Month: September 2022

Source: United States Navy

Before LTF LANT was officially established, Cmdr. Carl Brobst was relieved by Lt. Cmdr. Aloysius Elzie as SCSTC Det Southeast’s officer in charge (OIC) during a change of charge.  From July 2019, when Brobst assumed duties as OIC, to September 2022, Brobst and his team helped shape the next generation of surface warfighters.  The det’s annual throughput more than quadrupled and they delivered over 18,840 combat-ready Sailors to the Fleet. Brobst will retire later this year after 30 years of naval service. 
 
Immediately following the charge of charge, Cmdr. Dan Reiher assumed command of LTF LANT. Reiher is already well-known in the LCS community. He served aboard USS Sioux City (LCS 11) as executive officer and commanding officer Gold Crew.  Most recently, he was the commanding officer of USS Wichita (LCS 13). 
 
“I am truly humbled to become the first commanding officer of LTF LANT and honored to join and lead an outstanding team of professionals in training future LCS warfighters.”
 
The establishment of LTF LANT is part of SCSTC’s large internal realignment effort that begun in 2021 with the changing of its name, formerly the Center for Surface Combat Systems.  The name change and realignment define the command’s critical mission of training surface warfighters. SCSTC, with their surface community partners and force development counterparts, provides system and platform specific combat systems training to a growing surface Navy. LTF LANT, with the responsibility of training all LCS Freedom-class ships and their crews, supports the increased demand for LCS training at the waterfront.
 
Capt. George A. Kessler, Jr., commodore of SCSTC, presided over the ceremony and delivered remarks as the keynote speaker.
 
“Being here in Mayport, you can see and feel the impact of today’s event for not only SCSTC, but also the waterfront,” Kessler said.  “LTF LANT is part of the domain’s overall realignment effort but the significance of LTF LANT is about the mission.  A mission that is growing in importance each day. Strategic competition at sea is not an amorphous concept but an everyday reality and it demands that our Sailors have the tactical competence and proficiency needed to execute the mission across the spectrum of operations in today’s challenging environment.  Our warfighters must be ready to fight and LTF LANT provides the high-end tactical training needed to ensure warfighting readiness, which leads to security for our country and our allies and maintains the freedom of the seas we so richly enjoy.”

The LTF LANT is located onboard Naval Station Mayport, Fla. The first Freedom variant LCS arrived at Naval Station Mayport in 2016 and the number of LCSs have grown.  LTF LANT facilitates the training concepts of Train-to-Qualify (T2Q) and Train-to-Certify (T2C) for the LCS-1 USS Freedom ship variant.  It provides an integrated command and control environment to support training in both navigation and combat systems mission areas.  LTF LANT is comprised of three components which can be used independently or in concert with the others to provide more complex training scenarios. Each section of the trainer replicates the basic layout and design of the LCS command and control, bridge, and propulsion control systems. Using mockups of these areas, which includes video screens reproducing scenes from a ship’s bridge windows, the SCSTC team produces realistic training scenarios.
 
For information about Surface Combat Systems Training Command, visit https://www.netc.navy.mil/SCSTC
 
Visit SCSTC on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Surface-Combat-Systems-Training-Command-1480366868885239

Source: United States Navy

Rica L. Hamilton works for the Naval Medical Readiness Logistics Command (NMRLC), Williamsburg, VA, and is the assistant property manager and transportation officer.

In that capacity, her responsibilities include supporting the senior transportation management specialist and property administrator. Shortly after the property administrator departed, she volunteered to fill the gap which lasted for 22 months. During this time, she managed the command’s operating materials and supplies, and managed four warehouses on Cheatham Annex, Williamsburg, VA, two military pre-positioned ships, and five locations outside of the United States (OCONUS).

Also, in the absence of the senior transportation management specialist, Hamilton coordinated shipments of the material globally via rail, aircraft, trucks, ships, and other well-known global logistics civilian entities.
After serving honorably in the United States Army for nearly 23 years, she retired from her position as a transportation management coordinator, where her first duty assignment was with the 403rd Transportation Company, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

While on active duty, Hamilton earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organizational Leadership and a Master of Arts degree in Human Resources from Columbia Southern University.

In discussing the successes, she experienced at her position, she described the most important aspects of the roles she played and what was most significant in achieving her work-related goals.

“I would have to say the most important efforts I was involved in was support to warfighters in various countries at numerous times. Often, these missions are executed with short notices,” she explained. “On multiple occasions, coordinating transportation for various requirements with minimum information presented unique challenges.”

Supporting both the property administrator and transportation officer required more hours than the workday permitted. “In those situations, I did everything I could, even past the normal working hours, so that I could expedite the information needed to accomplish the mission,” Hamilton said.

However, when she reflected on what made her a success, Hamilton described the importance that interpersonal skills were at her command, and her ability to remain flexible while not compromising the mission.

“At NMRLC, understanding people and keeping lines of communication open with my leaders, peers and the contractors, was a vital part of mission success,” Hamilton said. “Keeping abreast of the latest changes pertaining to my responsibilities was also key. Most importantly, much of my success was due to the assistance I received from my colleagues. Coming from Army Transportation to the Navy Logistics highlighted interesting and different aspects of how the two services conduct business, but the team at NMRLC has been very understanding and helpful.”

When thinking of her professional career, Hamilton shared a time when she was in the Army and influenced those she mentored.

“I started a mentorship program with one of my subordinates that grew to more than 20 Soldiers during my last deployment, and some were not from my organization,” she said. “Many of them were in the paygrades of E3 and E4. Today, all of them are E7s and above. There is no greater joy for me than to help people. I still get calls, text messages and emails from many of them.”

Hamilton influenced many lives while she was in the Army and still has an impact on service members who are deployed through her contributions at NMLRC.

Lead by Cmdr. Matthew Marcinkiewicz, NMRLC Williamsburg, is responsible for building and maintaining rapidly deployable medical systems to support contingency operations, humanitarian assistance, and real-world events and exercises around the globe.

With civilians like Hamilton on the team, NMRLC will continue to achieve mission success.

Source: United States Navy

Ships began departures from Naval Air Station Mayport today (Sept. 27, 2022) and will complete heavy weather mooring if required to stay in port.  Aircraft will initiate evacuations from area airfields or be secured in hangars rated to withstand hurricane force winds.  Four ships and multiple rotary and fixed-wing aircraft are expected to relocate and remain out of the local area until it is determined safe to return. 

“Hurricane preparations began months ago through a Navy-wide exercise ahead of the hurricane season,” said Rear Adm. Jim Aiken, Commander U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet. “Our Sailors will now focus on the safe execution of those planning efforts to enable sustained fleet operations.”

The littoral combat ship, USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS 21) was the first ship to depart from Naval Station Mayport today. The three remaining ships will depart this afternoon. Sailors and port personnel will heavy weather moor the six remaining ships at the Naval Station. All aircraft not departing will remain hangered between NAS Jacksonville and Naval Station Mayport.

Rear Adm. Wes McCall, Navy Region Southeast, instructed all Navy installations in the Jacksonville area to set Hurricane Condition of Readiness Three in preparation for the storm. All bases are currently open. 

Following the direction of civilian authorities, McCall, has authorized the evacuation of non-essential active duty military, civilian employees, drilling reservists, and authorized dependents residing in the Florida counties of Charlotte, Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota.  The designated safe haven is within 100 miles of Melbourne, Fla. 

“Given the storm’s unpredictability and the forecasted winds and storm surge, civilian authorities along the west coast have issued mandatory evacuations,” said McCall, “since these evacuations will affect our military personnel and their families I have authorized the evacuations of those personnel located in the mandatory evacuation zones in Florida.”  

All personnel and their families should review their Navy Family Accountability and Assessment System (NFAAS) account (https://navyfamily.navy.mil) and review hurricane checklists in the event an evacuation is deemed necessary.

Navy personnel and their families should visit the Ready Navy website at https://ready.navy.mil and follow Twitter (@ReadyNavy). Ready Navy provides information, tools and resources that empower the Navy family to more aptly prepare for, react and recover when faced with any emergency.