HMS Defender seen here with the dhow in the foreground, flanked by two Royal Marine Boarding Teams in 2016. Royal Navy Photo
Cpl. Chelsie Villela, a member of the Female Engagement Team with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, participates in a gun shoot aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) Navy photo
Amid rising tensions with Iran, the Navy is scrapping an exercise with Morocco as it redirects amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD-5) and embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit to the Middle East, a defense official confirmed to USNI News on Friday.
Quartermaster 3rd Class Ryan Gouger, from Newberg, Ore., writes the first 2020 deck log of the year while standing Quartermaster of the Watch on the bridge of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). Navy photo
Considering the length of time USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) spent away from home in 2019, perhaps it’s fitting the crew of the carrier wrote the fleet’s celebrated first deck log entry of the year.
U.S. Army Paratroopers assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, deploy from Pope Army Airfield, North Carolina, Jan. 1, 2020. U.S. Army photo
THE PENTAGON – After sending Marines from Kuwait to beef up security at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said a battalion of Army paratroopers will now serve as the regional quick-response force, a role previously filled by the Marines. Read More
A sailor walks across the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on July 26, 2019. US Navy Photo
This post is part of a series of review stories looking back at the top naval news from 2019.
While China and Russia are the long-term focus of the National Defense Strategy, the Navy’s 2019 operations were still heavily centered on countering threats in the Middle East. Read More
USS Porter (DDG-78) entering the Black Sea. Photo by Yörük Işık used with permission
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG-71) arrived in Constanta, Romania, Monday morning, after entering the Black Sea on Friday while being tailed by a Russian corvette.
Leaders from the House and Senate armed services committees agreed to a $738 billion Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which approves funding for several Navy programs but also imposes limits on a few high-profile ship programs. Read More
Sailors man the rails as the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) arrives at Sasebo, Japan to join the forward deployed naval forces. America is assigned to Amphibious Squadron Eleven and will serve as the flagship for Expeditionary Strike Group 7 while conducting routine operations in the Western Pacific. Navy photo.
USS America (LHA-6) arrived at its new homeport of Sasebo, Japan, on Thursday, a move that puts the big-deck amphibious assault ship designed to accommodate the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters in the Western Pacific.
Two aviators assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 look out onto the Hong Kong skyline as the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) in 2013. US Navy Photo
This post was updated with additional information about USS McCampbell (DDG-85), which in August was denied permission to visit the Chinese port of Qingdao.
Shortly after protests began rocking Hong Kong over a controversial extradition bill, the Chinese government quietly started denying U.S. Navy ships permission to visit the port city. Read More
An F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to the “Fighting Checkmates” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 11, takes off from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) in the Atlantic Ocean Dec. 1, 2019. Navy photo
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) crossed into the eastern Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, entering the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility as part of a deployment widely believed to include relieving USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) in the Middle East.
