Month: February 2025

Source: United States Navy

The exercise was part of Citadel Shield-Solid Curtain 2025 (CS-SC25), an annual, two-part force protection Commander, Naval Installations Command (CNIC) and U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFFC)-led exercise that is taking place Feb. 3 through 14 at all continental U.S. Navy installations.

CS-SC25 is designed to enhance the training and readiness of Navy security personnel and better prepare Department of the Navy (DoN) personnel for potential force protection situations.

“Our security personnel operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” said NAS Pensacola Installation Training Officer Erich Brinkmeir. “Although this exercise is not held in response to any specific threat, it’s important that we train for a variety of realistic threats to enhance our personnel and force-wide readiness.”

Brinkmeir said that the exercise stress-tests NAS Pensacola’s ability to disseminate information and put into action individual response plans and security force responses while testing their ability to coordinate with local emergency responders and the community.

“We’re committed to safeguarding life, equipment and facilities, and training like this helps us do that,” he said.

Brinkmeier said scenarios during Citadel Shield – the first week of the exercise, led by CNIC – included the active shooter drill and hostage scenario, which members of the NAS Pensacola Anti-Terrorism Training Team (ATTT) used to gauge readiness from responding NAS Pensacola Naval Security Forces personnel.

“Making sure that all of the different entities on base are aligned can help our Naval Security Forces personnel more effectively do their job,” he said. “Communication during any event is critical in ensuring the safety of our most valuable assets – the men and women here – which is crucial to our ongoing mission of supporting the commands which train the best aviators, aircrewman, aviation maintenance personnel and cyber warfare specialists in the world.”

The second week of the annual Navy-wide exercise – Solid Curtain, led by USFFC – is centered around NAS Pensacola’s capability of exercising Navy Command and Control (C2) capabilities and evaluating the readiness and effectiveness of fleet and installation force protection programs.

The two-part approach is designed to enhance the readiness of U.S. Navy security forces and ensure seamless interoperability among the commands, other services and agency partners in order to protect life, equipment and facilities.

NAS Pensacola, referred to as the “Cradle of Naval Aviation,” is designed to support operational and training missions of tenant commands, including Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC), Naval Aviation Schools Command (NASC), the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training (CNATT), Marine Aviation Training Support Groups (MATSG) 21 and 23 and is the headquarters for Naval Education and Training Command (NETC).

Source: United States Navy

The team’s successful development of an innovative, self-powered autonomous underwater drone, known as the Persistent Smart Acoustic Profiler (PSAP) Voyager, has already delivered large swaths of oceanographic and passive acoustic data primed for NPS student research since it was deployed for the first time off the coast of Kona, Hawaii, in early November of 2024

Naval forces have an inherent operational reason to be quiet and stealthy at sea. Retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. John Joseph, a researcher in the NPS Department of Oceanography and principal investigator on the project, said the effort has been funded by the school’s Consortium for Unmanned Systems Education and Research (CRUSER), which is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research.

“PSAP started as a CRUSER project a few years ago when Yi Chao, Seatrec CEO and a well-known oceanographer, gave a talk at NPS about their energy-harvesting system,” said Joseph, who recognized an opportunity to combine the school’s expertise in undersea acoustics and research instrumentation with Seatrec’s innovative energy harvesting technology.

NPS excels at conducting applied research in the operating environment. For the first time, PSAP offers an ability to collect and send oceanographic and passive acoustic monitoring data in near real-time for an unlimited period, thanks to the profiler’s ability to harvest energy from the temperature differences in the ocean, enough to fully power the instrumentation indefinitely.

“Theoretically, PSAP can be deployed once, communicate its acoustic information to remote operators in near real time for limitless periods without requiring retrieval to offload data, refreshment – such as swapping batteries or data storage, or replacement,” explained Joseph. “These characteristics greatly reduce lifecycle costs of a continuous acoustic monitoring effort.”

Empowering student research and discovery is central to the institution’s efforts with industry partners, and the PSAP Voyager’s ongoing operational test – which can be monitored via the Seatrec website – has provided a trove of data for potential research.

“Now that we have a sizable amount of oceanographic and acoustic data collected by PSAP, we plan to have students in the undersea warfare and meteorology and oceanography curricula to use these data for thesis research,” said Joseph.

The role of acoustic sensing in Naval operations is far-reaching and fundamental to U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operations at sea, including undersea sensing and detection.

“Passive acoustic listening has many operational and research applications in the Navy, and our students at NPS conduct applied research to meet naval-unique needs for at-sea operations that require measurements of ambient noise, understanding the composition of soundscapes and monitoring of marine mammals,” said Joseph. The autonomy and endurance of the PSAP Voyager “provides an unprecedented opportunity to collect acoustic data in real-time for very long periods in remote areas without the expense and logistical tail of ship support.”

“Sound is used to ‘see’ underwater and is vital to understanding the ocean and monitoring the movement of natural and man-made objects,” added Yi Chao, Ph.D., Seatrec’s CEO and Founder in a recent news release. “Previously, hydrophones required power from expensive underwater cables from shore or ships but our PSAP Voyager untethers hydrophones and provides nearly unlimited persistent monitoring of the ocean in an extremely economical way.”

While the technology promises to be useful for improving maritime domain awareness, it will also enhance U.S. naval oceanographic models for operational planning used to improve own-force sonar system performance.

(This news story does not constitute an endorsement of Seatrec or its products and services by the Naval Postgraduate School, the Department of the Navy, or the Department of Defense.)

Source: United States Navy

Lacore, a former commanding officer of CLDJ, returned to the installation for the first time since being sworn in as the 16th Chief of Navy Reserve. The visit provided an opportunity to view the installation’s advancements, share her Strategic Advantage vision and connect with Reserve Force Sailors.

During the visit, Lacore and Hunt toured Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) facilities and met with Sailors assigned to the Military Working Dogs (MWDs) unit, the Emergency Medical Facility (EMF) and the Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron (MSRON) 8. Meeting with the Sailors in their various operational environments allowed Lacore to witness firsthand their operational readiness and capabilities.

Lacore also recognized five Sailors for exemplary leadership and commitment to their fellow warfighters. During a town hall with Reserve Force Sailors assigned to CLDJ, she addressed questions and concerns about policies, leadership and future deployment opportunities for reservists.

“Getting a chance to speak with her and ask questions was really encouraging,” said Logistics Specialist 2nd Class Maya Castillo-Rodriguez. “It feels good knowing she really is looking out for us and cares about what we have to say.”

Lacore spoke on the strategic advantage the U.S. Navy Reserve Force provides to the Joint and Combined Force. She noted that Reserve Force Sailors fill more than half of the Navy’s independent mobilization assignments, serving alongside active-duty counterparts at every level to ensure the Navy’s readiness and ability to mobilize around the world.

“We are prepared to mobilize a worldwide deployable Force,” said Lacore. “Delivering strategic depth at scale, trained and ready to contribute to the fight. We will posture our Force for warfighting by accelerating the pace of organizational development and strengthening our warfighters.”

Camp Lemonnier is an operational installation that enables U.S., allied and partner nation forces to be where they are needed to ensure security and protect U.S. interests. The installation provides world-class support for service members, transient U.S. assets and 36 local tenant commands. (U.S. Navy story be Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Maurice Brown)

Source: United States Navy

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti met with Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) Adm. Jirapol Wongwit, at the Pentagon today.

The two leaders outlined plans to enhance interoperability and capabilities, with a focus on expanding maritime domain awareness with robotic and autonomous systems, cyber security improvements, and a commitment to military modernization to address shared challenges.

Franchetti also shared the Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy with Jirapol, which underscores her priorities of warfighting, warfighters, and the foundation that supports them, as well as building relationships with Allies and partners.
Franchetti expressed appreciation for Thailand’s continued support for U.S. ship and aircraft visits, highlighting the recently concluded USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group port visit to Laem Chabang. 

The leaders also discussed future opportunities to enhance collaboration through participation in bilateral and multilateral exercises, including the Cobra Gold multinational exercise held in Thailand, Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), and CARAT Thailand (Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training).

Thailand is a major non-NATO ally, one of five U.S. treaty allies in the Indo-Pacific, and a leader within the Association of Southern Asian Nations (ASEAN).