Contract: Global Connect, $10.5M

Global Connections to Employment Inc., Pensacola, Fla., was awarded a $10,503,398 modification (P00008) to contract W911S8-15-D-0005 for dining facility and cooking support services for Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2020. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/30/17)

Contract: L3 Vertex, $83M

L3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Miss., is being awarded an $83,050,682 modification (P00021) to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery requirements contract activity (N00019-13-D-0007) to exercise an option for the organizational and depot level logistics services required to support and maintain the TH-57 fleet. Work will be performed at the Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Milton, Fla., and is expected to be completed in May 2018. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting. (Source: DoD, 05/30/17)

Contract: Lockheed, $19.8M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded $19,846,828 for cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to delivery order N0001917F0108, issued previously against basic ordering agreement N00019-14-G-0020. This modification procures work on the aircraft memory system and panoramic cockpit display in order to alleviate diminishing manufacturing sources constraints projected under F-35 production Lot 15 for the Air Force (40 percent); Navy (20 percent); Marine Corps (20 percent); and international partners (20 percent). Work will be performed in Fort Worth and is expected to be completed in March 2019. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/26/17) Note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center.

Trump proposes 2021 BRAC

The White House's proposed budget for 2018 released Tuesday calls for a new round of military base closures in 2021. Like many other proposals within the budget, it's likely to face numerous objections from a Congress that so far has rejected the Pentagon's calls to close bases because of a roughly 20 percent excess capacity. The last Base Realignment and Closure round was in 2005. (Sources: multiple, including The Hill, Military Times, 05/23/17) The Gulf Coast region has multiple bases, including in this immediate region Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Corry Station, Eglin Air Force Base, Hurlburt Field and Duke Field.

Contract: Lockheed, $137.8M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $137,834,819 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-14-C-0002) to provide additional funding for affordability-based cost reduction initiatives in support of low-rate initial production Lot 9 F-35 fighter. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (30 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (25 percent); Warton, U.K. (20 percent); Orlando, Fla. (10 percent); Nashua, N.H. (5 percent); Nagoya, Japan (5 percent); and Baltimore, Md. (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2020. This modification combines purchases for the Air Force (80 percent); Marine Corps (16.4 percent); and the Navy (3.6 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/19/17) Note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center.

Land swap costs up

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- A deal that would swap a Navy helicopter landing field in Escambia County in exchange for land in neighboring Santa Rosa County is still in the works, but cost is becoming a factor. Escambia County wants the current landing field in Beulah to create a commerce park. In anticipation of the deal, Escambia County purchased some 600 acres in Santa Rosa County for $1.68 million. The agreement also states that Escambia County would fund improvements to the land to ready the land for Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton to use as a helicopter landing field. Escambia County approved $4.9 million for improvements, but the expected improvement costs have gone up. The final cost breakdown is expected within the month. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 05/15/17)

Fallen honored at memorial

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Airmen, Marines, sailors and soldiers came together May 6 to honor and remember their fallen explosive ordnance disposal brethren during the annual memorial ceremony at the Kauffman EOD Training Complex. About 500 people ventured to the EOD Memorial Wall this year, as six new names were added to the engraved lists that now contains 326 people. The 2017 event marked the ceremony's 48th year. Each year, a wreath is placed in front of each branch of service's list of names before they are read aloud. After each list is completed with the phrase "We remember," the names are saluted by an enlisted and officer EOD member. The families of the EOD technicians added to the wall each year receive a folded flag that was flown over the memorial. (Source: DoD, 05/10/17)

Wing activated at Hurlburt

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- The Air Force Special Operations Air Warfare Center was deactivated and the 492nd Special Operations Wing activated during a ceremony here Wednesday. Col. Nathan Green, who assumed command of the Air Force Special Operations Air Warfare Center last July, took command of the new wing. Like the organization it replaces, the 492nd SOW’s mission is to train, educate and equipping special operators and perform test and evaluations of special operations programs and equipment. The wing’s forerunner is the 492nd Bombardment Group, which flew special operations missions in World War II. The name was a cover for its real mission – flying heavily modified B-24s behind German territory to deliver agents and supplies to the resistance. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 05/10/17)

Contract: Raytheon, $7.2M

Raytheon Missile Co., Tucson, Ariz., has been awarded a $7,172,609 firm-fixed-price modification (P00054) to previously awarded contract FA8675-15-C-0022. Contractor will provide life of type buys, obsolescence components under the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile Lots 28-30 production. Work will be performed at Tucson and is expected to be complete by March 31, 2019. This contract involves foreign military sales to Japan, Norway, Romania, Turkey, and Australia. Fiscal 2016 and 2017 production funds in the amount of $7,172,609 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/10/17)

Passenger count up at PNS

PENSACOLA, Fla. – The number of passengers passing through Pensacola International Airport have steadily grown over the past five years. Departures during this year’s first three months are 4.7 percent higher than in the same span in 2013. March performed particularly well, with 7.4 percent more departures this year over 2016. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 05/09/17)

Panel wants info on T-45

PENSACOLA, Fla. – The House Armed Services Committee wants more information from the Navy as part of its ongoing probe into problems with T-45 training aircraft used at Naval Air Station Pensacola and bases in Mississippi and Texas. The committee wants to schedule of all tests and evaluations of equipment associated with the trainer, as well as the Navy’s actions in response to test results. Pilots had complained about oxygen issues with the jet, which is still flying with limitations on maneuvers. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 05/09/17) Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton does not use T-45 trainers. Previous