Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener, Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, speaks with Capt. Wayne P. Liebold, executive officer of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD-2), during a scheduled visit to the ship on Jan. 5, 2023. US Navy Photo
The Navy has set a new goal to have 75 mission-capable surface ships that are prepared to deploy at any given moment Read More
Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener, commander, Naval Surface Force, speaks with junior officers at the Mariner Skills Training Center, Pacific (MSTCPAC) on May 6, 2022. US Navy Photo
Surface warfare reforms crafted to improve mariner skills and manage demand for ships are trickling into the fleet five years after two fatal collisions in the Western Pacific forced the Navy to retool how the service trains the surface fleet. Read More
Sailors on the bridge of USS Antietam (CG-59). US Navy Photo
Surface warfare officers are leaving the Navy at a higher rate than other unrestricted line officers despite reforms in training the service has instituted since two fatal collisions in 2017, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. Read More
Fire Controlman (Aegis) Chief Petty Officer Michael Schwemmer (front) and Lt. Nick Marmureanu, an Integrated Air and Missile Defense Warfare Tactics Instructor and the Fire Control Officer assigned to USS Stockdale (DDG 106), conduct Combat Information Center training on April 3, 2021. US Navy Photo
The surface navy community is rolling out a new way to track and assess sailors’ experience and proficiency in combat skills – with the promise that commanders could tailor future training and build better watch bills – through a new Surface Warfare Combat Training Continuum (SWCTC) effort that is wrapping up a pilot program and will hit the fleet this summer. Read More
Lt. Aaron Van Driessche, a warfare tactics instructor at the Center for Surface Combat Systems (CSCS), Detachment San Diego, pilots the U.S. Navy’s virtual combat curriculum with Sailors aboard USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60) inside the newly launched portable simulator, the On Demand Trainer, on Jan. 6, 2020. US Navy photo.
The head of the Navy’s surface force highlighted a handful of new training and manning initiatives meant to get sailors the right training they need to fight and maintain ships, put them in the jobs where that training can be best leveraged, and then continue that cycle of building and applying individual expertise to ultimately boost fleet readiness. Read More
The crew of USS Benfold (DDG-65) trains in the Combined Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD)/Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Trainer (CIAT) in San Diego, Calif., on March 5, 2020. USNI News photo.
The surface navy continues to expand and evolve its use of virtual trainers, as it looks to train and certify individual sailors and watch teams ashore so they can make best use of their time at sea. Read More
Chief Intelligence Specialist William Buller video records pre-aim calibration (PAC) fire maintenance on MK-45 MOD 4 5-inch 62 caliber lightweight gun aboard USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81) on July 7, 2020. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s plans to create tougher advanced-phase training events for surface ships are made possible by improvements in individual-level training for surface warfare officers and sailors, according to the officers that oversee the spectrum of surface training. Read More
Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener, Commander, Naval Surface Force U.S. Pacific Fleet, meets with Sailors during a tour of the Amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) on Aug. 13, 2020. Kitchener also evaluated Boxer’s current state of readiness during his visit. US Navy photo.
The new head of the Navy’s surface fleet said his predecessor made major improvements in training and readiness, and he wants to use them as a foundation to improve the tactical side: more advanced warfighting training, more self-sufficient ship crews, and more technology being pushed out to ships and unmanned vessels. Read More
Lt. Caleb Bekemeier (standing), an Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Warfare Tactics Instructor (WTI) assigned to Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC), discusses surface warfighting tactics with Chief Electronics Technician Christopher Schmidt, assigned to USS Stethem, during a training opportunity conducted at Combined IAMD and Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Trainer (CIAT) San Diego. Bekemeier returned to SMWDC last week after mentoring the crew of USS Freedom (LCS 1) at-sea during Surface Warfare Advanced Tactical Training (SWATT) – a SMWDC led exercise that increases the lethality and tactical proficiency of the surface force across all domains. US Navy photo.
The Navy’s advanced surface warfare exercises have been deemed mission essential and are moving forward amid coronavirus-related restrictions, demonstrating the surface navy’s dedication to improving its skill, the head of the Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC) told USNI News. Read More
Naval Aircrewman (Operator) 3rd Class Ethan Mehring, assigned to the “Skinny Dragons” of Patrol Squadron (VP) 4, conducts flight operations aboard a squadron P-8A Poseidon aircraft during an during an anti-submarine warfare mission over the Mediterranean Sea, Feb. 19, 2020. VP-4 is currently forward deployed to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations and is assigned to Commander, Task Force 67, responsible for tactical control of deployed maritime patrol and reconnaissance squadrons throughout Europe and Africa. US Navy photo
NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, ITALY – An increasingly sophisticated reconstruction and evaluation team is giving sailors in NATO’s ongoing Dynamic Manta anti-submarine warfare exercise almost real-time feedback that helps them learn from any mistakes they make each day instead of waiting weeks or months for corrections. Read More
