Defense Dept.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2009 – Like protective equipment issued to troops downrange, the H1N1 flu vaccine is a measure the Defense Department is taking to safeguard U.S. military forces, a defense official said today.

“We use other treatment modalities to protect people in the same way we use body armor to protect against other threats,” said Ellen P. Embrey, acting assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

“The H1N1 vaccine was purchased specifically for our uniformed servicemembers so they could continue to perform their mission anywhere on the globe,” she continued. “And during a pandemic, that’s a real threat.”    » read more »

November 03, 2009 -- CONTRACTS

UNITED STATES TRANSPORTATION COMMAND

American Auto Logistics, LP, of Park Ridge, N.J., is being awarded a $207,382,618 firm, fixed-price modification for an earned award term under a previously awarded contract (DAMTOI-03-D-0184) to provide continuing services for the transportation and storage of privately owned vehicles. Work will be performed at worldwide locations and is expected to be completed Oct. 31, 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., is the contracting activity.

ARMY    » read more »

11/3/2009 - RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AFNS) -- After more than 30 years of flying for the Air Force, the last C-130E Hercules aircraft here set forth Nov. 2 destined for a new life.

Tail number 1299, which has been at Ramstein since 2007, departed for Poland, under a Foreign Military Sales lease agreement between Air Force Materiel Command and Poland in support of our partnership and teamwork with United States allies.

"We are saying goodbye as it moves forward into a new era of air power," said Master Sgt. Patrick Perry, 86th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron section chief, during a ceremony held on the flightline to commemorate the momentous event.    » read more »

11/3/2009 - SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany (AFNS) -- The installation of 121 fans in 29 buildings across base is expected to reduce energy use and cost of heating systems operation during colder months.

The project, which has a maximum cost of approximately $86,000, is estimated to have a payback time of slightly more than 8 months and save the base more than $1 million over 10 years, according to Christian Thurner, 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron environmental engineer.

The project received funds from the Air Force Productivity Enhancing Program as a Fast Payback Capital Investment, or FASCAP project, meaning the investment was less than $250,000 and had a payback time of less than two years.    » read more »

ARLINGTON, Va. (11/02/09) – For the first time ever, the Air National Guard will be the sole operator of a new aircraft straight off the assembly line.

The C-27J Spartan, the latest propeller-driven airlifter, is an "extremely rugged" aircraft, designed for austere environments, said Air Force officials. It is about half the size of a C-130 with 3.5 cargo pallet positions.

“It is the first time in U.S. Air Force history where the service acquired a new airframe solely owned, operated and maintained by the Air National Guard,” said Lt. Col. Chris Beckman, the ANG’s Aviation Planning and Execution chief.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, (11/02/09) - As the Defense Department begins to compensate military members forced to serve beyond the expiration of their contracts, the number of those still serving under "Stop Loss" has been greatly reduced, a Pentagon official said.

The Army, the only service still using the program, still has 9,600 soldiers serving involuntarily beyond their resignation or retirement date, Sam Retherford, The Defense Department's director of officer and enlisted personnel management, said during an Oct. 29 "DoDLive" bloggers roundtable.

That compares to 16,000 servicemembers on Stop Loss in 2005, he said.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, (11/2/09) - The Defense Department has started receiving H1N1 vaccines and will begin distributing doses in the coming weeks.

The Health and Human Services Department is distributing the vaccines, manufactured by four producers, to the department. Because rates of production vary among the manufacturers, supplies are expected to be limited initially, but to increase over time, said Ellen P. Embrey, acting assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.    » read more »

October 30, 2009 -- U. S. ARMY NORTH – As the leaves turn and the country heads into winter U. S. Army North personnel are preparing to exercise and train the one of the Department of Defense’s consequence management response forces at Camp Atterbury, Ind. Nov 1 – 13.

Exercise Vibrant Response 10.1 will put about four thousand members of Chemical, Biological, Nuclear, High Yield Explosive Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF, 10.1 through a domestic incident response in support of a primary agency for the first time.    » read more »

Nov 02, 2009 -- WASHINGTON — As shipments of some 3.7 million doses of H1N1 vaccine ordered by the Defense Department continue to arrive from the manufacturer, more than enough will be available for all military personnel and their beneficiaries, military medical experts say.

Navy Cmdr. Danny Shiau, division chief for the Bureau of Navy Medicine and Surgery's force health protection, and Dr. Robert Morrow, the bureau's preventive medicine programs and policy officer, took questions about the military's seasonal flu and H1N1 preparedness efforts during an Oct. 29 "DoDLive" bloggers roundtable.

Morrow explained why it has taken the primary manufacturer, Novartis, longer than expected to produce the vaccine.    » read more »

11/3/2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. (NNS) -- The Navy Research Laboratory's Special Sensor Ultraviolet Limb Imager (SSULI)was launched Oct. 18, 2009, offering a first of its kind technique for remote sensing of the ionosphere and thermosphere from space.

The SSULI was developed by NRL's Space Science Division and Spacecraft Engineering Department
and launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., aboard an United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle.    » read more »

October 28, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - Today, the Obama administration announced a formal Memorandum of Understanding signed between various agencies involved in the siting of large-scale renewable energy projects and transmission lines, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Council on Environmental Quality, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and Department of the Interior.

Statement of Sierra Club Clean Energy Solutions Campaign Director Alex Levinson    » read more »

Fund Would Provide Greater Aid to Military Families Nationwide

WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 4, 2009 -- Illinois Governor Pat Quinn will endorse a bill that would provide aid to military families in all branches of the armed services at a National Press Club Newsmakers press conference at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4, 2009. The press conference will be in the Zenger Room on the 13th floor of National Press Building, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C., 20045.    » read more »

Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Sea Test Range, Calif., Nov. 2, 2009 -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) and the U.S. Navy completed the first free-flight demonstration of the Joint Standoff Weapon Extended Range air-to-surface precision guided missile.

The JSOW-ER is a powered variant of the combat-proven glide JSOW. It takes the GPS-inertial navigation system reliability of existing JSOW variants and combines it with the network-enabled maritime-interdiction capabilities currently in development for the JSOW C-1. The JSOW-ER also integrates the Hamilton-Sundstrand TJ-150 engine, currently in production for Raytheon's Miniature Air Launched Decoy.    » read more »

ANAHEIM, Calif., Nov. 3, 2009 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today announced that it has delivered upgraded cryptography devices to Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Air Force for the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) system. The devices provide additional communications security between the missile system's launch control centers and launch facilities.

The new devices are part of the ICBM Cryptography Upgrade (ICU) program for ICBM missile wings at Air Force bases F.E. Warren in Wyoming, Malmstrom in Montana and Minot in North Dakota. Boeing designed, developed and delivered the replacement units and supporting technical data, trainers, support equipment, and code processing system modifications.    » read more »

October 29, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. John Spratt (D-SC) issued the following statement today on learning that Shaw Air Force Base has been selected as a candidate for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

“I was pleased to receive word today from the Secretary of the Air Force that Shaw Air Force Base has been selected as a candidate for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) – the Air Force’s new fifth generation fighter designed to replace the F-16 Fighting Falcon and A-10 Thunderbolt II.

“In choosing candidates for the F-35, the Air Force evaluated over 200 sites. The process was highly competitive, and Shaw’s selection as a candidate is testament to its strength and value as an Air Force base.    » read more »