Month: September 2024

Source: United States Navy

KINGS POINT, N.Y. – Secretary Del Toro announced Ms. Iris Weinshall, the Chief Operating Officer of the New York Public Library and wife of U.S. Senator of New York Chuck Schumer will serve as the sponsor of the future USS Long Island (SSN 809), during a ship naming celebration at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy today, Sept. 27, 2024.

Sponsors are selected by the Secretary of the Navy and hold a unique role by maintaining a lifelong relationship with the ship and crew.

“I am honored to announce, surrounded by members of the Long Island community, that the ship sponsor of the future USS Long Island is Ms. Iris Weinshall,” said Secretary Del Toro. “Ms. Weinshall has dedicated her life to public service and improving the lives the people in the community. She continues to make significant contributions to New York. I am thankful for her commitment to the future USS Long Island.”  

“I am honored to part of a tradition that connects us to the brave men and women who protect our shores. As a mother and grandmother, this role resonates deeply with me, as I understand the importance of watching over those we care for. In calm waters and stormy weather, we must always look out for each other,” said Ms. Weinshall. “And as a lifelong New Yorker, I am especially honored to represent Long Island. My husband, Senator Chuck Schumer, and I cherish our time on the Island with our family and dear friends.” 

Announced on the deck of USS Wasp (CV-7) in May 2023 during New York Fleet Week, the name honors Long Island, the densely populated island in the southeastern region of the state of New York, and the crews of two U.S. naval vessels previously named Long Island.

“New York has been a Navy town since our Nation’s founding. Today, over 200,000 veterans are spread across the five boroughs with over 50% living on Long Island in Brooklyn and Queens,” said Secretary Del Toro. “Long Islanders themselves have always answered the call to service to our Nation, serving in every major conflict in United States’ history—from the Revolutionary War to the present day and I was proud to name the future USS Long Island last year during New York Fleet Week.”

The first USS Long Island was a steam trawler that was originally built as a civilian vessel but was then purchased by the Navy in 1917 and given the designation of SP 572. It served as a minesweeper, harbor patrol ship, and an icebreaker until after the First World War and decommissioned in 1919.

The second ship to bear the name Long Island was an escort carrier with the designation of CVE 1and was the first of its class. Originally it bore the designation of AVG 1 and then AVC 1, it was the first of the Navy’s prototype aircraft carriers which launched squadrons of attack aircraft in assistance with the Pacific theatre in World War Two. Having fought at the Battle of Guadalcanal, USS Long Island launched Marine Corps dive bombers in assistance with the Guadalcanal campaign. After the war, USS Long Island trained pilots and assisted in returning American troops home from the Pacific front during Operation Magic Carpet.

Throughout the day, Secretary Del Toro held several engagements at the academy, including a wreath laying at the WWII War Memorial, dining with the Regiment and meetings with Academy leadership, prior to the naming celebration.

“The United States Merchant Marine Academy is proud to welcome Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro for the announcement of the Navy’s newest submarine, the USS Long Island (SSN 809),” said Vice Adm. Joanna M. Nunan. Superintendent, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. “This event, which honors the region we call home, acknowledges the relationship forged between the Navy and Kings Point in the Second World War, and it symbolizes our shared commitment to strengthening America’s status as a maritime nation.” 

Attack submarines are designed to seek and destroy enemy submarines and surface ships; project power ashore with Tomahawk cruise missiles and Special Operation Forces (SOF); carry out Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions; support battle group operations; and engage in mine warfare.
 
More information on attack submarines can be found here.

Source: United States Navy

Rear Adm. James P. Waters, commander of Navy Recruiting Command, relieved Cmdr. Stacey O’Neal as the commanding officer of NTAG San Antonio due to a loss of confidence in her ability to perform her duties as commanding officer. O’Neal has been reassigned to Naval Medical Forces Development Command at Joint Base San Antonio.

Capt. Tommy L. Edgeworth, deputy commander of Navy Recruiting Region West, has temporarily assumed command of NTAG San Antonio, whose mission is to attract the highest caliber of talent across Central and South Texas to serve in the U.S. Navy.

NTAG San Antonio’s area of responsibility includes more than 30 Navy recruiting stations. The Navy remains committed to ensuring the success of NTAG San Antonio’s mission.

For more news from Navy Recruiting Command, go to http://www.cnrc.navy.mil.

Source: United States Navy

WASHINGTON — Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC) awarded Jacobs Engineering CH2M Hill/Clark Nexsen Energy Partners Joint Venture a $3.7 million contract for an electrical microgrid study as part of the Navy’s Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP) Sept. 13.

The study, expected to be completed in October 2025, will assess all four public shipyards and develop proposed courses of action for ensuring up to 14 days of electrical power in the event of a power grid or utility outage. It will include assessing the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of implementing a microgrid system to enhance energy efficiency, reliability, and resilience within shipyard facilities.

“This study is foundational to providing energy resilience at our naval shipyards,” said Capt. Luke Greene, SIOP program manager. “Off-grid survivability is critical to maintain the shipyards’ operations under adverse conditions and deliver ships and submarines back to the fleet on time.”

The study is part of SIOP’s holistic recapitalization effort that integrates all infrastructure and industrial plant equipment investments at the Navy’s four public shipyards to meet nuclear fleet maintenance requirements, as well as improve Navy maintenance capabilities by expanding shipyard capacity and optimizing shipyard configuration.

Leveraging the structure and rigor of the Department of Defense’s Major Defense Acquisition Program process — a first for an infrastructure program — SIOP established infrastructure performance criteria to evaluate potential solutions to facilities challenges at the shipyards. These criteria include the ability to operate independently of the electrical grid for up to 14 days.

To date, SIOP has completed 30 facilities projects totaling $867 million, with an additional 40 projects worth a total of $6 billion under contract. This includes four dry docks under construction. SIOP work continues to strengthen the naval shipyards’ resiliency in the face of sea level rise and other adverse conditions.

NAVFAC EXWC, the specialized engineering support and contracting activity for the study, provides research, development, testing and evaluation; in-service engineering; and life-cycle management for shore, oceans, and expeditionary domains to accelerate innovation enabling fleet lethality both at sea and ashore.

“This microgrid study will support infrastructure modernization of our naval shipyards by providing a course of action to increase resilience and provide uninterrupted critical power,” said Andy Vasquez, NAVFAC EXWC program manager. “NAVFAC EXWC is proud to provide the required specialized engineering services to support SIOP.”

For more information about the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program, visit https://www.navfac.navy.mil/PEO-Industrial-Infrastructure/PMO-555-SIOP/.

Source: United States Navy

ATLANTIC OCEAN– The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (IKE) hosted student naval aviators from Training Air Wing (TW) 1 composed of Training Squadron (VT) 7 and VT-9 from Naval Air Station Meridian and TW-2 composed of VT-21 and VT-22 from Naval Air Station Kingsville, as a part of carrier qualification (CQ) training, Sep. 24, off the coast of Florida.

For the VT students, CQs represents an important milestone in their training as it is the first time the students will land on an operational aircraft carrier.

During the evolution, students completed 256 recoveries aboard IKE in T-45C Goshawk training aircraft. This evolution is the culmination of the advanced phase of strike pilot training. The success of the students will earn them their wings of gold and designation as naval aviators, setting them up to fill operational commands across the fleet.

Throughout CQs, safety and emergency preparedness were paramount to both the student naval aviators and IKE personnel, especially those operating on the flight deck.

“In preparing for this CQ process, we have done numerous briefs and [simulations] of the T-45 models,” said Lt. j.g. Terrance Wever, IKE’s flight deck officer. “We planned for 20 aircraft but ended up with 14, so we knew how to manage the flight deck and the real estate available to us. Ultimately, it’s on all of us to make sure we stop anything that is unsafe. We are preventative and not reactive.”

In the air, the students’ safety is carefully managed. From the tower to the ground, a network of IKE personnel and VT instructors keep a close eye on the performance of the students.

Despite oversight at every level, the instructors have a high level of trust in their students and expect a high level of performance.

“If they’re having difficulty, we’ll talk to them in plain English,” said Lt. Cory “Venus” Morgan, a VT-7 landing signal officer. “Otherwise, it’s usually pretty silent; there’s not much noise. We’re letting them cook, so-to-speak; letting them get reps and sets, because they don’t know what to expect until after the first couple [of recoveries]. Then, they start to loosen up a bit and think ‘I can do this.’”

Although the students are nearing the end of their advanced training pipeline, nerves are inevitable ahead of their first CQ. This is something even the most experienced pilots in the fleet can attest to.

“The first few passes from behind the ship, I barely remember,” said Cmdr. Tyler “McGruber” McQuiggan, IKE’s air department head, also known as “Air Boss.” “My nerves were there and I realized after my first arrested landing, when my feet and hands were shaking from the gravity of what I had just accomplished. Your nerves start to cool over time but I don’t think you ever really get comfortable as a student out there.”

In addition to technical support, instructors play a key role in helping the students manage their nerves during the evolution.

“I think everyone is nervous going to the boat, especially if they haven’t done it in a while,” said Morgan. “It’s a healthy nervousness but we meter their nerves by emphasizing their training will set them up properly for landing on the boat.”

While the students set their sights on earning their wings of gold, IKE’s air department continues to practice their warrior tradecraft at a high level behind the scenes.

“Carrier aviation is always going to have risk and our job is to minimize the risk out here,” said McQuiggan. “We have to keep our head on a swivel, be safe and look out for one another.”

With CQs in the rearview mirror, IKE will return to Naval Station Norfolk and begin preparation for a scheduled maintenance period.