Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan meets with the Qatar Minister of State for Defence Affairs Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., March 12, 2019. DoD Photo
The acting secretary of defense defended the Pentagon’s decision to retire a Nimitz-class carrier 25 years early during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. Read More
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) conducts a strait transit. Truman is currently deployed as part of an ongoing rotation of U.S. forces supporting maritime security operations in international waters around the globe on April 27, 2018. US Navy Photo
A Pentagon budget plan to sideline an aircraft carrier, rather than refuel it, and redirect money for other defense priorities would save just $16.9 million in Fiscal Year 2020, USNI News has learned. Read More
USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2017.
The following is part of a series. Please also see Top Stories: International Acquisition, Navy Operations, Marine Corps Operations, Marine Corps and Coast Guard Acquisition, International Operations and New Administration.
2017 began with the promise of planning for a larger fleet: at the end of 2016, the Navy announced a 355-ship requirement, and the incoming Trump Administration expressed its support for a larger military and a heftier Navy. Few concrete steps were taken this year, though, to begin a buildup – though many programs that will be pivotal to the 355-ship fleet of the future reached significant programmatic milestones in 2017.
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) conducts an ammunition onload with the dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Matthew Perry (T-AKE-9) on Oct. 7, 2017. US Navy Photo
About 7,500 Sailors and Marines with the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group left San Diego Friday morning from San Diego for a scheduled deployment to the western Pacific and Middle East. Read More
The aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) is towed by tug boats to its new homeport in Newport News, Va., on Aug. 4, 2017. George Washington changed homeports to support the ship’s refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) maintenance at Newport News Shipyard. US Navy photo.
Aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) began a 48-month Refueling and Complex Overhaul at Newport News Shipbuilding earlier this month after serving for seven years as the forward-deployed carrier in Japan, creating a somewhat unique work package for the Navy’s sixth-ever RCOH. Read More
Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) has left Newport News Shipbuilding on sea trials on Tuesday ahead of the official completion of its refueling and midlife overhaul, according to a Huntington Ingalls Industries. Read More
Further delays in receiving a Fiscal Year 2017 budget could put at risk many Navy efforts, including the refueling and complex overhaul of USS George Washington (CVN-73), similar to the RCOH for USS Theodore Roosevelt above. U.S. Navy photo.
Lawmakers will not pass a Fiscal Year 2017 budget before the Trump administration takes office and will instead extend the current continuing resolution that is funding the government at FY 2016 levels. The move could prove problematic for the Navy in several ways. Read More
U.S. Marines with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Southern Command and soldiers from 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment load an Ohio Air National Guard C-130H Hercules in preparation to depart Kingston, Jamaica, for Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to support the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief effort in response to Hurricane Matthew, Oct. 5, 2016. US Marine Corps photo.
More than 420 Marines on two Navy ships are preparing to head to the Caribbean if called upon to respond to Hurricane Matthew, and a portion of the Marine Corps unit working in Central America is already in Haiti. Read More
Amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) commences on June 23, 2016. US Navy Photo
Three warships have scrambled from Naval Station Mayport, Fla. ahead of the landfall of Hurricane Matthew later this week, a service official told USNI News on Wednesday. Read More
NOAA Image
THE PENTAGON — Ahead of an anticipated disaster relief mission in Haiti, the U.S. Navy is sending to sea aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) from Naval Station Norfolk, Va. to await orders to head South, two defense officials told USNI News. Read More
