The following is a July 31, 2013 memo from Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter to military leaders on a planned reduction of 20 percent in the management in headquarters across the Department of Defense.
The cuts will occur regardless of the current legislative impasse over military funding.
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The following is from the July 16, 2013 Congressional Research Service report on Bahrain. The U.S. has close ties to the country in the Persian Gulf. The Navy’s U.S. 5th Fleet Headquarters is in Bahrain.
The Obama Administration has not called for an end to the Al Khalifa regime, but it has criticized its human rights abuses and urged it to undertake more substantial political reform. The U.S. criticism has angered some Al Khalifa officials but it has also dissatisfied human rights activists who assert that the United States is downplaying regime abuses because of U.S. dependence on the security relationship with Bahrain. Bahrain has provided key support for U.S. interests— particularly the containment of Iran—by hosting U.S. naval headquarters for the Gulf for over 60 years. Read More
The following is a draft copy of the Government Accountability Office July 2013 report on the Littoral Combat Ship program and the Navy’s response to the GAO’s recommendations. Read More
The following reports the results of every Special and General Court-Martial convened within the United States Navy from January through June 2013. The cases are separated by the Navy Region in which they were tried. The publishing of court-martial information is part of a wider push inside the Navy to be more transparent in the service’s prosecution of offenders in the military justice system. Read More
The following is the July 18, 2013 review by the U.S. Coast Guard of Major Icebreakers of the World.
The Coast Guard Office of Waterways and Ocean Policy (CG-WWM) began producing the chart of major icebreakers of the world in July 2010. Since then, we have gathered icebreaker information and recommendations from a variety of sources and experts, including icebreaker subject-matter experts, internet posts, news updates, Arctic experts and Coast Guard offices with icebreaker equities. We validate our information within the public forum and update the chart at least semi-annually based on new information and feedback. This chart represents the Coast Guard’s current factual understanding of the major icebreaker fleet. This chart is not intended for icebreaker fleet comparisons and no inference should be drawn regarding a country’s icebreaker “ranking” against another. Read More
From the Navy’s introduction: In January 2012, the Vice Chief of Naval Operations [Adm. Mark Ferguson] directed that there be an assessment and review of the Navy’s readiness to receive, employ and deploy the littoral combat ship. This document provides a summary of the effort that went into that review. Read More
Navy SEALs assigned to a west coast based SEAL Team and Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen (SWCC) from Naval Special Warfare Boat Team (SBT) on May 23, 2012.
The following is from the June 27, 2013 Congressional Research Service report, Navy Irregular Warfare and Counterterrorism Operations: Background and Issues for Congress.
The Navy for several years has carried out a variety of irregular warfare (IW) and counterterrorism (CT) activities. Among the most readily visible of the Navy’s recent IW operations have been those carried out by Navy sailors serving ashore in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many of the Navy’s contributions to IW operations around the world are made by Navy individual augmentees (IAs)—individual Navy sailors assigned to various Department of Defense (DOD) operations.
The May 1-2, 2011, U.S. military operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that killed Osama bin Laden reportedly was carried out by a team of 23 Navy special operations forces, known as SEALs (an acronym standing for Sea, Air, and Land). The SEALs reportedly belonged to an elite unit known unofficially as Seal Team 6 and officially as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU). Read More
The following is a May 2013 Naval Sea Systems Command report to Congress, obtained by USNI News, outlining the material condition of USS Port Royal (CG-73). The report’s findings indicate the ship — which suffered a grounding in 2009 —was not as damaged as the Navy previously believed. Read More
The following is a July 18, 2013 message from the U.S. Navy to the Fleet outlining new rules and procedures aimed at curbing sexual assault and rape in the service provided to USNI News. Read More
C/V Carnival Splendor along side a Mexican Navy ship in 2010. US Navy Photo
The following is from the executive summary of the June 24, 2013 U.S. Coast Guard Report: Report of Investigation into the Fire Onboard the CARNIVAL SPLENDOR which occurred in the Pacific Ocean off the Coast of Mexico on November 8, 2010, which Resulted in Complete Loss of Power.
On November 8, 2010 at 0600 (Local Time), the Carnival Splendor was underway off the coast of Mexico when the vessel suffered a major mechanical failure in the number five diesel generator. As a result, engine components, lube oil and fuel were ejected through the engine casing and caused a fire at the deck plate level between generators five and six in the aft engine room which eventually ignited the cable runs overhead. The fire in the cable runs was relatively small, but produced a significant volume of smoke which hampered efforts to locate and extinguish it. In addition, the fire caused extensive damage to the cables in the aft engine room, which contributed to the loss of power. Read More
