Seven in Seven
April 30th, 2010 | Aviation Coast Guard Congress Environment Foreign navies Maritime operations Morale Navy Officers Personnel Pirates Royal Navy Ships Submarines The Pacific Washington | Posted by Lance Bacon
Photo by MCSN Joshua Martin
The Navy nabbed a lot of headlines again this week. Leading the way is news that subs are now officially open to women. In other career news, the active duty master chiefs list was released. The Coast Guard is holding its ground in the oil spill – and against critics. and the Army cancelled the Non-Line of Sight Launch System, which will likely have significant ramifications for the Littoral Combat Ship.
Here’s seven stories in seven minutes from the past seven days that you may not have seen, but are worthy of notice:
Carrier builders don’t buy SecDef’s plan
April 29th, 2010 | Carriers Congress Navy Ships Washington | Posted by Lance Bacon
The Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition brought more than 130 members from its 400 constituent companies to Capitol Hill Thursday to urge continued support for the aircraft carrier program. The sixth annual breakfast, held at the Rayburn Building, was attended by Reps. Glenn Nye, D-Va., and Rob Wittman, R-Va. Both serve on the House Armed Services Committee and both are very vocal on keeping a minimum of 11 carriers in the fleet through 2039.
As one might expect, the construction and capabilities of the forthcoming carrier Gerald R. Ford was the top topic. Scoop Deck had a good talk with Wittman and senior leadership from Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding … but you’ll have to read about that in Monday’s edition of Navy Times.
We will share this nugget with you, though: We could not find anyone who agreed with Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ 2009 plan that would shift from four- to five-year intervals. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus in congressional testimony earlier this year said the move would put carrier procurement on “a more fiscally sustainable path.” This would defer the fiscal ’12 procurement of CVN 79 by one year and the fiscal ’16 procurement of CVN 80 by two years — and could create a domino effect as deployments and refueling schedules are adjusted to accommodate.
And you thought the fight over Mayport was bad …
April 27th, 2010 | Foreign navies | Posted by Lance Bacon
Ukrainian opposition and pro-presidential lawmakers fight against each other during ratification of the Black Sea Fleet deal with Russia, in parliament in Kiev, Ukraine, on Tuesday. Ukraine’s parliament has voted to extend Russia’s lease of a Crimean naval port for the Black Sea Fleet in a chaotic session during which eggs and smoke bombs were thrown. The countries’ presidents agreed last week to extend the Russian navy’s use of the Sevastopol port for another 25 years after the old lease expires in 2017. // Efrem Lukatsky / The Associated Press
North Korea’s meritorious promotion program?
April 26th, 2010 | Foreign navies North Korea Officers The Pacific | Posted by Lance Bacon
Kim Myong-guk was promoted to general in 1994, but was demoted in January (picture at right). Now, he's a four-star again, and South Korea is suspicious ...
In January, former North Korean four-star Kim Myong Guk was seen wearing only three stars on his collar. Most analysts believed he had been held accountable for North Korea’s loss to South Korea in a naval skirmish off the west coast in November.
But North Korean television footage and photographs released over the weekend find the 70-year-old fielding that fourth star once more.
The JoongAng Daily, a daily paper printed in Seoul, reported Monday that the demotion-to-promotion turnaround was related to the March 26 sinking of a South Korean naval ship near the western sea border with the North.
“It is extremely rare for a general who wasn’t included in the major promotion to move up a rank in a separate move,” a South Korean government official was quoted as saying.
Kim was not among generals in major promotions of generals conducted twice earlier this month.
The South Korean government has not officially accused North Korea of sinking the 1,200-ton Cheonan, but a North Korean torpedo attack — possibly a three-person “human torpedo” — has been suspected as the cause.
SEALs tighten ties with India
April 26th, 2010 | Foreign navies leadership Maritime operations Navy SEALs Ships Submarines The Pacific | Posted by Lance Bacon
Members of SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team Two prepare to launch one of the team's SEAL Delivery Vehicles from the attack submarine Philadelphia in 2005. Similar deliveries will likely be used in joint training with India currently underway. (Photo by Chief Photographer's Mate Andrew McKaskle)
Earlier this month, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead visited the naval forces of India to strengthen the maritime partnership.
Now, the SEALs are getting in on that action.
The Indian newspaper The Telegraph reported today that the cruiser Shiloh, destroyers Chaffee and Lassen, frigate Curts, attack submarine Annapolis, two P3C Orions and a 28-member special forces team haved teamed with the Indian Navy to practice anti-submarine warfare and special operations in the 14th Malabar exercise.
The United States is the only country with which India conducts large-scale naval exercises, and this is the first time we’ve sent SEALs to participate in the exercise, scheduled to run through May 2.
The Indian Navy has a destroyer, three frigates, a submarine, Sea Harrier fighters and various helicopters from its Western Fleet participating in the bilateral exercise.
The Admiral to the end
April 22nd, 2010 | Historical leadership Navy Officers | Posted by Lance Bacon
In the April 26 edition of Time Magazine, ABC World News anchor Diane Sawyer answers 10 questions from readers regarding her decades as a journalist.
Rome Ibera, of Dumont, N.J., asked “What has been your most difficult interview so far?”
Sawyer answered:
Admiral Hyman Rickover. He was in his 80s at the time. He’s the father of the nuclear Navy, and he famously tried to destabilize you when you were in his presence. I introduced [the segment] by saying how brilliant he was, and he said, ‘It’s not that I’m so smart. It’s that you’re so dumb.’ And that’s how we began.”
Indeed, Rickover remained “the kindly old gentleman” to the end.
New theory in sinking of South Korean ship
April 22nd, 2010 | Foreign navies North Korea SEALs Ships | Posted by Lance Bacon
A Kaiten Type I, located at the Tokyo Yasukuni War Memorial Museum.
It’s no secret that many in the South Korean military and government have cast a suspicious, if not accusatory eye at their neighbor to the north regarding last month’s sinking of a corvette that left 46 dead.
Moments ago, the South Korean newspaper Choson Ilbo reported that some military officials are now focusing their attention on “human torpedoes.’
These aren’t your typical suicide bombers. They trace their origins to the “kaiten” (lit. “the Heaven Shaker“), Japanese underwater suicide bombers put into action at the end of World War II. North Korea’s human torpedo units belong to the 17th Sniper Corps and are deployed in both the East and West seas at the brigade level, according to the report. The units are made up of elite, SEAL-type troops.
The unit is said to be trained to use semi-submersible vessels equipped with light torpedoes or other explosives, which are fired or placed on their intended targets at close range.
Park Sun-young, a lawmaker with the Liberty Forward Party, told the South Korean National Assembly a three-man team aboard a Seal Deliver Vehicle laden with explosives could have sunk the Cheonan.
Seven in Seven
April 22nd, 2010 | Aviation Carriers Congress Environment Foreign navies Maritime operations Military Sealift Command Navy NECC ordnance Recruiting SEALs Ships Submarines The deckplates The greenside The Middle East The Pacific Washington | Posted by Lance Bacon
The Navy nabbed a lot of headlines again this week. Leading the way is news that the Green Hornet on Thursday took to flight – the fighter jet, not the super hero. The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet was powered by a 50/50 blend of biofuel and JP-5.
That same day, a U.S. military jury cleared a Navy SEAL of failing to prevent the beating of an Iraqi prisoner suspected of masterminding a 2004 attack that killed four American security contractors. Two others will soon have their day in court.
And on Wednesday, the Navy implemented its first change in 17 years to the Defense Department’s much-debated “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
Here’s seven stories in seven minutes from the past seven days that you may not have seen, but are worthy of notice:
Geek Squad takes on whole new meaning
April 20th, 2010 | leadership Maritime operations Naval Academy Navy Science and technology | Posted by Lance Bacon
As further evidence that the Geek Squad provides the best pickings for tomorrow’s Navy, we turn to the latest news out of the Naval Academy.
For the Class of 2015, cyberwarfare and cybersecurity will be right up there with the traditional instruction of all things nautical. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to the latest gaggle of plebes. Most spent their elementary recess periods pecking away on a computer, so they get it.
For the older salts who are scratching their heads, realize that the Navy righly recognizes cyberwarfare is arguably the greatest threat facing the modern military. This understanding has long been a part of the Naval Postgraduate School curriculum. The Navy also embraces the technology like no other. Consider this:
- Its newest ships will have more computers and fewer sailors. Just check out this story.
- The Navy has reorganized the OPNAV staff by consolidating Naval Intelligence (N2) and Communications and Networks (N6) into a super cool, techno-savvy brainiac commune called Information Dominance (N2/N6). These are the folks who defend and manage Navy networks and the information transported and contained therein.
- Fleet Cyber Command and 10th Fleet are up and running and provide central operational authority for Navy cyberspace operations afloat and ashore.
- Even the lawyers are in on this action, as the JAG established a division to focus on the laws and policies regarding cyberspace and intelligence operations.
- Tens of thousands of sailors and officers now wear the Information Dominance Warfare pin — and that’s just the beginning. The Navy is putting a concerted effort into the recruiting, retention and development of personnel in information-centric disciplines such as intelligence, information technology, information warfare, oceanography and space cadre personnel.
Indeed, today’s geeks are tomorrow’s warriors. So if you want your kids to follow in your footsteps with a Navy career, don’t worry if they choose a computer club over a camping trip. Chances are it will get them faster promotions and bigger bonuses when they join Big Navy.
The intersection of past and future
April 20th, 2010 | Historical Maritime operations Navy Submarines | Posted by Lance Bacon
Friday was a day when hope and history shared the same waters at Naval Submarine Base New London, in Groton, Conn.
The day opened as sailors assigned to the Pre-Commissioning Unit Missouri raised colors for the first time aboard Missouri, the seventh Virginia-class attack submarine. The crew moved aboard and began bringing the sub’s systems to life. Known as “In Service Day,” the 134 officers and sailors accepted day-to-day operations of the sub, as well as its safety and security. The crew also began preparations for sea-trials, work-ups and eventual commissioning, scheduled for July 31.
The same day, the attack submarine Philadelphia entered the base having completed its 16th and final deployment.
The third Los Angeles-class attack sub, Philadelphia was commissioned June 25, 1977, and is scheduled to be decommissioned June 25. It conducted more than 1,00 dives and received eight Battle E’s in its 33 years of service.