Month: November 2024

Source: United States Navy

The Department of the Navy is establishing a Naval Strategic Studies Group (NSSG) program in January administered by the DON Office of Strategic Assessment (OSA).

The NSSG will be modeled after the Strategic Studies Group created during the Cold War, which had a twofold mission to train future flag officers in strategic thinking and to conduct research on some of the DON’s most vexing strategic challenges.

The first cohort will include uniformed and civilian members from the Navy and Marine Corps. These plank-owners will conduct a capstone research project that advances Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro’s strategic maritime statecraft initiative.

“I expect my seasoned, mid-grade officers to be brilliant on naval tactics and operations by the time they report for graduate education,” Del Toro said. “I need future flag and general officers who will think strategically about how to lead naval forces in an increasingly contested maritime domain and amidst intense economic, technological and military competition.”

The education in strategic studies the NSSG members will receive supports DON’s focus on reinvigorating the strategic workforce, under the Secretary’s enduring priority of building a culture of warfighting excellence.

Members’ research – focused on broad strategic challenges, rather than narrower problems already addressed by fleet experimentation on specific tactics or technologies – will support DON’s aim of strengthening maritime dominance.

“The Department of the Navy meets our nation’s maritime needs, both today and into the future. As the Office of Strategic Assessment builds a net assessment capability for the DON to understand the complex challenges we face, the Naval Strategic Studies Group will bring together a cohort of rising leaders who will address these challenges and build the strategic leadership skills to guide our Navy and Marine Corps in a dynamic and shifting global environment,” OSA Director Dr. Cara LaPointe said.

The chief of naval operations created the previous SSG in 1981 to tackle key strategic challenges related to the Cold War. Over time, the SSG’s focus evolved to reflect the needs of the Navy until 2016, when it was sundowned.

As the Department of the Navy returns to an era of competition, stakeholders have agreed on the need to amplify strategic leader education as the United States faces an increasingly complex web of threats that includes China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. In 2023 Secretary Del Toro released a Naval Education Strategy to guide investments to modernize naval schools and professional military education. The NSSG will focus students’ strategic leadership studies on DON’s most pressing strategic challenges for greater effect.

“Today we face a comprehensive maritime power in the Indo-Pacific, Russian aggression in Ukraine, and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea – all of which will shape our security environment for several decades,” Del Toro said. “A revitalized, Naval SSG will help the Department of the Navy engage with and look ahead of these trends with sufficient access, resources, and guidance from leadership.”

The first cohort will also tackle questions that will help shape the enduring NSSG program, including working with the Naval University System to deliver a world-class curriculum, and will be located in Washington, D.C.

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, the commanding general of the Marine Corps Training and Education Command, said recent conflicts have reinforced the importance of having Marine Corps leaders at all levels who can outthink the enemy.

“Domains like information and cyber, along with the rise of non-state actors, don’t fit neatly into old frameworks. Our current operating environment demands nothing less than a renaissance in strategic thinking,” said Watson. “To stay ahead of our adversaries, we need to keep evolving—updating our training, sharpening our minds, and learning – not just observing – the lessons of contemporary conflict. The fight isn’t just on the battlefield anymore, and we need every Marine to possess the training, education, and intellectual agility to adapt and overcome.”

Vice Adm. Daniel Dwyer, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans, Strategy and Warfighting Development, agreed the Navy needs Sailors and civilians “with superb education and training, who are able to think, act and operate differently to ensure we can defeat our adversaries.”
“The establishment of the NSSG will enhance our culture of warfighting excellence and strengthen our maritime dominance by developing strategically minded warfighters who will be the future senior leaders of the service and will lead our Navy through uncertain times,” said Dwyer.

Del Toro established the Office of Strategic Assessment in October 2023 and tasked the office to reconstitute the strategic studies program to help rebuild the naval strategist community.
 

Source: United States Navy

While in Limassol, embassy leadership from Australia, France, the U.K., and the U.S., are scheduled to visit Oak Hill for a key-leadership engagement.

Marines assigned to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24th MEU) Special Operations Capable (SOC) will be returning to Oak Hill from a two-week training exercise conducted in Cyprus.
“Our visit to Cyprus enables us to re-embark the 24th MEU who recently executed some interoperability training with the Cypriots, and also host key leadership from other partner nations to continue to build and strengthen our relationships,” said Cmdr. Jason Nowell, Oak Hill’s commanding officer.

Oak Hill previously visited Limassol in September for a 10-day port visit and conducted a mid-deployment voyage repair (MDVR) and preventative, scheduled maintenance.
Oak Hill’s return to Limassol allows the embarked Sailors and Marines to further explore the Cypriot culture, food, and history within the city.

“The Sailors and Marines onboard Oak Hill are excited to return to Limassol,” said Nowell. “We were recently here to conduct some scheduled maintenance, and the crew was able to enjoy the rich culture, food and are eager to return.”

Oak Hill is conducting operations as part of the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group (WSP ARG)-24th MEU (SOC) in the U.S. 6th Fleet and U.S. Naval Forces Europe-U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) areas of operations, supporting U.S., Allied and partner interests in the region, including in the Eastern eastern Mediterranean Sea, to continue promoting regional stability and deterring aggression.
The WSP ARG-24th MEU (SOC) is comprised of its flagship namesake, the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD 21), Oak Hill, and the embarked 24th MEU (SOC).

The 24th MEU (SOC) is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) with a command element, Aviation Combat Element, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 365 (Reinforced), Ground Combat Element, Battalion Landing Team 1/8, and Logistics Combat Element, Combat Logistics Battalion 24.

To learn more about USS Oak Hill, please visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ussoakhilllsd51
To learn more about WSP ARG-24th MEU (SOC), please visit our DVIDS feature page: https://www.dvidshub.net/feature/wasparg24thmeu

Source: United States Navy

Minella, John Keast, U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) staff director; Pat Thompson, Adam Barker, and Chris Vignes, members of the senator’s staff, received updates from NAVSCIATTS Cmdr. Robert LeClerc and members of U.S. Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Command’s staff regarding the direction of the command and its continued support to combatant commanders’ theater security cooperation priorities.

During their visit to the Stennis Space Center, Minella and the SASC staff members also received a tour and command brief from Special Boat Team 22, NSW’s only riverine capability. The tour included a Special Operations Craft-Riverine demonstration and also M134 machine gun familiarization.

NAVSCIATTS trains and educates strategic allied and partner security force professionals across the tactical, operational, and strategic spectrums; and serves as the U.S. Navy’s premier security force assistance training asset. More than 14,000 partners from 129 partner nations have trained with this historic command since 1963.

Source: United States Navy

Every November, the United States takes a day to honor veterans for their service and sacrifices to their country. As Veteran’s Day 2024 approaches, HSC-26 reflects on a recent and unique opportunity to do just that while hosting retired Capt. Pete Lumianski and his wife Chris for a tour of his former squadron.

The couple now reside in Phoenix, Arizona, so the trip was inspired by the opportunity to visit friends and peers from their time in service who they don’t often have the option to visit, leading to a short stop in Norfolk to reminisce on Lumianski’s early days of service.

A U.S. Naval Academy graduate of the class of 1965, Lumianski arrived to his first fleet command, HC-4 Detachment Norfolk, in 1967 following the conclusion of flight school and the pinning of his “Wings of Gold”. Shortly after his arrival, the squadron was re-designated as HC-6, meeting various missions with multiple different helicopters.

“HC flying was a terrific start to my Navy career. There were three types of choppers on the flight line: H-34s, H-3s and H-46s, about 30 assigned pilots, many operational missions and lots of opportunities to head out to sea on board a variety of ships including destroyers, frigates, amphibious assault ships and aircraft carriers,” Lumianski said of his first sea tour.

He was designated as an aircraft commander for both the Sikorsky RH-3A Sea King and the UH-34 Sea Horse helicopters, executing mine countermeasures and combat support missions respectively, but also logged copilot time in the Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter executing vertical replenishment and logistics missions before he received orders back to flight school as an instructor at Helicopter Training Squadron (HT) 8 in 1970.

“I loved my first operational flying assignment in Norfolk, a squadron with many diverse and odd-ball pilots assigned. The ready room was always a ‘Star Wars Bar Scene’ look-alike,” Lumianski expressed.

Lt. Maxwell Gray, a pilot currently assigned to HSC-26, assisted with the visit. Starting off in the ready room, he showed Lumianski and his wife various offices and work centers, maintenance spaces and projects as well as the paraloft, ending the tour with a static display of HSC-26’s current helicopter platform, the MH-60S Knighthawk.

“Meeting with Capt. Lumianski was a great honor and experience that I’ll never forget. His stories of flying the mighty H-3 were inspiring and I am grateful for the wisdom he shared,” Gray said of the experience. “I’ll carry it with me for the rest of my career.”

The hard work and dedication of squadron personnel were impossible to miss. Multiple aircraft in the hangar were in varying levels of assembly while maintenance personnel kept replacement parts as well as those which were to be returned to their airframes organized in easily identifiable locations. To the untrained eye it may have appeared chaotic, but Lumianski saw expertise, attention to detail and pride shine through.

“Overall, the hangar looked and sounded a lot like it was back in the 60’s: busy, mission-oriented, rugged, with well-worn, hard-working aircraft, and the assignment of lots of officers and enlisted to make things work,” Lumianski said. “I leave you feeling that the Navy is in good hands and the helicopter world is still a big contributor to the Navy’s readiness and success.”

Nowadays, Lumianski has dedicated himself to giving back to his local community and other Cold War veterans like himself by promoting a project that would bring unique Cold War monument to downtown Phoenix.

“I’ve been working on this project in Phoenix for the past 30 years, and we’re finally making significant progress with the city’s help,” Lumianski said.

As a plank owner of a special city-appointed group, the USS Phoenix (SSN 702) Commission, Lumianski has led an effort to ensure 65 tons of salvaged parts from the Cold War era Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine make their way to their namesake city. The project was created in an effort to help preserve history and allow visitors to “Learn, Honor and Remember” Cold War military Veterans of all services, as well as civilians serving in defense and national security areas for their contributions to ending the Cold War.

He feels it is truly a culmination of his life in service as a Cold War era naval aviator qualified and capable of executing the anti-submarine warfare mission, and a passion project that is nearing realization.

“I spent 27 years in the Navy, and overall had a tremendous and gratifying learning experience. The opportunities for using and growing my leadership and management skills, the accomplishment of developing and perfecting my operational and flying skills, the hard work and adventures of operational life, and most of all the fun, enjoyment and satisfaction of working with so many fine officers and enlisted persons over many years have all fixed and maintained my positive perspectives and attitudes about life,” Lumianski reflected. ”I owe a lot to my naval career, and greatly appreciate what it has done to and for me.”

The impact and legacy of Pete Lumianski will no doubt leave a lasting impression on the members of HSC-26 who were fortunate enough to meet him.