The United States Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) has extended the charter of the Austal high speed vessel WestPac Express for six months with the award of a US$7.0 million modification to the contract announced in December 2011. This modification exercises the second of three six-month charte
Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 15, based in Belton, Mo., completed water well training Jan. 14. During the past week, 25 Seabees from NMCB 15’s water well team trained to execute the field portion of the well drill rig, drilling more than 200 feet down into the surface of th
The Royal Thai Navy has signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance with the U.S. government to purchase nine Evolved SeaSparrow Missiles for its two Naresuan frigates currently undergoing overhauls and upgrades. This LOA increases the total ESSM user community to 13 nations. The Royal Thai ESSMs will b
The forward deployed Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD 46), part of the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), departed its homeport Jan. 14, for its spring deployment in the 7th Fleet Area of Responsibility. Tortuga will take part in an Amphibious Integration Training
Sailors received their warfare pins Jan. 11 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) from Vice Adm. David Buss, commander, Naval Air Forces. One Sailor in particular, Senior Chief (SW/EIDWS/AW) Intelligence Specialist James Christopher Williams received the Enlisted Information Dominance Warf
Guided-missile frigate USS GARY (FFG 51) and its embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment Team (LEDET), TACLET South, turned a routine boarding into a display of joint proficiency and while conducting maritime interception operations in the 4th Fleet Area of Responsibility Jan. 8. While
Austal announced the launch of the first-in-series Cape Class Patrol Boat during a ceremony with staff and suppliers at the company’s Henderson shipyard in Western Australia on January 7. The vessel is the first of eight new boats being built by Austal for the Australian Customs and Border Protectio
Sailors and Royal Marines will receive lighter, more accurate pistols with bigger magazines as of January 11. Some 25,000 new Glock 17 pistols are being issued to all three Services as part of a £9m deal to replace the trusty Browning, which is being retired after 40 years’ service. Over the coming
Navy Recruiting Command (NRC) recognized its FY 2012 Recruiters of the Year (ROY) during a ceremony at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., Jan. 9. Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, Rear Adm. Earl L. Gay, honored 13 of NRC’s top Active and Reserve recruiters from around the world. Guest spe
Defence Ministers Andrew Robathan and Philip Dunne, plus one of the UK’s most senior military commanders, saw the RN’s Gulf mission first-hand on a visit to Bahrain. Armed Forces Minister Mr Robathan and Mr Dunne, who’s responsible for defence equipment, and Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, Comma
The largest ship in the Royal Naval Service has taken on the vital – and unsung – task of keeping international task forces running east of Suez. Fresh from a refit in Dubai, one-stop support ship RFA Fort Victoria has taken over from tanker Wave Ruler with a US-led support force which provides doze
Warrant Officer 1 Wayne Burbury, from Halifax, has been awarded a Commendation from Rear Admiral Clive Johnstone CBE for his outstanding work at Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) training crews to manage logistics while on operations worldwide. He works for the Flag Officer Sea Training organisation
Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Juan M. Garcia returned to the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) for his second round of meetings with local community business and education leaders, Jan. 9. “It has been a great couple of days for the NPS community. Secretary Garcia’s
The world’s largest classification society ClassNK announced that it was granted expanded authorization from the United States Coast Guard (USCG) on 25 December 2012, and will now be able to carry out a full range of surveys for the SOLAS, MARPOL and AFS conventions, as well as ISM Audits on behalf
