By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 8, 2008 - Strides made or under way to improve care for wounded warriors transitioning from Defense Department care to the Veterans Affairs system won't be disrupted by upcoming changes in both departments' leadership, the No. 2 VA official said. Gordon H. Mansfield, deputy secretary of veterans affairs, said he's confident whichever candidate wins the November elections will build on successes made to provide the best support possible for wounded troops and veterans.
Mansfield spoke with American Forces Press Service during the 28th National Veterans Wheelchair Games, which wrapped up last week in Omaha, Neb.
Citing closer DoD-VA cooperation and collaboration than ever before, Mansfield said he expects the momentum to continue as new initiatives take shape.
DoD and VA are in the process of implementing more than 400 recommendations of five major studies. The commissions and task forces were formed to examine servicemembers' and veterans' health care after a February 2007 Washington Post series shed light on administrative shortfalls at Washington's Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
A year and a half later, Mansfield said he believes both departments are on the right track, building on efforts dating back to 2002 and paving the way to a more seamless transition between their two systems.
Senior non-political staff members at both departments are working to ensure these and other initiatives continue without interruption as the political changeover takes place, he said.
Meanwhile, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has started attending meetings of the joint senior oversight committee designed to improve the two departments' cooperation. Mansfield and Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England co-chair the committee, which includes all service secretaries and meets frequently to review progress and eliminate any roadblocks.
Mansfield said he and England have established "a very positive and open and cooperative effort" that is bearing fruit.
In a joint prepared statement submitted to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in April, the two outlined specific improvements in their two departments' cooperation. "Specifically, we have endeavored to improve the disability evaluation system, established the Federal Recovery Coordination Program, improved data sharing between the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, developed housing facility-inspection standards, and improved delivery of pay and benefits," they said.
Mansfield called fixes to the disability-evaluation process, including one in which both DoD and VA would use a single physical exam and give a single disability rating, one of the biggest steps forward. The process, he said, will reduce delays and uncertainty for transitioning veterans.
A pilot program under way at three major medical hospitals in the Washington, D.C., area is testing the concept, which would eliminate the often confusing elements of the two disability processes. Its goal is to cut by half the time it takes to transition a wounded troop to veteran status and to receive VA benefits and compensation.
The pilot is proving so successful that, Mansfield said, other regions are being eyed as additional test beds. "We have laid the groundwork, and now we are getting ready to choose other regions and to move forward from there," he said.
In addition, case management has improved dramatically, with VA staff members posted in military medical centers to assess patients' needs before they transfer to a VA facility.
"VA people are in military treatment facilities to an extent they have never been in the past, so we can pick up these people and know who they are and what their needs are and what their families' needs are before they wind up in the VA," Mansfield said. "That way, we can work on the transfer to anticipate the needs and make the necessary arrangements for them."
The two departments signed a partnership agreement in October that put 10 federal recovery coordinators in place to manage the care of severely injured servicemembers and their families. These coordinators are based at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; the National Naval Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md.; Brooke Army Medical Center, in San Antonio; and Naval Medical Center San Diego.
The coordinators are responsible for managing the needs of servicemembers as they move through the recovery and rehabilitation process and back to their communities.
In addition to caring for newly wounded veterans, the coordinators are beginning to pick up the cases of veterans processed through the system before the federal recovery-coordinator program started. "We have to do a little more work there," Mansfield said. "We're in the first phase of this effort, but we're taking the lessons learned from it and going into the second phase."
Mansfield cited steps toward improving the sharing of medical information between the two departments to develop a seamless health information system. DoD and VA are sharing more electronic health information through secure networks than ever before. For transitioning servicemembers, this means less hassle and fewer delays as they enter the VA system and begin receiving care and benefits, he said.
The VA is committed to ensuring all 7.8 million veterans eligible for care continue to receive the best-quality support they deserve, Mansfield said. "We need to do it accurately, kindly and get them what they need," he said. "So the closer we work with DoD, the easier it is going to be, once they cross the line [from DoD into VA], for us to be prepared to serve them."
Friday, August 08, 2008
National Guard Supporters Sample Leapfest Adventure
By Army Master Sgt. Bob Haskell
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 8, 2008 - No, they did not jump out of a perfectly good helicopter. But 16 civilians involved with Rhode Island's Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve program did get an idea of what an international group of military paratroopers would experience during Leapfest 2008 two days before the 26th annual international competition takes place here tomorrow.
The civilians, including an assistant U.S. attorney, a U.S. Naval War College professor, and the owner of a North Kingston pest control business, were flown aboard an Army National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter over the Rhode Island countryside on that heavily overcast Thursday morning.
They saw for themselves the terrain the airborne soldiers would glimpse during the couple of minutes it would take them to parachute onto a landing zone beside the University of Rhode Island after jumping out of larger helicopters at 1,500 feet.
"We had a good mix of educators, public officials and small-business people who support our National Guard and reserve troops," said Donna Callahan, executive director for Rhode Island's Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve committee. "We wanted to give them an idea of what Leapfest, which is hosted by the Rhode Island Guard, is all about."
ESGR officials frequently escort civilian employers or supervisors for National Guardmembers and reservists to events such as Leapfest to give them an idea of what citizen-servicemembers do when they are in uniform and away from their jobs. It is one way that ESGR, whose national committee is based in Arlington, Va., attempts to avoid conflicts arising from employees' military commitments.
Ironically, the ESGR participants in Rhode Island were the only ones to get off the ground that day. The paratroopers from 11 countries were grounded by rain clouds that were too low to safely make the friendship jumps that were also intended to familiarize the foreign troops with the equipment used for the competition, explained Air National Guard Lt. Col. Denis Riel, the Rhode Island National Guard's state spokesman.
"I got interested in ESGR because First Lieutenant Kate Auxier, in the Army National Guard, used to work for me," explained Tom Alarie, manager of a graduate-level population studies and training program at Brown University in Providence.
"I wanted to see this because we teach National Guard and reserve officers at the Naval War College in Newport," said Jeffrey Norwitz, a professor of national security decision making. "We have always had a good relationship with the National Guard and Reserve."
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 8, 2008 - No, they did not jump out of a perfectly good helicopter. But 16 civilians involved with Rhode Island's Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve program did get an idea of what an international group of military paratroopers would experience during Leapfest 2008 two days before the 26th annual international competition takes place here tomorrow.
The civilians, including an assistant U.S. attorney, a U.S. Naval War College professor, and the owner of a North Kingston pest control business, were flown aboard an Army National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter over the Rhode Island countryside on that heavily overcast Thursday morning.
They saw for themselves the terrain the airborne soldiers would glimpse during the couple of minutes it would take them to parachute onto a landing zone beside the University of Rhode Island after jumping out of larger helicopters at 1,500 feet.
"We had a good mix of educators, public officials and small-business people who support our National Guard and reserve troops," said Donna Callahan, executive director for Rhode Island's Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve committee. "We wanted to give them an idea of what Leapfest, which is hosted by the Rhode Island Guard, is all about."
ESGR officials frequently escort civilian employers or supervisors for National Guardmembers and reservists to events such as Leapfest to give them an idea of what citizen-servicemembers do when they are in uniform and away from their jobs. It is one way that ESGR, whose national committee is based in Arlington, Va., attempts to avoid conflicts arising from employees' military commitments.
Ironically, the ESGR participants in Rhode Island were the only ones to get off the ground that day. The paratroopers from 11 countries were grounded by rain clouds that were too low to safely make the friendship jumps that were also intended to familiarize the foreign troops with the equipment used for the competition, explained Air National Guard Lt. Col. Denis Riel, the Rhode Island National Guard's state spokesman.
"I got interested in ESGR because First Lieutenant Kate Auxier, in the Army National Guard, used to work for me," explained Tom Alarie, manager of a graduate-level population studies and training program at Brown University in Providence.
"I wanted to see this because we teach National Guard and reserve officers at the Naval War College in Newport," said Jeffrey Norwitz, a professor of national security decision making. "We have always had a good relationship with the National Guard and Reserve."
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Face of Defense: War Bride, Military Mom, Soldier Serves in Iraq
By Army Sgt. David Turner
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 5, 2008 - Two years after the Army raised the maximum age for enlistees, it is not uncommon to find soldiers over the age of 40 in the junior enlisted ranks. Some served in their younger years; others just always wanted to serve. Still others followed in their children's footsteps to the recruiting office.
Army Spc. Gina Keller, a war bride and a military mother in addition to being a soldier, said her service is the realization of a dream she had for more than 20 years.
"I always wanted to join the service," she said. "I tried at 18, but because of family values and respect for my family, I chose not to."
Keller said her parents didn't think joining the military was the right move for her at that time. In the meantime, she started a family of her own and put her dream of military service on hold. Her children -- three sons and a daughter -- came first, she said. But she always hoped the chance to serve would come again.
"I still knew that if someday it came around, that I could do it," she said.
At age 40, Keller learned the age limit for enlistment had been raised to 39. She sought a waiver to join the National Guard, but was turned down.
"My heart was broken," she said. "I thought I would never get to do this."
Months passed. Then she heard the Army had raised the age limit again, to 42. An Army recruiter called her the next day and asked her if she still wanted to join.
"I was always hoping and praying somehow I'd make this goal, this dream, happen," she said.
Her eldest son, Isaac, had just joined the National Guard, and mother and son shipped off to basic training within days of each other. He went to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; Keller left for Fort Jackson, S.C.
Despite the rigors of basic training, Keller proved herself in a group of younger recruits. Drill sergeants didn't treat her any differently, she said, and the woman drill sergeants were the hardest on her.
"I was called 'grandma' and 'old lady' most of the time I was there," she recalled, noting that her fellow soldiers helped her manage the stress of the training.
After basic training, Keller completed her advanced individual training, qualifying as a wheeled-vehicle mechanic. Then, in a strange twist, she received orders to report to her new unit, 92nd Engineer Brigade -- her son Andrew's unit.
"He said, 'You can't be coming here.' I said, 'Yes, I am," she recalled with a laugh. Keller said Andrew pleaded with his company's first sergeant, "You can't let that happen; I can't have my mom here."
Worries of standing next to Mom in formation subsided right away. Andrew deployed to Iraq, expecting to return home in October 2007. He had not seen his mother in 18 months, and the day of his scheduled return turned out to be the day of his mother's departure; she received orders to deploy to Iraq, too.
Things were happening fast for the 42-year-old single parent. She relocated with her youngest child, now 13, to Fort Stewart, Ga., and began preparing for a 15-month tour of duty in Iraq, assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division's 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team. Her commander allowed her an extra 10 days before deploying to spend time with Andrew. Mother and son bonded in a new way; he helped her pack her bags and advised her on her upcoming journey.
"He knew what I had to face," she said. "He knew where I was going."
Keller said the prospect of a long deployment didn't discourage her.
"I wanted to try and accomplish the rest of my goal, which was to come to the service and to serve the soldiers. I knew what the soldiers had to go through; I saw my sons go through it, and I wanted to be here to be of service to them," she said.
"All the way through basic training they kept emphasizing that we were going to be deployed. I was wholeheartedly engaged with the fact that I was going to serve my country, one way or the other," Keller said. "Whatever my country expected of me, that's what I was going to do."
While at Fort Stewart, Keller had another surprise in store for her. On the rifle range one day, she met the man who would become her husband. "I wasn't looking for anybody to be my significant other when I got to Fort Stewart," she recalled.
Army Sgt. Kevin Keller was working safety duty on the range that day, and while he was helping her adjust the sights on her rifle, they struck up a friendship.
"He came over to me in the foxhole and said, 'What are you shooting at?' I said, 'The targets, Sergeant.' He said, 'Well, you're not hitting any of them.'"
After their first meeting, she began seeing him around the motor pool; she worked there as a mechanic, and he worked as a fuel specialist. He was a sergeant and she was a private first class, which made a relationship challenging.
Though they served in separate companies in the same battalion, rules against such a relationship drew criticism from their leaders. But, Keller said, the sergeant's warmth and confidence won her over.
"He said from the first day he met me, 'You're going to marry me.' He was telling everybody," she recalled.
There was little time for courtship, though. Deployed together to Iraq, the two were stationed here with different jobs and schedules that prevented them from seeing much of each other.
Still, their relationship was the cause of talk, so in January they decided to do something about it. Taking leave together, they went home to the United States to get married. Within two days of their arrival, they were officially husband and wife. Then, they went back to Iraq.
Serving together as newlyweds has afforded the two a unique version of marital bliss. Though they do not share living quarters and they work different hours in different places, they enjoy the moments they do spend together. They often share meals in the dining facility, and Specialist Keller frequently takes iced tea to her husband on the job.
Though their marriage so far has been spent mostly apart while serving in a combat zone, Specialist Keller said, she has not been disappointed with her deployment.
"I've enjoyed everything that I've done," she said. "I've always felt that when soldiers accept me as working hard and getting them where they need to be, helping them accomplish their mission -- that is my reward," she said.
With her two-year enlistment soon to be over, Specialist Keller said she wanted to re-enlist, "but Sergeant Keller had other plans for me," she said. "He said that since he was retiring, I would be 'retiring,' too."
The couple plans to purchase five acres of land and build their own house. Not one to shy away from a challenge, Specialist Keller said she plans to do the work herself. Her previous civilian job was as a carpenter.
Others like her shouldn't be afraid of the challenge to serve their country, she said.
"For anybody over 40 who really wants to come to the service, there is a very big reward here," she explained. "You have to come here open-minded; you can't come here as your own individual. You have to be willing to change, and you have to be willing to serve."
(Army Sgt. David Turner serves with the 3rd Infantry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 5, 2008 - Two years after the Army raised the maximum age for enlistees, it is not uncommon to find soldiers over the age of 40 in the junior enlisted ranks. Some served in their younger years; others just always wanted to serve. Still others followed in their children's footsteps to the recruiting office.
Army Spc. Gina Keller, a war bride and a military mother in addition to being a soldier, said her service is the realization of a dream she had for more than 20 years.
"I always wanted to join the service," she said. "I tried at 18, but because of family values and respect for my family, I chose not to."
Keller said her parents didn't think joining the military was the right move for her at that time. In the meantime, she started a family of her own and put her dream of military service on hold. Her children -- three sons and a daughter -- came first, she said. But she always hoped the chance to serve would come again.
"I still knew that if someday it came around, that I could do it," she said.
At age 40, Keller learned the age limit for enlistment had been raised to 39. She sought a waiver to join the National Guard, but was turned down.
"My heart was broken," she said. "I thought I would never get to do this."
Months passed. Then she heard the Army had raised the age limit again, to 42. An Army recruiter called her the next day and asked her if she still wanted to join.
"I was always hoping and praying somehow I'd make this goal, this dream, happen," she said.
Her eldest son, Isaac, had just joined the National Guard, and mother and son shipped off to basic training within days of each other. He went to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; Keller left for Fort Jackson, S.C.
Despite the rigors of basic training, Keller proved herself in a group of younger recruits. Drill sergeants didn't treat her any differently, she said, and the woman drill sergeants were the hardest on her.
"I was called 'grandma' and 'old lady' most of the time I was there," she recalled, noting that her fellow soldiers helped her manage the stress of the training.
After basic training, Keller completed her advanced individual training, qualifying as a wheeled-vehicle mechanic. Then, in a strange twist, she received orders to report to her new unit, 92nd Engineer Brigade -- her son Andrew's unit.
"He said, 'You can't be coming here.' I said, 'Yes, I am," she recalled with a laugh. Keller said Andrew pleaded with his company's first sergeant, "You can't let that happen; I can't have my mom here."
Worries of standing next to Mom in formation subsided right away. Andrew deployed to Iraq, expecting to return home in October 2007. He had not seen his mother in 18 months, and the day of his scheduled return turned out to be the day of his mother's departure; she received orders to deploy to Iraq, too.
Things were happening fast for the 42-year-old single parent. She relocated with her youngest child, now 13, to Fort Stewart, Ga., and began preparing for a 15-month tour of duty in Iraq, assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division's 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team. Her commander allowed her an extra 10 days before deploying to spend time with Andrew. Mother and son bonded in a new way; he helped her pack her bags and advised her on her upcoming journey.
"He knew what I had to face," she said. "He knew where I was going."
Keller said the prospect of a long deployment didn't discourage her.
"I wanted to try and accomplish the rest of my goal, which was to come to the service and to serve the soldiers. I knew what the soldiers had to go through; I saw my sons go through it, and I wanted to be here to be of service to them," she said.
"All the way through basic training they kept emphasizing that we were going to be deployed. I was wholeheartedly engaged with the fact that I was going to serve my country, one way or the other," Keller said. "Whatever my country expected of me, that's what I was going to do."
While at Fort Stewart, Keller had another surprise in store for her. On the rifle range one day, she met the man who would become her husband. "I wasn't looking for anybody to be my significant other when I got to Fort Stewart," she recalled.
Army Sgt. Kevin Keller was working safety duty on the range that day, and while he was helping her adjust the sights on her rifle, they struck up a friendship.
"He came over to me in the foxhole and said, 'What are you shooting at?' I said, 'The targets, Sergeant.' He said, 'Well, you're not hitting any of them.'"
After their first meeting, she began seeing him around the motor pool; she worked there as a mechanic, and he worked as a fuel specialist. He was a sergeant and she was a private first class, which made a relationship challenging.
Though they served in separate companies in the same battalion, rules against such a relationship drew criticism from their leaders. But, Keller said, the sergeant's warmth and confidence won her over.
"He said from the first day he met me, 'You're going to marry me.' He was telling everybody," she recalled.
There was little time for courtship, though. Deployed together to Iraq, the two were stationed here with different jobs and schedules that prevented them from seeing much of each other.
Still, their relationship was the cause of talk, so in January they decided to do something about it. Taking leave together, they went home to the United States to get married. Within two days of their arrival, they were officially husband and wife. Then, they went back to Iraq.
Serving together as newlyweds has afforded the two a unique version of marital bliss. Though they do not share living quarters and they work different hours in different places, they enjoy the moments they do spend together. They often share meals in the dining facility, and Specialist Keller frequently takes iced tea to her husband on the job.
Though their marriage so far has been spent mostly apart while serving in a combat zone, Specialist Keller said, she has not been disappointed with her deployment.
"I've enjoyed everything that I've done," she said. "I've always felt that when soldiers accept me as working hard and getting them where they need to be, helping them accomplish their mission -- that is my reward," she said.
With her two-year enlistment soon to be over, Specialist Keller said she wanted to re-enlist, "but Sergeant Keller had other plans for me," she said. "He said that since he was retiring, I would be 'retiring,' too."
The couple plans to purchase five acres of land and build their own house. Not one to shy away from a challenge, Specialist Keller said she plans to do the work herself. Her previous civilian job was as a carpenter.
Others like her shouldn't be afraid of the challenge to serve their country, she said.
"For anybody over 40 who really wants to come to the service, there is a very big reward here," she explained. "You have to come here open-minded; you can't come here as your own individual. You have to be willing to change, and you have to be willing to serve."
(Army Sgt. David Turner serves with the 3rd Infantry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office.)
Panel Recommends Changes to Military Retirement
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 5, 2008 - A panel looking at military compensation has recommended dramatic changes in the military retirement system. The recommendations are part of the second volume put out by the 10th Quadrennial Review of military Compensation.
The first volume -- released in March -- looked at cash compensation. Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Jan D. "Denny" Eakle was director of the panel, and she briefed the press during a Pentagon news conference today.
Eakle said critics of the current military retirement system say it is not equitable, it is not flexible, and it is not efficient.
"There is a perception that the system we have today is inequitable because only 15 percent of all enlisted personnel and less than half of officers will ever receive anything in the system," she said. Reserve-component personnel also believe the current system discriminates against them, especially at a time when reserve forces are being called on more, she said.
The retirement proposal would offer a defined benefit, defined contributions, "gate" pays and separation pays.
The defined benefit would be 2.5 percent of the average basic pay for the highest 36 months of the individual's career multiplied by the number of years of service, with servicemembers vested at 10 years of service. Payments to retirees would begin at age 60 for those with less than 20 years of service and at age 57 for those with 20 years of service or more.
Servicemembers could opt for an immediate annuity, but the payout would follow the Federal Employee Retirement System methodology -- a 5 percent penalty per year for early withdrawal.
The defined contribution portion would be an automatic government-funded Thrift Savings Plan. Servicemembers would not have to match any government payment. The government would not put any money in for the first year, but would put in 2 percent of base pay for two years of service, 3 percent for three and four years of service, and 5 percent for five and more years of service. Again, this would be vested after 10 years of service.
The military also would make "gate pays" to servicemembers who reach specific years of service. These would vary by years of service and skills, Eakle said.
"This is a payment made for achieving a particular year of service," she explained. "And within the services, they would have the flexibility to vary this by year of service as well as by skill. That way, they could begin to shape the skills by dragging people further into their career by offering them an incentive."
Finally, the system would include separation pays to servicemembers that would also vary by years of service and skills.
"The separation payments would be made available by the service to members that they wished to entice to leave," Eakle said. This would be a permanent tool services would have available, she added.
The panel used a Rand Corporation computer model to test the recommendations, but Eakle said the panel members would like a large-scale test in the Defense Department.
"Therefore, the recommendation of this QRMC is that the Department of Defense conduct a multi-year test of this system," Eakle said. "The way the test would work is this: All four services would be asked to identify some skills that have different types of retention patterns -- some that stay not very long, some that stay longer periods of time -- and ones they wish to influence."
The test would offer people in those skills in the first eight years of service an opportunity to volunteer.
"If someone was selected for the test, they would be paid all of the TSP that they should have earned up until that point, and it will be put in their TSP account for them," she said. "The program's vesting rules would in fact apply to all those individuals. So should they achieve 10 years of service while they are in the test, they would fully own it."
At the end of the test period, people who are in the new system who wish to revert to the original retirement system would be allowed to do so, she said.
Any change in the retirement system would require action by Congress. DoD officials said they will carefully examine the panel's recommendations and then decide if they should move forward. The study will take at least six to 12 months, so any decision would be made by the next administration, DoD officials added.
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 5, 2008 - A panel looking at military compensation has recommended dramatic changes in the military retirement system. The recommendations are part of the second volume put out by the 10th Quadrennial Review of military Compensation.
The first volume -- released in March -- looked at cash compensation. Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Jan D. "Denny" Eakle was director of the panel, and she briefed the press during a Pentagon news conference today.
Eakle said critics of the current military retirement system say it is not equitable, it is not flexible, and it is not efficient.
"There is a perception that the system we have today is inequitable because only 15 percent of all enlisted personnel and less than half of officers will ever receive anything in the system," she said. Reserve-component personnel also believe the current system discriminates against them, especially at a time when reserve forces are being called on more, she said.
The retirement proposal would offer a defined benefit, defined contributions, "gate" pays and separation pays.
The defined benefit would be 2.5 percent of the average basic pay for the highest 36 months of the individual's career multiplied by the number of years of service, with servicemembers vested at 10 years of service. Payments to retirees would begin at age 60 for those with less than 20 years of service and at age 57 for those with 20 years of service or more.
Servicemembers could opt for an immediate annuity, but the payout would follow the Federal Employee Retirement System methodology -- a 5 percent penalty per year for early withdrawal.
The defined contribution portion would be an automatic government-funded Thrift Savings Plan. Servicemembers would not have to match any government payment. The government would not put any money in for the first year, but would put in 2 percent of base pay for two years of service, 3 percent for three and four years of service, and 5 percent for five and more years of service. Again, this would be vested after 10 years of service.
The military also would make "gate pays" to servicemembers who reach specific years of service. These would vary by years of service and skills, Eakle said.
"This is a payment made for achieving a particular year of service," she explained. "And within the services, they would have the flexibility to vary this by year of service as well as by skill. That way, they could begin to shape the skills by dragging people further into their career by offering them an incentive."
Finally, the system would include separation pays to servicemembers that would also vary by years of service and skills.
"The separation payments would be made available by the service to members that they wished to entice to leave," Eakle said. This would be a permanent tool services would have available, she added.
The panel used a Rand Corporation computer model to test the recommendations, but Eakle said the panel members would like a large-scale test in the Defense Department.
"Therefore, the recommendation of this QRMC is that the Department of Defense conduct a multi-year test of this system," Eakle said. "The way the test would work is this: All four services would be asked to identify some skills that have different types of retention patterns -- some that stay not very long, some that stay longer periods of time -- and ones they wish to influence."
The test would offer people in those skills in the first eight years of service an opportunity to volunteer.
"If someone was selected for the test, they would be paid all of the TSP that they should have earned up until that point, and it will be put in their TSP account for them," she said. "The program's vesting rules would in fact apply to all those individuals. So should they achieve 10 years of service while they are in the test, they would fully own it."
At the end of the test period, people who are in the new system who wish to revert to the original retirement system would be allowed to do so, she said.
Any change in the retirement system would require action by Congress. DoD officials said they will carefully examine the panel's recommendations and then decide if they should move forward. The study will take at least six to 12 months, so any decision would be made by the next administration, DoD officials added.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
MILITARY CONTRACTS August 5, 2008
Air Force
EA Engineering, Science and Technology, Inc., of Hunt Valley, Md., is being awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for a maximum of $3 billion. This action will provide professional architect-engineer services to perform Title I, Title II, and other architect-engineer services to administer, coordinate, and technically support environmental, military construction, military family housing, and facility sustainment, restoration, and modernization programs of interest to the government worldwide. The ordering period for this contract shall be 60 months. At this time $2,500 (Task order 0001 for each prime contract) has been obligated. AFCEE/ACV, Brooks City-Base, Texas, is the contracting activity (FA8903-08-D-8791).
The Air Force is modifying a firm fixed price contract for $7,278,700 with Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Navigation Systems Division, of Woodland Hills, Calif. This action will provide for one hundred thirty EGI Production Units for the USAF F-16. The Embedded GPS/INS (EGI) Units is a non-development item (NDI) being procured to meet the navigation requirements for tri-service and Foreign military Sales (FMS) platforms. This is a modification to exercise options for the aforementioned efforts. At this time all funds have been obligated. 647 AESS/PK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8626-06-C-2066 P00036).
Navy
McDonnell Douglas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $659,237,888 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0014) to exercise the option for the procurement of 13 F/A-18Fs and 3 E/A-18G aircraft for the U.S. Navy. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo. (28.7 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (25 percent); Goleta, Calif. (8.6 percent); Clearwater, Fla. (2.3 percent); Greenlawn, N.Y. (2.1 percent); Burnsville, Minn. (2.1 percent); Johnson City, N.Y. (2.1 percent); Brooklyn Heights, Ohio (2 percent); Vandalia, Ohio (2 percent); Grand Rapids, Mich. (2 percent); South Bend, Ind. (2 percent); Mesa, Ariz. (1.8 percent); Fort Worth, Texas (1.8 percent); and at various locations across the United States (17.5 percent), and is expected to be completed in January 2012. 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.
Bay Electric Co., Inc., Newport News, Va., is being awarded $9,726,275 for firm-fixed price Task Order #0003 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N40085-06-D-6006) for design and construction of a truck company maintenance/operations complex at Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune. Construction will include drive-through equipment maintenance bays, a battery charging room, tool storage, parts storage, administrative space, classroom space, showers and lockers and weapons storage/cleaning area. Also includes technical operating manuals, anti-terrorism/force protection features, and necessary environmental mitigation. The total contract amount is not to exceed $11,125,045. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, N.C., and is expected to be completed by February 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Three proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity.
Science Applications International Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $9,068,457 modification to previously awarded contract (N00178-04-C-2004) to exercise an option for continuing engineering support for engineering expertise to support Research and Development (R&D), Total Ship System Engineering, and Combat System Engineering (CSE) initiatives for the introduction of advanced Technology into advanced combat systems, and for the modernization of current combat systems for surface ship combatants. Work will be performed in Dahlgren, Va. (90 percent), and Virginia Beach, Va. (10 percent) and is expected to be completed by August 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $542,553 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, Dahlgren, Dahlgren, Va., is the contracting activity.
L-3 Services, Inc., San Leandro, Calif., is being awarded a $7,438,904 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the design, development, integration and production of a form, fit and function, environmentally sealed, state-of-the-art Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Pulser and its associated control system. Work will be performed in San Leandro, Calif., and is expected to be completed in August 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $1,250,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under an electronic request for proposals, with two offers received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00421-08-C-0070).
Innovative Technical Solutions, Inc., Walnut Creek, Calif. is being awarded $6,273,910 for firm-fixed price Task Order #0003 under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity environmental multiple award contract (N62473-08-D-8813) for transportation and removal of contaminated soil at Hunters Point Shipyard. Work will be performed in San Francisco, Calif., and is expected to be completed by July 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Three proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.
Management Consulting Inc., Virginia Beach, Va., is being awarded a $5,588,665 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity with firm-fixed-price provisions contract for Supply Chain Management (SCM) services and material utilizing a Third Party Logistics (3PL) provider in support of Naval Facility Command (NAVFAC) Midwest Public Works Department (PWD), Crane, Ind. This contract contains four one-year options, which if exercised, bring the total estimated value of the contract to $29,677,961. Work will be performed at Crane, Ind., and work is expected to be completed by August 2009. The contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This offer was awarded competitively through Navy Electronic Commerce Online and Federal Business Opportunities website, with one offer received. The Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk is the contracting activity (N00189-08-D-M002).
Army
Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Stratford, Conn., was awarded on August 1, 2008, a $285,997,538 Firm Fixed Price, contract for procurement of UH-60Ls, to include technical support, technical publication and Ground Station Radios for Royal Saudi Land Forces. Work will be performed in Stratford, Conn., and is expected to be completed by September 30, 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was 1 bid solicited on October 4, 2000. US Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (DAAH23-02-C-0006).
S.M. Wilson, St. Louis, Mo., was awarded on August 1, 2008, a $22,400,000.00 Firm Fixed Price-Construction, contract for construction, repair and alteration of real property at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Work will be performed in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and is expected to be completed by December 30, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Eight bids were received on January 18, 2008. Corps of Engineers Kansas City District, Kansas City, Mo., is the contracting activity (W912DQ-08-C-0057).
General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on August 1, 2008, a $613,532,017.90 Firm Fixed Price, contract for Award Program Year One increment 2 of multi-year contract for Abrams M1A2 system enhancement program Version 2 upgrade vehicles. Work will be performed in Lima, Ohio and across the continental United States and is expected to be completed by October 31, 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one bid solicited on October 5, 2007, and one bid was received. TACOM Life Cycle Management Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-06-G-0006).
Robertson Aviation, L.L.C., Tempe, Ariz., was awarded on July 31, 2008, a $5,292,008.00 Firm Fixed Price, contract for Internal Auxiliary Fuel Systems. Work will be performed in Tempe, Ariz. and is expected to be completed by December 31, 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one solicited on February 26, 2008, and 1 bid was received. Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-08-C-0152).
EA Engineering, Science and Technology, Inc., of Hunt Valley, Md., is being awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for a maximum of $3 billion. This action will provide professional architect-engineer services to perform Title I, Title II, and other architect-engineer services to administer, coordinate, and technically support environmental, military construction, military family housing, and facility sustainment, restoration, and modernization programs of interest to the government worldwide. The ordering period for this contract shall be 60 months. At this time $2,500 (Task order 0001 for each prime contract) has been obligated. AFCEE/ACV, Brooks City-Base, Texas, is the contracting activity (FA8903-08-D-8791).
The Air Force is modifying a firm fixed price contract for $7,278,700 with Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Navigation Systems Division, of Woodland Hills, Calif. This action will provide for one hundred thirty EGI Production Units for the USAF F-16. The Embedded GPS/INS (EGI) Units is a non-development item (NDI) being procured to meet the navigation requirements for tri-service and Foreign military Sales (FMS) platforms. This is a modification to exercise options for the aforementioned efforts. At this time all funds have been obligated. 647 AESS/PK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8626-06-C-2066 P00036).
Navy
McDonnell Douglas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $659,237,888 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0014) to exercise the option for the procurement of 13 F/A-18Fs and 3 E/A-18G aircraft for the U.S. Navy. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo. (28.7 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (25 percent); Goleta, Calif. (8.6 percent); Clearwater, Fla. (2.3 percent); Greenlawn, N.Y. (2.1 percent); Burnsville, Minn. (2.1 percent); Johnson City, N.Y. (2.1 percent); Brooklyn Heights, Ohio (2 percent); Vandalia, Ohio (2 percent); Grand Rapids, Mich. (2 percent); South Bend, Ind. (2 percent); Mesa, Ariz. (1.8 percent); Fort Worth, Texas (1.8 percent); and at various locations across the United States (17.5 percent), and is expected to be completed in January 2012. 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.
Bay Electric Co., Inc., Newport News, Va., is being awarded $9,726,275 for firm-fixed price Task Order #0003 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N40085-06-D-6006) for design and construction of a truck company maintenance/operations complex at Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune. Construction will include drive-through equipment maintenance bays, a battery charging room, tool storage, parts storage, administrative space, classroom space, showers and lockers and weapons storage/cleaning area. Also includes technical operating manuals, anti-terrorism/force protection features, and necessary environmental mitigation. The total contract amount is not to exceed $11,125,045. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, N.C., and is expected to be completed by February 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Three proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity.
Science Applications International Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $9,068,457 modification to previously awarded contract (N00178-04-C-2004) to exercise an option for continuing engineering support for engineering expertise to support Research and Development (R&D), Total Ship System Engineering, and Combat System Engineering (CSE) initiatives for the introduction of advanced Technology into advanced combat systems, and for the modernization of current combat systems for surface ship combatants. Work will be performed in Dahlgren, Va. (90 percent), and Virginia Beach, Va. (10 percent) and is expected to be completed by August 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $542,553 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, Dahlgren, Dahlgren, Va., is the contracting activity.
L-3 Services, Inc., San Leandro, Calif., is being awarded a $7,438,904 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the design, development, integration and production of a form, fit and function, environmentally sealed, state-of-the-art Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Pulser and its associated control system. Work will be performed in San Leandro, Calif., and is expected to be completed in August 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $1,250,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under an electronic request for proposals, with two offers received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00421-08-C-0070).
Innovative Technical Solutions, Inc., Walnut Creek, Calif. is being awarded $6,273,910 for firm-fixed price Task Order #0003 under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity environmental multiple award contract (N62473-08-D-8813) for transportation and removal of contaminated soil at Hunters Point Shipyard. Work will be performed in San Francisco, Calif., and is expected to be completed by July 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Three proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.
Management Consulting Inc., Virginia Beach, Va., is being awarded a $5,588,665 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity with firm-fixed-price provisions contract for Supply Chain Management (SCM) services and material utilizing a Third Party Logistics (3PL) provider in support of Naval Facility Command (NAVFAC) Midwest Public Works Department (PWD), Crane, Ind. This contract contains four one-year options, which if exercised, bring the total estimated value of the contract to $29,677,961. Work will be performed at Crane, Ind., and work is expected to be completed by August 2009. The contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This offer was awarded competitively through Navy Electronic Commerce Online and Federal Business Opportunities website, with one offer received. The Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk is the contracting activity (N00189-08-D-M002).
Army
Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Stratford, Conn., was awarded on August 1, 2008, a $285,997,538 Firm Fixed Price, contract for procurement of UH-60Ls, to include technical support, technical publication and Ground Station Radios for Royal Saudi Land Forces. Work will be performed in Stratford, Conn., and is expected to be completed by September 30, 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was 1 bid solicited on October 4, 2000. US Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (DAAH23-02-C-0006).
S.M. Wilson, St. Louis, Mo., was awarded on August 1, 2008, a $22,400,000.00 Firm Fixed Price-Construction, contract for construction, repair and alteration of real property at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Work will be performed in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and is expected to be completed by December 30, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Eight bids were received on January 18, 2008. Corps of Engineers Kansas City District, Kansas City, Mo., is the contracting activity (W912DQ-08-C-0057).
General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on August 1, 2008, a $613,532,017.90 Firm Fixed Price, contract for Award Program Year One increment 2 of multi-year contract for Abrams M1A2 system enhancement program Version 2 upgrade vehicles. Work will be performed in Lima, Ohio and across the continental United States and is expected to be completed by October 31, 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one bid solicited on October 5, 2007, and one bid was received. TACOM Life Cycle Management Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-06-G-0006).
Robertson Aviation, L.L.C., Tempe, Ariz., was awarded on July 31, 2008, a $5,292,008.00 Firm Fixed Price, contract for Internal Auxiliary Fuel Systems. Work will be performed in Tempe, Ariz. and is expected to be completed by December 31, 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one solicited on February 26, 2008, and 1 bid was received. Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-08-C-0152).
Compensation Panel Recommends TRICARE Changes
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 5, 2008 - The Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation has recommended fee changes to Tricare, the Military's health care system. The recommendations would mostly affect retirees and will not affect active-duty servicemembers or their dependents, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Jan D. "Denny" Eakle, the director of the study, said in a Pentagon briefing today.
"Retiree fees ought to relate to how much the plan is worth," she said. "The ... higher-value plans should have higher premiums associated with them."
The panel believes fees need to be fair to all retired Military members, Eakle said. "They ought to reflect how much income an individual has, so that if they make more money and are therefore better able to pay for a system, they should do so," she said.
One problem is the fee structure for Tricare has not changed in 13 years. "When Tricare started out in 1995, Military members, retirees were charged $230 per individual, $460 per family," she said. "Today in 2008, they're charged $230 per individual, $460 per family."
In 1995, servicemembers paid 27 percent of their health care cost. Today that share is less than 12 percent.
Over-65 Military retirees -- those using the "Tricare for Life" program -- have been paying the Medicare Part B program fee of 25 percent, but this is due to rise. "Essentially what this says to you is that we are asking our older retirees, who are in fact the least likely to hold jobs and therefore have the lowest incomes, to pay the most for their system," Eakle said.
But Tricare for Life is a much more generous program than Tricare Prime. "We believe we need to get some parity between our older and our younger retirees," Eakle said.
The panel wants to redress some of this imbalance. "We believe that the under-65 retirees should begin paying 40 percent of the Medicare Part B premium using the same fee structure that is laid on by the Medicare system," Eakle said, adding that this should bring the system into a semblance of parity.
"In addition, we believe that the under-65 retirees ... who elect to use Tricare Standard and Extra need to pay a small fee for that," she said. "And we would suggest to the department that that fee be set at 15 percent of the Medicare Part B. We think the family rate should be set at double the individual rate and that the premium increase needs to be phased in over four years."
Other recommendations include using the Medicare deductible rate -- $135 per person in 2008 -- for Tricare. The panel also recommended to the department that all co-pays and co-insurance for any preventative service be provided at no cost to all members and retirees who have access to Tricare.
The final panel recommendation to DoD is to establish an open enrollment period for Tricare, Eakle said.
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 5, 2008 - The Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation has recommended fee changes to Tricare, the Military's health care system. The recommendations would mostly affect retirees and will not affect active-duty servicemembers or their dependents, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Jan D. "Denny" Eakle, the director of the study, said in a Pentagon briefing today.
"Retiree fees ought to relate to how much the plan is worth," she said. "The ... higher-value plans should have higher premiums associated with them."
The panel believes fees need to be fair to all retired Military members, Eakle said. "They ought to reflect how much income an individual has, so that if they make more money and are therefore better able to pay for a system, they should do so," she said.
One problem is the fee structure for Tricare has not changed in 13 years. "When Tricare started out in 1995, Military members, retirees were charged $230 per individual, $460 per family," she said. "Today in 2008, they're charged $230 per individual, $460 per family."
In 1995, servicemembers paid 27 percent of their health care cost. Today that share is less than 12 percent.
Over-65 Military retirees -- those using the "Tricare for Life" program -- have been paying the Medicare Part B program fee of 25 percent, but this is due to rise. "Essentially what this says to you is that we are asking our older retirees, who are in fact the least likely to hold jobs and therefore have the lowest incomes, to pay the most for their system," Eakle said.
But Tricare for Life is a much more generous program than Tricare Prime. "We believe we need to get some parity between our older and our younger retirees," Eakle said.
The panel wants to redress some of this imbalance. "We believe that the under-65 retirees should begin paying 40 percent of the Medicare Part B premium using the same fee structure that is laid on by the Medicare system," Eakle said, adding that this should bring the system into a semblance of parity.
"In addition, we believe that the under-65 retirees ... who elect to use Tricare Standard and Extra need to pay a small fee for that," she said. "And we would suggest to the department that that fee be set at 15 percent of the Medicare Part B. We think the family rate should be set at double the individual rate and that the premium increase needs to be phased in over four years."
Other recommendations include using the Medicare deductible rate -- $135 per person in 2008 -- for Tricare. The panel also recommended to the department that all co-pays and co-insurance for any preventative service be provided at no cost to all members and retirees who have access to Tricare.
The final panel recommendation to DoD is to establish an open enrollment period for Tricare, Eakle said.
Massachusetts Militia Soldier Was Olympic Pioneer
By Army Master Sgt. Bob Haskell
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 5, 2008 - Imagine the Olympic Games without the specter of terrorists, tests for outlawed drugs or gold medals. That was the Olympics that a soldier who served in the Massachusetts militia experienced in Greece in 1896. Thomas Pelham Curtis was his name, and he was an Olympic pioneer in the sense that he competed in the first games of the modern Olympic era. He won the 110-meter hurdles for the United States.
His time of 17.6 seconds on a soft track is by far the slowest winning time in that event's Olympic history. But Curtis, who had studied electrical engineering, played football and ran track at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was just as proud to be an Olympian in Athens as will the 10,500 who will march and compete in Beijing during the 29th Summer Games beginning Aug. 8.
"There was a romance and a novelty connected with them that is hard to describe," stated Curtis, who wrote extensively about his experiences. He also took many photos of those games with a camera that his parents gave him.
He was born in San Francisco, and he was 23 when he competed, according to Leonid Kondratiuk, the state historian for the Massachusetts National Guard. Curtis attended the U.S. Military Academy for five months in 1891, and he was a private in the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia's 1st Corps of Cadets from March 1892 to March 1895, Kondratiuk reported. The 1st Corps was the elite infantry battalion in Boston, he added.
Curtis later served as a captain in the Quartermaster Corps with the Massachusetts State Guard from October 1918 to June 1919 while the Massachusetts National Guard was mobilized for World War I.
Others who have served in the National Guard -- including African-Americans Brig. Gen. Edward Gourdin and Col. Willie Davenport -- also savored the Olympic experience.
Gourdin, a track star at Harvard, got the silver medal in the long jump during the 1924 Summer Games in Paris, the same year he earned his Harvard law degree. His accomplishments included being the first man to long jump 25 feet, becoming the first African-American to be promoted to general in the Massachusetts Guard when he retired in 1959, and becoming the Bay State's first African-American superior court justice.
Davenport, from Alabama, competed in five Olympics and was one of just eight Americans to compete in Summer and Winter Games. The man nicknamed "Breeze" won the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles in 1968 at Mexico City and earned the bronze in the same event eight years later in Montreal when he was 33.
He made his final Olympic appearance as a member of the U.S. bobsled team during the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, N.Y. Davenport was honored as one of this country's 100 Golden Olympians before the 1996 Centennial Olympics in Atlanta. He was 59 when he died in June 2002.
The Olympics were ingrained into the international sports culture by the time Gourdin and Davenport came along. In fact, the Winter Games were first held in 1924 – the same year that Gourdin long jumped in Paris.
But they were very much a novelty when Thomas Pelham Curtis traveled to Athens to compete in 1896. The ancient games had last been held in A.D. 393 before the Roman emperor Theodosius ended them.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a French educator, persuaded 13 countries to send athletes to Athens for the first modern Olympics to promote interest in education and culture and to foster better international understanding through the love of athletics, according to The World Almanac.
The U.S. Olympic track and field trials did not exist. Curtis and other members of the Boston Athletic Association decided to compete in the inaugural games at the last minute, according to an MIT News Office report in 1996. The Boston group joined a team from Princeton and sailed for Greece less than two weeks before the games began.
One report states that the team trained in secret at Pennington, N.J., before sailing. The MIT account stated that the athletes trained for an hour a day on the steamship Fulda's rear deck and that they practiced during a stop in Gibraltar. They arrived in Athens the day before the games began, April 5, a Sunday, according to the MIT story.
Curtis qualified for the finals in the 100-meter and 110-meter hurdles. But his trainer saved him for the hurdles, and Curtis edged Great Britain's Grantley Goulding for the victory. That, Curtis acknowledged later, was the race "I had come especially to run."
He made many other observations.
"Athens presented a splendid appearance. It was a small city built of very white houses, with white streets, white sidewalks and white everything, and with that background the thousands upon thousands of flags of every color and kind showed out in striking contrast, making the city seem almost like a huge kaleidoscope.
"Eighty-two thousand people were seated [at the stadium] and thirty thousand more, for whom there was no room, were standing tier on tier on a hill that towered above one of the seats.
"During the week following the Games, our American team was involved in continuous fetes. We were shown about the country by the three Princes, took dinner with them, went to dances and cotillions at the American Minister's, Russian Minister's and elsewhere, and in our progress through the streets were greeted with cries of 'Nike, Nike' ['Victor, Victor']. Small shopkeepers insisted that we enter their stores and accept neckties, handkerchiefs, etc., for which they refused to accept payment, and which we were warned we should accept in order not to cause hurt feelings."
It was, indeed, a more innocent time for the Olympics in which this Massachusetts militia soldier competed.
The terrorists would not strike until 1972 in Munich. The use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs would not become an international issue until well into the 20th century. And the gold medals?
Curtis didn't get one. Gold medals were not given to Olympic champions until the St. Louis Games in 1904. The winners of the events during the 1896 Games, Curtis wrote, were presented an olive branch from the sacred grove of Olympus, a large silver medal, and a diploma printed in Greek.
(Army Master Sgt. Bob Haskell serves with the National Guard Bureau.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 5, 2008 - Imagine the Olympic Games without the specter of terrorists, tests for outlawed drugs or gold medals. That was the Olympics that a soldier who served in the Massachusetts militia experienced in Greece in 1896. Thomas Pelham Curtis was his name, and he was an Olympic pioneer in the sense that he competed in the first games of the modern Olympic era. He won the 110-meter hurdles for the United States.
His time of 17.6 seconds on a soft track is by far the slowest winning time in that event's Olympic history. But Curtis, who had studied electrical engineering, played football and ran track at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was just as proud to be an Olympian in Athens as will the 10,500 who will march and compete in Beijing during the 29th Summer Games beginning Aug. 8.
"There was a romance and a novelty connected with them that is hard to describe," stated Curtis, who wrote extensively about his experiences. He also took many photos of those games with a camera that his parents gave him.
He was born in San Francisco, and he was 23 when he competed, according to Leonid Kondratiuk, the state historian for the Massachusetts National Guard. Curtis attended the U.S. Military Academy for five months in 1891, and he was a private in the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia's 1st Corps of Cadets from March 1892 to March 1895, Kondratiuk reported. The 1st Corps was the elite infantry battalion in Boston, he added.
Curtis later served as a captain in the Quartermaster Corps with the Massachusetts State Guard from October 1918 to June 1919 while the Massachusetts National Guard was mobilized for World War I.
Others who have served in the National Guard -- including African-Americans Brig. Gen. Edward Gourdin and Col. Willie Davenport -- also savored the Olympic experience.
Gourdin, a track star at Harvard, got the silver medal in the long jump during the 1924 Summer Games in Paris, the same year he earned his Harvard law degree. His accomplishments included being the first man to long jump 25 feet, becoming the first African-American to be promoted to general in the Massachusetts Guard when he retired in 1959, and becoming the Bay State's first African-American superior court justice.
Davenport, from Alabama, competed in five Olympics and was one of just eight Americans to compete in Summer and Winter Games. The man nicknamed "Breeze" won the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles in 1968 at Mexico City and earned the bronze in the same event eight years later in Montreal when he was 33.
He made his final Olympic appearance as a member of the U.S. bobsled team during the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, N.Y. Davenport was honored as one of this country's 100 Golden Olympians before the 1996 Centennial Olympics in Atlanta. He was 59 when he died in June 2002.
The Olympics were ingrained into the international sports culture by the time Gourdin and Davenport came along. In fact, the Winter Games were first held in 1924 – the same year that Gourdin long jumped in Paris.
But they were very much a novelty when Thomas Pelham Curtis traveled to Athens to compete in 1896. The ancient games had last been held in A.D. 393 before the Roman emperor Theodosius ended them.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a French educator, persuaded 13 countries to send athletes to Athens for the first modern Olympics to promote interest in education and culture and to foster better international understanding through the love of athletics, according to The World Almanac.
The U.S. Olympic track and field trials did not exist. Curtis and other members of the Boston Athletic Association decided to compete in the inaugural games at the last minute, according to an MIT News Office report in 1996. The Boston group joined a team from Princeton and sailed for Greece less than two weeks before the games began.
One report states that the team trained in secret at Pennington, N.J., before sailing. The MIT account stated that the athletes trained for an hour a day on the steamship Fulda's rear deck and that they practiced during a stop in Gibraltar. They arrived in Athens the day before the games began, April 5, a Sunday, according to the MIT story.
Curtis qualified for the finals in the 100-meter and 110-meter hurdles. But his trainer saved him for the hurdles, and Curtis edged Great Britain's Grantley Goulding for the victory. That, Curtis acknowledged later, was the race "I had come especially to run."
He made many other observations.
"Athens presented a splendid appearance. It was a small city built of very white houses, with white streets, white sidewalks and white everything, and with that background the thousands upon thousands of flags of every color and kind showed out in striking contrast, making the city seem almost like a huge kaleidoscope.
"Eighty-two thousand people were seated [at the stadium] and thirty thousand more, for whom there was no room, were standing tier on tier on a hill that towered above one of the seats.
"During the week following the Games, our American team was involved in continuous fetes. We were shown about the country by the three Princes, took dinner with them, went to dances and cotillions at the American Minister's, Russian Minister's and elsewhere, and in our progress through the streets were greeted with cries of 'Nike, Nike' ['Victor, Victor']. Small shopkeepers insisted that we enter their stores and accept neckties, handkerchiefs, etc., for which they refused to accept payment, and which we were warned we should accept in order not to cause hurt feelings."
It was, indeed, a more innocent time for the Olympics in which this Massachusetts militia soldier competed.
The terrorists would not strike until 1972 in Munich. The use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs would not become an international issue until well into the 20th century. And the gold medals?
Curtis didn't get one. Gold medals were not given to Olympic champions until the St. Louis Games in 1904. The winners of the events during the 1896 Games, Curtis wrote, were presented an olive branch from the sacred grove of Olympus, a large silver medal, and a diploma printed in Greek.
(Army Master Sgt. Bob Haskell serves with the National Guard Bureau.)
Monday, August 04, 2008
Videos for Children of Deployed Military Members Gain Popularity
By Navy Lt. Jennifer Cragg
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 4, 2008 - Two videos produced by Army Medical Command and the American Academy of Pediatrics to help children and adolescents cope during a parent's deployment are gaining in popularity. "Military Youth Coping with Separation: When Family Members Deploy" addresses a variety of deployment-related concerns for teens, and "Mr. Poe and Friends Discuss Reunion After Deployment" was made for elementary-school-age children.
"We hope these videos will support the healthy emotional development of Military children and adolescents during potentially difficult times in their lives," Army Maj. (Dr.) Keith Lemmon of the pediatrics department at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, Wash., said during a "Dot-Mil-Docs" radio show on BlogTalkRadio.com July 31. "We also hope these videos will decrease feelings of stigma and isolation in our Military children while sensitizing the larger American community to military child and adolescent culture and support needs.",
Lemmon is a co-founder of the Military Child and Adolescent Center of Excellence and vice president of the Uniformed Services West Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The videos, developed by Military pediatricians and youth professionals to help military children understand and deal with the emotions related to a family member's deployment, have been so well-received that another 100,000 copies of each video will be distributed by Military One Source in the near future. More than 100,000 copies initially produced in the project already have been distributed.
"Our goal is to reduce the anxiety and fear surrounding a military deployment, and let children know they are not alone in the struggles their families are facing," Lemmon said.
Lemmon, an Army pediatrician and adolescent medicine subspecialist, first became aware of the need for more support for the children of deployed families when he served in Afghanistan in 2002. He and his wife, a teacher, did their best to prepare their son for the deployment, but it soon became clear they hadn't done enough.
"Within just a couple of weeks of my departure, my normally well-behaved 4-year old son started having some acting-out behavior, and a little bit of regression, kind of moving backward in his development," Lemmon said. "[He] was expressing that he wasn't comfortable with my absence."
The doctor said it struck him when he returned from his six-month deployment that if he and his wife were having this degree of difficulty as child health and educational professionals, how might this be affecting the average soldier, airman, sailor or Marine, who is likely to have has less understanding of child behavior? When Lemmon returned to his duties as a pediatrician at Fort Bragg, N.C., he began noticing how the frequent and extended deployments were affecting the children in his practice.
"When I got back from my deployment, a lot of other soldiers were deploying, and I began to notice a lot of children who were presenting with complaints of headaches and stomachaches that I couldn't explain," Lemmon said.
He added that if children are not emotionally content, perhaps associated with the lack of a connection with an important adult in their life, they may start to display physical symptoms.
"As pediatricians, we are not trained to look that closely at how emotional concerns and stress affect the physical health of our young patients," Lemmon acknowledged. "However, we are hoping to address that lack of training through the videos we've developed and many other opportunities developing through the Military Child and Adolescent Center of Excellence that is being established at Madigan Army Medical Center."
Lemmon said his family's experience with his own deployment inspired him to address the effects of deployment among adolescents. If servicemembers have the perception that their children's emotional and physical health are being well-cared-for when they are deployed, he explained, they are more likely to be able to focus on their critically important military missions.
"As we start to frame the discussion more in terms of Military family readiness and support, it is becoming more popular," he said. "As we provide more support for our military families to prepare them for the potential stresses of deployment and separation, then our warriors are going to be more able to focus on their mission."
Lemmon added that while servicemembers voluntarily join the Military, their children's service and sacrifice are more of a compulsory condition of being a military child, so it's important to acknowledge that and to honor the children's personal service and sacrifice.
"Being a military child or adolescent is actually a very unique experience," Lemmon said. "We think belonging to a Military family really is a special thing. Military children serve and sacrifice for their nation in a way that is very important and is different from the way we as Military servicemembers serve and sacrifice."
In addition to the videos, the national community continues to show its support for military children and adolescents. Lemmon added that the American Academy of Pediatrics is providing a voice for what it means to be a military child through its funding and supporting much of the advocacy work that has been done in this area, including the development of the AAP Military Youth Deployment Support Web site.
Lemmon added that other programs also offer assistance, such as the Military Child Education Coalition.
"They advocate for educational issues for children, making sure that Military children are treated fairly when they transfer into new school districts and that their credits transfer and they don't have to retake the basic history course every time they move to a new place because they are military kids," Lemmon explained.
The doctor said the videos for teens and younger children are different because their deployment-related needs are different. "We know children experience stress differently based on their developmental age," he said. "Younger children may have significant attachment concerns when their parents deploy. They need to attach to their parents, feel comfortable and connected in order to grow up emotionally healthy."
Both videos are available for online viewing on the American Academy of Pediatrics Deployment Support Web site at www.aap.org/sections/unifserv/deployment/ and are available for ordering in DVD format through Military One Source at 1-800-342-9647 or www.militaryonesource.com/skins/MOS/home.aspx.
(Navy Lt. Jennifer Cragg works in the New Media directorate at the Defense Media Activity.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 4, 2008 - Two videos produced by Army Medical Command and the American Academy of Pediatrics to help children and adolescents cope during a parent's deployment are gaining in popularity. "Military Youth Coping with Separation: When Family Members Deploy" addresses a variety of deployment-related concerns for teens, and "Mr. Poe and Friends Discuss Reunion After Deployment" was made for elementary-school-age children.
"We hope these videos will support the healthy emotional development of Military children and adolescents during potentially difficult times in their lives," Army Maj. (Dr.) Keith Lemmon of the pediatrics department at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, Wash., said during a "Dot-Mil-Docs" radio show on BlogTalkRadio.com July 31. "We also hope these videos will decrease feelings of stigma and isolation in our Military children while sensitizing the larger American community to military child and adolescent culture and support needs.",
Lemmon is a co-founder of the Military Child and Adolescent Center of Excellence and vice president of the Uniformed Services West Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The videos, developed by Military pediatricians and youth professionals to help military children understand and deal with the emotions related to a family member's deployment, have been so well-received that another 100,000 copies of each video will be distributed by Military One Source in the near future. More than 100,000 copies initially produced in the project already have been distributed.
"Our goal is to reduce the anxiety and fear surrounding a military deployment, and let children know they are not alone in the struggles their families are facing," Lemmon said.
Lemmon, an Army pediatrician and adolescent medicine subspecialist, first became aware of the need for more support for the children of deployed families when he served in Afghanistan in 2002. He and his wife, a teacher, did their best to prepare their son for the deployment, but it soon became clear they hadn't done enough.
"Within just a couple of weeks of my departure, my normally well-behaved 4-year old son started having some acting-out behavior, and a little bit of regression, kind of moving backward in his development," Lemmon said. "[He] was expressing that he wasn't comfortable with my absence."
The doctor said it struck him when he returned from his six-month deployment that if he and his wife were having this degree of difficulty as child health and educational professionals, how might this be affecting the average soldier, airman, sailor or Marine, who is likely to have has less understanding of child behavior? When Lemmon returned to his duties as a pediatrician at Fort Bragg, N.C., he began noticing how the frequent and extended deployments were affecting the children in his practice.
"When I got back from my deployment, a lot of other soldiers were deploying, and I began to notice a lot of children who were presenting with complaints of headaches and stomachaches that I couldn't explain," Lemmon said.
He added that if children are not emotionally content, perhaps associated with the lack of a connection with an important adult in their life, they may start to display physical symptoms.
"As pediatricians, we are not trained to look that closely at how emotional concerns and stress affect the physical health of our young patients," Lemmon acknowledged. "However, we are hoping to address that lack of training through the videos we've developed and many other opportunities developing through the Military Child and Adolescent Center of Excellence that is being established at Madigan Army Medical Center."
Lemmon said his family's experience with his own deployment inspired him to address the effects of deployment among adolescents. If servicemembers have the perception that their children's emotional and physical health are being well-cared-for when they are deployed, he explained, they are more likely to be able to focus on their critically important military missions.
"As we start to frame the discussion more in terms of Military family readiness and support, it is becoming more popular," he said. "As we provide more support for our military families to prepare them for the potential stresses of deployment and separation, then our warriors are going to be more able to focus on their mission."
Lemmon added that while servicemembers voluntarily join the Military, their children's service and sacrifice are more of a compulsory condition of being a military child, so it's important to acknowledge that and to honor the children's personal service and sacrifice.
"Being a military child or adolescent is actually a very unique experience," Lemmon said. "We think belonging to a Military family really is a special thing. Military children serve and sacrifice for their nation in a way that is very important and is different from the way we as Military servicemembers serve and sacrifice."
In addition to the videos, the national community continues to show its support for military children and adolescents. Lemmon added that the American Academy of Pediatrics is providing a voice for what it means to be a military child through its funding and supporting much of the advocacy work that has been done in this area, including the development of the AAP Military Youth Deployment Support Web site.
Lemmon added that other programs also offer assistance, such as the Military Child Education Coalition.
"They advocate for educational issues for children, making sure that Military children are treated fairly when they transfer into new school districts and that their credits transfer and they don't have to retake the basic history course every time they move to a new place because they are military kids," Lemmon explained.
The doctor said the videos for teens and younger children are different because their deployment-related needs are different. "We know children experience stress differently based on their developmental age," he said. "Younger children may have significant attachment concerns when their parents deploy. They need to attach to their parents, feel comfortable and connected in order to grow up emotionally healthy."
Both videos are available for online viewing on the American Academy of Pediatrics Deployment Support Web site at www.aap.org/sections/unifserv/deployment/ and are available for ordering in DVD format through Military One Source at 1-800-342-9647 or www.militaryonesource.com/skins/MOS/home.aspx.
(Navy Lt. Jennifer Cragg works in the New Media directorate at the Defense Media Activity.)
2008 Maintenance Award Winners Announced
The Department of Defense today announced the 2008 winners of the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards at the depot and field levels. These awards are presented annually to recognize outstanding achievements in military equipment and weapon systems maintenance.
The Robert T. Mason Depot Maintenance Excellence Award recipient is the H-1 Aircraft Production Program at the Navy's Fleet Readiness Center East, Cherry Point, N.C. The program provided exceptional and responsive aviation maintenance and logistics support to the operational forces and its many and varied warfighters/customers around the world
The depot-level award is named in recognition of Robert T. Mason, a former assistant deputy under secretary of defense for maintenance policy, programs, and resources. Mason served as the champion of organic depot maintenance for three decades, while helping to transform DoD organic depot-level operations.
There are six field-level awards presented in the categories of large, medium, and small units (two each). The recipients of this year's Secretary of Defense Field-level Maintenance Awards are as follows: for the large category, the Army's 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery, Fort Bliss, Texas, and the Air Force's 1st Special Operations Maintenance Group, Hurlburt Field, Fla. Winners in the medium category include the Navy's Fleet Readiness Center Northwest, Whidbey Island, Wash. and the Air Force's 31st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Aviano, Italy. Small category winners include the Army''s Bravo Company, 610th Brigade Support Battalion, Fort Riley, Kan. and the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 312, Beaufort, S.C.
The awards will be presented to the winners at the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards banquet on Oct. 29, 2008, during the 2008 DoD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Denver, Colo. Additional information regarding the 2008 DoD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition can be found at http://www.sae.org/dod.
The Robert T. Mason Depot Maintenance Excellence Award recipient is the H-1 Aircraft Production Program at the Navy's Fleet Readiness Center East, Cherry Point, N.C. The program provided exceptional and responsive aviation maintenance and logistics support to the operational forces and its many and varied warfighters/customers around the world
The depot-level award is named in recognition of Robert T. Mason, a former assistant deputy under secretary of defense for maintenance policy, programs, and resources. Mason served as the champion of organic depot maintenance for three decades, while helping to transform DoD organic depot-level operations.
There are six field-level awards presented in the categories of large, medium, and small units (two each). The recipients of this year's Secretary of Defense Field-level Maintenance Awards are as follows: for the large category, the Army's 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery, Fort Bliss, Texas, and the Air Force's 1st Special Operations Maintenance Group, Hurlburt Field, Fla. Winners in the medium category include the Navy's Fleet Readiness Center Northwest, Whidbey Island, Wash. and the Air Force's 31st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Aviano, Italy. Small category winners include the Army''s Bravo Company, 610th Brigade Support Battalion, Fort Riley, Kan. and the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 312, Beaufort, S.C.
The awards will be presented to the winners at the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards banquet on Oct. 29, 2008, during the 2008 DoD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Denver, Colo. Additional information regarding the 2008 DoD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition can be found at http://www.sae.org/dod.
Sailor Missing from The Vietnam War is Identified
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Vietnam War, has been identified.
He is Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Manuel R. Denton, U.S. Navy, of Kerrville, Texas. He will be buried as part of a group on Thursday in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
On Oct. 8, 1963, Denton was one of six men who crewed a UH-34D Choctaw helicopter that was on a search-and-rescue mission. While over Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, the helicopter came under intense enemy ground fire and crashed. There were no survivors. Over the next several days, the remains of four of the crewmen were recovered, however the remains of Denton and one other crewman, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Luther E. Ritchey Jr., were not recovered.
Between 1991 and 2000, several joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), traveled to Quang Nam Province to investigate the incident and interview witnesses. Teams also surveyed the crash site and found wreckage consistent with a UH-34D.
In 2000 and 2001, human remains associated with this incident were turned over to U.S. officials. In 2002, a joint team excavated the crash site and recovered human remains.
As a result of the remains turned over in 2000 and 2001, and of those recovered from the crash site in 2002, Ritchey's remains were identified in 2003. Some of these remains could not be individually identified, and they are included in a group representing the entire crew. Denton's remains are in this group, which will be buried together in Arlington.
JPAC used forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence in Denton's identification.
For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1420.
He is Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Manuel R. Denton, U.S. Navy, of Kerrville, Texas. He will be buried as part of a group on Thursday in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
On Oct. 8, 1963, Denton was one of six men who crewed a UH-34D Choctaw helicopter that was on a search-and-rescue mission. While over Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, the helicopter came under intense enemy ground fire and crashed. There were no survivors. Over the next several days, the remains of four of the crewmen were recovered, however the remains of Denton and one other crewman, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Luther E. Ritchey Jr., were not recovered.
Between 1991 and 2000, several joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), traveled to Quang Nam Province to investigate the incident and interview witnesses. Teams also surveyed the crash site and found wreckage consistent with a UH-34D.
In 2000 and 2001, human remains associated with this incident were turned over to U.S. officials. In 2002, a joint team excavated the crash site and recovered human remains.
As a result of the remains turned over in 2000 and 2001, and of those recovered from the crash site in 2002, Ritchey's remains were identified in 2003. Some of these remains could not be individually identified, and they are included in a group representing the entire crew. Denton's remains are in this group, which will be buried together in Arlington.
JPAC used forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence in Denton's identification.
For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1420.
National Guard Stands Ready for Tropical Storm Edouard
By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 4, 2008 - Up to 1,200 National Guard citizen-soldiers and -airmen stand ready today as Tropical Storm Edouard approaches Texas. With about 1,000 Guard members serving overseas, the Texas National Guard had more than 20,000 troops to draw from in the state, Army Maj. Gen. Charles Rodriguez, the adjutant general, told Fox News. "We have plenty of folks to help," Rodriguez said. "It's just a matter of responding appropriately."
Residents should have food, water, prescribed medications and ice stocked in advance of the approaching storm, Rodriguez said.
The Texas National Guard was requesting medical evacuation teams from other states in case any coastal medical facilities had to be evacuated by air, National Guard Bureau officials reported.
"We are being assisted by our Air National Guard in Delaware, Mississippi and West Virginia," Army Col. Bill Meehan, public affairs officer for the Texas National Guard, said.
Tropical Storm Edouard comes in the wake of July's Hurricane Dolly. More than 890 members of the Texas National Guard, numerous land vehicles, seven helicopters and an RC-26 surveillance aircraft helped with transportation, distribution of supplies, and search and rescue after Hurricane Dolly, in an operation that ended yesterday.
Meehan said Guard troops are more than ready for another storm.
"Morale is always high in Texas," Meehan said. "We look forward to serving the citizens of Texas, and always have and always will. When they need us, we will be there."
Meehan said the Texas Guard would have several likely missions if the need arises. "We would anticipate operating points of distribution; shelter; communications; logistics; transportation of food, water and ice; and medical care," he said. "We will assist with damage assessment."
The National Weather Service has issued a tropical storm warning. Late this morning, Edouard was about 160 miles south-southwest of Lafayette, La., and was moving west at about 8 mph, the weather service reported.
The center of the storm was expected to be off the coast of southwest Louisiana or near the upper Texas coast by tomorrow morning, the weather service stated.
A storm surge and heavy rain -- up to 10 inches in Texas -- were both predicted. The storm could be a near-hurricane by the time it makes landfall and might spawn tornadoes, the National Hurricane Center reported.
(Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill serves with the National Guard Bureau.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 4, 2008 - Up to 1,200 National Guard citizen-soldiers and -airmen stand ready today as Tropical Storm Edouard approaches Texas. With about 1,000 Guard members serving overseas, the Texas National Guard had more than 20,000 troops to draw from in the state, Army Maj. Gen. Charles Rodriguez, the adjutant general, told Fox News. "We have plenty of folks to help," Rodriguez said. "It's just a matter of responding appropriately."
Residents should have food, water, prescribed medications and ice stocked in advance of the approaching storm, Rodriguez said.
The Texas National Guard was requesting medical evacuation teams from other states in case any coastal medical facilities had to be evacuated by air, National Guard Bureau officials reported.
"We are being assisted by our Air National Guard in Delaware, Mississippi and West Virginia," Army Col. Bill Meehan, public affairs officer for the Texas National Guard, said.
Tropical Storm Edouard comes in the wake of July's Hurricane Dolly. More than 890 members of the Texas National Guard, numerous land vehicles, seven helicopters and an RC-26 surveillance aircraft helped with transportation, distribution of supplies, and search and rescue after Hurricane Dolly, in an operation that ended yesterday.
Meehan said Guard troops are more than ready for another storm.
"Morale is always high in Texas," Meehan said. "We look forward to serving the citizens of Texas, and always have and always will. When they need us, we will be there."
Meehan said the Texas Guard would have several likely missions if the need arises. "We would anticipate operating points of distribution; shelter; communications; logistics; transportation of food, water and ice; and medical care," he said. "We will assist with damage assessment."
The National Weather Service has issued a tropical storm warning. Late this morning, Edouard was about 160 miles south-southwest of Lafayette, La., and was moving west at about 8 mph, the weather service reported.
The center of the storm was expected to be off the coast of southwest Louisiana or near the upper Texas coast by tomorrow morning, the weather service stated.
A storm surge and heavy rain -- up to 10 inches in Texas -- were both predicted. The storm could be a near-hurricane by the time it makes landfall and might spawn tornadoes, the National Hurricane Center reported.
(Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill serves with the National Guard Bureau.)
Face of Defense: Soldier Seeks, Finds Excitement in Army
By Army Sgt. Brad Willeford
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 4, 2008 - When Pfc. Tommy Smith enlisted in the Army in 2006, he joined the infantry looking for excitement and adventure. The Rome, Ga., native is deployed to Multinational Division Baghdad with the 25th Infantry Division's Company A, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, and is having the adventure he always looked for.
Smith worked in construction before joining the Army, and in his spare time he practiced the martial arts he learned from his father. In high school, Smith played football and spent his weekends working on his truck and hanging out with friends. But when the sense of adventure he wanted was not there, he decided to see what the Army had to offer.
His first sense of adventure came quickly after signing his enlistment contract. His first plane ride -- to basic combat training at Fort Benning, Ga. -- was one of the many firsts for Smith in his military career.
His next stop was Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
There, Smith took advantage of all that Hawaii has to offer. He spent his days hiking, snorkeling and driving around the island. When he received word of his imminent deployment to Iraq, he took the news in stride.
"I knew full well that I would be going to Iraq," he said. He said the news was not a shock and that he looked forward to the challenge.
On the flight to Kuwait en route to Iraq, Smith said, he felt a little anxious and full of anticipation, but that he was able to take strength in knowing he knew his job, and knew it well.
"He is always ready for any mission. [He] just says 'Roger' and moves out. He is also very handy with tools. He chips in wherever he can," said Sgt. 1st Class Raymond Zwicker, a native of Modesto, Calif., and Smith's platoon sergeant.
In his first seven months in Iraq, Smith has been on more than 75 missions, working as a member of the personal security detail for the company commander. As a part the PSD, it is Smith's job is to protect and provide security for the commander when he goes on missions and into the community.
Smith said he likes his job and the opportunity it gives him to have more interaction with the Iraqi population.
"Most of the people are not here to do anything bad to us," he said. "I like knowing that I am helping them."
He also said he enjoys being able to talk with the Iraqi children. "They remind me of my cousins back home," he said after giving several children pieces of candy that he keeps in his pocket for them.
Since the company's arrival, the soldiers have been involved in numerous outreach programs in the Taji community, northwest of Baghdad.
"Things seem to be going great right now, but there is always room for improvement," Smith said.
(Army Sgt. Brad Willeford serves in Multinational Division Baghdad with the 25th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
Aug. 4, 2008 - When Pfc. Tommy Smith enlisted in the Army in 2006, he joined the infantry looking for excitement and adventure. The Rome, Ga., native is deployed to Multinational Division Baghdad with the 25th Infantry Division's Company A, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, and is having the adventure he always looked for.
Smith worked in construction before joining the Army, and in his spare time he practiced the martial arts he learned from his father. In high school, Smith played football and spent his weekends working on his truck and hanging out with friends. But when the sense of adventure he wanted was not there, he decided to see what the Army had to offer.
His first sense of adventure came quickly after signing his enlistment contract. His first plane ride -- to basic combat training at Fort Benning, Ga. -- was one of the many firsts for Smith in his military career.
His next stop was Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
There, Smith took advantage of all that Hawaii has to offer. He spent his days hiking, snorkeling and driving around the island. When he received word of his imminent deployment to Iraq, he took the news in stride.
"I knew full well that I would be going to Iraq," he said. He said the news was not a shock and that he looked forward to the challenge.
On the flight to Kuwait en route to Iraq, Smith said, he felt a little anxious and full of anticipation, but that he was able to take strength in knowing he knew his job, and knew it well.
"He is always ready for any mission. [He] just says 'Roger' and moves out. He is also very handy with tools. He chips in wherever he can," said Sgt. 1st Class Raymond Zwicker, a native of Modesto, Calif., and Smith's platoon sergeant.
In his first seven months in Iraq, Smith has been on more than 75 missions, working as a member of the personal security detail for the company commander. As a part the PSD, it is Smith's job is to protect and provide security for the commander when he goes on missions and into the community.
Smith said he likes his job and the opportunity it gives him to have more interaction with the Iraqi population.
"Most of the people are not here to do anything bad to us," he said. "I like knowing that I am helping them."
He also said he enjoys being able to talk with the Iraqi children. "They remind me of my cousins back home," he said after giving several children pieces of candy that he keeps in his pocket for them.
Since the company's arrival, the soldiers have been involved in numerous outreach programs in the Taji community, northwest of Baghdad.
"Things seem to be going great right now, but there is always room for improvement," Smith said.
(Army Sgt. Brad Willeford serves in Multinational Division Baghdad with the 25th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.)
America Supports You: Scholarship Keeps Military Families 'In the Fold'
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 4, 2008 - A military child's education is one of many things a servicemember's injury or death in the line of duty could jeopardize. To make sure that never happens, retired Air National Guard F-16 pilot and Iraq War veteran Maj. Dan Rooney created Oklahoma-based "Folds of Honor."
"Folds of Honor is dedicated to providing deserving families with tailored, effective, lasting change through education," said Jason Ohrenberger, the organization's senior vice president for future development. "[It] provides current- and future-use educational scholarships for spouses and children of military servicemembers killed or disabled in action in Iraq or Afghanistan."
For spouses, who in many cases become the primary breadwinner, these scholarships can help pave the road to a better job. It also can offer them peace of mind about paying for their children's college educations even if they're not ready to head off for college just yet.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and must include copies of the servicemember's discharge paperwork, certificate of death or disability or proof of prisoner-of-war or missing-in-action status, proof of dependency and a family photo, all in digital format. Newspaper clippings or official paperwork on the incident involving the servicemember also may be submitted.
To date, Folds of Honor has presented more than 200 scholarships totaling nearly $1.1 million. Partnerships with the Professional Golfers' Association of America, the U.S. Golf Association, TaylorMade Adidas Golf, and the Air National Guard have helped make that possible.
Folds of Honor is a new supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad. The organization's affiliation with the Defense Department program will help further its goals, Ohrenberger said.
"Deserving families need to know about Folds of Honor, its mission and the educational scholarships available to them and how they can apply," Ohrenberger said. "America Supports You's reputation and significant contact with prospective applicants will significantly advance the mission."
American Forces Press Service
Aug. 4, 2008 - A military child's education is one of many things a servicemember's injury or death in the line of duty could jeopardize. To make sure that never happens, retired Air National Guard F-16 pilot and Iraq War veteran Maj. Dan Rooney created Oklahoma-based "Folds of Honor."
"Folds of Honor is dedicated to providing deserving families with tailored, effective, lasting change through education," said Jason Ohrenberger, the organization's senior vice president for future development. "[It] provides current- and future-use educational scholarships for spouses and children of military servicemembers killed or disabled in action in Iraq or Afghanistan."
For spouses, who in many cases become the primary breadwinner, these scholarships can help pave the road to a better job. It also can offer them peace of mind about paying for their children's college educations even if they're not ready to head off for college just yet.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and must include copies of the servicemember's discharge paperwork, certificate of death or disability or proof of prisoner-of-war or missing-in-action status, proof of dependency and a family photo, all in digital format. Newspaper clippings or official paperwork on the incident involving the servicemember also may be submitted.
To date, Folds of Honor has presented more than 200 scholarships totaling nearly $1.1 million. Partnerships with the Professional Golfers' Association of America, the U.S. Golf Association, TaylorMade Adidas Golf, and the Air National Guard have helped make that possible.
Folds of Honor is a new supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad. The organization's affiliation with the Defense Department program will help further its goals, Ohrenberger said.
"Deserving families need to know about Folds of Honor, its mission and the educational scholarships available to them and how they can apply," Ohrenberger said. "America Supports You's reputation and significant contact with prospective applicants will significantly advance the mission."
Saturday, August 02, 2008
MILITARY CONTRACTS August 1, 2008
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Red Star Enterprises Limited, Gibraltar is being awarded a maximum $720,568,375 fixed price with economic price adjustment, sole source contract for fuel deliveries. Other location of performance is Bagram Air Base Afghanistan. Using service is Army. This was proposal was originally Web solicited with one response. This contract is for a period of two years with a one year option. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Sept. 1, 2011. The contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-08-D-1017).
Army
BMI Defense Systems, Inc., College Station, Texas, was awarded on Jul. 31, 2008, a $6,995,365.20 firm fixed price, contract for driver protection package, ballistic blanket kit for light armored vehicles. Work will be performed in College Station, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Mar. 31, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one bids solicited on Jun. 10, 2008, and one bid was received. U.S. Army TACOM Office of the Program Management for Light Armored Vehicles, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-08-C-0488).
General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on Jul. 31, 2008, a $24,171,854.00 FFP/CPFF production contract, contract for production of vehicles to meet anticipatory war loss requirements. Work will be performed in Ontario, Canada, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one bids solicited on Mar. 17, 2008, and 1 bid was received. TACOM, LCMC, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-06-C-0255).
Inglett and Stubbs, International, Smyrna, Ga., was awarded on Jul. 31, 2008, a $34,975,000.00 firm fixed price, contract for construction of a power plant for Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. Work will be performed in Afghanistan, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one bid solicited on Jul. 18, 2008, and one bid was received. Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (W912BU-05-D-0004).
Clark/Hunt, Joint Venture, Tampa, Fla., was awarded on Jul. 31, 2008, a $126,101,402 firm fixed price task Order, contract for construction at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas. Work will be performed in San Antonio, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Jul. 15, 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Two bids were received on Dec. 21, 2007. US Army Engineer District, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-08-C-0036).
Lockheed Martin Corp., Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded on Jul. 30, 2008, a $68,950,208 firm fixed price and cost plus fixed fee, contract for guided multiple launch rocket systems. Work will be performed in Dallas, Texas; East Camden, Ark.; and Orlando, Fl., and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one bid solicited on May 31, 2007, and one bid was received. US Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-08-C-0021).
Navistar Defense LLC, Warrenville, Ill., was awarded on Jul. 30, 2008, an $11,310,971 firm fixed price, contract for heavy equipment tractor truck tractors and spare parts. Work will be performed in Sunnyvale, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was received on April 3, 2008. TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-08-C-0435).
BAE Systems, Anniston, Ala., was awarded on Jul. 31, 2008, a $21,561,457.21 cost reimbursement, contract for long lead items for the reset of M113 vehicles. Work will be performed in Anniston, Ala., and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one bid solicited on Jun. 23, 2008, and one bid was received. TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-05-G-0005).
Parsons Infrastructure & Technology Group, Pasadena, Calif., was awarded on Jul. 31, 2008, a $15,072,345 cost-plus award fee, modification for balance of the closure of the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility. Work will be performed in Newport, Ind., and is expected to be completed by May 31, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were 32 bids solicited on Mar. 9, 2008, and two bids were received. US Army Sustainment Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (original contract DAAA09-99-C-0016; Modification P00166).
BAE Systems Analytical Solutions, Huntsville, Ala., was awarded on Jul. 30, 2008, a $12,733,800 cost-plus-fixed-fee, IDQ, task order, level of effort, contract for support for the Training and Doctrine Command Deputy Chief of Staff, G-2 in strategic, operational and tactical program analysis. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Ala., and across the continental United States, and is expected to be completed by Jul. 24, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Two bids were received on Jun. 12, 2008. US Army Space & Missile Defense Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting activity (W91260-06-D-0005).
Veterans Enterprises Technology Services, LLC, was awarded on Jul. 31, 2008, a $19,100,000 firm fixed price, contract for designing and building dining facilities at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Work will be performed in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and is expected to be completed by Jul. 31, 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were six bids received on Nov. 4, 2007. US Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk, VA., is the contracting activity (W91236-08-D-0055).
Navy
Navistar Defense LLC, Warrenville, Ill., is being awarded a $29,355,367 firm-fixed-priced modification to delivery order #0007 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5032) for sustainment items needed to support Category I Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) vehicles in theater. This order will also be used to support several Engineering Change Proposals to increase the vehicles' capabilities. Work will be performed in West Point, Miss., and work is expected to be completed Apr. 2009. Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Navistar Defense LLC, Warrenville, Ill., is being awarded a $27,394,820 firm-fixed-priced modification to delivery order #0002 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5032) for sustainment items needed to support Category I Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Low Rate Initial Production vehicles in theater. This order will also be used to support several Engineering Change Proposals to increase the vehicles' capabilities. Work will be performed in West Point, Miss., and work is expected to be completed Apr. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Complex Solutions, Inc., Kailua, Hawaii, is being awarded an $18,091,192 time and materials, indefinite-delivery modification to previously awarded contract (N00244-07-D-0035) to exercise an option for technical and educational support services to the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for civil military relations education and training program. Work will be performed in Kailua, Hawaii, (6 percent); Monterey, Calif., (8 percent); various locations in the United States (24 percent); and various locations outside the Continental United States (62 percent), and work is expected to be completed by Jul. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This offer was awarded competitively through Navy Electronic Commerce Online, with two offers received. The Fleet and Industrial Supply Center, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.
Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, Keyport, Wash., is being awarded a $5,965,173 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-04-C-6101) to provide cost growth funding for the P2U NRE (Producibility 2nd Year Upgrade) completion efforts and to convert the effort to Firm-Fixed Price (FFP). This effort is a continuation of MK48 ADCAP, MK48 CBASS and MK54 torpedo programs under contracts N00024-98-C-6107, N00024-00-C-6100, N00024-00-C-6102 and N00024-03-C-6104. Work will be performed in Keyport, Wash., (50 percent) and Portsmouth, R.I., (50 percent), and is expected to be completed by Sept. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
General Dynamics Land Systems, operating through its division General Dynamics Amphibious Systems, Woodbridge, Va., is being awarded a $766,816,525 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for the development and manufacture of System Development and Demonstration two (SDD-2) Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) prototypes. In addition, the contractor will modify existing EFV prototypes, procure preliminary spares and repair parts, long lead materials for the SDD-2 prototypes, and conduct systems engineering, studies and analysis, logistics support and test support. Work will be performed in Va., (55 percent), Ind., (10 percent), Mich., (9 percent), Germany, (9 percent), Ohio, (4 percent), and various other states (13 percent), and work is expected to be completed Sept. 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively awarded. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity (M67854-08-C-0003).
Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded a $91,805,665 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-08-C-0025) for Phase II of the CV-22 aircraft Block 20 Upgrade consisting of follow-on efforts to the CV-22 Block 20 Phase I, effort including the design, development, integration, and testing of the CV-22 Block 20 improvements and enhancements. The modification includes performance upgrades to enhance the CV-22 aircraft, such as Terrain Following (below 50 knots), Terrain Following Logic Improvements, Communication Co-Site Interference, Advanced Mission Computer (AMC) Thru-put, flight test engineering support, and logistics and supply support. Work will be performed in Hulbert Field, Fla., (70 percent); Ridley Park, Pa., (15 percent); and Amarillo, Texas, (15 percent), and is expected to be completed in Sept. 2012. 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.
Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $12,639,173 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0086) for H-1 Upgrade logistics products and services. This modification includes logistic management support, technical material for maintenance planning, design interface, supply /material support, support of support equipment, technical data, distribution and inventory management/packaging, handling, storage & transportation, configuration management, supportability analysis, aircraft acceptance discrepancies, and contractor logistics support/technical liaison. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in May 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $9,979,205 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0569) for the procurement of 22 each Tomahawk Block IV Mid-body Range Safety System (M-RSS) kits and Flight Test Kits (FTKs) for the U.S. Navy, (20) and the United Kingdom, (2). In addition, this modification provides for one set of RSS components for the U.S. Navy. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz. (25 percent); San Diego, Calif., (14.5 percent); Bristol, Pa., (10.7 percent); Westminster, Colo., (10 percent); Largo, Fla. (5.8 percent); Middletown, Conn., (5.3 percent); Lancaster, Pa., (1.8 percent); Los Angeles, Calif., (1.1 percent); and various locations within the United States (25.8 percent), and is expected to be completed in Jun. 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $6,773,166 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the U.S. Navy, ($9,090,171; 91 percent) and the United Kingdom, ($889,034; 9 percent) under the Foreign military Sales Program. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
SFA Inc, Crofton, Md., is being awarded a $9,910,834 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the research, development and applications-oriented activities in the generation of sensing systems, integrated optics and communication systems. The contract is for "Optical Techniques, Devices, and Measurements." This contract contains options, which if exercised, will bring the total contract value to $52,879,393. Work will be performed in Washington, D.C., and work is expected to be completed Jul. 2009 (Jul. 2013 with options exercised). Contract funds in the amount of $1,475,232 will expire at end of current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under a Request for Proposal No N000173-08-R-JR03, with one offer received. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N000173-08-R-JR03).
WareOnEarth Communications, Inc.*, North Charleston, S.C., is being awarded a $9,452,343 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee, performance-based contract (with provisions for firm-fixed price orders) to provide technical services supporting U.S. tactical and strategic operations with emphasis on Information Assurance (IA) and automated sensor systems for military health systems and require expertise in the full range of the IA disciplines, architecture development, requirements management, vulnerability management, electronic key management, IA and sensor security logistic and life cycle management, certification and accreditation, risk management, security awareness, training and education and security engineering. This contract includes options, which, if exercised, will bring the total cumulative value of the contract to the estimated amount of $48,815,599. Work will be performed in Charleston, S.C., and is expected to be completed by Jul. 2009 (July 2013 with options exercised). Contract funds will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured and nine offers were received via the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center E-commerce website. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Charleston, S.C., is the contracting activity (N65236-08-D-6809).
Seyer Industries, Inc.*, St. Peters, Mo., is being awarded a $7,051,226 firm-fixed-price contract for the manufacture of various pieces of Peculiar Support Equipment for the U.S. Marine Corps, (332 pieces) and the U.S. Air Force, (218 pieces), to support the V-22 Aircraft at the Organizational and Intermediate (I&O) levels of maintenance. Work will be performed in St. Peters, Mo., and is expected to be completed in Jun. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured by electronic request for proposals, with two firms solicited and one offer received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-08-C-0346).
Gyrocam Systems, LLC, Sarasota, Fla., is being awarded a $6,665,204 firm-fixed-priced delivery order #0002 under a previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5075) for the purchase of sustainment services, parts, training, and the replacement of six camera systems due to battle loss. Work will be performed in Sarasota, Fla., and is expected to be completed by Aug. 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $6,665,204 will expire by the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $6,515,699 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0086) for non-recurring engineering necessary to build, install and test of the combining Gearbox Test Stand in support of the H-1 Upgrades Aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in Jun. 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.
Z Corp,* Norfolk, Va., is being awarded a $5,695,000 firm-fixed-price contract for design and construction of MP (military Police) Co., Operations Complex, Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, N.C. The work to be performed includes the design and construction of multi-story and single-story operations facilities for the MP Co., 2D Marine Logistics Group. Construction will include administrative space, storage space, drive-through equipment maintenance bays, communications/electronic equipment repair; secure weapons armory, dedicated NMCI telecommunication rooms, showers and locker areas and all incidental related work. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, N.C., and is expected to be completed by August 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured among the four contractors on the eight (a) Multiple Award Contract with three proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N62470-05-D-6832).
General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Mich., is being awarded a $5,500,493 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and development for applications of Intelligent Machining (IM) of Advanced Defense Materials at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center (JSMC) Lima, Ohio. Work will be performed in Lima, Ohio, and is expected to be completed by Jul. 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $2,914,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity for contract (M67854-08-C-0009).
Air Force
BAE Systems Advanced Information Technologies of Burlington, Mass., is being awarded a cost plus fixed fee contract for $21,490,727. This effort will develop, demonstrate and deliver a single platform and multiple platform software system that enables long term maritime and ground target tracking. The effort will involve development in Technology areas including advance radar sensor networking and communication. The performance of the single platform and multiple platform configurations will be evaluated and demonstrated in a laboratory simulation environment utilizing real and simulated data. The software system will also be used and evaluated during a series of flight tests and demonstrations. At this time $7,688,926 has been obligated. Air Force Research Laboratory/RIKF, Rome, N.Y., is the contracting activity (FA8750-08-C-0217).
Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., of Herndon, Va., is being awarded cost plus fixed free contract for $11,494,519. This action will provide technical and analytical support to the Program Executive Office Combat Support and the Tank and Automotive Research and Development Team. At this time $135,266 has been obligated. 55th Contracting Squadron, 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt AFB, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-03-D-1380, DO 0264).
Entereza Network Solution, Inc., of Albuquerque, N.M., is being awarded a firm fixed, cost reimbursement contract for a maximum of $6 million. The overall objective of the work effort under this training services contract as defined in Performance Work State of Word dated Mar. 4, 2008, is to effectively and efficiently meet the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC) mission. AFOTEC is responsible for planning, executing, and reporting independent Operational Test and Evaluations (OT&E). AFOTEC supports Air Force (AF), Department of Defense (DoD), and other government agencies by evaluating operational capabilities and limitations to meet warfighter mission needs. The mission of AFOTEC is to assess the capability of new systems and provide operational effectiveness, operational suitability, and operational impact expertise from concept through system employment in the battlespace environment, AFOTEC's Test and Evaluation University (T&EU) was formed to provide in-house course development, updates, and instruction to support the technical training needs of the OT&E workforce. The contractor will provide subject matter experts (SME) to instruct, develop courses, and maintain/update course materials using Instructional Systems Development (ISD) methodology. In addition to performing instructional duties, the contractor will up existing courses as required, as well as develop, instruct, and update emerging courses and associated courseware. Instructional staff may, within the discretion of the Government, include augmentation from Government SMEs. At this time $284,529 has been obligated. Headquarters, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, HQ AFOTEC/A7K, Contracting Division, Kirtland AFB, N.M., is the contracting activity (FA7046-08-D-0002).
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), of San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a cost plus fixed fee contract for $5,913,886. The action will provide for Air Force Research laboratory/RYZT requires the use of R&D support contract to accomplish specialized research, analysis, test, and development for combat identification work. At this time $1.5 million has been obligated. AFRL/PKSR, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-08-C-1373).
Red Star Enterprises Limited, Gibraltar is being awarded a maximum $720,568,375 fixed price with economic price adjustment, sole source contract for fuel deliveries. Other location of performance is Bagram Air Base Afghanistan. Using service is Army. This was proposal was originally Web solicited with one response. This contract is for a period of two years with a one year option. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Sept. 1, 2011. The contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-08-D-1017).
Army
BMI Defense Systems, Inc., College Station, Texas, was awarded on Jul. 31, 2008, a $6,995,365.20 firm fixed price, contract for driver protection package, ballistic blanket kit for light armored vehicles. Work will be performed in College Station, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Mar. 31, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one bids solicited on Jun. 10, 2008, and one bid was received. U.S. Army TACOM Office of the Program Management for Light Armored Vehicles, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-08-C-0488).
General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on Jul. 31, 2008, a $24,171,854.00 FFP/CPFF production contract, contract for production of vehicles to meet anticipatory war loss requirements. Work will be performed in Ontario, Canada, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one bids solicited on Mar. 17, 2008, and 1 bid was received. TACOM, LCMC, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-06-C-0255).
Inglett and Stubbs, International, Smyrna, Ga., was awarded on Jul. 31, 2008, a $34,975,000.00 firm fixed price, contract for construction of a power plant for Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. Work will be performed in Afghanistan, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one bid solicited on Jul. 18, 2008, and one bid was received. Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (W912BU-05-D-0004).
Clark/Hunt, Joint Venture, Tampa, Fla., was awarded on Jul. 31, 2008, a $126,101,402 firm fixed price task Order, contract for construction at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas. Work will be performed in San Antonio, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Jul. 15, 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Two bids were received on Dec. 21, 2007. US Army Engineer District, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-08-C-0036).
Lockheed Martin Corp., Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded on Jul. 30, 2008, a $68,950,208 firm fixed price and cost plus fixed fee, contract for guided multiple launch rocket systems. Work will be performed in Dallas, Texas; East Camden, Ark.; and Orlando, Fl., and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one bid solicited on May 31, 2007, and one bid was received. US Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-08-C-0021).
Navistar Defense LLC, Warrenville, Ill., was awarded on Jul. 30, 2008, an $11,310,971 firm fixed price, contract for heavy equipment tractor truck tractors and spare parts. Work will be performed in Sunnyvale, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was received on April 3, 2008. TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-08-C-0435).
BAE Systems, Anniston, Ala., was awarded on Jul. 31, 2008, a $21,561,457.21 cost reimbursement, contract for long lead items for the reset of M113 vehicles. Work will be performed in Anniston, Ala., and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one bid solicited on Jun. 23, 2008, and one bid was received. TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-05-G-0005).
Parsons Infrastructure & Technology Group, Pasadena, Calif., was awarded on Jul. 31, 2008, a $15,072,345 cost-plus award fee, modification for balance of the closure of the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility. Work will be performed in Newport, Ind., and is expected to be completed by May 31, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were 32 bids solicited on Mar. 9, 2008, and two bids were received. US Army Sustainment Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (original contract DAAA09-99-C-0016; Modification P00166).
BAE Systems Analytical Solutions, Huntsville, Ala., was awarded on Jul. 30, 2008, a $12,733,800 cost-plus-fixed-fee, IDQ, task order, level of effort, contract for support for the Training and Doctrine Command Deputy Chief of Staff, G-2 in strategic, operational and tactical program analysis. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Ala., and across the continental United States, and is expected to be completed by Jul. 24, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Two bids were received on Jun. 12, 2008. US Army Space & Missile Defense Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting activity (W91260-06-D-0005).
Veterans Enterprises Technology Services, LLC, was awarded on Jul. 31, 2008, a $19,100,000 firm fixed price, contract for designing and building dining facilities at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Work will be performed in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and is expected to be completed by Jul. 31, 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were six bids received on Nov. 4, 2007. US Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk, VA., is the contracting activity (W91236-08-D-0055).
Navy
Navistar Defense LLC, Warrenville, Ill., is being awarded a $29,355,367 firm-fixed-priced modification to delivery order #0007 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5032) for sustainment items needed to support Category I Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) vehicles in theater. This order will also be used to support several Engineering Change Proposals to increase the vehicles' capabilities. Work will be performed in West Point, Miss., and work is expected to be completed Apr. 2009. Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Navistar Defense LLC, Warrenville, Ill., is being awarded a $27,394,820 firm-fixed-priced modification to delivery order #0002 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5032) for sustainment items needed to support Category I Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Low Rate Initial Production vehicles in theater. This order will also be used to support several Engineering Change Proposals to increase the vehicles' capabilities. Work will be performed in West Point, Miss., and work is expected to be completed Apr. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Complex Solutions, Inc., Kailua, Hawaii, is being awarded an $18,091,192 time and materials, indefinite-delivery modification to previously awarded contract (N00244-07-D-0035) to exercise an option for technical and educational support services to the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for civil military relations education and training program. Work will be performed in Kailua, Hawaii, (6 percent); Monterey, Calif., (8 percent); various locations in the United States (24 percent); and various locations outside the Continental United States (62 percent), and work is expected to be completed by Jul. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This offer was awarded competitively through Navy Electronic Commerce Online, with two offers received. The Fleet and Industrial Supply Center, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.
Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, Keyport, Wash., is being awarded a $5,965,173 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-04-C-6101) to provide cost growth funding for the P2U NRE (Producibility 2nd Year Upgrade) completion efforts and to convert the effort to Firm-Fixed Price (FFP). This effort is a continuation of MK48 ADCAP, MK48 CBASS and MK54 torpedo programs under contracts N00024-98-C-6107, N00024-00-C-6100, N00024-00-C-6102 and N00024-03-C-6104. Work will be performed in Keyport, Wash., (50 percent) and Portsmouth, R.I., (50 percent), and is expected to be completed by Sept. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
General Dynamics Land Systems, operating through its division General Dynamics Amphibious Systems, Woodbridge, Va., is being awarded a $766,816,525 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for the development and manufacture of System Development and Demonstration two (SDD-2) Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) prototypes. In addition, the contractor will modify existing EFV prototypes, procure preliminary spares and repair parts, long lead materials for the SDD-2 prototypes, and conduct systems engineering, studies and analysis, logistics support and test support. Work will be performed in Va., (55 percent), Ind., (10 percent), Mich., (9 percent), Germany, (9 percent), Ohio, (4 percent), and various other states (13 percent), and work is expected to be completed Sept. 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively awarded. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity (M67854-08-C-0003).
Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded a $91,805,665 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-08-C-0025) for Phase II of the CV-22 aircraft Block 20 Upgrade consisting of follow-on efforts to the CV-22 Block 20 Phase I, effort including the design, development, integration, and testing of the CV-22 Block 20 improvements and enhancements. The modification includes performance upgrades to enhance the CV-22 aircraft, such as Terrain Following (below 50 knots), Terrain Following Logic Improvements, Communication Co-Site Interference, Advanced Mission Computer (AMC) Thru-put, flight test engineering support, and logistics and supply support. Work will be performed in Hulbert Field, Fla., (70 percent); Ridley Park, Pa., (15 percent); and Amarillo, Texas, (15 percent), and is expected to be completed in Sept. 2012. 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.
Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $12,639,173 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0086) for H-1 Upgrade logistics products and services. This modification includes logistic management support, technical material for maintenance planning, design interface, supply /material support, support of support equipment, technical data, distribution and inventory management/packaging, handling, storage & transportation, configuration management, supportability analysis, aircraft acceptance discrepancies, and contractor logistics support/technical liaison. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in May 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $9,979,205 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0569) for the procurement of 22 each Tomahawk Block IV Mid-body Range Safety System (M-RSS) kits and Flight Test Kits (FTKs) for the U.S. Navy, (20) and the United Kingdom, (2). In addition, this modification provides for one set of RSS components for the U.S. Navy. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz. (25 percent); San Diego, Calif., (14.5 percent); Bristol, Pa., (10.7 percent); Westminster, Colo., (10 percent); Largo, Fla. (5.8 percent); Middletown, Conn., (5.3 percent); Lancaster, Pa., (1.8 percent); Los Angeles, Calif., (1.1 percent); and various locations within the United States (25.8 percent), and is expected to be completed in Jun. 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $6,773,166 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the U.S. Navy, ($9,090,171; 91 percent) and the United Kingdom, ($889,034; 9 percent) under the Foreign military Sales Program. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
SFA Inc, Crofton, Md., is being awarded a $9,910,834 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the research, development and applications-oriented activities in the generation of sensing systems, integrated optics and communication systems. The contract is for "Optical Techniques, Devices, and Measurements." This contract contains options, which if exercised, will bring the total contract value to $52,879,393. Work will be performed in Washington, D.C., and work is expected to be completed Jul. 2009 (Jul. 2013 with options exercised). Contract funds in the amount of $1,475,232 will expire at end of current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under a Request for Proposal No N000173-08-R-JR03, with one offer received. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N000173-08-R-JR03).
WareOnEarth Communications, Inc.*, North Charleston, S.C., is being awarded a $9,452,343 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee, performance-based contract (with provisions for firm-fixed price orders) to provide technical services supporting U.S. tactical and strategic operations with emphasis on Information Assurance (IA) and automated sensor systems for military health systems and require expertise in the full range of the IA disciplines, architecture development, requirements management, vulnerability management, electronic key management, IA and sensor security logistic and life cycle management, certification and accreditation, risk management, security awareness, training and education and security engineering. This contract includes options, which, if exercised, will bring the total cumulative value of the contract to the estimated amount of $48,815,599. Work will be performed in Charleston, S.C., and is expected to be completed by Jul. 2009 (July 2013 with options exercised). Contract funds will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured and nine offers were received via the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center E-commerce website. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Charleston, S.C., is the contracting activity (N65236-08-D-6809).
Seyer Industries, Inc.*, St. Peters, Mo., is being awarded a $7,051,226 firm-fixed-price contract for the manufacture of various pieces of Peculiar Support Equipment for the U.S. Marine Corps, (332 pieces) and the U.S. Air Force, (218 pieces), to support the V-22 Aircraft at the Organizational and Intermediate (I&O) levels of maintenance. Work will be performed in St. Peters, Mo., and is expected to be completed in Jun. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured by electronic request for proposals, with two firms solicited and one offer received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-08-C-0346).
Gyrocam Systems, LLC, Sarasota, Fla., is being awarded a $6,665,204 firm-fixed-priced delivery order #0002 under a previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5075) for the purchase of sustainment services, parts, training, and the replacement of six camera systems due to battle loss. Work will be performed in Sarasota, Fla., and is expected to be completed by Aug. 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $6,665,204 will expire by the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $6,515,699 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0086) for non-recurring engineering necessary to build, install and test of the combining Gearbox Test Stand in support of the H-1 Upgrades Aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in Jun. 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.
Z Corp,* Norfolk, Va., is being awarded a $5,695,000 firm-fixed-price contract for design and construction of MP (military Police) Co., Operations Complex, Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, N.C. The work to be performed includes the design and construction of multi-story and single-story operations facilities for the MP Co., 2D Marine Logistics Group. Construction will include administrative space, storage space, drive-through equipment maintenance bays, communications/electronic equipment repair; secure weapons armory, dedicated NMCI telecommunication rooms, showers and locker areas and all incidental related work. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, N.C., and is expected to be completed by August 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured among the four contractors on the eight (a) Multiple Award Contract with three proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N62470-05-D-6832).
General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Mich., is being awarded a $5,500,493 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and development for applications of Intelligent Machining (IM) of Advanced Defense Materials at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center (JSMC) Lima, Ohio. Work will be performed in Lima, Ohio, and is expected to be completed by Jul. 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $2,914,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity for contract (M67854-08-C-0009).
Air Force
BAE Systems Advanced Information Technologies of Burlington, Mass., is being awarded a cost plus fixed fee contract for $21,490,727. This effort will develop, demonstrate and deliver a single platform and multiple platform software system that enables long term maritime and ground target tracking. The effort will involve development in Technology areas including advance radar sensor networking and communication. The performance of the single platform and multiple platform configurations will be evaluated and demonstrated in a laboratory simulation environment utilizing real and simulated data. The software system will also be used and evaluated during a series of flight tests and demonstrations. At this time $7,688,926 has been obligated. Air Force Research Laboratory/RIKF, Rome, N.Y., is the contracting activity (FA8750-08-C-0217).
Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., of Herndon, Va., is being awarded cost plus fixed free contract for $11,494,519. This action will provide technical and analytical support to the Program Executive Office Combat Support and the Tank and Automotive Research and Development Team. At this time $135,266 has been obligated. 55th Contracting Squadron, 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt AFB, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-03-D-1380, DO 0264).
Entereza Network Solution, Inc., of Albuquerque, N.M., is being awarded a firm fixed, cost reimbursement contract for a maximum of $6 million. The overall objective of the work effort under this training services contract as defined in Performance Work State of Word dated Mar. 4, 2008, is to effectively and efficiently meet the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC) mission. AFOTEC is responsible for planning, executing, and reporting independent Operational Test and Evaluations (OT&E). AFOTEC supports Air Force (AF), Department of Defense (DoD), and other government agencies by evaluating operational capabilities and limitations to meet warfighter mission needs. The mission of AFOTEC is to assess the capability of new systems and provide operational effectiveness, operational suitability, and operational impact expertise from concept through system employment in the battlespace environment, AFOTEC's Test and Evaluation University (T&EU) was formed to provide in-house course development, updates, and instruction to support the technical training needs of the OT&E workforce. The contractor will provide subject matter experts (SME) to instruct, develop courses, and maintain/update course materials using Instructional Systems Development (ISD) methodology. In addition to performing instructional duties, the contractor will up existing courses as required, as well as develop, instruct, and update emerging courses and associated courseware. Instructional staff may, within the discretion of the Government, include augmentation from Government SMEs. At this time $284,529 has been obligated. Headquarters, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, HQ AFOTEC/A7K, Contracting Division, Kirtland AFB, N.M., is the contracting activity (FA7046-08-D-0002).
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), of San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a cost plus fixed fee contract for $5,913,886. The action will provide for Air Force Research laboratory/RYZT requires the use of R&D support contract to accomplish specialized research, analysis, test, and development for combat identification work. At this time $1.5 million has been obligated. AFRL/PKSR, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-08-C-1373).
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