SPAWAR Cyber Imperatives, Efficiency Efforts and Fiscal Constraints Highlighted During West 2015— Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) provided a full line-up of speakers and panel sessions at the Western Conference and Exposition (WEST 2015), one of the largest defense and technology exhibitions on the West Coast, Feb. 11-12. The theme of this year's premier Sea Services event focused on "Lower Budgets and Higher Demands: How do the Sea Services Strike the Right Balance," a topic that resonated throughout many of the key note speeches and panel discussions. Leadership from across SPAWAR reiterated the challenge of maintaining innovation while at the same time increasing cyber warfighting capability in an era of shrinking budgets.
Road Show Scouts Female Submariners — Capt. Rod Hutton, deputy commander for the Enlisted Women in Submarines Task Force, led the Enlisted Women in Submarines Road Show to different military bases in the San Diego area Feb. 9-11. The road show is spreading the word that the submarine force is now open to female enlisted Sailors from E-1 to E-8. Speakers discussed how junior female Sailors could convert to rates in the submarine force and the type of candidates the force is seeking. In addition, they provided an insight of the lifestyle aboard submarines.
SPAWAR Helps Fleet Go Virtual — Instructors from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command's (SPAWAR) Reserve Program provided the first of its kind virtualization training to Sailors, in preparation for receiving the latest information technology system known as the Consolidated Afloat Network Enterprise System (CANES). Sailors from USS Pinckney (DDG 91), USS Higgins (DDG 76), USS Decatur (DDG 73) and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) graduated with a certificate in data center virtualization as a VMware vSphere Certified Associate. The certification helps provide the skills necessary to manage the virtual environment of CANES once it is installed.
The Streak Continues: U.S. Navy Earns Top Rank Again for Patent Portfolio — A system that tests the strength of fire truck equipment in an environmentally friendly way is one of 396 technologies patented by the U.S. Navy in 2013 - helping the service lead the government category in a recent ranking of patent portfolios. For the sixth consecutive year, the U.S. Department of the Navy (DoN) eclipsed government agencies around the world for the size and quality of its collection of patents in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Spectrum Magazine's 2014 Patent Power Scorecard. The scorecard rates the strength of the patent portfolios in organizations across a range of industrial sectors. The Navy has held the top spot since the scorecard added the government category in 2008.
Master Chief Boatswain's Mate Carl M. Brashear — the Navy’s First Black Master Diver — The Naval History and Heritage Command takes a closer look at the life of Carl Maxie Brashear, who made history as the Navy’s first black master diver.
Simulation Technology Shows Navy How to Take a HIT — The Navy soon will begin using an Office of Naval Research (ONR) technology to predict injuries and improve medical responses in any kind of attack on ships, officials announced Feb. 12. The Human Injury and Treatment (HIT) model provides a comprehensive capability to forecast casualties potentially encountered during combat operations aboard ships — a crucial piece of information that assessments of Navy vessels historically have lacked.
MARMC Teams With DARPA to Bring Fab Lab to Norfolk — The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Manufacturing Experimentation and Outreach (MENTOR) 2 Program began efforts to enhance defense readiness by improving both the training and tools for Sailors at Navy Regional Maintenance Centers, NAVSEA announced Feb. 12. These improvements will support those in the ship maintenance community who will be called on to utilize, maintain and adapt high-technology systems in low-technology environments.
Naval War College Hosts Strategy, Budget Panel — As part of the final practitioner session for students enrolled in the National Security Decision Making (NSDM) course at U.S. Naval War College (NWC), the national security affairs department hosted a panel discussion titled "Force Planning - Strategy Meets Budget," Feb. 10. The objective of the session was to gain perspectives from experts on the budgetary realities for the DOD, and how this impacts planning and programming for the future. The session was also aimed at understanding the tradeoffs in the current defense and national budget and how senior officials must navigate between competing spending priorities.
Learning and Development Roadmaps Now Instantly Updatable — Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) announced Feb. 10 that the Navy's comprehensive enlisted career guides, Learning and Development Roadmaps (LaDR), have transitioned to a Web application that is easily-accessed and instantly updatable. Available through Navy Knowledge Online (NKO) and Navy Credentialing Opportunities On-Line (Navy COOL), LaDRs are a vital tool that help guide enlisted Sailors throughout their career advancement, and are available for all enlisted ratings and paygrades.
Naval Leaders: Uncertainty Will Drive Innovation for the Future Force — At the Naval Future Force Science and Technology (S&T) EXPO in Washington D.C., Department of Navy leaders on Feb. 5 called for investment in new ideas and scientific research to keep the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps technologically superior in increasingly uncertain times.
These stories originally published by Navy News Service during Feb. 9-13, 2015. For more Navy news, go to: www.navy.mil/.