Category: United States Navy

Source: United States Navy

At approximately 1:40 p.m. Dec. 13, 2021, Corpus Christi International Airport air traffic control (Corpus Approach) received a distress call from a privately-owned Piper Cherokee declaring an emergency that they were above the clouds and unable to navigate through them to land safely. Air traffic control then contacted the nearby VT-28 pilots, who were conducting formation training in two T-6B Texan II training aircraft over Corpus Christi Bay, to see if they could get a visual on a clear area for the Piper Cherokee to get below the clouds.
 
TAR IPs Lt. Cmdr. David Indiveri of Succasunna, New Jersey and Lt. Billy Morse of Tucson, Arizona; and active duty SNAs Marine 1st Lt. Casey Joehnk of Port Orchard, Washington; and Ens. Christophe Theodore of San Francisco quickly found a suitable area for an emergency Visual Flight Rules (VFR) descent and notified Corpus Approach. They were then asked to proceed to the distressed aircraft and guide the pilot to the opening in the clouds about six miles north of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. Once they gained visual contact with the aircraft, they matched their airspeed, and guided the pilot to the cloud opening after which he was able to safely descend and land at KRAS.
 
“In the military, when someone asks for help, you’re always willing,” Indiveri said. “There wasn’t much thinking about it, we made a safe judgment call and flew over the field and watched him land safely.”
 
Theodore is a student pilot who is only two flights away from completing his primary flight training.
 
“This was a pretty unique experience to get to help someone during primary,” Theodore said. “We get into Naval aviation to help people but it’s very exciting to do something that helps this early in our training. It’s very fulfilling.”
 
“While our primary role here is training future Naval Aviators, when emergencies arise, our pilots stand ready to answer the call,” Cmdr. Brian Higgins, commanding officer of VT-28. “This is the second time in less than a month that our crews have answered that call to assist pilots in distress and potentially saved the lives of our fellow civilian aviators who share these skies with us every day. I am extremely proud of the Ranger flight crews and am glad they were the ones who got the call, because true to our squadron motto, ‘Rangers Lead the Way.'”
 
At the time of the rescue, pilots from VT-28 had recently been involved in helping another civilian pilot in distress. On Nov. 15, similar VT-28 crews assisted a Coast Guard helicopter and a civilian vessel with a search and rescue mission helping locate and rescue a civilian pilot after a crash landing in Copano Bay in Rockport, Texas.
 
VT-28 is one of two primary training squadrons attached to Training Air Wing Four in Corpus Christi, Texas, under the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA). Currently, 90 TAR personnel and more than 280 Selected Reservists provide 23% of production and 22% of flight hours supporting the CNATRA mission.
 
CNATRA, headquartered in Corpus Christi, trains the world’s finest combat-quality aviation professionals, delivering them at the right time, in the right numbers, and at the right cost to a naval force that is where it matters, when it matters.
 

Source: United States Navy

Back in November, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Five (EODMU 5), based in Guam, requested training from the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Detachment at Eglin Air Force Base, where the Navy’s F-35 aviation schoolhouse is located.  EODMU 5 wanted to be more familiar with the F-35 various systems, such as the ordnance and ejection seat systems, in case the team was asked to respond to an F-35 mishap.

In January, the EODMU 5 team landed at CNATT Det. Eglin, and training began.  CNATT Det. Eglin team members Marine Staff Sgt. Kyle Palmer, F35B/C safety equipment course supervisor, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Jacob Morgan, training chief, and Ordnance Instructors Staff Sgts. John Page and Nicholas Gerhartz provided instruction and expertise to the EOD team.

Suddenly, after an F-35C crashed into the landing deck of the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and sunk in the South China Sea in late January, the EODMU 5 was recalled and deployed to help recover the aircraft.  The aircraft was subsequently recovered in early March, according to reports.

Looking back, Lt. Aaron Ybarra, the EODMU 5 team’s training officer, offered praise and gratitude to CNATT Det. Eglin’s staff for their training efforts.

“Your [CNATT Det. Eglin] team’s professionalism and knowledge on the F-35 systems was unmatched,” Ybarra said.  “From the start and throughout the training, they were organized and extremely knowledgeable answering all questions with certainty. The hands on instruction, training aids and procedures provided by your team was critical in Platoon 512’s mission success. Your crew at CNATT Det Eglin went above and beyond for us and their effort directly contributed to success in a real-world operation. BRAVO ZULU, CNATT Det Eglin, and thank you!”

Ybarra’s feedback was heartwarming for Cmdr. Tammy Shaw, CNATT Det. Eglin’s officer in charge.

“I’m extremely proud of our staff for the job they did,” Shaw said.  “And to know that our efforts directly contributed to the successful response to a real-world incident, that’s awesome!”
 

Source: United States Navy

On April 21, members from the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Southeast’s Contingency Engineering Response Team (CERT) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering Research Development Center (ERDC) participated in a joint exercise utilizing a multi-rotor Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) onboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Florida.

The collaboration took place during the annual Hurricane Exercise (HURREX) and Citadel Gale (CG) that allowed the teams to practice surveying simulated storm damage with the UAS on a few of the installation’s facilities.

“This was an excellent opportunity to learn and network with USACE ERDC team,” said Joshua Coates, geographer and Geographic Information System (GIS) Project Manager. “Conducting the exercise together gave both entities confidence in our abilities to deploy and conduct UAS operations together in the future.”

Coates is part of NAVFAC Southeast’s GeoReadiness Center (GRC) that is responsible for operating the command’s UAS program.

The CERT is a specialized team that deploys to installations within the southeast region affected by natural disasters, such as hurricanes. The team is comprised of NAVFAC Southeast volunteers, each with their own specific skillsets to include active duty civil engineer corps officers, civilian engineers, architects, project managers, facilities managers, contract specialists and geographers.

The CERT’s mission is to perform damage assessments on an affected installation’s facilities in order to bring the base back to full mission capable status as soon as possible.

One of the tools the CERT uses to perform damage assessments is the UAS which allows for detailed building inspections utilizing high resolution photos and video. This allows the GRC team to reach areas that are inaccessible and also keeps the CERT safe from structurally compromised roofs.

In order to remain proficient, the CERT utilized this opportunity to hone their skills and compare operational procedures with USACE ERDC.

“Overall, I think the operations went really well,” said Coates. “We definitely learned from each other and our team took away some pointers that will certainly help our program moving forward.”

USACE ERDC shared their preflight planning, specifically regarding ground control points, and how to best set up control points in order to have optimal results for high accuracy orthorectifying imagery, which is a process of converting images into a form suitable for maps by removing sensor motion and terrain related geometric distortions from raw imagery.

Coates stated, “They also had tremendous technical expertise that they were able to share with us regarding the sensors and flight characteristics of the new Anafi-GOV UAS that will provide NAVFAC Southeast with the knowledge we need to best operate and execute our UAS missions.”

NAVFAC Southeast’s GRC is in the processing of upgrading their UAS equipment and is expected to be fully operational by the end of the 2022 hurricane season.

Building relationships through this exercise will enhance both parties capabilities, especially during emergency response efforts. NAVFAC Southeast’s CERT may request support from USACE in the event of a hurricane response until new equipment can be obtained.

Source: United States Navy

Acceptance Trials consist of a series of in-port and at-sea demonstrations that allow the Navy and the shipbuilder, General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO), to assess the ship’s systems and readiness prior to delivery to the Navy.

“The John Lewis-class oilers will add capacity to the Navy’s Combat Logistics Force and become the cornerstone of the fuel delivery system at sea,” said John Lighthammer, program manager, Auxiliary and Special Mission Shipbuilding Program Office. “We are excited to welcome the USNS John Lewis to the fleet.”

The John Lewis-class T-AOs will be operated by Military Sealift Command to provide fuel and lubricating oil, and small quantities of fresh and frozen provisions, stores, and potable water to Navy ships at sea, and fuel for the embarked aircraft.  

The oilers feature the capacity to carry barrels of oil, a significant dry cargo capacity, aviation capability and a speed of 20 knots. NASSCO designed the new vessels with double hulls to protect against oil spills and strengthened cargo and ballast tanks. 

NASSCO is currently in production on USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO 206), USNS Earl Warren (T-AO 207), and USNS Robert F. Kennedy (T-AO 208). The future USNS Lucy Stone (T-AO 209) and USNS Sojourner Truth (T-AO 210) are under contract.  NASSCO is also currently in production of two Expeditionary Sea Bases (ESB) – the future USS John L. Canley (ESB 6) and USS Robert E. Simanek (ESB 7).

As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, and boats and craft.

Source: United States Navy

The ship is named for Medal of Honor Recipient Marine Corps Sergeant Major (Retired) John L. Canley.

Canley was awarded the nation’s highest honor 50 years after his actions serving as Company Gunnery Sergeant, Company A, First Battalion, First Marines, First Marine Division in the Republic of Vietnam during the Battle of Hue City.

“Sergeant Major Canley’s story is one of service, honor, and commitment. All those who serve aboard his namesake ship will carry on his distinguished legacy,” said Tim Roberts, Strategic and Theater Sealift program manager, Program Executive Office, Ships. “These mobile, modular sea base ships are optimized to support the needs of our Sailors and Marines while providing critical access in the maritime domain.”

Expeditionary Sea Base ships are highly flexible platforms used across a broad range of military operations supporting multiple operational phases. Acting as a mobile sea base, they are a part of the critical access infrastructure that supports the deployment of forces and supplies to provide prepositioned equipment and sustainment with adaptable distribution capability.

These ships support Aviation Mine Countermeasure and Special Operations Force missions. In addition to the flight deck, the ESB has a hangar with two aviation operating spots capable of handling MH-53E equivalent helicopters, accommodations, workspaces, and ordnance storage for embarked force, enhanced command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I). These ships support embarked force mission planning and execution and has a reconfigurable mission deck area to store embarked force equipment, including mine sleds and Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs).

In 2019, the Navy decided to commission all Expeditionary Sea Base ships to allow them to conduct a broader and more lethal mission set compared to original plans for them to operate with a USNS designation. A Navy O-6 commands ESBs and a hybrid-manned crew of military personnel and Military Sealift Command civilian mariners. This crew makeup provides combatant commanders with increased operational flexibility in employing the platform.

Construction of the future USS Robert E. Simanek (ESB 7) and the Navy’s John Lewis Class Fleet Replenishment Oilers (T-AO) are ongoing at GD-NASSCO.

As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, sealift ships, support ships, boats, and craft.