Ben Werner

About Ben Werner

Ben Werner is a staff writer for USNI News. He has worked as a freelance writer in Busan, South Korea, and as a staff writer covering education and publicly traded companies for The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., Savannah Morning News in Savannah, Ga., and Baltimore Business Journal. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree from New York University.

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Recent Posts By the Author


Marine Corps Assesses Hurricane Damage in Carolinas, Navy Ready To Assist Bahamas

Marine Corps Assesses Hurricane Damage in Carolinas, Navy Ready To Assist Bahamas

The Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) sails in the Atlantic ocean Aug. 28, 2019. Navy photo

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The U.S. Air Force, Coast Guard and even Customs and Border Patrol crews are in the Bahamas assisting with search and rescue efforts and damage surveys, while the U.S. Navy’s USS Bataan (LHD-5), with a fleet of ship-to-shore connectors and a 600-bed hospital, sits on the sidelines of the international aid effort.

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Carolina Marines Ride Out Hurricane Dorian

Carolina Marines Ride Out Hurricane Dorian

U.S. Marines with 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, stage their Assault Amphibious Vehicles (AAV-P7/A1) to provide a hardened shelter for gate sentries on Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Sept. 5, 2019. The AAV-P7/A1 will provide a safe environment from potential high winds and debris caused by Hurricane Dorian. Marine Corps photo

Marines in North Carolina are riding out Hurricane Dorian as the system keeps moving along the East Coast. Read More

Navy Poised to Aid Bahamas, Waiting For Formal Request

Navy Poised to Aid Bahamas, Waiting For Formal Request

Sailors assigned to the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD-5), direct a Landing Craft, Air Cushion into to the ship’s well deck on Aug. 24, 2019. US Navy Photo

The Navy and Marine Corps are poised to offer disaster relief in the Bahamas if requested, as officials continue to survey destruction left by Hurricane Dorian. Read More

Pentagon Shifts Focus on Directed Energy Weapons Technology

Pentagon Shifts Focus on Directed Energy Weapons Technology

Artist’s concept of a HELIOS laser system aboard a U.S. destroyer. Lockheed Martin Image

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Department of Defense is focusing its directed energy weapons research on technologies ready to field now, placing on the backburner plans to create more complex space-based technology, the Pentagon’s head of research said on Wednesday.

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2nd Fleet Orders Ships Out of Hampton Roads Ahead of Hurricane Dorian

2nd Fleet Orders Ships Out of Hampton Roads Ahead of Hurricane Dorian

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) departs Naval Station Norfolk, Va. as Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet orders U.S. Navy ships and aircraft in the area to sortie on Sept. 4 ahead of Hurricane Dorian. US Navy Photo

U.S. 2nd Fleet sortied all Hampton Roads-based ships and aircraft that could leave on Wednesday ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Dorian. Read More

Navy, Coast Guard Prep for Hurricane Dorian

Navy, Coast Guard Prep for Hurricane Dorian


Sept. 3, 2019, a GOES 15 infrared satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean shows Hurricane Dorian at 8:00 am EDT as a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 120 mph stationary over Grand Bahama Island, approximately 105 miles east of West Palm Beach, Florida. Navy photo

Responding to approach of Hurricane Dorian’s dangerous winds and storm surge, the Navy and Marine Corps prepared ships and aircraft to sortie from Hampton Roads and started evacuating from low-lying areas of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

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Navy, Coast Guard Prepare Florida For Hurricane Dorian

Navy, Coast Guard Prepare Florida For Hurricane Dorian

Sailors assigned to the Whidbey Island-class amphibious dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) heave line on Naval Station Mayport in preparation for Hurricane Dorian. Navy photo.

With Hurricane Dorian bearing down on Florida’s Atlantic coast, the Navy is sending ships and aircraft away from the expected storm track while the Coast Guard is warning commercial and recreational sailors to secure their crafts.

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Navy to Update 2 Dry Docks to Accommodate Ford-Class Carriers

Navy to Update 2 Dry Docks to Accommodate Ford-Class Carriers

Newport News Shipbuilding floods Dry Dock 12 to float the first-in-class aircraft carrier, Pre-Commissioning Unit Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) on Oct. 11, 2013. Navy photo

Only one of the Navy’s 18 dry docks used for maintaining the nuclear-powered carrier fleet can support a Ford-class carrier, Navy officials told USNI News.

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Naval Postgraduate School Pitching Its Curriculum As Pathway To U.S. Space Command

Naval Postgraduate School Pitching Its Curriculum As Pathway To U.S. Space Command

Gen. Jay Raymond, the former Air Force Space Command commander who was tapped to lead the new U.S. Space Command, briefs Airmen at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, July 29, 2019. US Air Force photo.

THE PENTAGON – As U.S. Space Command stands up today, the Naval Postgraduate School is pitching itself as an established source of space planners, logisticians and program managers.

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Navy, Shipbuilders Working On Final Details Of Block V Virginia-Class Submarine Deal

Navy, Shipbuilders Working On Final Details Of Block V Virginia-Class Submarine Deal

Rendering of Block V Virginia-class submarine with Virginia Payload Module. General Dynamics Electric Boat Image

GROTON, Conn. – The Navy is close to inking a multi-billion-dollar deal to build the Block V Virginia-class fast-attack submarines, but doing so requires the service, shipyards and suppliers to balance their sometimes-competing program priorities, the service’s top acquisition official said Tuesday

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