Admission to Academies Will Be Based Exclusively on Merit
The US Naval Academy’s Class of 2022 graduation. The academy prepares young men and women to become professional officers of competence, character, and compassion in the Navy and Marine Corps. (US Navy photo by Stacy Godfrey)
Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River 
economic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.
US military academies have been ordered to end consideration of race, gender, and ethnicity in their admissions processes, reports Military.com. Acceptance will be based “exclusively on merit,” DefSec Pete Hegseth said a Defense Department memo.
The Pentagon will move as many as 1,000 openly identifying transgender service members out of the military and give others 30 days to self-identify under a new directive issued last week, reports Navy Times. “TRANS is out at the DOD,” Hegseth wrote in a social media post. On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court had ruled to allow the administration to implement its policy barring transgender people from serving in the military while legal proceedings move forward, reports CBS News.
Lawmakers introduced a bill to boost the chances for the thousands of Americans with physical issues that disqualify them from military service to find civilian positions in the armed forces and defense industry, reports Reuters on MSN. US Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Mike Rounds (R-SD), members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Reps. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) and Joe Courtney (D-CT), members of the House Armed Services Committee, led the introduction of the Defense Workforce Integration Act.
The US Army’s now has new “sex-neutral” fitness standards, reports Task & Purpose. Active-duty female soldiers in combat roles will be required to run up to three minutes faster than they previously had to in the annual fitness test.
Maryland is now searching for a new secretary for the Maryland Department of Veterans and Military Families, reports Maryland Matters. Secretary Anthony C. “Tony” Woods, a US Army veteran, left the position May 11. He has taken a job with a private sector technology startup. Woods’ early days as secretary included handling the failing Charlotte Hall Veterans Home, which was the subject of repeated citations for abuse of residents.
Route Fifty reports that several states are worried about the power and water impacts of data centers and the technology that will be needed to power them. Recent announcements from two states highlight the importance of data centers, especially as they are crucial to providing more computing power for the expanded use of artificial intelligence.
AI has the potential to create upward of $4.4 trillion in economic value worldwide, reports Fast Company, and the US alone would need 50 to 60 gigawatts of new data center infrastructure. Data center energy consumption is expected to rise to 12% of the total annual electricity consumption in the US by 2028, up from 1.9% in 2018.
Constellation Energy is increasingly focused on potential data center projects that connect to the US electrical grid in a pivot away from the company’s previous emphasis on fueling the giant server warehouses directly from its power plants, reports Reuters on MSN.
VASec Doug Collins said doctors, nurses, and other patient-care jobs would likely be spared as the agency cuts thousands of jobs, reports Task & Purpose. Collins appeared before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs last week. Some lawmakers have offered legislation aimed at protecting a veteran crisis hotline amid the agency’s turmoil.
Thursday was the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. All across Europe the occasion was marked with parades, flyovers, memorials, and wreath-layings, reports Military Times. President Donald Trump issued a proclamation designating Thursday as a day for the US to celebrate victory in World War II, reports Navy Times.
Night vision goggles and icing weather conditions were likely the factors in the crash of a Marine Corps helicopter last year that killed five service members, reports Marine Corps Times. Investigators found that the crash was ultimately caused by pilot error, but the use of night vision goggles and unsafe flying conditions also likely were factors. The CH-53 Super Stallion crashed Feb. 6, 2024, during a late-night flight when it hit a mountain near Pine Valley, CA, on its way back to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
Navy special operations officials have fielded a variety of new vessels in recent years but are looking to add both electronic and kinetic firepower to some of those watercraft, reports Navy Times. The Special Operations Command Program Executive Office-Maritime made their needs known last week at the annual Global SOF Foundation Special Operations Force Week at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, FL.
US-based Saildrone will deploy four large unmanned surface vessels in Danish waters next month to conduct maritime surveillance missions and help protect critical undersea infrastructure, reports C4ISRNET. The deployment, which represents Saildrone’s first European mission, will be done in cooperation with the Royal Danish Navy Command and the Danish Ministry of Defense Acquisition and Logistics Organization.
European Union executives traveling to the US are being given burner phones and basic laptops to mitigate security concerns, reports New York Daily News, measures that are usually reserved for trips to China and Russia, where personal communications are considered less safe from spying.
Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press” last week that he still wants to make Canada the 51st US state and does not envision the United States using military force to seize the country, reports USA Today on MSN. Trump said he’s still interested in annexing Canada but does not label it in the same category as Greenland, a Danish territory he has repeatedly suggested the US could one day be compelled to acquire.
India and Pakistan are blaming each other for escalating tensions as the US and other countries urge both sides to de-escalate, reports BBC. On Thursday, India’s army accused Pakistan of launching drones and missiles on three military bases in India and Indian-administered Kashmir.
Praveen Donthi, a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group, told NPR that US intervention is needed in the conflict between Indian and Pakistan. Trump and Vice President JD Vance would rather stay out of it as India and Pakistan spiral toward war, reports NBC News. “We’re not going to get involved in the middle of a war that’s fundamentally none of our business,” Vance said.
A recent Pentagon Inspector General’s Office report finds the US military was ill-prepared in March 2024 to build the floating pier to Gaza, reports Defense News. The report found, among other things, mission planners failed to identify environmental factors, such as beach conditions and sea states; Army and Navy equipment was not interoperable and caused damage when combined; and cuts to training and resources further challenged the operation’s success.
A US district judge has awarded more than $680,000 to 17 families who say they were sickened by a 2021 jet fuel leak into a US Navy drinking water system on Oahu, HI, reports Marine Corps Times.
The Biden-era Digital Equity Act, which allocated about $2.75 billion for programs that provide technology, including the internet, and skills for all Americans, has come under fire by Trump. The president vowed to end the high-speed internet program, calling it a “racist” and “illegal” initiative, reports The Hill.
Defense Department educator unions filed a lawsuit last week suing Trump over collective bargaining rights, reports Navy Times. Unions representing thousands of educators in DoD Education Activity schools are challenging the executive order that excludes certain federal workers from the right to collective bargaining.
On Thursday, Cardinal Robert Prevost, a missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and leads the Vatican’s office of bishops, was elected the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church, reports WTOP News. A social media account linked to Pope Leo XIV had previously criticized Trump and Vance, reports Politico.
Contracts:
Gilbane Federal, Concord, California (N69450-21-D-0056); Hensel Phelps Construction Co., Orlando, Florida (N69450-21-D-0057); The Korte Co., St. Louis, Missouri (N69450-21-D-0058); M. A. Mortenson Co., doing business as Mortenson Construction, Minneapolis, Minnesota (N69450-21-D-0059); RQ Construction LLC, Carlsbad, California (N69450-21-D-0060); Sauer Construction LLC, Jacksonville, Florida (N69450-21-D-0061); Walsh Federal LLC, Chicago, Illinois (N69450-21-D-0062); B.L. Harbert International LLC, Birmingham, Alabama (N69450-22-D-0011); Balfour Beatty Construction LLC, Charlotte, North Carolina (N69450-22-D-0012); and The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., Baltimore, Maryland (N69450-22-D-0013), are awarded a combined-maximum-value $95,000,000 firm-fixed-price modification to increase the capacity of their respective previously-awarded contracts for general building type projects. Award of this modification brings the total cumulative value for all 10 contracts combined to $1,105,000,000. Work will be performed in Florida (15%), Georgia (15%), Louisiana (14%), Mississippi (14%), South Carolina (14%), Tennessee (14%), and Texas (14%), and is expected to be completed by September 2026. No funds will be obligated at time of award. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity.
Norfolk Dredging Co., Chesapeake, Virginia, was awarded a $23,480,000 firm-fixed-price contract for dredging, transporting, placing, planting and shaping beach fill. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work will be performed in Carolina Beach and Kura Beach, North Carolina, with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2026. Fiscal 2022 civil construction funds and fiscal 2025 non-federal funds in the amount of $23,480,000 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, North Carolina, is the contracting activity (W912PM-25-C-A004).
AECOM International Inc., Frankfurt, Germany (W912GB-25-D-0008); AE Alliance JV, Lynchburg, Virginia (W912GB-25-D-0009); Acradis Pond JV, Washington, DC (W912GB-25-D-0010); Coplan-Merrick JV LLP, Greenwood Village, Colorado (W912GB-25-D-0011); CDM Federal Services Europe JV, Bickenbach, Germany (W912GB-25-D-0012); Black & Veatch Special Projects Corp., Overland Park, Kansas (W912GB-25-D-0013); EXP Federal, Chicago, Illinois (W912GB-25-D-0014); HDR Engineering Inc., Omaha, Nebraska (W912GB-25-D-0015); Stantec Jacobs Buchart Horn JV, Charlottesville, Virginia (W912GB-25-D-0016); Tetra Tech, Marlborough, Massachusetts (W912GB-25-D-0017); and WSP USA Solutions Inc., Washington, DC (W912GB-25-D-0018), will compete for each order of the $248,400,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect-engineer services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 16 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 8, 2023. US Army Corps of Engineers, European District, is the contracting activity.
AECOM International Inc., Frankfurt, Germany (W912GB-25-D-0001); AE Alliance JV, Lynchburg, Virginia (W912GB-25-D-0002); Arcadis Pond JV, Washington, DC (W912GB-25-D-0003); Black & Veatch Special Projects Corp., Overland Park, Kansas (W912GB-25-D-0004); CDM Federal Services Europe JV, Bickenbach, Germany (W912GB-25-D-0005); HDR Engineering Inc., Omaha, Nebraska (W912GB-25-D-0006); Stantec Jacobs Buchart Horn JV, Charlottesville, Virginia (W912GB-25-D-0007), will compete for each order of the $248,400,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect-engineer services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 15 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 8, 2030. US Army Corps of Engineers, European District, is the contracting activity.
L3Harris Interstate Electronics Corp., Anaheim, California, is being awarded a $37,096,265 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-plus-incentive-fee modification (P00034) for new procurement options under a previously awarded and announced contract (N0003022C2001) to provide services and support for flight test instrumentation systems. The total value of the modification is $37,096,265 and the total cumulative face value of the contract, including all optional line items, is $416,429,327. Work will be performed in Anaheim, California (55%); Cape Canaveral, Florida (40%); and Washington, DC (5%). Work is expected to be completed Sept. 8, 2029. Fiscal 2025 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $3,181,608; fiscal 2025 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $33,375,253; and fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount $246,606, are being obligated at time of award. The total amount incrementally funded under this award is $36,803,467, and $3,181,608 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is being awarded on a sole source basis under 10 US Code 3204(a)(1) and was previously synopsized on the System for Award Management online portal. Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.
Huntington Ingalls Inc., Ingalls Shipbuilding Division, Pascagoula, Mississippi, is being awarded a $19,999,999 cost-plus-award-fee delivery order (N69316-F-25-6000) against a previously awarded basic ordering agreement (N00024-25-G-2306) to provide program management, advanced planning, engineering, and design in support of the post shakedown availability for Ted Stevens (DDG 128). Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Mississippi (70%); and Norfolk, Virginia (30%), and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2027. Fiscal 2025 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $18,730,186 will be obligated at time of delivery order release and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) – only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair Gulf Coast, Pascagoula, Mississippi, is the contracting activity.
