Jorge Scientific Corporation, Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a nearly $55 million contract for the operation and maintenance of Constant Hawk intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Work will be performed in Iraq with an estimated completion date of August 31. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Adelphi, Maryland, is the contracting authority.
ITT Systems Corporation, Colorado Springs, Colorado, was recently awarded a more than $96 million contract for the operation and maintenance of communication facilities, systems and equipment in Southwest and Central Asia and Africa. Work will be performed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar and Kuwait, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2012. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Fort Huachuca, Arizona, is the contracting activity.
Members of the U.S. Army’s 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team need better communications. Though they feel positive about their mission progress and the abilities of the Iraqis, the soldiers face constant frustration with the status of their information-sharing equipment. Obtaining sufficient support once tools are delivered is an aggravation as well. For troops covering a large geographical area, the “dump it and get out of there” mentality of some providers can result in problems for those who remain behind.
Combat operations in Iraq officially ended last year, but the troops of the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division continued contingency operations, working with Iraqis to overcome remaining challenges and to complete necessary missions. As other units left the battlespace, the division’s signal soldiers inherited responsibility for more geographic area, requiring them to adapt their methods and equipment accordingly, until the division, too, returned home last December.
DRS Technical Services Incorporated, Herndon, Virginia, was recently awarded a $78 million time-and-materials contract to provide specialized engineering and installation support services for the ongoing information technology infrastructure requirements in support of U.S. Forces - Iraq and State Department users. Work will be performed in Iraq. The U.S. Army Rock Island Contracting Command, Rock Island, Illinois, is the contracting activity.
Mission 1st Group Incorporated, Shrewsbury, New Jersey, was awarded a $3 million contract to provide for engineering, logistics and oversight of information technology projects in Southwest Asia and within the United States. Work will be performed in Afghanistan; Kuwait; Iraq; Fort Belvoir, Virginia; and Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. The U.S. Army Rock Island Contracting Command, Rock Island, Illinois, is the contracting activity.
ManTech International Corporation recently announced that it has received a task order under its Strategic Services Sourcing prime contract to provide Base Expeditionary Target Surveillance Systems-Combined (BETSS-C) operators in Iraq. The multiple-award task order, in support of the U.S. Army's Project Manager Night Vision/Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition, has an expected value to ManTech of $70 million if all contract options are exercised. ManTech will provide BETSS-C operators and related administrative, managerial, logistics and business services necessary to support their deployment to Iraq. BETSS-C enhances perimeter surveillance, battle command and force protection at joint security stations, forward-operating bases and combat outposts throughout Iraq.
Col. Dan Anninos, USA, Gulf Region district commander, e-mailed a letter to the editor to offer his perspective on reconstruction efforts in central and northern Iraq.
"Some critics argue the Iraq reconstruction effort has been wasteful resulting in unwanted facilities that will not likely be maintained by the Iraqis following the withdrawal of U.S. Forces. That assertion left unchallenged may be somewhat misleading to those not fully informed on the issue."
International forces in Iraq are helping build a government communications infrastructure that will enable services that citizens of many countries take for granted: agile security and emergency response forces. The goal is to embed transformational joint command, control, computers and communications capabilities within the Iraqi ministries of Defense and Interior and to support the country’s Counterterrorism Bureau so that Iraqi security self-management can be achieved in the near future.
Inadequate funding and prolonged operations in Iraq are taking a toll on U.S. Marine Corps equipment and threatening U.S. military readiness to fight and render humanitarian aid. These circumstances already are influencing training and consequently effectiveness and could affect re-enlistment numbers if not corrected. Adjusting resources is one issue; however, the situation also calls for overhauling acquisition practices so near- and mid-term needs can be met.
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