The U.S. Coast Guard, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, other state and local agencies, along with Chevron Shipping and numerous pollution response and salvage companies and organizations participated in a major drill in Astoria, Thursday, designed to prepare personnel for a coordinated re
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) wrapped up more than a year’s worth of maintenance and overhaul Monday and headed back to her traditional homeport of San Diego. In January 2012, Reagan executed an administrative homeport change to Bremerton, Wash., where it underwent multiple preservation and system upgr
Sailors aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) and Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) conducted a noncombatant evacuation operation (NEO) drill while underway off the coast of Okinawa March 15. NEO is the safe evacuation of American civilians and embassy o
The guided-missile destroyer USS Farragut (DDG 99) visited Bar, Montenegro, for a port visit March 11-14. Sailors had the opportunity to experience Montenegro’s culture and spend time engaging with the community, including sporting events with Montenegrin sailors, tours of the towns of Perast, Kotor
The multinational maritime exercise Saharan Express 2013 (SE-13) successfully concluded with post-sail discussions and a press conference, March 14. SE-13, which began March 7, is a maritime exercise designed to improve cooperation among participating nations in order to increase counter-piracy capa
Three Crew Members of US Navy EA-6B Prowler Jet Die in Aircraft Crash (UPDATE) All three crew members aboard a Navy EA-6B Prowler jet assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron 129 (VAQ-129) at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash., were killed when the aircraft crashed Monday morning in an unpopulate
Guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) transited the Suez Canal and entered the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR), March 8. Winston S. Churchill’s passage through the 120-mile long canal marks the end of a 234-day tour in U.S. 5th Fleet AOR, where she first served as pa
More than a dozen organizations and agencies gathered at the Admiral Faye Gassama Naval Base in Dakar, Senegal, to explore maritime security issues as part of Exercise Saharan Express 2013 (SE-13), March 11. The participants, both governmental and non-governmental, represent major stakeholders in We
The Navy’s first littoral combat ship USS Freedom (LCS 1) arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam March 11. The ultra- modern U.S. Navy ship, bearing a four-color camouflage combination of flat black, haze gray, haze white and ocean gray, arrived at Pearl Harbor after departing her homeport of San
The amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) kicked off its version of the “Ultimate Loser Challenge,” March 3. The nearly three-month Ultimate Loser Challenge consists of a variety of physical fitness exercise courses sponsored in part by Morale, Welfare, and Recreation. “The Ultimate Loser comp
In keeping with an ancient mariner’s custom, USS Arlington (LPD 24) Sailors and Marines “stepped the mast” of the amphibious transport dock in a ceremony on March 6, 2013. About 50 crew members and employees of Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) shipyard, where Arlington has been under constructio
Four U.S. Navy forward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers and their crews arrived in Donghae and Pyeongtaek to support exercise Foal Eagle 2013. USS Lassen (DDG 82) and USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) pulled into Donghae and USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) and USS McCampbell (DDG 85) stopped
Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces (USFF) released a message March 6, reminding commanders that safety underpins all other lines of operations even as they execute plans to reduce costs in accordance with across-the-board spending cuts known as “sequestration.” In the message, Adm. Bill Gortney told comma
USS Arlington (LPD 24) conducted a fast cruise Feb. 27, at Huntington-Ingall’s Industries’ shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., to determine if the ship is ready to go to sea. This fast cruise was an important element of Crew Certification Phase II, conducted by the amphibious transport dock’s immediate s
