Month: December 2024

Source: United States Navy

The grants, part of a long-standing memorandum of understanding to advance LDES solutions, support the State of California’s clean energy goals and enhance the energy resilience of Navy and Marine Corps installations.

“We are proud to partner with the State of California to advance LDES solutions that align with California’s clean energy goals,” said Assistant Secretary of the Navy and Chief Sustainability Officer Meredith Berger. “These projects are more than just an investment, they’re a shared commitment to a stronger, cleaner future. Together, we are demonstrating innovative technologies that support California’s transition to a cleaner energy future while assuring Navy and Marine Corps mission readiness.”

Since 2016, the Department of the Navy (DON) has partnered with the CEC to operate on the cutting edge of technology by pursuing innovative renewable energy initiatives. The $42 Million Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and $8 Million Naval Base San Diego projects represent an instrumental public-private partnership between the State of California, the DON, local communities and industry.

“Long-duration and multi-day energy storage is key to California’s clean energy future because it helps transforms how we can capture and store excess power generated by renewable resources,” said CEC Chair David Hochschild. “Working with the military on this project helps California continue accelerating the path to market for emerging technologies that are critically needed to address climate change, air pollution, and equity in our state and globally.”

Once completed, the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton project at the Haybarn Energy Reliability Center will provide electricity to the California grid and backup power for Marines for up to 14 days in the event of power outages, and yield an additional 400 MWHs of energy storage to Camp Pendleton and the surrounding community. The project demonstrates the power of a defense community and represents the largest LDES project in the Department of Defense to date.

“By integrating these advanced storage systems, the Marine Corps can more efficiently manage energy demand, ensure continuity of operations during grid outages, and reduce dependency on traditional fuels. These capabilities not only enhance the resilience of our installations but also highlight our commitment to advancing the nation’s clean energy leadership through strong federal-state partnerships,” said Berger.

Enhancing energy resilience and serving as a blueprint for LDES system installations for renewable microgrids at naval facilities, the Naval Base San Diego project will provide the DON with valuable data to support the integration of LDES into the core of military operations and maximize the use of non-fossil fuel backup systems to power 24-hour critical operations, allowing missions to continue under volatile conditions, uninterrupted.

“Projects like these build upon the value and benefit of working together on LDES and new technical solutions and serve as a model for installations around the world to increase energy reliability and ensure mission success during unexpected grid conditions and natural disasters,” said Berger.

We are thankful for our collaborative partnership with the CEC and appreciate their taking a meaningful stand in support of our mission assurance and collective national security, and for giving us the opportunity to build the community resilience, climate readiness, and energy future we value and require. We are proud of our partnership and look forward to continuing to demonstrate its value through projects like these for a long time to come.”

Source: United States Navy

WASHINGTON (Dec. 11, 2024) – Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro gave remarks at the 2024 U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) Defense Forum, Dec. 11, 2024.

The forum consisted of Senior military officials, members of Congress, industry leaders, and defense analysts who discussed the current state of shipbuilding as well as examined issues such as static fleet size, maintenance challenges, operational availability, and the difficulties shipyards face with labor, training, budgeting, and requirements.

Secretary Del Toro opened his remarks by discussing the future of building and sustaining the naval force structure for the nation’s needs.

“For the first time since World War II, we face a comprehensive maritime power,” said Secretary Del toro. “Our Navy and Marine Corps Team serves as a proud and powerful testament of our Nation’s commitment to our allies and partners in Europe, the Middle East, and Indo-Pacific regions.”

Secretary Del Toro also discussed strengthening maritime dominance and why it is important to build a culture of warfighting excellence.

“To fight and decisively win our Nation’s wars, we cannot rely on merely maintaining our sea power—we must strengthen our maritime dominance,” said Secretary Del Toro. “Our people are the foundational strength of this Department, and they provide us competitive warfighting advantage over our adversaries.”

“Our priority of building a culture of warfighting excellence is founded on strong leadership that is rooted in treating each other with dignity and respect,” said Secretary Del Toro.

Secretary Del Toro continued by highlighting the importance of enhancing strategic partnerships.

“Our greatest asymmetric strength lies in our network of partnerships with our Defense Industrial Base,” said Secretary Del Toro, “As we look to the future, we must continue to make informed decisions about shipbuilding, maintenance, repair, and the future of the fleet which will impact and shape the Navy for decades to come.”

Secretary Del Toro concluded his remarks with sharing his pride in the U.S. Navy.

“I am extremely proud of everything our department has accomplished over the last three years, and I am excited for our Navy-Marine Corps team as we chart a course for the future—a future that will require us to respond and adapt to whatever geopolitical challenges our Nation may face,” said Secretary Del Toro.

Source: United States Navy

“Sea Sisters is one of the few direct engagements the U.S. military has with our Djiboutian partners,” said Chief Gunner`s Mate Lydia Cassard. “It provides an opportunity for building relationships, collaborating on a joint event, and learning from each other.”

The training exercise started with classroom knowledge exchanges and a briefing on events before transitioning to the water for training in search and rescue, tactical combat casualty care, water survival, and weapons familiarization.

Sea Sisters began in 2023 when servicewomen from MSRON 11 conducted a maritime personnel recovery exercise with the Djiboutian Coast Guard servicewomen for the first time. Sea Sisters began to unite women from partner nations for a common goal: protecting the port of Djibouti.

“Sea Sisters allows the opportunity for women of the MSRON to share their experience in the community and their skillset with our partners,” said Chief Cassard. “In turn, we get to hear them as well. It’s a huge exercise that we are always excited to be a part of and a chance to share knowledge and culture as well as make friends.”

The Biannual Sea Sisters engagement prepares Djiboutian Coast Guard servicewomen for the Bull Shark exercise, a joint personnel recovery exercise that brings maritime forces from the United States, Djibouti, Spain, and France together. MSRON units assigned to Camp Lemonnier work with the Djiboutian Navy and Coast Guard for months each year to prepare for the regional exercise, practicing maritime skills, signaling, advanced navigation, and casualty care. The exchange of knowledge and shared experiences serve to build trust.

About MSRON 1B and Camp Lemonnier

MSRON 1B is an expeditionary command that executes a full spectrum of combat and combat support missions, including littoral combat and embarked security trams on high value assets in support of global force management and major combat operations.

While assigned to Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, MSRON 1B provides CLDJ’s 36 tenant commands and visiting naval vessels protection through 24/7 port security and escorting operations. CLDJ is an operational installation that enables U.S., allied, and partner nation forces to be where and when they are needed to ensure security in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. (U.S. Navy story by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Maurice Brown)

Source: United States Navy

The goal of the exercise was to use FEM-02, an Aegis Guam System missile intercept test held Dec. 10, as a tactical training event to hone skills, increase interoperability, and improve communication and understanding between forces while also coordinating with civil authorities to train for a whole-of-government approach to crisis response.

Sling Stone, held in conjunction with Joint Task Force-Micronesia, validated the Guam Defense System concept of operations. It brought together assets and personnel from the Air Force, Army, Navy, and allied forces to use the missile intercept for multi-domain training.

“The success of Sling Stone is a testament to the incredible work our joint-service team does every day to maintain a strong defensive posture in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Navy Rear Adm. Greg Huffman, commander, JTF-M. “Leveraging MDA’s missile intercept test to train how we fight just made sense. We will take lessons learned and continue to strengthen the architecture of Guam’s defense against evolving adversary missile threats.”

The CAPEX was conducted in two main phases. Phase one began ahead of FEM-02 and included live, virtual, and constructive training environments simulating real-world multi-domain operations on land, in the air, and at/from the sea.

Phase two of Sling Stone used MDA’s missile intercept to allow the joint force to detect, track, and simulate engagement of the threat. During the event, a Standard Missile-3 Blk IIA, fired from a vertical launch system at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, intercepted a surrogate Medium Range Ballistic Missile target more than 200 nautical miles off the coast of northeast Guam, which was air-launched from an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III.

Simultaneously, the Navy’s Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69), operating off the coast of Guam, detected, tracked, and simulated engagement of the missile, providing air defense coverage from the sea.

Task Force Talon, the Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense unit located on Guam, also received missile tracking information. The THAAD battery provides ballistic missile defense coverage for the entire island of Guam.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Maya-class guided-missile destroyer JS Haguro (DDG 180) exercised its air defense support, increasing interoperability between international forces and fostering a broader-spectrum, shared information environment.

JTF-M and Joint Region Marianas continue to work closely with the Government of Guam to ensure military operations and exercises are fully coordinated. Sling Stone provided an opportunity for the military and Guam Homeland Security/Office of Civil Defense to rehearse the notification process and increase crisis-response readiness to better serve the community.

FEM-02 is part of the long-term initiative for the defense of Guam and will inform the larger effort to develop, install and operate Guam Defense System, which is comprised of a combination of Army, Navy, Air Force and MDA components that work together to provide Enhanced Integrated Air and Missile Defense. These defense entities will develop and deploy a persistent layered missile defense system for Guam.

JTF-M’s mission is to perform Homeland Defense, Defense Support to Civil Authorities, and Foreign Humanitarian Assistance through a whole of government approach within its assigned joint operations area.

For more information about JTF-M, visit https://www.pacom.mil/JTF-Micronesia/

For more information on MDA’s role in the Defense of Guam, visit https://www.mda.mil/system/guamft/