United States Navy Promotes Michelle Howard to 4-Star Admiral — In a July 1 ceremony presided over by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, Michelle Janine Howard made history when she was promoted to the rank of four-star admiral during a ceremony at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Howard, the Deputy CNO for Operations, Plans, and Strategy, relieved Adm. Mark Ferguson III as the 38th Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO).
CVW-5 Commander Captures Historic Milestone — Capt. William "Condor" Koyama, commander, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, made history on June 14 when he completed his 1,000th arrested landing in the South China Sea. Koyama flew an F/A-18E Super Hornet from the "Dambusters" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 195 and completed his career milestone landing aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73).
Naval History Celebrates Progress, Looks to Future — Capt. Henry J. Hendrix, Ph.D., retired from his post as director of the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) in a ceremony on June 27. The ceremony, held at Washington Navy Yard, featured Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work as guest speaker.
Pacific Partnership Concludes in Cambodia — Pacific Partnership 2014 in Cambodia drew to a close with a ceremony held on the pier alongside the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship JS Kunisaki (LST 4003). This year’s Pacific Partnership saw medical professionals from the U.S., Japan, Australia, Malaysia, South Korea, and Chile working next to their Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) counterparts to conduct professional exchanges and to provide medical treatment and veterinary services. Multinational medical professionals, along with Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1, Amphibious Construction Battalion 1, and Japanese engineers also worked with RCAF engineers from to build three maternity wards and renovate a school.
USS John Paul Jones Makes History with Live Fire Missile Tests — From June 18-20, a series of five live-fire tests were successfully executed by guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) for the Baseline 9C Aegis Combat System during Combat Systems Ship's Qualification Trials (CSSQT) and Naval Integrated Fire Control Counter Air (NIFC-CA) capability. John Paul Jones marked another first during this event, when one of the exercises resulted in the longest surface-to-air engagement in naval history.
NMRC Researchers Publish Genome Sequence of MERS virus — Researchers from the Naval Medical Research Center, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. Three in Cairo, Egypt, completed a full genome sequence of the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome Corona virus (MERS-CoV). The virus, which causes a “highly lethal pneumonia,” is mainly confined to the Middle East, but has seen two confirmed cases in the U.S. as well as cases reported in Europe.
AG Rating Celebrates 90th birthday on July 1 — July 1 marked the 90th birthday of the Aerographer's Mate or AG rating, which was created as part of the aviation enterprise to provide reliable weather forecasts for the purpose of aviation safety. The AG rating has expanded greatly over the past several decades and now includes hydrography, oceanography, unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) operation and sonar data processing.
USS Oscar Austin, HSM 72 Sailors Visit Latvian Children's Hospital — As part of a community relations (COMREL) project during a port visit to Riga, Latvia on June 29, Sailors from USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79) and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 72 provided assistance to Latvia's largest children's hospital. The Norfolk, Virginia-based Sailors cleaned out a warehouse and also spent time with some of the children.
7th Fleet Tests Innovative Missile Defense System — From June 21-25, a variety of at-sea conditions provided the backdrop for the U.S. 7th Fleet and the Navy Warfare Development Command (NWDC) to experiment with systems and tactics to discover how radar-absorbing, carbon-fiber clouds can prevent a missile from detecting and striking its target. The manmade clouds, known as maritime obscurant generator prototypes, were tested to find out how effective they are in the tactical sense when used for anti-ship missile defense.
Dam Neck Explores Future of 3D Printing for Navy — A two-day event to showcase new 3D print initiatives was held at Combat Direction Systems Activity (CDSA), Dam Neck on June 24 and 26. Known as “Maker Faire,” the event featured a series of workshops – "Print the Fleet" – to introduce 3D printing and additive manufacturing to Sailors and other stakeholders.
These stories originally published by Navy News Service during June 26 - July 2, 2014. For more Navy news, go to: www.navy.mil/.