Commander Naval Sea Systems Command, Vice Adm. Kevin McCoy in 2008. US Navy Photo
Vice Adm. Kevin McCoy, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command has a rare interview in the latest issue of Proceedings.
While at the helm of NAVSEA for an unprecedented five years McCoy was mostly media shy while he was a driving force to realign years of damage to the way the Navy fixed its surface ships. Read More
The following is from the introduction to the Congressional Research Service’s April, 24 2013 report: Navy Shipboard Lasers for Surface, Air, and Missile Defense: Background and Issues for Congress.
Department of Defense (DOD) development work on high-energy military lasers, which has been underway for decades, has reached the point where lasers capable of countering certain surface and air targets at ranges of about a mile could be made ready for installation on Navy surface ships over the next few years. More powerful shipboard lasers, which could become ready for installation in subsequent years, could provide Navy surface ships with an ability to counter a wider range of surface and air targets at ranges of up to about 10 miles. These more powerful lasers might, among other things, provide Navy surface ships with a terminal-defense capability against certain ballistic missiles, including China’s new anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM). Read More
A MC-12 Liberty surveillance aircraft in Iraq. US Air Force photo.
Four U.S. airmen were killed Sunday in a plane crash in Afghanistan, according to a release from the Pentagon.
The four airmen went down in a MC-12W Liberty surveillance aircraft in the south of the country, according to a release from the Department of Defense. Read More
From the document’s forward by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert:
The U.S. Navy is the world’s most lethal, flexible, and capable maritime force. As they have throughout our Nation’s history, every day our Sailors operate forward to provide American leaders with timely options to deter aggression, assure allies, and re- spond to crises with a minimal footprint ashore. Read More
Syrian protestors asking for a no-fly zone in 2011. European Pressphoto Agency
With the human toll mounting, the United States getting more involved in training, aid, and arms transfers, and continued calls for intervention, U.S. policymakers are grappling with the administration’s relatively non-interventionist stance on Syria. U.S. concerns about the increasing power of jihadist groups within rebel ranks, the possibility of loose chemical weapons, and the overarching desire to shorten the conflict remain. How has the course of events changed the logic of a no-fly zone, or intervention to secure chemical weapons? Read More
US Army MH-60 from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment taking off from USS Gunston Hall (LSD-44) during a training mission in 2011. US Naval Institute Photo
By June, the U.S. Army will open positions to women in its most elite Special Operations helicopter unit as part of a Pentagon push to include more than 6,000 women in previously closed jobs in the Army and U.S. Marine Corps, according to documents obtained by USNI News. Read More
The following is an April, 11 2013 notification to Congress from the Pentagon from Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Jessica Wright. The notifications outlines more than 6,000 positionsin the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, including postions with 160th “Night Stalkers,” Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), U.S. Marine Corps Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Companies (ANGLICO) and positions in Army Brigade Combat Teams. Read More
A B-25 taking off from flight deck of USS Hornet (CV-8) which is carrying a load of Army planes for raid on Tokyo as seen from USS Enterprise (CV-6). 18 April, 1942. US Naval Institute Photo
On April, 18 1942 16 B-25 bombers flew from the USS Hornet on a mission to strike at the Japanese home islands following the Dec. 7, 1941 attack at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Imperial Navy. Read More
USMC CH-53E following a Tuesday crash 55 miles from Seoul. Reuters Photo
U.S. Forces Korea is investigating a so-called “hard landing” of a Tuesday U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter, according to a release from the Seoul-based command. Read More
The following are the prepared testimonies from Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert and USMC Commandant Gen. James Amos for the April, 16 2013 House Armed Services Committee’s hearing on the Department of the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2014 budget. Read More
