US Army

Scheme Involved U.S. Military Contracts Awarded in Kuwait

November 5, 2009 -- A civil lawsuit was filed today against a former U.S. Army officer and three contracting firms related to an alleged bribery scheme in connection with the awarding of contracts for services in Kuwait. Former Army officer John Cockerham Jr., who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges along with another former officer, James Momon Jr.    » 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 »

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 »

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 »

CONTRACTS

NAVY

Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc., Monroeville, Pa., is being awarded a $523,530,301 cost-plus-fixed fee contract for naval nuclear propulsion components. Work will be performed in Monroeville, Pa., (67 percent); Schenectady, N.Y., (33 percent). Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. No completion date or additional information is provided on naval nuclear propulsion program contracts. The Naval Sea Systems Command is the contracting activity (N00024-10-C-2119).    » read more »

10/19/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- The Department of the Army announced today that it has established additional quality control measures to further ensure that body armor testing documentation and procurement processes are rigorous, consistent, and use available best practices. To this end, the Army has added several quality control positions to include a Senior Executive Service position as the quality assurance director of personal protective equipment. This new senior-level position will report directly to the Army Acquisition Executive.

These changes address issues raised in a GAO report released today entitled “WARFIGHTER SUPPORT, Independent Expert Assessment of Army Body Armor Test Results and Procedures Needed Before Fielding.”    » read more »

MARLBOROUGH, Mass., Oct. 19, 2009 -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has been selected as the network systems integrator for the Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment. This experiment will integrate more than 25 technologies from more than 20 different companies and government agencies to operate on a single integrated backbone network.

Raytheon will provide the integration capability to establish the network and join a variety of communication devices, command and control applications and sensor platforms. Raytheon's MAINGATE solution is the backbone of the network, which will link together unattended ground sensors, unmanned ground vehicles and unmanned aircraft systems.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- CONTRACTS

NAVY    » read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 8) — The Army today released suicide data for the month of September. Among active-duty Soldiers, there were seven potential suicides. One has been confirmed as a suicide, and six are pending determination of the manner of death. For August, the Army reported 11 potential suicides among active-duty Soldiers. Since the release of that report, four have been confirmed as suicides and seven remain under investigation.

There were 117 reported active-duty Army suicides from January 2009 through September 2009. Of those, 81 have been confirmed, and 36 are pending determination of manner of death. For the same period in 2008, there were 103 suicides among active-duty Soldiers.    » read more »

October 7, 2009 -- Although U.S. Army deployments have been linked positively to the likelihood of reenlisting for much of the past decade, a new RAND Corporation study shows that by 2006 the mounting burden of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan reached the point where deployment had a negative effect on reenlistment.

However, the increased rate of deployment did not reduce reenlistment rates through 2007 for any of the three other branches of the U.S. military.    » read more »

Lawmaker Instrumental in Securing Funds to Increase Job Security for Michigan Workers and Troops’ Safety

October 5, 2009 -- Detroit, MI — Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (MI-13) today announced that General Dynamics Land Systems of Sterling Heights has been awarded a $430 million contract from the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC).

Under the five-year contract, General Dynamics Land Systems will provide manufacturing and engineering services to assist TARDEC with its core focus areas, including system engineering, intelligent ground systems, vehicle electronics and architecture, and software.    » read more »

MCKINNEY, Texas, Oct. 7, 2009 -- The U.S. Army has awarded Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) a $13 million contract to develop additional sensor prototypes for the Advanced Distributed Aperture System, which gives helicopter pilots 360-degree situational awareness.

The award is the first extension of the Joint Capability Technology Demonstration contract, initially funded in September 2008.

The Army launched the ADAS program to assist pilots flying at low levels. The original system provides up to six infrared sensors and a combined helmet display showing a full view of the cockpit and other parts of the helicopter, including the engines and tail rotor.    » read more »

October 01, 2009 -- Washington, DC – Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., today announced that the Defense Department’s Inspector General will investigate the U.S. Army’s response to the 2003 exposure of hundreds of U.S. soldiers to the deadly chemical sodium dichromate in Iraq.    » read more »

September 15, 2009 -- Washington, DC – Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., today announced the award of a $9.7 million Department of the Army contract to Alliant Techsystems (ATK) located at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory (ABL) in Rocket Center. The monies will be used for the continued production of fuses for the M-228 Practice Grenade. The practice grenade simulates the performance of the lethal hand grenade, including weight and fuse function to provide the soldier with realistic training in a safe environment.    » read more »

June 9, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals for key administration posts: Joseph Westphal, Under Secretary of the Army, Department of Defense; Robert V. Abbey, Director, Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior; Sam D. Hamilton, Director, Office of Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior; Deborah A. P. Hersman, Chairman, National Transportation Safety Board; Richard A. Lidinsky, Jr., Commissioner, Federal Maritime Commission; and Harry Hoglander, Re-nominated to serve as Board Member, National Mediation Board.    » read more »