Month: February 2025

Source: United States Navy

Ocean Giant arrived at McMurdo Station Jan. 26, delivering a floating marine causeway system along with 380 pieces of cargo, consisting of containers filled with mechanical parts, vehicles, construction materials, office supplies and electronics equipment, and mobile office units; supplies needed to sustain the next year of operations at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

Following the offload, Ocean Giant was loaded with 360 containers of retrograde cargo for transportation off the continent. This includes trash and recyclable materials for disposal and equipment no longer required on the station.

The MSC chartered ship MV Ocean Gladiator is scheduled to arrive in McMurdo Station later this week, and will begin a cargo offload as well as retrieving the causeway.

Operation Deep Freeze is a joint service, on-going Defense Support to Civilian Authorities activity in support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), lead agency for the United States Antarctic Program. Mission support consists of active duty, Guard and Reserve personnel from the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Army, and Coast Guard as well as Department of Defense civilians and attached non-DOD civilians. ODF operates from two primary locations situated at Christchurch, New Zealand and McMurdo Station, Antarctica. An MSC-chartered cargo ship and tanker have made the challenging voyage to Antarctica every year since the station and its resupply mission were established in 1955.

Source: United States Navy

SNOWCRABEX, controlled this year by Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2, is a two-week exercise designed to test and evaluate Naval Expeditionary Combat Forces (NECF) capabilities in a simulated arctic environment and, ultimately, improve Navy EOD’s combat effectiveness in mountain and arctic, winter warfare. During the exercise, U.S. Navy EOD technicians from EOD Mobile Units (EODMU) 12 and 2 and Navy divers from Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 tested, evaluated, and refined tactics, equipment and operations in an austere and demanding environment with unpredictable weather conditions and temperatures dropping below zero.

“Snow Crab Exercise is about training Arctic capable forces individually and collectively in cold weather operational skills like ice diving, skiing, shooting, unit movement, medical care, equipment sustainment, and survival—skills required for successful joint and combined operations in an arctic environment, so our units can successfully complete their mission when and where they’re called to,” said Lt. Samuel Baker, MDS Co. 2-1 company commander, MDSU 2. “This exercise provides a perfect training environment for our forces to build readiness for operations at high latitudes.”

As stated in the Department of Defense’s Arctic Strategy 2024, “The United States is an Arctic nation, and the region is critical to the defense of our homeland, the protection of U.S. national sovereignty, and our defense treaty commitments.”

Minnesota provides an ideal setting for Navy EOD and salvage divers to learn what it takes to not only survive in sub-zero temperatures and operate in heavy snow, but also how to succeed and thrive to become experts in an Arctic environment.

SNOWCRABEX 2025 also allowed units to test equipment and refine load out standards to improve their ability to operate in harsh regions. Navy EOD and Navy divers utilize highly specialized equipment to conduct their missions, and this exercise provides a valuable opportunity to test sensitive gear in an austere environment that it wasn’t necessarily designed for, allowing for refinement of methods or the development of alternative solutions. The key lessons learned from the exercise will inform capability requirements and strategic planning for future arctic operations.

“The training at SNOWCRABEX this year was priceless. It takes experience training in extreme cold weather so Sailors know how to operate, and prevent their hands and equipment from freezing,” said Cmdr. Garrett Pankow, commander, Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2. “When you’re diving under ice or mitigating explosive threats, the extreme conditions in mountain and arctic environments aren’t forgiving; the training experience gained at Snow Crab allows us to reduce risk already inherent in Navy EOD and salvage operations. We’ll continue to improve U.S. Navy EOD and mobile diving and salvage teams’ readiness to support Fleet operations anywhere, anytime.”

U.S. Navy EOD cleared simulated unexploded ordnance, secured critical infrastructure, and integrated with local U.S. Air Force EOD; exercising communication between distributed operating units. Prior to arriving at Camp Ripley, they learned avalanche safety, mountain survivability, and winter mobility skills at training courses in Utah and Wyoming.

Navy divers successfully completed ice dive training, arctic survivability, and mobility training, scenario based response drills, and diving casualty medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) training. The unique training environment at Camp Ripley allowed Navy divers to expand their capabilities for diving and salvage operations in an Arctic environment.

In preparation for SNOWCRABEX 2025, components of EODGRU 2’s medical unit attended a week-long arctic mountain medicine course in Anchorage, Alaska, Jan. 6-13, 2025, where they learned extraction techniques and cold weather injury treatment that will enhance medical care capabilities within the Naval Expeditionary Force (NECF). Treating a casualty in an austere environment with difficult terrain, such as crevasse, cliff sides, and mountains requires special extraction techniques.

The medical team exercised these techniques at SNOWCRABEX and trained EOD and ND units on advanced cold weather care, including rewarming techniques, hypothermia and frostbite treatment, and prolonged casualty care. Their training culminated with integrated support to MDSU 2 executing a complex MEDEVAC scenario simulating an ice diving casualty, extracting the diver from the water, coordinating helicopter landing at a local landing zone, and transporting the victim by medical support helicopter to a medical facility.

“In an austere environment, where we have difficulty moving them out of location to a medical facility, we need a way to get someone the care they need within or as close to the ‘golden hour’ – the window of time that is most critical for a life-threatening injury. At SNOWCRABEX 2025, we are honing our medical skills and developing techniques which will enhance our medical care capabilities in these far out, hard to reach environments to support prolonged casualty care,” said Cmdr. Nikunj Bhatt, the Undersea Medical Officer (UMO) and Senior Medical Officer for EOD Group 2.

“We have an incredible team developing techniques to deliver medical supplies, including blood, using unmanned air systems. Snow Crab is a unique environment to exercise these techniques; we are looking at temperature integrity, drone handling, drone payload capacity, its range of travel, and other variables. Having tools like this will be powerful for enhancing care capabilities for an expeditionary unit; to increase odds of survivability in the event of a cold weather medical casualty,” continued Bhatt.

The exercise was a success due to the support from The Minnesota National Guard and Camp Ripley leadership and staff. MN Air National Guard provided air support for portions of the exercise. U.S. Air Force EOD Technicians from the 148th Fighter Wing Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Flight provided support to demolition training and operations.

The U.S. Navy routinely patrols on, above, below and around Arctic waters to ensure the security of commerce and demonstrate freedom of navigation. Navy EOD and expeditionary divers constantly train to operate in all environments to execute the Nation’s tasking and enable the Fleet’s freedom of maneuver. Exercises like SNOWCRABEX 2025 allow our teams to improve Arctic literacy, training proficiency, and tactical competency to build readiness for operations in the austere and demanding Arctic environment.

Other Navy Expeditionary Combat Command units that participated in SNOWCRABEX 2025 included: EOD Expeditionary Support Unit (EODESU) 2, Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron (MSRON) 2, Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group (NAVELSG), Navy Expeditionary Intelligence Command (NEIC), and Navy Expeditionary Warfighting Development Center (NEXWDC).

EODGRU 2 operates as part of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command and provides skilled, capable, and combat-ready deployable Navy EOD and Navy diver forces around the globe to support a range of operations.

For additional news about U.S. Navy EOD and diving, visit https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/EODG-2.

Source: United States Navy

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti traveled to Indiana to visit Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane Division, located on Naval Support Activity (NSA) Crane to speak with Sailors, civilians, and elementary school students, and then visited Purdue University for a series of engagements with university leadership, research lab professors, and midshipmen, Feb. 10.

The visit enabled CNO to see and discuss key efforts that support her Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy to include the project 33 targets to operationally integrate robotic and autonomous systems, restore critical infrastructure, and recruit and retain talent, as well as elements of the NAVPLAN’s 5+4 related to building long-term warfighting advantage.

“Our Navy is the most powerful Navy in the world, but it doesn’t do anything without cutting-edge technology and the people who develop and operate it. For well over 80 years Crane, Indiana has been making a difference for the warfighter, and that was evident in everything I saw today,” said Franchetti. “You provide critical warfighting capability from readiness and modernization to the kinetic and non-kinetic effects we need to deter – and defeat – any adversary.”

At NSWC Crane, Franchetti recognized top performing Sailors and civilians, visited NSWC Crane’s Electromagnetic Warfare Center of Excellence, and received updates on the Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile Program, hypersonic programs, and microelectronics investments. 

NSWC Crane has a STEM partnership with over 40 area schools, providing education opportunities to over 10,000 students annually, and CNO had the opportunity to engage with a group of elementary school students participating in the program.

“Being in the Navy is really fun, you can operate ships, submarines, and planes – from seabed to space, and work alongside Allies and partners to defend our nation,” Franchetti told the 4th grade students. “I joined the Navy for free college and to see the world, but I stayed for the mission and the teams we get to be a part of. With over 150 job specialties, there’s something for everyone. I hope you will think about joining our Navy team.”

At Purdue University, Franchetti met with academic leadership including Dr. Mung Chiang, Purdue University president and toured their Applied Research Institute laboratories where she learned about their research with hypersonics and reviewed their rapidly evolving additive manufacturing capabilities, toured their infrastructure and innovation laboratory, and observed simulated flight operations at Purdue’s UAS Research and Test Facility.

“I’m grateful for our research partnership and its focus on battlefield innovation,” said Franchetti. “The importance of our initiatives on advanced technology development such as hypersonics, microelectronics and energetics are critical to the future of our nation’s defense and directly contribute to my priorities of warfighting, warfighters and the foundation that supports them.”

CNO also met with Purdue University’s Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps unit, which hosts 102 midshipmen and 11 staff members, and she commended their decision to serve in America’s Warfighting Navy.    

“Thank you for being part of NROTC, and for wanting to serve something greater than yourselves. You have an amazing opportunity in front of you,” Franchetti told the midshipmen. “Our Navy – Marine Corps team provides options to our Nation’s decision makers every day. From the Red Sea where we’ve been defending the free flow of commerce, protecting innocent mariners and our Allies and partners in the region – to the Indo-Pacific where we deter the PRC, your Navy is in high demand.”

For over eight decades, NSWC Crane has delivered innovative solutions and readiness to the Nation, with a focus on Electromagnetic warfare, Expeditionary warfare and Strategic Missions.