On Monday, 1 April 2014, the NATO counter-piracy task force (CTF-508) frigates ESPS CRISTOBAL COLON and ITS FRANCESCO MIMBELLI conducted an Air Defence Exercise (ADEX) with USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH and USS PHILIPPINE SEA, testing their surface warfare and anti-air warfare skills. Before commencing the
Hosted by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, visiting defense ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) toured USS Anchorage (LPD 23) April 2 as part of an historic gathering in Hawaii. As the first-ever meeting of its kind to take place in the United States, the ongoing thr
The U.S. Defense Department is deploying additional Marines to enlarge a rotational crisis response force based in Spain, and is also dispatching a naval vessel to the Black Sea to conduct exercises with U.S. allies in the region, a Pentagon spokesman said yesterday. Army Col. Steve Warren told re
Sailors and Marines from several East Coast-based expeditionary commands conducted an in port maritime staff exercise onboard USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) March 27-31 to refine their collective ability to respond to crises. The exercise scenario tested the group’s evaluation of, and response to, a large s
Raytheon Company has achieved another significant milestone for next generation Gallium Nitride (GaN) Radio Frequency (RF) semiconductor technology. Through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Near Junction Thermal Transport effort under the Thermal Management Technologies progra
The Russian takeover of Crimea from Ukraine has NATO allies worried, the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday (April 1). Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey told reporters traveling with him that one of Russia’s reasons for invading Crimea was to protect ethnic Russians living there.
The Boxer Amphibious Ready Group (BOXARG), with embarked 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), began participation in Exercise Ssang Yong 2014 March 27 off the coast of the Republic of Korea (ROK) with the ROK navy and Marine Corps. Ssang Yong, which means “twin dragons,” is an annual combined exe
The U.S. and Republic of Korea (ROK) navies enhanced their combined and joint maritime capabilities after completing a series of drills and exercises ashore and at sea from March 8-31 in support of exercise Foal Eagle 2014. Exercise Foal Eagle in an umbrella of regularly scheduled, annual exercise
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel welcomed yesterday Portuguese Minister of Defense Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco to the Pentagon, and expressed to the minister his appreciation for Portugal’s many contributions to international security, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a Defe
Service members and civilians involved in the scheduled deployment of the joint high speed vessel USNS Spearhead (JHSV 1) this summer to the U.S. Southern Command and U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations met March 25 and March 26 at Naval Station Mayport to finalize plans for the mission. The Spearhe
Republic of Korea (ROK) minister of national defense visited the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) March 31. Kwan-jin Kim’s visit took place during exercise Ssang Yong 2014, an annual combined exercise conducted by Navy and Marine forces with the Republic of Kor
Nearly 30 years after she was commissioned in 1984, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Pete Ehlers, commanding officer of USS Robert G. Bradley (FFG 49), decommissioned the ship on March 28, at a Naval Station Mayport ceremony. Lt. Gen. Joseph L. Votel, commander, Joint Special Operations Command, was the guest spea
March 28, 2014 marks the end of the first year in the refueling complex overhaul (RCOH) for the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) at Newport News Shipyard in Newport News, Va. According to a 2002 study by the Research and Development National Defense Institute, “The midlif
Chief of U.S. Naval Research Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder joined family members of the late Neil Armstrong March 29 to christen the Navy’s newest research ship, named for the legendary astronaut and first man to walk on the moon. The lead Auxiliary General Oceanographic Research (AGOR) ship in its cl
