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Sailors huddle to communicate as an F/A-18E Super Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 151 launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) in the Arabian Sea on Dec. 18, 2018. US Navy Photo
Afghanistan – not Syria – has been the primary focus of the air wing embarked aboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) since the carrier strike group entered U.S. 5th Fleet in early December, USNI News has learned. Read More
The following is the text of Secretary of Defense Jim Maitts’ letter of resignation. Read More
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visits the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea in 2017. DoD Photo
This post will be updated as new information becomes available.
Jim Mattis, the longest-serving cabinet secretary of the Trump Administration, submitted his resignation on Thursday following the White House announcement the U.S. would withdraw about 2,000 ground troops from Syria and reports of a drawdown in Afghanistan. Read More
USS Greeneville (SSN-772) sits atop blocks in Dry Dock #1 at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Feb. 21, 2001. DoD photo.
As the Navy grapples with current backlogs of work at public maintenance yards and finalizes its longer-term plans for fleet maintenance, some lawmakers are pushing the Navy to send more attack submarine maintenance work to private shipbuilders. Read More
Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 5, fast rope from an MH-60S Knight Hawk assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat (HSC) 12 in 2018. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON – The Navy has a good idea of how to fight a high-end war, but how to handle aggression short of conflict will take some more thought. Read More
Members of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star participate in various activities on the ice about 13 miles from McMurdo Station, Antarctica on Jan. 26, 2018. US Coast Guard Photo
The U.S. Coast Guard’s funding for a polar icebreaker is set to be postponed yet again, after Congress and President Donald Trump again failed to reach an agreement on Fiscal Year 2019 funding for the Department of Homeland Security and the Senate today began work on passing another short-term continuing resolution. Read More
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. John Richardson talks with sailors stationed at Navy Support Facility Panama City during an all-hands call Dec. 12, 2018. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON – The timeline for fielding several major ship and weapons programs has been bumped up to “as soon as possible,” the chief of naval operations said, to counter Russian and Chinese military modernization. Read More
USS Freedom (LCS-1) departs a pier in San Diego under its own power on Dec. 10, 2018. US Navy Photo
Littoral Combat Ship USS Freedom (LCS-1) left a pier in San Diego, Calif., for the first time in more than two years, after an extensive repair period to fix the ship’s propulsion system. Read More
The future USS Charleston (LCS-18) during acceptance trials on July 18, 2018. Austal photo.
Austal USA was awarded two of the three Littoral Combat Ships the Navy can buy in Fiscal Year 2019, further increasing the number of Independence-variant LCSs the Navy will ultimately have in the fleet. Read More
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. John Richardson visits Indonesia to meet with Indonesia navy leadership and to reaffirm the U.S. Navy’s commitment to strengthen the strategic partnership between the U.S. and Indonesia on Oct. 20, 2018. US Navy Photo
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson lays out aggressive acquisition goals and overhauls in how the Navy develops new technologies and implements operating concepts in a sweeping 2.0 revision of his Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority. The push to field new kit and concepts is his effort to ready the Navy for not only high-end warfare but also gray-zone conflict and other challenges related to Russian and Chinese aggression that the service and joint force will have to confront, according to a copy of the document reviewed by USNI News on Monday. Read More
