Profit over People : Why the United States Leaves Deadly Chemicals on the Market

 

Why the United States Leaves Deadly Chemicals on the Market

November 21, 2015  

By Valerie Brown and Elizabeth Grossman




Scientists are trained to express themselves rationally. They avoid personal attacks when they disagree. But some scientific arguments become so polarized that tempers fray. There may even be shouting.

Such is the current state of affairs between two camps of scientists: health effects researchers and regulatory toxicologists. Both groups study the effects of chemical exposures in humans. Both groups have publicly used terms like “irrelevant,” “arbitrary,” “unfounded” and “contrary to all accumulated physiological understanding” to describe the other’s work. Privately, the language becomes even harsher, with phrases such as “a pseudoscience,” “a religion” and “rigged.”


The rift centers around the best way to measure the health effects of chemical exposures. The regulatory toxicologists typically rely on computer simulations called “physiologically based pharmacokinetic” (PBPK) modeling. The health effects researchers—endocrinologists, developmental biologists and epidemiologists, among others—draw their conclusions from direct observations of how chemicals actually affect living things.

The debate may sound arcane, but the outcome could directly affect your health. It will shape how government agencies regulate chemicals for decades to come: how toxic waste sites are cleaned up, how pesticides are regulated, how workers are protected from toxic exposure and what chemicals are permitted in household items. Those decisions will profoundly affect public health: the rates at which we suffer cancer, diabetes, obesity, infertility, and neurological problems like attention disorders and lowered IQ.

The link from certain chemicals to these health effects is real. In a paper published earlier this year, a group of leading endocrinologists concluded with 99 percent certainty that environmental exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals causes health problems. They estimate that this costs the European Union healthcare system about $175 billion a year.

Closer to home, Americans are routinely sickened by toxic chemicals whose health effects have been long known. To cite one infamous example, people exposed to the known carcinogen formaldehyde in FEMA trailers after Hurricane Katrina suffered headaches, nosebleeds and difficulty breathing. Dozens of cancer cases were later reported. Then there are workplace exposures, which federal government estimates link to as many as 20,000 cancer deaths a year and hundreds of thousands of illnesses.

“We are drowning our world in untested and unsafe chemicals, and the price we are paying in terms of our reproductive health is of serious concern,” wrote the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics in a statement released on October 1.

Yet chemical regulation in the United States has proceeded at a glacial pace. And corporate profit is at the heart of the story.

That the chemical industry exerts political influence is well documented. What our investigation reveals is that, 30 years ago, corporate interests began to control not just the political process but the science itself. Industry not only funds research to cast doubt on known environmental health hazards; it has also shaped an entire field of science—regulatory toxicology—to downplay the risk of toxic chemicals.

Our investigation traces this web of influence to a group of scientists working for the Department of Defense (DOD) in the 1970s and 1980s—the pioneers of PBPK modeling. It quickly became clear that this type of modeling could be manipulated to minimize the appearance of chemical risk. PBPK methodology has subsequently been advanced by at least two generations of researchers—including many from the original DOD group—who move between industry, government agencies and industry-backed research groups, often with little or no transparency.

The result is that chemicals known to be harmful to human health remain largely unregulated in the United States—often with deadly results. For chemicals whose hazards are just now being recognized, such as the common plastics ingredient bisphenol A (BPA) and other , this lack of regulation is likely to continue unless the federal chemical review process becomes more transparent and relies less heavily on PBPK modeling.

Here we lay out the players, the dueling paradigms and the high-stakes health consequences of getting it wrong.

The dawn of PBPK simulation

 

The 1970s and 1980s saw a blizzard of environmental regulation. The Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Toxic Substances Control Act, along with the laws that established Superfund and Community Right-to-Know Programs, for the first time required companies— and military bases—using and producing chemicals to account for their environmental and health impacts. This meant greater demand for chemical risk assessments as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began to establish safety standards for workplace exposures and environmental cleanups.

In the 1980s, the now-defunct Toxic Hazards Research Unit at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, was investigating the toxicity and health effects of chemicals used by the military. Of particular concern to the DOD were the many compounds used by the military to build, service and maintain aircraft, vehicles and other machinery: fuels and fuel additives, solvents, coatings and adhesives. The military is responsible for about 900 of the approximately 1,300 currently listed Superfund sites, many of which have been contaminated by these chemicals for decades.

In the mid-1980s, scientists at the Wright-Patterson Toxic Hazards Research Unit began using PBPK simulations to track how chemicals move through the body. Known as in silico (in computers) models, these are an alternative to testing chemicals in vivo (in live animals) or in vitro (in a test tube). They allow scientists to estimate what concentrations of a chemical (or its breakdown products) end up in a particular organ or type of tissue, and how long they take to exit the body. The information can then be correlated with experimental data to set exposure limits—or not.
PBPK simulations made testing faster and cheaper, something attractive to both industry and regulators. But the PBPK model has drawbacks. “It tells you nothing about effects,” says Linda Birnbaum, director of both the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and National Toxicology Program (NTP). Observational studies and laboratory experiments, on the other hand, are designed to discover how a chemical affects biological processes.

Even regulatory toxicologists who support PBPK acknowledge its limitations: “[PBPK models] are always going to be limited by the quality of the data that go into them,” says toxicologist James Lamb, who worked for the NTP and EPA in the 1980s and is now principal scientist at the consulting firm Exponent.

The late health effects researcher Louis Guillette, a professor at the Medical University of South Carolina famous for studies on DDT’s hormonedisrupting effects in Florida alligators, put it more bluntly: “PBPK? My immediate response: Junk in, junk out. The take-home is that most of the models [are] only as good as your understanding of the complexity of the system.”

Many biologists say PBPK-based risk assessments begin with assumptions that are too narrow, and thus often fail to fully capture how a chemical exposure can affect health. For example, a series of PBPK studies and reviews by toxicologist Justin Teeguarden of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., and his colleagues suggested that BPA breaks down into less harmful compounds and exits the body so rapidly that it is essentially harmless. Their research began with certain assumptions: that BPA only mimics estrogen weakly, that it affects only the body’s estrogen system, and that 90 percent of BPA exposure is through digestion of food and beverages. However, health effects research has shown that BPA mimics estrogen closely, can affect the body’s androgen and thyroid hormone systems, and can enter the body via pathways like the skin and the tissues of the mouth. When PBPK models fail to include this evidence, they tend to underestimate risk.

Because of its reliance on whatever data are included, PBPK modeling can be deliberately manipulated to produce desired outcomes. Or, as University of Notre Dame biologist Kristin Shrader-Frechette, who specializes in human health risk assessment, says: “Models can offer a means of avoiding the conclusions derived from actual experiments.” In other words, PBPK models can be customized to provide results that work to industry’s advantage.

That’s not to say PBPK itself is to blame. “Let’s not throw the baby out completely with the bathwater,” says New York University associate professor of environmental medicine and health policy Leo Trasande. “However, when you have biology telling you there are basic flaws in the model, that’s a compelling reason that it’s time for a paradigm shift.”

A handy tool for industry

 

That PBPK studies could be used to make chemicals appear safer was as clear in the 1980s as it is now. In a 1988 paper touting the new technique, Wright-Patterson scientists explained how their modeling had prompted the EPA to stop its regulation process for a chemical of great concern to the military: methylene chloride.

Methylene chloride is widely used as a solvent and as an ingredient in making plastics, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and other industrial products. By the 1990s, the U.S. military would be the country’s second greatest user. Methylene chloride was—and remains—regulated under the Clean Air Act as a hazardous air pollutant because of its carcinogenic and neurotoxic effects.

Between 1985 and 1986, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health estimated that about 1 million workers a year were exposed to methylene chloride, and the EPA classified the compound as a “probable human carcinogen.” A number of unions, including United Auto Workers and United Steelworkers, also petitioned OSHA to limit on-the-job exposure to methylene chloride.
In 1986, OSHA began the process of setting occupational exposure limits. Stakeholders were invited to submit public comments.

Among the materials submitted was a PBPK study by Melvin Andersen, Harvey Clewell—both then working at Wright-Patterson—and several other scientists, including two employed by methylene chloride product manufacturer Dow Chemical. Published in 1987, this study concluded,

“Conventional risk analyses greatly overestimate the risk in humans exposed to low concentrations [of methylene chloride].”

Later that year, the EPA revised its previous health assessment of methylene chloride, citing the Wright-Patterson study to conclude that the chemical was nine times less risky than previously estimated. The EPA “has halted its rulemaking on methylene chloride [based on our studies],” wrote Wright-Patterson scientists in 1988.

OSHA, too, considered the Wright-Patterson study in its methylene chloride assessment—and its rulemaking dragged on another 10 years before the agency finally limited exposure to the chemical.
The usefulness of PBPK modeling to industry did not escape the Wright-Patterson researchers. “The potential impact,” wrote Andersen, Clewell and their colleagues in 1988, “is far reaching and not limited to methylene chloride.” Using PBPK models to set exposure limits could help avoid setting “excessively conservative”—i.e., protective— limits that could lead to “unnecessary expensive controls” and place “constraints on important industrial processes.” In other words, PBPK models could be used to set less-stringent environmental and health standards, and save industry money.
So far, they’ve been proven right. The work done at Wright-Patterson set the stage for the next 30-plus years. Results obtained using PBPK modeling—especially in industry-funded research, often conducted by former Wright-Patterson scientists—have downplayed the risk and delayed the regulation of numerous widely used and commercially lucrative chemicals. These include formaldehyde, styrene, tricholorethylene, BPA and the pesticide chlorpyrifos. For many such chemicals, PBPK studies contradict what actual biological experiments conclude. Regulators often defer to the PBPK studies anyway.

A web of influence

 

At the time that PBPK modelling was being developed, the chemical industry was struggling with its public image. The Bhopal, India, disaster—the methyl isocyanate release that killed and injured thousands—happened in 1984. The following year, a toxic gas release at a West Virginia Union Carbide plant sent about 135 people to hospitals.

In response to these incidents, new federal regulations required companies to account for the storage, use and release of hazardous chemicals. The minutes from a May 1988 Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA) meeting show industry was feeling the pressure. Noting the federal scrutiny and the growing testing requirements, the CMA recommended that industry help “develop exposure data” and “explore innovative ways to limit required testing to that which is needed.”

Industry had already begun to do this by founding a number of research institutes such as the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology (CIIT), a nonprofit toxicology research institute (renamed the Hamner Institutes in an act of linguistic detoxification in 2007). This period also saw the rise of for-profit consulting firms like Environ (1982), Gradient (1985), ChemRisk (1985) and K.S. Crump and Company (1986), with which industry would collaborate advantageously in the following decades.

“Our goal was to do the science that would help the EPA and other regulatory bodies make the policies,” explained William Greenlee, Hamner president and CEO, in an interview for a business website. Indeed, over the past 30 years, Hamner and these consultancies have produced hundreds of PBPK studies, often with the support of chemical companies or trade groups. Overwhelmingly, these studies downplay or cast doubt on chemicals’ health effects—and delay regulation.

“I have seen how scientists from the Hamner Institutes can present information in a way that carefully shapes or controls a narrative,” says Laura Vandenberg, an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at University of Massachusetts Amherst. She explains that Hamner scientists often use narrow time windows or present data in a limited context, rejecting information that does not conform to their models. “These are the kinds of tactics used to manufacture doubt,” she says.

A close look at the authors of studies produced by these industry-linked research groups reveals a web of influence traceable to Wright-Patterson (see chart on following page). At least 10 researchers employed at or contracted by Wright-Patterson in the 1980s went on to careers in toxicology at CIIT/Hamner, for-profit consulting firms or the EPA. About half have held senior positions at Hamner, including the co-authors of many of the early Wright-Patterson PBPK studies: Melvin Anderson, now a chief scientific officer at Hamner, and Harvey Clewell, now a senior investigator at Hamner and principal scientist at the consulting firm ENVIRON. “I’m probably given credit as the person who brought PBPK into toxicology and risk assessment,” Andersen told In These Times.

A revolving door between these industry-affiliated groups and federal regulators was also set in motion. More than a dozen researchers have moved from the EPA to these for-profit consultancies; a similar number have gone in the other direction, ending up at the EPA or other federal agencies.
Further blurring the public-private line, CIIT/Hamner has received millions of dollars in both industry and taxpayer money. The group stated on its website in 2007 that $18 million of its $21.5 million annual operating budget came from the “chemical and pharmaceutical industry.” Information about its corporate funders is no longer detailed there, but Hamner has previously listed as clients and supporters the American Chemistry Council (formerly the CMA, and one of the most powerful lobbyists against chemical regulation), American Petroleum Institute, BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow, ExxonMobil, Chevron and the Formaldehyde Council. At the same time, over the past 30 years, CIIT/Hamner has received nearly $160 million in grants and contracts from the EPA, DOD and Department of Health and Human Services. In sum, since the 1980s, these federal agencies have awarded hundreds of millions of dollars to industry-affiliated research institutes like Hamner.

But the federal reliance on industry-linked researchers extends further. Since 2000, the EPA has signed a number of cooperative research agreements with the ACC and CIIT/ Hamner. All involve chemical toxicity research that includes PBPK modeling. And in 2014, Hamner outlined additional research it will be conducting for the EPA’s next generation of chemical testing—the ToxCast and Tox21 programs. Over the past five years, Hamner has received funding for this same research from the ACC and Dow.

Meanwhile, the EPA regularly contracts with for-profit consultancies to perform risk assessments, assemble peer review panels and select the scientific literature used in chemical evaluations. This gives these private organizations considerable sway in the decision-making process, often with little transparency about ties to chemical manufacturers. The upshot: Experts selected to oversee chemical regulation often overrepresent the industry perspective.

These cozy relationships have not gone unnoticed; the EPA has been called to task by both its own Office of Inspector General and by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. “These arrangements have raised concerns that ACC or its members could potentially influence, or appear to influence, the scientific results that may be used to make future regulatory decisions,” wrote the GAO in a 2005 report.

Asked for comment by In These Times, the EPA said these arrangements do not present conflicts of interest.

Decades of deadly delay

 

PBPK studies have stalled the regulation of numerous chemicals. In each case, narrowly focused models developed by industry-supported research concluded that risks were lower than previously estimated or were not of concern at likely exposure levels.

Take, for example, methylene chloride, the subject of the 1987 paper Wright-Patterson scientists bragged had halted the EPA’s regulatory process. Despite the chemical being identified as “probably carcinogenic to humans” by the U.N. International Agency for Research on Cancer, a “reasonably anticipated” human carcinogen by the U.S. National Toxicology Program, and an “occupational carcinogen” by OSHA, the EPA has yet to limit its use. EPA researchers noted this year that the 1987 PBPK model by the Wright-Patterson scientists remains the basis for the agency’s risk assessment.
Today, methylene chloride remains in use—to produce electronics, pesticides, plastics and synthetic fabrics, and in paint and varnish strippers. The Consumer Product Safety Commission, OSHA and NIOSH have issued health warnings, and the FDA bars methylene chloride from cosmetics— but no U.S. agency has totally banned the chemical. The EPA estimates that some 230,000 workers are exposed directly each year. According to OSHA, between 2000 and 2012, at least 14 people died in the United States of asphyxiation or heart failure after using methylene chloride-containing products to refinish bathtubs. The Center for Public Integrity reports that methylene chloride exposure prompted more than 2,700 calls to U.S. poison control centers between 2008 and 2013.

Another telling example of industry-funded PBPK studies’ influence is formaldehyde. This chemical remains largely unrestricted in the United States, despite being a well-recognized respiratory and neurological toxicant linked to nasal cancer and leukemia, as well as to allergic reactions and skin irritation. The EPA’s toxicological review of formaldehyde, begun in 1990, remains incomplete, in no small part because of delays prompted by the introduction of studies—including PBPK models conducted by CIIT/Hamner—questioning its link to leukemia.

If that link is considered weak or uncertain, that means formaldehyde—or the companies that employ the sickened workers—won’t be held responsible for the disease. The chemical industry is well aware that “more people have leukemia … than have nasal tumors,” says recently retired NIEHS toxicologist James Huff.

Some of this CIIT/Hamner research was conducted between 2000 and 2005 with funding from an $18,750,000 EPA grant. In 2010, Hamner received $5 million from Dow, a formaldehydeproduct manufacturer, for toxicity testing, including PBPK modeling. The ACC, which opposes formaldehyde restriction, also supported this research.

Consequently, apart from a few state regulations and a pending EPA proposal to limit formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products like plywood, companies can still use the chemical—as in the FEMA trailers.

Cosmetics and personal-care products can also be sources of formaldehyde exposure. This made headlines in 2011 after hair salon workers using a smoothing product called Brazilian Blowout reported nausea, sore throats, rashes, chronic sinus infections, asthma-like symptoms, bloody noses, dizziness and other neurological effects. “You can’t see it … but you feel it in your eyes and it gives you a high,” salon owner and hair stylist Cortney Tanner tells In These Times. “They don’t teach this stuff in beauty school,” she says, and no one warns stylists about these products or even suggests using a ventilator.

OSHA has issued a hazard alert for these products and the FDA has issued multiple warnings, most recently in September, but regulations prevent federal agencies from pulling the products from store shelves. So, for formaldehyde, as in the case of the paint strippers containing methylene chloride, exposures continue.

BPA rings alarm bells

 

The chemical currently at the center of the most heated debates about consumer exposure is BPA. The building block of polycarbonate plastics, BPA is used in countless products, including the resins that line food cans and coat the thermal receipt paper at cash registers and ATMs. While scientific evidence of adverse health effects from environmentally typical levels of BPA mounts, and many manufacturers and retailers have responded to public concern by changing their products, federal regulatory authorities still resist restricting the chemical’s use.

BPA does not produce immediate, acute effects, like those experienced by salon workers exposed to formaldehyde or machinists working with methylene chloride. But in laboratory tests on animals, BPA is a known endocrine disruptor. Structurally similar to natural hormones, endocrine disruptors can interfere with normal cellular processes and trigger abnormal biochemical responses. These can prompt numerous health problems, including cancer, infertility, and metabolic and neurological disorders. BPA has also been linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.
To promote the idea that BPA is safe, the chemical industry routinely lobbies policymakers and “educates” consumers. What has not been widely discussed, however, is how industry has backed PBPK studies that marginalized research showing risks from environmentally typical levels of BPA. Many of these doubt-inducing studies have been conducted by researchers whose careers can be linked to the PBPK work done at Wright-Patterson. In published critiques, health effects researchers—among them Gail Prins and Wade Welshons—have detailed the many ways in which these PBPK models fail to accurately reflect BPA exposure.

PBPK and endocrine disruption

 

Over the past several decades, our evolving understanding of our bodies’ responses to chemicals has challenged previous toxicological assumptions— including those that are fed into PBPK models. This is particularly true of endocrine disruptors.

Cause-and-effect relationships between endocrine disruptors and health problems can be hard to pinpoint. We now know that early—even prenatal— exposure to endocrine disruptors can set the stage for adult disease. In addition, a pregnant woman’s exposures may affect not only her children but also her grandchildren. These transgenerational effects have been documented in animal experiments. The classic human evidence came from victims of DES, a drug prescribed in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s to prevent miscarriages. Daughters of women who took the endocrine disruptor developed reproductive cancers, and preliminary research suggests their daughters may be at greater risk for cancer and other reproductive problems.

“The transgenerational work raises an incredible specter,” says Andrea Gore, who holds the Vacek Chair in Pharmacology at the University of Texas at Austin and edits the influential journal Endocrinology. “It’s not just what you’re exposed to now, it’s what your ancestors were exposed to.”
Complicating PBPK modeling further, hormone-mimicking chemicals, just like hormones, can have biological effects at concentrations as low as parts per trillion. In addition, environmental exposures most often occur as mixtures, rather than in isolation. And each individual may respond differently.
“PBPK doesn’t come close” to capturing the reality of endocrine disruption, the late developmental biologist Louis Guillette told In These Times, in part because modelers are “still asking questions about one chemical exposure with one route of exposure.” Even for health effects researchers, understanding of mixtures’ effects is in its infancy.

The debate over how endocrine disruption can be represented in PBPK models has intensified the unease between regulatory toxicologists and health effects researchers. That tension is particularly well-illustrated by a recent series of events that also reveal how some journal editors privilege the industry’s point of view.

A life-and-death debate

 

In February 2012 the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) published a report intended to inform regulation worldwide. The authors were an international group of health effects researchers with long experience studying endocrine disruption.
“There is an increasing burden of disease across the globe in which [endocrine disruptors] are likely playing an important role, and future generations may also be affected,” said the report. These diseases, it continued, are being seen in humans and wildlife, and include male and female reproductive disorders, changes in the numbers of male and female babies born, thyroid and adrenal gland disorders, hormone-related cancers and neurodevelopmental diseases.

The backlash from toxicologists was immediate. Over the next few months—as the EU prepared to begin its regulatory decision-making on endocrine disruptors—the editors of 14 toxicology journals each published an identical commentary harshly criticizing the WHO/UNEP conclusions.
The commentary included a letter from more than 70 toxicologists urging the EU not to adopt the endocrine disruption framework. The letter said that the WHO/UNEP report could not be allowed to inform policy because its science is “contrary to all accumulated physiological understanding.”
This commentary was followed by further attacks. One critique, published in the journal Critical Reviews in Toxicology, was funded and vetted by the ACC.

These commentaries infuriated health effects researchers. Twenty endocrine journal editors, 28 associate editors and 56 other scientists—including several WHO/UNEP report authors—signed a statement in Endocrinology, saying in part:

The dismissive approach to endocrine disruption science put forth … is unfounded, as it is [not] based on the fundamental principles of how the endocrine system works and how chemicals can interfere with its normal function.

Endocrinology editor Andrea Gore tells In These Times that she and other health effects researchers don’t think the scientifically demonstrated dangers of endocrine disruptors are subject to debate. “There are fundamental differences between regulatory toxicologists and what I refer to as ‘people who understand the endocrine science.’ ”

The outcome of this debate and the structure of future regulatory toxicity testing in the United States and Europe is not yet clear. The EPA appears to be attempting to incorporate endocrine disruption into PBPK models, but many scientists are skeptical the process will produce reliable results, given the models’ limitations and the complexity of endocrine effects.

From science to activism

 

Although couched in complex language, these arguments are not academic, but have profound implications for public health. Disorders and diseases, increasingly linked to exposure to endocrine disruptors— including metabolic, reproductive, developmental and neurological problems—are widespread and increasing. About 20 percent of U.S. adults show at least three of the five indicators of metabolic syndrome: obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease. Neurological problems, including behavioral and learning disabilities in children as well as Parkinson’s disease, are increasing rapidly. Fertility rates in both men and women are declining. Globally, the average sperm count has dropped 50 percent in the last 50 years.

Scientists typically shy away from activism, but many now believe it’s what’s needed to punch through the machinations and inertia regarding chemical regulation. Shanna Swan, Mount Sinai professor of preventive medicine, obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive medicine, notes that some of the biggest reductions in chemical exposures have happened in response to consumer pressure on both industry and policymakers. Or, as the University of California’s Bruce Blumberg says, “I think we need to take the fight to the people.”

The Endocrine Society stressed the urgency of addressing these public health impacts in a statement released September 28. Not surprisingly, industry disagreed, calling this science “unsupported” and “still-unproven.”

Meanwhile, PBPK studies continue to succeed in sowing doubt about adverse health effects of endocrine disorders. Their extremely narrow focus leads to narrow conclusions that often result in calls for more research before regulation. In regulatory decisions, “the assumption is that if we don’t know something, it won’t hurt us,” says University of Massachusetts, Amherst professor of biology R. Thomas Zoeller. In other words, the burden of proof remains on health effects researchers to prove harm, not on industry to prove safety—and proving harm is difficult, especially when other scientists are seeding doubt.

But the clock is ticking. As Washington State University geneticist Pat Hunt told In These Times, “If we wait [to make regulatory decisions] for ‘proof’ in the form of compelling human data, it may be too late for us as a species.”

This investigation was supported by the Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting and published originally in In These Times.

US Probe of Kunduz Bombing Hindered by Problems Identifying Victims ,DNA analysis to identify the remains.

 

 Sputnik

 

US Probe of Kunduz Bombing Hindered by Problems Identifying Victims - DoD

© Photo: media.msf.org/Victor J. Blue

Military & Intelligence

02:55 11.11.2015Get short URL

17901

The investigation by the US military into the bombing of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital in Afghanistan has taken longer than expected because of problems identifying the civilians casualties, US DoD spokesperson Peter Cook stated on Tuesday.

 

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On October 3, the United States carried out airstrikes on the well-known MSF hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. Initial reports indicated that 22 people had been killed, including doctors and patients.

“The CCAT [Combined Civilian Casualty Assessment Team] investigation… there have been several reasons for delay,” Cook said. “The actual identification of the casualties… has proven to be much more problematic than they expected going in.”

© Photo: media.msf.org/Victor J. Blue

 

Losing the War on Error: US Journalists Justify Attack on Kunduz Hospital

 

US investigators, Cook noted, are working closely with MSF and Afghan authorities to identify the victims.

Read More Here

Forget the New World Order, Here’s Who Really Runs the World

 

 By WakingTimes September 25, 2015



Jake Anderson, Anti Media

Waking Times
 
For decades, extreme ideologies on both the left and the right have clashed over the conspiratorial concept of a shadowy secret government pulling the strings on the world’s heads of state and captains of industry.
The phrase New World Order is largely derided as a sophomoric conspiracy theory entertained by minds that lack the sophistication necessary to understand the nuances of geopolitics. But it turns out the core idea — one of deep and overarching collusion between Wall Street and government with a globalist agenda — is operational in what a number of insiders call the “Deep State.”
In the past couple of years, the term has gained traction across a wide swath of ideologies. Former Republican congressional aide Mike Lofgren says it is the nexus of Wall Street and the national security state — a relationship where elected and unelected figures join forces to consolidate power and serve vested interests. Calling it “the big story of our time,”Lofgren says the deep state represents the failure of our visible constitutional government and the cross-fertilization of corporatism with the globalist war on terror.

“It is a hybrid of national security and law enforcement agencies: the Department of Defense, the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Justice Department. I also include the Department of the Treasury because of its jurisdiction over financial flows, its enforcement of international sanctions and its organic symbiosis with Wall Street,” he explained.

Even parts of the judiciary, namely the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, belong to the deep state.

How does the deep state operate?

A complex web of revolving doors between the military-industrial-complex, Wall Street,  and Silicon Valley consolidates the interests of defense contracts, banksters, military actions, and both foreign and domestic surveillance intelligence.
According to Mike Lofgren and many other insiders, this is not a conspiracy theory. The deep state hides in plain sight and goes far beyond the military-industrial complex President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned about in his farewell speech over fifty years ago.


Read More and Watch Video Here

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The Pentagon pressed by the White House to rein in Tricare costs and begin a new round of base closings as the Senate took up the National Defense Authorization Act on the military’s 2014 budget.

Hmmm, gee I  wonder why no one is calling for budget cuts in  Political or Presidential pay  ?

All the money being  squandered on  keeping former Presidents comfortable and politicians receiving Gold plan  medical  care.

But  it's the money  used for Veterans  and  Military  pay  that are  breaking the bank , RIGHT?

Sure it is ........

~Desert Rose~
..........

Obama Urges Congress to Support Tricare Fees

Nov 19, 2013

Military.com

by Richard Sisk

On Monday the White House pressed the Pentagon to rein in Tricare costs and begin a new round of base closings as the Senate took up the National Defense Authorization Act on the military’s 2014 budget.
There are a number of areas of agreement with the initial markup of the Senate Armed Services Committee on the NDAA, but the administration "has serious concerns with certain provisions," Office of Management and Budget officials said in a lengthy response to the markup.
OMB called on SASC to control Tricare costs at the Department of Defense "while keeping retired beneficiaries' share of these costs well below the levels experienced when the Tricare program was implemented in the mid-1990s."
Slowing the growth of Tricare costs would result in savings of $902 million in fiscal year 2014 and $9.3 billion through fiscal year 2018. Those savings were needed to offset projected increases in personnel costs, OMB said.
President Obama has proposed slowing this growth by introducing a new set of enrollment fees and higher co-pays to retirees under the age of 65.

The Pentagon proposed an annual enrollment fee based on a percentage of retired pay for Medicare-eligible retirees in the Tricare For Life Program. Working age retirees in the Tricare Standard and Tricare Extra programs also would face new annual enrollment fees phased in over five years.
Read More Here
..........

New budget cut options include military pay, veterans

By Tom Philpott

Published: November 14, 2013

Military members, retirees and veterans have a few more reasons to be wary of politicians who say their top priority is to cut federal spending.
The Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday released a report of more than 100 options for reducing budget deficits.  It’s a timely product as House and Senate conferees strive to negotiate by mid-December a new debt-cutting deal to replace automatic budget cuts of sequestration.
More than a few of the CBO options are fresh ideas to roll back compensation for categories of veterans or to raise TRICARE fees for military retirees, on suggestions that the government is being too generous.
To be fair, CBO is not singling out veterans here.  There are options in the report to make nervous many segments of society dependent on federal payments, from social security recipients to drug manufacturers.
But for select veterans’ programs, CBO makes some hard-edged points that lawmakers bent on cutting spending might find compelling, if not persuasive, to help address the nation’s debt crisis.
Here are some of those ideas:
Cap Military Pay Raises – From 2000 through 2010, Congress approved basic pay raises that averaged a half percentage point above private sector wage growth.  The military could save $25 billion from 2015 to 2023 by reversing course, capping raises yearly at .5 percent below civilian wage growth.  CBO predicts only a “minor” effect on force retention.
Evidence in favor of this move are data showing cash compensation for enlisted members now exceeds wages of 90 percent of civilian counterparts, well above the Defense Department’s goal of keeping service pay ahead of 70 percent of civilians of similar age and educational background.  CBO says officer compensation exceeds 86 percent of private sector peers.
The case against capping raises is that recruiting and retention goals could be compromised, CBO says, and smaller raises also dampen other elements of military compensation including retirement annuities.
Raise TRICARE Fees – CBO floats two options to have military retirees pay more for health care.  One is to have TRICARE-for-Life users — retirees, spouses and survivors age 65 and older — pay the first $550 of costs not covered by Medicare and then 50 percent of the next $4950.  CBO says this would slow TRICARE costs by $31 billion from 2015 to 2023 but also save Medicare dollars as older beneficiaries seek fewer health services.
The drawback is some TLF users might not seek needed preventive care or manage their chronic conditions as closely as they do now.
The second option targets “working age” retirees and families enrolled in TRICARE Prime by raising fees, deductibles and co-pays in a complex combination too detailed to describe here.  The Prime changes for retirees could save from $2 billion to $11 billion by 2023, depending on final details.

Read More Here
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US Shutdown Cut In Half After Pentagon Recalls 400,000 Workers: Half Of All Furloughs

Image Source    Wikimedia.Org
by  Ingfbruno
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Zero Hedge

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/05/2013

It took just four days before the Federal government caved to Congress and admitted that it can't even operate in a partial, "non-essential" shutdown. A few short hours ago Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered 400,000 furloughed Pentagon civilian employees - or about half the total defense employees - back to work. it is also roughly half of the total employees furloughed since the start of the government shutdown, which is now in its fifth day, and since both the House and the Senate are now gone until Monday afternoon, it appears the shutdown, even if now at half mast will continue for at least a week.
Why did Hagel decide he can get bypass orders and tell government workers they can cut their vacation short? The Hill explains:

After consulting with the Justice Department and Department of Defense legal counsel, Hagel noted furloughed employees could be brought back to the Pentagon, while still complying with federal guidelines governing the shutdown, according to the memo.

Civilian workers at DOD shown to play a role in the "morale, well-being [and]...readiness" of U.S. forces could be brought back, under federal rules, Hagel wrote.

Pentagon Comptroller Bob Hale is scheduled to hold a briefing on the details of the recall later today.

The decision was prised by both sides of Congress, even as the political grandstanding and talking point reiterating continued:

Lawmakers praised the Pentagon's decision to put the department's civilian workforce back on the federal pay roll. "Congress fully intended for all of our civilian defense workers to be treated the same as our active duty military members," House Armed Services Committee member Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) said in a statement Saturday.

Read More Here

Related articles

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Pentagon Spends $5 Billion on Weapons on Eve of Shutdown!

 

Just  when we thought  our  government  could not  surprise  us  or  disgust  us  any more  than they already  have,  they surpass their  previous overreach and apathy to  prove  just  how out of  touch  with the  plight  of "The People"  they truly are . 

Or is it  just that  they  are  hell bent  on our  destruction  to make a  buck ?

Just  when the  hell is   enough,  enough  for these  people???

~Desert Rose~
******************************************************************
DAHBOO77


   

Published on Oct 2, 2013

 

Well Well , Watch the slight of hand in your face magic tricks folks !! While Thousands will go without pay and jobs, The Pentagon spends $5 BILLION On Toys !!  

http://www.legitgov.org/Pentagon-Spen...

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FP National Security

Pentagon Spent $5 Billion on Weapons on the Eve of the Shutdown

Posted By John Reed Tuesday, October 1, 2013 - 2:00 PM

The Pentagon pumped billions of dollars into contractors' bank accounts on the eve of the U.S. government's shutdown that saw 400,000 Defense Department employees furloughed.

All told, the Pentagon awarded 94 contracts yesterday evening on its annual end-of-the-fiscal-year spending spree, spending more than five billion dollars on everything from robot submarines to Finnish hand grenades and a radar base mounted on an offshore oil platform. To put things in perspective, the Pentagon gave out only 14 contracts on September 3, the first workday of the month.

Here are some of the more interesting purchases from Monday's dollar-dump.

First up: the Defense Logistics Agency, the Pentagon branch that provides the armed services with things like fuel and spare parts. DLA has the honor of dropping the most cash in one contract last night with the $2.5 billion award it gave to aircraft engine-maker Pratt & Whitney for "various weapons system spare parts" used by the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. Other highlights of DLA's last-minute spree included: $65 million for military helmets from BAE Systems, $24 million for "traveling wave tubes" to amplify radio signals from Thales, $17 million for liquid nitrogen, $15 million for helium and $19 million on cots. Yes, cots.

Then came the Navy. The sea service spent hundreds of millions of dollars on 31 contracts buying everything from high-tech Finnish hand grenades to janitorial services.

The service's biggest contracts were aimed at protecting ships from underwater attack. It gave Lockheed Martin a total of $139 million for sonar that allows Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to detect submarines and underwater mines. The Navy is also buying $40 million worth of hand grenades made in Vihtavuori, Finland, that allow "users to choose the level of blast needed for the situation." Another $18 million is going to Phoenix International Holdings to operate a robot submarine called the Submarine Rescue Diving and Recompression System that can save people from disabled subs sitting up to 2,000 feet underwater.

Read More Here

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U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contract

On the Web: http://www.defense.gov/Contracts/Contract.aspx?ContractID=5144 Media contact: +1 (703) 697-5131/697-5132 Public contact: http://www.defense.gov/landing/comment.aspx or +1 (703) 571-3343

FOR RELEASE AT 5 p.m. ET No. 695-13 September 30, 2013

CONTRACTS DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Pratt & Whitney, East Hartford, Conn., has been awarded a maximum $2,500,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for various weapons systems spare parts. This contract is a sole-source acquisition. Location of performance is Connecticut with a Sept. 30, 2018 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Richmond, Va., (SPE4AX-13-D-9424). BAE Systems Aerospace & Defense Group, Phoenix, Ariz., has been awarded a maximum $65,972,500 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for procurement of lightweight, advanced combat helmets. This contract was a competitive acquisition and five offers were received. This is a two-year base contract with no option year periods. Locations of performance are Arizona and Pennsylvania with an Aug. 30, 2015 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM1C1-13-D-1071). Thales Components Corp., Totowa, N.J., has been awarded a maximum $24,793,300 fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Milstar traveling wave tubes. This contract is a competitive acquisition and two offers were received. Locations of performance are New Jersey and France with a Sept. 29, 2018 performance completion date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013 through fiscal 2018 Air Force funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, (SPRHA3-13-D-0001). North American Manufacturing,* Scranton, Pa., has been awarded a maximum $19,061,250 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for the procurement of military cots. This contract is a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. Location of performance is Pennsylvania with a Sept. 29, 2015 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2013 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPE8ED-13-D-0001). Air Liquide Industrial US LP, Houston, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $17,171,720 firm-fixed-price contract for liquid nitrogen. This contract is a competitive acquisition, and one offer was received. Locations of performance are Texas and Colorado with a Sept. 30, 2018 performance completion date. Using service are federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy Aerospace Energy, San Antonio, Texas, (SPE601-13-D-1537). Linde, LLC, Murray Hill, N.J., has been awarded a maximum $15,703,357 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for bulk helium. This contract is a competitive acquisition, and two offers were received. Locations of performance are New Jersey; Texas; Alabama; Pennsylvania; California; Ohio; Florida; Kansas; Washington; and North Carolina with a Sept. 30, 2015 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Air Force, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy Aerospace Energy, San Antonio, Texas, (SPE601-13-D-1534). Airport Aviation Services., Inc.,* San Juan, Puerto Rico, has been awarded a maximum $15,374,732 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for jet fuel. This contract was a competitive acquisition and six offers were received. Location of performance is Puerto Rico with a March 31, 2017 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-13-D-0115) Tactical Medical Solutions (TMS) Inc.,* Anderson, S.C., has been awarded a maximum $13,075,872 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for various medical and surgical supplies and equipment. This contract is a competitive acquisition, and three offers were received. Location of performance is South Carolina with a Sept. 29, 2014 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013 through fiscal 2014 Warstopper funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM2D0-13-D-0009). Woodward Inc., Rockford, Ill., has been awarded a maximum $12,880,000 firm-fixed-price contract for main fuel control. This contract is a sole-source acquisition. Location of performance is Illinois with a June 25, 2016 performance completion date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013 Air Force funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., (SPRTA1-13-D-0031). Sterlingwear of Boston, Inc.,** East Boston, Mass., has been awarded a maximum $9,005,933 firm-fixed-price contract for field jackets for the Afghanistan National Police. This contract is a competitive acquisition, and two offers were received. Location of performance is Massachusetts and Afghanistan with an April 21, 2014 performance completion date. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2013 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM1C1-13-D-1076). NAVY Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training, Syracuse, N.Y., is being awarded a $95,727,501 modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-5201) for definitization of the Navy’s fiscal 2012 AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 Surface Ship Undersea Warfare System production requirements and exercise of fiscal 2013 production options. The AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 is a surface ship combat system with the capabilities to search, detect, classify, localize and track undersea contacts; and to engage and evade submarines, mine-like small objects, and torpedo threats. Work will be performed in Lemont Furnace, Pa. (56 percent), Syracuse, N.Y. (23 percent), Clearwater, Fla. (14 percent), and Owego, N.Y. (7 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2015. Fiscal 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 shipbuilding and conversion, Navy; Fiscal 2012 and 2013 other procurement, Navy funding in the amount of $54,497,343 will be obligated at the time of the award. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity. Nova Shimmick, a Joint Venture, Napa, Calif., is being awarded a $66,377,631 firm-fixed-price contract for replacement of the Fuel Pier at Naval Base Point Loma. The work to be performed provides for a new double-deck steel pile supported T-shaped fueling pier, located in deeper water outboard of the existing structure. The work includes provisions for all services, labor, materials and equipment necessary for the construction of a new concrete double deck fueling pier and mooring dolphins. The work also includes demolition of the existing fuel pier, dredging, relocation of marine mammal’s facilities, and collateral equipment. Option items include landside ground improvements, adding restroom facility on the pier, and dredging at Pier 5000. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed by October 2017. Fiscal 2013 military construction, Defense Logistics Agency contract funds in the amount of $66,377,631 are being obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with seven proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N62473-13-C-4215). L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Miss., is being awarded a $64,982,586 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery, requirements contract (N00019-08-D-0014) to exercise an option for additional logistics services and materials for organizational, intermediate, and depot level maintenance required to support 36 T-45A and 168 T-45C aircraft based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Meridian, Miss.; NAS Kingsville, Texas; NAS Pensacola, Fla., and Patuxent River, MD. This requirement also includes the organizational level maintenance for the engine. Work will be performed in Kingsville, Texas (57 percent); Meridian, Miss. (36 percent); Pensacola, Fla. (6 percent); and Patuxent River (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2014. Contract funds will not be obligated at time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training, Liverpool, N.Y., was awarded a $44,723,015 fixed-price-incentive, firm-fixed-price, and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract on Sept. 26, 2013, for the production and support of TB-37/U Multi Function Towed Arrays (MFTA) for the AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 Antisubmarine Warfare Combat Systems. The TB-37/U MFTA is the next generation passive and active sonar receiver. It affords several enhancements to the AN/SQR-19 Tactical Towed Array System allowing greater coverage, increased capability/reliability, and reduced obsolescence. The TB-37/U MFTA significantly contributes to the capability of surface ships to detect, localize and prosecute undersea threats and is a critical sensor to a combat systems suite. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $199,123,412. Work will be performed in Syracuse, N.Y. (60 percent), and Millersville, Md. (40 percent), and is expected to be complete by April 2015. Fiscal 2013 other procurement, Navy funding in the amount of $28,206,413 was obligated at the time of the award. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-13-C-6292). Nammo Talley, Mesa, Ariz., was awarded a $40,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract on Sept. 26, 2013, for the purchase of scalable offensive hand grenades in support of U.S. Special Operations Command. The scalable offensive hand grenade allows users to choose the level of blast needed for the situation. Work will be performed in Vihtavuori, Finland, and is expected to be completed by September 2018. Fiscal 2012 DoD research, development, test and evaluation funding in the amount of $419,786 was obligated at the time of the award, and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with three offers received. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Ind., is the contracting activity (N00164-13-D-JR26). EJB Facilities Services, Arlington, Va., is being awarded a $39,019,110 modification under a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N44255-05-D-5103) to extend option award 7 for base operations support at various installations in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Northwest area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for, but is not limited to, all management and administration, visual services, security, housing, facilities support (excluding grounds and janitorial services), pavement clearance, utilities, base support vehicles and equipment, and environmental services to provide base operations support services. The total contract amount after exercise of this modification will be $537,520,789. Work will be performed at various installations in the NAVFAC Northwest AOR including but not limited to, Washington (95 percent), Alaska (1 percent), Idaho (1 percent), Montana (1 percent), Oregon (1 percent), and Wyoming (1 percent), and work is expected to be completed January 2014. Subject to availability of funds - fiscal 2014 operation and maintenance, Navy; fiscal 2014 Navy Working Capital funds; Fiscal 2014 Defense Health Program funds; and Fiscal 2014 Non-Appropriated funds contract funds in the amount of $14,522,841 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Northwest, Silverdale, Wash., is the contracting activity. Triton Marine Construction Corp., Bremerton, Wash., is being awarded a $35,484,250 firm-fixed-price contract for repairs to Pier 4 and Wharves 4A and 4B at the Philadelphia Naval Business Center Annex. The work to be performed provides repairs to the 90 year old Pier 4 and Wharves 4A and 4B marine structures which have reached the end of their service life. Replacing a significant portion of the pier deck, piles and structural elements will enable the pier to accommodate carriers and other vessels that Naval Inactive Ships Maintenance Office is required to berth. Work will be performed in Philadelphia, Pa., and is expected to be completed by November 2015. Fiscal 2013 operation and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $35,484,250 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with eight proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Va. is the contracting activity (N40085-13-C-3512). Ocean Ships, Inc., Houston, Texas, is being awarded a $32,383,461 modification under a previously awarded contract (N00033-09-C-3200) for the operation and maintenance of eight Watson-class large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ships. This modification extends the contract for a period not to exceed six months, in accordance with FAR 52.217-8. The ships are employed in the worldwide prepositioning of government-owned cargo, including hazardous materials such as explosives and ammunition, and vehicular, bulk and general cargoes. Work will be performed at sea worldwide and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2014. Subject to availability, Working Capital Funds in the amount of $32,383,461 are obligated for fiscal 2014, and will not expire at the end of that fiscal year. Military Sealift Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00033-09-C-3200). Raytheon Co., McKinney, Texas, is being awarded a $29,531,677 firm-fixed-price contract for the design, manufacture, and installation of test equipment, associated testing, and training to standup an organic depot maintenance facility to support the AN/APY-10 Radar. This contract contains options, which if exercised, will have an aggregate total of $39,054,123. Work will be performed at the Fleet Readiness Center South East, Jacksonville, Fla., and work is expected to be completed by March 31, 2016. Fiscal 2011 and 2013 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $29,531,677 will be obligated at the time of award. Fiscal 2011 funds in the amount of $22,145,157 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This procurement was solicited on a sole source basis in accordance 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1). The Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity (N68836-13-C-0071). Hensel Phelps Construction Co., Irvine, Calif., is being awarded $25,693,160 for firm-fixed-price task order 0003 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62473-10-D-5405) for design and construction of a Weapons Surveillance Test Laboratory and Calibration Laboratory at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach. The work to be performed provides for construction of a low rise Weapons Surveillance and Test Laboratory and Calibration Laboratory that contains environmentally controlled laboratories and shops, technical office space, conference rooms, library, vault and a high bay warehouse. Specific labs include the following: anechoic chamber, electrical test lab, explosive test cells, vibration testing, altitude chamber, temperature chamber, humidity chamber, salt spray chamber, microscopy, metallurgy lab, x-ray machines and a dark room. This project also demolishes Building 112 (superstructure only and fill in basement) and Building 126 (superstructure, slab and grade beams). The task order also contains a planned modification, which if issued, will increase the cumulative task order value to $27,885,160. Work will be performed in Irvine, Calif., and is expected to be completed by April 2016. Fiscal 2013 military construction, Navy contract funds in the amount of $25,693,160 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Seven proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., is being awarded a $23,171,609 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-13-D-5250) for Undersea Warfare (USW) Product Support across USW Systems. This contract modification includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $49,791,479. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Navy (97.4 percent) and the government of Japan (2.6 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Va. (56 percent); Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (22 percent); San Diego, Calif. (8 percent); Mayport, Fla. (8 percent); Bath, Maine (3 percent); and Pascagoula, Miss. (3 percent); and is expected to be completed by November 2013. Fiscal 2013 other procurement, Navy; Fiscal 2010, 2011 and 2013 shipbuilding and conversion, Navy; Fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance, Navy and Fiscal 2013 research, development, test and evaluation funding in the amount of $7,315,173 will be obligated at the time of award. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity. Phoenix International Holdings, Inc., Largo, Md., is being awarded an $18,132,000 cost-plus-award-fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-4204), to continue services to manage, maintain, mobilize and operate the Submarine Rescue Diving and Recompression System (SRDRS) including associated facilities and equipment. SRDRS is a highly portable and mobile submarine rescue and recompression system capable of transferring personnel from a disabled submarine, under pressure, from depths up to 2,000 feet. The contractor is tasked to operate and maintain the SRDRS and be capable of carrying out an end-to-end rescue operation and maintaining a high level of readiness for a worldwide deployment on a 24-hour-per-day, 7-day-per-week basis. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif. (90 percent) and Largo, Md. (10 percent), and is expected to be completed by July 2014. Fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance, Navy and Fiscal 2013 other procurement, Navy funding in the amount of $5,237,751 will be obligated at the time of the award. Contract funds in the amount of $5,237,751 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. BAE Systems Land & Armaments, L.P, Santa Clara, Calif., is being awarded $15,361,368 for firm-fixed-price delivery order 0018 under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (M67854-09-D-5026) for the procurement of 1,573 Marine Corps transparent armor gun shields (MCTAGS), 3,346 battery-powered motorized traversing units (BPMTU), 4,009 turret soft covers, and technical manual updates. The MCTAGS will address gunner protection requirements for multiple vehicle platforms, providing crew protection from blast, fragmentation, and small arms fire while in the turret. The BPMTU is a mechanism that allows MCTAGS traversing to be controlled via a joystick and motor drive. The turret soft covers provide overhead environmental protection and prevents grenades from entering the host vehicle through the turret hatch. Work will be performed in York, Penn. (83 percent) and Louisville, Ky. (17 percent) and is expected to be completed by June 2015. Fiscal 2011 procurement Marine Corps Oversees Contingency Operations in the amount of $15,361,368 will be obligated at the time of award and expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The previously awarded contract was not competitively procured under the statutory authority 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) as implemented by the FAR 6.302-1 - Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity. Computer Sciences Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a definitized contract action for a bridge contract modification (P00008) in the amount of an additional $14,601,231 under a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee bridge contract (M00264-13-C-0004). The bridge contract is for information technology services to support the Technology Services Organization’s (TSO) requirements and its role as an enterprise business systems integrator for the Marine Corps. This organization constitutes the requiring activity for the contract. Services required are in support of highly complex government designed and owned Marine Corps business systems that have no parallel in other sectors of the government or private industry. Software engineering design, programming, testing, and integration to be performed under this contract will involve tasking that is so integrally related that it requires personnel with highly developed experiences with the specific systems supported by the TSO and outlined below. The TSO supports a number of business mission areas across the Marine Corps, including the Deputy Commandant Program and Resources, Deputy Commandant Manpower and Reserve Affairs, and the Deputy Commandant Installation and Logistics. Work will be performed in Kansas City, Mo. (95 percent) and Indianapolis, Ind. (5 percent), and is expected to be completed by August 2014. Fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance, Marine Corps contract funds in the amount of $34,849,206 will be obligated at the time of award, and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Regional Contracting Office, National Capital Region, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity. RQ Construction Co., Inc., Carlsbad, Calif., is being awarded $13,986,000 for firm-fixed-price task order 0014 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62473-10-D-5409) for renovation of three barracks, Buildings 320, 321, and 322 at Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado. The work to be performed provides for the repair and repainting of wall and ceiling finishes, replace floor finishes, replace restroom casework, replace windows, replace wall mounted packaged terminal air conditioning unit, replace all bathroom fixtures, and soil stabilization, seismic upgrade and structural repairs. Work will be performed in Coronado, Calif., and is expected to be completed by October 2015. Fiscal 2013 operation and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $13,986,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Six proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity. Colonna’s Shipyard, Inc.*, Norfolk, Va., is being awarded a $13,619,216 firm-fixed-price contract for Docking Phased Maintenance Availability to include drydocking, hull plating replacement, propulsion engine removal and habitability onboard USS Shamal (PC 13). Work will be performed in Norfolk, Va., and is expected to be completed by August 2014. Fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance, Navy funding in the amount of $13,619,216 will be obligated at the time of the award. Contract funds in the amount of $13,619,216 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with 14 proposals solicited and five offers received via Navy Electronic Commerce Online. Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, Mayport, Florida, is the contracting activity (N40027-13-C-0024). Cubic Defense Applications, Inc., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $12,575,953 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of weapon instrumentation that will integrate into the Instrumented - Tactical Engagement Simulation System, Increment II (I-TESS II) baseline capabilities. The I-TESS II system is used in military operations in urban terrain facilities and non-live fire maneuver ranges located at various Marine Corps bases and installations. This effort will support the design, development, integration, ruggedized prototype, testing and effectiveness evaluation of squad immersive training environment specific capability enhancements to the I-TESS II training system. These enhancements address current training proficiency and readiness gaps at the squad-level and will be used to support both direct force-on-force and force-on-target tactical engagement training. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2017. Fiscal 2012 and 2013 research, development, test and evaluation and Fiscal 2011 procurement Marine Corps contract funds in the amount of $5,211,583 will be obligated at time of award. Contract funds in the amount of $2,322,805 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity (M67854-13-C-7802). W.F. Magann Corp., Portsmouth, Va., is being awarded a $12,275,675 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of the Drydock 1 caisson replacement at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. The new caisson will be a reversible, ship-type, floating caisson, and this structure will include side keels/stems, similar to the existing caisson in overall geometry. Incidental crack and spall repairs will be required along the existing outer caisson seat, requiring underwater repair methods. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Va., and is expected to be completed by October 2015. Fiscal 2013 operation and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $12,275,675 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with one proposal received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N40085-13-C-7745). A&D GC, Inc.*, Santee, Calif., is being awarded $11,398,000 for firm-fixed-price task order 0012 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62473-09-D-1658) for construction of an E-2D Aircrew Training Facility at Naval Base Ventura County. The work to be performed provides for full-design and construction of a single-story operational training facility with a high bay area for the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft. The facility will house an Operational Flight Trainer Simulator, Weapon Systems Trainer and Combat Information Center simulator. The project includes Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility debrief spaces, classrooms, auditorium, administrative spaces and required support spaces. This project also includes pile foundation, sewer lift station, fire pump room, raised flooring system, exterior doors adequate to allow installation and maintenance of high bay trainer, secret internet protocol routing network, non-secure internet routing network, uninterrupted power supply, electronic security system and controlled access system. The task order also contains one planned modification, which if exercised would increase cumulative task order value to $12,146,275. Work will be performed in Point Mugu, Calif., and is expected to be completed by June 2014. Fiscal 2012 military construction, Navy contract funds in the amount of $11,398,000 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Five proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity. Job Options Inc., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $9,997,362 modification under a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N62473-07-D-5001) to exercise option one for custodial services at Naval Medical Center and various branch medical clinics/dental clinics in Metro San Diego. The total contract amount after exercise of this option will be $138,445,000. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and work is expected to be completed September 2014. Subject to availability of funds - Fiscal 2014 and operation and maintenance, Navy and Fiscal 2014 Defense Health Program contract funds in the amount of $9,997,362 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity. Diversified Service Contracting Inc.*, Dunn, N.C., is being awarded an $8,645,899 modification under a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N40080-11-D-3020) to exercise option two for base operating support services at the Naval Air Station, Patuxent River. The work to be performed provides for all management supervision, labor hours, training, equipment and supplies necessary to perform base operating services to include but not limited to providing janitorial services, grounds maintenance services, base services vehicles and equipment, street sweeping, snow removal services, and pest control services. The total contract amount after exercise of this option will be $26,161,752. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Md., and work is expected to be completed September 2014. Subject to availability of funds: Fiscal 2014 operation and maintenance Navy and Fiscal 2014 Navy Working Capital funds in the amount of $7,993,943 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, Washington D.C., is the contracting activity. Kaydon Corp., Kaydon Bearings Division, Muskegon, Mich., is being awarded an $8,460,098 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the evaluation, repair/refurbishment and new manufacture of AN/SPS-49, AN/SPS-48E and MK-82 bull gears for the AN/SPS-49, AN/SPS-48E, and MK-82 air search radar systems. Work will be performed in Muskegon, Mich., and is expected to be completed by September 2018. Fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance, Navy funding in the amount of $180,001 will be obligated at time of award. Contract funds in the amount of $180,001 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online and Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Ind., is the contracting activity (N00164-13-D-GR42). I.E. Pacific, Inc.*, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded $8,077,000 for firm-fixed-price task order 0039 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62473-09-D-1617) for the renovation of two Bachelor Enlisted Quarters at Naval Base Coronado. Each BEQ contains 32 units, for a total of 64 units. This project will repair all the interior spaces including apartment units, lounges, support rooms and corridors as well as the central support building. The buildings were constructed in the 1970’s and are each four stories tall. Each floor consists of eight quarters, a janitor’s closet, community lounge, a bulk storage room, a community laundry room and a gear storage room. The project will also renovate the landscape and exterior of the buildings. Work will be performed in Coronado, Calif., and is expected to be completed by April 2015. Fiscal 2013 operation and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $8,077,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Six proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity. Soltek Pacific Construction Co., Inc., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded $7,894,300 firm-fixed-price task order 0003 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62473-10-D-5411) for restoration and modernization of the existing spaces of the General Surgery, Building 3, at Naval Medical Center San Diego. The task order also contains one planned modification, which if exercised would increase cumulative task order value to $7,943,550. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed by October 2015. Fiscal 2013 operation and maintenance, Defense Health Program contract funds in the amount of $7,894,300 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Four proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity. BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair, Inc., San Diego, Calif., was awarded a $7,799,275 modification to previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract (N00024-11-C-4408) on Sept. 26, 2013, for the USS Higgins (DDG 76) FY14 Selected Restricted Availability (SRA). This contract modification is part of the Multi-Ship Multi-Option program. A SRA includes the planning and execution of depot-level maintenance, alterations, and modifications that will update and improve the ship's military and technical capabilities. This modification includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $10,353,692. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed by April 2014. Fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance, Navy and Fiscal 2013 other procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $7,799,275 were obligated at time of award. Contract funds in the amount of $7,782,207 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity. A&D GC, Inc.*, Santee, Calif., is being awarded $7,514,000 for firm-fixed-price task order 0010 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62473-09-D-1658) for construction and repair of Building 237, King Hall Auditorium, at Naval Support Activity Monterey. Work to be performed provides for necessary repair by replacement of the following systems and items: civil systems for concrete, waterproofing, and ramp access; structural systems for concrete spalling and cracking; architectural systems for roofing, drainage, fall protection, guardrail, windows, ceiling tiles, carpet, paint, and window shades; mechanical systems for ductwork, air handlers, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) motor control center (MCC), direct digital controls, and variable air volume system, domestic water lines, and sump pumps; electrical systems for primary and secondary wiring, electrical panels and MCC, switchgear, transformer, receptacles, conduit, lighting and controls, and outside lighting fixtures; fire protection systems for emergency lighting and signage, fire emergency door, new fire alarm system, mass notification system, and additional sprinklers, replace the aging HVAC infrastructure serving the data center in building 700 and to remove and replace economizer dampers and controls for all the air handling units in building 702. Work will be performed in Monterey, Calif., and is expected to be completed by March 2015. Fiscal 2013 operation and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $7,514,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Six proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity. G-W Management, LLC*, Rockville, Md., is being awarded $7,385,000 for firm-fixed-price task order 0027 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N40080-10-D-0498) for repairs to the Scott Natatorium building at the United States Naval Academy Complex. The task order also contains one unexercised option, which if exercised would increase cumulative task order value to $8,379,000. Work will be performed in Annapolis, Md., and is expected to be completed by May 2015. Fiscal 2013 operation and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $7,385,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Five proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, Public Works Department, Annapolis, Md., is the contracting activity. Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, Tewksbury, Mass., was awarded a not-to-exceed $7,203,307 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-5346) on Sept 27, 2013, for production of the hardware changes to the Dual Band Radar (DBR) and Common Array Power System, required to implement the DBR power system interface modifications to CVN 78. Work will be performed in Andover, Mass., (75 percent), and Sudbury, Mass., (25 percent) and is expected to be completed by March 2015. Fiscal 2011 shipbuilding and conversion, Navy funds in the amount of $3,601,653 were obligated at the time of the award. Contract funds will not expire at the end of this fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. R.E. Staite Engineering Inc., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded $6,863,494 for firm-fixed-price task order 0005 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62473-12-D-0247) for maintenance dredging of Mole Pier and Pier 8 at Naval Base San Diego. The work to be performed provides for the design and construction for the maintenance dredging of Mole Pier and Pier 8. The project will provide maintenance dredging to areas surrounding Pier 8, in order to re-establish the minimum required harbor depths needed for access by the ships and crafts that use these facilities. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed by April 2015. Fiscal 2013 operation and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $6,863,494 are obligated on this award and will 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. G-W Management Services, LLC*, Rockville, Md., is being awarded $6,854,000 for firm-fixed-price task order 0029 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N40080-10-D-0498) for the renovation of the Security Battalion Headquarters and G-6 communications repair in building 2043 at the Marine Corps Base, Quantico. Work will be performed in Quantico, Va., and is expected to be completed by May 2015. Fiscal 2013 operation and maintenance, Marine Corps and fiscal 2012 other procurement, Marine Corps contract funds in the amount of $6,854,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Five proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Mission Systems and Sensors, Manassas, Va., is being awarded a not to exceed $6,638,440 delivery order 1114 against previously awarded Basic Ordering Agreement contract (N00104-10-G-A109) for the repair of parts used in the AN/UYQ-70 advanced display system and the Navy's current generation of the of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf display and processor systems for tactical and command, control, communications, computers intelligence applications for target acquisition and tracking, weapons control, theater air defense, anti-submarine warfare, battle group communication and airborne surveillance and control. Work will be performed at 20 Lockheed Martin repair locations throughout the United States (90 percent), and Virginia Beach, Va. (10 percent). Work is expected to be completed by Oct., 2014. Fiscal 2013 Navy Working Capital funds in the amount $3,252,835, will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire before the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Mechanicsburg, Pa., is the contracting activity (N00104-10-G-A109). AIR FORCE Exelis Systems Inc. IS-Systems Engineering and Sustainment Integrator (SENSOR), Colorado Springs, Colo., has been awarded a $55,109,387 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification (P00447) for a cost-plus-award-fee contract (F19628-02-C-0010) SENSOR fiscal 2014 system sustainment project. The contract includes product line management, system engineering, system repairs, acquisition, repair and qualification of spare parts; PMis, radome maintenance, supply management, plans, roadmaps & sustainability assessments, PMRs, reports, vendor maintenance agreements/software licenses, LSR brochures; requirements definition, analysis and modeling /software modeling/risk reduction; software integration lab operations/maintenance, mission assurance, configuration/data management, technical order management, proposal development, engineering studies and analysis, system performance metrics collection, and obsolescence/sustainability analysis reports. Work will be performed at Colorado Springs, Colo., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2014. Fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $19,035,875 will be obligated at time of award. Air Force Lifecycle Management Center/HBQK, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., is the contract activity. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., Poway, Calif., has been awarded a not-to-exceed $49,813,377 undefinitized contract action (DO 0112) under a previously existing cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (FA8620-10-G-3038) for France’s MQ-9 Reaper urgent request program. Work will be performed in Poway, Calif., and is expected to be completed by July 15, 2015. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. This contract action is 100 percent foreign military sales for France. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/WIIK, Medium Altitude Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Sunnyvale, Calif., has been awarded a $48,600,000 contract for the flight operations support (FOS) and factories support in Fiscal 2014. Lockheed Martin will provide ongoing sustainment of Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) and Geosynchronous Elliptical Orbit (GEO) on-orbit assets. This sustainment is provided by the use of FOS in SBIRS Auxiliary Support Center and SBIRS Payload On-Orbit Test Sustainment. This includes ongoing sustainment of the flight software and databases, labs infrastructure, and performance trending of the payload. Work will be performed at Sunnyvale, Calif., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2014. This award is a result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2014 funds operations and maintenance funds will be obligated when they become available. Infrared Space Systems Contracts Division, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., is the contracting activity (F04701-95-C-0017). Alion Science and Technology Corp., McLean, Va., has been awarded a $46,931,841 delivery order (0061) on the AMMTIAC cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (FA4600-06-D-0003) for advanced processes for emerging systems. This delivery order is the result of an award on an existing indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract. The overall objective of this contract action is to advance materials and manufacturing and testing technology for next-generation components and systems for the sponsors. The work will be performed at Burr Ridge, Ill, and is expected to be complete by Sept. 29, 2016. Fiscal 2013 Air Force operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $219,802 will be obligated at time of award. The Enterprise Sourcing /PKS, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity. Exelis Systems Inc. IS-Systems Engineering and Sustainment Integrator (SENSOR), Colorado Springs, Colo., has been awarded a $20,688,985 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification (P00459) for a cost-plus-award-fee contract (F19628-02-C-00459) SENSOR fiscal 2013 Upgraded Solid State Module project. The contract modification is for first article delivery for the four USSM types: Array Module, Antenna Group Driver, Sidclobe Canceller/Blanker, and Subarray Group Driver. Work will be performed at Colorado Springs, Colo., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2015. Fiscal 2013 Operations and Maintenance funds in the amount of $8,534,373 will be obligated at time of award. Air Force Lifecycle Management Center/HBQK, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., is the contract activity. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Sunnyvale, Calif. has been awarded a $16,530,842 modification (P00010) on a previously existing fixed-price-incentive-fee/cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (FA8810-13-C-0002) for a sustainment support study and system modifications for the contractor logistics support and Combined Task Force efforts. These efforts are required for continued support for operations, maintenance, and sustainment for the operational Space-Based-Infrared System ground systems assets. Work will be performed primarily in Boulder, Colo., and at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., and is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2015. Fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $16,530,842 are being obligated at time of award. Infrared Space Systems Contracts Division, Space and Missile Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., is the contracting activity. Alion Science and Technology Corp., McLean, Va., has been awarded a $14,952,780 delivery order (0060) on the AMMTIAC cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (FA4600-06-D-0003) for tactical airlift materials, manufacturing and testing engineering system design and development program for Army and other Department of Defense ground vehicles. This delivery order is the result of an award on an existing indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract. The overall objective of this program is to provide the technical expertise for materials, manufacturing, and testing to solve technical challenges that occur during a ground vehicle's life cycle: initial development and on-going performance improvement. The work will be performed at Burr Ridge, Ill, and is expected to be complete by Sept. 28, 2016. Fiscal 2013 and Fiscal 2014 Army research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $2,968,020 will be obligated upon availability of funds. The Enterprise Sourcing /PKS, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., Poway, Calif., has been awarded a not-to-exceed $14,179,227 undefinitized contract action delivery order (0111) for a previously existing contract (FA8620-10-G-3038) for Italy’s Contractor Logistics Support Phase IV program. Work will be performed in Poway, Calif., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2014. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. This requirement is 100 percent foreign military sales for the government of Italy. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/WIIK, Medium Altitude Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio is the contracting activity. CAE USA, Inc., Training Services, Tampa, Fla., has been awarded a $13,269,057 modification (P00041) on previously existing contract (FA8223-10-C-0013) for support of the KC-135 Aircrew Training Systems Boom Operator Weapon System Trainer (BOWST), operations and maintenance and operational flight trainer along with BOWST database maintenance. Work will be performed at Altus Air Force Base (AFB), Okla., McConnell AFB, Kan.; Fairchild AFB, Wash.; Scott AFB, Ill.; MacDill AFB, Fla.; March Air Reserve Base (ARB), Calif.; Seymour-Johnson AFB, N.C.; and Grissom ARB, Ind., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2020. Fiscal 2014 funds operations and maintenance funds will be obligated when they become available. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson AFB Ohio, is the contracting activity. L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison Miss., has been awarded an $11,094,779 modification (P00043) to exercise option four of the existing contract (FA3002-10-C-0001) for helicopter maintenance. Work will be performed at Kirtland Air Force Base (AFB), N.M., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2014. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance funds will be obligated when they become available. The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Directorate of Contracting, Specialized Branch, Kirtland AFB, N.M., is the contracting activity. Exelis Systems Inc. IS-Systems Engineering and Sustainment Integrator (SENSOR), Colorado Springs, Colo., has been awarded a $9,984,977 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification (P00464) for a cost-plus-award-fee contract (F19628-02-C-0010) SENSOR fiscal 2013 GEODSS Hardware Version Release project. The contract modification is for first article delivery for the fiscal 2013 GEODSS hardware version release that will correct, fix, or modify current capabilities, but it will also maintain the current capability of GEODSS to perform all of its current mission functions after implementation of the capabilities. Work will be performed at Colorado Springs, Colo., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 29, 2015. Fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $9,984,978 will be obligated at time of award. Air Force Lifecycle Management Center/HBQK, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., is the contract activity. Faith Enterprises Inc., Colorado Springs, Colo., has been awarded a $9,958,370 firm-fixed-price contract for repair of Cadet Gym Phase 6. Contractor must renovate and update the Cadet Gym to include numerous building renovations in response to current Air Force physical education requirements and personal fitness training programs. Old racquetball and squash courts will be renovated, and structural floors added, to provide spaces for the Triathlon Club, weightlifting support space, Cross fit training space, and a television studio. The weightlifting space will be renovated and updated for current program requirements. Existing gym space will be renovated to accommodate gymnastics and support spaces, including retractable seating and space for various gymnastics equipment for competitions. Also included in these renovations are men’s and women’s restrooms, lockers, and showers for the gymnastics programs. An elevated platform will be added for gymnastics that includes an in-ground trampoline with several recessed foam pits to accommodate gymnastics competitions. Existing offices will be renovated and reconfigured to provide additional office space, conference rooms, and support spaces for coaching staff requirements. Work will be performed at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo., and is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2014. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and solicited electronically via FedBizOpps, and three offers were received. Fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $9,958,370 are being obligated at time of award. The 10th Contracting Squadron, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo., is the contracting activity (FA7000-13-C-0036). URS Federal Support Services Inc., Germantown, Md., Colo., has been awarded a $9,527,000 modification (P00204) on a previously existing firm-fixed-price contract (FA8106-07-C-0004) to exercise option year seven for contract logistics support for the RC-26B aircraft used by the Air National Guard. Work will be performed at Germantown, Md., and is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2014. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance funds will be obligated when they become available. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/WLKLC, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., is the contracting activity. Schafer Corp., Chelmsford, Mass., has been awarded an $8,449,974 modification (P00022) on a previously existing contract (FA7022-11-C-0009) for particle analysis services. The contract modification provides for the exercise of the third contract option period subject to the availability of funds for the purpose of nuclear test ban treaty verification for the Air Force Technical Applications Center. Work will be performed at Sunol, Calif., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2014. Fiscal 2014 Operations and Maintenance funds will be obligated when they become available. Air Force Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Agency/ A7KR, Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. McCrone Associates Inc., Westmont, Ill., has been awarded an $8,000,000 modification (P000014) for a previously existing contract (FA7022-12-C-0006) for non-personal services to process and analyze particle samples for the purpose of nuclear test ban treaty verification for the Air Force Technical Applications Center Nuclear directorate. The contract modification provides for the exercise of the second contract option period subject to the availability of funds. Work will be performed at Westmont, Ill., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2014. Air Force Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Agency/A7KR, Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., has been awarded an estimated $7,200,000 modification (P00006) for two years of the basic period of performance on an existing firm-fixed-price contract (FA8119-12-D-0013) for KC-135 fan ducts. Work will be performed at San Antonio, Texas, and work is expected to be completed by August 2017. This is a sole-source acquisition. No money is being obligated at time of award; a delivery order will be issued immediately after award and will obligate $4,900,000. Air Force Sustainment Center/PZABC, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., is the contracting activity. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md., has been awarded a $6,765,425 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for developmental software. The purpose of this acquisition is to design, develop, test and demonstrate advanced net-centric, multi-INT exploitation and fusion capabilities that are capable of exploiting real-time operational signals intelligence and imagery intelligence to improve situational awareness and enable event recognition. Work will be performed at Laurel, Md., and is expected to be complete by March 30, 2015. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition via an open Broad Agency Announcement BAA-RIK-12-04; offers were solicited electronically and multiple offers were received. Fiscal 2012 research and development funds in the amount of $2,200,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory/RIKF, Rome N.Y., is the contracting activity (FA8750-13-C-0220). ARMY AMEC Environment & Infrastructure, Inc., Plymouth Meeting, Pa. (W912DY-13-D-0070); AMERESCO, Inc., Framingham, Mass. (W912DY-13-D-0071); BALFOUR BEATTY ENERGY SOLUTIONS, Fairfax, Va. (W912DY-13-D-0072); CH2M HILL CONSTRUCTORS, INC., Englewood, Colo. (W912DY-13-D-0073); EATON CORPORATION, Raleigh, N.C. (W912DY-13-D-0074); ECC Energy Conservation, LLC (ECC-EC), Burlingame, Calif. (W912DY-13-D-0075); PERINI MANAGEMENT SERVICES INC., Framingham, Mass. (W912DY-13-D-0076); SAIC, McLean, Va. (W912DY-13-D-0077); SHAW ENVIRONMENTAL & INFRASTRUCTURE, INC., Knoxville, Tenn. (W912DY-13-D-0078); URS GROUP, INC., Washington, D.C. (W912DY-13-D-0079); WESTON SOLUTIONS, INC., West Chester, Pa. (W912DY-13-D-0080) were awarded a $600,000,000 non-multi-year, no option, firm-fixed price contract. The primary purpose of this contract is to assist the Department of Defense in support of energy conservation and development of alternative energy projects. Funding and performance locations will be determined with each order. The contract was solicited via the Web with 46 bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Engineer Support Center, Huntsville, Ala., is the contracting activity. Federal Prisons Industries, Washington, D.C., was awarded a $246,699,217 non-multi-year, no option, firm-fixed-price contract. This five-year requirements contract is to procure Interceptor Body Armor Outer Tactical Vests for various foreign military sales customers to be awarded on individual delivery orders. Funding and performance location will be determined with each order. The contract had one bid solicited and one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Division, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W91CRB-13-D-0028). The Boeing Company, Mesa, Ariz., was awarded a $64,784,278 firm-fixed-price, option-eligible, non-multi-year contract for material and labor for various systems and components for the Apache-D helicopter. Performance location will be Mesa, Ariz., with funding from fiscal 2013 other authority funds. This is a non-competitive acquisition with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Redstone Arsenal, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-11-C-0025). River City Construction, LLC, East Peoria, Ill., was awarded a $56,098,000 non-multi-year, firm-fixed-price contract with options. The contract is for construction of a new Defense Information Systems Agency facility. Funding is from fiscal year 2013 military construction appropriation. The performance location is Scott Air Force Base, Ill. The contract was solicited via the Web with six bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Louisville District, Louisville, Ky., is the contracting activity (W912QR-13-C-0032). Altus Architectural Studios, Inc.*, Omaha, Neb., (W912DY-13-D-0118); Global Engineering Solutions, Inc.*, Rockville, Md., (W912DY-13-D-0119); NIKA Technologies, Inc.*, Rockville, Md., (W912DY-13-D-0120); Leo A Daly Company, Atlanta, Ga., (W912DY-13-D-0121); NBBJ + SSOE LLC, Seattle, Wash., (W912DY-13-D-0122); Rogers, Lovelock & Fritz, Inc., Orlando, Fla., (W912DY-13-D-0123); RTKL/SSR, Dallas, Texas, (W912DY-13-D-0124); Sherlock, Smith & Adams/Page Southerland Page Joint Venture, Montgomery, Ala., (9W912DY-13-D-0125); ZGF/AEI/KPFF Joint Venture, Portland, Ore., (W912DY-13-D-0126) were awarded a $49,800,000 non-multi-year, firm-fixed-price contract with options. The objective of this contract is to provide highly specialized services required for continued design services in support of the Medical Facilities Architect-Engineer Services to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Funding and performance location will be determined with each order. The contract was solicited via the Web with 59 bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Engineer Support Center, Huntsville, Ala., the contracting activity. Applied Research Associates, Albuquerque, N.M., (W91ZLK-13-D-0033); Survice Engineering*, Belcamp, Md., (W91ZLK-13-D-0034); Mantech International Corporation, Herndon, Va., (W91ZLK-13-D-0035); Filius Corporation*, Centreville, Va., (W91ZLK-13-D-0036) were awarded a $48,000,000 non-multi-year, no option, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for analytical services associated with target descriptions, vulnerability, survivability, weapons effectiveness studies and support to current operations. Performance locations and funding will be determined with each order. This was a competitive acquisition via the web with four bids received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Installation Contracting, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity. Purcell Construction Corp., Watertown, N.Y., was awarded a $46,650,000 firm-fixed-price, non-option-eligible, non-multi-year contract for construction of a barracks addition plus one facility at Fort Lee, Va. Performance location is Fort Lee, with funding from fiscal 2013 other authority funds. This contract was a competitive acquisition via the Web with eleven bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Norfolk District, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (W91236-13-C-0064). BAE Systems, Nashua, N.H., was awarded a $39,058,362 firm-fixed-price, non-option-eligible, non-multi-year contract for acquisition of AN/AAR-57(V) Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) and associated spare parts and systems engineering, technical, and logistics support services for both CMWS and OT-255/ALQ-212(V) Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures. Performance location will be determined with each order. This is a non-competitive acquisition with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Redstone Arsenal (Aviation), Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-13-D-0245). Thalle Construction Co., Inc., Hillsborough, N.C., was awarded a $34,000,220 non-multi-year, firm-fixed-price contract with no options to complete monoliths for construction of the new lock at Kentucky Lock in Grand Rivers, Ky. Gunding is from fiscal year 2013 other authority appropriation. The contract was a non-competitive acquisition with one bid received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Nashville District, Nashville, Tenn., is the contracting activity (W912P5-10-C-0002). UGI Utilities, Inc., Reading, Pa., was awarded a $27,800,000 firm-fixed-price, non-option, non-multi-year contract for labor, materials and equipment central boiler plant dual fuel conversion, retrofits and natural gas piping. Performance locations and funding will be determined with each order. This was a non-competitive acquisition with one bid received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Engineer Support Center, Huntsville, Ala., is the contracting activity (W912DY-13-G-0027). URS Group, Inc., Omaha, Neb., was awarded a $24,319,254 firm-fixed-price, option-eligible, non-multi-year contract for McConnell Air Force Base (AFB), Kansas, performance-based environmental remediation. Performance location will be McConnell AFB, Kansas, with funding from fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance Army funds. This contract was a competitive acquisition solicited via the Web with six bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Omaha District, Omaha, Neb., is the contracting authority (W9128F-13-C-0022). Halbert Construction Company*, Inc., El Cajon, Calif., was awarded a $18,518,659 non-multi-year, firm-fixed-price contract with options to construct a dining facility and general administration building at Presido of Monterey (POM), Calif. Performance location will be POM with funding from fiscal 2011 military construction funds. This was a competitive contract via the Web with four bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Sacramento District, Sacramento, Calif., is the contracting activity (W91238-13-C-0012). Eastern Construction Electric, Inc.*, Wrightstown, N.J., was awarded a $17,478,273 non-multi-year, no-option, firm-fixed-price contract to repair and upgrade the Lima Taxiway to modern standards. Funding is from fiscal year 2013 other appropriation. The performance location is McGuire Air Force Base, N.J. The contract had 20 offers with five bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – New York District, New York, N.Y., is the contracting activity (W912DS-13-C-0056). Bristol General Contractors*, LLC, Anchorage, Alaska, was awarded a $15,175,280 non-multi-year, firm-fixed-price contract with options. The contract is for construction of a tactical equipment maintenance facility and brigade complex facilities. Funding is from fiscal 2009 and 2011 military construction appropriation. The performance location is Killeen, Texas. The contract was solicited via the web with fifteen bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Fort Worth District, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-13-C-0061). URS Group, Inc., Omaha, Neb., was awarded a $14,918,313 non-multi-year, firm-fixed-price contract with options for the rnvironmental remediation services and Military Munitions Response Program, fence to fence. Funding is from fiscal year 2013 operation and maintenance Army appropriation. The performance location is Hill Air Force Base, Utah. The contract was solicited via the Web with four bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Omaha District, Omaha, Neb., is the contracting activity (W9128F-13-C-0027). The Matthews Group, Inc., Purcellville, Va., was awarded a $14,733,352 non-multi-year, firm-fixed-price contract with options for the Design-Build project to upgrade the access control points 3 & 4 at the Defense Distribution Center, Susquehanna. Performance location is New Cumberland, Pa., with funding from fiscal 2012 and 2013 military construction appropriation. The contract was solicited via the web with eight bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Baltimore District, Baltimore, Md., is the contracting activity (W912DR-13-C-0054). Boro Developers, Inc., King of Prussia, Penn., was awarded a $13,822,431 non-multi-year, firm-fixed-price contract with no options. The contract is for full restoration of the Jonah E. Kelley U.S. Army Reserve Center at Fort Dix, N.J. Performance location is at Fort Dix and funding is from fiscal year 2013 military construction appropriation. The contract was solicited via the web with six bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Louisville District, Louisville, Ky., is the contracting activity (W912QR-13-C-0037). Northrop Grumman, Herndon, Va., was awarded a $13,675,190 cost-plus-incentive-fee, option-eligible, multi-year contract modification (P00022) of contract (W31P4Q-12-C-0029) for the requirement to procure and integrate RAM Warning Equipment to partially replace Sense and Warn assets in Operation Enduring Freedom. This is in support of foreign military sales to Afghanistan. Performance locations will be Huntsville, Ala., and Afghanistan with funding from fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance Army funds. This contract was a non-competitive acquisition with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Redstone Arsenal (Missile), Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Syracuse, N.Y., was awarded a $13,100,000 non-multi-year, no- option, firm-fixed-price contract. This contract exercises the option to procure spares and production technical data package for the AN/TPQ-53 radar program. Funding is from fiscal 2013 other procurement Army appropriation. The performance location is Syracuse, N.Y. There was one solicitation and one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground, Fort Monmouth, N.J., is the contracting activity (W15P7T-12-C-C015). CCI Solutions, LLC*, Shalimar, Fla., was awarded an $11,556,752 non-multi-year, firm-fixed-price contract with options to repair airfield and roadway pavements. Funding is from fiscal year 2013 military construction appropriation. The performance location is Homestead Army Reserve Base, Fla. There was one solicitation with one bid received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Mobile District, Mobile, Ala., is the contracting activity (W91278-13-C-0039). Bauer Foundation Corp., Odessa, Fla., was awarded an $11,431,960 non-multi-year, firm-fixed-price contract with options to extend the barrier wall 155 feet for the construction project at Center Dam located at Lancaster, Tenn. Funding is from fiscal 2013 other authority appropriation, and the performance location is Lancaster, Tenn. This was a non-competitive solicitation with one bid received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Nashville District, Nashville, Tenn., is the contracting activity (W912P5-11-C-0014). Brigadier Construction Services*, Cleveland, Ohio, was awarded a $10,047,000 multi-year, firm-fixed-price contract with options to renovate the law office and acquisition facility (F20011) at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Funding will be from fiscal 2013 military construction funds. This was a competitive contract via the web with five bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Louisville District, Louisville, Ky., is the contracting activity (W912QR-13-C-0040). Dawson Technical, LLC*, Honolulu, Hawaii, was awarded a $10,165,368 non-multi-year, firm-fixed-price contract with options for the renovation of the Aloha Center, Building 690, Schofield Barracks, Honolulu, Hawaii. Funding will be from fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance Army funds. This was a non-competitive contract with one bid received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Engineer Support Center, Huntsville, Ala., is the contracting activity (W9128A-13-C-0006). Quantitech, Inc., Huntsville, Ala., was awarded a $9,899,983 multi-year, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract with options to provide systems engineering and test and evaluation support for the Program Directorate for Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar (C-RAM). Performance and funding will be determined with each order. This was a non-competitive contract with one bid received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Engineer Support Center, Huntsville, Ala., is the contracting activity (W912DY-13-D-0128). Engility Corporation, Chantilly, Va., was awarded a $9,679,180 multi-year, no-option, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and development and experimental engineering services for the Army Research Laboratory’s Vehicle Technology Directorate’s platform mechanics, propulsion technologies, autonomous systems and vehicle analysis sections. Performance locations and funding will be determined with each order. This is a competitive solicitation via the web with three bids received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Adelphi Division, Adelphi, Md., is the contracting activity (W911QX-13-D-0002). Akima Facilities Management, LLC, Anchorage, Alaska, was awarded a $8,515,252 cost-plus-award-fee, option-eligible, multi-year contract modification (P00136) of contract (W911SE-07-C-0013) to provide installation operations and maintenance support services for Fort Gordon, Ga. Performance location will be Fort Gordon, Ga., with funding yet to be determined from fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance Army funds. This contract was a competitive acquisition via the web with six bids received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Fort Gordon, Ga., is the contracting activity (W911SE-07-C-0013). The Matthews Group, Inc., Purcellville, Va., was awarded an $8,507,132 non-multi-year, firm-fixed-price contract with no options to replace the Sierra taxiway at Joint Base Andrews, Md. Funding is from fiscal 2013 military construction appropriations. This was a competitive contract via the web with four bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Baltimore District, Baltimore, Md., is the contracting activity (W912DR-13-C-0052). Manufacturing Engineering Systems Inc., Rockville, Md., was awarded a firm-fixed-price, option-eligible, non-multi-year contract in the amount of $7,615,671 to provide education support services required by Army Continuing Education System (ACES) in education offices within the continental United States (CONUS) and outside CONUS. Performance location will be Rockville, Md., with funding from fiscal 2013 other authority funds. This contract was a competitive acquisition via the Web with fifteen bids received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9124J-13-C-0032). Bukkehave, Inc.*, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., was awarded a firm-fixed-price, option-eligible, non-multi-year contract in the amount of $7,537,636 for ten Mercedes-Benz Atego trucks for the following U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) foreign military sales customers: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Uganda, Niger, Libya and Chad. The base requirement is for 10 trucks for Burkina Faso and the option requirement includes a total of 50 trucks for the other AFRICOM countries. All solicited options exercised at time of base award. Performance locations will be Germany and France with funding from fiscal 2013 other authority funds. This contract was a competitive acquisition via the web with two bids received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Tank and Automotive (Warren), Warren, Mich. is the contracting activity (W56HZV-13-C-0399). Data Solutions & Technology, Inc.*, Lanham, Md., was awarded a $7,405,772 cost-plus-fixed-fee, option-eligible, non-multi-year contract modification (P00008) of contract (W911W5-11-C-0016) to provide support services to the Combat Incident Analysis Division Anti-Armor Analysis program. Performance location will be Charlottesville, Va., with funding from fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance Army funds. This contract was a non-competitive acquisition with one bid received. The U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (Charlottesville), Charlottesville, Va., is the contracting activity (W911W5-11-C-0016). Abide International*, Sonoma, Calif., was awarded a $6,774,625 non-multi-year, firm-fixed-priced contract with options to retrofit the New Hogan Tainter Gate at Valley Springs, Calif. Performance location and funding will be determined with each order. This was a competitive contract via the web with three bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Sacramento District, Sacramento, Calif., is the contracting activity (W91238-13-C-0013). DEFENSE THREAT REDUCTION AGENCY Johns Hopkins University Applied Research Laboratory (JHU/APL) University Affiliated Research Center (UARC), Laurel, Md., is being awarded a $9,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide technologies for the interdiction of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive material. This effort will support the nation's weapons of mass destruction-related counterforce, consequence assessment, defeat, and arms control objectives. This includes research; technology development; technical, scientific and program analyses; and systems integration efforts that will provide scientific and technological solutions to meet non-proliferation, counter-proliferation, consequence management, and warfighter mission objectives. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) will leverage off the core competencies of JHU/APL’s UARC to resolve specific critical challenges identified on individual task orders. Work will be performed at Laurel, Md., and the ordering period, including optional ordering periods, is through September 2016. This was a sole-source procurement. The contracting activity is DTRA, Ft. Belvoir, Va., (HDTRA1-13-D-0012). DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY Microelectronics Advanced Research Corp. (MARCO), Durham, N.C., has been awarded a $15,549,979 transaction for the Semiconductor Technology Advanced Research Network (STARnet). STARnet is a nationwide network of multi-university research centers that seeks to keep the U. S. Department of Defense and U.S. semiconductor and defense systems firms at the forefront of the global microelectronics revolution. These centers are focused on discovering solutions to the intractable problems that are forecast to lie in the future of integrated circuit progress and to lay the foundations for microsystems innovations once the improvements associated with Moore’s Law are exhausted. Work will be performed in Durham, N.C. (4.61 percent); Minneapolis, Minn. (14.95%); Notre Dame, Ind. (15.89 percent); Ann Arbor, Mich. (15.22 percent); Champaign, Ill. (15.93 percent); Los Angeles, Calif. (18.74 percent) and Berkeley, Calif. (14.66 percent). The estimated completion date is Jan. 23, 2015. Fiscal 2013 research and development funds are being obligated at time of award. The contracting activity is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Va., (HR0011-13-3-0002). MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY The Raytheon Co., Woburn, Mass., is being awarded a $230,000,000 modification under an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract HQ0006-08-D-0003. This modification exercises an option under the existing contract for operation and sustainment efforts of the X-Band radar in support of the Missile Defense Agency’s Sensors Program. The work will be performed in several stateside and overseas locations with an ordering period of Oct. 1, 2013 through Sept. 30 2014. Fiscal year 2014 funds from both research, development, test, and evaluation and operation and maintenance will be obligated on individual task orders for this effort. This is not a foreign military sales acquisition. The Missile Defense Agency, in Huntsville, Ala. is the contracting activity. Trex Enterprises Corp. *, San Diego, Calif., was awarded a maximum $6,799,694 competitive cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for thermally insensitive telescope mirrors. Under this new Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase III contract, the contractor will design, model, prototype, and test chemical vapor composite silicon carbide mirrors for the SM-3 seeker telescope. The work will be performed in Lihue, Hawaii with an estimated completion date of October 2014. Fiscal year 2013 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $6,799,694 are being obligated on this award. This contract was competitively procured in accordance with the SBIR Program Policy Directive. The Missile Defense Agency, Huntsville, Ala., is the contracting activity (HQ0147-13-C-7002). SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND The Boeing Co., Mesa, Arizona, is being awarded a maximum $49,580,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for engineering, analysis, test and technical support services and procurement in support of developmental, production, and sustainment of the Mission Enhanced Little Bird aircraft. Fiscal 2013 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $5,382,500 are being obligated at time of award. Task Order 0001 will be incrementally funded during the period of performance up to $26,422,815. The work will be performed in Arizona, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 26, 2018. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The procurement was awarded under the competition in contracting act exception to full and open competition, with one bid received. The Technical Applications Contracting Office, Fort Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity (H92241-13-D-0013). *Small Business **Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business

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Yahoo News

US troops won't get paid during shutdown: Pentagon

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A member of a military honor guard awaits an honor cordon ceremony at the Pentagon for meetings in Washington, DC, September 23, 2013. (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb)

September 27, 2013 6:30 PM

Washington (AFP) - The US military's nearly 1.4 million troops will stay on the job in the case of a government shutdown but they will not get paid, the Pentagon said Friday.
And if Congress fails to agree on a new budget measure by the close of the fiscal year on Monday, September 30, "roughly half" the Defense Department's nearly 800,000 strong civilian work force would be placed on unpaid leave, top officials said.
The war effort in Afghanistan and other high-priority missions would not be affected but most training and a range of maintenance work would be cancelled if Congress remains deadlocked, according to the Pentagon's top financial officer Robert Hale.
"We wouldn't be able to do most training, we couldn't enter into most new contracts, routine maintenance would have to stop," he told reporters.
Defense officials outlined how the military would operate under a shutdown as a deeply divided Congress argued over rival spending bills, with the clock ticking on the Monday deadline.
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Boston.com

Pentagon wants more workers exempt from furloughs

By LOLITA C. BALDOR / Associated Press / October 1, 2013

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Pentagon and administration lawyers are looking for ways to expand the number of Defense Department civilians who are exempt from furloughs, amid worries that the government shutdown is damaging U.S. credibility among its international allies, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Tuesday.

Hagel, who is on a weeklong trip to South Korea and Japan for meetings with defense and diplomatic officials, said he is being asked about the budget battle during his visit.

‘‘It does have an effect on our relationships around the world and it cuts straight to the obvious question: Can you rely on the United States as a reliable partner to fulfill its commitments to its allies?’’ Hagel told reporters traveling with him. ‘‘It does cast a very significant pall over America’s credibility to our allies when this kind of thing happens.’’

The U.S. is putting a greater focus on the Asia-Pacific region, where nervous allies like Japan and South Korea worry about threats from North Korea and rely on America to provide them with broader missile defense capabilities and military aid.

Congress triggered the partial government shutdown Monday when the House and Senate failed to reach an agreement on a budget bill, largely because of a long-running dispute over President Barack Obama’s health care law. About 800,000 federal workers will report to their jobs for half a day Tuesday before being sent home, and most non-essential federal programs and services will be shut down.

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