By Judith Snyderman
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 26, 2009 - The new Defense Department Web site is designed to make military news and information more accessible, and also invites greater participation from the public, the department's top public affairs official said yesterday. "[Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates] wanted to hear back from people more. He felt that he couldn't really engage with people outside of the senior leadership that he talks to here in the building," Price Floyd, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, told bloggers and online journalists during a "DoDLive" bloggers roundtable.
Prominent on the Web site –- at http://www.Defense.gov -- is a new "We Want to Hear from You" feature that invites users to ask questions and vote on policy issues they want explained. Floyd said submissions will be tallied every few weeks, and that Gates and other senior leaders will reply to questions that garner the most interest.
Floyd said the redesign places greater emphasis on social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, citing anecdotal evidence of the benefits.
"Some of these stories about the men and women being able to do homework with their kids back here in the States in real time because of these social networking sites and the software that is out there, I just think those stories are amazing," Floyd said.
A new defense policy is under review to make access to social networking sites from "dot.mil" accounts more uniform across the services. Floyd noted that the policy will balance both the benefits and legitimate security concerns related to social networking.
"In the past, when you'd send a letter home to your mother or family member, that was the one person who got it, and they might tell a couple of friends what was in there," he said. "But the nature of the new technology is that you put an update on your Facebook or Twitter account and thousands of people know about it right away, and they can forward it to thousands of people. So, operational security is possibly even more important than it was before."
Other redesigned "Defense.gov" features provide quicker access to pages and services -- such as the Pentagon Channel and Defense Department news -- that are most sought by Web site visitors. A subscription area for RSS feeds and widgets allows visitors to pull news stories and updates to their own sites automatically.
While the new site replaces http://www.DefenseLink.mil as the department's main Internet entry portal, the target audience remains unchanged, Floyd said. "No. 1 is our internal audience of about 3 million, both active-duty military and civilian folks," he said. "Another one is the U.S. public, and the third is those overseas."
Floyd said that the number of people getting their news from social networking sources is growing; however, "we don't just want to do this to do it; we want to do it because it has impact and so that we have a real engagement with people back and forth."
Floyd invited bloggers and the public to send him a "tweet." Visit http://www.Defense.gov and click on Twitter in the left-hand column.
(Judith Snyderman works in the Defense Media Activity's emerging media directorate.)
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Company Goes Extra Mile for Military Employees
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By Samantha L. QuigleyAmerican Forces Press Service
Aug. 26, 2009 - Waking up for work rarely ranks high on people's "favorites" lists, but John Sookikian said he is perfectly happy to be in the minority. Sookikian, a first sergeant in the Army Reserve, works for Consolidated Electrical Distributors Inc., one of 15 recipients of the 2009 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.
The award recognizes public and private employers for going above and beyond what's required by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. The National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve manages the award program.
"The company is just fantastic," Sookikian said. "I love getting up in the morning and coming to work, because I know I work with [great] people."
In the seven years he's worked for Consolidated Electrical Distributors, Sookikian has been deployed for an accumulated total of about four years. And each time, he said, the response has been the same.
"They didn't even blink an eye," he said. "In 2003, I deployed and actually only had 15 minutes to notify my manager. He [had] no issues, just 'Go do what you've got to do.'"
Within six months of returning from that deployment, Sookikian deployed again. He was to be gone a year, but Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, then a lieutenant general in charge of training Iraqi security forces, needed him to stay longer.
"General Petraeus asked if I could stay another six months, which I did," he said. "When I finished with that six months, I was ready to come home, and they asked me to do another mission [and] extended me for another six months."
Upon his return, he requested a transfer from Consolidated Electrical's branch in Columbia, S.C., to the one in Charleston to be closer to his two sons.
It was a mere six months before Uncle Sam requested his services again.
"I got deployed again for another 18 months, and again, they didn't blink an eye," Sookikian said.
In fact, his co-workers helped to collect 20 boxes of toys and clothing to support a program he had set up to benefit the children of Iraq, where he had served during each deployment.
Consolidated Electrical Distributors, with nearly 1,000 branches worldwide, took care of Sookikian's fellow soldiers as well.
"They made sure that my soldiers had goodies and coffee," he said. "Every two weeks, they would send 10 pounds of coffee.
"It was actually pretty cool, because the manager here in Charleston was just doing it on his own," Sookikian added. "Then the district manager found out that he was doing it, and he made him start expensing it so that the company would pay for the coffee and the goodies."
And despite his protests that he didn't deserve them, Sookikian received profit-sharing checks while he was deployed.
Management also maintained contact with the citizen-soldier's family during the deployments. "Even the president of the company, who's never met me ... always [asks], 'So, how's John doing?'"
All of this is on top of benefits that are more common these days, but no less important. For instance, the company provides full pay and benefits while the employee is deployed.
"It makes it really, really, really easy to be loyal to them," Sookikian said.
He was in Wisconsin on military-related business when he got the call from his supervisor, Mike Goss, telling him the company had been selected for the award.
Sookikian was thrilled, as was Goss, though the latter admittedly was a bit shocked.
"I was aware our company had made the 'short list' of the final 30 companies in June," Goss said. "When I got the call, ... I was quite surprised. The notification that we were selected made me feel quite proud and honored to receive such a prestigious award."
Iraqi Forces Detain Five Terrorism Suspects
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 26, 2009 - Acting on warrants issued by Iraqi courts, Iraqi forces arrested five terrorism suspects in recent days, killing another who attacked them while they were serving one of the warrants. Iraqi special operations forces arrested a suspected terrorist wanted on a Ramadi Criminal Court warrant, plus two others who attacked them while they were serving the warrant, in the city of Khaladiyah in Iraq's Anbar province Aug. 24. Another of the attackers was killed.
The targeted suspect -- an Iraqi police officer -- is suspected of killing a senior Iraqi police officer, taking part in the recruiting of terrorists and providing a suicide vest for an attack against Iraqi civilians, officials said. During his arrest, the Iraqi special operations unit came under fire from multiple directions and responded with appropriate force, killing one attacker and wounding another. An Iraqi soldier also was wounded.
In Baghdad on Aug. 23, Iraqi special operations forces, along with U.S. forces advisors, arrested a suspected terrorist on a warrant issued by the Central Investigative Court of Karkh. The suspect was wanted for kidnapping, murder and attacking Iraqi security forces.
In Iraq's Ninevah province Aug. 22, Iraqi commandos, with U.S. forces advisors, arrested a suspected terrorist on a warrant issued by the Central Investigative Court of Kharakh for suspicion of attacks on Iraqi security forces and facilitating terrorist movement throughout the province.
(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)
Aug. 26, 2009 - Acting on warrants issued by Iraqi courts, Iraqi forces arrested five terrorism suspects in recent days, killing another who attacked them while they were serving one of the warrants. Iraqi special operations forces arrested a suspected terrorist wanted on a Ramadi Criminal Court warrant, plus two others who attacked them while they were serving the warrant, in the city of Khaladiyah in Iraq's Anbar province Aug. 24. Another of the attackers was killed.
The targeted suspect -- an Iraqi police officer -- is suspected of killing a senior Iraqi police officer, taking part in the recruiting of terrorists and providing a suicide vest for an attack against Iraqi civilians, officials said. During his arrest, the Iraqi special operations unit came under fire from multiple directions and responded with appropriate force, killing one attacker and wounding another. An Iraqi soldier also was wounded.
In Baghdad on Aug. 23, Iraqi special operations forces, along with U.S. forces advisors, arrested a suspected terrorist on a warrant issued by the Central Investigative Court of Karkh. The suspect was wanted for kidnapping, murder and attacking Iraqi security forces.
In Iraq's Ninevah province Aug. 22, Iraqi commandos, with U.S. forces advisors, arrested a suspected terrorist on a warrant issued by the Central Investigative Court of Kharakh for suspicion of attacks on Iraqi security forces and facilitating terrorist movement throughout the province.
(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)
Leaders Mark Kennedy's Passing With Fond Memories
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 26, 2009 - The national security advisor today expressed admiration for Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who succumbed to brain cancer yesterday. Retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, who rose through the ranks to become the Marine commandant and supreme allied commander for Europe, came to know Kennedy years earlier while working as a Senate liaison officer in the early 1980s -- a relationship that greatly contributed to the general's "Washington education," he said.
"I had the opportunity to get to know Sen. Edward Kennedy, who was then a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee," Jones said in a statement. "Senator Kennedy and his staff were among some of the best supporters the Marine Corps ever had on Capitol Hill.
"Despite his many responsibilities, he always made time for me on issues of importance to Marines and their families," he added.
The general's praise is part of a greater outpouring that came when news broke of 77-year-old Kennedy's death. To honor the so-called "Lion of Senate," President Barack Obama today ordered that flags be flown at half-staff at the White House and at other public buildings.
Regarding Kennedy's relationship with the military, Jones remembered him as a champion of legislation such as the Goldwater-Nichols act, which vastly reorganized the armed forces as a joint structure, and of military pay reforms, which ushered in the most comprehensive reforms of the military and defense establishment since the end of World War II.
Kennedy deserves to be honored for his genuine care and compassion for American men and women in uniform, which are reflected in the senator's tireless work and voting record on behalf of the military, Jones said.
"While he never shied from challenging our senior military leadership during hundreds of committee hearings, he could always be counted on to be fair and open-minded in letting witnesses like me make our case to the committee and to the American people," he said.
In a presidential proclamation today, Obama characterized Kennedy not only as one of the greatest senators of modern times, but also one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve the nation.
"Over the past half-century, nearly every major piece of legislation that has advanced the civil rights, health, and economic well-being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts," Obama said in a White House statement. "With his passing, an important chapter in our American story has come to an end."
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 26, 2009 - The national security advisor today expressed admiration for Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who succumbed to brain cancer yesterday. Retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, who rose through the ranks to become the Marine commandant and supreme allied commander for Europe, came to know Kennedy years earlier while working as a Senate liaison officer in the early 1980s -- a relationship that greatly contributed to the general's "Washington education," he said.
"I had the opportunity to get to know Sen. Edward Kennedy, who was then a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee," Jones said in a statement. "Senator Kennedy and his staff were among some of the best supporters the Marine Corps ever had on Capitol Hill.
"Despite his many responsibilities, he always made time for me on issues of importance to Marines and their families," he added.
The general's praise is part of a greater outpouring that came when news broke of 77-year-old Kennedy's death. To honor the so-called "Lion of Senate," President Barack Obama today ordered that flags be flown at half-staff at the White House and at other public buildings.
Regarding Kennedy's relationship with the military, Jones remembered him as a champion of legislation such as the Goldwater-Nichols act, which vastly reorganized the armed forces as a joint structure, and of military pay reforms, which ushered in the most comprehensive reforms of the military and defense establishment since the end of World War II.
Kennedy deserves to be honored for his genuine care and compassion for American men and women in uniform, which are reflected in the senator's tireless work and voting record on behalf of the military, Jones said.
"While he never shied from challenging our senior military leadership during hundreds of committee hearings, he could always be counted on to be fair and open-minded in letting witnesses like me make our case to the committee and to the American people," he said.
In a presidential proclamation today, Obama characterized Kennedy not only as one of the greatest senators of modern times, but also one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve the nation.
"Over the past half-century, nearly every major piece of legislation that has advanced the civil rights, health, and economic well-being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts," Obama said in a White House statement. "With his passing, an important chapter in our American story has come to an end."
Kennedy to Be Buried at Arlington National Cemetery
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 26, 2009 - Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near his brothers, Defense Department officials said here today. Kennedy, who died yesterday after a long battle with brain cancer, is eligible for in-ground interment, officials said. "He served in the Army, and he was an elected official of the U.S. government," an official said, speaking on background. "No [eligibility] waiver was needed."
Kennedy served in the Army from 1951 to 1953. He will be buried near the grave of his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968. That site is just up the hill from the grave of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete. The Kennedy family had contacted Arlington National Cemetery officials about arrangements for the 77-year-old senator, officials said.
Arlington National Cemetery is located across the Potomac River from Washington. It is the site of the Tomb of the Unknowns and the burial spot for more than 300,000 people. It was established in 1864 on land once owned by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Servicemembers representing all of America's wars rest at Arlington. Those from pre-Civil War conflicts were reinterred there in 1900. The cemetery also is the resting place for fallen servicemembers from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 26, 2009 - Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near his brothers, Defense Department officials said here today. Kennedy, who died yesterday after a long battle with brain cancer, is eligible for in-ground interment, officials said. "He served in the Army, and he was an elected official of the U.S. government," an official said, speaking on background. "No [eligibility] waiver was needed."
Kennedy served in the Army from 1951 to 1953. He will be buried near the grave of his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968. That site is just up the hill from the grave of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete. The Kennedy family had contacted Arlington National Cemetery officials about arrangements for the 77-year-old senator, officials said.
Arlington National Cemetery is located across the Potomac River from Washington. It is the site of the Tomb of the Unknowns and the burial spot for more than 300,000 people. It was established in 1864 on land once owned by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Servicemembers representing all of America's wars rest at Arlington. Those from pre-Civil War conflicts were reinterred there in 1900. The cemetery also is the resting place for fallen servicemembers from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
MILITARY CONTRACTS August 26, 2009
AIR FORCE
Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, Palmdale, Calif., was awarded a $3.44 billion modified (ceiling increase) contract to increase the ceiling and support the B-2 weapon system, a major program assigned to the program executive office. 702 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is the contracting activity (F33657-99-D-0028).
ATK Launch Systems, Inc., Corinne, Utah was awarded a $49,000,000 modified contract for the purchase of the MJU-62/B infrared flare countermeasure. At this time, $25,915,968.99 has been obligated. 784 CBSG/PK. Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8213-09-D-0002).
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., Poway, Calif., was awarded a $10,250,000 modified contract for one-year of Contractor Logistics Support for the Italian purchase of MQ-9 Reaper aircraft under the Foreign Military Sales program. At this time $5,022,500 has been obligated. 703 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is the contracting activity (FA8620-05-G-3028 0058030).
Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems, Warner Robins, Ga., was awarded a $9,838,299.80 contract for the contractor to perform necessary maintenance on-site and at the heavy maintenance facility in the region; provides for technical assistance and support to the Iraqi Air Force; assists the IqAF in achieving and maintain a 65 precent mission capable rate; maintains the support system; and the contractor will mentor Iraqi technicians toward self-sufficiency (Foreign Military Sales). At this time the entire amount has been obligated. 330 ACSG/GFKA, Robins AFB, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8530-08-D-0008-0006).
Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., Herndon, Va., was awarded a $9,618,978 contract to provide Air Force lethal capability analysis and development. At this time $511, 975 has been obligated. 55th Contracting Squadron, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700P03-D-1380, D.O. 0318).
NAVY
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc., Newport News, Va., is being awarded a $2,429,828,879 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for accomplishment of the Refueling Complex overhaul of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). This effort shall provide for the accomplishment of the overhaul, alterations, repair, maintenance, and refueling. Work will be performed in Newport News, Va., and is expected to completed by February 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-09-C-2107).
The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., Baltimore, Md., is being awarded a $180,995,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the design and construction of Walter Reed National Naval Medical Center, support facilities for the Warrior Transition Unit at National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda. The work includes the construction of a new Warrior Transition Unit Bachelor Enlisted Quarters/dining/admin facility, physical fitness center, administration facility, parking garage and restoration of National Naval Medical Center Building 17 façade. This contract also contains one unexercised option, which if exercised would increase cumulative contract value to $196,995,000. Work will be performed in Bethesda, Md., and is expected to be completed by August 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 13 proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N40080-09-C-0018).
The Boeing Co., Seattle, Wash., is being awarded a $25,000,000 not-to-exceed modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract (N00019-04-C-3146) to update Annex B of the P-8A system specification to include additional requirement identifiers associated with the Advanced Airborne Sensor (AAS)/P-8A interface requirement specification (IRS) in support of the AAS Program. The IRS refines requirements for the integration of the AAS maritime and littoral intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance radar, and the associated special mission cabin equipment on the P-8A aircraft. Work will be performed in Seattle, Wash., and is expected to be completed in February 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River Md., is the contracting activity.
Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems., El Segundo, Calif., is being awarded an $18,990,518 delivery order against a previously issued basic order agreement (N00019-05-G-0008) for the procurement of 38 APG-73 radar expand 4/5 upgrade kits for Marine Corps F/A-18D aircraft. Work will be performed in Forest, Miss., (45 percent); El Segundo, Calif., (35 percent); Andover, Mass., (15 percent); and Dallas, Texas, (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2012. Contract funds in the amount of $2,109,799 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Marotta Controls, Inc.*, Montville, N.J., is being awarded a $7,658,936 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-06-D-0021) for the production of up to 464 pure air generating systems for integration into the LAU-7 missile rail launchers, including associated technical and administrative data. Work will be performed in Montville, N.J., and is expected to be completed in February 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Hamilton Sundstrand Corp., Pomona, Calif., is being awarded a $5,708,293 cost-plus-fixed fee contract for the furnishing of central atmosphere monitoring systems (CAMS) IIA units, hardware kits, associated engineering services and technical data. The CAMS IIA will serve as the analyzer utilized on the Los Angeles Class (SSN-688) to monitor the breathable atmosphere. The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $8,631,856. Work will be performed in Pomona, Calif., and is expected to be completed by August 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, Ship System Engineering Station, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (N65540-09-C-0018).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Caterpillar, Inc., Mossville, Ill., is being awarded a maximum $13,952,224 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for adverse terrain forklifts. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Air Force. There were originally three proposals solicited with one response. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Mar. 18, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM500-01-D-0036).
Wolverine World Wide, Inc., Rockford, Mich., is being awarded a maximum $9,329,901 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for safety boots. Other location of performance is Cedar Springs, MI. Using service is Navy. The original proposal was Web solicited with three responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is exercising the third option year period. The date of performance completion is Aug. 31, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPO100-06-D-0352).
Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, Palmdale, Calif., was awarded a $3.44 billion modified (ceiling increase) contract to increase the ceiling and support the B-2 weapon system, a major program assigned to the program executive office. 702 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is the contracting activity (F33657-99-D-0028).
ATK Launch Systems, Inc., Corinne, Utah was awarded a $49,000,000 modified contract for the purchase of the MJU-62/B infrared flare countermeasure. At this time, $25,915,968.99 has been obligated. 784 CBSG/PK. Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8213-09-D-0002).
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., Poway, Calif., was awarded a $10,250,000 modified contract for one-year of Contractor Logistics Support for the Italian purchase of MQ-9 Reaper aircraft under the Foreign Military Sales program. At this time $5,022,500 has been obligated. 703 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is the contracting activity (FA8620-05-G-3028 0058030).
Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems, Warner Robins, Ga., was awarded a $9,838,299.80 contract for the contractor to perform necessary maintenance on-site and at the heavy maintenance facility in the region; provides for technical assistance and support to the Iraqi Air Force; assists the IqAF in achieving and maintain a 65 precent mission capable rate; maintains the support system; and the contractor will mentor Iraqi technicians toward self-sufficiency (Foreign Military Sales). At this time the entire amount has been obligated. 330 ACSG/GFKA, Robins AFB, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8530-08-D-0008-0006).
Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., Herndon, Va., was awarded a $9,618,978 contract to provide Air Force lethal capability analysis and development. At this time $511, 975 has been obligated. 55th Contracting Squadron, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700P03-D-1380, D.O. 0318).
NAVY
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc., Newport News, Va., is being awarded a $2,429,828,879 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for accomplishment of the Refueling Complex overhaul of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). This effort shall provide for the accomplishment of the overhaul, alterations, repair, maintenance, and refueling. Work will be performed in Newport News, Va., and is expected to completed by February 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-09-C-2107).
The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., Baltimore, Md., is being awarded a $180,995,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the design and construction of Walter Reed National Naval Medical Center, support facilities for the Warrior Transition Unit at National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda. The work includes the construction of a new Warrior Transition Unit Bachelor Enlisted Quarters/dining/admin facility, physical fitness center, administration facility, parking garage and restoration of National Naval Medical Center Building 17 façade. This contract also contains one unexercised option, which if exercised would increase cumulative contract value to $196,995,000. Work will be performed in Bethesda, Md., and is expected to be completed by August 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 13 proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N40080-09-C-0018).
The Boeing Co., Seattle, Wash., is being awarded a $25,000,000 not-to-exceed modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract (N00019-04-C-3146) to update Annex B of the P-8A system specification to include additional requirement identifiers associated with the Advanced Airborne Sensor (AAS)/P-8A interface requirement specification (IRS) in support of the AAS Program. The IRS refines requirements for the integration of the AAS maritime and littoral intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance radar, and the associated special mission cabin equipment on the P-8A aircraft. Work will be performed in Seattle, Wash., and is expected to be completed in February 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River Md., is the contracting activity.
Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems., El Segundo, Calif., is being awarded an $18,990,518 delivery order against a previously issued basic order agreement (N00019-05-G-0008) for the procurement of 38 APG-73 radar expand 4/5 upgrade kits for Marine Corps F/A-18D aircraft. Work will be performed in Forest, Miss., (45 percent); El Segundo, Calif., (35 percent); Andover, Mass., (15 percent); and Dallas, Texas, (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2012. Contract funds in the amount of $2,109,799 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Marotta Controls, Inc.*, Montville, N.J., is being awarded a $7,658,936 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-06-D-0021) for the production of up to 464 pure air generating systems for integration into the LAU-7 missile rail launchers, including associated technical and administrative data. Work will be performed in Montville, N.J., and is expected to be completed in February 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Hamilton Sundstrand Corp., Pomona, Calif., is being awarded a $5,708,293 cost-plus-fixed fee contract for the furnishing of central atmosphere monitoring systems (CAMS) IIA units, hardware kits, associated engineering services and technical data. The CAMS IIA will serve as the analyzer utilized on the Los Angeles Class (SSN-688) to monitor the breathable atmosphere. The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $8,631,856. Work will be performed in Pomona, Calif., and is expected to be completed by August 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, Ship System Engineering Station, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (N65540-09-C-0018).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Caterpillar, Inc., Mossville, Ill., is being awarded a maximum $13,952,224 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for adverse terrain forklifts. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Air Force. There were originally three proposals solicited with one response. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Mar. 18, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM500-01-D-0036).
Wolverine World Wide, Inc., Rockford, Mich., is being awarded a maximum $9,329,901 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for safety boots. Other location of performance is Cedar Springs, MI. Using service is Navy. The original proposal was Web solicited with three responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is exercising the third option year period. The date of performance completion is Aug. 31, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPO100-06-D-0352).
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Vice Chairman Addresses Defense Program Reviews
By Air Force Tech. Sgt. Monique Randolph
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 25, 2009 - The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff stressed relevance, adaptability and affordability as top concerns for programs ranging from nuclear weapons to satellites during the Space and Missile Defense Conference here Aug. 19. Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright emphasized the importance of striking a balance between "the exquisite and good enough," as reviews of several defense programs -- prompted by the new administration -- are under way in Washington.
The Quadrennial Defense Review, Nuclear Posture Review, Ballistic Missile Defense Review and Space Posture Review give defense and government officials a chance to relook at these programs and make sure they are "doing the right things," the general said.
The QDR outlines the national defense strategy for force structure, acquisitions and long-term budget planning. The unique advantage of this QDR is that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates stayed on after the administration changed, an unusual but fortunate decision, Cartwright noted. With the United States engaged in two wars and the challenges facing the U.S. and global economies, the secretary's decision cut out much of the acrimony typically associated with QDR discussions.
During his speech, Cartwright posed several questions arising from the review.
"Are the tools that we're procuring relevant to the reality of the wars that we're in and to anybody's best estimate of the wars that we're likely to go to?" he asked. "Is that strategy adaptable? Because if we've learned anything over the last eight years of this conflict, it's that the enemy has a vote in where we're going to go and where this fight's going to go.
"And the third is -- although sometimes it doesn't seem like it when we talk about trillions of dollars -- affordability is a huge issue," he said.
Cartwright also touched on nuclear posture and ballistic missile defense, stating that the current "one-size-fits-all" approach to nuclear deterrence is in question. These strategies have worked for the past 50 years, he said, but the question is whether they will work for the next 50. With emerging threats in North Korea and Iran, and non-nation state actors suxch as al-Qaida and the Taliban, the United States has to ensure nations under its extended deterrence "umbrella" feel secure enough that they don't proliferate nuclear weapons of their own.
The United States must look at its relationships with nations in a different way, encourage neighboring countries to band together to form a regional, extended deterrence construct that is not weapons-of-mass-destruction centric, and convince those nations that there are credible alternatives to nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles for their safety and security, he said.
"These are the kinds of thoughts that we're trying to understand as we start to look at the synergies between the Ballistic Missile Defense Review and the Nuclear Posture Review," Cartwright explained. "How do these things fit together? And it's not one size fits all."
The general tied his three themes to the Space Posture Review as well, underscoring the importance of developing space capabilities similar to current missile defense capabilities, before the United States loses its competitive edge in space.
"Right now, the enemy is imposing cost on us. We react with exquisite, very expensive, long-time-to-discover systems. We've got to turn that around. We've got to be in front of it," Cartwright said. "We've gone the right direction in missile defense. We have proliferated; we have so many choices, the adversaries just plain don't know where to go.
"We've got to do the same with the capabilities we have in space, integrating them across domains, so it doesn't matter what [the enemy does] to my air, ground or my space," he continued. "There's always another answer, and we can adapt faster than you can change."
(Air Force Tech. Sgt. Monique Randolph serves in the Joint Chiefs of Staff public affairs office.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 25, 2009 - The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff stressed relevance, adaptability and affordability as top concerns for programs ranging from nuclear weapons to satellites during the Space and Missile Defense Conference here Aug. 19. Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright emphasized the importance of striking a balance between "the exquisite and good enough," as reviews of several defense programs -- prompted by the new administration -- are under way in Washington.
The Quadrennial Defense Review, Nuclear Posture Review, Ballistic Missile Defense Review and Space Posture Review give defense and government officials a chance to relook at these programs and make sure they are "doing the right things," the general said.
The QDR outlines the national defense strategy for force structure, acquisitions and long-term budget planning. The unique advantage of this QDR is that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates stayed on after the administration changed, an unusual but fortunate decision, Cartwright noted. With the United States engaged in two wars and the challenges facing the U.S. and global economies, the secretary's decision cut out much of the acrimony typically associated with QDR discussions.
During his speech, Cartwright posed several questions arising from the review.
"Are the tools that we're procuring relevant to the reality of the wars that we're in and to anybody's best estimate of the wars that we're likely to go to?" he asked. "Is that strategy adaptable? Because if we've learned anything over the last eight years of this conflict, it's that the enemy has a vote in where we're going to go and where this fight's going to go.
"And the third is -- although sometimes it doesn't seem like it when we talk about trillions of dollars -- affordability is a huge issue," he said.
Cartwright also touched on nuclear posture and ballistic missile defense, stating that the current "one-size-fits-all" approach to nuclear deterrence is in question. These strategies have worked for the past 50 years, he said, but the question is whether they will work for the next 50. With emerging threats in North Korea and Iran, and non-nation state actors suxch as al-Qaida and the Taliban, the United States has to ensure nations under its extended deterrence "umbrella" feel secure enough that they don't proliferate nuclear weapons of their own.
The United States must look at its relationships with nations in a different way, encourage neighboring countries to band together to form a regional, extended deterrence construct that is not weapons-of-mass-destruction centric, and convince those nations that there are credible alternatives to nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles for their safety and security, he said.
"These are the kinds of thoughts that we're trying to understand as we start to look at the synergies between the Ballistic Missile Defense Review and the Nuclear Posture Review," Cartwright explained. "How do these things fit together? And it's not one size fits all."
The general tied his three themes to the Space Posture Review as well, underscoring the importance of developing space capabilities similar to current missile defense capabilities, before the United States loses its competitive edge in space.
"Right now, the enemy is imposing cost on us. We react with exquisite, very expensive, long-time-to-discover systems. We've got to turn that around. We've got to be in front of it," Cartwright said. "We've gone the right direction in missile defense. We have proliferated; we have so many choices, the adversaries just plain don't know where to go.
"We've got to do the same with the capabilities we have in space, integrating them across domains, so it doesn't matter what [the enemy does] to my air, ground or my space," he continued. "There's always another answer, and we can adapt faster than you can change."
(Air Force Tech. Sgt. Monique Randolph serves in the Joint Chiefs of Staff public affairs office.)
Defense Business Board Issues Final NSPS Report
The Defense Business Board delivered its final report last Wednesday on the National Security Personnel System to Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn III and Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry, completing an independent review of NSPS, a Department of Defense civilian personnel management system under which more than 200,000 DoD employees currently operate.
"I would like to thank the Defense Business Board task group for their broad and detailed review of the National Security Personnel System" said Lynn. "I look forward to reviewing their report as part of the department's comprehensive review of this important issue. I commend the task group for taking on such a complex and important issue. As we work towards a final decision this fall, I plan to meet with the director of the Office of Personnel Management, senior leaders in the department, and outside stakeholders to discuss the findings and recommendations in the report."
"I also thank the task group for their hard work on the review" said Berry. "I expect this review will provide a thoughtful foundation for our deliberations on the next steps for NSPS."
Lynn also stated that employees currently covered by NSPS will continue to follow existing NSPS regulations, policies, and procedures, and that the moratorium on further conversions of organizations to NSPS will remain in effect.
DoD and the Office of Personnel Management jointly announced the review of NSPS on March 16. A task group of the Defense Business Board was subsequently created in May and, met with union leaders and DoD stakeholders, and conducted two public hearings in June. During the three month period of their review, the task group received more than 900 comments from the public. The task group presented their findings to the full Defense Business Board for deliberation and approval in a public session on July 16, 2009.
The final report is available on the "Reports" page of Defense Business Board Web site at: http://www.defenselink.mil/dbb/2009.html
"I would like to thank the Defense Business Board task group for their broad and detailed review of the National Security Personnel System" said Lynn. "I look forward to reviewing their report as part of the department's comprehensive review of this important issue. I commend the task group for taking on such a complex and important issue. As we work towards a final decision this fall, I plan to meet with the director of the Office of Personnel Management, senior leaders in the department, and outside stakeholders to discuss the findings and recommendations in the report."
"I also thank the task group for their hard work on the review" said Berry. "I expect this review will provide a thoughtful foundation for our deliberations on the next steps for NSPS."
Lynn also stated that employees currently covered by NSPS will continue to follow existing NSPS regulations, policies, and procedures, and that the moratorium on further conversions of organizations to NSPS will remain in effect.
DoD and the Office of Personnel Management jointly announced the review of NSPS on March 16. A task group of the Defense Business Board was subsequently created in May and, met with union leaders and DoD stakeholders, and conducted two public hearings in June. During the three month period of their review, the task group received more than 900 comments from the public. The task group presented their findings to the full Defense Business Board for deliberation and approval in a public session on July 16, 2009.
The final report is available on the "Reports" page of Defense Business Board Web site at: http://www.defenselink.mil/dbb/2009.html
Blog Offers Support to Military Families
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 25, 2009 - The Defense Department has launched a blog called "Family Matters" that is dedicated to providing resources and support to military families. The blog – which can be found at http://afps.dodlive.mil – features tips from experts, and military-related topics that run the gamut from deployments and separations to education benefits and child care.
"Our goal is to touch on topics that are important and relevant to military families," said Elaine Wilson, the blog's author and an editor for American Forces Press Service. "Military families confront unique challenges and issues, and we're hoping people can turn to this blog for information and support."
Wilson served for nearly eight years in the active-duty Air Force and three years in the Air Force Reserve before becoming a defense civilian, experience she brings to the blog.
"I remember those early morning PT runs, the late-night calls and the constant juggling of mission and family," she said. "It was tough. I was married to a military member and, one day, became a divorced single parent of two. Balancing that with military life, particularly overseas, presented some tough challenges."
Wilson said she will share many of her stories in hopes of starting a dialog with others who are dealing with the same types of issues. This two-way communication will be vital to the blog's success, she said.
"We read every comment, and respond when appropriate to the person writing in," she said.
Many comments are forwarded to defense experts for response, she said. "A great aspect of this blog is that many readers will have the opportunity to have their comments and ideas viewed by defense officials."
Wilson noted that a recent comment was elevated to the desk of the Army secretary. "A military spouse made some great suggestions and comments, and we felt they could make an impact, so we forwarded them to higher-level officials," she said. "Anyone can make a difference, and it can start with something as simple as a blog comment."
A heartfelt comment can make more of an impact among the blog's readers than the blog entries themselves, Wilson said.
"We had a reader make a comment about suicides among family members," she said. "That sparked other comments on the same topic that offered everything from support to helping resources. I then dedicated a blog to helping resources. It had a positive snowball effect."
The blog has received numerous comments since its launch in early August, including some positive feedback. "Thanks for the new blog, looks great and useful," a comment says. And another: "This is another great resource by [the Defense Department]."
Perhaps most importantly, Wilson said, the blog is aimed at letting people know they're not alone in their everyday struggles.
"Whether dealing with the after-effects of a deployment or the challenges of home life, we're hoping this blog will help create a common bond among military family members," Wilson said. "And also convey the ongoing caring and concern defense officials have for our military families."
Aug. 25, 2009 - The Defense Department has launched a blog called "Family Matters" that is dedicated to providing resources and support to military families. The blog – which can be found at http://afps.dodlive.mil – features tips from experts, and military-related topics that run the gamut from deployments and separations to education benefits and child care.
"Our goal is to touch on topics that are important and relevant to military families," said Elaine Wilson, the blog's author and an editor for American Forces Press Service. "Military families confront unique challenges and issues, and we're hoping people can turn to this blog for information and support."
Wilson served for nearly eight years in the active-duty Air Force and three years in the Air Force Reserve before becoming a defense civilian, experience she brings to the blog.
"I remember those early morning PT runs, the late-night calls and the constant juggling of mission and family," she said. "It was tough. I was married to a military member and, one day, became a divorced single parent of two. Balancing that with military life, particularly overseas, presented some tough challenges."
Wilson said she will share many of her stories in hopes of starting a dialog with others who are dealing with the same types of issues. This two-way communication will be vital to the blog's success, she said.
"We read every comment, and respond when appropriate to the person writing in," she said.
Many comments are forwarded to defense experts for response, she said. "A great aspect of this blog is that many readers will have the opportunity to have their comments and ideas viewed by defense officials."
Wilson noted that a recent comment was elevated to the desk of the Army secretary. "A military spouse made some great suggestions and comments, and we felt they could make an impact, so we forwarded them to higher-level officials," she said. "Anyone can make a difference, and it can start with something as simple as a blog comment."
A heartfelt comment can make more of an impact among the blog's readers than the blog entries themselves, Wilson said.
"We had a reader make a comment about suicides among family members," she said. "That sparked other comments on the same topic that offered everything from support to helping resources. I then dedicated a blog to helping resources. It had a positive snowball effect."
The blog has received numerous comments since its launch in early August, including some positive feedback. "Thanks for the new blog, looks great and useful," a comment says. And another: "This is another great resource by [the Defense Department]."
Perhaps most importantly, Wilson said, the blog is aimed at letting people know they're not alone in their everyday struggles.
"Whether dealing with the after-effects of a deployment or the challenges of home life, we're hoping this blog will help create a common bond among military family members," Wilson said. "And also convey the ongoing caring and concern defense officials have for our military families."
MILITARY CONTRACTS August 25, 2009
AIR FORCE
Aerospace Testing Alliance, Tullahoma, Tenn., was awarded a $199,313,211 modified contract for the operation, maintenance, information management, and support of Arnold Engineering Development Center for FY2010. At this time no funds have been obligated. AEDC contracting office, Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn., is the contracting activity. (F40600-03-C-0001)
Azimuth Corporation, Dayton, Ohio was awarded a $49,998,000 contract to conduct hardening and survivability research of sensors against directed energy threat. At this time, $80,000 has been obligated. Air Force Research Laboratory Detachment 1, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (FA8650-09-D-5434)
Intelligent Software Solutions, Inc., Colorado Springs, Co. was awarded a $8,000,000 contract to leverage the current Joint Forces Command and Control Space Integrated Prototype System to provide a comprehensive suite of services that provide Joint Space Operations Center operators more accurate space situational awareness and support timely decision-making in a net-centric environment. At this time $1,502,106 has been obligated. Air Force Research Laboratory Detachment 8, Kirtland AFB, NM is the contracting activity. (FA9453-09-D-0355)
NAVY
Aeroflex Wichita, Inc., Wichita, Kan., is being awarded a maximum $40,486,010 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for ground radio maintenance automatic test Systems. A delivery order with a value of $16,344,870 will be issued concurrently with the contract award. Work will be performed in Wichita, Kan., and is expected to be completed in September 2013. Contract funds in the amount of $16,344,870 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is awarded as a result of a full and open competitive solicitation, with three offers received. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity (M67854-09-D-3002).
BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services, Inc., Rockville, Md., is being awarded a $30,146,172 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for technical services and supplies for the rapid design, development, customization, manufacturing, fabrication, integration, test and evaluation, installation, certification, maintenance and upgrade, logistics and life cycle support of new and/or existing communication-electronic platform, equipment, systems and subsystems in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division's Special Communications Requirements Division. The estimated level of effort for this contract is 346,000 man-hours. Work will be performed in California, Md. (90 percent) and St. Inigoes, Md. (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured through an electronic request for proposals and one offer was received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, St. Inigoes, Md., is the contracting activity (N00421-09-C-0102).
Core Tech International Corporation, Barrigada, Guam, is being awarded a $13,892,789 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of a wastewater collection system upgrade at NAVBASE Guam. The work to be performed is for the design and construction to replace and rehabilitate sewer lift stations and sewer pipelines in the collection system of the Apra Harbor Wastewater Treatment Plant (AHWWTP). Antiquated sewage lift stations shall be replaced with new facilities that facilitate operations and maintenance activities. Upgrade facilities to provide increased capacity and system reliability. Pump station controls and emergency generators shall be placed in structures hardened for typhoons. Add supervisory control and data acquisition system that feeds back to the base system at the AHWWTP to all stations. Work will be performed in Agana, Guam, and is expected to be completed by September 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with six proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific, is the contracting activity (N62742-09-C-1306).
Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded a $7,259,305 cost plus incentive fee delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-07-G-0008) for the continued development of technical data products necessary for the integration of the Comprehensive Automated Maintenance Environment Optimized (CAMEO) System into the V-22 Osprey. The CAMEO will provide an adaptable joint service technical capability that supports continuous integration of technical data and automation of operational, maintenance and logistical processes to improve aircraft readiness and reduce sustainment costs for the war fighter community. Work will be performed in Ridley Park, Pa. (50 percent); and Fort Worth, Texas (40 percent); and New River, N.C. (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in May 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Solpac Construction Inc., dba Soltek Pacific Construction Co., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded $5,759,720 for firm-fixed-price task order #0011 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62473-08-D-8615) which provides for the construction of an indoor fitness facility and demolition of existing buildings 53302 and 53569, in the Horno (53) Area at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. Work will be performed in Oceanside, Calif., and is expected to be completed by September 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.
Aerospace Testing Alliance, Tullahoma, Tenn., was awarded a $199,313,211 modified contract for the operation, maintenance, information management, and support of Arnold Engineering Development Center for FY2010. At this time no funds have been obligated. AEDC contracting office, Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn., is the contracting activity. (F40600-03-C-0001)
Azimuth Corporation, Dayton, Ohio was awarded a $49,998,000 contract to conduct hardening and survivability research of sensors against directed energy threat. At this time, $80,000 has been obligated. Air Force Research Laboratory Detachment 1, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (FA8650-09-D-5434)
Intelligent Software Solutions, Inc., Colorado Springs, Co. was awarded a $8,000,000 contract to leverage the current Joint Forces Command and Control Space Integrated Prototype System to provide a comprehensive suite of services that provide Joint Space Operations Center operators more accurate space situational awareness and support timely decision-making in a net-centric environment. At this time $1,502,106 has been obligated. Air Force Research Laboratory Detachment 8, Kirtland AFB, NM is the contracting activity. (FA9453-09-D-0355)
NAVY
Aeroflex Wichita, Inc., Wichita, Kan., is being awarded a maximum $40,486,010 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for ground radio maintenance automatic test Systems. A delivery order with a value of $16,344,870 will be issued concurrently with the contract award. Work will be performed in Wichita, Kan., and is expected to be completed in September 2013. Contract funds in the amount of $16,344,870 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is awarded as a result of a full and open competitive solicitation, with three offers received. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity (M67854-09-D-3002).
BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services, Inc., Rockville, Md., is being awarded a $30,146,172 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for technical services and supplies for the rapid design, development, customization, manufacturing, fabrication, integration, test and evaluation, installation, certification, maintenance and upgrade, logistics and life cycle support of new and/or existing communication-electronic platform, equipment, systems and subsystems in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division's Special Communications Requirements Division. The estimated level of effort for this contract is 346,000 man-hours. Work will be performed in California, Md. (90 percent) and St. Inigoes, Md. (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured through an electronic request for proposals and one offer was received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, St. Inigoes, Md., is the contracting activity (N00421-09-C-0102).
Core Tech International Corporation, Barrigada, Guam, is being awarded a $13,892,789 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of a wastewater collection system upgrade at NAVBASE Guam. The work to be performed is for the design and construction to replace and rehabilitate sewer lift stations and sewer pipelines in the collection system of the Apra Harbor Wastewater Treatment Plant (AHWWTP). Antiquated sewage lift stations shall be replaced with new facilities that facilitate operations and maintenance activities. Upgrade facilities to provide increased capacity and system reliability. Pump station controls and emergency generators shall be placed in structures hardened for typhoons. Add supervisory control and data acquisition system that feeds back to the base system at the AHWWTP to all stations. Work will be performed in Agana, Guam, and is expected to be completed by September 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with six proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific, is the contracting activity (N62742-09-C-1306).
Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded a $7,259,305 cost plus incentive fee delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-07-G-0008) for the continued development of technical data products necessary for the integration of the Comprehensive Automated Maintenance Environment Optimized (CAMEO) System into the V-22 Osprey. The CAMEO will provide an adaptable joint service technical capability that supports continuous integration of technical data and automation of operational, maintenance and logistical processes to improve aircraft readiness and reduce sustainment costs for the war fighter community. Work will be performed in Ridley Park, Pa. (50 percent); and Fort Worth, Texas (40 percent); and New River, N.C. (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in May 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Solpac Construction Inc., dba Soltek Pacific Construction Co., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded $5,759,720 for firm-fixed-price task order #0011 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62473-08-D-8615) which provides for the construction of an indoor fitness facility and demolition of existing buildings 53302 and 53569, in the Horno (53) Area at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. Work will be performed in Oceanside, Calif., and is expected to be completed by September 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.
Doctors, Scientists Team Up to Improve Wound Care
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 25, 2009 - Army Spc. Adonnis Anderson said he knew the pain was coming. After a bomb blew off much of his left forearm in Iraq in 2003, nurses came to his room daily to wash out his wounds. He described the treatment as two minutes of torture. They would swab the open wound as Anderson gritted his teeth and white-knuckle gripped the hospital bed railing.
"On a [pain] scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 15. It hurt really bad," Anderson said.
But the pain was a necessary evil. After being evacuated from the battlefield, Anderson's new fight was against dangerous infections that could destroy his chances of keeping his arm.
Anderson's story is not unique. Many soldiers evacuated from today's war zones suffer complex wounds from their injuries.
Bones are broken, and skin is burned or ripped by searing shrapnel. Mud, metal and fuel are fused into the wound. Harmful bacteria and other organisms are at work in the troops' bodies before they can be carried from the battlefield.
For the first time within the Defense Department, military doctors and scientists are working hand in hand to understand and improve the treatment of these complex wounds.
As part of an overarching, interservice combat wound initiative, scientists at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology are researching the makeup of complex wounds to help doctors in military hospitals better individualize and chart a course of care.
Dubbed "translational research," this partnership breaks down traditional barriers between the scientists who study the medical intricacies of the wounds and the clinicians who provide the care for the wounded. Now, each supports the work of the other, basically taking the science from "the bench" to the "bedside."
At the core of their work, scientists and doctors hope to discover why some wounds heal and others resist treatment.
Army Col. (Dr.) Alexander Stojadinovic, a surgeon at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here, heads the combat wound initiative program. He said that while two wounds may look similar, they don't always react to treatment the same.
"We were perplexed. Why, when you close one [wound] it heals uneventfully, and when you close the other it has a complication that impairs healing? When by all criteria that we traditionally use you would have expected it to heal," Stojadinovic said.
Since early 2008, Stojadinovic has spearheaded efforts to merge the actions of military and private hospitals to address complex wound care.
He now has a staff of Army and Navy doctors that operates out of Walter Reed's Military Advanced Training Center. They deliver all of the needed specialists to the patients to collaborate on care.
"The nature of battlefield wounds today is complex. These are difficult medical problems that really challenge our creativity, our knowledge base and bring to bear teams," Stojadinovic said. "There's no single individual that can address all the problems that result from blast injuries."
When Stojadinovic decided to add a research arm to his program, he did not have to look far. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology sits right in his back yard, situated on the same complex as Walter Reed.
About a year ago, Stojadinovic began talking with officials at the institute about research that can help doctors decide how to treat a wound and determine when it can be closed without further risk of infection. Many wounded troops are forced to endure several additional operations solely to remove infection. According to officials at the institute, the average soldier with complex wounds takes nine trips to the operating room.
Now, using troops enrolled in clinical trials at Walter Reed, doctors provide the scientists with wound fluids, blood and tissue that otherwise would be discarded. Scientists at the institute study the wound and provide feedback to the attending physicians. Scientists also study metal and other fragments that are taken from the wounds.
Depending on the study, scientists work to determine the number of bacteria in the sample, and characterize them genetically. The degree of bacterial contamination in a wound affects how it heals. Providing doctors with the number and type of bacteria allows them to avoid treatments that won't work and target treatments that will.
Officials also plan to use the data gathered in the studies to develop tools, such as a computer program, that will help doctors make faster, more tailored treatment decisions.
About 150 wounded troops are participating in clinical trials now. Their samples are stored in a repository at the institute of pathology. They are frozen and can be stored indefinitely.
This repository also can be to provide wound data for conflicts generations from now, said Dr. Mina Izadjoo, a microbiologist and the division chief of the wound biology and translational research at the institute.
Besides providing research for the clinical studies and maintaining the repository, Izadjoo's division also tests promising treatments that will advance wound care.
Already, a field deployable "dipstick" kit that can detect types of bacteria in a wound is being tested. This will allow doctors in the combat hospitals to identify which antibiotic to use first, she said.
"The bottom-line goal is [quickly] providing enough background information that leads to faster recovery of the wounded soldiers," she said.
(If you would like to comment on or have questions about this story, contact Fred Baker at fred.baker@osd.mil.)
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 25, 2009 - Army Spc. Adonnis Anderson said he knew the pain was coming. After a bomb blew off much of his left forearm in Iraq in 2003, nurses came to his room daily to wash out his wounds. He described the treatment as two minutes of torture. They would swab the open wound as Anderson gritted his teeth and white-knuckle gripped the hospital bed railing.
"On a [pain] scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 15. It hurt really bad," Anderson said.
But the pain was a necessary evil. After being evacuated from the battlefield, Anderson's new fight was against dangerous infections that could destroy his chances of keeping his arm.
Anderson's story is not unique. Many soldiers evacuated from today's war zones suffer complex wounds from their injuries.
Bones are broken, and skin is burned or ripped by searing shrapnel. Mud, metal and fuel are fused into the wound. Harmful bacteria and other organisms are at work in the troops' bodies before they can be carried from the battlefield.
For the first time within the Defense Department, military doctors and scientists are working hand in hand to understand and improve the treatment of these complex wounds.
As part of an overarching, interservice combat wound initiative, scientists at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology are researching the makeup of complex wounds to help doctors in military hospitals better individualize and chart a course of care.
Dubbed "translational research," this partnership breaks down traditional barriers between the scientists who study the medical intricacies of the wounds and the clinicians who provide the care for the wounded. Now, each supports the work of the other, basically taking the science from "the bench" to the "bedside."
At the core of their work, scientists and doctors hope to discover why some wounds heal and others resist treatment.
Army Col. (Dr.) Alexander Stojadinovic, a surgeon at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here, heads the combat wound initiative program. He said that while two wounds may look similar, they don't always react to treatment the same.
"We were perplexed. Why, when you close one [wound] it heals uneventfully, and when you close the other it has a complication that impairs healing? When by all criteria that we traditionally use you would have expected it to heal," Stojadinovic said.
Since early 2008, Stojadinovic has spearheaded efforts to merge the actions of military and private hospitals to address complex wound care.
He now has a staff of Army and Navy doctors that operates out of Walter Reed's Military Advanced Training Center. They deliver all of the needed specialists to the patients to collaborate on care.
"The nature of battlefield wounds today is complex. These are difficult medical problems that really challenge our creativity, our knowledge base and bring to bear teams," Stojadinovic said. "There's no single individual that can address all the problems that result from blast injuries."
When Stojadinovic decided to add a research arm to his program, he did not have to look far. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology sits right in his back yard, situated on the same complex as Walter Reed.
About a year ago, Stojadinovic began talking with officials at the institute about research that can help doctors decide how to treat a wound and determine when it can be closed without further risk of infection. Many wounded troops are forced to endure several additional operations solely to remove infection. According to officials at the institute, the average soldier with complex wounds takes nine trips to the operating room.
Now, using troops enrolled in clinical trials at Walter Reed, doctors provide the scientists with wound fluids, blood and tissue that otherwise would be discarded. Scientists at the institute study the wound and provide feedback to the attending physicians. Scientists also study metal and other fragments that are taken from the wounds.
Depending on the study, scientists work to determine the number of bacteria in the sample, and characterize them genetically. The degree of bacterial contamination in a wound affects how it heals. Providing doctors with the number and type of bacteria allows them to avoid treatments that won't work and target treatments that will.
Officials also plan to use the data gathered in the studies to develop tools, such as a computer program, that will help doctors make faster, more tailored treatment decisions.
About 150 wounded troops are participating in clinical trials now. Their samples are stored in a repository at the institute of pathology. They are frozen and can be stored indefinitely.
This repository also can be to provide wound data for conflicts generations from now, said Dr. Mina Izadjoo, a microbiologist and the division chief of the wound biology and translational research at the institute.
Besides providing research for the clinical studies and maintaining the repository, Izadjoo's division also tests promising treatments that will advance wound care.
Already, a field deployable "dipstick" kit that can detect types of bacteria in a wound is being tested. This will allow doctors in the combat hospitals to identify which antibiotic to use first, she said.
"The bottom-line goal is [quickly] providing enough background information that leads to faster recovery of the wounded soldiers," she said.
(If you would like to comment on or have questions about this story, contact Fred Baker at fred.baker@osd.mil.)
Business Board Calls for Changes to Personnel System
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 25, 2009 - In its final report, a Defense Business Board task group has recommended a "reconstruction" of the National Security Personnel System. Former Deputy Defense Secretary Rudy DeLeon chaired the group. Defense Department officials will use the board's recommendations as they ponder the system's future.
"We'll take the findings of the business board under advisement and study and work toward a decision on NSPS in the fall," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today.
The system, in place since 2003, must be rebuilt, the report says. "A 'fix' could not address the depth of the systemic problems discovered," according to the report. "The Task Group does not recommend an abolishment of the NSPS because the performance management system that has been created is achieving alignment of employee goals with organizational goals."
Any reconstruction needs to include input from the work force in making the needed changes, the report says.
The task group called on the department to re-establish a "commitment to partnership and collaborating with employees through their unions." It also called on the department to invest in its civilian career work force.
The task group recommended that the Defense Department halt any more transitions from legacy personnel systems to NSPS.
Specifically, the Defense Department must address pay pools and their lack of transparency. The department also must examine pay bands, especially Pay Band 2, which has a large portion of the defense work force. The group said that pay band lacks "clear linkage to career progression."
NSPS is eroding trust between supervisors and employees, the report says. The task group calls on the department to create a "collaborative process for [Defense Department] managers and employees currently in the General Schedule system to design and implement a performance management system that ties individual employee performance goals to organizational goals." Part of this is to explore the replacement of the current General Schedule classification system.
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 25, 2009 - In its final report, a Defense Business Board task group has recommended a "reconstruction" of the National Security Personnel System. Former Deputy Defense Secretary Rudy DeLeon chaired the group. Defense Department officials will use the board's recommendations as they ponder the system's future.
"We'll take the findings of the business board under advisement and study and work toward a decision on NSPS in the fall," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today.
The system, in place since 2003, must be rebuilt, the report says. "A 'fix' could not address the depth of the systemic problems discovered," according to the report. "The Task Group does not recommend an abolishment of the NSPS because the performance management system that has been created is achieving alignment of employee goals with organizational goals."
Any reconstruction needs to include input from the work force in making the needed changes, the report says.
The task group called on the department to re-establish a "commitment to partnership and collaborating with employees through their unions." It also called on the department to invest in its civilian career work force.
The task group recommended that the Defense Department halt any more transitions from legacy personnel systems to NSPS.
Specifically, the Defense Department must address pay pools and their lack of transparency. The department also must examine pay bands, especially Pay Band 2, which has a large portion of the defense work force. The group said that pay band lacks "clear linkage to career progression."
NSPS is eroding trust between supervisors and employees, the report says. The task group calls on the department to create a "collaborative process for [Defense Department] managers and employees currently in the General Schedule system to design and implement a performance management system that ties individual employee performance goals to organizational goals." Part of this is to explore the replacement of the current General Schedule classification system.
Monday, August 24, 2009
MILITARY CONTRACTS August 24, 2009
NAVY
Moffatt & Nichol, Long Beach, Calif., is being awarded a maximum $100,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect/engineer (A/E) contract for design support services for various waterfront/marine projects covered by the Defense Policy Review Initiative and other projects in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Pacific area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for project engineering documentation, DD 1391s, Design-Build Request for Proposal (RFP) contract documents or Design Bid Build RFP contract documents, technical reports, studies, construction cost estimates, and construction consultation and geotechnical investigations as required for design, analysis and studies. Additionally, the A/E may provide other support services to include post-construction award services, construction surveillance and inspection services, operational and maintenance support information services, and other miscellaneous post-construction award services. Work will be performed in the NAVFAC Pacific AOR, and work is expected to be completed August 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with four proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity (N62742-09-D-0002).
Force Protection Industries, Inc., Ladson, S.C., is being awarded $8,098,360 for firm-fixed-priced delivery order #0010 modification under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5031) for the purchase of field service representative support for the U.S. Marine Corps in support of the MRAP Cougar vehicles. Work will be performed at Operation Enduring Freedom locations. Work is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., is being awarded a $6,526,019 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-07-D-0004) to exercise an option for the VH-3D Executive Helicopter special progressive aircraft rework. Work will be performed in Stratford, Conn., and is expected to be completed in April 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $6,526,019 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting activity.
The Boeing Co., Kent, Wash., is being awarded a $6,459,897 firm-fixed-price order against a previously issued Basic Ordering Agreement (N00019-05-G-0026) for the procurement and installation of four winglets for two C-40(A) aircrafts. Work will be performed in Wichita, Kan., (50 percent) and Seattle, Wash., (50 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Canadian Commercial Corp., General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada (GDLS-C) London, Ontario, is being awarded a $6,403,087 firm-fixed-priced modification to delivery order #0004 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5028) for procurement of battle damage repair parts to support repair of RG31 MRAP vehicles damaged by improvised explosive devices and similar threats. Work will be performed in London, Ontario, Canada, and is expected to be completed May 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Correction: Contract awarded Aug. 21, 2009, to General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc., Fairfax, Va., for $22,217,150 should have stated the following places of performance as Fairfax, Va., (40 percent); Bellevue, Neb., (20 percent); Waterford, Conn., (9 percent); Manassas, Va., (7 percent); Redlands, Calif., (7 percent), and various other U.S. locations (17 percent).
AIR FORCE
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.,-Marietta, Marietta, Ga., was awarded a $30,202,726 modified contract to purchase the quick engine change assemblies for C/KC/BC/HC/MC-130J aircraft and FMS Norway and India aircraft. At this time $31,972,726 has been obligated. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio is the contracting activity (FA8625-06-C-6456).
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Integrated Systems, San Diego, Calif., was awarded a $7,113,772 contract to provide peculiar spares equipments for forward operating location of the Global Hawk systems program. At this time the entire amount has been obligated. 303rd AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-08-G-3005, D.O. 0011).
ARMY
DTC Engineers & Constructions, LLC, Hamden, Conn., was awarded on Aug. 21, 2009, an $18,966,995 firm-fixed-price contract for the design and construction of the Armed Forces Reserve Center. Work is to be performed in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico with an estimated completion date of June 3, 2011. Bids were posted on the World Wide Web with eight (eight) bids received. Corps of Engineers, Louisville District, Ky., is the contracting activity (W912QR-09-C-0067).
Dean Kurtz Construction Co., Rapid City, S.D., was awarded on Aug. 21, 2009 a $10,434,000 firm-fixed-price contract for access gates/perimeter fence. Work is to be performed at Ellsworth Air Force Base, SD., with an estimated completion date of May 26, 2011. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with seven bids received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha district, Omaha, N.E., is the contracting activity (W9128F-09-C-0034).
Commonwealth Construction Co., Wilmington, Del.. was awarded on August 21, 2009 a $ 5,098,200 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of C-17 aircrew life support facility. Work is to be performed in Dover Air Force Base, Del., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 21, 2010. Ninety-eight (98) bids were solicited with eleven bids received. U.S. Army Engineer District Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (W912BU-09-C-0036).
The Boeing Co., St Louise, Mo., was awarded on Aug. 20, 2009, an $8,433,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to change order for the continuation and enhancement of the ground tactical network for the Future Combat Systems. The modification will allow the contractor to execute tasks in relation to developing prime item descriptions, enhancing the common controller, comply with the NATO Standardization Agreement for the Unmanned Aerial System, initiate network management software for added systems, and enhance the transport layer to meet requirement shortfalls from a government complimentary program. Work is to be performed in Saint Louis, Mo., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2014. One bid solicited with one bid received. TACOM Contracting Center, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-05-C-0724).
BOH Bros Construction Co., LLC, New Orleans, L.A., was awarded on Aug. 20, 2009 a $7,952,381 firm-fixed-price contract for Jefferson Lakefront, Duncan Pump stations breakwater and bridge. Work is to performed in Duncan Pump Stations Jefferson Parrish, L.A., with an estimated completion date of May 4, 2010. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with six bids received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans, L.A., is the contracting activity (W912P8-09-C-1206).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Davis Aircraft Products, Bohemia, N.Y.*, is being awarded a maximum $6,606,437 firm fixed price, indefinite quantity contract for cargo tie down chain assemblies. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The original proposal was DIBBS solicited with four responses. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Aug. 23, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Richmond, Richmond, Va., (SPM4A7-09-D-0251).
McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co., Mesa, Ariz., is being awarded a maximum $6,556,888 firm fixed price, sole source contract for tail rotor fork assembly parts. Other location of performance is Mesa, Arizona. Using service is Army. There was originally one proposal solicited with one response. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Apr. 15, 2013. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Huntsville, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., (SPM4A1-09-G-0004-ZB03).
Voto Manufacturers Sales Co., Steubenville, Ohio*, is being awarded a maximum $6,386,873 firm fixed price, indefinite quantity contract for cargo tie down chain assemblies. Other location of performance is Lexington, Tenn. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The original proposal was DIBBS solicited with four responses. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is August 23, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Richmond, Richmond, Va., (SPM4A7-09-D-0258).
Caterpillar Inc., Mossville, Ill., is being awarded a maximum $5,983,632 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for dump trucks. Other location of performance is Decatur, Illinois. Using service is Navy. There were originally four proposals solicited with one response. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is May 31, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM500-01-D-0059-0346).
Peerless Chain Co., Portsmouth, R.I.*, is being awarded a maximum $5,606,201 firm fixed price, indefinite quantity contract for cargo tie down chain assemblies. Other location of performance is Winona, Minn. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The original proposal was DIBBS solicited with four responses. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is August 23, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Richmond, Richmond, Va., (SPM4A7-09-D-0250).
Moffatt & Nichol, Long Beach, Calif., is being awarded a maximum $100,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect/engineer (A/E) contract for design support services for various waterfront/marine projects covered by the Defense Policy Review Initiative and other projects in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Pacific area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for project engineering documentation, DD 1391s, Design-Build Request for Proposal (RFP) contract documents or Design Bid Build RFP contract documents, technical reports, studies, construction cost estimates, and construction consultation and geotechnical investigations as required for design, analysis and studies. Additionally, the A/E may provide other support services to include post-construction award services, construction surveillance and inspection services, operational and maintenance support information services, and other miscellaneous post-construction award services. Work will be performed in the NAVFAC Pacific AOR, and work is expected to be completed August 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with four proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity (N62742-09-D-0002).
Force Protection Industries, Inc., Ladson, S.C., is being awarded $8,098,360 for firm-fixed-priced delivery order #0010 modification under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5031) for the purchase of field service representative support for the U.S. Marine Corps in support of the MRAP Cougar vehicles. Work will be performed at Operation Enduring Freedom locations. Work is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., is being awarded a $6,526,019 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-07-D-0004) to exercise an option for the VH-3D Executive Helicopter special progressive aircraft rework. Work will be performed in Stratford, Conn., and is expected to be completed in April 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $6,526,019 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting activity.
The Boeing Co., Kent, Wash., is being awarded a $6,459,897 firm-fixed-price order against a previously issued Basic Ordering Agreement (N00019-05-G-0026) for the procurement and installation of four winglets for two C-40(A) aircrafts. Work will be performed in Wichita, Kan., (50 percent) and Seattle, Wash., (50 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Canadian Commercial Corp., General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada (GDLS-C) London, Ontario, is being awarded a $6,403,087 firm-fixed-priced modification to delivery order #0004 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5028) for procurement of battle damage repair parts to support repair of RG31 MRAP vehicles damaged by improvised explosive devices and similar threats. Work will be performed in London, Ontario, Canada, and is expected to be completed May 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Correction: Contract awarded Aug. 21, 2009, to General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc., Fairfax, Va., for $22,217,150 should have stated the following places of performance as Fairfax, Va., (40 percent); Bellevue, Neb., (20 percent); Waterford, Conn., (9 percent); Manassas, Va., (7 percent); Redlands, Calif., (7 percent), and various other U.S. locations (17 percent).
AIR FORCE
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.,-Marietta, Marietta, Ga., was awarded a $30,202,726 modified contract to purchase the quick engine change assemblies for C/KC/BC/HC/MC-130J aircraft and FMS Norway and India aircraft. At this time $31,972,726 has been obligated. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio is the contracting activity (FA8625-06-C-6456).
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Integrated Systems, San Diego, Calif., was awarded a $7,113,772 contract to provide peculiar spares equipments for forward operating location of the Global Hawk systems program. At this time the entire amount has been obligated. 303rd AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-08-G-3005, D.O. 0011).
ARMY
DTC Engineers & Constructions, LLC, Hamden, Conn., was awarded on Aug. 21, 2009, an $18,966,995 firm-fixed-price contract for the design and construction of the Armed Forces Reserve Center. Work is to be performed in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico with an estimated completion date of June 3, 2011. Bids were posted on the World Wide Web with eight (eight) bids received. Corps of Engineers, Louisville District, Ky., is the contracting activity (W912QR-09-C-0067).
Dean Kurtz Construction Co., Rapid City, S.D., was awarded on Aug. 21, 2009 a $10,434,000 firm-fixed-price contract for access gates/perimeter fence. Work is to be performed at Ellsworth Air Force Base, SD., with an estimated completion date of May 26, 2011. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with seven bids received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha district, Omaha, N.E., is the contracting activity (W9128F-09-C-0034).
Commonwealth Construction Co., Wilmington, Del.. was awarded on August 21, 2009 a $ 5,098,200 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of C-17 aircrew life support facility. Work is to be performed in Dover Air Force Base, Del., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 21, 2010. Ninety-eight (98) bids were solicited with eleven bids received. U.S. Army Engineer District Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (W912BU-09-C-0036).
The Boeing Co., St Louise, Mo., was awarded on Aug. 20, 2009, an $8,433,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to change order for the continuation and enhancement of the ground tactical network for the Future Combat Systems. The modification will allow the contractor to execute tasks in relation to developing prime item descriptions, enhancing the common controller, comply with the NATO Standardization Agreement for the Unmanned Aerial System, initiate network management software for added systems, and enhance the transport layer to meet requirement shortfalls from a government complimentary program. Work is to be performed in Saint Louis, Mo., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2014. One bid solicited with one bid received. TACOM Contracting Center, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-05-C-0724).
BOH Bros Construction Co., LLC, New Orleans, L.A., was awarded on Aug. 20, 2009 a $7,952,381 firm-fixed-price contract for Jefferson Lakefront, Duncan Pump stations breakwater and bridge. Work is to performed in Duncan Pump Stations Jefferson Parrish, L.A., with an estimated completion date of May 4, 2010. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with six bids received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans, L.A., is the contracting activity (W912P8-09-C-1206).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Davis Aircraft Products, Bohemia, N.Y.*, is being awarded a maximum $6,606,437 firm fixed price, indefinite quantity contract for cargo tie down chain assemblies. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The original proposal was DIBBS solicited with four responses. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Aug. 23, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Richmond, Richmond, Va., (SPM4A7-09-D-0251).
McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co., Mesa, Ariz., is being awarded a maximum $6,556,888 firm fixed price, sole source contract for tail rotor fork assembly parts. Other location of performance is Mesa, Arizona. Using service is Army. There was originally one proposal solicited with one response. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Apr. 15, 2013. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Huntsville, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., (SPM4A1-09-G-0004-ZB03).
Voto Manufacturers Sales Co., Steubenville, Ohio*, is being awarded a maximum $6,386,873 firm fixed price, indefinite quantity contract for cargo tie down chain assemblies. Other location of performance is Lexington, Tenn. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The original proposal was DIBBS solicited with four responses. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is August 23, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Richmond, Richmond, Va., (SPM4A7-09-D-0258).
Caterpillar Inc., Mossville, Ill., is being awarded a maximum $5,983,632 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for dump trucks. Other location of performance is Decatur, Illinois. Using service is Navy. There were originally four proposals solicited with one response. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is May 31, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM500-01-D-0059-0346).
Peerless Chain Co., Portsmouth, R.I.*, is being awarded a maximum $5,606,201 firm fixed price, indefinite quantity contract for cargo tie down chain assemblies. Other location of performance is Winona, Minn. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The original proposal was DIBBS solicited with four responses. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is August 23, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Richmond, Richmond, Va., (SPM4A7-09-D-0250).
Requirements, Cost Control Drive Acquisition Reform
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 24, 2009 - As Defense Department officials overhaul the Pentagon's acquisition system, they're asking warfighters to define exactly what they need, then holding industry to more fixed-price contracts to develop those capabilities, a senior defense official told American Forces Press Service. Shay Assad, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition and technology, cited two problems that have long plagued the defense acquisition system. Expectations were set so high -- and contracts written accordingly -- that systems took longer than expected to develop. Meanwhile, costs escalated, with the Defense Department left to pick up the bulk of the additional charges.
Both practices are coming to a halt as the Pentagon changes the way it does business. The goal, Assad said, is to be more responsive to warfighters' needs and better stewards of taxpayer dollars.
Warfighter requirements always will trump in the acquisition effort, Assad said. "We want our warfighters to have the overwhelming technological superiority. We want them to have every advantage they can possible have," he said. "We do not want this to be a fair fight."
But too often in the Pentagon's drive to provide that superior capability, "we push the technical envelope too far," he acknowledged.
"We are expecting too much, instead of being realistic about what we can achieve in the near term and getting that to the field," he said.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told Congress earlier this year the Pentagon too often makes the perfect the enemy of the good. Gates said the department needs to be more willing to settle for the "75-percent solution" that gets capability into warfighters' hands faster, than always waiting for a near-perfect system.
Therefore, officials are looking to the experts -- the warfighters themselves -- to define exactly what they need.
"Bringing warfighters into the decision-making process that drives acquisition is "a big change," Assad said. "We're very focused on working with the warfighters, and there's a significant amount of interchange," he added.
The dialog promotes a better understanding of what capabilities are available now and can be delivered in the short-term, and which requirements have no present-day solutions and will take longer to meet, Assad said.
Warfighters get to identify, for example, when the 75-percent solution that's deliverable within two years will work until the 100-percent solution will be ready in about seven years.
"Our warfighters sometimes get frustrated because of the length of time it takes to design, develop and field a system," Assad said. "And when we look back on it, the reason that happens is because we did not do as good a job as we should have up front, defining what we need, or making sure that the technologies exist to meet that requirement. So this is a big step forward in being more responsive to warfighters' needs."
Meanwhile, the department is keeping no-bid contracts to a minimum to increase competition. And in awarding contracts, it's helping to prevent cost overruns through better up-front cost estimates and more fixed-price development programs.
Assad conceded that fixed-price contracts aren't suitable for every program, and that it is nearly impossible to estimate precisely how much every development program will cost. But getting a better handle of costs at the beginning of the development process will reduce expensive surprises later in the process, he explained.
"So when we say something is going to cost $50 million, we will be comfortable that it is going to be in that range somewhere -- not $300 million," he said.
Fixed-price contracts, with payouts tied to performance, will make contractors closer partners in ensuring programs proceed on schedule and on budget, Assad said.
President Barack Obama emphasized the importance of these and other acquisition reforms under way during an address last week at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Phoenix.
"Every dollar wasted in our defense budget is a dollar we can't spend to care for our troops or protect America or prepare for the future," the president said. "We cannot build the 21st-century military we need and maintain the fiscal responsibility that America demands unless we fundamentally reform the way our Defense Department does business. It's a simple fact."
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 24, 2009 - As Defense Department officials overhaul the Pentagon's acquisition system, they're asking warfighters to define exactly what they need, then holding industry to more fixed-price contracts to develop those capabilities, a senior defense official told American Forces Press Service. Shay Assad, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition and technology, cited two problems that have long plagued the defense acquisition system. Expectations were set so high -- and contracts written accordingly -- that systems took longer than expected to develop. Meanwhile, costs escalated, with the Defense Department left to pick up the bulk of the additional charges.
Both practices are coming to a halt as the Pentagon changes the way it does business. The goal, Assad said, is to be more responsive to warfighters' needs and better stewards of taxpayer dollars.
Warfighter requirements always will trump in the acquisition effort, Assad said. "We want our warfighters to have the overwhelming technological superiority. We want them to have every advantage they can possible have," he said. "We do not want this to be a fair fight."
But too often in the Pentagon's drive to provide that superior capability, "we push the technical envelope too far," he acknowledged.
"We are expecting too much, instead of being realistic about what we can achieve in the near term and getting that to the field," he said.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told Congress earlier this year the Pentagon too often makes the perfect the enemy of the good. Gates said the department needs to be more willing to settle for the "75-percent solution" that gets capability into warfighters' hands faster, than always waiting for a near-perfect system.
Therefore, officials are looking to the experts -- the warfighters themselves -- to define exactly what they need.
"Bringing warfighters into the decision-making process that drives acquisition is "a big change," Assad said. "We're very focused on working with the warfighters, and there's a significant amount of interchange," he added.
The dialog promotes a better understanding of what capabilities are available now and can be delivered in the short-term, and which requirements have no present-day solutions and will take longer to meet, Assad said.
Warfighters get to identify, for example, when the 75-percent solution that's deliverable within two years will work until the 100-percent solution will be ready in about seven years.
"Our warfighters sometimes get frustrated because of the length of time it takes to design, develop and field a system," Assad said. "And when we look back on it, the reason that happens is because we did not do as good a job as we should have up front, defining what we need, or making sure that the technologies exist to meet that requirement. So this is a big step forward in being more responsive to warfighters' needs."
Meanwhile, the department is keeping no-bid contracts to a minimum to increase competition. And in awarding contracts, it's helping to prevent cost overruns through better up-front cost estimates and more fixed-price development programs.
Assad conceded that fixed-price contracts aren't suitable for every program, and that it is nearly impossible to estimate precisely how much every development program will cost. But getting a better handle of costs at the beginning of the development process will reduce expensive surprises later in the process, he explained.
"So when we say something is going to cost $50 million, we will be comfortable that it is going to be in that range somewhere -- not $300 million," he said.
Fixed-price contracts, with payouts tied to performance, will make contractors closer partners in ensuring programs proceed on schedule and on budget, Assad said.
President Barack Obama emphasized the importance of these and other acquisition reforms under way during an address last week at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Phoenix.
"Every dollar wasted in our defense budget is a dollar we can't spend to care for our troops or protect America or prepare for the future," the president said. "We cannot build the 21st-century military we need and maintain the fiscal responsibility that America demands unless we fundamentally reform the way our Defense Department does business. It's a simple fact."
Police Department Earns Award for Troop Support
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 24, 2009 - The Santa Ana, Calif., police department will receive the Defense Department's top employer-support award for providing exceptional financial and emotional support to its employees who deploy as National Guard or Reserve members. The police department provides its deployed members with differential pay and continued family health benefits, among other accommodations that go beyond what the law requires.
For example, military liaisons stay in touch with deployed employees to let them know what's happening back at the department and to see if they need anything, Cmdr. Bill Nimmo said.
The department recognizes its employees' military service through newsletters, photographs and prominent display cases throughout the station. In addition, policies are in place to guide supervisors and servicemember employees during the reintegration process when citizen-soldiers return to their police jobs.
Nimmo said the relationship between the department and the military often starts well before a reservist or National Guard member is even on the payroll.
"It starts off in our recruiting process," he said, explaining that department officials specifically look to hire military members. "We go to different bases and places where military people are going to be to recruit military people, because we like to have them for law enforcement," he said.
Servicemembers often make ideal candidates for employment in law enforcement, he explained, because their military background instills a sense of discipline and the ability to work with others on a team, he said.
"In the military, you work as a team, and in the police department we work as a team," he said. "We can't get anything accomplished without each other." Many police officers who have military experience also come to the job with vital training as supervisors or managers, he added.
Of course, the parallels between the natures of the two jobs don't end there.
"A lot of [police officers with military experience] are used to coming under stressful situations," he said. "So if you can perform in that environment, it also helps out here, because a lot of times our jobs -- especially out in the field -- can be stressful."
But department officials also understand the military portion of the phrase "citizen-soldier," and willingly accommodate employees with dual duties.
"Once they do get in the system, we want them to feel like they're able to fulfill their Reserve or National Guard obligation, but at the same time to know that their job here is still safe," he said.
The Santa Ana Police Department will receive the Freedom Award along with 14 other employers in a ceremony here next month. The Freedom Award, instituted in 1996 under the auspices of the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, recognizes exceptional support from the employer community.
"We were very proud to receive it," Nimmo said. "We were happy that the efforts that we put forward were recognized by someone, and [that] they thought what we did was valuable and good."
In supporting the department's servicemember employees, Nimmo added, officials strive to remove one worry from what can sometimes be a lengthy list.
"We try to take the worry away from them about their job here – they have a job when they get back, and they'll be eligible for promotion or opportunities," he said. "We just try to keep this as one less worry for them."
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 24, 2009 - The Santa Ana, Calif., police department will receive the Defense Department's top employer-support award for providing exceptional financial and emotional support to its employees who deploy as National Guard or Reserve members. The police department provides its deployed members with differential pay and continued family health benefits, among other accommodations that go beyond what the law requires.
For example, military liaisons stay in touch with deployed employees to let them know what's happening back at the department and to see if they need anything, Cmdr. Bill Nimmo said.
The department recognizes its employees' military service through newsletters, photographs and prominent display cases throughout the station. In addition, policies are in place to guide supervisors and servicemember employees during the reintegration process when citizen-soldiers return to their police jobs.
Nimmo said the relationship between the department and the military often starts well before a reservist or National Guard member is even on the payroll.
"It starts off in our recruiting process," he said, explaining that department officials specifically look to hire military members. "We go to different bases and places where military people are going to be to recruit military people, because we like to have them for law enforcement," he said.
Servicemembers often make ideal candidates for employment in law enforcement, he explained, because their military background instills a sense of discipline and the ability to work with others on a team, he said.
"In the military, you work as a team, and in the police department we work as a team," he said. "We can't get anything accomplished without each other." Many police officers who have military experience also come to the job with vital training as supervisors or managers, he added.
Of course, the parallels between the natures of the two jobs don't end there.
"A lot of [police officers with military experience] are used to coming under stressful situations," he said. "So if you can perform in that environment, it also helps out here, because a lot of times our jobs -- especially out in the field -- can be stressful."
But department officials also understand the military portion of the phrase "citizen-soldier," and willingly accommodate employees with dual duties.
"Once they do get in the system, we want them to feel like they're able to fulfill their Reserve or National Guard obligation, but at the same time to know that their job here is still safe," he said.
The Santa Ana Police Department will receive the Freedom Award along with 14 other employers in a ceremony here next month. The Freedom Award, instituted in 1996 under the auspices of the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, recognizes exceptional support from the employer community.
"We were very proud to receive it," Nimmo said. "We were happy that the efforts that we put forward were recognized by someone, and [that] they thought what we did was valuable and good."
In supporting the department's servicemember employees, Nimmo added, officials strive to remove one worry from what can sometimes be a lengthy list.
"We try to take the worry away from them about their job here – they have a job when they get back, and they'll be eligible for promotion or opportunities," he said. "We just try to keep this as one less worry for them."
VA Simplifies Compensation Rules for Post-traumatic Stress
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 24, 2009 - The Veterans Affairs Department is taking steps to help veterans seeking compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki announced today. "The hidden wounds of war are being addressed vigorously and comprehensively by this administration as we move VA forward in its transformation to the 21st century," Shinseki said.
VA is publishing a proposed regulation today in the Federal Register to make it easier for a veteran to claim service connection for PTSD by reducing the evidence needed if the stressor claimed is related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity. Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted over the next 60 days, and a final regulation will be published after consideration of all comments received, VA officials said.
Under the new rule, VA would not require corroboration of a stressor related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity if a VA psychiatrist or psychologist confirms that the stressful experience recalled by a veteran adequately supports a diagnosis of PTSD and the veteran's symptoms are related to the claimed stressor.
Previously, claims adjudicators were required to corroborate that a noncombat veteran actually experienced a stressor related to hostile military activity. This rule would simplify the development that is required for these cases, officials explained.
PTSD is a recognized anxiety disorder that can follow seeing or experiencing an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury to which a person responds with intense fear, helplessness or horror, and is not uncommon in war. Feelings of fear, confusion or anger often subside, officials noted, but if the feelings don't go away or get worse, a veteran may have PTSD.
VA is bolstering its mental health capacity to serve combat veterans, adding thousands of new professionals in the last four years. The department also has established a toll-free suicide prevention helpline -- 1-800-273-TALK -- and has a Web site available for online chat in the evenings at http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/Veterans/.
(From a Department of Veterans Affairs news release.)
Aug. 24, 2009 - The Veterans Affairs Department is taking steps to help veterans seeking compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki announced today. "The hidden wounds of war are being addressed vigorously and comprehensively by this administration as we move VA forward in its transformation to the 21st century," Shinseki said.
VA is publishing a proposed regulation today in the Federal Register to make it easier for a veteran to claim service connection for PTSD by reducing the evidence needed if the stressor claimed is related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity. Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted over the next 60 days, and a final regulation will be published after consideration of all comments received, VA officials said.
Under the new rule, VA would not require corroboration of a stressor related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity if a VA psychiatrist or psychologist confirms that the stressful experience recalled by a veteran adequately supports a diagnosis of PTSD and the veteran's symptoms are related to the claimed stressor.
Previously, claims adjudicators were required to corroborate that a noncombat veteran actually experienced a stressor related to hostile military activity. This rule would simplify the development that is required for these cases, officials explained.
PTSD is a recognized anxiety disorder that can follow seeing or experiencing an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury to which a person responds with intense fear, helplessness or horror, and is not uncommon in war. Feelings of fear, confusion or anger often subside, officials noted, but if the feelings don't go away or get worse, a veteran may have PTSD.
VA is bolstering its mental health capacity to serve combat veterans, adding thousands of new professionals in the last four years. The department also has established a toll-free suicide prevention helpline -- 1-800-273-TALK -- and has a Web site available for online chat in the evenings at http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/Veterans/.
(From a Department of Veterans Affairs news release.)
Saturday, August 22, 2009
For months after 9-11, we were all Americans
This is my first post on this site. Raymond was kind enough to invite me to post here.
I am a Senior Chaplain with the International Fellowship of Chaplains. We work with police officers, firefighters, emergency responders and survivors of traumatic events. Some of us work in prisons, some with bikers, you name it, we're pretty much there in times of need.
Raymond interviewed me yesterday and he asked what a Chaplain does. I told him that while we are often confused with pastors, ministers, other members of the clergy, our mission is to take care of all God's children, where they are and when they need help. There are some Chaplains associated with churches because they also happen to be members of the clergy as well. For us, our mission is in our communities and for me, it's been nationally and internationally because of the blogs and website. I post over at http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/ and have a website at http://www.namguardianangel.com/ I am editor and publisher of both along with making videos to provide support and education on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
While I've been doing this work since 1982, focusing on veterans, it has lead to working with police officers, firefighters, their families and survivors of trauma as well as the current military. I became a Chaplain last year.
I am married to a Vietnam veteran and that's how I got into all of this. I've not only researched it, I live with it. We're members of a lot of organizations but I am most grateful to the IFOC. I just started a Charter of the IFOC. I am certified, trained, licensed and ordained by the IFOC, certified in crisis intervention and management, debriefing plus disaster and extreme event preparedness (DEEP)
Now that you know a bit about me, you'll know where the rest of this post is coming from. It is a cross post from my blog. It is very difficult to think of things to post on other sites to share but this one I believe is important to share considering the anniversary of September 11th is coming up soon.
I hope to be posting here again soon.
For months after 9-11, we were all Americans
by Chaplain Kathie
Everyone in this country remembers where they were the day our sense of security was lost. We watched it happen on TV sets from coast to coast. Some had to watch it happen right in front of their eyes in New York and Washington DC. We were horrified knowing that in one horrific moment lives could be so violently changed. People just going to work in a normal day, were suddenly gone.
We think about the people on the planes,in the Towers and working in the Pentagon. They all got ready for one more normal day, drinking coffee, eating breakfast, dressing and driving off, away from their families thinking what they would do after they returned from work that night. Some never returned. Others returned with the same body, but not the same inside.
Police officers and firefighters rushed into the burning buildings while everyone else was running away. While citizens were able to return home to cope with what they just survived, the police and firefighters were still trying to save lives. They stayed after the Towers fell to try to find people trapped and to find their own friends.
For months after 9-11, we were all Americans. We bought flags. Some for the first time in their lives. We bought them for our homes and for our cars. We bought them in honor of the lives lost in unity. People were a lot nicer to each other back then. The sense that their own lives could end in an instant as well, made them appreciate family and friends more. Some were transformed for the better that day, but sooner or later, all that was good and patriotic faded away and people started to scream at each other again. Flags came down. Concerts for the families stopped. While we remembered those horrible events, we forgot about the families left behind.
The heartbreak of families remained long after the funerals but they got on with their lives as best as they could. Firefighters and police officers returned to work in New York City dealing with the average traumatic events of normal fires and accidents, crimes and domestic disputes. They had a job to do no matter how much they were hurting, but we never really noticed them. After all, we never really do think of any of them unless we need them.
What is really telling is that while we may from time to time remember the firefighters and police officers of New York City, we never seem to remember that police and firefighters rushed in from other states to help. We don't think about the construction workers coming in from New Jersey and other states. After all is said and done, what they did, the images of all of them working together, side by side, never really took hold of our hearts. We forgot that police and firefighters risk their lives for all of us but long after we need them, the events they respond to can take hold of their minds just as much as the men and women in the military.
Now this article shows that the children left behind still come together with their own common bond. They find friendship and support being understood by their own as only others can understand. Somehow where they live, what incomes their families have, how they vote, what divides them, is all ignored as it was that day in America. What matters most is that they are there to support each other as humans, as Americans, and as survivors of a great loss.
I am a Senior Chaplain with the International Fellowship of Chaplains. We work with police officers, firefighters, emergency responders and survivors of traumatic events. Some of us work in prisons, some with bikers, you name it, we're pretty much there in times of need.
Raymond interviewed me yesterday and he asked what a Chaplain does. I told him that while we are often confused with pastors, ministers, other members of the clergy, our mission is to take care of all God's children, where they are and when they need help. There are some Chaplains associated with churches because they also happen to be members of the clergy as well. For us, our mission is in our communities and for me, it's been nationally and internationally because of the blogs and website. I post over at http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/ and have a website at http://www.namguardianangel.com/ I am editor and publisher of both along with making videos to provide support and education on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
While I've been doing this work since 1982, focusing on veterans, it has lead to working with police officers, firefighters, their families and survivors of trauma as well as the current military. I became a Chaplain last year.
I am married to a Vietnam veteran and that's how I got into all of this. I've not only researched it, I live with it. We're members of a lot of organizations but I am most grateful to the IFOC. I just started a Charter of the IFOC. I am certified, trained, licensed and ordained by the IFOC, certified in crisis intervention and management, debriefing plus disaster and extreme event preparedness (DEEP)
Now that you know a bit about me, you'll know where the rest of this post is coming from. It is a cross post from my blog. It is very difficult to think of things to post on other sites to share but this one I believe is important to share considering the anniversary of September 11th is coming up soon.
I hope to be posting here again soon.
For months after 9-11, we were all Americans
by Chaplain Kathie
Everyone in this country remembers where they were the day our sense of security was lost. We watched it happen on TV sets from coast to coast. Some had to watch it happen right in front of their eyes in New York and Washington DC. We were horrified knowing that in one horrific moment lives could be so violently changed. People just going to work in a normal day, were suddenly gone.
We think about the people on the planes,in the Towers and working in the Pentagon. They all got ready for one more normal day, drinking coffee, eating breakfast, dressing and driving off, away from their families thinking what they would do after they returned from work that night. Some never returned. Others returned with the same body, but not the same inside.
Police officers and firefighters rushed into the burning buildings while everyone else was running away. While citizens were able to return home to cope with what they just survived, the police and firefighters were still trying to save lives. They stayed after the Towers fell to try to find people trapped and to find their own friends.
For months after 9-11, we were all Americans. We bought flags. Some for the first time in their lives. We bought them for our homes and for our cars. We bought them in honor of the lives lost in unity. People were a lot nicer to each other back then. The sense that their own lives could end in an instant as well, made them appreciate family and friends more. Some were transformed for the better that day, but sooner or later, all that was good and patriotic faded away and people started to scream at each other again. Flags came down. Concerts for the families stopped. While we remembered those horrible events, we forgot about the families left behind.
The heartbreak of families remained long after the funerals but they got on with their lives as best as they could. Firefighters and police officers returned to work in New York City dealing with the average traumatic events of normal fires and accidents, crimes and domestic disputes. They had a job to do no matter how much they were hurting, but we never really noticed them. After all, we never really do think of any of them unless we need them.
What is really telling is that while we may from time to time remember the firefighters and police officers of New York City, we never seem to remember that police and firefighters rushed in from other states to help. We don't think about the construction workers coming in from New Jersey and other states. After all is said and done, what they did, the images of all of them working together, side by side, never really took hold of our hearts. We forgot that police and firefighters risk their lives for all of us but long after we need them, the events they respond to can take hold of their minds just as much as the men and women in the military.
Now this article shows that the children left behind still come together with their own common bond. They find friendship and support being understood by their own as only others can understand. Somehow where they live, what incomes their families have, how they vote, what divides them, is all ignored as it was that day in America. What matters most is that they are there to support each other as humans, as Americans, and as survivors of a great loss.
Camp 9/11
Where teenagers who lost a parent in the terrorist attacks now counsel the youngest victims
By Bella English
Globe Staff
PERU, Mass. - Julia Coombs clears the lunch tables of stray cups and napkins, then rushes over to join her friends in a line dance. The dining room is a blur of sweaty bodies and a cacophony of voices dancing and singing to “The Music Man.’’ Julia is 15, a confident, chatty counselor-in-training at America’s Camp.
Six years ago, she was a shy 9-year-old who had never been away from home. And she didn’t want to talk about her father, Jeff, who was killed on 9/11 when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Today she’s fine with the topic, and even helps younger kids talk, if they need to, about the parent they lost that same day. “There’s like nobody else who knows what you’ve been through, but here, everybody’s on the same page,’’ says Coombs, who’s from Abington.
That page, or day, is Sept. 11, 2001, and the kids at this camp in the Berkshires lost a parent in the terrorist attacks. America’s Camp opened in 2002 and hosted 78 kids shellshocked from their loss. This year it plateaued at 260, the same as last year. That’s because many of the original campers are in their 20s now. Taking their place are the youngest campers, 7 and 8 years old, who were infants - or even in utero - when their parent died.The idea, back in those chaotic early days, was to give the “9/11 kids’’ a place where they could hide out and hang out, an escape from the grief and curiosity that shadowed them. There are also a handful of children of police officers and firefighters who died in the line of duty.
read more here
Maybe it will make you remember what this country was like after 9-11 but God willing, it will also make you remember the number 911 when we call for help in emergencies and remember the men and women risking their lives for our sake every day of the year.
If you live in the Orlando area, there is an event at 1st Baptist Church on September 8th at 6:00 p.m.. It is to honor the first responders. OperationSafety91 is honoring the men and women willing to lay down their lives for the rest of us with a 6,000 flag tribute, much like after 9-11 when the entire nation was covered with flags. For more information go here.
http://www.operationsafety91.com/home.php
If you are one of our everyday heroes, please stop by to see me so that I can shake your hand and thank you. If you or anyone else you know is having a hard time coping with PTSD, please feel free to talk to me.
Memories of 9-11 linger on and so do a lot of other memories that sometimes you need help with. These children know that what binds them together is stronger than anything else. Adults need to learn this lesson as well and find strength from others who do understand.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Company Steps Up When Military Employees Deploy
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 21, 2009 - When a TriWest Healthcare Alliance nurse who serves in the Kansas Air National Guard got notice of an upcoming deployment in 2006, TriWest president David McIntyre ensured the company would see to her family's needs. "There was no hesitation when I said that I was going to deploy," said Janet Hanson, a colonel with 24 total years of active and Air Guard military service. "Mr. McIntyre personally said that if my family or I need anything during the deployment to contact him personally, which was great."
McIntyre's gesture is just one of the reasons TriWest was selected for a 2009 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. The award recognizes public and private employers for going above and beyond what's required by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act for their reserve-component employees. The National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve manages the award.
TriWest goes above what the law requires by providing continued health benefits for three months and pay differential for the duration of the deployment, said Hanson, a clinical liaison nurse at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.
That, in combination with several more personal efforts, spurred her to seek recognition for the company, she said.
"They have a 'We Care' program -- some things for the families, such as phone cards -- that's grown ever since I deployed," Hanson said. "If I have an employee whose spouse is coming back, ... they get an administrative day off for the homecoming."
She said she's thrilled that TriWest is receiving this recognition.
"I wouldn't have submitted them unless I thought they had a chance, but obviously we were going up against 3,200 good companies that [were] nominated," she said. "I see every day what TriWest does in supporting the military, and I think they do a lot.
"I'm very proud of the company I work for," said Hanson, who became commander of the 190th Medical Group in 2007.
Elizabeth Hillestad, a TriWest spokeswoman, said the company is very proud to receive the award.
"It's a high honor to be recognized by [Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve]," she said. "I think it demonstrates our commitment to doing whatever it takes, which is our company motto, to reach out to Guard and Reserve members and their families and show that we support them and honor their service."
Citing the benefits Hanson mentioned, Hillestad added to the list, noting the company's policy of continued 401(k) matching and accrual of paid time off.
"We have a 'Giving to the Guard' program where we help various local family emergency relief funds, and then we make sure that [families] have access to those in case they need that," she said. "We also provide a variety of tools to [families] which are deployment-related support tools."
Hillestad said the company is just as proud of Hanson as it is of the recognition she's brought TriWest.
"We're super proud that she thought enough of the company to nominate us for this award," she said. "I think that it also sort of validates the commitment that we've made to the Guard and Reserve in recent years."
With more than seven years of service to TriWest, Hanson exemplifies the company's culture of service to the military as both a civilian employee and Guardsman, Hillestad added. About half of TriWest's employees have a personal tie to the military.
TriWest is the western region administrator of the military's Tricare health care system.
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 21, 2009 - When a TriWest Healthcare Alliance nurse who serves in the Kansas Air National Guard got notice of an upcoming deployment in 2006, TriWest president David McIntyre ensured the company would see to her family's needs. "There was no hesitation when I said that I was going to deploy," said Janet Hanson, a colonel with 24 total years of active and Air Guard military service. "Mr. McIntyre personally said that if my family or I need anything during the deployment to contact him personally, which was great."
McIntyre's gesture is just one of the reasons TriWest was selected for a 2009 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. The award recognizes public and private employers for going above and beyond what's required by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act for their reserve-component employees. The National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve manages the award.
TriWest goes above what the law requires by providing continued health benefits for three months and pay differential for the duration of the deployment, said Hanson, a clinical liaison nurse at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.
That, in combination with several more personal efforts, spurred her to seek recognition for the company, she said.
"They have a 'We Care' program -- some things for the families, such as phone cards -- that's grown ever since I deployed," Hanson said. "If I have an employee whose spouse is coming back, ... they get an administrative day off for the homecoming."
She said she's thrilled that TriWest is receiving this recognition.
"I wouldn't have submitted them unless I thought they had a chance, but obviously we were going up against 3,200 good companies that [were] nominated," she said. "I see every day what TriWest does in supporting the military, and I think they do a lot.
"I'm very proud of the company I work for," said Hanson, who became commander of the 190th Medical Group in 2007.
Elizabeth Hillestad, a TriWest spokeswoman, said the company is very proud to receive the award.
"It's a high honor to be recognized by [Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve]," she said. "I think it demonstrates our commitment to doing whatever it takes, which is our company motto, to reach out to Guard and Reserve members and their families and show that we support them and honor their service."
Citing the benefits Hanson mentioned, Hillestad added to the list, noting the company's policy of continued 401(k) matching and accrual of paid time off.
"We have a 'Giving to the Guard' program where we help various local family emergency relief funds, and then we make sure that [families] have access to those in case they need that," she said. "We also provide a variety of tools to [families] which are deployment-related support tools."
Hillestad said the company is just as proud of Hanson as it is of the recognition she's brought TriWest.
"We're super proud that she thought enough of the company to nominate us for this award," she said. "I think that it also sort of validates the commitment that we've made to the Guard and Reserve in recent years."
With more than seven years of service to TriWest, Hanson exemplifies the company's culture of service to the military as both a civilian employee and Guardsman, Hillestad added. About half of TriWest's employees have a personal tie to the military.
TriWest is the western region administrator of the military's Tricare health care system.
Preventive Medicine Chief Cites Importance of Vaccinations
By Christen N. McCluney
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 21, 2009 - August is National Immunization Month, and a senior Navy medical official encouraged servicemembers to be up to date on flu vaccines during a "Dot Mil Docs" interview yesterday on Pentagon Web Radio. "Anyone that is active duty should receive a vaccine," said Navy Capt. Neal A. Naito, director of clinical care and public health at the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. "We need to protect our servicemembers as they go about protecting our country."
As early as next week, military treatment facilities will start receiving the flu vaccine and will start rolling out their campaigns to encourage people to be vaccinated. Not all facilities will receive their vaccines at the same time, Naito noted, so beneficiaries should watch for local information.
The flu vaccines come in two types of formulations, Naito said: a nasal-spray vaccine made with live, weakened flu viruses that do not cause the flu, and the so-called "flu shot," an inactivated vaccine containing killed virus that is given with a needle.
"There is no reason to avoid the [vaccinations] because of the two different formulations," Naito said. "The needle technology these days is so great that it is almost pain-free getting these injections."
Naito added that the seasonal flu vaccines may provide some slight protection against other influenza viruses such as H1N1, but he encouraged beneficiaries to get the individual shots for other strains as well. Vaccinations for H1NI and other infections can be received at the same time, he noted.
Navy Medicine has been in the forefront of flu surveillance activity for many years, Naito said. The Naval Health Research Center, part of the Defense Department's Global Emerging Infections System, picked up the initial presence of H1N1 flu in the United States in April and continues to monitor areas where influenza viruses typically show up first to protect the health of servicemembers and their families, he said.
"The reason why we are starting this seasonal influenza vaccine campaign early is because of the national strategy," Naito said. "The government asked manufacturers to make the seasonal vaccines early so that they then could also manufacture adequate stocks of the H1NI vaccines. So it's key to get the seasonal vaccine as early as possible, which allows us to roll out the H1N1 vaccines more efficiently."
Getting your vaccinated early helps not only the individual, but also the community, Naito said. "Immunization remains the primary method of reducing seasonal flu illness and its complications," he explained. "Seasonal influenza can be a disease that is problematic for people and can be severe."
Navy Medicine will monitor the seasonal influenza virus carefully over the coming weeks and months and will be proactive in developing contingency plans to address any public health issues, the captain said.
"The health and well-being of all our beneficiaries is our highest priority in Navy medicine," he said.
(Christen N. McCluney works in the Defense Media Activity's emerging media directorate.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 21, 2009 - August is National Immunization Month, and a senior Navy medical official encouraged servicemembers to be up to date on flu vaccines during a "Dot Mil Docs" interview yesterday on Pentagon Web Radio. "Anyone that is active duty should receive a vaccine," said Navy Capt. Neal A. Naito, director of clinical care and public health at the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. "We need to protect our servicemembers as they go about protecting our country."
As early as next week, military treatment facilities will start receiving the flu vaccine and will start rolling out their campaigns to encourage people to be vaccinated. Not all facilities will receive their vaccines at the same time, Naito noted, so beneficiaries should watch for local information.
The flu vaccines come in two types of formulations, Naito said: a nasal-spray vaccine made with live, weakened flu viruses that do not cause the flu, and the so-called "flu shot," an inactivated vaccine containing killed virus that is given with a needle.
"There is no reason to avoid the [vaccinations] because of the two different formulations," Naito said. "The needle technology these days is so great that it is almost pain-free getting these injections."
Naito added that the seasonal flu vaccines may provide some slight protection against other influenza viruses such as H1N1, but he encouraged beneficiaries to get the individual shots for other strains as well. Vaccinations for H1NI and other infections can be received at the same time, he noted.
Navy Medicine has been in the forefront of flu surveillance activity for many years, Naito said. The Naval Health Research Center, part of the Defense Department's Global Emerging Infections System, picked up the initial presence of H1N1 flu in the United States in April and continues to monitor areas where influenza viruses typically show up first to protect the health of servicemembers and their families, he said.
"The reason why we are starting this seasonal influenza vaccine campaign early is because of the national strategy," Naito said. "The government asked manufacturers to make the seasonal vaccines early so that they then could also manufacture adequate stocks of the H1NI vaccines. So it's key to get the seasonal vaccine as early as possible, which allows us to roll out the H1N1 vaccines more efficiently."
Getting your vaccinated early helps not only the individual, but also the community, Naito said. "Immunization remains the primary method of reducing seasonal flu illness and its complications," he explained. "Seasonal influenza can be a disease that is problematic for people and can be severe."
Navy Medicine will monitor the seasonal influenza virus carefully over the coming weeks and months and will be proactive in developing contingency plans to address any public health issues, the captain said.
"The health and well-being of all our beneficiaries is our highest priority in Navy medicine," he said.
(Christen N. McCluney works in the Defense Media Activity's emerging media directorate.)
Caregivers Learn Importance of Caring for Selves
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 21, 2009 - More than two dozen multidisciplinary professionals who usually work with very young children gathered here today to learn how to better care for themselves.
"These are unprecedented times for our families, and the department recognizes how much you are doing to mitigate the stressors in their lives," Barbara Thompson, director of the Defense Department's Office of Family Policy/Children and Youth Military Community and Family Policy, told the group. "This opportunity will provide you with the skills and resources to know how to refuel yourself in order for you to make the most out of your interventions with our military members and their families."
The group was provided with training on how to recognize stress in young children and how to avoid "compassion fatigue" and burnout. Throughout the day, attendees also were presented with some techniques to help make their jobs easier.
Today's training, provided by Zero to Three, a nonprofit group dedicated to helping parents and very young children to thrive, was aimed at helping professionals.
As part of its mission, Zero to Three offers resources for military parents and children.
"'Coming Together Around Military Families' is the program that Zero to Three has developed to train our professionals to build an awareness of those issues that impact babies and toddlers and their healthy developments," Thompson said. "We've deployed these resources to 12 military installations and two military treatment facilities, and we're expanding this program."
Defense officials recognize the challenges deployed servicemembers and military families with very young children face in regard to staying connected and involved in the children's lives, Thompson said.
"We know it's very difficult, because ... when you're away and you're experiencing it vicariously through the Internet, which is a wonderful tool to keep parents and children connected, it's not the same as holding your baby and seeing them go through their milestones," she said.
Zero to Three's resources help in these situations, she said. They help deployed parents keep themselves in the minds of their babies so that when they do reintegrate after a long deployment, it's not so scary, she explained.
Most of Zero to Three's resources are available on its Web site.
"We also have a wonderful relationship with [the Defense Department's] Military OneSource," said Lynette Fraga, Zero to Three's director of military projects. "Many of our materials are available through Military OneSource as well as on our Web site.
"We try to make as much information available digitally as we possibly can so that they can be readily accessible for anyone anywhere in the world," she added.
As interested as Fraga and her organization are in helping very young children reach their potential, they're just as interested in helping those who help the children.
"There's a board member at Zero to Three, ... and she often has been quoted as saying, 'How you are is as important as what you do,'" Fraga told the group. "In order to be available and present for our [military] families so that they can be available and present for their babies, we have to honor and take care of ourselves.
"The work that we're doing today by way of providing training for the military family and community is really around making sure that they are benefitting from professionals and families understanding the context of development, why it is that it's so critical to pay attention to the earliest years," she added in a later interview. "[They'll learn] what they can do, strategies around supporting them through difficult times and circumstance, such as deployment and reintegration."
The participants will take the lessons learned from today's training back to their respective installations in the greater national capital region, including Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., and Fort George G. Meade, Md. Similar training sessions are being held across the country.
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 21, 2009 - More than two dozen multidisciplinary professionals who usually work with very young children gathered here today to learn how to better care for themselves.
"These are unprecedented times for our families, and the department recognizes how much you are doing to mitigate the stressors in their lives," Barbara Thompson, director of the Defense Department's Office of Family Policy/Children and Youth Military Community and Family Policy, told the group. "This opportunity will provide you with the skills and resources to know how to refuel yourself in order for you to make the most out of your interventions with our military members and their families."
The group was provided with training on how to recognize stress in young children and how to avoid "compassion fatigue" and burnout. Throughout the day, attendees also were presented with some techniques to help make their jobs easier.
Today's training, provided by Zero to Three, a nonprofit group dedicated to helping parents and very young children to thrive, was aimed at helping professionals.
As part of its mission, Zero to Three offers resources for military parents and children.
"'Coming Together Around Military Families' is the program that Zero to Three has developed to train our professionals to build an awareness of those issues that impact babies and toddlers and their healthy developments," Thompson said. "We've deployed these resources to 12 military installations and two military treatment facilities, and we're expanding this program."
Defense officials recognize the challenges deployed servicemembers and military families with very young children face in regard to staying connected and involved in the children's lives, Thompson said.
"We know it's very difficult, because ... when you're away and you're experiencing it vicariously through the Internet, which is a wonderful tool to keep parents and children connected, it's not the same as holding your baby and seeing them go through their milestones," she said.
Zero to Three's resources help in these situations, she said. They help deployed parents keep themselves in the minds of their babies so that when they do reintegrate after a long deployment, it's not so scary, she explained.
Most of Zero to Three's resources are available on its Web site.
"We also have a wonderful relationship with [the Defense Department's] Military OneSource," said Lynette Fraga, Zero to Three's director of military projects. "Many of our materials are available through Military OneSource as well as on our Web site.
"We try to make as much information available digitally as we possibly can so that they can be readily accessible for anyone anywhere in the world," she added.
As interested as Fraga and her organization are in helping very young children reach their potential, they're just as interested in helping those who help the children.
"There's a board member at Zero to Three, ... and she often has been quoted as saying, 'How you are is as important as what you do,'" Fraga told the group. "In order to be available and present for our [military] families so that they can be available and present for their babies, we have to honor and take care of ourselves.
"The work that we're doing today by way of providing training for the military family and community is really around making sure that they are benefitting from professionals and families understanding the context of development, why it is that it's so critical to pay attention to the earliest years," she added in a later interview. "[They'll learn] what they can do, strategies around supporting them through difficult times and circumstance, such as deployment and reintegration."
The participants will take the lessons learned from today's training back to their respective installations in the greater national capital region, including Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., and Fort George G. Meade, Md. Similar training sessions are being held across the country.
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