Steve Peacock's U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor

U.S. Prepares for Casualties in Africa

The extrication of U.S. Special Forces injured in African military ventures soon will provide contractors with an additional revenue stream, now that the Obama administration plans to keep such vendors on stand-by, 24/7, for cross-continent airborne mobilization.

While the Pentagon’s reliance on private vendors to support international military operations is nothing new, plans to station such providers specific to such a large swath of Africa does deviate from prior procurement actions.

The Trans-Sahara Short Take-Off and Landing Airlift Support initiative will rely on outside assistance in the event that soldiers of U.S. Special Operations Command-Africa sustain traumatic medical emergencies, thereby requiring urgent transportation out of hostile zones.

Indeed, SOCOM-Africa places such urgency on its anticipated use of such Casualty Evacuation, or CASEVAC, services that, at a minimum, contractors must be capable of launching an airborne response with only a three hour notice.

The selected vendor likewise must possess the ability to be placed on heightened response and “be airborne within one hour of notification,” according a revised Performance Work Statement released April 16 that U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor located via routine database research.

Despite this urgency, the vendor securing that contract largely will engage in cargo- and personnel airlift activities, plus a limited number of air-drop missions.

The “most likely” locations for such operations are Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia, according to the U.S. Transportation Command solicitation.

Kenya, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda also fall within the Primary Operating Area, or POA, of this endeavor, the USTRANSCOM document says.

SOCOM-Africa will enable this expedited response-capability by stationing the contractor in Burkina Faso, a landlocked West African nation, it says.

A search of prior Tactical Combat Casualty Care and CASEVAC solicitations available via the FedBizOpps system shows that USSOCOM and other Department of Defense units typically and primarily seek only training and equipment.

Rather than soliciting continent-wide provision of emergency medical and flight assistance, those contracting actions generally have sought assistance to enable combatant commands to provide themselves with such medical assistance.

One USSOCOM contracting action representative of the government’s acquisition of CASEVAC “kits” and trauma-management training, for example, described a critical need for Special Operations combat forces to obtain new techniques and technology in support of “ongoing operations worldwide.”

Another Special Ops solicitation from late last year revealed a $40 million, two-year contract extension awarded to Tribalco, LLC, a Bethesda, Maryland-based maker of CASEVAC and other “soldier-survival” equipment.

USTRANSCOM did not disclose an estimated cost of the Africa-centric CASEVAC procurement.

In other U.S. military procurement actions specific to Africa:

• The Defense Logistics Agency on April 12 issued a request for bids to provide the U.S. Air Force with 547,500 gallons of No. 2 diesel fuel “for ongoing deliveries to Niamey Airport, Niger, (Africa).”
• The U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, or NAVFAC, announced it intends to spend up to $25 million for power plant upgrades at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti (CLDJ), Africa; however, despite acknowledging in an earlier document the estimated cost of the Caterpillar generators, a partly redacted no-bid Justification & Approval document blacked out the final award amount. It offered no explanation for the redaction .
• NAVFAC additionally began soliciting bids to build a cold-storage food warehouse and a separate galley to store P-218 anti-malarial drug reserves, representing another potential $25 million contracting endeavor at CLDJ.
• NAVFAC on April 12 revealed that it awarded a $33 million contract to Kellogg, Brown and Root to “perform base operating services at CLDJ and occasionally other locations within Africa.” Despite announcing the KBR contract this month, the Navy unit actually awarded it in December, the document shows.

This article originally appeared via WND April 28. Under prior agreement, rights have reverted back to the author, Steve Peacock.

Navy SEALs Recruiting Iranians

Military expanding outreach for elite teams to 'Persian Americans'

By Steve Peacock

A U.S. Navy SEAL minority recruitment initiative has added yet another group to its target list of underrepresented populations within the elite Naval Special Warfare units: Iranian Americans.

According to a revised Performance Work Statement that U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor located via routine database research, interested contractors must be able to carry out “awareness and education efforts” in minority communities inclusive of “Persian Americans,” as it referred to people of Iranian descent.

NSW this past week formally reached out to marketing and recruitment-service providers to help correct this “demographic disparity” in the predominantly white SEAL team units.

The Minority Awareness and Education Services Regional Campaigns project initially emphasized the recruitment of African Americans. A draft document released earlier this year had declared that the “widest discrepancy” existed between the percentage of African American citizens and those serving on SEAL teams and as Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen, or SWCC.

The revised document removed that Afrocentric emphasis – indeed, the Navy noted that it intentionally removed the first two pages of the draft solicitation where it made such delineation – and it now appears to place equal weight on recruiting “African American, Hispanic, Asian Pacific Islander, Native American, Arab American, and Persian American” candidates.

Congress likewise has raised concerns about minority under-representation among Navy SEALs as well as in the officer ranks of all the U.S. Armed Forces.

Late last month the House Committee on Appropriations approved a military funding bill and accompanying report that “supports efforts to conduct effective outreach and recruiting programs in minority communities.”

House Report 112-493 directs the commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command “to provide a report to the congressional defense committees not later than 90 days after enactment of this Act on the challenges of recruiting prospective Navy SEAL applicants from underrepresented communities.”

It also would require SOCOM “to provide recommendations to increase the competitiveness and to encourage recruitment of such candidates.”

The NSW project’s main purpose is to elevate “the number of these candidates who can qualify for Navy enlistment contracts.”

It made clear, however, that a quota system was neither desired nor expected, pointing out that the unit will not assess future contractor performance “based on the number or percentage of candidates selected for training.”

On the other hand, the document established minimum expectations for the number of minority males in the 16-24 age range for whom the contractor will arrange participation in public “awareness events and initiatives.”

The revised plan offers a more ambitious vision for the number of such High Potential Candidates, or HPCs, and upped its initial expectations from 1,000 attendees to 2,000.

NSW warned potential contractors to ensure they do not “exclude others who may want to participate in open events.”

However, it simultaneously issued a reminder that the contract’s focus “is on minority HPCs and as such the contractor will only be given ‘credit’ for the target minority males who attend and participate.”

The plan also seeks to bring aboard at least 100 “influencers” – such as athletic directors, coaches, counselors, clergy, and educators – of the targeted population. The contractor will be tasked with developing “friends of NSW” who will have the greatest “influence on career decision-making of potential SEAL candidates.”

NSW ultimately wants to sign up at least 300 HPCs for whom the contractor will craft an individual “education and development plan” on the path to a possible Navy SEAL or SWCC career. It hopes to have a minimum of 100 candidates and 10 influencers sign up and participate in the Training Forum on the Navy SEAL and SWCC Scout Team’s website.

A core part of these individual plans include the development of an HPC swimming instructional component.

“Since the waterborne feature of SEAL training is often the most formidable obstacle for prospective candidates,” according to the document, “especially among minorities with little swimming experience, the swim training program is usually the most challenging of the preparation components.”

Other regional campaign components may include:

• Outreach to male athletes and fraternity members at junior colleges, colleges, and universities with high percentages of minority student enrollment;
• Participation in conferences, events, and engagements, recognition of student leadership awards, and outreach to educators in the minority communities;
• Engagements with athletes, coaches, and influencers associated with predominantly minority high school and collegiate swim and football teams;
• Inner-city schools initiatives providing education to high school students in a “swim with a SEAL” program;
• Relationship building with coaches and influencers, offering mental toughness presentations to select audiences, and delivering appropriate fitness events on a not-to-interfere basis at regional athletic competitions;
• Leveraged social media engagement utilizing existing NSW website (sealswcc.com), Facebook, and Twitter, and consisting of direct first engagements with HPCs, social media “experiences” and “conversations” ultimately to allow for self-selection to begin online;
• A public relations component outreach to deliver serious HPCs to scheduled events;
• Marketing and outreach with a heavy balance of leveraging earned media (versus buying radio and TV advertising);
• Conducting education and swim programs to give serious HPCs the opportunity to complete all parts of the NSW Physical Screening Test.

Depending upon proposals and cost estimates received, 40 percent of the overall project will target one of three major metropolitan areas: Detroit, Miami, or the region between Atlanta and the “Golden Triangle” (Raleigh, Durham, and Greensboro) of North Carolina.

Another 40 percent of the campaign level of effort will center on the mid-Atlantic region, specifically from Norfolk and Richmond Virginia “and north to the Greater Baltimore/Washington DC Corridor.”

The remaining 20 percent will target Southern California, specifically from San Diego, through Orange County, and across the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Despite targeting minority communities to encourage future SEAL team and SWCC members, the Navy at the same time has embarked upon a separate contractor-supported initiative that simply recruits and prepares the best possible candidates for SEAL officer positions, irrespective of ethnic background.

The two-pronged endeavor – known as the Naval Special Warfare Seal Officer Accession Support and the Fleet Concentration Area Swim Programs initiatives – will target midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md.; Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps commands nationwide; Officer Candidate School commissioned officer graduates; and transfers from “active duty warfare-qualified officers from the Fleet or the other Services.”

A similar version of this article originally was published via WND.com on June 27, 2012. Under agreement with WND, rights have reverted back to the author, Steve Peacock.

RELATED:

Pentagon Extends Kenya, Djibouti Military Support Contract

U.S. to Provide Kenya with Navy SEAL Boats

Navy to Fund 'Tactical Surveillance' Research Project

Naval Security Document Lumps Journalists With Foreign Spies

WND.com: Navy SEALs Recruiting Iranians

My latest from WND: "Navy Seals Recruiting Iranians -- Military expanding outreach for elite teams to 'Persian Americans.'"

RELATED:

Pentagon Extends Kenya, Djibouti Military Support Contract

U.S. to Provide Kenya with Navy SEAL Boats

Navy to Fund 'Tactical Surveillance' Research Project

Naval Security Document Lumps Journalists With Foreign Spies

Pentagon Extends Kenya, Djibouti Military Support Contract

The U.S. Dept. of Defense says it awarded a no-bid military facility support contract in Africa as a critical move in support of global counter-terrorism activities. PAE Government Services, Inc., which already is working in Camp Lemmonier in Djibouti (CLDJ) and Camp Simba in Kenya, recently received a nine-month contract extension to continue providing base operations services.

The estimated cost of the contract extension is blacked out in a new Justification & Approval document.  Despite being blacked out, however, an electronic document that the Monitor located via routine database research intermittently displays a $65 million estimate for the June 1, 2012- Feb, 28, 2013 period.

The estimated cost of the previous contract likewise is uncertain. One contracting document indicates a $50 million maximum, while another says $75 million

A noncompetitive contract extension is justified because PAE already is performing work at those bases, according to the Naples, Italy-based Naval Facilities Engineering Command-Europe Africa Southwest Asia (NAVFAC EURAFSWA). Interrupting those projects with a new contractor would interfere with counter-terrorism operations as well cause the government to incur unnecessary and extraordinary start-up costs for a new vendor, it said in the J&A document.

Delays negatively would affect Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) , which:

oversees counter-terrorism operations in the Horn of Africa for USAFRICOM [U.S. Africa Command]... If this contract action is not executed,  the mission critical support of ongoing operations in the entire [HOA] region would not be provided and this would adversely impact military mission readiness and and personal safety. Repercussions of the lack of support may have a huge impact to the global war on terrorism [GWOT], as CLDJ is the only US military base in Sub-Saharan Africa, providing front line security to the [GWOT]. Any interruption of services cannot be interrupted at this time.

NAVFAC further noted that "PAE possesses the manpower and skill levels to continue performance without a learning curve, break-in service, or additional phase-in/mobilization requirements."

The project calls for a range of initiatives, from airport operations and base-support vehicle management to "morale, welfare and recreation."

U.S. to Provide Kenya with Navy SEAL Boats

The Obama Administration has arranged to provide several customized special-operations military vessels to the Government of Kenya, U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor has learned.

That discovery coincides with today's blast in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Although officially it remains unclear whether the blast was the result of a utility problem or the work of terrorists, Reuters reports that a witness saw a man place a suspicious package in business-district building right before the explosion.

The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command is awarding a noncompetitive “sole-source contract to United States Marine Incorporated (USMI) of Gulfport, Miss to provide five (5) 11M Naval Special Warfare Rigid Inflatable Boats,” according to a presolicitation notice that NAVSEC uploaded to a federal contracting database May 21.

The U.S. Navy in a separate “Fact File” describes the vessels as “High-speed, high-buoyancy, extreme-weather craft with the primary mission of SEAL insertion/extraction.”

A History Channel report referred to the boat as “the Lamborghini of special warfare craft.”

The 36-ft. turbocharged vessels typically carry a crew of three in addition to one SEAL squad, and are armed with an “M60 7.62mm machine gun, MK19 40mm, [and] M2 .50 cal. machine gun.” Although the presolicitation document did not specify whether NAVSEC was equipping the USMI-provided boats with such armaments, it said the company “will provide services and materials required to build the boat, as well as execute testing, trials, depreservation of the boat in preparation for transportation, and perform in-country reactivation.”

NAVSEC did not disclose the estimated cost of the Kenya-bound boats.

The naval unit justified the sole-source contract based on its claim that USMI “is the only source with the 11M Naval Special Warfare Rigid Inflatable Boat data rights necessary to build and perform services depicted through a foreign military case for the Kenyan Government. This firm has the requisite background knowledge and experience required.”

A review of Federal Election Commission campaign contribution records supports NAVSECs contention that it awarded the noncompetitive contract based on USMI’s ability to provide the equipment; indeed, the Obama Administration clearly did not allow the company executive team’s generosity to Republican causes to stand in the way of this award.

USMI Chairman John Dane III, for example, donated $104,000 largely to Republican committees and candidates since 1998.  

The most sizeable gift from Dane III was a $25,000 contribution to the Republican National Committee in 2004. He also gave $15,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee in July 2010—a contribution that he matched once again in October 2011.

Six days later he contributed $2,500 to Romney for President, Inc.

Most recently he gave $2,500 to Palazzo for Congress Committee. U.S. Rep. Steven McCarty Palazzo (R-MS) currently serves on the House Armed Services Committee, which gives him a seat on its Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces as well as the Subcommittee on Readiness.

CEO Barry Dreyfus also has given more than $100,000 mainly to Republican candidates and committees over the past fifteen years, most recently cutting two separate $2,500 checks on the same day (Jan. 26, 2012) to the Palazzo for Congress Committee

Interestingly, the sole FEC record of a campaign contribution made by Bryant Bernhard, USMI president, was a $2,400 check made out May 24, 2010 to the Gene Taylor for Congress Committee. Taylor was the Democrat who lost his seat to Palazzo in the following November election.

There is no record of any campaign contributions made by VP Conrad Keubel.

FOR MORE REGIONAL COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S KENYA PAGE AND AFRICA PAGE.

FOR RELATED GOVERNMENTAL/DEPARTMENTAL COVERAGE, SEE OUR WHITE HOUSE PAGE AND U.S. NAVY PAGE.

Photo provided courtesy U.S. Department of Defense.

Kenya Sees Spike in Obama Administration-Funded Projects

Kenyan businesses lately are increasingly becoming recipients of U.S. government largesse, as the Obama Administration, among pursuing other endeavors, aims to expand "livestock-related economic opportunities" in that nation. Although this and other recently released presolicitation notices for unrelated programs serve as advance alerts to potential vendors—and therefore do not offer cost estimates and other details— a review of U.S. government contracting actions nonetheless indicates a spike of activity in Kenya in a variety of sectors.

The White House is committing to a five-year effort to "improve the inclusiveness and competitiveness" of the livestock industry specifically in Marsabit and Garissa counties, Kenya, according to a presolicitation notice released April 12 that U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor located via routine database research.

The Feed the Future-related initiative, known as the Resilience and Economic Growth in the Arid Lands-Accelerated Growth, or REGAL-AG, program, will be carried out by contractors hired by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), according to the document.

The agency did not disclose the project’s estimated cost: "No additional information regarding this planned RFP [Request for Proposals] is available at this time."

USAID that same day separately alerted potential contractors to the launching of yet another endeavor in that nation, known as the Kenya Agricultural Value Chain Enterprises, or KAVES, program.

The KAVES presolicitation notice simply states the agency’s intention “to use full and open competition for the contract, which will be performed in Kenya. USAID intends to release the solicitation within the next 45 days.”

The agency pointed out that the presolicitation number——will change upon release of a bid request, but the program name would remain the same.

Other recent contracting actions include:

• Up to $50 million in U.S. Navy-coordinated military construction projects on the horizon at Camp Simba, Kenya, and at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti.
• Deployment to Kenya of a privately contracted Regional Advisor for USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). as well as an Emerging Pandemic Threats Advisor.
  
• A U.S. Trade & Development Agency-led search for a contractor to perform a “definitional mission” exploring possible funding of geothermal energy projects in Kenya and Rwanda.

The above-mentioned endeavors have taken place in recent weeks; however, other notable U.S.-funded Kenyan projects thus far in 2012 include the launching of a National Institutes of Health-led initiative to hire contractors to conduct genetic research of Kenyans with Type-2 diabetes. Separately, the U.S. Army embarked upon a market survey of potential vendors to provide helicopter flight-training simulators to the Kenyan government.

ALSO SEE: "Response to Commenters."

FOR ADDITIONAL REPORTING ON THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, SEE THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE U.S TRADE & DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, VISIT THE MONITOR'S USTDA PAGE.

FOR MORE REGIONAL COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S AFRICA PAGE.

Navy to Fund 'Tactical Surveillance' Research Project

A new research project of the U.S. Navy hopes to develop an advanced, autonomous means of gathering and processing data for tactical and battlefield situations. The Autonomous Persistent Tactical Surveillance program of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) will provide about  $41.5 million over five years to researchers who submit “white papers” or proposals for innovative projects leading to the potential development of “major advancements” in this area.

“United States (US) Forces are being placed in environments where they are required to function with increased autonomy,” the Navy says in Broad Agency Announcement # 11-023. “The need is stronger than ever to be able to autonomously maintain persistent surveillance of activities and entities over a region of interest on a continuing (24 hrs / 7 days a week) basis, as well as automated tasking of these assets…”

Among the various shortfalls of existing Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance capabilities that the BAA identifies include:

There is a lack of sharing knowledge of unfolding events across mission threads.  

There is a lack of timely exploitation of useful theater and national sensor data. There are gaps in alerting Forces to danger.  

There is a lack of mobile tools for field users to gather information. There is a lack of means for reporting soft biometric data on at-risk individuals or groups engaged in suspicious activity.  

Many sensors fail to deliver relevant information to users outside their stovepipes… Sensor data overwhelms the distribution, analysis, storage, and assimilation capabilities.

Proposals are due Sept. 12. ONR anticipates making a decision about awards on or around Oct. 11.

SNAPSHOT: Navy Fuel Needs, July-December 2011

How much energy does it take to keep the U.S. Navy operational in the Western Pacific and Middle East regions alone? Here’s a snapshot of what the Navy needs to have delivered to  the two regions just from July 1 through December 31, plus a 30-day carry-over period:

Turbine Fuel, Aviation (JA1): 154,000,000 U.S. gallons.

Naval Distillate (F76): 124,480,000 U.S. gallons. 

Turbine Fuel, Aviation (JP8): 95,718,000 U.S. gallons.

Turbine Fuel, Aviation (JP5): 75,419,000 U.S. gallons.

Total Quantity: 449,617,000 U.S. gallons.

Naval Security Document Lumps Journalists With Foreign Spies

A recently obtained Naval Operations Security Plan (OPSEC) expressly reveals the U.S. Navy’s contempt for journalists, whom it views in the same light as – and arguably a less favorable light than – foreign spies. The document was discovered while researching a federal contract to support psychological operations (PSYOPS) that the U.S. military conducts worldwide, a $100 million award secured by Virginia-based CACI International.

While the document – which was labeled FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY – had been available for public viewing, the Navy has since removed all links related to the contract, replacing those links with the phone number of a Naval procurement specialist handling the account.

CACI will carry out much of its PSYOPS and electronic-communications support role at the Naval Air Warfare Center facilities in Patuxent River, Maryland, where the Navy’s Special Communications Requirements (SCR) Division is located. The SCR Division designs and maintains federal systems for C4ISR – command, control, computers, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Consequently, the OPSEC plan serves as a precautionary guide for contractors visiting the Patuxent River Complex and Naval Air Station, advising visitors to be mindful of potential "human intelligence" (HUMINT) threats that foreign collection services pose to national security.

It claims that while 10% of the data that these agents collect are the fruits of espionage, the other 90% of HUMINT is gathered through the analysis of "open source literature," material that is largely – but not exclusively – produced by journalists. The Navy acknowledges that these open sources include information that the Dept. of Defense itself, plus other federal entities such as the Commerce Dept., make available to researchers, contractors, and the general public.

The document points out that such sources are far-reaching, and can be found through "official and unofficial organization and professional publications, the World Wide Web, the National Technical Information Center, the Defense Technical Information Center, at meetings and seminars, or through contractor advertisements."

Although the OPSEC document says all these sources, and not just journalists, provide foreign intelligence collectors with "highly valuable information regarding military capabilities, limitations, and technology," it nonetheless drops the bulk of the blame for this data access on the U.S. media.

"To put the open source threat into the proper context, consider that the total number of dedicated foreign intelligence agents in this country is estimated to be between one and two thousand, while the total number of reporters in this country is closer to one million; a thousand to one ratio." the document says. "As a result, HUMINT organizations depend heavily upon open source information to assist them and are much more likely to learn of new information through the open press."

Wayne Madsen, a former Naval officer and Naval Intelligence staffer, said that while this view of the media is troubling, he is not shocked that the Navy has incorporated its negative perspective into policy.

"The U.S. Navy hierarchy, by far, is more conservative than its counterparts in DoD, including the Marine Corps," Madsen said in an interview. "That is why they entertain these dangerous notions of controlling the media. The Navy's track record on cover-ups – USS Iowa turret blast, Tailhook scandal, USS Vincennes downing of IranAir flight, and other outrageous censorship and disinformation – has made it and the open media enemies for a number of years. It's not surprising the Navy would suggest a plan to control the media and liken them to foreign intelligence agents."

While the Navy is warning CACI to beware of spies and their co-conspirators in U.S. newsrooms, the IT contractor is tasked with enabling U.S. Special Forces to more effectively disseminate media; not free and open media, but the sort of media made possible via aerial leafleting and the broadcasting of U.S. government radio and TV messages in hostile territories.