterans about the risk of prostate cancer and available treatments.
"We've helped make it possible for hundreds of veterans who would never have gone to D.C. to take a trip to their memorial," he said. "So many of them tell me it's an experience they will never forget, [and] many say it was the best day they've had in a long time. I'm grateful to give back to them. On a larger scale, we're helping to spread a message that is so important but rarely discussed: men's health."
The Long Island veterans will begin their one-day excursion around 10:30 a.m. and wrap it up around 8 p.m. In between, they'll visit the World War II Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery and the Marine Corps War Memorial, more commonly referred to as the Iwo Jima Memorial.
The experience understandably is an emotional one for the veterans, but it also has an impact on the relatives and guardians who accompany each flight.
"The trip allowed me conversation time with men and women who became remarkable heroes by their response to duty," said Dr. Jack Griffeth, who served as a medical guardian aboard an Honor Flight from Atlanta earlier this year, in his blog on the tohonortocure.com Web site.
"I conversed with men who stormed the beaches of Normandy, survived the bombing of Pearl Harbor, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, leaped from the sinking [USS] Yorktown, saw the flag raised on Iwo Jima, liberated the prisoners from Japanese and German prisons ... [and] took on shrapnel and continued to fight," he said.
Griffeth said the veterans often told their stories through tears, and occasionally with enthusiasm and excitement. The doctor said he was only too enthused to relay all he'd learned when he encountered groups of students who had volunteered to assist the veterans.
"I went up to several groups ... exclaiming, 'Remember reading about Pearl Harbor? This guy was at the airfield during the attack! This guy was on the Yorktown when it was torpedoed and sank! Remember reading about D-Day? This guy was on Omaha Beach,'" he wrote. "'These old guys you are pushing in wheelchairs saved the world!'"
The kids truly seemed to get it, he said.
So, as the plane lands tomorrow and the veterans make their rounds, a new generation has a chance to learn about The Greatest Generation from the men and women who earned that moniker.
The Honor Flight Network has four more flights planned this year.
Commander Calls for More Enablers to Support Special Ops Missions
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
June 19, 2009 - With heavy demand on special operations capabilities and limitations on how quickly these forces can grow, it's critical that the services develop more capabilities to support special operators, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command told Congress yesterday. Navy Adm. Eric T. Olson told a Senate Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities that it's impossible to increase special operations forces by more than 3 to 5 percent per year, primarily due to the enormous training requirements involved.
"This growth rate will not meet the already-obvious appetite for the effects of [special operations forces] in forward operating areas," he conceded.
Eighty-five percent of special operators have deployed to U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility during the last several years, he reported. And while special operators continue their missions as trainers, advisors and combat partners around the world – operating in 106 countries during fiscal 2009 alone – Olson said heavy demands within the Centcom region have detracted from efforts elsewhere.
"We have been in fewer places with fewer people less often and for shorter periods of time around the rest of the world because of our commitment in Centcom," he told the senators.
The mission requirement in Centcom isn't likely to diminish any time soon, Olson said, even as U.S. forces begin drawing down in Iraq. And as more troops deploy into Afghanistan, Olson expressed concern that it will leave his special operators lacking in the airlift capability they need to operate effectively.
So while growing specific special operations capabilities, Olson said, the best way to mitigate demands on these forces is to develop and sustain supporting capabilities within the services beyond their own organic needs that can be used to directly support special operations commanders. This would enhance the impact of forward-deployed special operations forces without placing additional demand on their own limited enabling units, the admiral told the Senate panel.
Olson rattled off the "enabling capabilities" he needs the services to provide more of: mobility, aerial sensors, field medics, remote logistics, engineering planners, construction, intelligence, regional specialists, interpreters and translators, communications, dog teams, close-air support specialists and security forces, among them.
These forces, if provided in greater numbers, would free up more special operations operators to focus more directly on their missions, he said.
"We are and will be dependent upon our service partners for key force enablers," he said. "Assigned at the unit or detachment level to support joint [special operations forces] commanders away from main bases, the effects of such a combined force can be impressive."
Meanwhile, Olson said, he's focused on growing special operations forces in a responsible way that maintains their unique capabilities and emphasizes the human element over equipment.
"Fundamental to this effort is the recognition that humans are more important than hardware, and that quality is more important than quantity," he said. "Investments in weapons platforms and technologies are sub-optimized if we fail to develop the people upon whom their effective employment depends."
So within Special Operations Command, Olson said, "we strive first to select and nurture the extraordinary operator and then to provide the most operationally relevant equipment."
The complexity of current strategic environments and those likely to be faced in the future raises the bar on what special operators must deliver, he said. It "requires that our [special operations forces] operators maintain not only the highest levels of warfighting expertise, but also cultural knowledge and diplomacy skills," he told the panel.
Toward this end, Special Operations Command is developing what Olson calls "3-D operators." These troops will make up a multi-dimensional force he said will be trained to "lay the groundwork in the myriad diplomatic, development, and defense activities that contribute to our government's pursuit of our vital national interests."
American Forces Press Service
June 19, 2009 - With heavy demand on special operations capabilities and limitations on how quickly these forces can grow, it's critical that the services develop more capabilities to support special operators, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command told Congress yesterday. Navy Adm. Eric T. Olson told a Senate Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities that it's impossible to increase special operations forces by more than 3 to 5 percent per year, primarily due to the enormous training requirements involved.
"This growth rate will not meet the already-obvious appetite for the effects of [special operations forces] in forward operating areas," he conceded.
Eighty-five percent of special operators have deployed to U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility during the last several years, he reported. And while special operators continue their missions as trainers, advisors and combat partners around the world – operating in 106 countries during fiscal 2009 alone – Olson said heavy demands within the Centcom region have detracted from efforts elsewhere.
"We have been in fewer places with fewer people less often and for shorter periods of time around the rest of the world because of our commitment in Centcom," he told the senators.
The mission requirement in Centcom isn't likely to diminish any time soon, Olson said, even as U.S. forces begin drawing down in Iraq. And as more troops deploy into Afghanistan, Olson expressed concern that it will leave his special operators lacking in the airlift capability they need to operate effectively.
So while growing specific special operations capabilities, Olson said, the best way to mitigate demands on these forces is to develop and sustain supporting capabilities within the services beyond their own organic needs that can be used to directly support special operations commanders. This would enhance the impact of forward-deployed special operations forces without placing additional demand on their own limited enabling units, the admiral told the Senate panel.
Olson rattled off the "enabling capabilities" he needs the services to provide more of: mobility, aerial sensors, field medics, remote logistics, engineering planners, construction, intelligence, regional specialists, interpreters and translators, communications, dog teams, close-air support specialists and security forces, among them.
These forces, if provided in greater numbers, would free up more special operations operators to focus more directly on their missions, he said.
"We are and will be dependent upon our service partners for key force enablers," he said. "Assigned at the unit or detachment level to support joint [special operations forces] commanders away from main bases, the effects of such a combined force can be impressive."
Meanwhile, Olson said, he's focused on growing special operations forces in a responsible way that maintains their unique capabilities and emphasizes the human element over equipment.
"Fundamental to this effort is the recognition that humans are more important than hardware, and that quality is more important than quantity," he said. "Investments in weapons platforms and technologies are sub-optimized if we fail to develop the people upon whom their effective employment depends."
So within Special Operations Command, Olson said, "we strive first to select and nurture the extraordinary operator and then to provide the most operationally relevant equipment."
The complexity of current strategic environments and those likely to be faced in the future raises the bar on what special operators must deliver, he said. It "requires that our [special operations forces] operators maintain not only the highest levels of warfighting expertise, but also cultural knowledge and diplomacy skills," he told the panel.
Toward this end, Special Operations Command is developing what Olson calls "3-D operators." These troops will make up a multi-dimensional force he said will be trained to "lay the groundwork in the myriad diplomatic, development, and defense activities that contribute to our government's pursuit of our vital national interests."
Pentagon Delegation to Visit Beijing for Military Talks
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
June 19, 2009 - Defense Department officials hope for more military-to-military engagement with China as a result of the 10th U.S.-China Defense Consultative Talks, a senior defense official said today. The official, speaking on background, said Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy will head the U.S. delegation. Her counterpart is Lt. Gen. Ma Xiaotian, the deputy chief of the Peoples' Liberation Army's general staff. The meetings in Beijing are scheduled for June 23 and 24.
Flournoy also will visit Tokyo and Seoul, the South Korean capital, during the trip.
The talks are the forum for strategic conversations between the nations, and allow the Chinese and U.S. militaries "to build cooperative capacity, foster institutional understanding and develop a shared strategic vision," the official said. The talks are the first since President Barack Obama met Chinese President Hu Jintao in April and the first in the continuing series since Obama took office.
"We look to this to establish a framework for U.S.-China military-to-military relations, translate common interests into concrete action, expand those areas where we can cooperate, discuss expectations for behavior and regional security affairs, and build a plan for military-to-military exchanges for the rest of 2009," he said.
The meetings come at a tense time in northeastern Asia, with North Korea testing a nuclear warhead and launching intermediate and intercontinental missiles. That situation is helping to drive cooperation between China and the United States.
"We are working with China to try and achieve ever greater transparency," the official said. Military-to-military exchanges encourage this transparency and may help U.S. officials understand the continuing Chinese military build-up, he added.
Cooperation with China is on the upswing, the official said, noting that China has sent a ship to the Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy patrols.
"The contacts and the dialogue that goes on in these visits will help transparency by clarifying intentions, clarifying world views, clarifying strategies," the official said. "And I'm quite positive that, given the state of the world the way it is, we'll find many more ways where the United States and China can operate with common interests in mind."
The delegations will discuss Chinese harassment of U.S. survey ships. "The incidents between our ships and their ships are a matter of record," the official said. "We have a vehicle for [dealing with] that: the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement from 1997. We would hope to reinvigorate those discussions, so that we can make sure that we're both operating in a safe and prudent manner."
In Seoul, the delegations will discuss not only North Korea, but also the joint vision statement agreed to between Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. "The vision statement is ... a very top-level, high-level view," the official said. "It's necessary to periodically reaffirm mutual goals and objectives within each of our alliance relationships."
The talks in Seoul will reaffirm continued support for ongoing efforts such as tour normalization for U.S. servicemembers, relocation of U.S. forces in South Korea and continued adjustments to both Korean and U.S. force structures "in lieu of the changing threat and the exceptional capabilities of the Republic of Korea military forces now," the official said.
"We're working to continue the strong relationship that we have," he said, "and make sure that we're adapting the alliance for future -- for the current and future conditions, and not fall into the trap of looking only at one threat."
American Forces Press Service
June 19, 2009 - Defense Department officials hope for more military-to-military engagement with China as a result of the 10th U.S.-China Defense Consultative Talks, a senior defense official said today. The official, speaking on background, said Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy will head the U.S. delegation. Her counterpart is Lt. Gen. Ma Xiaotian, the deputy chief of the Peoples' Liberation Army's general staff. The meetings in Beijing are scheduled for June 23 and 24.
Flournoy also will visit Tokyo and Seoul, the South Korean capital, during the trip.
The talks are the forum for strategic conversations between the nations, and allow the Chinese and U.S. militaries "to build cooperative capacity, foster institutional understanding and develop a shared strategic vision," the official said. The talks are the first since President Barack Obama met Chinese President Hu Jintao in April and the first in the continuing series since Obama took office.
"We look to this to establish a framework for U.S.-China military-to-military relations, translate common interests into concrete action, expand those areas where we can cooperate, discuss expectations for behavior and regional security affairs, and build a plan for military-to-military exchanges for the rest of 2009," he said.
The meetings come at a tense time in northeastern Asia, with North Korea testing a nuclear warhead and launching intermediate and intercontinental missiles. That situation is helping to drive cooperation between China and the United States.
"We are working with China to try and achieve ever greater transparency," the official said. Military-to-military exchanges encourage this transparency and may help U.S. officials understand the continuing Chinese military build-up, he added.
Cooperation with China is on the upswing, the official said, noting that China has sent a ship to the Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy patrols.
"The contacts and the dialogue that goes on in these visits will help transparency by clarifying intentions, clarifying world views, clarifying strategies," the official said. "And I'm quite positive that, given the state of the world the way it is, we'll find many more ways where the United States and China can operate with common interests in mind."
The delegations will discuss Chinese harassment of U.S. survey ships. "The incidents between our ships and their ships are a matter of record," the official said. "We have a vehicle for [dealing with] that: the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement from 1997. We would hope to reinvigorate those discussions, so that we can make sure that we're both operating in a safe and prudent manner."
In Seoul, the delegations will discuss not only North Korea, but also the joint vision statement agreed to between Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. "The vision statement is ... a very top-level, high-level view," the official said. "It's necessary to periodically reaffirm mutual goals and objectives within each of our alliance relationships."
The talks in Seoul will reaffirm continued support for ongoing efforts such as tour normalization for U.S. servicemembers, relocation of U.S. forces in South Korea and continued adjustments to both Korean and U.S. force structures "in lieu of the changing threat and the exceptional capabilities of the Republic of Korea military forces now," the official said.
"We're working to continue the strong relationship that we have," he said, "and make sure that we're adapting the alliance for future -- for the current and future conditions, and not fall into the trap of looking only at one threat."
Declassified Documents Reveal the Inner Workings and Intelligence Gathering Operations of the National Security Agency
For more information contact:
Matthew Aid - 202/994-7000
http://www.nsarchive.org
Washington, DC, June 19, 2009 - Declassified documents confirm that prior to the launch of the first spy satellites into orbit by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in the early 1960s, the Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) collected by the National Security Agency and its predecessor organizations was virtually the only viable means of gathering intelligence information about what was going on inside the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, North Vietnam, and other communist nations. Yet, for the most part, the NSA and its foreign partners could collect only bits and pieces of huge numbers of low-level, uncoded, plaintext messages, according to Archive visiting fellow, Matthew M. Aid, who today posted a collection of declassified documents obtained for his new book The Secret Sentry on the Archive's Web site.
The Secret Sentry discloses that the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 was far from the first time when U.S. government officials, including senior military commanders and the White House, "cherry picked" intelligence information to fit preconceived notions or policies and ignored intelligence which ran contrary to their expectations. The Secret Sentry and the documents posted today show that widespread manipulation of intelligence also occurred during the Korean and Vietnam Wars for example, when Washington ignored intelligence on Chinese intervention in Korea, resulting in catastrophic consequences.
The Secret Sentry also details how since the end of World War II, constant changes in computer, telecommunications, and communications security technologies have been the most important determinants of NSA's ability to produce intelligence. NSA has oftentimes found itself behind the curve in terms of its ability or willingness to adapt to technological changes, with delays and bureaucratic inertia causing immense harm to the agency's ability to perform its mission. As a result, during the past four decades NSA has dramatically increased the amount of the raw material that it collects, even while it has produced less and less intelligence information.
According to Matthew Aid's informed sources, during the Reagan administration in the 1980s, NSA processed, analyzed, and reported approximately 20 percent of the communications traffic it intercepted. Today, that number has dropped to less than 1 percent. For example, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, NSA was unable to process 60 percent of the Iraqi messages it intercepted, while the U.S. military SIGINT units participating in the invasion processed less than 2 percent of the Iraqi military communications traffic that they intercepted.
Today's posting of 24 documents consists of a selection of reports and memoranda prepared by NSA officials concerning the role played by Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) in selected military conflicts and crises, a number of classified internal histories written by NSA historians on key events in the agency's past, and a selection of declassified articles from NSA internal journals.
Archive Visiting Fellow Matthew M. Aid obtained the documents while conducting research for his new book, The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency (Bloomsbury, 2009). For the National Security Archive, Aid has edited a comprehensive set of declassified documents on the history of the NSA and its predecessor organizations from 1945 to the present, which ProQuest will publish later this year.
http://www.nsarchive.org
Matthew Aid - 202/994-7000
http://www.nsarchive.org
Washington, DC, June 19, 2009 - Declassified documents confirm that prior to the launch of the first spy satellites into orbit by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in the early 1960s, the Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) collected by the National Security Agency and its predecessor organizations was virtually the only viable means of gathering intelligence information about what was going on inside the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, North Vietnam, and other communist nations. Yet, for the most part, the NSA and its foreign partners could collect only bits and pieces of huge numbers of low-level, uncoded, plaintext messages, according to Archive visiting fellow, Matthew M. Aid, who today posted a collection of declassified documents obtained for his new book The Secret Sentry on the Archive's Web site.
The Secret Sentry discloses that the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 was far from the first time when U.S. government officials, including senior military commanders and the White House, "cherry picked" intelligence information to fit preconceived notions or policies and ignored intelligence which ran contrary to their expectations. The Secret Sentry and the documents posted today show that widespread manipulation of intelligence also occurred during the Korean and Vietnam Wars for example, when Washington ignored intelligence on Chinese intervention in Korea, resulting in catastrophic consequences.
The Secret Sentry also details how since the end of World War II, constant changes in computer, telecommunications, and communications security technologies have been the most important determinants of NSA's ability to produce intelligence. NSA has oftentimes found itself behind the curve in terms of its ability or willingness to adapt to technological changes, with delays and bureaucratic inertia causing immense harm to the agency's ability to perform its mission. As a result, during the past four decades NSA has dramatically increased the amount of the raw material that it collects, even while it has produced less and less intelligence information.
According to Matthew Aid's informed sources, during the Reagan administration in the 1980s, NSA processed, analyzed, and reported approximately 20 percent of the communications traffic it intercepted. Today, that number has dropped to less than 1 percent. For example, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, NSA was unable to process 60 percent of the Iraqi messages it intercepted, while the U.S. military SIGINT units participating in the invasion processed less than 2 percent of the Iraqi military communications traffic that they intercepted.
Today's posting of 24 documents consists of a selection of reports and memoranda prepared by NSA officials concerning the role played by Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) in selected military conflicts and crises, a number of classified internal histories written by NSA historians on key events in the agency's past, and a selection of declassified articles from NSA internal journals.
Archive Visiting Fellow Matthew M. Aid obtained the documents while conducting research for his new book, The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency (Bloomsbury, 2009). For the National Security Archive, Aid has edited a comprehensive set of declassified documents on the history of the NSA and its predecessor organizations from 1945 to the present, which ProQuest will publish later this year.
http://www.nsarchive.org
Careers in Corrections
Editor's Note: Guest is former USMC; and, potential career path after military service.
On June 26, 2009, Conversations with American Heroes at the Watering Hole will feature a discussion with corrections official Tracy E. Barnhart.
Program Date: June 26, 2009
Program Time: 2100 hours, Pacific
Topic: Careers in Corrections
Listen Live:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2009/06/27/Careers-in-Corrections
About the Guest
After completion of a Marine Corps combat tour of duty in Iraq in 1991, Tracy E. Barnhart completed the National Registry requirements as an Emergency Medical Technician. He responded to calls of emergency medical nature for over three years until he became a police officer for the City of Galion (Ohio). After three years on patrol he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Later leaving the City of Galion Tracy E. Barnhart was hired as the Chief of Police for the City of Edison (Ohio). After 3 years as chief of police, and with a total of ten years experience in law enforcement he changed careers leaping into the realm of corrections where he is currently employed at the Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility.
Tracy E. Barnhart is the Law Enforcement coordinator the Tri-Rivers Public Safety Adult Education where he designs and coordinates continuing educational courses for law enforcement and correctional officers. He has established courses on verbal de-escalation, criminal behavior analysis, use of force, and ground fighting and take down techniques for law enforcement.
About the Watering Hole
The Watering Hole is police slang for a location cops go off-duty to blow off steam and talk about work and life. Sometimes funny; sometimes serious; but, always interesting.
About the Host
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster was a sworn member of the Los Angeles Police Department for 24 years. He retired in 2003 at the rank of Lieutenant. He holds a bachelor’s from the Union Institute and University in Criminal Justice Management and a Master’s Degree in Public Financial Management from California State University, Fullerton; and, has completed his doctoral course work. Raymond E. Foster has been a part-time lecturer at California State University, Fullerton and Fresno; and is currently a Criminal Justice Department chair, faculty advisor and lecturer with the Union Institute and University. He has experience teaching upper division courses in Law Enforcement, public policy, Public Safety Technology and leadership. Raymond is an experienced author who has published numerous articles in a wide range of venues including magazines such as Government Technology, Mobile Government, Airborne Law Enforcement Magazine, and Police One. He has appeared on the History Channel and radio programs in the United States and Europe as subject matter expert in technological applications in Law Enforcement.
Listen, call, join us at the Watering Hole:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2009/06/27/Careers-in-Corrections
Program Contact Information
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA
editor@police-writers.com
909.599.7530
On June 26, 2009, Conversations with American Heroes at the Watering Hole will feature a discussion with corrections official Tracy E. Barnhart.
Program Date: June 26, 2009
Program Time: 2100 hours, Pacific
Topic: Careers in Corrections
Listen Live:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2009/06/27/Careers-in-Corrections
About the Guest
After completion of a Marine Corps combat tour of duty in Iraq in 1991, Tracy E. Barnhart completed the National Registry requirements as an Emergency Medical Technician. He responded to calls of emergency medical nature for over three years until he became a police officer for the City of Galion (Ohio). After three years on patrol he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Later leaving the City of Galion Tracy E. Barnhart was hired as the Chief of Police for the City of Edison (Ohio). After 3 years as chief of police, and with a total of ten years experience in law enforcement he changed careers leaping into the realm of corrections where he is currently employed at the Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility.
Tracy E. Barnhart is the Law Enforcement coordinator the Tri-Rivers Public Safety Adult Education where he designs and coordinates continuing educational courses for law enforcement and correctional officers. He has established courses on verbal de-escalation, criminal behavior analysis, use of force, and ground fighting and take down techniques for law enforcement.
About the Watering Hole
The Watering Hole is police slang for a location cops go off-duty to blow off steam and talk about work and life. Sometimes funny; sometimes serious; but, always interesting.
About the Host
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster was a sworn member of the Los Angeles Police Department for 24 years. He retired in 2003 at the rank of Lieutenant. He holds a bachelor’s from the Union Institute and University in Criminal Justice Management and a Master’s Degree in Public Financial Management from California State University, Fullerton; and, has completed his doctoral course work. Raymond E. Foster has been a part-time lecturer at California State University, Fullerton and Fresno; and is currently a Criminal Justice Department chair, faculty advisor and lecturer with the Union Institute and University. He has experience teaching upper division courses in Law Enforcement, public policy, Public Safety Technology and leadership. Raymond is an experienced author who has published numerous articles in a wide range of venues including magazines such as Government Technology, Mobile Government, Airborne Law Enforcement Magazine, and Police One. He has appeared on the History Channel and radio programs in the United States and Europe as subject matter expert in technological applications in Law Enforcement.
Listen, call, join us at the Watering Hole:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2009/06/27/Careers-in-Corrections
Program Contact Information
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA
editor@police-writers.com
909.599.7530
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