Tag Archives: WEST 2020

Mission Capable: How the Navy Harnessed Its Data to Achieve 80% Fighter Readiness

Mission Capable: How the Navy Harnessed Its Data to Achieve 80% Fighter Readiness

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Vice Adm. DeWolfe Miller III, commander of Naval Air Forces, addresses T-34C Turbo Mentor aircraft maintainers and midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy at Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI) before taking a flight with Lt. Jason “JB” Ely of Strike Fighter Squadron 122 (VFA-122) on Aug. 6, 2019. US Navy photo.

This post is the first in a two-part series on the naval aviation community’s effort to build better readiness and how that is changing the future of naval aviation.

This post has been updated to note that the readiness push resulted in 90 more mission capable Super Hornets in March and 340 more aircraft overall compared to the same time last year.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – “I love data, it’s just awesome.”

When Commander of Naval Air Forces (CNAF) Vice Adm. DeWolfe Miller took command in January 2018, years of tight budgets had robbed the naval aviation community of maintenance and spare parts funds, leaving some squadrons with just enough flyable aircraft to keep their pilots qualified but not enough to do any kind of sophisticated training. Read More →

Coast Guard Struggling to Get Ships Repaired as Navy Expands Use of Smaller Yards

Coast Guard Struggling to Get Ships Repaired as Navy Expands Use of Smaller Yards

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Coast Guard Cutter Waesche prepares to refloat from drydock in Seattle, Wash., May 22, 2018. The Waesche is a 418-foot Legend-class National Security Cutter homeported in Alameda, California. US Coast Guard photo.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Coast Guard is struggling to get ship repair yards to bid on its work as the Navy is leaning on more of these same companies to help dig out of its own ship maintenance backlog – and with the Navy contracts being larger and more lucrative, the Coast Guard is realizing it must “change the way we do business,” its engineering official said. Read More →

INDO-PACOM Commander: New Warfighting Concept Requires More Joint Training, Ranges to Prep for Tougher Fights

INDO-PACOM Commander: New Warfighting Concept Requires More Joint Training, Ranges to Prep for Tougher Fights

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Adm. Phil Davidson, participates in an honors ceremony at the Brunei Ministry of Defence on September 10, 2019. U.S..S. Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. –The future force must transform into one that’s jointly trained and integrated across all warfighting domains and with regional allies and partners to counter threats including China’s growing military and global influence, the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific said on Tuesday. Read More →

NAVIFOR Boss: Virtual Training for ITs Soon to Go Fleetwide

NAVIFOR Boss: Virtual Training for ITs Soon to Go Fleetwide

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Navy Information Systems Technicians assigned the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) provision more than 1,500 computer workstations for integration into their shipboard Consolidated Afloat Ships Network Enterprise Services (CANES) system in Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific’s Network Integration and Engineering Facility. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – A recent pilot program tested in the fleet to provide information systems training virtually to shipboard sailors proved promising enough that the Navy plans to implement it sometime this summer. The new regime is enabling students to learn and work on the exact IT systems they will operate on their ships, said the commander of Naval Information Forces. Read More →

Marines Put Next-Generation MUOS SATCOM to the Test in Expansive Exercise

Marines Put Next-Generation MUOS SATCOM to the Test in Expansive Exercise

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U.S. Marines with the 7th Marine Regiment commanding officer’s jump prepare for the start of the day during Steel Knight 20 (SK20) at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California on Dec. 11, 2019. US Marine Corps Photo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – When a division of Marines deployed across a wide swath of the Southwest during a recent live-fire field exercise, the Navy’s new satellite communication system helped close a command and control gap that’s often-vexed commanders and their subordinate units. Read More →

CNO, Commandant Asking for Fleet Wholeness Amid Pause in Future Force Structure Planning

CNO, Commandant Asking for Fleet Wholeness Amid Pause in Future Force Structure Planning

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USS America (LHA-6) sails in the Gulf of Thailand in support of Exercise Cobra Gold 2020 on March 1, 2020. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Navy and Marine Corps are caught in a battle with Pentagon leadership over the right force size to aim for and how quickly to try to get there, but the top officers in the sea services insist that everyone is on the same page about maintaining wholeness and readiness as the service grows. Read More →

CNO Gilday Defends 36-Month Carrier Cycle, Says Navy Has Never Missed a Deployment

CNO Gilday Defends 36-Month Carrier Cycle, Says Navy Has Never Missed a Deployment

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Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Gilday meets with Sailors during his visit to Naval Expeditionary Intelligence Command. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The chief of naval operations defended the Navy’s force-generation model, saying that it could be tweaked to change the balance of deployed forces versus those ready to surge if needed – but the 36-month maintenance, training and deployment cycle fundamentally works. Read More →