BULLHORN
#30 16 October 2008
VADM WILLIAM LAWRENCE Squadron - Annapolis
Great News!! ANA continues to grow,
and continues to rejuvenate itself!
The Annapolis, Maryland squadron was
re-activated at the Naval Academy Officers’ Club on 25
September by its new Commanding Officer CDR Jack Wallace,
USNR. The reestablished squadron is now named the VADM
William P. Lawrence Squadron in honor of the late VADM
“Bill” Lawrence, USN (Ret). While VADM Lawrence is best
remember by many of us as a former Navy test pilot and POW
in Hanoi, he was once the Commanding Officer of the
Annapolis Squadron and Past President of ANA.
The evening was emceed by CDR Wallace.
Highlights included a tribute to VADM Lawrence’s widow,
Diane, and remarks by our National President VADM Bob Dunn,
USN (Ret) and a former Annapolis CO CAPT Warren Vosseler,
USN (Ret). Significantly, some fifty midshipmen attended,
led by the president of the USNA Flight Squadron, MIDN 1/C
Sean Noronha . Captain Andy Turner, USMC, the 28th
Company Officer, provided an excellent program about his
personal experiences as a helicopter pilot in Iraq.
FIGHTER SQUADRON 14
(VF-14) REUNION
Reunion: VF-14 (1951-1957 era) will be
holding a reunion October 22-26, 2008 at NAS Jacksonville.
The reunion will coincide with the biannual air show (with
Blue Angels) Oct 25-26. Contact CAPT Ed Feeks at
edfeeks@bellsouth.net or (904) 737-6346.
CORRECTION – Thanks to DanL
An article in BULLHORN 29 about the 9
August 2008 dedication of a SKYHAWK outside VADM Stockdale
Gate at NAS North Island incorrectly reported the A-4 was
painted in the colors of VA-192, the “GOLDEN DRAGONS”. In
fact, the aircraft is correctly painted in the colors of the
“SAINTS” of VA-163. That said, the aircraft on display
(photo) may be an A-4C, not an A-4E. Then CAG Stockdale was
flying VA-163 A-4E AH-352, BUNO 151134 when shot down 9
September 1965. VADM Stockdale died 5 July 2005.
CNO At One Year
Roughead
Lays Out Future Plans For IA’s, Smaller Crews, Ship
Readiness
(NAVY TIMES 29 SEP 08) ...
Philip
Ewing
Duty on the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan
and elsewhere will continue as a part of Navy life for years
to come, the service's top admiral told Navy Times on Sept.
26, even as soldiers and Marines prepare to gradually
withdraw from Iraq.
Although individual augmentee
assignments won't be going away, the Navy wants to make them
as routine and predictable as sailors' normal assignments,
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead said. With a
new title — Global War on Terrorism Support Assignments, or
GSAs — the temporary ground tours have proven to be
beneficial for sailors as they've become more a part of Navy
culture, Roughead said.
"Those that come back and those I see
in the field really are very fulfilled by the work that they
do and the contribution they feel they are making," he said.
"The awareness they gain from working for another service is
very valuable."
What's more, Roughead said statistics
show that sailors have better chances of advancing after
they come back from IA tours.
Roughead spoke to Navy Times editors
and reporters in a wide-ranging interview as he approached
his one-year anniversary as CNO. He said he wants to
maintain a fleet of 11 carriers while acknowledging that the
law setting the requirement could change; reiterated his
commitment to reducing crew sizes on ships through-out the
fleet but said it needs to be done carefully; and said he
was confident that the surface force was maintaining
readiness, despite four ships that received bad inspections
in the past year.
Aircraft
Carriers
Despite rumblings that the Navy is
considering making its temporary reduction to 10 carriers
into a permanent plan — as well as a formal request to
Congress to suspend the law requiring an 11-carrier force —
Roughead said he is committed to 11 carriers.
"If you want to be able to be the
global navy, I think the nation needs 11 carriers. That
allows us to run the response plan that we have, and I
believe that 11 carriers are the number we should have."
The 10-ship exemption is only
temporary, Roughead said, to account for the period between
the decommissioning of the Enterprise in 2014 and the
commissioning of the Gerald R. Ford some time after. But if
Congress were to change the law permanently and permit the
Navy to maintain one less carrier, the Navy would follow
suit, Roughead said.
"If there is a decision that the risk
associated with that is acceptable, and the law says you are
going to have 10 carriers, then we will follow the law."
Another issue that concerns him is the
"fighter gap," Roughead said, referring to the period
predicted to start in 2016 when years of hard use will mean
as many as 69 F/A-18 Hornets will wear out before the
arrival of the replacement F-35 Lightning II. Buying more
Hornets would bridge the gap, but it wouldn't mean the Navy
is turning its back on the F-35, Roughead said.
The F-35 depends on a broad range of
U.S. and international buyers to keep the cost per plane
relatively low; if any one customer pulls out or drastically
changes its order, the entire program could be imperiled.
Roughead said he has no plans to walk
away from the F-35 and said he'd prefer for Navy carrier
wings to include different mixtures of aircraft, first
Hornets and Lightning IIs, and eventually, Lightning IIs and
a yet-to-be-developed sixth-generation fighter. Mixing up
the aircraft means the Navy is insulated from problems such
as the Air Force's servicewide grounding of its F-15 Eagles
in the spring, which created an air power vacuum in
Afghanistan that the Navy had to fill.
As for a decision about what the Navy
will do — buy more Super Hornets, speed up production of the
Lightning II or something else — it's all still under
consideration, Roughead said.
Crew
Sizes
Roughead reiterated his goal to get as
many sailors as possible off ships, although he said the key
was not smaller crews in and of themselves, but new,
automated systems that would take the place of human sailors
— "good, balanced manning," he called it.
Planners determine crew sizes by
calculating the amount of maintenance a ship needs, so as
more aspects of a ship take care of themselves — as with the
auto-mated engineering and auxiliary spaces planned aboard a
littoral combat ship — the ship needs fewer sailors.
Roughead acknowledged that cutting crew
sizes too deep could mean that a ship wouldn't have the
personnel it needed to deal with accidents or battle damage.
When the destroyer Cole was bombed in 2000, it was carrying
330 sailors, most of whom had to work to fight fires and
save the ship. But the destroyers that sailed in August with
the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group were carrying
about 240 sailors. In 2004, the House Armed Services
Committee made an unofficial recommendation that the Navy
try to man a destroyer with 200 people to save money.
Roughead said he wasn't familiar with
that specific recommendation and said the Navy didn't have a
set goal for the crew size it wants to reach on each type of
ship, such as removing 40 sailors from every cruiser by a
certain year. He conceded, though, that taking sailors off
ships is an effective way to save the Navy money. 'People
are very expensive,' he said. 'They're our most precious
commodity. I wouldn't expect it to be otherwise."
Readiness
After a year in which four ships — the
destroyer Stout, the cruiser Chosin, and the amphibious
transport docks San Antonio and New Orleans — all had
serious deficiencies according to Navy inspectors, Roughead
said he wasn't concerned about systemic readiness problems
in the surface force. The Board of Inspection and Survey, or
InSurv, finds a few bad ships every year, Roughead said, but
that doesn't mean there are problems in the surface force
that go beyond those individual ships. "When I look at the
readiness data, apart from the episodic examples you cite,
and as I visit the fleet out doing the work, we are doing
extremely well. I'm pleased with what I see with readiness,"
he said.
Roughead said it's critical for sailors
to operate the machinery they'll be using in the fleet,
rather than relying solely on simulation and classroom
instruction.
The problems aboard the combat-ants and
the gators are a function of the ship's "onboard programs
and oversight," Roughead said.
'They are great ships," he said, "and if you've been on
them, you know the quality of life is good."
Nuclear Flattop's
Arrival
(ASAHI SHIMBUN 27 SEP 08) ...
Editorial
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
USS George Washington arrived Thursday in Tokyo Bay. The
gargantuan vessel is a veritable floating fortress that can
accommodate more than 70 fighter aircraft.
The George Washington is the fourth
U.S. carrier to be homeported at Yokosuka Naval Base in
Kanagawa Prefecture and the first nuclear-powered flattop to
be deployed here. The U.S. Navy had consistently deployed
conventional aircraft carriers to Japan, partly out of
consideration for this nation's experience of atomic
bombings in the closing days of World War II. As the USS
Kitty Hawk, the George Washington's predecessor, is to be
decommissioned, however, all U.S. aircraft carriers will
soon be propelled by nuclear reactors. This set the stage
for the controversial deployment.
The significance of the George
Washington's arrival in Yokosuka goes much deeper than a
mere replacement of a warship that is to be mothballed.
Although the U.S. Navy operates
globally, Yokosuka is the only homeport for its aircraft
carriers outside the United States. That's partly because of
Yokosuka's strategic location, which enables operations in a
wide range of areas from the Pacific to the Arabian Sea, and
partly because of Tokyo's generous financial support for
U.S. bases in Japan. Yokosuka is a symbol of the security
alliance between the two nations.
American warships based in Yokosuka
played the leading roles in missile attacks during the Gulf
War and the U.S.-led war in Iraq. The scope of their
operations extends far beyond areas surrounding Japan. Amid
the ongoing global realignment of the U.S. military in the
war against terrorism, Yokosuka has become home for an
American carrier that can provide a greater range of
operations and better strike capabilities than its
predecessor.
The deployment of the nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier to Japan is also aimed at putting pressure
on China, which is rapidly building up its naval power for
oceanic operations.
Under the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty,
Japan provides bases for U.S. military forces stationed here
so that it can be defended by U.S. deterrence. The
deployment of the new aircraft carrier enhances the U.S.
conflict deterrence and thereby contributes to Japan's
security.
The other side of the coin, however, is
the possibility that such a strategic deployment will
heighten tension in the region. In 1996, when tensions arose
between China and Taiwan, two U.S. aircraft carriers put on
a show of military power in waters near Taiwan. An effective
combination of diplomacy and deterrence is necessary to
prevent dangerous tension from building up in U.S.-China
relations or on the Korean Peninsula.
The Japanese government should be given
more information by Washington about U.S. military
operations from Yokosuka and other bases in Japan. Such
information is necessary for Japanese taxpayers to
deliberate issues concerning the way the bilateral alliance
works.
What is more important than anything
else is ensuring the safety of the nuclear-powered U.S.
vessels.
The two nuclear reactors on board the
George Washington combined can generate as much thermal
power as a commercial reactor at a nuclear power plant. The
U.S. military tries to reassure worried Japanese by saying
there has never been a serious accident on any of its
nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and other vessels.
But the U.S. Navy disclosed in early
August that one of its nuclear-powered submarines had leaked
water containing trace amounts of radiation during calls to
Japanese ports. There is the legitimate concern that
information about an accident on the George Washington may
not be disclosed on grounds of military confidentiality. It
is hardly surprising that people in Yokosuka and Sasebo in
Nagasaki Prefecture, which is home to another key U.S. naval
base, are deeply worried about the safety of nuclear-powered
vessels.
If such a scary situation actually arises, the current
arrangement for Japan's stable supply of bases for U.S.
forces would be seriously threatened. It is the
obligation of the Japanese government to obtain maximum
cooperation from the U.S. Navy over efforts to ensure
the safety of the nuclear-powered ships, including the
establishment of systems for inspections and information
disclosure and drills to prepare for emergencies.
U.S. Navy Plans
'6th-Generation' Fighter Jet
(DEFENSE NEWS 29 SEP 08) ...
Christopher Cavas
The U.S. Navy's top officer is
committed to keeping 11 aircraft carriers in service and
ultimately stocking them with a mix of Super Hornet and
Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.
"What I envision in the future is to
have a mix of F-18 Super Hornets and [F-35] Joint Strike
Fighters," Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations (CNO),
told a group of Defense News and Navy Times editors and
reporters Sept. 26.
"When Super Hornets phase out," they
will be "replaced with sixth-generation fighters" to be
developed in the 2020s, Roughead said. "We need to position
ourselves so we al-ways have a mix of airplanes."
The Navy is working to address a
so-called "fighter gap" beginning in 2015, when older-model
F/A-18 Hornet aircraft will be retiring faster than new
F-35C carrier strike fighters will arrive to replace them.
The shortfall occurs from 2015 to 2025, with the gap at its
widest — 69 planes — in 2017.
Roughead said the Navy continues to
study its options on how to solve the shortage, which
essentially consist of speeding up F-35 production or buying
more Super Hornets.
"There have been some that have said
that if we continue with [Super] Hornet production,"
Roughead said, "we would be blocking the way for the Joint
Strike Fighter. That is not the case at all. I really do
want our air wings to have more than one airplane." Flying
fewer than the current 10 carrier air wings would also
reduce the impact of the fighter gap, but Roughead said that
option is not being considered.
"For us, it will be 10 wings, and
that's what we are trying to keep," he declared. Sources
inside the Pentagon also have said the Navy is considering a
permanent reduction of its fleet of 11 aircraft carriers to
10 flattops — an assertion Roughead stoutly denied.
"I am committed to the current force of
11 carriers," he said. "If you want to be the global navy
that I think the nation needs ...11 carriers is necessary."
Federal law requires the service to
maintain an 11-carrier force, and the Navy is asking
Congress for an exemption in 2013, when a 33-month gap pops
up between the decommissioning of the carrier Enterprise and
the entry into service of its replacement, the future USS
Gerald R. Ford. Congress is balking at the request this
year, but may change its mind if the service again brings up
the issue in 2009.
"Our desire to drop below 11 is indeed
simply a temporary measure," Roughead said. "Right now, the
law says I should have 11 carriers. I believe there should
be 11 carriers, but if that law changes, I obey the law."
Destroyer Talk
The CNO provided some explanation for
his decision to seek to "truncate" the planned seven-ship
DDG 1000 Zumwalt destroyer class, first to two ships and now
— after significant congressional backlash — at three ships,
and build more DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers.
"DDG 1000 was conceived in the early
'90s and the world has changed a lot since then," he said.
"It takes us an awful long time" to develop a new ship.
The Zumwalts were designed to provide
Navy to maintain one less carrier, the Navy would follow
suit, Roughead said.
"If there is a decision that the risk
associated with that is acceptable, and the law says you are
going to have 10 carriers, then we will follow the law."
Another issue that concerns him is the
"fighter gap," Roughead said, referring to the period
predicted to start in 2016 when years of hard use will mean
as many as 69 F/A-18 Hornets will wear out before the
arrival of the replacement F-35 Lightning II. Buying more
Hornets would bridge the gap, but it wouldn't mean the Navy
is turning its back on the F-35, Roughead said.
The F-35 depends on a broad range of
U.S. and international buyers to keep the cost per plane
relatively low; if any one customer pulls out or drastically
changes its order, the entire program could be imperiled.
Roughead said he has no plans to walk
away from the F-35 and said he'd prefer for Navy carrier
wings to include different mixtures of aircraft, first
Hornets and Lightning IIs, and eventually, Lightning IIs and
a yet-to-be-developed sixth-generation fighter. Mixing up
the aircraft means the Navy is insulated from problems such
as the Air Force's servicewide grounding of its F-15 Eagles
in the spring, which created an air power vacuum in
Afghanistan that the Navy had to fill.
As for a decision about what the Navy
will do — buy more Super Hornets, speed up production of the
Lightning II or something else — it's all still under
consideration, Roughead said.
Crew Sizes
Roughead reiterated his goal to get as
many sailors as possible off ships, although he said the key
was not smaller crews in and of themselves, but new,
automated systems that would take the place of human sailors
— "good, balanced manning," he called it.
Planners determine crew sizes by
calculating the amount of maintenance a ship needs, so as
more aspects of a ship take care of themselves — as with the
auto-mated engineering and auxiliary spaces planned aboard a
littoral combat ship — the ship needs fewer sailors.
Roughead acknowledged that cutting crew
sizes too deep could mean that a ship wouldn't have the
personnel it needed to deal with accidents or battle damage.
When the destroyer Cole was bombed in 2000, it was carrying
330 sailors, most of whom had to work to fight fires and
save the ship. But the destroyers that sailed in August with
the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group were carrying
about 240 sailors. In 2004, the House Armed
Services Committee made an unofficial
recommendation that the Navy try to man a destroyer with 200
people to save money.
Roughead said he wasn't familiar with
that specific recommendation and said the Navy didn't have a
set goal for the crew size it wants to reach on each type of
ship, such as removing 40 sailors from every cruiser by a
certain year. He conceded, though, that taking sailors off
ships is an effective way to save the Navy money. 'People
are very expensive,' he said. 'They're our most precious
commodity. I wouldn't expect it to be otherwise."
Readiness
After a year in which four ships — the
destroyer Stout, the cruiser Chosin, and the amphibious
transport docks San Antonio and New Orleans — all had
serious deficiencies according to Navy inspectors, Roughead
said he wasn't concerned about systemic readiness problems
in the surface force. The Board of Inspection and Survey, or
InSurv, finds a few bad ships every year, Roughead said, but
that doesn't mean there are problems in the surface force
that go beyond those individual ships. "When I look at the
readiness data, apart from the episodic examples you cite,
and as I visit the fleet out doing the work, we are doing
extremely well. I'm pleased with what I see with readiness,"
he said.
Roughead said it's critical for sailors
to operate the machinery they'll be using in the fleet,
rather than relying solely on simulation and classroom
instruction.
The problems aboard the combat-ants and
the gators are a function of the ship's "onboard programs
and oversight," Roughead said.
'They are great ships," he said, "and if you've been on
them, you know the quality of life is good."
Marine Corps Buys 1,993
UAS To Fill Urgent Warfighter Need
(DEFENSE DAILY 29 SEP 08) ...
Geoff
Fein
In the past 60 days, the Marine Corps
has bought almost 2,000 unmanned air vehicles (UAV) from the
Army and Air Force, in response to a warfighters' urgent
needs requests, a Navy official said.
In order to quickly get systems to
Marines in theater, the Navy and Marine Corps leveraged
preexisting systems, Capt. J.R. Brown, program manager,
small tactical unmanned aerial systems (STUAS), told Defense
Daily Thursday.
"We have close relationships with both
the Army and Air Force offices. We work with each other very
well. I am very proud of that relationship," he said.
The Marine Corps has put on contract
1,993 air vehicles, Brown said. That number translates into:
13 of AAI Corp.'s [TXT] Shadow air systems, 467 of
AeroVironment's Raven B and 135 of its Wasp UAS, Brown
added.
The systems include the air vehicles
and ground stations, among other things.
Each Shadow and Wasp system has four
air vehicles. The Raven B system has three air vehicles,
Brown said.
Each Shadow system will cost the Marine
Corps $15.6 million. The total procurement cost for all 13
systems is $203 million, according to Naval Air Systems
Command (NAVAIR).
Raven B will cost the Marine Corps
$125,000 per system. The total procurement cost for 467
systems is $58.4 million.
Wasp will cost $120,000 per system. The
total procurement cost for all 135 systems is $16.2 million,
according to NAVAIR.
All the orders should be filled by the
end of FY '10 Brown noted.
Shadow will carry an Electro Optical
Infrared payload and a laser pointer. The UAV can fly for up
to six hours with a range of greater than 90km, Vic Wigfall,
Shadow system integrated product team (IPT) official, told
Defense Daily, in the same interview.
Shadow, also known as the Marine Corps
tactical UAS (MCTUAS), is managed through the Marine
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron (VMU).
"There is built-in training from the
Army that we procure from them. They already have a
logistics system in place, so we are going to be taking
advantage of that," Brown said.
There are three Marine squadrons flying
Shadow, Wigfall said. "We just set up a squadron on Sept.
12, and we had one Pioneer system per squadron. Now we are
going to three Shadow systems per squadron and there will be
a reserve squadron standing up as well.
"Prior to flying Shadow, we were flying
Pioneer. It had been in the inventory with the Marine Corps
for over 20 years. We transitioned those squadrons from
flying Pioneer to flying Shadow, so there was a lot of
experience that was brought to the table...we didn't start
from scratch," he said.
The Marine Corps is training with the
Army at Ft. Huachuca, Ariz., Wigfall added.
Besides leveraging an existing
production line for Shadow procurement, the Marine Corps is
also leveraging the Army's performance based logistics (PBL)
contract, Wigfall said.
"In-theater support comes from AAI, so
we have field service reps within the squadron working with
AAI side by side with the Army," he said. "In terms of
proximity, we are working right across the other side of the
runway."
Wigfall added that the PBL contract is
an integral part of how Shadow is supported.
"There is a pool of parts...another
good news story for the Marine Corps...we leveraged that
pool of parts the Army has procured and it's managed by
AAI," he said. "If we go down for an engine, or if a
launcher goes down, we can utilize those parts in that
pool."
From the time the requirement was
approved, it was nine months later that the Marine Corps had
a system fielded, Wigfall said.
"Within 10 months from the time we
started this, we had our first system delivered, squadron
trained and they were deploying," he said.
For Wasp and Raven B, there are active
duty Marine Corps training teams, Lt. Col. James Roudebush,
Wasp and Raven B IPT official, told Defense Daily, in the
same interview.
"We basically do mobile training teams.
They will go to the units at their request to provide
training at their location," he said.
Training runs one to two weeks to
complete, but typically the Marine Corps operates a one-week
course, Roudebush added.
Wasp is a platoon, squad level
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) asset,
Roudebush said
Wasp can carry either an EO or IR
payload. It has about a 45- minute endurance and a range of
three miles.
Raven B has a 90-minute endurance and
six-mile range. It is a battalion level asset and can carry
either an EO or IR payload. One of its IR payloads has a
laser illuminator, Roudebush said.
"It will basically let the operator,
working on a night optical device, see where the IR payload
is looking at through his night vision goggles," he said.
Both Wasp and Raven B are powered by
battery-operated electric motors.
Because of the issue of power
consumption, one concept being looked at for Wasp is called
"perch and stare," Roudebush said.
"For the battery, the largest drain is
the electric motor," he said.
What the Navy and Marine Corps are
seeing in the micro world is the idea of landing the air
vehicle on a rooftop or overhang, and letting it sit there
while the moveable camera transmits video pictures for up to
six hours, Roudebush added.
"And then just when it has enough
battery power to get back home, it takes off and flies back
home," he said. "It's that perch and stare they are looking
at, because the video transfer doesn't draw as much power on
the battery. So instead of having the vehicle loiter or
hover, you basically shut the engine off and let the video
do the work."
The speed at which the UAS were
approved and procured couldn't have been done without
turning to the Non Developmental Item (NDI) program, Brown
said.
"When it is a solution you should
always take advantage of it. You basically eliminate a
significant amount of the acquisition cycle. You don't have
to do R&D, you don't have to do developmental testing. The
system has already gone through operational test for its
independent testing, so you eliminate all of that," he
explained.
"When the first systems come off the
production line, there is a learning curve you go through.
Well, we are buying into a mature system that is off a
mature production line. We actually become part of the rate,
which means you can get them at a less expensive price,"
Brown added.
If warfighters need something even
quicker...right now, for example, Brown said there are
mechanisms in place to help with that.
"We have ISR services contracts. [We]
reach out into industry, find the best system ready to go,
and forward deploy them. We have one system forward deployed
at a Marine Corps unit," he added.
"We are not using one solution to solve a problem. We
are [using] a couple of different solutions to solve a
problem for the warfighter," Brown said.
US
Carrier Leaves Japan On 1st Mission
(ASSOCIATED PRESS 01 OCT 08)
TOKYO: The USS George Washington
aircraft carrier left its new home port south of Tokyo on
Wednesday on its first mission from Japan.
The nuclear-powered carrier is expected
to stop in Busan, South Korea, and then head farther south
into the Pacific for drills and patrols.
The George Washington, the only U.S.
carrier that has its home port outside the United States, is
the centerpiece of the U.S. 7th Fleet, which is based in
Yokosuka.
Hanako Tomizuka, a U.S. Navy
spokeswoman, confirmed the ship had left in the morning. She
did not provide further details on the deployment as it is
Navy policy not to comment on future operations and
positions of its warships.
The carrier arrived in Japan on Thursday, replacing the
USS Kitty Hawk, which is being decommissioned.
Air Force, Navy
Officials Agree Upon F-35 Depot Workload
(AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE 30 SEP 08)
WASHINGTON -- Air Force and Navy
officials here signed a memo Sept. 16 identifying a new
process for allocating F-35 Lightning II depot repair
workloads.
The new process takes into account
service competency and experience in determining workload
allocation.
"This was truly a joint effort on the
part of the Air Force and the Navy to agree on the majority
of the depot workload, ensuring we will have depot repair
capability up and running when we need it," said Debra
Walker, the deputy assistant secretary for logistics. The
F-35, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter, is the largest
joint program in the history of the Department of Defense.
For 80 percent of the major system
categories on the Joint Strike Fighter, the services
were able to reach early agreement on
workload allocation. This agreement was formalized in an Air
Force/Navy jointly signed letter to the Joint Program Office
for final approval. For the remaining 20 percent, which
includes software and some avionics systems, a source
selection team will be formed, comprised of representatives
from all the services and the Joint Program Office.
Some of the systems the Air Force and
Navy officers were able to agree on up front include
airframe and engines. The Joint Strike Fighter airframe
maintenance, which will be up and running in 2012, will be
located at the Fleet Readiness Center-East at Marine Corps
Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., and the Ogden Air Logistics
Center at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. This includes
associated doors, panels, covers and control surfaces.
Engine maintenance, which will also
stand up in 2012, will be at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics
Center at Tinker AFB, Okla. A follow-on engine standup in
2014 will be at the Fleet Readiness Center-Southeast at
Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla.
The engine lift system, which will be used in the Marine
Corps variant aircraft will be maintained beginning in
2014 at the Fleet Readiness Center East-MCAS Cherry
Point.
Subject: NAVAIR completes Swiss aircraft buy
Date: 29-Sep-08
News Release Copy: NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT
RIVER, Md. – NAVAIR’s Support and Commercial Derivative
Aircraft Support Office Adversary Team recently completed a
six year program to buy and refurbish 44 retired Swiss Air
Force F-5 Freedom Fighters. These F-5N aircraft enable the
Navy to fly in a dedicated adversary role until at least
Fiscal Year 2015.
“The success of the F-5E Replacement Program could not
have happened without our international and industry
partners, the Swiss government and Northrop Grumman. This
reverse Foreign Military Sales program began in 2000 when
the Navy needed a replacement for its fleet of F-5E Tiger II
adversary aircraft,” said Capt. James Wallace, Support and
Commercial Derivative Aircraft program manager (PMA207).
“The Swiss are long-time operators of the F-5 and had
surplus aircraft available. An agreement between the U.S.
and Swiss governments was signed and the Swiss initially
supplied 32 former Swiss Air Force single-seat F-5Es to us
under the F-5E Replacement Program, a program valued at $50
million.”
The Swiss aircraft were manufactured with Improved
Handling Quality systems. Their physical differences include
a sharper nose, different wing leading edge roots and
automatic flaps, giving an increased capability compared to
the U.S. F-5Es.
“The Swiss aircraft had very few flight hours and were in
great shape,” said Lt. Cdr. Jason Goff, the Adversary and
Commercial Air Services Deputy program manager. “One F-5 was
delivered to Northrop Grumman’s plant in St Augustine, Fla.,
every month to start the refurbishment process. We basically
take one of our old F-5E’s and a Swiss plane and at the end
of the refurbishment; we have a new plane – the F-5N. The
refurbishment process takes up to five months to complete.
It just made sense to refurbish the aircraft at Northrop
Grumman’s plant since they designed and built the jets in
the first place. They already do all our depot work and they
own all the drawings.”
“In 2004, the Navy wanted to establish an Adversary
training base in Key West, Fla. The Navy Reserve came up
with the funding to buy 12 extra jets,” said Jay Bolles, the
Integrated Program Team lead for Adversary Aircraft in
PMA-207. “We bought the extra aircraft from the Swiss, now
totaling 44 aircraft, and put them through the refurbishment
line with the reserve funding and we were still able to stay
within the original schedule.”
Each Swiss
F-5E is airlifted from RUAG's plant at Emmen,
Switzerland, to St Augustine, Fla., in a U.S. Navy
C-130T. The Swiss F-5’s are disassembled and stowed in a
purpose-built frame designed and manufactured by
Northrop Grumman. One of two frames was permanently at
Emmen, and the other was always in transit.
Thanks to
John Fry, CO, San Diego - 
An F/A-18C Hornet
assigned to the "Stingers" of VFA-113 departs a tanker
track in Southern Afghanistan on September 27, 2008 to
head back to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS
Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) while two other Hornets join a
British Royal Air Force L-1011 aerial refueling
aircraft. Ronald Reagan is deployed to the U.S. 5th
Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Cmdr.
Erik Etz)
USS Intrepid Returns Home
(WCBS
(NEW YORK CBS) 02 OCT 08) ...
Broadcast Clip
The U.S.S. Intrepid is on it's way back
home after months of renovation. This famous floating museum
is traveling up the Hudson River towards Pier 86. Aboard the
flight deck of the Intrepid after a 115 million dollar face
lift, today was a day for celebration and for tears. The
flight deck was manned by 250 former crew members as retired
Admiral Abbott was flown in to pronounce orders to authorize
the movement after a two year hiatus.
Floating Proudly, A Warship Returns
To Its Mission
(NEW
YORK TIMES 03 OCT 08) ...
Patrick
McGeehan
ABOARD THE INTREPID — Nearly two years
after an embarrassing false start to its departure, the
aircraft carrier Intrepid floated back to its berth on the
West Side of Manhattan on Thursday, undeterred by a strong
westerly wind or the sticky underside of the Hudson River.
The 65-year-old ship, which had served
as a military museum for almost 25 years before it left so
its pier could be rebuilt, was towed from Staten Island by a
team of four tugboats, accompanied by a flotilla of police
boats and sightseeing craft.
The move, which took about three hours,
was celebrated by a large cast of former crew members and
thousands of onlookers who lined the riverfront. But it
lacked the memorable drama of its December 2006 move, when
the ship became stuck in the mud moments after leaving its
West Side pier.
The ship, 900 feet long, glided back
into its old parking space parallel to Pier 86, off West
46th Street, just after 2 p.m., filling the void it had
left. A digital countdown clock atop the pier flashed
“Today!” in red capital letters at the crowd that had
gathered along the West Side Highway and the neighboring
Pier 84.
“She’s ba-ack,” said Bill White, the
president of the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum, as he
marveled at how snugly the old warhorse fit beside the new
staircases and other structures on the pier, which was
rebuilt during the Intrepid’s absence. “You couldn’t have
called it better. The weather was just right.”
Mr. White expressed relief that the
Intrepid’s return was not foiled by the elements again. In
November 2006, several of the most powerful tugboats on the
Eastern seaboard struggled mightily to budge the Intrepid,
but they could not dislodge its four giant propellers from
the muddy river bottom.
After another round of dredging by the
United States Navy, the Intrepid, which does not have a
working engine, was towed away a month later. At a dry dock
in Bayonne, N.J., the troublesome propellers, which weighed
20 tons each, were removed and the ship was patched up and
repainted.
A few months later, it was towed to the
Homeport, a city-owned port on Staten Island, where a
thorough redesign of its exhibit spaces was begun and its
collection of helicopters and fighter planes was touched up
and expanded. About two dozen aircraft, some repainted to
look as they did when they flew combat missions in World War
II, Vietnam and other conflicts, were tied to the steel
flight deck as the ship floated across the harbor and up the
river.
The overhaul of the ship, combined with
the reconstruction of Pier 86, will cost more than $100
million, most of it paid for by government grants and the
rest from private donations. The museum is scheduled to
reopen on Nov. 8, with a grand opening celebration to follow
on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, Mr. White said.
More than 200 former crew members
boarded in Staten Island for one last ride. About 50 of them
manned the rail as a lone tugboat pulled the ship past the
Statue of Liberty. Alongside the former site of the World
Trade Center, they unfurled a giant American flag that had
hung on the west side of 1 Liberty Plaza after 9/11. They
saluted as a pair of horn players from the New York Police
Department band played taps.
Throughout the voyage, they traded
stories of war and times of peace.
Joseph M. Cammarata, 86, recounted his
adventures as a radioman on torpedo planes over the South
Pacific during World War II. He monitored the radar to
calibrate the right moment for the pilot to unload on a
Japanese ship that had attacked the Intrepid near the
Philippines.
“We hit that sucker,” he said, still
relishing the moment more than half a century later. But his
plane took fire and had to ditch in the sea, leaving him and
two crewmates to paddle toward the nearest island. They were
picked up by a Filipino fisherman.
“If the Japanese got us — pffft — they
would have killed us,” said Mr. Cammarata, who lives in
Rochester.
Joseph D. Murphy, 85, grew up in
Rockaway Beach, but traveled from his home in San Ramon,
Calif., to relive his exploits operating a 40-millimeter
quad gun high above the flight deck. He vividly recalled the
day in November 1944 when two Japanese kamikaze pilots
crashed near where he was standing on Thursday morning.
“Right about here,” he said pointing a few feet to his left,
then pausing to think about the men who died in that attack.
“I’m delighted to be back,” he said.
“It’s a real honor to be here.”
Standing beside the ship after it docked, Charles de
Gunzburg, co-chairman of the museum’s board of trustees,
said that the trustees and staff of the Intrepid shared
Mr. Murphy’s sentimentsUSS Lincoln Is Returning
USS
Abraham Lincoln Strike Group
(SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER 03 OCT
08) ... Mike Barber
More than 3,600 sailors are coming home
to the Puget Sound area after a seven-month deployment to
Middle Eastern waters with the Everett-based USS Abraham
Lincoln Strike Group.
A vanguard comprised of at least 180
sailors from Whidbey Island's Electronic Attack Squadron
131, the Lancers, are expected to arrive around noon Tuesday
at its home base near Oak Harbor, when the EA-6B Prowler
electronic warfare jets arrive. The rest of the squadron's
maintenance and support crews are expected to arrive a day
later by airlift.
The Prowlers and other air squadrons
will be released as the carrier, with close to 3,000
Everett-based sailors aboard, checks into San Diego on
Wednesday before heading up the West Coast to the Puget
Sound.
Also returning with the Prowler crews
are 23 members of Whidbey's Sea Operation Readiness
Detachment.
This detachment's technical support
helped keep the aging but high-priority Vietnam-era
electronic warfare jets in top form, Whidbey officials said.
Returning with the carrier are two
Everett-based guided missile destroyers, the USS Shoup and
USS Momsen, Naval Station Everett spokesman Rick Huling said
Friday. Each destroyer carries a crew of nearly 200 sailors.
The carrier, destroyers and aviators
left Everett in mid-March as the Lincoln became the flagship
for a large strike group serving in the Navy's 5th and 7th
Fleets' areas of operations -- primarily the Arabian Gulf
and North Arabian Sea, Navy officials said.
A Whidbey news release said
temperatures on the flight deck often reached 130 degrees.
The strike group's Carrier Air Wing 2 conducted 7,100
sorties and had more than 22,000 flying hours supporting
U.S. and coalition ground forces, Third Fleet officials
said.
The group also assisted mariners who were in distress
and provided humanitarian assistance, conducted
international navy exercises and visited a number of
ports.
Monday October 06, 2008
F-35A Starts Testing
at Edwards:
The F-35A conventional take-off and landing Joint Strike
Fighter dubbed AA-1 landed at Edwards AFB, Calif., on
Oct. 1 for a series of tests, including air-start and
noise testing. According to prime contractor Lockheed
Martin, AA-1 made its 50th flight in late September in
Fort Worth, Tex. A Sept. 30 company
release said the aircraft flew on Sept. 16 with a
full weapons load (using mock weapons) in its internal
weapons bays for the first time and on Sept. 25 went
through in-flight refueling testing. According to
Lockheed's chief F-35 test pilot, Jon Beesley, "The
climb out with full internal weapons carriage was
particularly impressive to me; very pleasant to see
clean fighter climb rates and angles while carrying a
combat load."
A
product of... Navy
Office of Information
www.navy.mil
October 6, 2008
Executing
the Maritime Strategy
"By
taking advantage of EVERY opportunity to promote partnership
and interoperability between Navies worldwide, we greatly
increase the ability to unite as a regional multinational
force with the right capability and capacity to protect our
common vital interests and jointly respond to short notice
disaster relief efforts."
-Captain Rudy Laco, Commander, Destroyer Squadron FOUR ZERO,
U.S. Southern Command, Partnership of Americas 2008
Around the world, the Navy is executing the six core
capabilities of the Maritime Strategy – forward presence,
deterrence, sea control, power projection, maritime security
and humanitarian assistance/disaster response.
Forward Presence
• USS
George Washington (CVN 73) arrived at Fleet Activities
Yokosuka, Japan, Sept. 25, marking the beginning of George
Washington and Carrier Air Wing 5 team's role as the U.S.
Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier and upgrading
the Navy’s ability to preserve regional security and
stability in the Western Pacific.
Maritime Security
•
Several U.S. ships are operating in the vicinity of Motor
Vessel Faina, the Belize-flagged cargo ship, which was
captured Sept. 25 and is anchored off the coast of Somalia.
The U.S. 5th Fleet continues to actively monitor the
situation ensuring safety of the crew and Faina’s return to
legitimate shipping.
• USS
Boone (FFG 28), USS McInerney (FFG 8) and USS De Wert (FFG
45) complete their successful counter illicit trafficking
support deployment to the U.S. Southern Command area of
focus in early October. The coordinated actions of the U.S.
Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and Joint Interagency Task Force
South were instrumental in the interdiction of a combined 35
tons of cocaine.
Humanitarian
Assistance/Disaster Response
• USS
Kearsarge (LHD 3) provided disaster relief in Haiti from
Sept. 8-26 following several tropical storms and Hurricane
Ike. During its support to USAID-led relief efforts, Marine
and Navy helicopters embarked aboard Kearsarge flew more
than 100 sorties and its landing craft transported more than
30 loads of supplies. These operations led to the timely
delivery of more than 3.3 million pounds of food, water and
other relief supplies to devastated Haitian communities.
Building Maritime Partnerships
• On
Sept. 18, USNS Navajo (T-ATF 169), Deep Submergence Unit and
the Chilean submarine SS-21 Simpson conducted the first-ever
mating between a Chilean sub and a rescue vehicle during
CHILEMAR 08. Two open-hatch mates were conducted at a depth
of 492 ft., simulating the rescue of 33 submariners and
transferring nine personnel between the Simpson and the
Pressurized Rescue Module Falcon.
•
DESRON 40, USS Farragut (DDG 99) and USS Kauffman (FFG 59)
return to homeport in early October after completing
Partnership of the Americas. Conducted annually since 2006,
the POA deployment emphasizes interoperability and
cooperation through a variety of exercises and events at sea
and on shore between U.S. maritime forces and partner
nation's navies in the Caribbean, and Central and South
America.
Status
of the Navy (as of 6 October)
|
Navy
Personnel
Total Active Component 332,262
Total Reserve Component 123,711
DoN Civilians 184,396
Ships, Submarines & Aircraft
Total deployable ships/subs 281
Ship underway 128 (46%)
Subs underway 28 (51%)
Ships deployed 109 (39%)
Subs deployed 19 (35%)
Total Operational Aircraft 3,700+ |
Ground Forces in NAVCENT AOR
Countries ≥400 AC RC
Iraq 5,227 1,223
Bahrain 2,695 86
Kuwait 1,136 715
Afghanistan 1,799 339
Qatar 584 10
Djibouti 598 39
Total on ground, all countries 14,804 |
Sailors at Sea by AOR
NAVCENT/C5F 9,634
PACFLT 26,000
NAVSOUTH/C4F 2,864
C2F 10,764
CNE-C6F 7,952
|
Naval Force Instructor
Black
Ice Consulting is seeking qualified personnel for several
positions for an overseas client.
These
positions will be located in a friendly middle-eastern
country (not Iraq or Afghanistan), will allow for
accompanied family members and other benefits that will be
explained once a candidate is identified.
Interested applicants who meet
the qualifications below and wish to learn more should send
a letter of application detailing qualifications for the
position, curriculum
vitae
or a resume, and contact information to: Steven Collins,
director@blackicesecurity.com.
Once you
are selected as an employee candidate, a Non-Disclosure
Agreement will be required by you in order to provide you
additional information such as which company is hiring you
and details about the work, who you are supporting, and
salary negotiation. If you are selected you will be
notified. If not found to make the initial level of
qualification or if the position(s) are filled, you may be
notified of this depending on the number of applicants.
===========================
Navy
Force Instructor
Prerequisite Education:
BS/BA
Degree
Preferred Specialty: Naval Operations
Prerequisite Experience and Training:
This
position requires an experienced naval officer/naval
aviation officer with command and staff experience ashore
and afloat. The ideal candidate would also be a former
instructor and course developer for air and naval operations
at an advanced level.
Essential
Capabilities/Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:
-- Naval
operations experience in plans and policy (N-3) or Joint
Staff (J-3) experience as a naval planner, naval air
planner, operations officer or other operational capacity
involved in the coordination and conduct of naval operations
at a theater level and below.
--
Experience in Naval command and control.
--
Experience in Naval operations and procedures.
--
Knowledge of Naval disaster response plans.
--
Experienced instructor and experienced in course
development, lesson plans and techniques.
--
Graduate of or Instructor at a formal Naval Institute or
Command and Staff College.
-- Full
knowledge of Naval Air Operations.
-- Dynamic personality, well-organized, flexible and
results-oriented.
-- A proven ability to manage and operate effectively in a
culturally diverse organization and market.
-- IT literate MS Office programs – Outlook, Word, Excel and
PowerPoint.
-- English language fluent and local language skills
(Arabic) are highly desirable.
Key Tasks and Responsibilities:
--
Develop all courses related to naval operations.
--
Develop course curriculum
--
Maintain currency and relevancy of material and courses
--
Prepare training activities and scenarios
--
Teach and train the students
It’s
gratifying to see the reaction of some to an aircraft
carrier in their neighborhood –
U.S. Carrier In South Korea, Likely To Irk North
(REUTERS 06 OCT 08)
SEOUL - A U.S. aircraft carrier group
arrived in South Korean waters on Monday for a visit likely
to upset prickly North Korea, which has said it sees such
events as military provocations that undermine nuclear
disarmament talks.
The visit of the USS George Washington
came after the United States sent a senior diplomat to North
Korea last week in a last-ditch attempt to save a crumbling
disarmament-for-aid-deal and stop Pyongyang from rebuilding
its nuclear-arms plant.
The carrier group was anchored just
outside the southern port of Busan for an international
fleet exhibit, South Korean navy officials said. It will
come into port on Tuesday and leave on Friday.
When the USS Ronald Reagan carrier
group visited South Korea in July, the North's official
media said the United States "was deliberately aggravating
the situation." U.S. military officials said it was a
routine visit.
"Its behavior is prompted by its
calculation that if its military pressure and threat are
escalated to keep pace with its diplomatic dialogue, it can
discourage its rival ... and boost its negotiating
position," the North's media said in July.
North Korea has not yet commented on
the arrival of the George Washington carrier group.
In recent weeks, North Korea has made
initial steps toward restarting its aging Yongbyon nuclear
plant, which was being disabled under the disarmament deal
North Korea reached with five regional powers, U.S. and
South Korean officials have said.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill left
Pyongyang last Friday but has not discussed whether he
made any progress during three days of talks in the
North Korean capital on the nuclear deal.
Navy Planes, Ship Returning Home This Week
(WVEC (HAMPTON ROADS ABC) 06 OCT 08)
VIRGINIA BEACH -- It's a week of Navy
homecomings.
Then Wednesday, the Blue Blasters of
Strike Fighter Squadron Three Four ( VFA-34) will fly in to
NAS Oceana Wednesday to end a nearly seven-month deployment
with USS Abraham Lincoln.
The squadron left March 16 to join
Carrier Air Wing TWO in California aboard the carrier.
During the deployment in support of
Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, the crew completed
nearly 1,600 sorties, of which 469 were combat sorties
delivering 9,500 pounds of ordnance. They also accomplished
1,571 arrested landings, or “traps.”
Several sailors have a special reason to want to be home
-- seven babies were born while they were gone.
Sailors Return To Lemoore Naval Air Station
(KMPH 26 (FOX, SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY,
CALIF.) 08 OCT 08) ...
Nicole Garcia and Winston Whitehurst
Three strike fighter squadrons flew
their F/A-18 Hornets and Superhornets on to the tarmac at
Lemoore Naval Air Station Tuesday morning, as their loved
ones waited and waved.
After seven months aboard the aircraft
carrier USS Abaraham Lincoln, dozens of families are finally
reunited.
"Taking some time off work, about a
week, then back to the grind, after 7 months, just happy to
see the wife and kid," said Lt. Commander Ken Rogers.
His one-year-old son Fletcher wore a
flight suit as he met his father.
The squadrons left their families in
March, after being deployed to the Persian Gulf, to support
Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom in
Afghanistan.
About 1,000 sailors are expected to
return home from their seven-month deployment over the next
two days.
Many sailors say they became emotional
as they landed, and saw their families waiting for them.
"Emotionally it's just a feeling of
pride... all my guys here, what a great job they did... all
the jets are back, all my people are healthy, just a
tremendous feeling of accomplishment," said Commander Eric
Venema.
Along with his wife and kids, the
Commander's father came from Pennsylvania to welcome his son
home.
"Just saying a short prayer and
thanking the Lord that they're all home safe," said Michael
Venema of seeing his son again for the first time in over a
year.
Family members know, there will come a
time when their loved ones will be called to duty again.
"As a wife of the Navy, it's what we
signed up to do," said Crystal Rogers, a Navy wife.
"This is the best day of the year so
far," she said, as she gave her husband a kiss.
Several more Navy pilots are still on
their way home.
The remainder of the squadron will be flying into
Lemoore Naval Air Station Wednesday.
Abraham Lincoln Strike Group Arriving In Port
(SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE 08 OCT 08)
... Laura Embry
SAN DIEGO – The nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and two locally based ships
have arrived in San Diego Wednesday following a seven-month
deployment.
The Lincoln will return to its homeport
of Everett, Wash., after dropping off personnel and aircraft
in San Diego, according to the Navy's Third Fleet public
affairs office.
Joining the carrier as part of the
Abraham Lincoln Strike Group will be the San Diego-based
guided-missile cruiser Mobile Bay and guided-missile frigate
Curts, according to the Navy.
During its stop in San Diego, the
Abraham Lincoln will also host a change-of-command ceremony.
Rear Adm. Scott Swift will relieve Rear Adm. Scott Van
Buskirk as commander of the strike group.
During it's deployment, pilots from the
Abraham Lincoln flew more than 7,100 sorties in support of
coalition ground forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, according
to the Third Fleet.
It also stopped at ports in Singapore, Brunei, Bahrain,
Thailand, Australia, Palau, Saipan, Cyprus and Oman,
according to the Navy
VS-32 "Maulers" Disestablished
Story Number: NNS081010-15
Release Date: 10/10/2008 1:17:00 PM
By Clark Pierce, Naval Air Station Jacksonville Public
Affairs
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- Sailors, family members,
retirees and friends of VS-32 turned out to bid farewell
to the command during its disestablishment ceremony in
Hangar 117 at NAS Jacksonville (NAS Jax)Sept. 25.
"This is an event that brings us closer the end of our
S-3 community. The Maulers have always been one of the
best-led and best-managed sea control squadrons in the
fleet," said Capt. Jim Paulsen, commander, Carrier Air
Wing 1 who was the guest speaker for the event.
"The S-3 sunset plan is part of the Navy's goal to
streamline logistics and squadron support. The idea was
that our mission can be assumed by other communities,"
stated VS-32 Commanding Officer Cmdr. Doug Carpenter.
"But the legacy of our community and what this squadron
has accomplished will live on."
He told the audience, including a dozen former VS-32
skippers, that the Maulers will be remembered for their
years of battle readiness and safety in the S-3
community. The squadron earned 10 Commander, Naval Air
Force Atlantic (COMNAVAIRLANT) Battle "E" awards; six
Capt. Arnold J. Isbell trophies for excellence in
anti-submarine warfare (ASW); six Adm. Jimmy Thach
awards for meritorious achievement by an ASW squadron;
and 15 Chief of Naval Operations Safety "S" awards. The
squadron also received two Lockheed-Martin Golden Wrench
awards for maintenance excellence; a COMNAVAIRLANT
Silver Anchor award for retention; and the Arleigh Burke
award for the most improved squadron.
"I can safely say that this squadron has sprinted to the
finish line, thanks to the hard work and professionalism
of a long list of distinguished Sailors that wear the
Mauler patch with pride. At the top of that list is a
man who I believe is a hurricane of energy and
professionalism – my Command Master Chief, Adrian
Andrews. When [Andrews] made landfall at VS-32 in 2007,
he immediately set a course to unify the chiefs' mess,
reinvigorate the career development process and provide
a role model for positive leadership. It has been my
honor to serve with Master Chief Andrews," said
Carpenter.
As part of the ceremony, Paulsen presented Carpenter
with the Meritorious Service Medal for his unmatched
personal initiative and intense commitment to excellence
that sustained high-tempo combat support operations
during the squadron's sunset cruise.
Carpenter, in turn, presented the Navy and Marine Corps
Achievement Medal to AE1(AW/SW) Robert Barber Jr., who
is also VS-32's Sailor of the Year. His leadership for
plane captains and troubleshooters in the line division
led to the completion of 308 sorties and 520 mishap-free
flight hours.
The Maulers completed their sunset cruise and the final
carrier deployment for the S-3 Viking in December 2007.
As a component of Carrier Air Wing 1, the squadron
supported ground forces in Afghanistan and Iraq by
conducting maritime security operations. During the
deployment, Mauler aviators flew 960 sorties totaling
more than 2,200 flight hours. The squadron was at sea
for 180 days, with only 13 days in port.
The ceremony concluded as Carpenter read his orders and
relinquished his command to close another chapter of the
S-3 aviation family album. The Navy's only remaining S-3
squadron, the VS-22 "Checkmates," is slated for
decommissioning at NAS Jax in January.
USS Abraham Lincoln Returns Home After Successful Deployment
to 5th, 7th Fleets
Story Number: NNS081015-01
Release Date: 10/15/2008 12:12:00 AM
By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brandon C. Wilson
and Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Geoffrey Lewis
EVERETT, Wash. (NNS) -- USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72)
returns to its homeport of Everett, Wash., Oct. 12 after
a successful seven-month deployment supporting
Operations Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Iraqi Freedom (OIF)
and maritime security and coalition operations in the
U.S. 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility (AOR).
While supporting OEF and OIF from the Persian Gulf and
North Arabian Sea, Lincoln and embarked Carrier Air Wing
(CVW) 2 flew approximately 7,100 sorties -- including
2,307 combat sorties, providing more than 22,000 flight
hours -- and dropped 255,963 pounds of ordnance.
"We traveled over 60,000 miles, 2.3 times around the
world," said USS Abraham Lincoln's (CVN 72) Commanding
Officer Capt. Patrick Hall. "We flew over 7,000 sorties
-- 26,000 hours total -- and supported Sailors,
soldiers, airmen and Marines on the ground in both
Afghanistan and Iraq."
Hall said that with all the miles traveled and missions
flown, Lincoln's crew always had safety in mind.
"The good thing is that all the Sailors who left on
deployment with us are coming back off deployment," he
said.
Lincoln also re-enlisted more than 180 Sailors,
collectively equaling more than 700 years of new service
to the Navy. Other individual achievements include 749
Sailors completing 20 different college classes.
Along with five months of combat operations, Lincoln
hosted Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike
Mullen and dignitaries and military officials from
Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, France,
Bahrain and Pakistan. Lincoln's embarked distinguished
visitors totaled more than 230 from 20 different
countries.
During deployment, Lincoln conducted two burials at sea
for 40 veterans and family members.
After successfully completing operations in the U.S. 5th
Fleet AOR where Sailors enjoyed port visits in the
Persian Gulf region, Lincoln sailed to the U.S. 7th
Fleet AOR and participated in 16 community relations
projects with 400 volunteers, contributing more than
2,000 hours to communities in Singapore and Thailand.
The total distance steamed during deployment was 58,370
miles, or approximately 2.3 times around the world.
Electrical power generated during deployment totaled
52,000 megawatt hours, enough to power the entire
downtown Seattle network for roughly two weeks. Fresh
water produced totaled 58,240 gallons, enough to support
more than 1 million showers for crew personnel.
With the deployment completed, Lincoln and its crew will
enjoy some time off before heading out to sea again for
an upcoming sustainment period.
Hall said the returning Sailors have earned some
well-deserved time off from the 214 days at sea.
"It's tremendous coming home to all the friends and
families, they're all so excited and looking forward to
going home and relaxing" he said.
Navy Reviewing All Options To Fix Tac Air Gap, Engine
Mods Planned
For V-22
(DEFENSE DAILY 16 OCT 08) ...
Geoff Fein
The Navy is continuing to explore its
options to remedy a strike fighter shortfall projected to
occur in the next nine years, as well as examining upgrades
to the V-22 engines to improve maintenance and durability, a
Navy official said.
Earlier this year, the Navy said the
shortfall was due to the legacy Boeing [BA] F/A-18 Hornets
aging (Defense Daily, March 26).
Currently, the analysis shows the Navy
is going to be down, by 2017, 69 Navy strike fighters,
Thomas Laux, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy (DASN)
Air, told Defense Daily in a recent interview.
"In order to deal with that, there is
really a fairly short list of options," he noted.
The first option, Laux explained, is to
live with the gap and deal with the risk of doing so. That's
not an attractive idea, he added.
"In terms of dealing with it, you can
do what we need to do to extend the current aircraft, and
that takes some work...inspections and modifications to the
aircraft," Laux said. "We can take a look at buying new
F-18s, another multi-year...more Super Hornets to fill the
need. And the third is to accelerate the ramp of the Navy
F-35."
The Navy is continuing to evaluate each
of the variables in that equation to see what is affordable
and what makes the most business capability sense, and
provides the warfighter the impact needed within the funds
that are available, he added.
"We continue to trade-off those
elements as we get new information on the condition of our
existing aircraft," Laux said. "We are not done with the
SLAP (service life assessment program) of the aircraft. We
are continuing to evaluate what it will cost to actually
make the modifications required to extend the current ones.
We are continuing to make progress in that.
"I think we are in a position right now
where we continue to have the option of buying new F-18s if
that turns out to be the best option going forward," he
added. "And we continue to evaluate day-to-day what the
progress is on the F-35 development and flight test
program."
Lockheed Martin [LMT] makes the F-35
Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
To stave off the anticipated strike
fighter gap, the Navy began to upgrade its legacy F-18 A
through D model Hornets. The effort was divided into the a
Phase 1 Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) and SLAP
Phases 1 and 2 (Defense Daily, July 24).
SLAP Phase 1 began in December 2001 and
ended in October 2005. The study looked to extend the number
of catapult takeoffs, trap landings and field landings, as
well as stretch the Hornet's flight hours from 6,000 to
8,000.
Modeling done by Naval Air Systems
Command (NAVAIR) determined that many areas that were
suspected wouldn't make 8,000 flight hours didn't (Defense
Daily, July 24).
If the Hornets were not going to be
able to make it to 8,000, it was unlikely they would make it
to the goal of 10,000 flight hours.
That would mean the Navy would have to
do a little more work than expected to get to 10,000.
"So far, early indications are, it is
doable to modify the aircraft to extend from the 8,000 hours
to the 10,000 hours," Laux said. "Each aircraft is
different, each aircraft has experienced different
operational scenarios--on where it's been flown, on exposure
to salt water and stress corrosion and cracking and things
like that."
Each aircraft has experienced a
different number of missions over various flight regimes,
which ramp up the damage counts against the aircraft, he
added.
"What we have been doing is to continue
to examine what it is going to take to put in the
inspections and modifications to each aircraft to provide
the required safety margins that we can continue to operate
each aircraft effectively," Laux explained. "There is
engineering analysis that is ongoing. So far we have not
found any, what I would call, show stoppers. It comes down
to an affordability versus capability trade-off that has to
be made for each of these aircraft and that is what the Navy
is taking a look at."
Of course, while the Navy continues to
do its engineering analysis, the clock is ticking, and the
window to take action to narrow the strike fighter gap
narrows.
Laux said there are probably several
factors driving the time line.
"The first of which is our
understanding of the aircraft we are flying today. A few of
them have already reached 8,000 hours and those are in
inspections now. We are going to put in a program to go from
8,000 to 10,000 based on those early aircraft and experience
we have had when we open them up to give us good indications
of where we are," he said.
"And we continue to do the tear-downs
and inspections that are required to make sure that our
understanding of the aircraft that we need to have to ensure
the safe operation of the aircraft is everything it needs to
be. That's where we are now," Laux added.
"Obviously, as we have more aircraft
that are approaching and surpassing the 8,000 hour kind of
number, then the more pressure there is to make a decision
on how we are going to deal with that," he said.
Another factor in play is that the Navy
is not going to have the option to keep the F/A-18E/F new
production line open forever, Laux said. "So we are working
with the aircraft prime to maintain as much flexibility as
we possibly can in terms of how long we will still have the
option to order new Super Hornets if, in fact, that turns
out to be... an answer for the Navy."
And the Navy continues to monitor the
F-35 progress, he added.
"They have some good things that are
happening and if there is an opportunity to take advantage
of the progress through flight test program and balance that
against the production ramp that could be achieved...[that]
gets worked as well," Laux added.
The Navy is also working some
modifications to the Bell Helicopter Textron [TXT]-Boeing
V-22 Osprey, Laux said.
"Right now, the thing that would
provide the most bang for the buck...in warfighting
capability...for the V-22 is to get more time on wing, for
the AE1107C engines," he said.
Rolls-Royce makes the AE1107C engine
for the Osprey.
The Navy is working on several things
to modify the engines, Laux noted.
First off, the service is looking for
better ways to wash the engines to remove the dust and dirt
that accumulates in theater, Laux said.
The second thing the Navy looked at
were some modifications to the engine itself, he added.
"There are a couple of key areas in the
compressor that we are looking at-the actual compressor
blade tip to the shroud contact.
[There are] some durability
improvements there," Laux said.
One possibility is the use of Titanium
Nitride coating onto the airfoils in the compressor. The
Marine Corps has been using Titanium Nitride onto the
airfoils of the CH-53E's General Electric [GE] T64-GE-416
turboshaft engines. The effort has saved on cost,
maintenance and has enabled the Marine Corps to improve
CH-53E readiness (Defense Daily, September 6).
"That is a not a universal cure-all,"
Laux noted. "That works good on some
applications...particularly enhancements in terms of
durability and dirty operations. But it doesn't work
everywhere. It depends on the nature of the airfoil and the
blade manufacturer itself."
But preliminary information shows it
could provide some very attractive benefits in the AE1107C
engine, Laux added.
The Navy should have its first engine
to test and the prototypes as early as February '09, Laux
said.
The service is also taking a look at nacelle
improvements to figure out if the existing particle
separator on the nacelle...the blowers and things like
that to see what can be done to make those more
effective as well, he added.
