Army contracts for Mississippians

L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace of Madison, Miss., was awarded a $48,212,171 contract for Army aviation maintenance services on Feb. 26 that are to be performed at Savannah, Ga.; Fort Bragg, N.C.; and Fort Campbell, Ky., according to the Defense Department’s contract website. The estimated completion date is July 28, 2013.

EADS–North America of Herndon, Va., was awarded a $15,355,212 Army contract Feb. 27 to provide for the modification of an existing award to procure Contractor Logistics Support in Columbus, Miss., according to the DoD contract website. The completion date on the contract is Dec. 31, 2013. The Army’s Redstone Arsenal, Ala., was the contracting activity for both awards. Source: Defense Department, Feb. 26-27, 2013.

Atlanta air hub may affect Southeast flights

Atlanta and Chicago, the nation’s busiest pair of airports, may have to close runways and limit arriving flights if automatic budget cuts place air-traffic controllers on furlough beginning March 1, Federal Aviation Administrator Michael Huerta told the House aviation subcommittee Feb. 27. Huerta forecasted that, along with the Houston airport, runways would likely have to be limited thereby reducing hourly flight arrivals by 37 percent. Republicans said the FAA could find other ways to move funds in its budget. Earlier this month, the FAA said it may have to close more than 200 FAA towers. Among the 200 sites mentioned, the FAA listed at least seven Mississippi airports - Golden Triangle Regional Airport at Columbus, Jackson’s Hawkins Field, Meridian’s Key Field, Tupelo Regional and the Olive Branch Airport. Source: Bloomberg News Service, Feb. 27, 2012.

Briner takes reins of Columbus AFB's 43rd

Lt. Col. Richard Briner has become the new command of the the 43rd Flying Training Squadron at Columbus (Miss.) Air Force base following a change of command Feb. 15. Prior to taking the squadron’s top spot, Briner was previously the 43^rd’s operations officer. The squadron executes the Air Education and Training Command/Air Force Reserve Command Associate Instructor Pilot (IP) Program; and provides Active and Traditional Guard Reserve IPs to augment the cadre of active duty pilots conducting training. Source: Columbus AFB, Feb. 22, 2013.

AE’s new helo to make Las Vegas premier

American Eurocopter’s new oil-and-gas industry transport helicopter (EC175) arrived last week at the firm’s Grand Prairie, Texas, headquarters straight from the production line in Columbus, Miss. The EC175 will be show cased March 5-7 at the Heli-Expo helicopter industry convention in Las Vegas. AE is he American affiliate of Eurocopter, the largest helicopter manufacturer in the world, and a subsidiary of EADS North America. Source: American Eurocopter, Feb. 22, 2013.

Fed budget cuts may shut Miss. control towers

Automatic federal budget cuts could shut down control towers at seven Mississippi airports including the Golden Triangle Regional Airport at Columbus which also could possibly affect Columbus Air Force Base’s training aircraft missions based there, according to the airport’s executive director. Among some of the other North Central Mississippi airports that could be affected as soon as March 1 are Jackson’s Hawkins Field, Meridian’s Key Field, Tupelo Regional and the Olive Branch Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Source: The AP, Feb. 22, 2013.

Free STEM conference in Jackson

Science, Technology and Math (STEM) awareness and education will be the theme of a free networking and collaboration event March 22 at the Jackson, Miss., Convention Center. The 5th annual ‘Lockheed Martin Information Technology Day’ is a day-long event designed to encourage IT education and awareness among industry, academia and the community. The event is open to the public. Information available at http://www.itdaymississippi.org/. Source: Mississippi Business Journal, Feb. 15, 2013.

Contract: L-3, $57.1M

L-3 Communications Corp., Madison, Miss., was awarded a $57,141,401 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the Life-Cycle Contractor Support maintenance for the Army's fleet of C-12, RC-12 and UC-35 fixed-wing aircraft. Work will be performed in Madison, Miss., with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2014. The Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 02/08/13)