Pacific Partnership 2016 arrived in Palau, August 4, aboard JS Shimokita (LST 4002), making this the second year Pacific Partnership has visited Palau since the mission began in 2006. While Shimokita is in Palau, USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) and the rest of the Pacific Partnership 2016 team are making missi
The U.S. Navy announced August 4 that it will transition from the blue aquaflage Navy Working Uniform (NWU) Type I to the green camouflage NWU Type III as the service’s primary shore working uniform beginning October 1, 2016. The NWU Type 1 was not a popular uniform as it was described by Sailors as
The U.S. Navy has not demonstrated sufficient acquisition and design knowledge regarding its next-generation Flight III destroyer procurement approach and opportunities exist to enhance oversight, a study carried out by the U.S. Government Accountability Office study has revealed. If the Navy procur
U.S. Navy’s Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Topeka (SSN 754) changed command during a ceremony at the Naval Base Guam chapel on August 5. Cmdr. Steven Tarr III took charge of the submarine from Cmdr. David Lammers. Capt. Jeffrey Grimes, Joint Region Marianas Chief of Staff and former commande
The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics NASSCO–Norfolk a maintenance contract to perform non-nuclear planning and maintenance work during six chief of naval operations (CNO) availabilities on four Nimitz-class aircraft carriers and one Gerald R. Ford-class carrier, home-ported in or visiting Norf
U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Force 7th Fleet changed command aboard USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) in Sasebo, Japan on August 3. During the change of command ceremony Rear Adm. Marc H. Dalton took over from Rear Adm. John B. Nowell Jr.. Nowell highlighted the work Expeditionary Strike Group 7 sailors and ma
German Navy minehunter FGS Datteln rescued 133 migrants 75 kilometers north-west of Tripoli, Libya on August 1. The ship was initially tasked by the Force Headquarters to neutralize two empty rubber boats. While doing so, the ship’s crew spotted an overcrowded rubber boat in the vicinity. Upon rescu
A division of NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 2 and maritime assets from other allied nations joined the U.S.-Ukraine co-hosted international exercise Sea Breeze in the Black Sea from July 27 to 30. Personnel from Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Ukraine,
German Navy minehunter FGS Fulda is scheduled to depart its homeport in Kiel, Germany to join NATO’s standing mine countermeasures group two on Friday, August 5. Manned by the 42 man strong ‘Charlie’ crew, Fulda will spend the next five months with the maritime group under the command of Captain lie
Dutch Navy’s De Zeven Provincien-class frigate HNLMS De Ruyter will be taking over as flagship of the NATO mission in the Aegean Sea in September 2016. The German Navy said the Dutch ship would take place of the frigate FGS Karlsruhe which is currently at the helm of the Standing NATO Maritime Group
The annual Pacific Partnership deployment embarked aboard hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) arrived in Kuantan, Malaysia thereby marking the first time the mission has visited Malaysia, although Malaysia has provided teams to support the mission since 2006. Malaysian civilian and military leadershi
Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG2) recently completed its third Black Sea deployment under the command of Turkish Navy Captain Ramazan Kesgin. SNMCMG2 started its deployment on July 8 in support of NATO’s assurance measures regarding alliance resolve and commitment to collective de
Pacific Partnership service members from New Zealand, the U.S. and Australia supported a Da Nang border guard-led Search and Rescue Field Training Exercise (SAR FTX) July 26 that began on the Han River and concluded aboard Vietnam people’s navy hospital ship Khanh Hoa and USNS Mercy (T-AH 19). The F
In a ceremony at Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C., on July 28th, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced Arleigh-Burke class destroyer, DDG 124, will be named Harvey C. Barnum Jr. in honor of the retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel who received the Medal of Honor for valor during the Vietnam War.
