Month: March 2024

Source: United States Navy

DON and DLA are committed to regular engagement with stakeholders and community groups, including the Community Representation Initiative (CRI). In support of that commitment, senior leaders at DON, DLA, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the signatories to the ACO, deferred conducting a CRI meeting in January. Together, the signatory agencies took a purposeful pause to re-evaluate the effectiveness of the process, ensure that the signatories were adhering to the agreement, and improve the outcomes directed by the ACO.

During this reset time, DON and DLA, in coordination with the EPA, finalized Structural Principles for the CRI, and shared them with the elected members. At the local level, the Navy reorganized, hired additional staff, and improved access to information to better support the CRI. Following DON and DLA efforts to consult with the EPA and the elected community representatives throughout January and early February, the CRI meeting held on Feb. 15 did not live up to the DON’s and DLA’s enduring commitment to interact with stakeholders in a safe and respectful information sharing forum.

The DON and DLA remain committed to the stated goals of the reset, to ensure that the CRI operates under the terms of the ACO and provides a safe and respectful forum to share information on the topics of defueling, closure, and drinking water requirements.

This month, DON is also keenly focused on ensuring a successful transition of responsibility from the Joint Task Force -Red Hill (JTF-RH) to the Navy Closure Task Force – Red Hill (NCTF-RH), following completion of JTF-RH residual fuel removal efforts on March 6. The DON and DLA requested that the March meeting be rescheduled to allow NCTF-RH to focus on achieving Full Operational Capability. The elected community members did not accommodate the request to reschedule the March meeting.

The DON will attend the March 21 CRI meeting and discuss each of the topics that relate to defueling, closure, and drinking water actions.

Specifically, the DON and DLA are prepared to support the following agenda:

1. Oli, Introductions, and Opening Comments (10 mins)

2. Drinking Water Investigation (30 mins)

3. Update on NCTF and Transition including Air Quality Monitoring (40 mins)

4. Discussion on Website and Data Reporting (10 mins)

5. Establish CRI Guidelines and Processes – Navy, DLA, EPA, Elected Members (30 mins)

6. Closing Comments and Adjourn Meeting (10 mins)

To further ensure safety and compliance, the federal agency signatories to the ACO are making best efforts to have a facilitator in place for the meeting on the 21st.

The DON and DLA are steadfastly committed to building and maintaining an interactive relationship among the federal partners and the community. This commitment is the reason the CRI was created, and is one that the DON and DLA embrace through being present, listening, and acting in forums such as Neighborhood Boards, the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee (FTAC), and many others.

The DON and DLA support a forum that is aligned to the ACO, respectful and safe, and contributes to the information sharing and outcomes that the community requested and deserves.

On the DON website for the CRI, the EPA, DON, and DLA have provided updates to frequently asked questions and comments, as well as prior CRI meeting summaries, which are found at: https://cnrh.cnic.navy.mil/Operations-and-Management/Red-Hill/2023-Administrative-Consent-Order/Community-Representation-Initiative/

The public may submit comments or questions through email CNRH.PAO@US.NAVY.MIL or by leaving a message at 808.471.0880.

Source: United States Navy

The Secretary invited industry leaders to participate in a roundtable discussion focused on surface ship repair and modernization initiatives under the aegis of his efforts on Maritime Statecraft.

Navy and Marine Corps leaders have expressed that repair process improvements are critical to meeting the needs of worldwide combatant commanders.

“The maritime industry is a strategic sector critical to our economic and national security,” said Secretary Del Toro. “As a collective force, our combined structure plays a vital role maintaining the open sea lines of communication that sustain the U.S. and world economy.”

The roundtable featured open and transparent dialogue between government and industry representatives covering issues including maintenance delay days, contract award timelines, repair yard efficiencies, performance to plan initiatives, maritime training programs, and the impacts of a fiscally constrained environment.

Discussions further revolved around recent successes in surface ship maintenance and modernization, and collaboration on ideas for continued improvement.

For example, 41% of Chief of Naval Operations maintenance availabilities were completed on time in Fiscal Year 2023, up from 37% in FY22. The number of maintenance delay days decreased over the same period – 2,136 in FY23, down from 2,483 in FY22.

In addition to the Secretary, nearly one dozen government representatives attended the roundtable, including leaders across the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and MARAD.

“I launched the Government Shipbuilders Council in November 2023 with these types of discussions in mind – bringing in stakeholders from across the whole of government and fostering a robust dialogue with our partners in industry. This is what Maritime Statecraft is all about,” said the Secretary. “We’re all going to walk out of this room better informed and better able to make the strategic decisions required of each of us.”

Source: United States Navy

BEAUFORT SEA, Arctic Circle (March 17, 2024) – Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti traveled to the Arctic Ocean to attend Operation Ice Camp (ICE CAMP) 2024 and to visit with crewmembers of a U.S. Navy fast attack submarine, March 17.

Previously known as Ice Exercise (ICEX), the operation’s new title better reflects the Department of the Navy’s Arctic strategy and its priority to maintain enhanced regional presence.  

“Our ability to operate on, under and above Arctic waters ensures this region remains one of low tensions, and prevents competitors from disrupting emerging sea lines of communication and commerce,” said Franchetti. “The Navy will continue to modernize our facilities and platforms, and train personnel to meet the demands of an increasingly accessible Arctic operating environment.”

ICE CAMP is a three-week operation, hosted by Commander, U.S. Submarine Forces, in collaboration with the Arctic Submarine Laboratory (ASL), and is designed to research, test, and evaluate operational capabilities in the Arctic region. While visiting, the CNO had the opportunity to speak with Sailors operating in the austere Arctic conditions.

“There is no corollary to the demands of the Arctic environment, and there is no finer test for a submarine or its crew than actually being north of the Arctic Circle and under the ice,” Franchetti said to the crew. “I want each of you to know I am incredibly proud of you and of all that you are doing to make sure that our Navy remains the most powerful Navy in the world.”

In addition to U.S. Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Space Force participation in the exercise, personnel from the Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Canadian Navy, the French Navy, the United Kingdom Royal Navy, and the Royal Australian Navy are participating.

“It is remarkable to see what our Joint Force, alongside our partners from the ASL have organized, coordinated and planned for ICE CAMP to ensure our combined forces are ready to execute our Arctic mission,” said Franchetti. “We will continue to strengthen our partnerships with like-minded nations to enhance our awareness and increase interoperability.”

The Navy remains committed to supporting Defense Department’s desired end state for the Arctic: a secure and stable region where U.S national interests are safeguarded, the U.S. homeland is defended, and nations work cooperatively to address challenges. ICE CAMP is a biennial event to demonstrate, evaluate, and advance the capabilities of the Navy operating in the Arctic. 

This was Franchetti’s first visit to ICE CAMP as the Chief of Naval Operations.

Source: United States Navy

Over the course of this four-day event, presenters highlighted the impact these technologies are having and will continue to have on the future of maritime security and defense and provided a platform for collaboration among the 600 attendees.  

U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Jack Long, acting Navy Chief AI Officer at the Office of Naval Research, opened the event as the initial keynote speaker, providing a preview of the Marine Corps’ AI Strategy, still in its draft stage.

“Fighting smart,” said Long. “That is the key to what we want to do. The Marine Corps is very good at fighting. If you look at how we’ve fought for the last 50 years, compared to where we could be in the future, not to say we fought dumb but we can certainly fight smarter.”

Long also highlighted the Marine Corps’ commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technologies to enhance readiness, agility, and mission success in an increasingly complex and dynamic operating environment.

“We are very much focused on maneuver warfare, rapidly seizing the initiative, breaking apart the enemy’s coherence and beating them through that,” said Long. “Fighting smart is how you do that. We need to make decisions faster than they can and put them in a position they’re unable to react to… if we are not leveraging these tools, we’re not going to be able to do that. We want to recognize that and make it central to how we think about information, how we think about intelligence and decision making for our senior leaders all the way down to our most junior leaders.”

As the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps continue to adapt to evolving threats and operational environments, AI/ML is expected to play an increasingly important role in enhancing capabilities, improving decision making processes, and ensuring mission success in the 21st century maritime domain.

NIWC Pacific established NAML in 2016 as a showcase for ML research at its labs, and very quickly grew to include partners from other Navy warfare centers and defense organizations. NIWC Pacific now partners with the San Diego chapter of AFCEA International San Diego, and NAML serves as a forum for government, industry, and academia to share their work and learn about technical developments in the defense space.

“NAML has almost tripled in size from when we started the program,” said Katie Rainey, Ph.D., a NIWC Pacific scientist and one of the founding organizers of the event. Rainey notes how she has personally seen the benefits of this event, identifying projects that have been generated based on the communication that takes place at this forum.

NIWC Pacific organizes the technical agenda at NAML, which included around 150 technical talks and 60 posters at the unclassified and classified levels. Themes that emerged from the agenda included advances in developing AI for low-data and low-power environments, and ways to ensure that AI systems are robust and reliable in safety-critical settings.

Events such as the NAML workshop are a key part of collecting the best minds from across the defense community to solicit war-winning solutions for the fleet, according to Rainey. Through events, tech talks and strategic partnerships, NIWC Pacific is using innovations in machine learning and artificial intelligence to keep the Navy on the cutting edge of information warfare.

As a part of NAVWAR, NIWC Pacific’s mission is to conduct research, development, engineering, and support of integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, cyber, and space systems across all warfighting domains, and to rapidly prototype, conduct test and evaluation, and provide acquisition, installation, and in-service engineering support.

Source: United States Navy

Recently, artisans assigned to the Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) F-5 Production Line propelled the organization into the next generation of industrial aviation maintenance with the single pull of an electrical discharge machining (EDM) trigger.

After more than a year of careful training and testing on composite structures, FRCSE has finally employed the E-Drill on metallic structures. The event marks the first time the technology has been used on an aircraft within the NAVAIR enterprise. FRCSE’s F-5 Production Line is the first to utilize the E-Drill and if all goes according to plan, every aircraft production line at the command will possess the new technology in the not-too-distant future.

“The E-Drill is a variation of electric discharge machining that has been around the machining industry for 30 years or more,” said Dr. Luis Carney, FRCSE’s senior materials engineer and team lead. “FRCSE has taken a bit longer to introduce this technology because it took time to get our own unit, set it up, write the instructions, develop non-destructive inspection techniques, demonstrate the viability of the operation without harm to the structure, and finally obtain the authority to execute.”

Considering many aerospace rework facilities, including FRCSE, remove aircraft fasteners the conventional way – by hand with a drill and hammer or punch – once fully rolled out, the E-Drill system will significantly reduce the time it takes to remove the thousands of rivets touched during routine aircraft maintenance and repair.

The tool uses a computer-controlled electric arc, or spark, between the device’s electrode and an aircraft fastener. After localizing to a fastener’s shank axis, the E-Drill uses a pulse-cutting technique that measures, cuts, re-measures and cuts a second time — ultimately weakening the fastener, punching out the head and simultaneously flushing the opening with water to reduce the risk of damage from to molten material. The device also vacuums the area to remove foreign object debris (FOD).

The E-Drill was used on the F-5’s Vertical Stabilizer (V-stab), a static part of the vertical tail that stabilizes and balances the aircraft in flight, and the heat shield — or the titanium panels in the boat tail that protect the structural, mechanical and electrical components from the high temperatures produced by the engine and exhaust.

On some aircraft, V-stab removal is required, and its leading edge is full of fasteners – about 130 on the F-5 – and removing them by hand can take upwards of 16 hours. When the E-Drill is used on areas like the V-stab, it will save time – and a lot of it. The device takes a 16-hour job and reduces it to about three – a decrease of better than 80 percent.

Where removing fasteners on the V-stab is straightforward, the heat shield presents complexity.

The heat shields are curved and thin, but what’s more, they are also full of problematic steel fasteners that are difficult to remove because of spinning. When executed by hand, the process takes longer and forces workers to use larger drill bits.

“These steel fasteners have been the source of countless discrepancy work orders,” said Jeff Cavanaugh, FRCSE’s F-5 Production Line Lead. “When drilling, we have to attack these fasteners from various angles because of the spinning, and that can cause damage and deformation of the holes. When artisans punch the fasteners out, it’s not uncommon to crack the heat shields, which are not repairable. Purchasing new heat shields creates delays and further stresses an already strained supply system.”

While the technology is exciting and promising, learning the best way to balance the power of the E-Drill with the complexity of the contours and fragility of the heat shield requires more development before full implementation.

 “While we have been slow in our roll-out of this device, it was methodical because understanding the device and making sure each artisan is thoroughly trained is vital,” said Cavanaugh. “FRCSE’s Materials Engineering Lab and Quality Assurance Branch developed a special process certification that’s imperative for artisans handling the E-Drill.”

The introductory training is expected to take about eight hours and will be followed by on-the-job training before artisans are ready to use the device alone, but they are already lining up to learn.

Time reductions are far from the only benefit the command will see. Substantial decreases in FOD, artisan injury, noise exposure and significant cost savings are also expected.

“The E-Drill significantly reduces work-related musculoskeletal disorders and hearing loss risks because, contrary to conventional drilling, there is no vibration or noise,” said Nancy Chung, an F-5 and P-8 process engineer with FRCSE. “It also vacuums all metallic shavings, virtually eliminating FOD.”

Further, FRCSE’s experts also anticipate big savings in consumable and direct labor costs.

Despite the command’s sheet metal artisan’s expert-level skill, the human element is a major factor. One minor misalignment can cost thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of labor. Even the most frugal carbide-tipped drill bits come in at $2 per hole if everything goes smoothly, but as mentioned, old fasteners are often tough to remove, so it isn’t unusual for drill bits to break during conventional drilling. Whereas the E-Drill is pinpoint precise, and the electrode costs about $1.

While the E-Drill has only begun to make its cautious and calculated FRCSE debut, when it does become commonplace at command, the device is expected to revolutionize how maintenance actions are completed.

“Once the training, process control, and non-destructive inspection methods have been established, E-Drill is destined to be a common part of all aircraft production lines and component repair shops,” Dr. Carney said. “Eventually, I expect fifteen to twenty of these per depot and at least one at every squadron and intermediate-level facility.”

About Fleet Readiness Center Southeast

Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) is Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia’s largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, employing approximately 5,000 civilian, military and contract workers. With annual revenue exceeding $1 billion, the organization serves as an integral part of the greater US Navy, Naval Air Systems Command, and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers by maintaining the combat airpower for America’s military forces.