Kingfish,
First of all let me say thanks for being a soldier. You are all heroes in my book.
The cut bait program seems to be at a standstill due to the rules governing bait, because of the new invasive virus,VHS.
I hope this all shakes out soon, cut bait is by far the best way I have found to target large Kings.
Cut bait is generally pre packed and frozen herring strips cut into a pennant shape and inserted into a plastic bait head and trolled behind a large flasher to give it a rolling action.
When all other lures(spoons, flies, Etc.) slow down in mid day, cut bait, in my experience continues to catch fish.
All the biggest kings I have caught have come on bait. The biggest to date is a 35# pig caught last season on Mexico Bay.
I hope this has helped.
Mark