The future Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD-29) launching at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Mississippi. HII Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congress is backing a Marine proposal to continue the San Antonio-class amphibious warship line with $1 billion in incremental funding for a proposed LPD-33, according to the Fiscal Year 2024 conference authorization bill. Read More
U.S. Capitol on Dec. 29, 2022. USNI News Photo
The House Armed Services Committee passed its annual defense policy bill early Thursday, authorizing the Navy to buy a total of 10 ships, an increase from the requested nine in the budget proposal. Read More
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
COVID-19 vaccine booster shots are pre-staged for a shot event in the hangar bay aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) on Dec. 28, 2021. US Navy Photo
SAN DIEGO – The Navy will no longer consider COVID-19 vaccination status when making decisions about sailor deployments – a reversal of more than a year of service policy, according to new Navy guidance released this week. Read More
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Alexander Roth administers the COVID-19 vaccine booster to Aircrew Survival Equipmentman Airman Kiana Briley aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), in the Philippine Sea, on Dec. 7, 2022. US Navy Photo
The Pentagon has offered limited guidance in the three weeks since Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin officially rescinded the COVID-19 vaccination mandate, leaving service members with questions about their statuses. Read More
Seaman Apprentice Johnnese Poomaihealani, from Waianae, Hawaii, receives a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot during a shot event in the foc’sle aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) on Jan. 3, 2022. US Navy Photo
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin officially rescinded the COVID-19 vaccine mandate Tuesday evening in a memo, stopping any more military separations due to refusal to get the shot series. Read More
A Navy Corpsman prepares a vaccine booster. US Navy Photo
The Navy separated 25 active duty sailors between Nov. 28 and Dec. 28 due to their failure to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the service told USNI News. Those sailors are likely the last sea service members to receive approved separations over COVID-19 vaccine refusal under the Pentagon’s prior vaccination mandate. Read More
Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Gregzon Fontanilla, from Guam, prepares a COVID-19 vaccine aboard the America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA-7) on May 10, 2022. US Navy Photo
The Pentagon has no ready answers on how the Department of Defense would implement pending legislation that would allow service members to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine without facing separation, officials said this week. Read More
The following is the Congressional Research Service report, Defense Authorization and Appropriations Bills: FY1961-FY2019. Read More
Cryptologic Technician (Technical) 2nd Class Jonathan Morel, assigned to USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112), uses a radar tracking system to track surface contacts on Jan. 30, 2017. US Navy Photo
Three congressionally mandated studies outline what the Navy of 2030 could look like and present three very different takes on how the service could tackle its roles and responsibilities in the future. Read More
