Month: June 2024

Source: United States Navy

Exercise scenarios for Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) units include clearing mines, eliminating explosive threats, operating unmanned vehicles and conducting diving and salvage.

BALTOPS 24 brings the largest assembled coalition of amphibious and mine countermeasure forces in BALTOPS history.

Participating nations include Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

U.S. Navy EOD forces are working together with Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Norway.

“We are privileged to integrate with the Belgian, Dutch, French, and Norwegian navies at BALTOPS 24,” said Lt. Cmdr. Kristen Fekete, executive officer of EODMU 12. “With our shared mission of neutralizing explosive threats, multinational operations such as these convey regional reassurance and adversarial deterrence.” 

BALTOPS remains an alliance proving ground and is vital for honing the leading edge of combined interoperability, with Navy EOD playing a key role in mine countermeasures, unmanned surface vehicle operations, and integrated maritime and air operations. 

While the exercise is led by U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa and U.S. Sixth Fleet (NAVEUR-NAVAF/SIXTHFLT), Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, headquartered in Oeiras, Portugal, has command and control of the exercise. 

For U.S. Navy EOD’s role in the exercise, EODMU 12 runs a dedicated command and control (C2) element headquartered in Putlos, Germany, where EOD teams communicate with the tactical operation center before, during, and after each mission.

While EODMU 12 has tactical control of the EOD components for the U.S., Belgian, Dutch, French, and Norwegian navies, Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC) Mine Countermeasure Technical Division (MCMTD) leads the overall MCM combined task group and directs seven subordinate task units, including EOD’s operations, in support of BALTOPS.

As an exercise, BALTOPS continually adapts to the dynamic security environment. EOD’s involvement this year highlights an increased focus on expeditionary mine countermeasures and command and control.

“While mine countermeasures has been a central part of the BALTOPS exercise for decades, we are continuously looking for opportunities to increase its involvement and to experiment with different capabilities,” said Capt. Scott Hattaway, vice commander, mine warfare battle staff. “This year’s expeditionary mine countermeasures (ExMCM) contingent is the largest so far, combining the typical EOD/diver and unmanned underwater vehicle personnel with a command task unit to better support command and control over a complex water space.”

Aviation and surface assets are working together with EOD for a robust, multiplatform mine countermeasure approach.

“This is the first time we’ve brought the full detect-to-engage package for a BALTOPS exercise. We are flexing this capability by incorporating new technologies, as well as an MCM capable MH-60S detachment, to support their operations,” continued Hattaway.

In addition to refining tactical proficiency, BALTOPS provides an excellent platform for enhancing existing partnerships and fostering new ones. Naval personnel from different countries get the opportunity to work together, exchange knowledge, and build close relationships that are crucial for future collaboration.  

“Working together with EOD allies is valuable because we all have the same tasks, but we accomplish it in different ways. Our main goal is the same – the threat has to be gone. Seeing how different teams approach the same problem with different solutions, you learn small things that you can take back to your own teams to be stronger,” said Sergeant Major Ben Coolen, team leader for the Netherlands Maritime EOD.

Coolen elaborated on the training opportunities shared by the U.S. and Dutch EOD teams at BALTOPS 24.

“In the Netherlands, we never use a helicopter for a drifting mine procedure. Tomorrow, we are going to do that together; that will be a unique learning experience. Next week, we are moving into the tactical phase of the exercise, and we hope to approach some tasks together with the new knowledge we’ve gained,” said Coolen.

Naval strength is vital to achieving maritime security, which is an essential component for regional stability and a thriving economy. The Baltic Sea remains a critical artery of commerce, with up to 15% of the world’s cargo transiting the region. 

U.S. Navy EOD clears explosive hazards to provide access to denied areas, employs advanced tactics and technologies to exploit and secure the undersea domain for freedom of maneuver, builds and fosters relationships with trusted partners, and protects the nation. As Navy EOD develops new capabilities, force structure, and tactics, our force remains dedicated to sharing capabilities and information on combating explosive threats with our allies and partners to ensure regional stability. 

Navy Divers from Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 (MDSU 2), a subordinate command of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 (EODGRU 2), are also participating in BALTOPS 2024. Operating out of Liepaja, Latvia, they are conducting underwater cutting and welding training, as well as diving and salvage operations, with Latvian Navy Divers.

Navy Divers can perform underwater salvage, repair and maintenance, submarine rescue and support operations for Navy special warfare teams and explosive ordnance disposal teams. Because of their similar skill sets and mission areas, Navy EOD use expeditionary divers attached to our mobile units and our mobile diving and salvage units to conduct underwater search and salvage, port clearance, and hyperbaric chamber operations. 

Other Navy Expeditionary Combat Command units participating in BALTOPS include: EOD Expeditionary Support Unit (EODESU) 2, headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia; Commander Task Force (CTF) 68, headquartered in Rota, Spain; and Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11, headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi. 

BALTOPS 24 is the premier maritime focused military exercise in the Baltic Region. The exercise, led by U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, and executed by Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, provides a unique training opportunity to strengthen combined response capabilities critical to preserving freedom of navigation and security in the Baltic Sea.

BALTOPS 24 is also part of the U.S. Department of Defense exercise series, Large Scale Global Exercise (LSGE). LSGE is an umbrella term that incorporates several exercises and military activities, which enable the U.S. Joint Force to train with Allies and partners and improve shared understanding, trust and interoperability on security challenges across the globe.

Details of BALTOPS activities and imagery are available at http://www.c6f.navy.mil. Media interested in covering the exercise should contact the U.S. Naval Forces Europe Public Affairs Office at mail to: cne_cna_c6fpao@us.navy.mil

For the full collection of photos from BALTOPS 2024, and news about U.S. Navy EOD and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group Two, visit https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/EODG-2.

Source: United States Navy

SANTIAGO, Chile – Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro underscored the Navy’s commitment to the strong and enduring partnership between Chile and the United States during a visit June 11-13, where he met with key U.S. and Chilean military and civilian leaders.

Del Toro first met with U.S. Ambassador to Chile Bernadette M. Meehan, and Commander, U.S. Southern Command, Gen. Laura Richardson. From Chile, he met with Under Secretary of Defense Ricardo Montero; Chief of the Air Force Lt. Gen. Leonardo Romanini; Chief of the General Staff of the Navy Vice Adm. José Luis Fernández; and Chief of the Joint Staff Vice Adm. Pablo Niemann, among others, in support of Southern Seas 2024.

Southern Seas 2024 aims to enhance capability, improve interoperability, counter threats, and strengthen maritime partnerships with countries throughout the region through joint, multinational and interagency exchanges and cooperation. The aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) and Carrier Strike Group 10 are transiting around South America, engaging with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay, providing the opportunity for partnered countries to train together and learn from one another during subject matter exchanges, exercises, and tactical sea scenarios.

On Wednesday, the Secretary met individually with Vice Adm. Niemann and Vice Adm. Fernández, as well as Commander of Naval Operations Vice Adm. Claudio Maldonado. He also presented awards to several Chilean Navy personnel. During the meetings, Del Toro expressed his commitment to working with Chile and other South American nations to address shared security challenges.

“Economic security is national security, and we must continue to work together to counter the common maritime challenges which threaten our way of life,” said Del Toro. 

On Thursday, Secretary Del Toro met with leadership at the Chilean National Ministry of Defense. Del Toro expressed appreciation for Chile’s participation in Southern Seas 2024, and their important work alongside interagency colleagues, allies, and partners, to address shared security challenges and promote adherence to international law.

Del Toro ended his time in Chile meeting with leaders from the Office of the Naval Research Global. Secretary Del Toro conveyed his appreciation for ONR’s commitment to fundamental research and their dedication to the availability of worldwide scientific information, resulting in positive strategic collaboration through scientific diplomacy.

Chile is one of the United States’ strongest partners in Latin America, and a leader in promoting respect for democracy, economic stability, education, environmental protection, human rights, and sustainable development throughout the region.

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Source: United States Navy

The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), and embarked Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Special Operations Capable (SOC), arrived in Skagen for a scheduled refueling and resupply, June 12th, 2024.

Skagen is Wasp’s first port visit since entering the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations. During the transit across the Atlantic Ocean, Wasp conducted multiple successful replenishments-at-sea with Military Sealift Command supply vessels. Once Wasp had entered the North Sea, conducting a resupply with a NATO member was an opportunity the first-in-class assault ship’s commanding officer, Capt. Christopher Purcell, was eager to seize.

“Having the full support of our NATO Allies make it easier for us to accomplish our mission,” said Purcell. “We’re happy to pull into such a beautiful port and have the chance to interact with the people of Skagen, even if only for a short resupply. The crew would love to visit longer in the future to experience everything the area has to offer.”

Though the Port of Skagen has a long maritime history as home to fleets of civilian fishing vessels, it was not always able to accommodate larger ships, such as Wasp.

The original Skagen fishing harbor was built in 1907. Since then, it has evolved into a port consisting of an industrial harbor that continues to support the fishing industry, as well as facilities for cruise ships. In 2022, a new 600-meter port was built and is now utilized by cruise lines and cargo ships alike. The expansion of its piers and depth of their basin – which allow for bigger ships – has made local harbor pilots a critical necessity.

Jørgen Busk Vestergaard, a Danish harbor pilot in Skagen, boarded Wasp as it entered port to work with the navigation team and guide the ship safely pier-side.

“As typical with American warships, it was a very professional crew,” said Vestergaard. “The biggest difference with bringing in a warship is it’s a lot of people. It was nice to have direct communication with [the person] who gives commands across the ship, and that made it very easy to pull the ship into port.”

While in port, Wasp is taking on fuel, such as jet propellant-5 (JP-5), and supplies in the form of food and other dry goods. The planning and logistics of bringing fuel and food for more than 3,000 Sailors and Marines on a 41,000-ton warship is a monumental task for a small fishing town. Cmdr. Lee Eubanks, Wasp’s supply officer, explained how receiving the necessities from Skagen was such a success for the ship.

“We really are stretching our logistics hubs to maximize our capabilities as we operate in the northern 6th Fleet area of operations,” said Eubanks. “We can’t accomplish our mission without resupplying. Having the ability to pull into a town, dock at a pier we’ve never docked at, and be welcomed the way we were, proves that we can accomplish anything with the support of our Allies and partners.”

Wasp is scheduled to participate in Baltic Operations 2024 (BALTOPS24) as the flagship of the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group and embarked 24th MEU (SOC). BALTOPS is an annual, multinational exercise designed to enhance interoperability and demonstrate NATO- and partner-force resolve to defend the Baltic region. The exercise will test the flexibility of joint forces in order to strengthen the combined capabilities necessary for immediate maritime crisis response and regional stability.

You can follow USS Wasp’s adventures on Facebook and Instagram (@usswasp_lhd1)

To learn more about WASP ARG and 24th MEU “Team of Teams,” visit their DVIDS feature page at https://www.dvidshub.net/feature/wasparg24thmeu.

Source: United States Navy

On April 22, Dr. Tom Rondeau, FutureG’s principal director, formally approved a $1.8 million investment in NPS over the next five years for workforce development and education in addition to research in expeditionary applications of 5G open networks and beyond.

The project, entitled Active-Duty Open-Source Development (ADOSD), seeks to establish a formal and sustained graduate-level education and research program at NPS to develop advanced 5G (Fifth Generation) and FutureG (Future Generation) expertise in the active-duty force. This is particularly important for personnel who may be tasked to plan, install, operate and maintain 5G/FutureG networks in expeditionary environments.

“FutureG pursued this partnership because NPS understands the mission context in which 5G/FutureG technology will come to bear,” said Rondeau. “This extends beyond the active-duty students to the faculty and staff that have become highly skilled in the application of their expertise to dynamic warfighter challenges. The expertise they gain will help us understand how to buy, deploy, and manage advanced wireless networks like 5G and 6G. Coupled with their previous experiences in the fleet, this will help us innovate and deploy technologies that support future operations and the department’s strategic vision.”

Leveraging partnerships with industry and academia, the FutureG office is tasked with developing innovative solutions in 5G and FutureG cellular network systems and technologies that will enhance military wireless communication and data transport capabilities. Future-generation wireless technologies are one of the “seed areas of emerging opportunity” identified in the 2023 National Defense Science and Technology Strategy as crucial to the DOD.

“This partnership with NPS will provide FutureG with a steady stream of operationally-experienced, active-duty students who are eager to work on relevant problems,” said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Ben Pimentel, Ph.D., FutureG’s technical lead for Expeditionary & Tactical Use (ETU) and an NPS alumnus. “The hands-on experience students gain during research and coursework leveraging open source 5G/FutureG software will lay the foundation for the workforce that will proliferate this technology across the force.”

5G has become the global technology standard for wireless cellular networks – it’s much faster, more reliable and flexible, and has a higher capacity than its predecessors. Its use has become pervasive around the world, primarily through commercial cell phones but increasingly through a multitude of connected devices in the Internet of Things.

For the military, this presents new horizons in battlefield communications: a scalable, deployable and secure “network-in-a-box” capable of supporting grey zone maritime operations and Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO), enabling forward presence and communications resiliency even in degraded or denied environments.

This, according to U.S. Navy Capt. Chad Bollmann, director of NPS’ Center for Cyber Warfare (CCW) and co-primary investigator on the ADOSD project, makes education and research into 5G/FutureG telecommunications critically important.

“There are two really radical differences about 5G,” he said. “One, fundamental to the ADOSD project, is the idea that everything is going to be virtualized. It’s going to be a lot of virtual services that run your cell phone instead of needing a lot of custom equipment. Those virtual services let the DOD build a network to their purposes and needs, rather than using a network that was built for, say, AT&T to sell services to civilians. Now we can actually do DOD stuff with the network without having to pay to adapt someone else’s network.”

“The other thing is that 5G is going to be pervasive, including in space,” Bollmann continued. “Implementation of the technology is not quite there yet, but we’re currently testing 5G to satellite communications utilizing Starlink and all of the (Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (pLEO)) satellite constellations.”

Combined with a profusion of leave-behind sensors – Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Unmanned Aerial Systems, for example – as the Internet of Things moves from Wi-Fi to 5G, suddenly the battlespace becomes illuminated with a significantly reduced need for traditional commercial cell towers.

“The idea of being able to move rapidly from island to island and set up observation and targeting bases and intelligence gathering platforms, this type of pervasive on-demand network is essential to that vision of prevailing in Maritime Grey Zone conflicts,” Bollmann added.

However, the DOD currently has no formal or sustained graduate education program to develop advanced 5G/FutureG expertise in the active-duty force to support this. The ADOSD project seeks to address this gap.

To do so, the project will be executed in three distinct phases. The first, lasting two to three years, will consist of enabling master and doctoral-level research which primarily aligns with FutureG’s ETU portfolio or other FutureG priorities. This research will leverage an open standards private 5G network testbed being built as part of the ADOSD effort, the DOD Open Testbed for Expeditionary FutureG (.EFG).

NPS is already well underway in this, Bollman says. The CCW has years of experience instantiating, investigating and expanding open source private 5G networks, currently engaging six theses, three professors and 10 students. An additional two dissertations, four theses and four professors are exploring novel 5G security and privacy implementations. As .EFG is built and enhanced, NPS will leverage the knowledge, experience, and solutions developed by performers of the OPS-5G program, a DARPA research program exploring applications of open source 5G networks.

The center will focus its .EFG research along seven lines of effort, including long-range private 5G networks for grey-zone operations, industrial 5G for EABOs and real-time EABO 5G streaming communications for DOD applications.

This research is bolstered by the strong relationships with industry NPS maintains. The institution has standing Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) with Qualcomm, AT&T and Microsoft, and is currently engaged in conversations with NVIDIA and T-Mobile, amongst others.

“The CRADAs we’ve signed are huge and important: these companies are on the bleeding edge of 5G,” Bollmann said. “They’ve facilitated 5G research here in the past and we’re going to continue to partner with them.”

NPS’ greatest research asset, he continued, are the students themselves: operationally experienced practitioners who come to NPS from across all services of the military, bringing with them an inherent curiosity about the future and what comes next.

“Our students are really interested in figuring 5G out and are excited about taking the technology that they interface with almost daily and folding it into battlefield deployment use cases,” noted Darren Rogers, faculty associate in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department and co-primary investigator on the ADOSD project along with Bollmann.

Marine Corps Capt. Lucas Vancina, for example, is one year into his studies toward a master’s degree in computer science. A communications officer, he brings to his studies at NPS a wealth of field experience in working with communications networks.

His graduate thesis will explore using the extensibility and flexibility of the software defined networking architecture that open source 5G radio access networks provide to make them more usable and secure for tactical applications, specifically in expeditionary environments.

“It’s really exciting to see how much can be done with it; we’re still just scratching the surface,” Vancina said. “There is just so much that could be done with the 5G framework. The technology provides a lot of capability.”

“For my research, I think the most significant thing that will come out of it is that I’m starting to push the boundary of what is possible within current network architecture specifications,” he continued. “Hopefully it’ll start to open up more and more opportunities to add functionality on top of what is already being provided within 5G.”

The second phase, lasting one to two years, will focus on curriculum development informed by the experience of the research conducted in the first. It will implement a course progression culminating in an academic certificate. Meanwhile, individual research for master’s and doctoral students will continue to be funded.

Here, too, NPS is ahead of the curve, currently offering a profusion of courses and directed studies that introduce and cover 5G topics across a broad swath of six different academic programs, including ECE, Computer Science (CS), Master of Science in Applied Cyber Operations (MACO), Cyber Security Operations (CSO), the Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation (MOVES) program, and the Information Sciences (IS) department.

“What we’re looking at now is how to make these scale and accessible rather than a one-off,” Bollmann said. “The idea would be offering a stackable 5G certificate as well as building a research testbed on campus which anybody could come use.”

A stackable certificate would offer an interdisciplinary, baseline knowledge of 5G which could then be applied to the different angles of different departments to explore the art of the possible.

“MOVES faculty and students look at how to use 5G; they’re definitely kicking the tires and asking what it brings to the fight,” Rogers said. “In the ECE department, we like to get deep down under the hood and explore how it actually works and how things work together: how do you get on this network? How do you provision it? How do you manage it? What does the RF layer look like from an engineering perspective?”

With the first and second phases firmly established, the final phase will seek to continuously evolve the cellular curriculum to ensure technical and operational relevance and continue to support master’s and doctoral research. This third phase will continue indefinitely based on mutual agreement between FutureG and NPS.

Source: United States Navy

The enrollment of Royal Australian Navy sailors at the Submarine School marks a significant step in the AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, United States) Pillar 1 Optimal Pathway, aimed at helping Australia acquire a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine fleet.

“We’re excited to welcome these sailors and officers to Groton and build on the momentum of the first cohort of Australian officers to graduate from Submarine Officer Basic Course (SOBC) in April,” said Capt. Matthew Fanning, commanding officer, Naval Submarine School. “It is an honor to be part of the team that is delivering game-changing capabilities to one of our country’s closest and staunchest allies.”

The Submarine School trains officers and enlisted personnel through two distinct but interrelated tracks: Submarine Officer Basic Course (SOBC) and Basic Enlisted Submarine School (BESS).

SOBC is the last step in the U.S. Navy’s submarine officer training pipeline, graduating over a thousand officers annually. BESS introduces enlisted sailors to the fundamentals of the construction and operation of today’s nuclear-powered submarines. The course covers everything from shipboard organization to submarine safety and escape procedures. Following BESS, enlisted sailors will complete their pipeline training with classroom and skills training specific to their intended technical rating.

Upon graduation from pipeline schools, the Royal Australian Navy officers and sailors will be assigned to U.S. SSNs for their first sea tour to further their knowledge and training.
“The Royal Australian Navy officers and sailors commencing their training at the U.S. Naval Submarine School represent the leading edge of Australia’s future submarine fleet,” said the Chief of the Royal Australian Navy, Vice Adm. Mark Hammond.
“Three Australian officers have already completed 14 months of intensive shore-based training, including Nuclear-Power School, nuclear propulsion training, and the Submarine Officer Basic Course before being assigned to U.S. Virginia class submarines. Our people are receiving world class training through our U.S and U.K partners, and will play a crucial role for Australia’s future SSN capability. I’m incredibly proud of their achievements representing the Royal Australian Navy.”
“Australians are exceptional submariners,” said Rear Adm. Lincoln Reifsteck, the U.S. Navy’s AUKUS Integration and Acquisition program manager. “The training they receive at Submarine School will set them up for a successful tour aboard an American SSN, moving the Royal Australian Navy that much closer to operating sovereign, conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines.”

The number of Royal Australian Navy personnel training across the U.S. will increase to over 100 people in the next 12 months. Training Royal Australian Navy sailors alongside their American counterparts will enhance interoperability across the submarine forces, which is a cornerstone of establishing Australia’s sovereign nuclear-powered attack submarine capability.

The AUKUS partnership is a strategic endeavor that aims to strengthen the industrial bases of the three partners and promote a safe, free, and open Indo-Pacific, ensuring the international, rules-based order is upheld in the region. Australia will acquire conventionally armed SSNs for the Royal Australian Navy under AUKUS Pillar 1. The AUKUS I&A program office is responsible for executing the trilateral partnership to deliver conventionally armed, nuclear-powered attack submarines to the Royal Australian Navy at the earliest possible date while setting the highest nuclear stewardship standards and continuing to maintain the highest nuclear nonproliferation standard.