US Navy Ships Arrive in Scotland for Joint Warrior 14-2 — Before the start of exercise Joint Warrior 14-2, U.S. Navy ships assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 26 participated in a routine port visit to Faslane, Scotland on Oct. 2, where they engaged with locals and learned about the history and culture of the United Kingdom. The U.K.-led Joint Warrior exercise is a semi-annual training event that takes place in the coastal waters of the U.K. It is designed to provide NATO and allied forces a multi-warfare environment to prepare for global operations and includes air, sea, and ground assets from several countries such as France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, and Spain.
VCNO Pays Visit to USS Constitution —Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO) Adm. Michelle Howard paid a visit to Charlestown Navy Yard in Massachusetts on Oct. 2. Howard, who is the first female four-star admiral in U.S. Navy history and the first African-American woman to achieve a four-star rank in the history of the Defense Department, toured the USS Constitution and conducted an all-hands call with the crew.
Navy Integrates Weapon Systems with Unmanned Vehicles for New Surface Warfare Capability — Navy engineers recently shared the latest in integrated surface warfare capability with military and civilian leaders. The Sept. 29 event, which was held on the Potomac River Test Range, demonstrated technologies supporting the science of integration to guide live gun fire onto distant targets. It featured unmanned surface and air vehicles integrated with naval guns and the Aegis combat system relaying targeting data to operators engaged in fictitious threats.
Team Navy Archers Hit the Bullseye at Warrior Games — On Oct. 1, Team Navy earned a gold medal in the individual archery (recurve) competition at the 2014 Warrior Games held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Sponsored by Navy Wounded Warrior (NWW)-Safe Harbor, the Navy and Coast Guard's wounded warrior support program, the competing athletes have upper-body and/or lower-body injuries, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, visual impairments, serious illnesses and/or post-traumatic stress.
Navy Establishes Information Dominance Forces — The Navy stood up the Information Dominance Forces Command (NAVIDFOR) as the U.S. Navy's newest Type Command on Oct. 1. A global readiness-focused TYCOM, NAVIDFOR is responsible for organizing, manning, training, equipping (MT&E) and identifying requirements for all Navy Information Dominance (ID) capabilities and will consolidate and align missions, functions and tasks previously managed by separate ID commands to improve the generation and sustainment of ID force readiness across the Navy.
Defender Decommissioned After 25 Years of Service — The mine countermeasure ship USS Defender (MCM 2) was decommissioned at Naval Base San Diego following 25 years of naval service. The Defender, which has deployed to the U.S. 3rd, 6th and 7th Fleet and received four Battle 'E' awards as well as two Secretary of the Navy Letters of Commendation, was commissioned on Sept. 30, 1989. The Oct. 1 ceremony was attended by several of the ship's plankowners along with current and former crew members.
Energy Contract Awarded for NAS Patuxent River Project — With plans to reduce energy consumption and create cost savings at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Washington awarded a $27.9-million Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) to Clark Energy Group on Sept. 25. Five separate energy conservation measures, including upgraded lighting, ground source heat pumps, water conservation measures, thermostats and controls replacement, and building envelope upgrades, will be implemented across 72 buildings at the Air Station's Webster Outlying Field, according to Naval District Washington (NDW) Energy Director Lt. Cmdr. Keith Benson.
CSG 12 Hosts British Ambassador Aboard TR — On Sept. 30, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 12 hosted the British Ambassador to the U.S. and four other high-ranking officials aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) for a day at sea. The guests, escorted from Naval Station Mayport, Florida via helicopter by Rear Adm. Andrew Lewis, commander, CSG 12, included Ambassador Sir Peter Westmacott, British Consul General David Prodger, British Royal Navy Commodore Richard Allen, Capt. Kevin Seymour and Cmdr. Barrie O'Sullivan.
Future USS Paul Ignatius Begins Fabrication — A ceremony was held in Pascagoula, Mississippi at Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) shipyard Sept. 30 to mark the official start of the fabrication of the future USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117). The vessel is named for former Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Paul Ignatius. Ignatius was on hand to make a cut to the first 100 tons of the ship's steel, which signifies the start of fabrication.
Future USNS Trenton Launches — Austal USA launched the Navy’s fifth Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV), the future USNS Trenton, from its shipyard in Mobile, Alabama on Sept. 30. A major milestone for both the ship and its class, the launch indicates that the vessel is ready to enter the final stages of construction. Up next for Trenton: preparing for the tests and trials which will evaluate and ready the ship for next spring’s delivery to Military Sealift Command (MSC).
These stories originally published by Navy News Service during Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2014. For more Navy news, go to: www.navy.mil/.