Category Archives: News & Analysis

Pentagon Not Pursuing Separate Reentry Path For Vaccine Separated Service Members

Pentagon Not Pursuing Separate Reentry Path For Vaccine Separated Service Members

Lance Cpl. Carlos Benitez, assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, receives a COVID-19 booster shot aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) on March 23, 2022. US Navy Photo

The Department of Defense will not issue a separate policy to bring back service members who were separated for failing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, a top Pentagon personnel chief testified to Congress on Tuesday. Read More

Pilot Course Aims to Build Marines’ Skills as Communicators for the Future Fight

Pilot Course Aims to Build Marines’ Skills as Communicators for the Future Fight

Marines with 9th Communication Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, trouble shoot a network connection during a certification exercise at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Feb. 27, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo

SAN DIEGO – Expeditionary communicators will be critical to the command and control of small Marine Corps units dispersed across far-flung islands in contested terrain, service officials say. Read More

USS Chancellorsville to be Renamed After Former Slave Who Captured Confederate Ship

USS Chancellorsville to be Renamed After Former Slave Who Captured Confederate Ship

Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) conducts routine underway operations in the South China Sea, Nov. 29, 2022. US Navy Photo

A guided-missile cruiser that was named after a Confederate Civil War victory will be renamed in honor of a former slave who stole a Confederate States Navy ship in South Carolina and delivered it to the Union, the Navy announced in a late Monday statement. Read More

SECNAV Del Toro Says Changes to Immigration Law, Policy Could Help with Shipyard Workforce Shortage

SECNAV Del Toro Says Changes to Immigration Law, Policy Could Help with Shipyard Workforce Shortage

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro interacts with a sailor aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Cowpens (CG-63) during a visit on Feb. 15, 2023. US Navy Photo

ARLINGTON, Va. – Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro suggested changes in immigration laws and policies for visas could open a new avenue to build up the workforce in the nation’s public and private shipyards. Read More

America ARG, Makin Island ARG Will Join Cobra Gold 2023

America ARG, Makin Island ARG Will Join Cobra Gold 2023

An MV-22 Osprey, assigned to Marine Medium Tilt Rotor Squadron (VMM) 362 (Rein.), 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), lands on the flight deck of amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD-8) in the Gulf of Thailand, Feb. 22, 2023. US Navy Photo

The Navy’s two Amphibious Ready Groups (ARG) deployed in the Indo-Pacific – the Makin Island ARG and the America ARG – will participate in major exercises in Thailand and Japan on Monday with the multinational Cobra Gold 2023 exercise in Thailand and the bilateral Iron Fist 23 exercise in Japan. Read More

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Feb. 27, 2023

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Feb. 27, 2023

USNI News Graphic

These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of Feb. 27, 2023, based on Navy and public data. In cases where a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the chart reflects the location of the capital ship. Read More

Pentagon Committee Recommends Private Firearm Restrictions for Service Members, Personnel Policy Reform to Prevent Military Suicides

Pentagon Committee Recommends Private Firearm Restrictions for Service Members, Personnel Policy Reform to Prevent Military Suicides

Sailors assigned to the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) look for foreign object debris on the flight deck after a replenishment-at-sea with the Supply-class fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (T-AOE-8) on Feb. 17, 2023. US Navy Photo

Reforming the military up-and-out personnel system, guaranteeing pay and reimbursements for troops and limiting access of younger service members to firearms top a list of recommendations from an independent group of researchers tasked to help reduce suicides in the Department of Defense that were released Friday. Read More